“Pitagora suicchi” = “Pythagoras Switch.” Apparently this is a children’s TV show in Japan.

My brothers and I used to make some complicated dominoes/playing cards/lego contraptions, but these thing blow me away! So amazing! The inherent creativity in figuring out and then engineering these flips and flops and rolls and turns is just brilliant!

(via BoingBoing)

And they’re really back– to their darker side like Fargo and Blood Simple. This is the trailer for their new film, No Country for Old Men. I love me some Wes Anderson, and I love me some Coen Brothers. I guess there’s something in that dark-humor-cum-goofiness that hits my spot.

Daaaang!! That’s so purdy! And raw and interesting to look at and now I just want to see the whole thing! (Be sure to watch both clips.)

So this is my basic complaint about Ratatouille: it too perfect! Sure the story is the important part, and while I like it well enough in that film, it’s not stellar storytelling (granted, it’s way better than the fart jokes and pop references in things like Shrek.) I think with this one, the Pixar animators got too excited about their toys. The most passionate features on the film’s website talk about how amazing and difficult the food animation was to capture. Totally cool, I agree, but it didn’t carry the film for me.

The end credits, however, were AMAZING! Why-oh-why didn’t they animate a whole film like those credits? It was rough and dark and alive, far more so than the “realistic” animation from the rest of the film. My take? If you are going to animate a film, take advantage of your medium! This is what I loved about The Triplets of Belleville– it embraced animation’s abilities. My favorite sub-character by far is the simpering waiter at the mobster-filled restaurant. He’s like a big noodle.

Anyway, this Pearce Sisters thing looks awesome, and I can’t wait to find it showing somewhere when it’s ready.