Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen, & Mr. Horlocker (2006) from The Animation Show 4 |
This traveling collection of international animation gems is back, with the capable Mike Judge curating. Any collection has highs and lows, so I’ll concentrate on the faves that stuck in my memory. Aesthetic joys include Grant Orchard’s Pong-meets-Pollock “Lovesport: Paintballing” and Georges Schwizgebel’s elegant, old-school “Jeu.” There’s rollicking mayhem and skewed humor in the sophisticated computer animation entries out of France’s Gobelins school. But the standout twisted scenario is German filmmaker Stefan Muller’s “Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker,” which is about dastardly doings behind doors in a cheap apartment building. And the weird-ass championship belt goes to Satosho Tomioka’s “USAvich, ep. 18: Beware of Dance!” — creepy-cute as only the Japanese can do it. A syncopated car ride with humanoid bunnies and a frog that shits out a live goldfish, this one will be on a permanent loop in my brain for weeks to come. English+ French + German + Japanese | 87 minutes | Kendall Square
