Henry Selick signs with Pixar!

Stop-motion animation is alive and well. Henry Selick, director of 'Nightmare Before Christmas,' 'James & The Giant Peach,' and most recently 'Coraline,' has signed on with Pixar/Disney. He worked with Disney before but after the financial failure of 'James' the Disney Co. called stop-motion a dead art and stopped all future projects. With the success of 'Coraline' & 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' it looks like they've changed their tune, only now Selick will be under the wing of Pixar and will be back in company with John Lassester and Brad Bird. There were plenty of rumors floating around when it came out the Selick had not signed a contract with Laika, who put out 'Coraline,' but I don't think anyone could have imagined him moving in with Pixar. With the freedoms he is now going to be given it will be very exciting to see what Selick can cook up.

new release picks

celestial navigations: short films of al jarnow



i'm pretty sure i was the one who requested this one, but it's truly a stunning labor of love that deserves your attention. this is the first dvd put together and released by the numero group, a smallish record label based out of chicago that focuses on reissuing small long forgotten funk, soul and r&b groups, and it's a real doozy. you've likely seen some of jarnow's surreal stop-motion animation works that were commissioned by sesame street, but the wealth of amazing work on here, especially the half hour documentary, is really stunning and i can't recommend it highly enough.

dead snow



ZOMBIE NAZIS! NAZI ZOMBIES! i think i'm one of the only people at four star that outright loved this film. we've had a couple of off region discs in for a while, but they've consistently been rented, so here's your chance to get your hands on some of the gory fun.

the informant!



i don't understand how this film garnered not a single oscar nomination, and should have absolutely bumped the blind side off the best picture list. damon got nominated for invictus (where he's likely to lose), but should have been nominated for this (where he'd be a strong contender). if you were unawares, this frighteningly non-fiction film was based on a segment of this american life that i highly recommend, if only to compare its seriousness with the humor of the movie.

keep your eyes peeled for someone crashing the red carpet wearing a shirt that reads "soderbergh was ROBBED" cause that's gonna be me.

the full list of other new releases can be found at the four star video heaven website, and, as always, new releases are available monday night at midnight.

waking sleeping beauty

just saw this pretty ok trailer for what looks like it might be a really great documentary. having seen this, i can't help but be really surprised at how much i WANT disney to make another great animated film. i really WANT those guys to make something else as good as the lion king or the little mermaid or beauty and the beast, and i'm a little shocked by that revelation, though i guess i shouldn't be. all they need is a good story (pixar has all the good stories?), new character designs, better music, and not be afraid to make something that isn't %110 geared to be emblazoned on the backpacks and lunch boxes of kindergartners. also, give up on the crutch of the "princess film." i wanna be shocked by good new 2-d disney animation in the same way that i had my head 'sploded by the first toy story film.

sadly, i think the era of mainstream 2-d animation geared to the masses is a done with, but then again, it's a not even 8:30 on a monday morning and i haven't had any coffee, so i might be a little more pessimistical than i would be normally.

no idea when this thing hits dvd, but in the interim, be sure to check out the excellent pixar story documentary from a year or so ago.