B-
Studio 4°C
"Genius Party" is the work of animation collective Studio 4°C, the minds behind such fare as "Memories," "Spriggan" and "Tekkon Kinkreet." The "party" itself consists of six shorts (seven if you count the introduction) that run the range from beautiful and moving to confusing and pretentious. Shoji Kawamori's "Shanghai Dragon," which tells the story of a young boy who inherits supernatural power and ends up fighting an army of giant robots, along with Shinichiro Watanabe's "Baby Blue," a high school romance infused with a distinctly Takeshi Kitano-esque flavor, are the standouts of the anthology and alone were probably worth the price of admission ($7 bucks, baby!) Shinji Kumura's "Deathtic 4," a joyful animated romp through a lushly illustrated zombieland and Maasaki Yuaka's "Happy Machine," a kinetic depiction of a baby's imagination for their part are satisfying if unremarkable. Yuki Fukuyama's "Doorbell" is an unclear, needlessly convoluted tale of multiple identities while Hideki Futumura's "Limit Cycle" made me almost completely forget about the anthology's other highlights bu bombarding me with repetitive, trance like animation set to a backdrop of a philosophical dialogue on the nature of evil and God. It was basically akin to watching fireworks on acid while listening to a first year college student pontificate on ethics and the soul. When "Limit Cycle" finally and mercifully ended a particularly brave (and honest) member of the audience shouted "WHAT!?!" before the rest of the crowd broke into a round of polite applause for what was without a doubt the worst offering of "Genius Party."
I have always enjoyed shorts because they cater well to my short attention span and also allow me to get a quick glimpse of several directors, or in this case animators, and get familiar with their work without having to sit down for a full blown feature film. In this way I enjoyed "Genius Party" mainly because I got to see "Shanghai Dragon" and "Baby Blue" were were both immensely enjoyable. The rest of the animated shorts on display in "Genius Party" were either forgettable or, in the case of "Limit Cycle," unforgettably annoying which prevents me from enthusiastically recommending this collection but nevertheless doesn't keep me from saying that it is worth watching.
"Genius Party" is the work of animation collective Studio 4°C, the minds behind such fare as "Memories," "Spriggan" and "Tekkon Kinkreet." The "party" itself consists of six shorts (seven if you count the introduction) that run the range from beautiful and moving to confusing and pretentious. Shoji Kawamori's "Shanghai Dragon," which tells the story of a young boy who inherits supernatural power and ends up fighting an army of giant robots, along with Shinichiro Watanabe's "Baby Blue," a high school romance infused with a distinctly Takeshi Kitano-esque flavor, are the standouts of the anthology and alone were probably worth the price of admission ($7 bucks, baby!) Shinji Kumura's "Deathtic 4," a joyful animated romp through a lushly illustrated zombieland and Maasaki Yuaka's "Happy Machine," a kinetic depiction of a baby's imagination for their part are satisfying if unremarkable. Yuki Fukuyama's "Doorbell" is an unclear, needlessly convoluted tale of multiple identities while Hideki Futumura's "Limit Cycle" made me almost completely forget about the anthology's other highlights bu bombarding me with repetitive, trance like animation set to a backdrop of a philosophical dialogue on the nature of evil and God. It was basically akin to watching fireworks on acid while listening to a first year college student pontificate on ethics and the soul. When "Limit Cycle" finally and mercifully ended a particularly brave (and honest) member of the audience shouted "WHAT!?!" before the rest of the crowd broke into a round of polite applause for what was without a doubt the worst offering of "Genius Party."
I have always enjoyed shorts because they cater well to my short attention span and also allow me to get a quick glimpse of several directors, or in this case animators, and get familiar with their work without having to sit down for a full blown feature film. In this way I enjoyed "Genius Party" mainly because I got to see "Shanghai Dragon" and "Baby Blue" were were both immensely enjoyable. The rest of the animated shorts on display in "Genius Party" were either forgettable or, in the case of "Limit Cycle," unforgettably annoying which prevents me from enthusiastically recommending this collection but nevertheless doesn't keep me from saying that it is worth watching.
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