elicopperman

Had this been a stand alone feature, this would have been the coolest tale of petty assassin based drama out there. Seriously, had this been handled by a far worse filmmaking team, the basic premise of John Wick losing all semblance of hope after losing his wife and pet dog could have easily fallen on its face. That said, Keanu Reeves's magnetic kickassery and Chad Stahelski's & David Leitch's skillful direction keep this cat & mouse chase focused to the max and manages to make even the most reprehensible characters in the film intriguing to watch what will happen to them.

I somehow never saw this film in full until recently thanks to one of my closest friends, and I can safely say that it was one heck of a thrill ride. It did what it set out to do and it was a blast to engage in. That said, it's not the type of film I'd go out of my way to seek out, so I'll be curious to see how the sequels fare in comparison.

Also, can't wait for a possible fifth installment.

A few years ago, I had seen John & Faith Hubley's Oscar winning Moonbird short and admired it more than I actually liked it. While I admired the luscious artistry and admirable effort to tell a story through children describing their own tale before bedtime, I ended up feeling more annoyed than intrigued by the kids' banter and felt the pacing was fairly slow. That being said, reanalyzing the film now and having a much more nuanced (if not professional) view of child psychology, I think Moonbird is a fascinating experiment in all the right ways.

As random as the conversations between the two featured little boys appear to be, they sound as natural as any little kid imagining their own story to be. Since kids love to exaggerate when using their imaginations to recreate a special adventure for themselves, the Hubleys were definitely onto something when they let their sons ramble on about an imaginary bird that they wanted to capture. Even without taking that context into effect, getting to see the boys wonder about an open field beyond their house allows for the viewers to fill in the blanks on wherever the children go to just to find this so called Moonbird. I think it's safe to say that the film's art direction is as dreamlike as any dream can be.

Going off from an old essay I wrote about regarding the film, the filmmakers chose non-objective shapes to present the film with a mysterious atmospheric mood at its core. In addition to the dark backgrounds appearing with thick outlines, the textures on the boys and even the Moonbird itself appear semi-transparent, which allows them all to blend in the grim looking environments seamlessly. All the mentioned formal elements highlight the macabre fantasy world of a child's imagination, and the unique animation style creates an identity for the film to let it stand out from realism. On a side note, besides the children's dialogue, the occasional squawks from the Moonbird give the creature its own unique characteristics, allowing a little bit of suspense to come up whenever it's near.

As the very first independent animated short film to win the prestigious Oscar, Moonbird earned its place as a remarkable achievement in childlike wonderment mixed with abstract artistry. While the Hubleys would go on to make more uniquely experimental works, this short clearly left an impact on their careers as abstract animation pioneers. Give this one ago if you must, for it being in the public domain is one of the greatest benefits it has right now.