Critic's Notebook

Graphic transformation: Animation rises, CGI sinks in 2009

Science fiction has often dwelt upon the fear that machines will overtake man—which of course they kind of have, from the Industrial Revolution through the Digital Age, in terms of lessening the need for manual labor or even organic brainpower. But while technology may have taken some jobs, polluted our environment, etc., it hasn’t yet completely stolen humanity’s place in the scheme of things.

Except, one could argue, in the realm of movies. With this year’s summings-up extended to considering our first post-millennial decade, it’s a good moment to consider where mainstream cinema has gone since CGI sank its bloodless talons into the already less-than-exquisite corpse.

topics: animation, anime, bay area, comedy, cult cinema, filmmakers, genre films, hollywood, independent film, internet, red vic movie house, sf international animation festival, world cinema, youth

Platform

Seiji Horibuchi pulls back the curtain on VIZ Cinema

The opening of a new theater that isn’t a multiplex is an exceedingly rare event these days. Raise a glass to VIZ Cinema, a built-from-scratch venue located in the New People building in Japantown. The complex, opening Sat., Aug. 15, is dedicated to Japanese pop culture, from art to fashion to film. VIZ Cinema fills the bill with live-action movies and anime, highlighted by U.S. premieres, director retrospectives and special series. A free outdoor screening of Kamikaze Girls in the Japantown Peace Plaza Friday night, Aug. 14, launches the New People scene, while VIZ Cinema christens its downstairs screen the next night with 20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End. Seiji Horibuchi, founder and chairman of VIZ Media, offered his thoughts on the new venture via email.

topics: animation, anime, art film, bay area, genre films, japanese cinema, world cinema