This 1954 RKO Radio Pictures film was based on Engelbert Humperdink’s opera and directed by Michael Myerberg. Be warned: the actress who plays Gretel gives what is possibly the single worst vocal performance in the history of animated films!
Author Archives: Cimaxion
Ménilmontant – 1926 French Film by Dimitri Kirsanoff
The film takes its name from a neighborhood in Paris. It was directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff and is considered to be his greatest work. It moves very quickly, using a montage technique that tells the story without a single intertitle. It’s a riveting and powerful tale of disillusionment and violence. The lead actress is wonderful and has some of the best eyes for silent film I’ve ever seen.
Trouble in Space – A Film by Chris Koelsch
Chris Koelsch made this slyly humorous space tale by appropriating footage from an old sixties science fiction cartoon called Space Angel. He put the footage to his own wise uses and came up with something memorable.
The Thumbsucker Cutter – A Film by Philip Brett
Philip Brett’s short film is an unsettling hybrid of puppets and animation. It’s dollhouse weird, full of shadows and garish colors, blood and clowns. Horrific. It’s based on the tales of naughty children by Heinrich Hoffman. The music is by the Vendetta Orchestra.
The Last Harvest – A Film by Heidi Phillips
Canadian experimental filmmaker Heidi Phillips made this little ghost story film that could almost as easily be called a memory film. Mike Everleth over at Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film has some good comments in his review of the film.
Rockboistwo – Street Art Film by Marvin Tiberious
‘It ain’t about being the best. It’s about being multiple.’ Marvin Tiberious makes the best films about street art that I have seen from anywhere in the world.