The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.
Elephants Dream is the story of two strange characters exploring a capricious and seemingly infinite machine. The elder, Proog, acts as a tour-guide and protector, happily showing off the sights and dangers of the machine to his initially curious but increasingly skeptical protege Emo. As their journey unfolds we discover signs that the machine is not all Proog thinks it is, and his guiding takes on a more desperate aspect. Elephants Dream is a story about communication and fiction, made purposefully open-ended as the world’s first 3D animated “Open movie”. The film itself is released under the Creative Commons license, along with the entirety of the production files used to make it (roughly 7 Gigabytes of data). The software used to make the movie is the free/open source animation suite Blender along with other open source software, thus allowing the movie to be remade, remixed and re-purposed with only a computer and the data on the DVD or download.
The hilarious story of a restless young farm-thumb, Loke Groundrunner, and his tasty companion, Princess Bunhead, who go on an quest to combat Black Helmet Man and the Evil Thumbpire.
Through a series of auditions, a young actor in New York City struggles with his identity.
It's a classic boy-meets-girl story, boy-loses-girl, boy gets mistaken for an escaped convict and ruthlessly chased by armies of cops across the countryside in a thrill-packed stunt-addled climax.
The film tells the story of a man and woman who don't know each other. After being matched by a matchmaker, after going through a series of red tape, they were sent to the bridal chamber and began a difficult life as a couple. Despite the primitive shooting methods and lack of training of the actors, the film has a very important place in the history of Chinese film. The film has now been lost.
In the year 2150, Johnny, a lazy Space Delivery Man, must deliver a package on a planet he does not fully understand.
Overwhelmed by grief following the death of his wife, Donnelly shares a train carriage home with a troubled young man identified only as the 'Kid'. As the Kid becomes more agitated and foul-mouthed, the journey takes on a violent and dangerous hue – for the bereaved Donnelly and for other hapless passengers on the train. Academy Award Winner: Best Live Action Short Film – 2005
Aliens have come from the planet Uranus to steal Earth's resources. Its up to a group of Go-Go dancing Private eyes to stop them!
Belly
After a dreadful incident coupled with an ungovernable paroxysm of violence, a butcher will fall into a downward spiral that will burn to the ground whatever dignity still remained in him.
When Roxanna discovers her fascination with lesbian sexuality, she finds herself dragged deeper and deeper into it. This leaves her at odds with her boyfriend, with tragic results.
Eight-year-old Erik's mother takes him to the sauna for the first time in his life. There, he has to disrobe and sees lots of naked men and women around him. He feels very uncomfortable at first but then he seems to enjoy it.
Anna is a 12-year-old girl, living in a small fishing village. She is at a crossroad in her life. Her surroundings are changing - and so is she.
An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.
Following the defeat of Majin Buu, Son Goku and friends travel to Mr. Satan's newly-opened hotel for an all-you-can-eat banquet, when they are paid a visit by Vegeta's younger brother Tarble. They are informed by Tarble that the terrible brother duo of Abo and Cado have terrorized his planet and are on their way to Earth.
Oscar got caught spraying graffiti. Now doing community service at a nursing home, he meets Isabel who is suffering from dementia. At 84 years old, Isabel may be a little old school, but soon the entire block is covered with her pink tag.
The story revolves around 3 soldiers who are on the outskirts of a war torn city. They are patrolling an area when a bomb is accidentally set off and they have to wait for help.
When young Victor's pet dog Sparky (who stars in Victor's home-made monster movies) is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how. But when the bolt-necked "monster" wreaks havoc and terror in the hearts of Victor's neighbors, he has to convince them (and his parents) that despite his appearance, Sparky's still the good loyal friend he's always been.
The grail is not the gold, nor the books of ancient wisdom, but the 3,000 year old DNA of the mummies, which may lead to a cure for malaria.