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9: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:21:49 +0000

Are you ready to face your nightmares in Shane Acker’s stunning feature length post-apocalyptic animated nightmare produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and starring Elijah Wood? Well get ready, because it’s finally 9-9-09, which means that 9 is in theaters now!

The Players:

Director: Shane Acker (Watch Interview)
Producer: Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Read Comic-Con Interview)
Written By: Pamela Pettler
Voices: Elijah Wood (Read Interview), Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau

The Plot:

The film is about 9 puppet like creators in a post-apocalyptic world who have to fight against the machines for survival. That is until 9 comes along with his fearless inquisitiveness and stirs up trouble and possible answers.

The Good:

The Visuals: Absolutely stunning. You can see why Acker was picked out by Burton and Bekmambetov to make this film. From the overall architecture and lighting, to the tiny little details of the threading and the sound of the blinking eyes, you could pause the film at any moment and it would be a piece of art.
The Tone: It’s refreshing to see how dark they went with the film. For a movie with puppets running around, it actually had a few scary moments. Knowing that it was an animation I thought that they pull back, but from gore to getting high, it’s got it all.
The Themes: We have TONS of end of the world films, but none of them touch on as many subjects as this one does and in as clever of a way. Maybe because we’re dealing with puppets instead of humans it allows us to look at ourselves deeper, but no mater what, the film brings up a number of poignant issues without hammering us over the head with them.
The Inspiration: Finally, something new to be excited about! The most important part about this film and why you should go and see it, is because it’s original and inspired. It’s not without it’s flaws but in the world of remakes the original idea is king!

The Bad:

Runtime: Yes, animations are SUPPOSED to be 72 minutes, but so much of this film defies what a film is SUPPOSED to be, so why decide to follow the rules with the runtime? I appreciate how hard it is to make this film and that every little tiny thing had to be created by hand, but in the end, I wanted more. I needed more to fully support the story I was being given. With so many amazing characters, beautiful backgrounds, and such detailed animation, I wanted to see more from the characters and a bit less action. In order to feel invested in the actions scenes, there needed to be more back stories and more time spent on the arches of each of the main characters.
Too Many Unexplained Objects: Although it’s great that not everything is spelled out for you and many of the characters in the film don’t know what’s going on, do it makes sense that not much is explained, but when they reached their revelation, I was still left a bit confused. There needed to be more explanation either through character arches, more flashbacks or something.

Overall:

My biggest problem with this film is that it could have very easily been one of my favorites of the year. I loved so many parts of it, the tone, the characters, the action, but it needed more time to develop. I know that Acker spent 10 years creating the film, but perhaps if he had not been so rushed (like he told us in our interview with him) towards the end, he could have brought his dream to true fruitition.

Rating: 7.3

Go see 9 in theaters on 9-9-09!

Further Reading:

Interview: Elijah Wood for 9

Mali Elfman — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:58:33 +0000

Shane Acker‘s 9 starring Elijah Wood hits theaters tomorrow on 9-9-09! The film is probably the most original and inspired films to hit theaters this year. The film is about 9 puppet like creators in a post-apocalyptic world who have to fight against the machines for survival. That is until 9 comes along with his fearless inquisitiveness and stirs up trouble and possible answers.

We spoke to Wood a little while ago about the dark tone of the movie, which in the US is odd and yet refreshing to see in an animation, as well as what NEVER to do while recording voice overs, Spyro the movie (or lack there of), his random appearance in the Puppet Master and a whole lot more…

For me, one of the great things about the movie was the facial expressions. How much did you get to see in terms of the animation before or while you were during your voice work?

Elijah Woods: A fair amount. When things were even in their rough stages, we got to see them. But, that didn’t really happen until a year and a half to two years in. Largely what we were seeing initially was pre-vis and also animated storyboards. It’s such a gratifying thing because you do spend this time, even though you have a connection with the character and you have a sense of what the character is going to do and look like, it’s another thing entirely when you start to see it physically moving with your voice. It’s such an amazing [experience]. It’s a wonderful part of the process. It’s extremely rewarding. It’s also very solitary. A lot of the time you’re in this booth imbuing this character with a sense of life in a stationary position and then those words get shipped to these animators and sometimes there’s up to 30 people working on your movements and face and stuff. It’s a whole other process that’s totally fascinating and then it all comes together.

How long did you work on this project?

Elijah Woods: Three years.

What is Shane like as a director and what’s the difference between working with an animation person and a feature film director who’s working in live action with actors?

Elijah Woods: Great question. Shane is great as a director. I think we all recognized that we were in the hands of the person that created these characters. I was a real fan of his short which is largely why I wanted to do the film. I understood that he also came from an animation background. He actually worked at Weta Digital on the last Lord of the Rings movie as an animator. I don’t know if anybody knew that. So, working with him, he was able to describe things in a really detailed way. I think he was able to articulate what he wanted from the character, both physically and emotionally, and the arc really well. But, I think also a huge strong point [was] just being that he has the whole world in his mind ultimately of what he wants to describe. He was very good at being able to describe what that was and setting up the environment. I think that’s probably one of the more challenging aspects of doing voice is that you are in a room, you have the script, you have a notion of what’s supposed to happen, but it helps when you’ve got some descriptive words that can describe what’s going on in the scene, for sure, if you don’t have any images.

What was it about the character that resonated with you?

Elijah Woods: Well, I like the journey that he takes. He comes into this world extremely naïve because he doesn’t have any perspective as to what had transpired and who ‘1’ through ‘8’ are and they’ve already established a sort of hierarchy. They’ve established a community that is built on keeping themselves away from what they fear. Then he comes in and says, “Well wait, why have you set this up and who are we and where did these machines come from?” He comes with all of these questions. I really responded to his fearlessness and his questioning and ultimately taking on board the fact that he has to help bring these people together to see what they are and how to ultimately combat the machines. He ultimately becomes heroic and courageous throughout the course of the journey with these characters. But, it’s also a very cerebral one. He’s the one getting them to all answer questions and think outside of the fear that they’ve established.

Which one was more difficult, Sin City, where during the making of it they show that you don’t even go into the same room with Mickey Rourke…

Elijah Woods: Yeah, Mickey Rourke and I are literally not in the same scene.

I was wondering which was more difficult, doing that stuff or voicing characters that you’ve only seen a few images of. Which one was more challenging?

Elijah Woods: They are definitely different challenges. The thing I’ll say about Sin City is, despite the fact that I didn’t work with Mickey Rourke, it wasn’t as if there was dialogue. That would have been different. Jessica Alba did scenes without him where they talked to each other. I can’t even imagine that. Well, I guess I can, because I did some of that in Lord of the Rings. That’s harder because you’re having to carry on a scene with someone who’s not there or isn’t the right actor and they get fused together. Whereas, I was being physical and I didn’t necessarily have to talk. So, at least I got to be physical with someone who was Mickey’s stunt double. That wasn’t super challenging. I didn’t necessarily need the environment around me to be able to do what I was doing.

Whereas, with voice work, there is a lot that you have to create. I think the most challenging aspect of it is making your voice sound like it’s experiencing something that it isn’t. You’re not running, you’re not jumping, you’re not falling, you’re not being ripped from one place to another, so you have to figure out how you do that vocally and that it’s convincing. But I love that. I think it’s a lot of fun.

How do you do that? Are you running in place? That’s fascinating.

Elijah Woods: There’s some of that and I think also, physically, you can’t help it. You can’t help but move. You kind of have to. It’s almost not even a choice. It’s sort of almost like a reflex because you know what your character is doing and so you do something similar to that just naturally because that’s what your voice wants to do. But yeah, you run in place and you try and get a sense of breathlessness.

What are the big mistakes of doing voice over? What are the absolute verboten don’ts?

Elijah Woods: (Laughs) Don’t go in too hungry. You’ll have a lot of problem with stomach gurgles. These are the things… This is the mundane shit that you don’t think about. Yeah, stomach gurgles. It’s so interesting.

It is! What else?

Elijah Woods: Dry mouth. There’s that. There’s water, but then not too much water. You kind of just know. You can’t move too much because if you move too much, then there’s rustling noises of your clothing so that goes into it. It’s interesting. The mic picks up so much so a stomach gurgle there would have been horrible. We’d have to go again.

What about breathing? A lot of it were fight scenes where you could hear two different people breathing.

Elijah Woods: They do like grab bag breathing takes. Oh yeah. We did that sometimes with ADR on movies too where you do a whole wild take of breaths and efforts and they tend to do that towards the end of the day. It’s like grabbing things, falling, being hit [makes different sounds to demonstrate]. You have to get different versions so it’s like long, short, more intense, less intense. It’s the whole world of voice, guys.

Who wins in a fight: the penguin in Happy Feet vs. ‘9’?

Elijah Woods: (Laughing) Well they’re both pacifists! There would be no fight.

There are so many themes in this movie about the apocalypse and what it means to be consumptive and what it means to be a pacifist or not. What were some of the ones that really resounded with you that you thought were the most interesting to put out to an audience?

Elijah Woods: People are connecting certainly to the theme of technology being our downfall and I think that’s certainly in there, but it’s also technology at the hands of greed and it’s at the hands of power hungry people. It’s ultimately humanity that corrupts the machinery to turn on humanity and I thought that was interesting because the scientist creates this machine for peace. The great Chancellor announces this machine that will lead us into 100 years of peace, but then that machine gets circumvented and turned into a war machine and then the war machine turns on man. I just loved that. I thought that was very interesting and I think it’s something that we can certainly relate to – common themes of greed and lust for power, but also technology and what our relationship with technology is and could it eventually turn on us. But, I don’t necessarily think that’s what the movie is about.

There are a lot of films coming out right now with themes of vampirism and the Apocalypse.

Elijah Woods: (Laughing) What’s up with vampirism these days?

It’s the Twilight thing. It’s about bloodsuckers and us being our own downfall and destroying the universe.

Elijah Woods: Right. The Road is coming out. It’s kind of about that same thing.

Zombieland, Carriers, there’s all these films, and this in its own way is about the Apocalypse.

Elijah Woods: It is. It’s about the aftermath of it. I also think that the heart of this movie is ultimately about rebuilding and I think it’s about humanity. Humanity is in these characters. We’re talking about – people have used the word ‘stitch punk’ which I think is kind of funny. It’s in the press kit. There are these sort of mechanized rag dolls but they do represent humanity. I think the movie is really about the aftermath of something horrible that had happened and these characters rebuilding after that has happened and ultimately putting to rest the machines or the creations that had caused that problem. I feel this movie is more about hope and discovery and rebuilding life than it is about the end of life per se.

You did a Spyro Video Game. Are they doing a movie now also?

Elijah Woods: I don’t know. I’ve not heard that.

I saw that online.

Elijah Woods: Really? Spyro, the movie?

Yeah.

Elijah Woods: I don’t know. Maybe. I haven’t heard.

Was there anything in seeing the finished product that surprised you?

Elijah Woods: I was surprised how scary it was. Some of those action sequences are really scary and also the machines. The Seamstress is so creepy. The Cat Beast is really scary. Those action sequences I found to be more visceral and intense than I’d expected them to be.

Was the darkness and the dark humor in it something that interested you in participating in the project? Did that resonate with you?

Elijah Wood: Yeah, totally. I think we have, and we’ve established this over many, many years, but the United States and their relationship with animation tends to be more geared towards families and children. There are exceptions certainly to that rule. Pixar does a beautiful job of teetering on the edge of both. They appeal to families and children, but they also appeal to adults. But, there are so many animated movies that are just for families, it seems, whereas, in Japan, if you go to Japan, there are movies like Akira and Ghost in the Shell that are like adult movies in the animation medium. That’s definitely something that appealed to me about this particular film.

It felt like it was separating itself from some of the typical animation fare that we’re used to and appealing to a wider audience, an audience that might go see this kind of thing if it weren’t animated. The darkness, or maybe some of the more intense or adult themes, interested me as well. But, there’s also just the world. Shane definitely created something that is familiar but is also quite different. We haven’t seen these characters before. The fact that he made that short film over the course of four years and it was his college thesis is fascinating. He did it all by himself.

What inspired Yo Gabba Gabba? I have a 4-year-old brother that was watching it and all of a sudden I saw you pop on. It was a complete surprise…

Elijah Woods: Do the Puppet Master.

Just in case you haven’t seen it, here is a boot-legged version, the original seems to be lost in a sea of remakes…

Was there an argument between Lift Your Leg, Lift Your Other Leg and Lift Your Right Leg, Lift Your Left Leg?

Elijah Woods: I don’t know. I came into that because I know one of the producers on it. When they were trying to get people to do the pilot, he asked me if I wanted to do it and I was busy at the time. But then they came back around when they got the deal with Nickelodeon, like “Do you want to be on an episode?” And I just loved what they were doing. I just thought for a children’s TV show, it was pretty amazing to have Biz Markie do a human beatbox of the day and Mark Mothersbaugh doing drawings that come to life. I just thought that’s the coolest TV show ever. They just asked me to do it.

Check out Elijah Wood as ’9′ in 9 on 9-9-09!

Video Interview with Shane Acker – Director of 9

Mali Elfman — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:58:36 +0000

It’s almost time for the release of Shane Acker‘s first animated feature film, 9, produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and starring Elijah Wood. For those of you who have yet to hear about Acker, his story is a Hollywood dream come true, but that’s not to say that he hasn’t dedicated his life to making this film. To make a long story short extremely short, it took Acker ten years to get 9 to the big screen.

Much like how District 9 director Neill Blomkamp got his film off the ground with help from Peter Jackson, 9 began with Burton and Bekmambetov seeing something great in Acker’s short film which took him 6 years and his own time and money to create. The feature film, though much longer and with more characters, only took him about 4 years to put together, thanks to his producers support and added budget.

A little while ago we got to sit down and talk to Acker one on one about creating his dementedly gorgeous film, ripping off his producers and even the possibility of a sequel. Check out what he had to say below…

Part 1: Working with Burton and Bekmambetov, and stealing their ideas…

Part 2: Before Acker was a film-maker, he was an architect, and it shows…

Part 3: In Acker’s short film, his characters did not speak. In his film not only do they speak, but more are added. Find out why…

Part 4: Chance of 10?

Part 5: Run time. Ever want it to be longer? Because we wanted/needed more!

If you like this, find out what Acker, Burton and Bekmambetov had to say about the film at Comic-Con.

9 will be in theaters on 9-9-09! Will you go to see it?

Tim Burton, Shane Acker, and Timur Bekmambetov for 9

Mali Elfman — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:31:18 +0000

I’ll be honest, this press conference for 9 has been waiting to be posted since last week. It wasn’t intentionally put aside, in fact it’s probably one of the most interesting press conferences to come out of Comic-Con with three of the most creative minds in the film industry Tim Burton, Shane Acker, and Timur Bekmambetov.

Much like how District 9 director Neill Blomkamp got his jump start from Peter Jackson, 9 started by two film giants Burton and Bekmambetov seeing something great in Acker and creating an environment and budget for him to make this movie.

Check out the interview below…

Tim, this is a very unique project. How did you get involved with this?

Tim Burton: Well I saw Shane’s short film and it just blew me away. It was amazing. After going through stuff myself trying to get movies made and people complaining like “Why doesn’t the character have any eyeballs?” and things like that, I think our goal was to just let Shane make his movie.

Did you get this financed as an independent film?

Shane Acker: Yeah, it was a negative pick-up. I mean, the idea was I guess Focus guaranteed the money to buy the film as long as it met X amount of criteria at the end which kind of gave us the creative space to make the film that we wanted outside of their direct input or involvement, although they were definitely involved in the process. We were doing it at such a modest budget that we were able to take the risks and do the things that we really wanted to do and explore in this medium that is typically a medium designed for more family oriented material.

How do you do an animated film with a low budget these days?

Tim Burton: We did it.

Shane Acker: Well, yeah. You just find the right creative team and you make the right decisions as you’re going forward and just be really dedicated to the project and be conservative about your design but not let it be really…because we’re making a world…

Tim Burton: You did your short pretty much in your basement or garage. Right?

Shane Acker: Yeah. I think the technology is in the hands of artists now. You don’t need a whole studio like Pixar in place to do these films. You can take the software and put the team together and make these films yourself, and I think it’s a pretty exciting time because it’s not about the technological challenge now. It’s just about the stories and what is the story that you want to tell.

Did you teach Tim that movies can be made for a lot cheaper?

Tim Burton: Oh yeah. I mean, it’s great. It does allow a certain freedom that you don’t get when you’re dealing with big budget studio [films]. Fair enough. This was such a pleasure. They made the movie and it just was such a pleasure to see if he’d be able to do it and do what they wanted to do without any negative involvement with things. So, it was very liberating to see this process happen.

Where did you get the inspiration for this film?

Shane Acker: I got the inspiration from a lot of stop-motion filmmaking – the Brothers Quay, John Stuckmeyer and the Eastern European sensibility of stop-motion filmmaking as well as Tim Burton’s projects in stop-motion. I just love that world. I love the tactile quality. I love the texture and the motion that that creates. When I was starting the short, a lot of the animated films were really clean, pristine, soft and pastel and it just doesn’t speak to me. It doesn’t speak to that kind of quality and the tactile nature, the organic kind of decayed nature that I really saw that the world of this film would take. I initially started playing with stop-motion and then realized that with the facility at UCLA, I wasn’t going to be able to do the kind of cinematography and the camera moves and the visual storytelling that I wanted so I quickly went into the CD world but I took with it all that quality of stop-motion. I even designed the characters as you would a stop-motion armature so that they’d behave — you know, metal behaves the way metal behaves and cloth behaves the way cloth behaves. I think that lended a kind of believability to the film. People often ask me “How’d you combine stop-motion with CG? How did you do it?” And I go, “No, it’s all in the computer.” It’s just that attention to detail that makes it believable, I think.

How long did it take you to make your short film?

Shane Acker: (laughs) 4-1/2 years.

How long did it take to make your feature film?

Tim Burton: (laughing) 4-1/2 years.

Shane Acker: 3 years actually so it’s shorter to make the feature.

What was it about the movie that made you spend 4-1/2 years on it? What did you learn about yourself during that process?

Shane Acker: Well I think that’s when I discovered that I was a …

Tim Burton: (interrupting) You can’t. The mind of an animator, you don’t have enough time to understand that.

Shane Acker: That’s when I discovered that I was an artist because I could not, not do it. You know what I mean? It’s like I could not walk away from it once I started. I had to see it through. I have all the best and worst qualities of an animator to be that venal and attentive. Around year 3 it started psychologically affecting me. It’s like, “Will I ever get out from underneath this thing?” I was like, “Oh my God, I’ve got cancer. I’m going to die before this thing is done.” All this psychological stuff really starts to affect you and you know your wife is like, “How are you going to finish that?” and everyone is like, “Are you still working on that film?” “I’m still married, yeah.” But somewhere around 3 I just started telling people, they’re like, “When are you going to finish that film?” and I said, “Oh, two weeks.” “Two weeks! Really?” And then a couple weeks would go by, a month would go by, and they’d come back and ask “Are you finished with that film?” and I’d say, “In two weeks, two weeks.” “Really?” And then they finally got the joke and just stopped asking.

Tim, do you remember ever working on a project that drove you crazy?

Tim Burton: I got out of animation because I couldn’t do that. To me, I just don’t have the patience for it and I was a very unhappy animator. In fact, when I was working at Disney, I slept half of the day. I learned how to sleep sitting at my desk in case they walked in. That’s why I admire what he’s done because it does take so much work. It’s an amazing feat for somebody to do this. It really is.

You and Timur are two very visionary filmmakers. What do you bring to the table? What do you offer Shane?

Timur Bekmambetov: I think you have to talk to Shane.

Shane Acker: Yeah, well what was great about it was that while the crew was working on it and we’re putting the thing together, whenever we got to a major milestone or we got a cut of the film, we’d present it to the filmmakers and it was great because they had that critical distance from being away from the project to see it in a big picture kind of way and give us those notes and really kind of shape the direction and give those notes that really cut to the core, to the heart of it, and allowed me to kind of step back and say “Oh wow, I can see this from a different point of view” and then be able to go back in with that new awareness and try to reshape it in other ways. Also, they were just a great resource when you had questions and you needed feedback and ideas.

Are there going to be any moments in the film that we’ll be looking at and say this is what Tim or Timur brought to the film? Are there any specific aspects or is it just a melding?

Shane Acker: I think it’s a melding. I can’t speak for Tim or Timur, but I think there’s a certain crossover of all our instincts as filmmakers. We’re sort of in tune in some way.

Tim Burton: I think I wouldn’t have gotten involved unless I didn’t really like what he did and I think that we all felt the same way that way. I’m not speaking for everybody but I think…

Timur Bekmambetov: Our role is just to protect him because as directors we know how…

Shane Acker: That’s right on the inside of your…

Timur Bekmambetov: Bodyguard.

Shane Acker: Let me give you a classic example. I had to argue. I had so many fights with Disney about changing the character’s, you know, Jack Skellington’s eye balls. You know, nobody is going to relate to a character that doesn’t have eyes. They’re just like, “Ahh, shit!” You know, it takes a lot out of you. So, I think for us, it was just absurd. You have enough to deal with when you’re making a film. You’ve got so much to deal with. You don’t need to deal with all that stuff.

If you’d like to do a film without all that interference, would you like to do an independent?

Tim Burton: I think making a film is a challenge in itself. No, I really enjoyed seeing this process. It really was a cathartic thing for me.

Was it fun being a mentor?

Tim Burton: I don’t feel that way. I don’t come into it like that. Again, for me, it was a very easy collaboration because we liked what Shane did so there was no controversy. Again, as Timur says, we were just there to kind of… If he wanted anything or to ask a question or show us something, whatever, we had that outside [perspective]…which is great in animation because you can get real tunnelvisioned in there and so it’s nice…

Shane Acker: (interrupting) You were going to make sure it didn’t take 4-1/2 years.

Tim Burton: (laughing) Just for his own sake.

Timur Bekmambetov: Personally, I learned a lot from Shane. It was an interesting process for me and I learned a lot of interesting things for myself.

So, with short films, they can take years and be really tedious. What inspired you to want to make this into a feature film?

Shane Acker: Well, there’s always an idea of the back story and the larger picture behind the short. I think what people were attracted to in the short and the solid potential of doing a feature is that it seems like a little slice out of some larger narrative. So, there were already ideas gestating about the back story and the world and how these characters came to be. It was really exciting to then get the backing to explore that – you know, expand that little idea into something much bigger and that territory that was already there when I was designing the short to see what was really there. There were these sort of broad strokes and gestures. And then, the idea of being able to see what those other creatures are like because in the short there’s just ‘5’ and ‘9’ and then in the feature we can see all 9 of those characters which was really a lot of fun to explore who those characters were and where they came from. It’s really a journey of self-discovery where they’re trying to find out who they are and it is looking back on the past at what happened to the humans that they discover who they are and what their role is. So, there’s just a lot of really fun territory to explore. So, I think that’s what reenergized me to keep going.

Will there be a sequel?

Shane Acker: ‘10’.

Tim Burton: That’s right.

Timur Bekambetov: They didn’t save the world, those dolls. They still…

Tim Burton: I think it’ll be ‘9 Squared’.

You spent all this time on the concept and the idea for the characters. When you bring in actors to bring these characters to life, how does that change the story?

Shane Acker: What’s nice about animation and also a little hair raising is that it’s always a process. It always is. You would have a session with the actors and they would bring a lot of their material and we would leave it pretty open and we’d explore the character and dialogue and then you’d run back to your secret lab with that and then you start to play with that material and see what comes out of it and you make new discoveries and you go back and do the process over again. So, I think that was always really exciting because you collaborate on every level which is great and the film just kind of organically shapes itself. They brought a tremendous amount to the table and we actually sought the actors who had the characteristics of the characters that we were portraying. We wanted them to speak in a very naturalistic way and it’s not as pushed as some animation and it’s not as broad. You learn a lot from that. They’re sort of the first round of the acting and they give you a lot of raw material and then you also work with the animators which do another level of acting on top of that so you’re always fleshing these characters out.

Was it helpful having two people like Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov involved in the project. Did that bring you any sort of cache?

Shane Acker: Oh, I’m sure. Definitely. Tim was involved very early in the project and I think that’s what really got the ball rolling and got people excited and interested in the project.

Tim Burton: These actors are all great. I mean, I was impressed by what they brought. The easiest thing with animation is to over … kind of broad… I think that’s just the nature of it. They all did a really great job of making it really natural. That’s one of the things that I really like about the film and the animation as well. It’s got that stop-motioney kind of … but naturalistic. It’s a film of power that I thought was really amazing.

Shane Acker: I think it really helps the audience begin to go past the abstract character designs and really start to see the humans inside these characters which is a big thrust of the film. It’s the concept of the film.

How would you say this film is different from whatever we’ve seen before?

Shane Acker: I don’t know. This is just how I think. This is the thrust that I have, the interest I have in animation. For me, it’s what I think animation should be. I’m just expressing myself. Hopefully, if people like and engage in it, it will open the door for other possibilities to explore and expand.

Tim Burton: You don’t see many personal animated films. That’s what makes it special. It’s Shane’s thing. It’s really nice to see something [like this]. It’s like when you go to see an independent film and it’s got somebody’s stamp of their thing. You rarely see that in animation so that’s good.

Shane Acker: Yes. Speaking of that, I didn’t set out to shake the foundation of animation. I just kind of set out to tell the story that I wanted to tell and the world I wanted to tell with the characters and the way I see things. But also, it’s exciting to see that something like this can come out and get the backing. I’m very excited.

Has this project opened up doors for you?

Shane Acker: It has. People are really excited by this. It was great because we were flying so low and under the radar and it just sort of bubbled up to the surface and people were really excited and they gravitated to it. Like, what is this thing and where did it come from? It’s fascinating. It’s interesting. And I think it’s generated a lot of excitement in the industry.

Tim Burton: That’s a rarity too. And unfortunately, that won’t happen again. Enjoy it because it’s amazing to be under the radar. It’s the best thing in the world. Enjoy it before it’s too late.

Timur Bekmambetov: No responsibility.

Shane Acker: That’s right.

What other projects do you have coming up after this? Will there be a Wanted 2?

Timur Bekmambetov: It’s happening. I think the second movie will be in production soon.

Is Angelina Jolie signed up for it?

Timur Bekmambetov: We’re trying to wake her up but it’s difficult. She was wounded. We’re trying hard to wake her up.

Tim, have you ever been to Comic-Con before and how have you found the experience?

Tim Burton: I did come a long time ago. It obviously surprised me how big it is now. I mean, that really surprised me. But, it’s still passionate people, still dressed in funny costumes. It’s great. It really is a special energy here. It’s like the Cannes Film Festival. I saw the lines and I couldn’t believe it.

I’m curious if that community has reached out to this film or if you’re trying to reach out to them?

Shane Acker: They haven’t reached out to me directly but I’m a big fan of that world. You can see there’s a lot of inspiration from that kind of world in this film. I don’t know. I haven’t seen any rag dolls walking around yet.

Will the short appear on the DVD?

Shane Acker: Yes. It will be packaged on the DVD.

Can we see it now online anywhere?

Shane Acker: I think there’s a bootleg on YouTube. I don’t really promote that. You should see it in full quality but I think that’s possible.

Be sure to check out the film, in theaters September 9th.

Round Up: Comic Con Film Photos

Krystal Clark — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:25:26 +0000

This Thursday will mark the first official day of San Diego Comic Con 2009. Leading up to this event has been the massive promotion of any and everything in the genres of sci-fi, horror, and of course comic books. Entertainment Weekly really took the reigns this year and put out an entire issue dedicated to the convention, and released several exclusive photos from the films.

Iron Man 2 landed on the cover of the special issue, and debuted Scarlett Johannson as the sexy assassin, Black Widow.
Kick-Ass and Zombieland showcased several photos from the upcoming comic adaptation and horror film.
Alice in Wonderland debuted some beautiful images including Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter.

More after the jump.

The Tim Burton produced 9 is promoted in this issue, and will mark the first appearance of Burton at Comic Con.
The disaster film 2012, is all about devastating visuals and this photo does not disappoint.

To checkout the full gallery of Entertainment Weekly’s Comic Con photos click here.

Which film being promoted at Comic Con are you the most excited to see?

Comic-Con 2009: Focus Features 9 Panel

Krystal Clark — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:17:03 +0000

3:44: We just saw another trailer and that’s all folks!

3:41: Burton says that even though a lot of his films have Gothic themes, he doesn’t consider himself a dark storyteller. He got involved with 9, because he wanted to see the film on the big screen.

3:35: Timur said he doesn’t think there will be any other films in the Day Watch series. The crowd let out a be sigh. I guess those films mean a lot to people here.

3:33: Shane Acker responds to whether or not he’s worried about the film flopping, since it’s an animated festure with darker content. He thinks the strength is in the story, and animation would be the only way to do it.

3:27: Producer/director: Timur Bekmambetov confirmed that James McAvoy will return for Wanted 2, which will begin filming this year.

3:26: Burton says he has no plans to return to Ripley’s Believe or Not. He said he worked on it for 6 to 8 months, but he thinks it’s done. He suggests you go to the museum to get your Ripley’s fix. Oh, Tim and the awkward comedy.

3:24: Elijah discusses how he picks his parts.”When I initially approached about this project. I was given some type of conceptual package, with a script, synopsis, and the short. I was so in love with the short!”

3:19: That was kind of amazing. Jennifer Connelly’s character kicks ass!! She’s a martial artist who wears a bird’s skull on her head!

3:15: We’re about to get a clip! It takes place during the middle of the film. It’s when 9 and his friends try to go rescue “2″ from a old factory that’s being guarded by a mechanical monster of some sort.

3:10: Elijah Wood describes his character of 9: “He comes into the world innocent. The difference is that 9 has so much to figure out. He has to figure out a society that’s already established itself. He asks these questions that everyone else is afraid of.”

3:06: Acker says that the story in 9, centers on the characters quest to find out who they are and where they came from, and in order for them to do that they have to discover what happened to the humans in the past.

3:03: Aww, it’s Elijah Wood who has been looking the exact same for the past 10 years! And following him is Jennifer Connelly who looks great.

3:02: Director Shane Acker was just introduced, and of course Mr. Tim Burton who was here yesterday.

2:56: We just got the introduction to 9. They showed the trailer for the film, and it looks amazing!!

Focus Features has prevailed where several other production companies have failed. They’ve managed to get the Comic-Con recluse Tim Burton to come out and promote a film! This year will be the director/producer’s first trip to the annual convention and he has a good reason for it. Burton will be promoting the upcoming fantasy epic 9. He along with Timur Bekmambetov will be present along with the film’s director Shane Acker.

Some of the film’s voice talent will also appear at the panel including Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly. You can expect lots of goodies from the presentation, since there is so much talent packed on to one stage. We will be live blogging the event and posting the latest photos and video clips as the presentation rolls along.

The Focus Features 9 panel takes place on Friday, July 24 from 2:30 – 3:30 pm.

Make sure you continue to check back to our site for the latest news updates regarding the 9 panel, we will be live blogging from Hall H. You can also follow us on the official ScreenCrave Twitter, to get the most current news briefs! Stay tuned…..

Tim Burton Will Make His First Comic Con Appearance With 9

Krystal Clark — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:00:08 +0000

Who would have thought that someone who caters to the unconventional, comic book reading, art inspired viewing audience has never made an appearance inside the sacred halls of San Diego’s annual Comic Convention? Tim Burton, a man who has been in the business for a couple of decades is nearly a Comic Con virgin. According to an exclusive interview he gave to MTV, the director will finally make an appearance this year to promote his much anticipated film, 9.

By looking at Burton’s work, you can see an obvious correlation between the comic book and graphic novel world. He even directed and produced a few Batman movies in the eighties and early nineties. According to the director he did make a trip to Comic Con earlier in his life, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“I went when I was a student at CalArts,” he told MTV News. “I’ll never forget this, and it’s probably why I haven’t been back since, because it was so terrifying. They had a slideshow for the original ‘Superman,’ and in the middle of it some fan gets up and just very angrily goes, ‘Superman would not change into his costume on the ledge of a building! You are destroying the mythology of Superman!’ And he got up and walked out, followed by other people. That scared the s–t out of me! So I haven’t been back since then.”

I agree some fans can be a bit over the top when it comes to their favorite characters. I’ve been guilty of that myself, but I’d never go that far! No wonder the younger Burton was severely traumatized. But thank God that time heals all wounds, and he is ready to step back onto Convention soil. Burton is one of the producers for 9, which focuses on “a group of small, Frankenstein-esque clockwork creations as they battle an army of machines that has destroyed the world.” The film is directed by Shane Acker and will make it’s debut in theaters nationwide on September 9.

Die hard comic book fans take note. You can seriously damage Comic Con newbies with your outlandish behavior. We’re all adults here, let’s not interrupt presentations or stomp in our rubber Superman boots when everything doesn’t go your way. There might be a future director in the audience that you may traumatize for life!

Are you excited about Tim Burton’s first appearance at Comic Con?

Movie Posters: Zombieland, Toy Story 1 and 2, Taxidermia, and 9

Anet Hovhanesian — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:39:40 +0000

Posters galore! Thanks to /Film, we have a bunch of new posters for your viewing pleasure. From the one sheet teaser for Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland starring Abigail Breslin and Bill Murray and the combo image for the 3-D re-release of Toy Story 1 & 2′s which starts on October 2 of this year. The most interesting poster of the bunch if for the movie 9 where you don’t know exactly what you are looking, but for some reason, you know it will have greater meaning soon enough. Then finally there is the poster for Taxidermia, which is Gyorgy Palfi’s sick twisted story of three three men, which after being released in 2006 will finally be hitting US theaters in 2009.

View poster gallery below:

Which poster is your favorite?

Character Poster For Shane Acker’s 9

Anet Hovhanesian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:15:15 +0000

Number 8′s character poster for Shane Acker’s movie 9 has just debuted. The character, voiced by Fred Tatasciore, is seen armed with a giant kitchen cleaver and half a scissor blade. Although he is not the brightest tool in the shed, he can do some damage with it. Number 8 was created to help the others physically survive the dangerous, post-apocalyptic world for which 9 takes place in.

Acker is the writer and director of the film. He previously did animated shorts The Hangnail and The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade. The movie also includes voices by Jennifer Connelly, Elijah Wood, and John C. Reilly.

Check out the poster in its entirety below!

This is the only poster, other than the official poster for the movie, to debut to the public. The film is set to be released September 9th of this year. Who knows, maybe they are counting down (we’ve seen the character 9 (Wood) and now we see number 8 (Tatasciore) maybe 6 is next.

Tell us what you think? Do you want more character posters for the movie?

New One Sheet for 9

Mali Elfman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:45:29 +0000

FilmSchoolRejects just posted a new poster for the Shane Acker‘s upcoming film, 9 produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

One thing is for sure. This film is going to look absolutely amazing. Just from looking at this poster you can tell that you’re in for a treat. From the use of colors and the dark and tragic tone, to the honest facial expression on the character face, this poster looks likes a pieces of art. I can’t wait to see it on the big screen in all it’s glory.

Check out the full poster below…

Hey look! Pamela Pettler the screenwriter got a mention on the poster! Could it be that someone out there actually cares that much about their writer? Good sign!

The film is “a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened” and has voices by Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Elijah Wood, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, and more.

The film will be in theaters on September 9th.

What do you think of the poster?

New 9 Illustrations

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:00:26 +0000

After Shane Acker‘s fantasy film 9 received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film, Acker decided that a feature film was needed and this year we will get to see 9 in action. The story about a group of rag dolls living in a post-apocalyptic world and 9 (Elijah Wood) is the leader of the rag-doll posse. This year, Acker’s short film turned feature film has help from the Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, as co-producers, and co-writer Pamela Pettler from Corpse Bride.

Check out the highly descriptive photo below…

Images courtesy of Empire, and MTV.

This photo looks like a manual to a new computer, or a robotic rag-doll. It is very descriptive, which means we can only imagine how detailed the film will be. When creating a character you must know absolutely everything about them, from their shoe size to what their favorite food is, and from the looks of it, Acker knows just about everything about his fantasy rag-dolls.

What do you think?

New Trailer for 9

Mali Elfman — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:55 +0000

A new trailer for Shane Acker’s upcoming CG-animated adventure 9 has made it’s way onto the internet. It’s amazing how you can see producers Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, and Jim Lemley in the film, and yet it’s completely Academy Award winner Shane Acker’s creation. Sometimes, it’s good to have a lot of creative minds all working towards one goal!

The first trailer and clip absolutely blew me away, this one is no different. Check it out below…

The film is “a surreal tale [that] takes place in a world parallel to our own, a post-apocalyptic fantasy in which a band of courageous rag dolls battles for the survival of civilization.” The film features voices by Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Elijah Wood, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, and more.

What do you think of the new trailer? Better than the first trailer?

ScreenCrave.com » 9

9: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 7.3

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