Eclectic shorts
Lawrence C. Dehaan | Santa Maria , CA USA | 11/07/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This dvd is not what it appears to be . Yes the first short "Forest" clocks in at about 2 minutes, and is somewhat interesting in that it does resemble some of the qualities of the 'masters' supposed to be an influence, however the remaining shorts are not much more than hand held home movies shot on one's first vacation.The new Tim Burton, I hardly think so. Let's wait a few years before we start comparing ourselves to the Quays or Svankmajer or Tim Burton. I want my money back! Oh yeah, the music is not bad though. Keep trying!!"
Description Of My Work
albinofawn | Praha, CZ | 05/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This DVD contains many of the short hand crafted personal Experimental Narrative/Avant Garde films i made between 2001- 2006. Many of my films are hybrids of Live Action and rare techniques of Animation containing spiritual themes told from a surrealistic approuch. My work covers a wide range of themes, techniques, structures and cryptographic symbolism yet remains coherantly part of an overall aesthetic message or body. Those who might enjoy this DVD would probably be lovers of Hayao Miyasaki, Jan Svankmajer, Guy Maddin, Bros Quay and alas Tim Burton among others. Enjoy!"
Fairly disappointed
Jonathan Hart | chatsworth, ca | 11/27/2008
(1 out of 5 stars)
"after reading the product description, i had pretty high expectations for this. let me just tell you, these shorts have nothing in common with jan svankmajer, the brothers quay, or tim burton. they're mostly long meandering shots of landscapes. each short feels as long as kubrick's 2001. i also bought eric leiser's feature, "imagination" and liked it quite a bit. i suggest anyone interested in him buy imagination instead."
Rather lackluster collection
Walter Five | 13th Floor Elevator, Enron Hubbard Bldg. Houston T | 07/12/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This DVD features the stop-motion short "The Forest" as the first piece on this DVD, it is interesting, shows promise, but the rest of the DVD takes a steep dive from there-- there's some limited animation in the next few films, but the later features are little more than scored home movies of someone's trip in central Europe.
It is really rather too early in this animator's career for this sort of retrospective, this release was premature in 2006, and is frustratingly so in 2010. Maybe in another 10 years, when the animator has a wider body of work these early films will be more of interest in comparison, but right now, most of it is just stale amateur film that most people won't care to sit through. Comparisons to Jan Svankmajer, Jiri Barta, the Brothers Quay are equally premature based on the work shown in this DVD.
I only paid $2 + S&H for this, so I can't complain, "The Forest" is worth that, but I'll never watch the rest of the DVD again. Most but the most obsessive animation fan can take a pass on this DVD."