Ahoy, I'm Peter Tatara. In brief, I'm left-handed, a vegetarian, and my blood type is A. I work for the New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival and have a cute girlfriend and a Space: Above & Beyond boxset. I'm generally a happy guy.
- Created By ptatara
New York International Children's Film Festival Starts Feb 26!
The New York International Children's Film Festival is North America's largest festival of film for children and teens, and we're proud to spread the word that the 13th New York International Children's Film Festival runs from February 26 through March 21st -- and like previous years, the festial will shine a spotlight on some of the most important, ground-breaking anime of the past year.
This year's festival includes three major US Premieres... Summer Wars, Mai Mai Miracle, and Oblivion Island.
SUMMER WARS
NYICFF 2010 opens with a new feature from emerging anime star Mamoru Hosoda, a film whose “dazzling fluency of motion and untethered brilliance of invention makes the usual fantasy anime look childish and dull” (The Japan Times). Kenji is a teenage math prodigy recruited by his secret crush Natsuki for the ultimate summer job – passing himself off as Natsuki’s boyfriend for four days during her grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration. But when Kenji solves a 2,056 digit math riddle sent to his cell phone, he unwittingly breaches the security barricade protecting Oz, a globe-spanning virtual world where millions of people and governments interact through their avatars, handling everything from online shopping and traffic control to national defense and nuclear launch codes. Director Mamoru Hosoda will make a special guest appearance at the premiere.
Fri, Feb 26 at 6:00PM at DGA Theater
MAI MAI MIRACLE
This animated film about friendship and the passing of childhood is as “splendidly colorful and beautifully illustrated as a Monet landscape” (Hollywood Reporter). Shinko spends her days running barefoot among the endless green wheat fields in her small country village, imagining she is playing 1,000 years ago when the area was the local capital and home to a beautiful young princess kept hidden from society. Shinko gets a new partner for her games when she befriends Kiiko, a shy transfer student from Tokyo whose nice clothes and modern luxuries immediately set her apart from the other kids. Together, the two girls spend their afternoons daydreaming, building dams, chasing animals, and living an otherwise simple and idyllic life – until looming adolescent responsibility and harsh grown-up truths begin to encroach on their make-believe world of princesses and castles, and it becomes increasingly difficult to disentangle fantasy from reality.
Sat, Feb 27 at 5:30PM at Cantor Film Center
Sat, Mar 6 at 11:30AM at Symphony Space
OBLIVION ISLAND
The creators of Ghost in the Shell mix exquisitely detailed 2D backgrounds with modern 3D character designs in a dazzling animated adventure that plays like Alice’s fall through the rabbit hole into a world of topsy-turvy, anime dream-logic. When Haruka misplaces a hand-mirror that was a keepsake from her mother, she stumbles upon a portal to the subterranean world of Oblivion Island, a place where strange masked creatures gather up all the childhood trinkets humans abandon as they grow older, and attend Dream Theaters where they can watch and feel the memories locked in these forgotten objects. The land is ruled by an evil overlord, The Baron, who craves the power created by the memories locked in Haruka’s cherished hand-mirror – a power that will allow him to rise beyond his world of discards and take over the world of humans!
Sat, Feb 27 at 10:30AM at Cantor Film Center
Sat, Mar 6 at 4:30PM at Symphony Space
For more information and to order tickets, visit www.gkids.com.
Polysics! February 13! Gramercy Theatre!
Japan's Polysics are coming to NYC on February 13! Formed in 1997 by Japanese high school student Hiroyuki Hayashi, the Polysics are named after Hayashi's first keyboard, a Korg Polysix. After watching some live footage of Devo and becoming heavily inspired by new wave music of the West, Hayashi decided to quit his job and form a band that would expand on the cartoonish image and musical ideas of the zany art-punk icons he had seen on TV. He linked up with drummer Junichi Sugai and Sako (aka Poly 2), who took the role of singing vocoded robotic vocals and driving the low-end through a bass synthesizer, as well as Kayo, the antithesis of spastic performers, whose stoic, mechanical stage presence on the synthesizer and vocoder combined with the other members' frenetic live antics have melded into the unique stage dynamic the Polysics are known for today.
Want to learn more? Visit...
http://www.myspace.com/polysics
Want to go? Click here for tickets...
http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/416497
Year-Long Free Korean Movie Series Continues!
We mentioned earlier in the year that the Korean Cultural Service in Manhattan is hosting a year-long free movie series every other Tuesday night at the Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal). Seating is first come, first served basis. (Unless you RSVP at [email protected] or 212-759-9550.)
The next films in the series...
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 @ 7pm
BEAUTIFUL (2008, 88 minutes, New York Premiere)
With director Jun Jai-Hong
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 @ 7pm
BREATHLESS (2009, 131 minutes)
With director/writer/producer/star Yang Ik-June
TUESDAY, MARCH 9 @ 7pm
DIE BAD (2000, 98 minutes, New York Premiere)
TUESDAY, MARCH 23 @ 7pm
SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (2002, 129 minutes)
TUESDAY, APRIL 6 @ 7pm
PHONE (2002, 109 minutes)
PAX East Wants You!
While NYCC and NYAF aren’t until October, we’re cooking up an event in March for East Coast fanboys and fangirls -- PAX East.
And, with PAX East's registration and exhibit floor already at scary sizes, the PAX team has put the call out for more volunteers. If you love gaming and love Bean Town, click over to http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=109797 for details.
Winter Anime Day at Kinokuniya
There’s short notice on this one, fanboys and fangirls, but Kinokuniya Bookstore (1073 Avenue of the Americas) is hosting a Winter Anime Day this Saturday. Taking place at Kinokuniya from 1 to 6 PM on January 23, beyond being a safe space to cosplay in the cold of winter, it’ll also shine a spotlight on a few local women who’ve made a huge impact in the manga and anime worlds…
Reni-Chan – 1 PM
Meet NYC’s own singing cosplay maid, soon to be featured in her own Japanese documentary
Veronica Taylor – 1:30 PM
The original voice of Pokemon’s Ash speaks about how she distinguished herself in the voice acting field
Misako Rocks! – 2:00 PM
Manga artist Misako Rocks! was named a Woman of the Year by Japan’s Nikkei Woman magazine
Otis Brayboy – 2:40 PM
Otis has served as an animator and storyboard artist for Doug, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more
Mari Morimoto – 3:30 PM
The translator of Naruto, Inu-Yasha, and other popular manga will speak about Female Manga Artists and the evolution of Women's Comics in Japan
Samurai Beat Radio – 4:15 PM
Join Samurai Beat Radio for a live broadcast featuring clips from Visual K artist Charlotte
Cosplay Karaoke – 5 PM
Nuff said
Raffle -- 5:45 PM
Enter all day, and be at Kinokuniya at 5:45 for your chance to win
The New York Anime Festival and New York Comic Con are contributing prizes to Kinokuniya’s Winter Anime Day, and NYAF Programming Manager Peter Tatara will act at the day’s Master of Ceremonies. Get your parka and your anime on this Saturday at Kinokuniya! Yatta!
