Wednesday, April 8, 2009



A 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni.

The film begins with Lola receiving a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He works as a low-level courier for Ronnie, a local crime boss. Manni was supposed to bring 100,000 deutschmarks (the profits from some the ostensibly illicit sale of diamonds) to his boss. Lola fails to pick him up after the exchange due to her scooter being stolen that morning, so he had to take the subway. He panics when he sees some police officers on the subway and gets off of the train, accidentally leaving the bag with the 100,000 marks behind. The bag is picked up by a homeless person.

Manni has to deliver the 100,000 marks in 20 minutes or face punishment or get killed by his boss. Manni reveals to Lola that he plans to rob a nearby supermarket to get the money. Lola urges him to wait and tells him she will get him the money. Lola slams down her phone and starts to think about who can possibly help her. She decides to ask her father.

When I saw a clip of this movie in class I had never seen a movie like this before. It was very graphic, had a lot of points of views, camera angles, symbolism and animation no less. I thought it was interesting how the movie shows how every little aspect of your life matters and affects time. For example, when Lola ran into people in her first run we would see aspects from those peoples lives flash as she passed. She may have only been a blip their life but her running into them affected each person some how and affected how their day went. It makes people think what if this did not happen then that would not of happened and so on and so forth. It really makes a person think.

Graphic Novel




A line of twisted teddy bears created by Applehead Factory in 2003. The bears are supposed to represent old teddy bears that have been abandoned by their owners and become warped and rotted over time. There are two series of bears, as well as a set of miniature versions called "morgue minis". There is an animated short produced by Dave School and also a series of graphic novels published by Ape Entertainment that depict the "after lives" of the bears.

Credits:
Story- Jim Hankins
Art-Chris "Patch" Ell
Designed-Coyote Freeman
Color-Joe Diddmenico and Chris "Patch" Ell
Additional Design- Ryan Casey
Based on the charcaters by- Joe Diddmenico & Phil Nannay

Rita Mortis

"Filled with all this anger inside, I swing at what's in my way."

Rita Mortis is an angry white teddy bear with dark red eyes and wears a plaid jumper, wristbands and a pair of black boots. She has two facial piercings and three on each ear, as well as a tattoo of the Teddy Scares icon on her left upper arm. Rita was always known to stand out from the crowd. Her parents ignored her unruly behavior, thinking it was just a phase. Her death was a relief for those who could no longer deal with the troubled youth. Her family sighed, spit on her grave, and walked away. It was the most attention they had ever given her.

Abnormal Cyrus

"I've got my eye on you."

Abnormal Cyrus is a strange grey teddy bear with one green eye in the middle of his face, much like a cyclops monster. He wears a black and white striped shirt with olive green overalls.Cyrus was tormented as a child. He spent his days drawing pictures of people with no heads. Monday morning, his body was found hanging from his favorite tree. It was obvious that things would turn out this way. Always alone, rejected by society.

Redmond Gore

"I have no identity, just my axe."

Redmond Gore is a homicidal black teddy bear with a brown burlap sack over his head and a blue blood stained jumpsuit, bearing a close resemblance to Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th.Last week, Redmond's body was found lying near a dumpster with an axe by his side. No one is really sure how he died. Some say the cause of death was murder; murder of the mind. The doll comes equipped with a bear-sized plastic axe to hack something to pieces. Redmond was included in the first series of Morgue Minis.

Hester Golem

"I'm infested with slimy bugs that rummage through my body."

Hester Golem is a bizarre blue teddy bear missing an eye on the right side of his face and missing his flesh on the left, partially exposing his skull. He is dressed in a tattered dark green jacket and brown pants. There is a hole in his chest held together loosely with thread, which is full of rubber toy roaches. Hester was known to wander through abandoned houses. His remains were found at the bottom of a cardboard box with a worn edge. He leaves behind no family, but a lifetime full of nightmares.

Edwin Morose

"You stole my heart, so I carry yours as a souvenir."

Edwin Morose is a depressed red teddy bear with white eyes. He is dressed in a grey sweater with a red broken heart design on the front of it.

Edwin started his life as a love token. He served most his days on red satin sheets with the sweet smells of perfume and a daily hug from his beautiful owner. Then the day came when loyal Edwin was thrown into the trash. He cried himself asleep every night surrounded by the comfort of dried up roses, torn up memories and old love letters. He comes with a bouquet of bear sized wilted blue roses and a bag that contains his patched up broken heart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_scares

The reason I posted this graphic novel is because I was given a free edition by the Artist of the novel Chris "Patch" Ell, during the two days at the beginning of the semester that we did the workshops. He was one of several guest Illustrators who came to the Artist Trading Cards workshop. The actual series is only a mini series that is 4 editions long. I thought it was cool to meet him beacuse my sister likes the Teddy scares product.