Awesome Kaptain Kristian

Serious fans of science fiction and anime might know already about the parallels that exist between Cowboy Bebop and Blade Runner, but not all of us were aware of the connections. Kaptain Kristian digs into the aesthetic and spiritual links between the two Tech Noir franchises in another of his fantastic video essays.

After a long hiatus, film essayist Kaptain Kristian is back with a great video about the subtle and not-so-subtle audiovisual tricks that Stanley Kubrick and music editor Gordon Stainforth pulled to intensify the horror and suspense of The Shining. As he mentions, it’s a film that masterfully reveals more with each viewing.

There’s so much to love about the style, stories, creatures, and characters in Hayao Miyazaki’s catalog of animated films. But what is it about these artful pieces of cinema that make them so dear to us? Kaptain Kristian digs into how Studio Ghibli breathes such life into every frame.

Kaptain Kristian is back with his latest “visual love letter,” a tribute to the animation of the Walt Disney Company. He explores a dozen different techniques Disney animators have used to make their creations lifelike, and that any animator could use to improve their craft.

Most films that take place in the future portray it as either stark or dystopian. On the other hand, Spike Jonze’s Her painted a picture of a hopeful future that seems more relatable. Kaptain Kristian explores how Jonze and production designer K.K. Barrett pulled it off.

Video essayist Kaptain Kristian explores the film that created the zombie genre as we know it today, and how the misstep of not displaying a copyright notice on George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead created a self-replicating monster all of its own.

While Zack Snyder’s big screen version wasn’t exactly the recipient of fan or critical praise, Kaptain Kristian reminds us just how difficult it was to transform Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic comic, which took advantage of the medium in ways a film could never do.

Video essayist Kaptain Kristian takes a look at one of our favorite animated shows ever, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and their writers infused the show with geek culture, intricate plots, one of the best comedic ensembles ever, and a balance of cynicism and hopefulness.

Entertainment essayist Kaptain Kristian takes a look at the work of Bill Watterson and his amazing, enduring series which offered humor that never dumbed itself down, and offered just as much amusement when we were kids as they do now that we’re grown up.