MOVIES
Full movie. Appropriate for all ages.
Technical difficulties. You can still watch the series by using the other link though.
The Future is Wild
2002 • Animated • Docufiction
A 3D animated documentary about how animals might evolve millions of years in the future. Originally airing on Animal Planet, it used glorious cheesy 90s CGI combined with scientifically informed speculation to depict a possible future for Earth's wildlife. While much of it is quite silly, it has a ton charm and there's some interesting ideas in there.
This is actually part of a niche genre of fiction called "speculative evolution" which I'm a big fan of, and it's also a source of nostalgia for many. Not me, though, I only watched it for the first time in my early 20s.
The Future is Wild also has a series made from parts of the original documentary mixed with new footage (YouTube Link), as well as a children's cartoon series. There was even a manga!
Full movie. Appropriate for all ages.
Alien Planet
2005 • Animated • Docufiction
Another one of those "speculative evolution" documentaries, this time based on a book by Wayne Barlowe titled "Expedition". The original book was a field guide describing an astronaut's experiences on the planet Darwin IV, filled to the brim with beautiful oil paintings of the various fauna encountered on this journey.
The animated adaptation depicts a few of the creatures from the book, but it doesn't go into as much detail about their biology and behaviors as the original writing does. Still, it's a good watch if you just want to see some cool aliens and the pseudo-documentary format helps to add a layer of immersion to it all.
Full movie. Rated 14+
Contains disturbing subject matter.
When the Wind Blows
1986 • Animated • Disaster
The story of an elderly British couple who are living during the cold war era, constantly in fear of a potential nuclear strike on their country. I won't talk too much about the specifics of this movie, just know that it's a disturbingly believable depiction of such an event and that it gets very grim.
From a technical perspective, the movie does some cool things by mixing 2D animated characters with stop-motion environments. The two mediums are blended together in a way that feels quite natural and must've been hard to accomplish. The voice acting is also pretty good, taking on an almost ad-libbed tone that helps it feel more organic.
But what stuck out the most to me about this movie after rewatching it was that the subject matter was still as relevant as ever. From the fear of escalating wars to the depiction of ordinary citizens struggling to adapt to new ways of life during hardship, everything felt a little too familiar.
The City of the Lost Children / La Cité des Enfants Perdus
1995 • Live Action • Science Fantasy, Adventure
This is a wild film, twisted and surreal with dark humor and some pretty impressive art direction to boot. It's a French movie about a mad scientist who is trying to slow his rapid aging by using the dreams of kidnapped children. One of these children is the younger brother of a street-performing strongman, and the strongman has set out to go rescue him.
The setting is super cool, it's like a more whimsical version of Dishonored if you've ever played that game. A dieselpunk town by the sea with loads of cast iron walkways, steel rivets and sketchy back alleys. I really can't describe how amazing the set design is.
The tone of the film is all over the place (in a good way), with exaggerated acting and childish humor in one scene followed by surprisingly brutal violence in the next. It has a style of cinematography that is very "90s", making liberal use of fish eye lenses and dutch tilts. It's a lot of fun to watch.
Check this one out if you're in the mood for something a little wackier.
Tekkonkinkreet
2006 • Animated • Drama, Action
A collaboration between an American director and a Japanese studio, this half-anime follows the stories of various parties of people who live in the eclectic Treasure Town. Mainly it's about two homeless orphans, but also Yakuza members, law enforcement officers, and slimy rich business men.
The art style is unique and the background paintings are especially amazing, really helping to sell the gritty and eccentric nature of Treasure Town. Watch it in english - that's actually the original language it was animated for, and the voice actors do a good job.
This is possibly my favorite movie of all time, tied with Coraline, which I won't include on this page because everyone already knows about that movie.
Mirrormask
2005 • Live Action • Fantasy Adventure
A (relatively) low budget fantasy adventure about a girl who has been whisked away to a surreal world and has to find out how to get back home. It might seem like a fairly ordinary movie for the first little while before she enters the fantasy world, but after that it takes a sharp turn into a much more bizarre territory.
The story and writing is in firm "good enough" tier, not bad by any means but not really breaking any new ground either, but the art direction is the real reason why you'd want to watch this. The fantasy realm that the majority of the story takes place in is full of abstract architecture and wacky creatures, and it's all depicted using cheesy 3D animation and cheap looking costumes. It might sound like I'm trash talking the movie, and if you're looking for fine art then this ain't it, but honestly I just love the stylistic choices so much. You can tell they had some extremely creative minds working on this project and did their best to depict some crazy ideas with the resources that they had.
I wanna talk some more about the 3D animation too. Apparently, most of the animators were recent graduates of an art school near where the film was being made. These junior animators were all given major roles in animating the CGI elements of the movie, each one being given a different full scene to work on by themselves. Normally in the film industry, many different people with many different areas of expertise will all come together to make a single VFX shot. For example: compositing, lighting, character modelling, rigging and animation would likely all be done by separate individuals. So, the way in which Mirrormask allowed each of these young animators to work on full scenes by themselves really allowed them to inject some individualism and creative freedom into their work. As somebody who also went to animation school, I gotta say that this sounds like it would've been an awesome experience for those animators, I'm envious but proud of them.
So yeah, it's a light-hearted and somewhat cheesy movie with some very creative (if not low budget) fantasy visuals. You'll probably like it, assuming your soul has not entirely shrivelled up yet.
Full movie. Rated 18+
Contains gore and brief sexual content.
Penda's Fen
1974 • Live Action • Folk Horror
I'll just go ahead and say it, most people will find this movie to be too boring to finish. It's a stuffy 1970s British "television play" where most of its runtime is comprised of long, quiet scenes and dry discussions about British prehistory. The manner in which it presents itself can be difficult to follow too - it's one of those movies that benefits from multiple viewings.
At first, it's about a young conservative man whose personal values are challenged when he begins to acknowledge his homosexuality. But soon, many other elements of his life are tinged with uncertainty and confusion as he gets exposed to concepts that make him think of old things in new ways.
Horror is not the film's main focus - it is more about exploring the Pagan elements of Britain's history and how they clash with the nation's modern identity. But it does this through subjecting the main character to rather frightening hallucinations that combine surreal imagery with religious iconography. These hallucinations occur completely out of the blue, without warning, in a manner that can make this movie feel like some kind of unpleasant dream.
Writing about this movie is difficult, it's a very unique film and I don't think a simple written description can really do it justice. Luckily, the full thing is available above in HD, so feel free to watch it yourself and form your own opinions.
Metropia
2009 • Animated • Mystery, Sci-fi
This is definitely a weirder entry, and one that I have only recently discovered. It's about a guy living a typical depressing city life in a dystopian near-future, until one day he starts hearing a voice in his head which takes him on a wacky adventure.
The way I would describe the overall tone of this movie is "tinfoil hat-esque". Subject matter includes mass surveillance, gangstalking and mind control experiments. Its weird animation style adds to its uncanny vibe, with photoshopped images puppeteered around in a way that might bring to mind some of David Firth's work.
It's not for everyone, nor is it a perfect movie, but it's noteworthy and interesting and that's why I decided to include it here.
SHORTS
F8
2001 • Animated • Sci-fi
This is a very interesting short. There's clearly a lot going on in this sci-fi world, but with the short runtime and lack of dialogue, we never get to learn what those "goings on" are. Thankfully, many of your questions can be answered by the content that came bundled with the physical DVD release. The DVD's bonus features share a ton of information and insight into what is happening in this fictional world.
↓ Click the link below to see some cool behind the scenes content and lore from the world of F8! ↓
F8 DEEP DIVE
The art direction is phenomenal, it's peak early 2000s CGI. The story themes and visual style really remind me of Oddworld. Honestly, this is the type of shit I aspire to make one day - it's one of my favorite 3D animations ever.
Angler
2021 • Animated • Sci-fi, Action
A neat little student film made by somebody who would later work on a video game called 'Raw Metal', which I am currently playing through so that I can write up an entry for it in the GAMER ZONE.
It's short and simple so there's not a ton for me to say about it, I just liked it and wanted to include it here. It brings me back to my time in animation school.
Indistinct Chatter 1 - Have You Ever Seen a Cow?
2022 • Animated • Surreal Horror
This is a continuation of the "COTN Incident" story presented by the "KrainaGrzybowTV" YouTube channel, a channel which is already well-known for its "Smile Guide" videos. Unfortunately, this masterpiece seems to have so far gotten less attention.
The premise is interesting - I'll try to explain. The video above depicts the manifestation of a rare television phenomenon called "Indistinct Chatter". This phenomenon, from what I understand, is when the signals used to broadcast closed captioning subtitles begin to receive interference from an unknown third party. This "third party" sends massive amounts of information through the closed captioning signals in an extremely compressed format, unreadable to the TVs receiving it. Most of the time, this simply results in the captions displaying the phrase "indistinct chatter" instead of the correct subtitles. But on rare occassions, TVs are able to rapidly de-compress and read this information, resulting in the airing of an utterly bizarre fever dream of a broadcast.
The phrase "fever dream" gets tossed around all the time to describe weird things, but it really feels like an accurate descriptor for this video. A blurry mixture of childhood memories, old commercials, vague nostalgia and frightening hallucinations, there's no point in trying to describe the exact feeling this video taps into because there's nothing else to compare it to.
I don't know, man. Just watch the fuckin thing already. It's implied that this is the first episode of a series, and I'd love to see more, but I imagine it'll take a long while for the next episode to come out. So in the meantime, this standalone video goes in the "Shorts" section.
The Centrifuge Brain Project
2011 • Live Action • Docufiction
This is like the "light side" version of Metalosis Maligna, listed below. It was produced in a similar style and released sort of around the same year, but its subject matter is much more light-hearted. Basically, some crazy scientist finds out that subjecting the human brain to certain patterns of g-forces can drastically improve cognitive capibilities. So, naturally, he goes on to build all sorts of insane amusement park rides to try and unlock a higher level of consciousness in the riders.
The VFX were pretty convincing for the time, but nowadays I'd say they've started to age. Nevertheless, this short is still as effective as ever. Seeing the insane, physics defying rides of impossible scale in this video really captures the imagination, and quite frankly also feels fairly unnerving to watch. Was it supposed to be creepy? I don't know, but it's really cool!
Warning: Contains graphic body horror
Metalosis Maligna
2006 • Live Action • Docufiction, Horror
Unfortunately, this is the highest resolution version of this video that I can find - message me if you know of a better one.
Metalosis Maligna is a disturbing but well made fake documentary about an imaginary disease. This disease is caused by a type of bacteria which lives on metal implants in the human body, such as hip replacements or fillings, and basically causes the implants to grow uncontrollably in a similar manner to cancer cells. This leads to the horrific end result of a human being with jagged metal roots aimlessly spreading throughout their body. It's a very well done piece of horror fiction, but don't watch it if you're bothered by medical gore.
SERIES
Plasmo
1997 • Animated • Sci-fi
This is an Australian stop-motion animated children's show. It has thirteen episodes which are each five minutes in length. You can watch the first episode above and the rest can be found in this Youtube playlist.
Plasmo tells the story of a pair of aliens who are stranded on a desert planet, trying to build a tower of scrap metal to reach the moon in order to escape. After the first few episodes, the show switches from a single main storyline into smaller self-contained stories for each episode.
A show aimed at younger children might seem out of place on this list, but I'm recommending it for a reason. Take a look at the first episode and you'll immediately notice that it has an interesting tone, and I couldn't help but notice how impressive some of the environmental vistas are. The show is very charming and it's just kinda nice to watch something chill like this every once in a while. Consider it a break from the more adult-oriented films I've talked about.
BattleBots
2000 - Present • Live Action • Sports(?)
The only kind of sport I can actually get into... ROBOT COMBAT! It's pretty self explanatory, people build robots and then they fuckin obliterate each other in an arena.
These sorts of shows used to be really underwhelming when they first got their start about twenty years ago, back then amateur robot builders had no idea what they were doing which often resulted in very slow and boring "fights". But nowadays, things are quite different. With new inventions like 3D printing and advancements in battery technologies, as well as years of trial and error, the newer episodes of the show have become much more eventful. (See above video.)
Aside from the childish enjoyment derived from watching things go boom, the "meta" aspect of the show is also fun to get into. The robots slowly evolve each year as teams make adjustments in between seasons, finding out what works and what doesn't. Every once in a while someone tries some wacky new design that usually fails miserably but it's always fun to watch.
Each robot is like its own character, sporting a distinct visual theme which is often mirrored by the costumes worn by the crew who built it. I enjoy reading through the profile each robot has on the official site, it's a good way to get to know each team and to get a sense of the variety of builds.
Unfortunately, this show is not legally available outside the United States. The BattleBots YouTube channel uploads plenty of clips, though, and if you look around hard enough on the internet I'm sure you could find some way to watch the episodes in full. For us non-americans, it seems to be the only option for now.
Planetes
2003 • Animated • Hard Sci-fi, Drama
A sci-fi anime about garbage collectors in outer space. Its depiction of near-future technology and life on a space station is done with realism in mind, placing it into "hard sci-fi" territory, something not commonly seen in animation. Though some might assume that this focus on believability and scientific accuracy might lead to a bland vewing experience, the show is actually quite entertaining and has a lot of soul. It's a very "human" story.
What I mean by that is that the show is less about cool spaceships and more about what it means to be a human being in such a vast and unforgiving universe. Besides its existential themes, the series also aims to criticize the artificial divisions humanity has created within itself - political factions, social classes, the uneven distribution of wealth and so on. When the Earth is viewed from space, there are no visible borders.
Though, as heavy as it can sometimes be, the atmosphere of the show is usually much more cheerful and lighthearted. There's plenty of corny jokes and goofy interactions between the main cast of characters. No single character is the protagonist, though throughout of the twenty six episode run, some certainly get more focus than others. Still, every character sees at least a little bit of development over the course of the series.
This is a must-watch for anyone who's a fan of grounded science fiction settings. It tells a very profound story and there really isn't much other animated media like it. The english dub is pretty decent and it's not hard to find places to stream this series so give it a chance!
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
2013 • Animated • Sci-fi
Another sci-fi anime. This time, it's about a soldier from a hyper-militaristic space faring society that has been locked in conflict with aliens for hundreds of years. An accident causes him to get whisked lightyears away from the rest of his people, and he ends up on a strange planet called... Earth. A place that was only rumored to exist, supposedly it's the birthplace of humanity??
Earth is completely flooded and the people who still live there have survived by building floating cities. These cities are built on top of giant boats like cargo tankers and aircraft carriers, which link to each other with crane-like arms. It's kind of like Waterworld if it were more cheerful and tropical, and less garbage.
The main conflict of this story is that the soldier guy and his cool AI mech suit companion have been raised from birth to be brainwashed soldiers with no free will, meanwhile the inhabitants of Earth live a much more laid back and natural life style. Since he's too far away to get back home, the soldier has to learn to integrate into Earth society. The show actually does a great job at depicting just how much difficulty he has doing this, he struggles to understand basic concepts like currency, "having fun", and so on. These things had no place in the war-obsessed world he came from.
Really, the show feels like it's about rejecting the fast-paced, technology-rich and draining lives that many of us lead and instead returning to a more fulfilling and wholesome way of living. A concept that is only becoming more relevant over time as our world grows increasingly "connected".
And, while this message is handled really well and there are some genuinely touching moments throughout the series, you do have to remember that this IS still an anime we're talking about here. So, in other words, it has the typical awkward fan service BS you might expect. It feels almost out of place in a show with a smart message like this, but anime's gotta do what anime's gotta do, I suppose. And as per usual, I recommend the dub over the sub. As long as a dub's voice actors aren't painfully bad, I say it's always better to watch and listen than to stare at the bottom of the screen and read.