If you live in the Los Angeles area, you’ll finally have your chance to see Bill Plympton’s new animated feature, Hair High, this Friday at the Laemmle’s Sunset 5 in West Hollywood. The limited engagement will run from April 13 through April 19, with several surprise guests expected at the premiere on Friday at 7:35 p.m. Plympton himself will appear in person at both night shows on Friday and Saturday to draw sketches for everyone in attendance.
Blending ’50s nostalgia and campy zombie action, Hair High tells the story of a small town terrorized by the corpses of a teenage couple who were murdered on prom night one year prior. The movie’s star-studded voice cast includes Dermot Mulroney (The Family Stone), Sarah Silverman (Jesus is Magic), David Carradine (Kill Bill Vol. 2), Keith Carradine (Deadwood), Justin Long (Accepted), Beverly D’Angelo (Entourage), Ed Begley Jr.(Arrested Development), Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer), Craig Bierko (Scary Movie 4) Eric Gilliland, Zak Orth (Prime), Tom Noonan (Manhunter), Simpsons creator Matt Groening and animator Don Hertzfeldt (Rejected).
Plympton wrote, directed, produced and self-financed Hair High, which had its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival and enjoyed a successful run on the festival circuit in 2005. The filmmaker has been touring the country with the movie, and the Los Angeles run will serve to qualify the pic for Oscar consideration. Plympton previously received Academy Award nominations for his short films Your Face (1987) and Guard Dog (2004).
The prolific Plympton is currently working on a new feature titled Idiots and Angels, which he describes as the least commercial movie he’s ever made and likens it to a David Lynch film. It will tell the story of a man who wakes up one morning to discover he has wings growing out of his back, a development that kicks off a struggle with his good side.
Plympton’s work will also be the object of an exhibit at the Red Dot Gallery, located in the heart of gallery row in Downtown Los Angeles (500 S. Spring Street), from April 14 through June 30. “Degrees of Weirdness” will present a group show featuring the art of Bill Plympton, Mark Bryan and Dennis Larkins. Plympton will make a special opening day guest appearance on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6.p.m.
Tickets for the L.A. screenings of Hair High can be pre-purchased at http://www.laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?thid=2. More information about Hair High is available at www.hairhigh.com or www.plymptoons.com.
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