Anomalisa — New Featurettes: 'Meet Michael and Lisa'

source:   anomalisa.com

added: Tue, Dec 29th '15

Meet the two main characters from writer-director Charlie Kaufman's critically acclaimed stop-motion movie "Anomalisa."

In a pair of newly-released featurettes, we get a quick introduction to Michael Stone and Lisa Hesselman, voiced by David Thewlis (The Theory of Everything) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), respectively.

Based on Kaufman's 2005 "sound play," which also starred Thewlis and Jason Leigh -- along with veteran actor Tom Noonan, "Anomalisa" is about a quirky, bittersweet love affair between an unhappily married motivational speaker/book author, Michael Stone, and a Cincinnati customer-service representative, Lisa Hesselman.

Supported by a successful Kickstarter campaign, the film has been receiving rave reviews since premiering at festivals in the fall. It has also been making headlines lately for its R-rating, partially due to an intimate sex scene (yes, with puppets) that took six months to animate.

Co-directed by stop-motion animator Duke Johnson (Community's Christmas special) and executive produced by comic writer Dan Harmon and "Moral Orel" creator Dino Stamatopoulos, "Anomalisa" is opening in select theaters this week, December 30th. It will also be expanding to more theaters in January.

synopsis:
Michael Stone, husband, father and respected author of "How May I Help You Help Them?" is a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. On a business trip to Cincinnati, where he's scheduled to speak at a convention of customer service professionals, he checks into the Fregoli Hotel. There, he is amazed to discover a possible escape from his desperation in the form of an unassuming Akron baked goods sales rep, Lisa, who may or may not be the love of his life.

 

directed by   Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson

starring   David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan

release date   December 30, 2015 (in select theaters) January, 2016 (expands wide)

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