Courtesy of animator Dan Dawley.

Including the Silver Line.

Taiwanese animators: apparently unfamiliar with the Height Act.

Any discussion of Sylvain Chomet’s beautiful new animated feature, The Illusionist, can’t ignore the film’s unusual origin. Chomet adapated the film from an unproduced script by the late French actor/writer/director Jacques Tati, which reportedly was a sort of dramatized letter of apology to his eldest daughter, who he abandoned when she was still quite young. Chomet, though, claimed the script was actually written for a younger daughter, Sophie Tatischeff, who gave Chomet the screenplay, and whose name appears in the finished film’s dedications. There’s a great deal of controversy over Tati’s true intentions in writing this story, all of which makes for some fascinating reading. Now that it’s been mentioned, though, it can really be dismissed as largely irrelevant to the film that resulted.

Animated children’s movies generally fall into one of a couple of different camps. There are kiddie flicks made just for kids, the sort of things that are visually stimulating enough to warrant 24/7 viewing by obsessive 3 to 5-year-olds, but which quickly lose their luster for anyone older. Then there are kids films that try to maintain some adult appeal, either through artful attention to great storytelling (Pixar) or through hammy pop culture references…

One of the selling points many children’s films strive for is appeal for adults. If parents are going to be convinced to sit through films with their kids, and especially if they’re going to endure bits and pieces of the endless repeated viewings that are inevitable once the DVD is purchased, they figure they need to throw a little bone to the older crowd. Unfortunately, these usually come in the form of endless in-jokes and…

DCist’s highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Stop Making Sense Concert films are a notoriously disappointing bunch, promising the excitement of front row tickets and a backstage pass to a band’s live show, but usually just delivering yawns and the realization that there’s no substitute for actually being there. And then there’s Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense, a film which redefined the genre….

FRIDAY: >> Nothing wrong with another strong all-local lineup: Washington Social Club, These United States and Let’s French will be on Black Cat’s mainstage. DCist has interviewed two of these bands before, and we’re set to get up close and personal with the third. So check ’em out. 9:30 p.m., $10. >> We’re definitely impressed with the speed at which DC Rollergirls have gotten their act together since hosting a series of recruitment happy hour/arm…