Sparkfest 2021 Roundup
It’s the time of the local fringe festival again (or it would be if it were not cancelled for the second year in a row) but taking its place once again is the digital arts festival organised by my old university, Sparkfest.
‘Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm’ Review
Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm tries and fails to capture the spark of the original. Its choice to focus on the central character, rather than the figures surrounding him proving fatal to the entire project.
Girl on : Onward
You’ve probably heard the criticism of Silicon Valley, ‘the only problems they’re interested in solving are their own.’ Like, each new startup and app and service there is is there to cater to the needs of a affluent young professional working in San Francisco (and successful expansion is only ever achieved by trampling workers rights.)… Continue reading Girl on : Onward
Girl on: Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’
The Manson murders changed things. It was 1969 and things seemed stable, history was progressing according to some schedule everyone had set out in their minds, counterculture had started to burn its way out to the fringes of everyone’s day to day experience.
Girl on: Robert Wise’s ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’
It feels weird that they should make this a submarine movie, but thinking about it, it’s the only way to make this work.
Girl on: Hideaki Anno’s ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ (eps 17-20)
It’s weird, before I write these I’ll watch all of the episodes I’m covering twice. Once spread out, over a few days or so, so that I can pay attention and get the experience of actually watching for the first time, and the second will be running through the four and taking notes right before I actually get to throwing my thoughts down. Usually my recollection is pretty good, this time between the two my brain invented a bunch of images that I guess never existed.
Girl on: Terry Gilliam’s ’12 Monkeys’
There’s this thing that happens late in this movie, after our lead has been quite thoroughly broken down, where he’s sitting on a bed trying to come to terms with his situation.
Girl on: Ryan Fleck’s ‘Half Nelson’
I’ve lost count of the amount of times that I’ve said it, ‘I can be saved.’ I hope it’s human nature, why so many of us turn to religion, that need to be redeemed.
Girl on: Leos Carax’s ‘The Lovers on the Bridge’
I have self destructive impulses. I know that every day being a step towards death doesn’t mean I should choose to hurtle myself down that path with all the intensity I can muster, but living any other way doesn’t make sense to me.
Girl on: Michael Mann’s ‘Blackhat’
The opening shots make it clear, here’s a film where the constant, predictable actions of a computer have superseded reality. The digital, with it’s rules and frameworks, the fact that everything has to be somewhere and commanded and traceable makes it a damn sight more real than the mess that we live in.
