MIX/VHS | Week 002
Welcome to your weekly dose of visual media goodness!
Akira (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo)
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPL8EDKsISY
Akira is an action-packed, animated 80s sci-fi film - not to mention, a film way ahead of it's time - about a post-WWIII Tokyo (Neo-Tokyo) in 2019 where classified government experiments on children have gone awry. For fans of: general cyberpunk vibes, anti-government themes, dystopian worlds, and sweet biker gangs (also, sweet biker gangs fighting other sweet biker gangs in the streets.) Check it out! It's also currently playing at the Alamo Drafthouse - Ritz theater on April 13th, 14th, and 21st.
- Bry
Totally F***ed Up (dir. Gregg Araki)
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKdB0Ydo0k8
Gregg Araki is a Los Angeles based film maker who launched his prolific career with a trilogy of underground 90's queer films he dubbed "the Teenage Apocalypse Cinema". Totally F***ed Up is the first entry into the trilogy in which a group of teenage outsiders are pitted against the harsh realities of growing up queer and cynical in modern day Los Angeles. The result of Araki's first foray into filmmaking is a gritty, Generation X take on Godard's "Vivre Sa Vie", complete with self-coined slang, a killer soundtrack (Nine Inch Nails, Ministry etc) and an atmosphere totally drenched in 90's slacker angst.
- Gilbert
Donald and Jess (dir. Paul Briganti)
WATCH IT HERE: https://vimeo.com/103495686
Inserting yourself into a situation isn't always the best idea. This indie short features an incredibly awkward yet endearing and watchable ensemble, and probably one of the most odd fight scenes I've seen in a short in a while. The piece does something very interesting with pacing to create an atmosphere just as curious and off-beat as the dialogue. Enjoy!
- Carrie
Titicut Follies (dir. Frederick Wiseman)
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoS293BEZCA
This is a brutal documentary about a 1967 Massachusetts Institution for the criminally insane. It's a very candid look into the world of mid 20th century mental health care practices. Watching this, I'm always blown away by the realization that less than 50 years ago we used to strip down mentally ill inmates and throw them in a completely empty, concrete room.
- Hamilton
Star Drunk (dir. Chris R Wilson and Zach Persson)
WATCH IT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPrtQ9AdoM0&list=FLjtqO-Nw4t6_CBlObWbmk9Q&index=58
This beauty of a comedic experience was written by catastrophically drunk writers, then performed by catastrophically drunk actors. Perfection, to say the least. These directors would go on to make a series of films with the same formula, different genre, but the initial concept shines brightest with this one. It follows a starship crew under heavy fire from an enemy alien counterpart. What happens next? I'm not quite sure if the writers or actors ever know what's next, and it's just so god damn funny.
- Spencer
Like this mix? Tell us what you think in the comments below, and let us know what you're watching this week!