MIX/VHS | Week 052

New folks. Old faces. Same MIX/VHS. We may be starting our New Year a little bit later than the rest of y'all, but we've cooked up a pretty fantastic mix of weekly recommendations. From short films to podcasts to documentaries and everything in-between. We hope you enjoy!

Dell "Colors"

WATCH IT HERE! 

There is a very clear reason why this commercial for an outdated Dell has stuck with me for over 10 years - stellar art direction, cinematography, mise-en-scene, music, and obviously the colors of the video. This is one of the greatest commercials I can think of.

- Jake

Butter Lamp

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE!

Butter Lamp was one of the Live Action nominated short films in 2015. An unconventional and evocative film that uses non-actors in a single location, it follows a photographer taking several group shots of Tibetan villagers. It's a quiet yet reflective film that portrays the gradual growth of urbanization and Westernization upon a world of tradition. I highly recommend this unique, insightful, and artistic work.

- Janet

Lore

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE!

As the host of a podcast myself, I know what goes into creating and producing content that is interesting and informative. Sometimes it is hard to listen to people who don't put in the time and effort to do their homework before an interview or who are just bad at storytelling. This is not the case for Lore, a bi-weekly podcast (and TV show) about the dark historical tales that fuel our modern superstitions. Each episode explores the world of mysterious creatures, tragic events, and unusual places. Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction

I have not yet seen the show but I sure enjoy the podcast when I want to hear a spooky story or learn about the history behind it .

- Adam

Boy Interrupted

WATCH IT HERE!

Boy Interrupted is a documentary about a 15 year old boy that commits suicide as a result of having bipolar disorder. It is a very heavy movie, but informative at the same time, going into great detail about the after effects that someone leaves when they choose to commit suicide. The movie also covers the effects that bipolar can have on the entire family, and ways to cope with having a child with a chronic illness.

- Sunny

Skyview High School Promotional Video

WATCH IT HERE!

Here we have an ad, for a high school made by its own students, with a biting candor that would never make its way into any official ad. The video takes the form of a brisk pre-Buzzfeed listicle, whizzing from one horror to the next: Winchester Mansion-style stairways that uselessly criss-cross the ceiling, Kafkaesque defribrillator chests with their guts torn out, and worst of all, the boxes: menacing, sound-suppressing, abstract clusters that hang suspended, GLaDOS-like, from the ceilings. Though the video is nearly 10 years old now, it serves as a time-capsule, demonstrating the institutionalized madness of a 20th century education––an education system informed and inspired by both the day-shift factory and the prison cell block. For contrast, I recommend seeking out this filmmaker’s later work, La Violencia en Colombia. Truly, in the case of Mr. Spencer “Captan Bob” Mirabal, we can admire a person who has left record, warts and all, of their own portrait of the artist as a young man.

- Matt

Savasana

WATCH IT HERE!

This absolutely bizarre short by Brandon Daley (Go Cats!) revolves around one man's obsession with oral sex. It's pretty much as weird and moderately disturbing as it sounds. Local Austinite actor Paul Gordon, who's popped up in a bunch of other fantastic comedy shorts, has pretty amazing comic timing. There's also some impressive puppetry work if you're into that sort of thing.

- JJ

Like this mix? Tell us what you think in the comments below, and let us know what you’re recommending for us to watch this week!