Category Archives: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee: Seam

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A Synthetic Human Fights to Survive in Visually Stunning Scifi Short Seam 

By Cheryl Eddy

Source: io9

In the not-too-distant future, a tenuous peace between humans and remarkably humanlike “machines”—some don’t even know they’re not real—is tested when synthetics begin spontaneously exploding. A military-led search for these unwitting suicide bombers begins, sending a terrified machine woman and her human partner on the run.

Seam—named for a volatile border area sandwiched between the designated machine containment zone and the human world—borrows from some excellent inspirations, including Blade Runner. But the 20-minute short, made by twin brothers Rajeev and Elan Dassani, makes its mark with outstanding special effects and well-chosen location shooting. Though the film begins in sleek Hong Kong, its visual style is most unique when it contrasts the futuristic tech used by its characters with ancient settings, including a chase scene that winds through the narrow streets of Salt, Jordan. The climactic sequence takes place in Wadi Rum, the otherworldly desert last seen playing Jedha in Rogue One.

Saturday Matinee: I Thought I Told You To Shut Up!!!

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“I Thought I Told You To Shut Up!!!” (2015) is a short documentary directed by Charlie Tyrell and narrated by the late Jonathan Demme. It focuses on an underappreciated underground cartoon from the 1970s called Reid Fleming: The World’s Toughest Milkman created by David Boswell. Through animation and interviews it explores its influence and failed attempts to produce a film version.

Saturday Matinee: Hukkle

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“Hukkle” (2002) is an experimental independent Hungarian film directed by György Pálfi and loosely based on an actual event. With nearly no dialogue, the film depicts seemingly mundane and disconnected scenes which gradually form a narrative related to a folksong sung at the end which includes the following lyrics which, translated into English, goes something like: “Who doesn’t love her husband cook him mandrake put paprika on it too he will be done by 8 o’clock. Who still loves her husband cook him good dinner… I will go to a place where birds don’t fly. I am alone like the crane like someone without a patron. My life is sad, my day is sorrow. I live under a sad star.”

Saturday Matinee: American Nomads

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Synopsis from Top Documentary Films

Beneath the America we think we know lies a nation hidden from view – a nomadic nation, living on the roads, the rails and in the wild open spaces.

In its deserts, forests, mountain ranges and on the plains, a huge population of modern nomads pursues its version of the American dream – to live free from the world of careers, mortgages and the white picket fence.

When British writer Richard Grant moved to the USA more than 20 years ago it wasn’t just a change of country. He soon found himself in a world of travelers and the culture of roadside America – existing alongside, but separate from, conventional society. In this film he takes to the road again, on a journey without destination.

In a series of encounters and unplanned meetings, Richard is guided by his own instincts and experiences – and the serendipity of the road. Traveling with loners and groups, he encounters the different ‘tribes’ of nomads as he journeys across the deserts of America’s south west.

Saturday Matinee: Final Deployment 4: Queen Battle Walkthrough

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Too Many Cooks Creator Takes on Videogame YouTubers in New Adult Swim Short

By Garrett Martin

Source: Paste Magazine

We should probably be past the point where YouTube videogame walkthroughs and Twitch streams seem weird or confusing. People have been making—and watching—them in ever increasing numbers for years now. Yeah, I don’t get why people would rather watch hours of some stranger playing a videogame instead of, I don’t know, Netflixing Frasier, or something, but it’s clearly a thing that happens and is popular and resonates with millions of people.

It might seem like a strange niche to those who aren’t into ‘em, but streaming is already a form of mainstream entertainment with a massive fan base who will grow up with no outdated distinction between YouTube and “real” TV. Random overacting yahoos with webcams are already bigger stars to “the kids” than television legend Ted Danson. It’s a small thing to fret about within the larger societal collapse that we’re currently living through, but c’mon, using a computer to watch other people play games on their computer is definitely some kind of low stakes dystopian sci-fi nonsense.

That’s what Casper Kelly, the creator of Too Many Cooks, and co-creator Nick Gibbons latch onto in their new Adult Swim short Final Deployment 4: Queen Battle Walkthrough, which premiered very early this morning on the TV station. Framed as a YouTube Let’s Play, it slowly reveals its true nature, reaching a prolonged absurd height about two-thirds of the way through that does for videogame streaming what Too Many Cooks did for TV opening credit sequences. One could argue it would be stronger without the longform walkthrough parody that opens the video—YouTubers are so formulaic and obnoxious that making fun of them is just too easy, like mocking Morning Zoo-style FM radio hosts—but the fake in-game footage of life after the war for its Marcus Fenix stand-in is hilarious in its depressing banality, and it’s also important to establish this world before folding everything up and twisting it around like a Möbius strip.

Final Deployment 4: Queen Battle Walkthrough isn’t available on YouTube, ironically, but you can find it online at Adult Swim’s site.

Saturday Matinee: A Boy and His Dog

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The great science fiction writer Harlan Ellison recently passed away on June 27. Whether or not one is familiar with his large body of work (the majority of which are short stories), “A Boy and His Dog” (1975), is definitely worth watching. It’s the first and best feature film adaptation of one of Ellison’s stories and features Don Johnson as Vic who, with his dog Blood, struggles to survive the post-apocalyptic wasteland that the southwestern U.S. has become in 2024.

Saturday Matinee: 7 Boxes

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“7 Boxes” (2012) is a Paraguayan thriller directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schémbori. It takes place in Asunción circa 2005, where a daydreaming 17-year-old pushcart porter named Victor (Celso Franco) is contracted to deliver seven boxes of valuable cargo in exchange for half of a torn $100 bill and the promise of the other half when the job is done. With a borrowed cell phone and the help of his friend Liz (Lali Gonzalez), Victor struggles to accomplish the mission which he hopes will put him on the path towards fame and fortune, though he quickly realizes the danger of his situation as he encounters thieves, gangsters and police along the way.

Watch the full film here.

Saturday Matinee: Military Intelligence and You!

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“Military Intelligence and You!” (2006) is a satire poking fun at the military-industrial complex written and directed by Dale Kutzera. Using public domain archival WW2 propaganda films mixed with new footage, the film tells the story of military intelligence officer Major Nick Reed (Patrick Muldoon) whose job is to locate a secret enemy base housing the dreaded Ghost Squadron. Complicating his mission is the reappearance of his former love, Lt. Monica Tasty (Elizabeth Ann Bennett), now dating fellow Major Mitch Dunning (Mackenzie Astin). There’s also a notable appearance of a gung-ho fighter pilot played by a young Ronald Reagan.