Category Archives: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee: The Hidden

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In the fine tradition of Robocop and They Live, “The Hidden” (1987) is a sci-fi thriller with a layer of social commentary skewering excesses of late 80s American culture. The plot revolves around the pursuit of a psychopathic body-snatching alien with a predilection for things that happen to be Hollywood action movie tropes (ie. sex, drugs, rock and roll, fast cars, guns, money, etc). Whether intended by the filmmakers or not, the shapeshifting alien is a perfect metaphor for the corporate Id free from the moral and ethical constraints of the Superego; an embodiment of pure unbridled greed. Whatever it wants it takes through brute force with no regard for the interests of others or even the bodies it inhabits, a strategy which gets it dangerously close to the highest levels of political power. Various actors depicting hosts for the villain effectively convey their possession by the same entity while Kyle MacLachlan stars as a more benevolent alien posing as a detective with a performance reminiscent of his role as Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. Michael Nouri plays a skeptical cop who goes through the traditional buddy cop story story arc (though it’s made more intriguing by the fact that he’s partnered with an alien).

Saturday Matinee: The Fourth World War

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From Big Noise Films:

From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, and the North; from Seattle to Genova, and the War on Terror in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq, The Fourth World War is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war.While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. The Fourth World War brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist.The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, The Fourth World War is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of This Is What Democracy Looks Like and Zapatista, produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement.

For English speakers, portions of the film may need translation, activated by clicking on the “CC” button on bottom right corner of the video (on some mobile device browsers the function can be found on the upper right corner).

Saturday Matinee: Meet the Feebles

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Long before director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings blockbusters and even before the moderate success of his cult horror film “Dead Alive”, he created a gleefully twisted take on the Muppets, “Meet the Feebles” (1989). A brief synopsis from IMDB:

Heidi, the star of the “Meet The Feebles Variety Hour” discovers her lover Bletch, The Walrus, is cheating on her, and with all the world waiting for the show the assorted co-stars must contend with their own problems. These include drug addiction, extortion, robbery, disease, Drug dealing, and even murder. While this is happening the love between two of the stars is threatened by the devious Trevor the Rat, who wishes to exploit the young starlet for use in his porno movie business.

Saturday Matinee: Nothing Lasts Forever

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“Nothing Lasts Forever” (1984) is the only feature length film directed by Tom Schiller (who was an early writer and director for Saturday Night Live), but it’s a remarkable one. The film takes place in a dystopian world in which the Port Authority controls New York and determines the career paths of citizens based on mandatory tests. After failing an art test, aspiring artist Adam (Zach Galligan) is forced to work as a Holland Tunnel inspector under authoritarian boss Buck (Dan Aykroyd). After getting a brief taste of the art world through an artist he has an affair with, he befriends a homeless man who gives him an opportunity to fulfill his destiny on the moon.

Nothing Lasts Forever could be characterized as a lower budget and more hopeful precursor to “Brazil”. Besides Aykroyd, the film features appearances by comedians such as Bill Murray, Imogene Coca, and legendary stand-up comic (and mentor of Lenny Bruce) Mort Sahl. Due to copyright clearance problems with a number of archive clips used in the film, it has never had an official DVD release.

Saturday Matinee: Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods

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Notes from GrantMorrisonMovie.com:

Grant Morrison is one of the most popular writers in comics, and one of the most controversial. He is the Rock Star of Comics, a philosopher and chaos magician, who has used his comics to change both himself and his audience. He is a man living on the border between FICTION and REALITY, and this is his STORY.

The film was produced in close collaboration with Morrison and features extensive interviews with him, as well as never before seen photos and documents spanning his childhood to the present day.

Complimenting Morrison’s own words are interviews with his closest collaborators and friends, including Frank Quitely, Douglas Rushkoff, Cameron Stewart, Phil Jimenez, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Jill Thompson and many more. The film makes extensive use of found and abstract footage to make the documentary feel like a Morrison comic.

Saturday Matinee: Music Double Feature

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“Scratch” (2001) is a well-researched documentary directed by Doug Pray about the origins and culture of the hip-hop DJ scene from the 70s to around 2000. It features performances and interviews with legendary turntablists such as DJs Q-bert, Shadow, Premier, Rob Swift, Krush, Cut Chemist, NuMark and Mix Master Mike, as well as early pioneers such as Afrika Bambaataa and GrandWizard Theodore .

The producer of the soundtrack to Scratch was Bill Laswell, who was also a co-writer and producer of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”, one of the first hit singles to feature record scratching as an instrument. Though not as well known as he should be, Laswell continues to be among the most groundbreaking, versatile and prolific living musician/producers. His music draws inspiration from funk, hip-hop, rock, post-punk, jazz, world music, hardcore metal, electronica, ambient, dark ambient, film soundtracks and experimental genres. Artists he has produced or performed with include Afrika Bambaataa, Johnny Rotten, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, the Ramones, Yoko Ono, Motörhead, Swans, Whitney Houston, William S. Burroughs, Paul Bowles, Robert Quine, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Fela Kuti, Ginger Baker, Henry Threadgill, Sonny Sharrock, Sting, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne, Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Medeski Martin & Wood, DJ Krush, the Orb, Mike Patton, Tetsu Inoue, Pete Namlook, and the Master Musicians of Jajouka. In 2006 he and a number of his favorite collaborators including Buckethead, Pharoah Sanders, Foday Musa Suso, Bootsy Collins, Toshinori Kondo, Hamid Drake, Zakir Hussein, Ustad Sultan Khan, DJ Disk, Karsh Kale, and Nils Petter Molvaer among others appeared on the PBS program Soundstage. They performed live sets from some of the various projects Laswell has been a central force behind over the years such as Praxis, Material, and Tabla Beat Science.

Saturday Matinee: Massacre at Central High

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Though its unfortunate title makes it sound like a standard slasher film, Rene Daalder’s “Massacre at Central High” (1976) (aka “Blackboard Massacre” or “Massaker in Klasse 13”) is actually a clever political allegory in a high school setting. When new student David observes the degree to which the student body is dominated by a small clique of thugs, he sets out to liberate the school from its oppressors. Though he succeeds, conflicts soon arise among various factions to fill the power vacuum. Losing patience with everyone, David begins planning the destruction of the entire high school. The film is dated in terms of fashions and soundtrack and hamstrung by a low budget and occasionally stilted dialogue, but its message is timeless and problems it addresses such as bullying and high school violence are even more relevant today. Massacre at Central High is likely an inspiration for the later cult film “Heathers” (1988).

Saturday Matinee: Mind Game

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“Mind Game” (2004) is possibly the strangest anime feature film ever made. It was produced by the groundbreaking Studio 4C animation studio and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, previously most famously known for his involvement in the “Crayon Shin-chan” series (sort of a Japanese take on “The Simpsons”). The film’s plot is deceptively simple, centering on a young man named Nishi who is killed while trying to defend his childhood crush Myon. After a short visit to the afterlife he has a chance to change his fate, transforming his previously dull life into a psychedelic, mythopoetic adventure. At times the film overwhelms the senses with its wild mix of animation styles, exaggerated colors and perspectives, absurd situations and wild soundscape by Seiichi Yamamoto of noise rock band The Boredoms. Mind Game has never had an official DVD release in the U.S. but last June a kind soul put it on YouTube for the world to enjoy.