Two for Tuesday
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Category Archives: Video
Saturday Matinee: League of Gods
“League of Gods” (2016) is a Hong Kong/Chinese production directed by Koan Hui (co-screenwriter of The Blade) and starring Jet Li, Tony Leung, Fan Bingbing, Louis Koo, Huang Xiaoming, Angelababy, Wen Zhang, and Jacky Heung. It’s an adaptation of Fengshen Yanyi, a 16th century novel by Xu Zhonglin widely viewed as one of the great works of Chinese literature. The story is a mythologized retelling of the fall of the Shang dynasty combining elements of history, folklore and fantasy and has previously been adapted as a manga, anime, TV series and video game.
Two for Tuesday
Saturday Matinee: VR Short Double Feature
“Uncanny Valley” (2015, dir. Federico Heller) uses a documentary format and virtual reality scenarios to depict a frightening world in which damaged individuals rely on VR as a means to escape their depressing social reality while being used by the state.
“Hyper-Reality” (2016, dir. Keiichi Matsuda) depicts an average day in the life of a struggling precariat woman, that is, until she’s gang stalked by virtual and physical predators.
Two for Tuesday
Saturday Matinee: Attack the Block
“Attack the Block” (2011) is a British sci-fi/horror/comedy written and directed by Joe Cornish. The plot takes place in London on Guy Fawkes night following a teenage street gang who, with the help of neighbors, drug dealers, a nurse and college student, hatch a scheme to save their city from an alien invasion. The film was produced from the creators of Shaun of the Dead and features a cameo by Nick Frost as well as a stand-out lead performance (and film debut) by John Boyega who later played Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Watch the full movie here.
Two for Tuesday
Saturday Matinee: Mars Attacks!
“Mars Attacks!” (1996) is a satirical alien invasion film directed by Tim Burton and starring a surprisingly large cast of familiar actors. It’s easy to forget that Burton, now a friend of the establishment, once made films with a misanthropic subversive element. This is in full view in Mars Attacks! which (similar to Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers) embraces its inherently xenophobic premise and pushes it over-the-top to skewer society’s most cherished institutions (ie. government, media, religion, and business). The movie bombed when first released but perhaps it was just a little ahead of its time?
Watch the full film here.
After the Crash 