Saturday Matinee: Seam

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!!!

“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

“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

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.