The movie of the week is IDIOCRACY, one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. Joe, a perfectly average man and a soldier in the US Army, participates in a cryogenics experiment that goes wrong, resulting in him waking up 500 years in the future. Unfortunately, due to evolution, the average IQ has fallen so low everybody’s now a complete idiot, making Joe the smartest man in the world. The result is hilarious satire on the human condition and present-day society. If you missed this one, check it out now.
A SCANNER DARKLY (2006)
I recently enjoyed watching the film A SCANNER DARKLY again. Based on the classic novel by Philip K. Dick, it’s a fantastic adaptation by Richard Linklater–the only adaptation of a PKD book that was actually true to what Dick intended.
In this Dystopian world, one out of five people is hopelessly addicted to a drug that rapidly murders its victims, justifying a police state that eliminates any traces of liberty.
The film deals with powerful themes of mistrust, isolation/alienation, the permeation of death among life, and nothing being what it seems, with strong performances by its cast, interesting use of animation, and good dialog.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2011)
I owe a big thanks to everybody who didn’t spoil this for me. On the surface, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS appears to be your typical story about a group of college kids going deep into the country for a party weekend. But it’s so much more. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s satire either, because that’d be easy, and it goes way beyond that level. It’s a brilliant film and a great, very well-written story. Wish I could say more! Just check it out.
CAFE FLESH (1982)
As I cover everything apocalyptic at this blog, it was only a matter of time before I got around to reviewing CAFE FLESH (1982). It’s a wild ride. This feature-length New Wave pornographic film is set in a post-apocalyptic world during the ’50s after America and the USSR drop atom bombs on each other. Humanity has survived, but 99% of the population has been rendered impotent–in fact, they get violently ill if they try to have sex.
To prevent extinction, the government set up Cafe Flesh theaters, in which the few who can have sex, the Sex Positives, perform live staged sexual acts to try to stimulate the Sex Negatives into procreation for the good of the Nation (but end up tormenting them instead).
The sex itself is explicit–this is clearly a porn film–but bizarre, mechanical and impersonal, with actors dressed up as rats, giant pencils and so on. The MC of the Cafe Flesh central to our story, Max Melodramatic, sadistically taunts the audience about their need (and, with a wink, those of us watching at home).
The story, meanwhile–yes, there is a plot, and it’s actually interesting–focuses on a Sex Negative couple, Nick and Lana, regulars at Cafe Flesh. Nick keeps trying to make love with Lana, but falls ill each time. Lana, meanwhile, only fakes being ill. Nick doesn’t know it, but she’s actually a Sex Positive faking being a Negative.
If she reveals herself as a Positive, she’ll have to leave Nick to perform, and she loves him too much to let him go. Her sexual desires and frustration are mounting, however, which leads to the haunting climax.
Despite its intriguing elements, as a post-apocalyptic film, CAFE FLESH mostly falls flat, while as a porn film, if that’s your thing, it’s actually kind of boring. Put them together, however, and it strangely works, particularly with the Mitchell Froom soundtrack, marking it as a cult classic.
Check it out if you’re looking for something weird, something different.
Punched, Then Zombie Dance
Believe in your dreams.
Bizarre Vision Of METACHAOS
In the wild short film METACHAOS, amorphous beings live in a timeless and spaceless state in a parallel dimension dominated by a perpetually moving fortress defending a fragile harmony holding the universe together. The beings turn into a mutant horde that penetrate the fortress like a virus, destroying the universe and regressing it back to the primordial broth–Chaos. It’s tempting to imagine the fortress and its beings as Heaven and the invading hordes as Hell.
So that’s the synopsis. But what is METACHAOS? It’s an incredible assault of animation and sound, which builds to an incredible crescendo at the end. It’s the apocalypse, but in a parallel dimension.