Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y
by Eric San Juan
January 23 , 2006

Pretentious. Chilling. Masturbatory. Eye-Opening. Incoherent. Brilliantly executed.

Any of the above could be used to describe director Johan Grimonprez’s dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, a pretentious, chilling, masturbatory, eye-opening, incoherent, brilliantly executed look at the history of the media’s coverage of, and reaction to, terrorism, specifically hijackings. Told in fits, starts and spurts of archival footage and seemingly random imagery, inappropriate music and passages from Don DeLillo's Mao II read aloud over cut-paste-chop-splice film clips, Grimonprez’s film manages to be both terribly full of itself and remarkably effective. Quite an achievement, that.

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Nomads & No-Zones
by Palmerlime
January 24 , 2006

“You are what you eat. You can’t be yourself unless you eat yourself.”

Nomads and No Zones is, bottom line, a collection of shorts from two filmmakers that really seem like two demo reels from a pair of recent college graduates because, well, I suspect they really are two demo reels from a pair of recent college graduates. Don’t get me wrong. That’s not to say there is no talent behind these cameras, just that this disc is basically a collection of assorted rough works, some of which seem to be project related. Not a bad thing, just an honest thing.

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Sins Of The Fleshapoids
by John Felix
January 24, 2006

One million years after a great war wiped out most of civilization, human beings finally reestablish themselves as the dominant force on the planet. Considering science to ultimately lead to the downfall of man, humans evolve their technology far enough to create Fleshapoids, robots encased in synthetic flesh. The Fleshapoids are dedicated to catering to every whim of their human masters, who now live in paradise, growing fat on ice cream cones, Clark bars, sex, ignorance and wax fruit.

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The Subject Is Sex
by Shawn McLoughlin
January 26, 2006

There has been something of a renaissance among compilation films lately. It seems that since Blue Underground released its collection of Mondo films, many cult cinema studios have also been releasing things along those lines. Sometimes there is a great deal to be had from viewing these. At the very least, some are interesting from a “holy shit!” perspective of uniqueness and originality. Most recently, the compilation light has shone brightly with film trailer compilations such as 42nd Street Forever, and Something Weird’s Extra Weird Sampler. But the compilation we are looking at today is quite possibly the most random of the bunch, Other Cinema’s release, The Subject Is Sex.

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Spectres Of The Spectrum
by Palmerlime
January 27, 2006

Back when I worked in a funny-book store, there was a “mentally challenged” fellow who I will only refer to as “Brian.” Now, Brian was an unusual fellow who struck me not as someone who was, in fact, “special,” but someone so hyper-intelligent that his brain could not properly contain, or for that matter translate, all of the knowledge he absorbed through the years. Consequentially, all of his social skills went right out the window. In between his rants on super heroes and Star Trek, Brian would go on and on about things like how quantum theory closely related to cinnamon toast and how algebra is really the cause of gingivitis. One day while I was restocking Groo: The Wanderer, Brian came in for his weekly stash, carrying a leather bound journal. This glorious tome was “Brian’s Journal.”

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Experiments In Terror
by John Felix
January 27, 2006

Experiments in Terror is a collection of short horror films, though they might not be what you would expect. Gone are boogeymen with scarred faces and trench coats hiding in the shadows. These films are more aimed at both the mind and the gut. Instead of presenting a traditional scenario of a protagonist fighting his all against the forces of evil, Experiments in Terror is mostly concerned with assaulting your senses with abstraction and experimental technique. The result is a collection of films that resemble more art piece than slasher flick.

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