SLUGS

Conner O’Malley is back with another short film. I haven’t been able to wrap my head all the way around this one but between the references to classic cinema combined with what I’m convinced is some sort of troll-ish commentary on red pill/blue pill online masculinity – this is a piece of art made specifically for Marcus Pinn (I love movie references, I hate red pill/blue pill people and I think Conner O’Malley is one of the funniest people alive).

Terminator / Slugs

The Conversation / Slugs

The Terminator / Slugs

 

Taxi Driver / 

Slugs

Click here and here to read my thoughts on O’Malley’s films from last year, and check out his new film below

FOUND ME: TIFF 2020 HIGHLIGHT #1

There is a weird stigma and shame that can come along with being a fan of professional wrestling. I’m living proof of this. As a child I was the only kid in my close group of friends that liked it. In high school there were a small few of us but people still thought we were stupid for liking it. And I can’t tell you how many disappointed looks I’ve gotten from certain adult friends in recent years when they discover that the guy who appreciates weird/interesting films & music (that also works on the corporate end of interior design) likes to watch jacked-up men beat each other up in predetermined fights.

Look...I get it. As much as I love the sport even I know it’s kind of silly. Even more silly when it’s out of context. I like to imagine people that aren’t familiar with the world of pro-wrestling flipping through channels and stumbling across something wrestling-related and being genuinely confused...

If you’re unfamiliar with this form of entertainment, what are you supposed to make of all this??


That’s part of what David Findlay’s latest short film Found Me is about. The stigma of liking something (pro wrestling specifically) that’s super niche. In this particular case it’s independent French-Canadian professional wrestling (which should explain why I used the term “super niche” as international indie pro-wrestling is a world unto it’s own outside of “Major” pro-wrestling that's scene on television).
Found Me also plays off of the commonly used phrase; “wrestling isn’t for everyone” (commonly used among people within the pro-wrestling business). It’s not. Even large people with giant muscle and great “looks” aren’t guaranteed success in the business. So you can imagine the additional hill that “smaller” wrestlers have to climb in order to make it. Smaller wrestlers are often told “no” and hear “can’t” so often that at a certain point they must become numb to the sound of those two words. That’s why when “smaller” physique wrestlers like CM Punk or Daniel Bryan finally become household names, it makes it just a little more special because they had to work slightly harder than a John Cena or a Dave Bautista (no disrespect to either Cena or Bautista).


The nameless main character in Found Me is a small-framed guy but he doesn’t want to be a pro-wrestler. He wants to be a referee. I think the reason why this film is a play on the phrase “wrestling isn’t for everyone” is because I think this nameless main character knows he doesn’t have the build to be a pro-wrestler but he can still participate in some way. Sometimes you love something so much that at one point you want to stop being a fan. You just have to find your lane. As long as you have the drive and respect for the business, there are multiple things to do in pro-wrestling outside of being the main attraction. Besides referees there’s managers, announcers, ring side assistants, ticket takers, bookers, etc.

That’s what makes this film so unique and additionally niche in that it focuses on a smaller and sometimes overlooked role (refereeing) within a niche world (indie wrestling) within a bigger niche world (pro-wrestling as a whole).
Found me is a short film so we don’t get in to the specifics of a referee’s job but the film does convey the importance of having one in a match (besides counting to 3 or calling for the bell due to a submission or interference, they sometimes have to keep time, enforce specific rules & stipulations and just maintain a general sense of order).

Earlier on I used words like “shame” and “stigma” because our protagonist keeps his love of wrestling a secret from his friends and significant other. He secretly goes to wrestling shows by himself late at night almost as if he’s ashamed (his secret is eventually found out in a scene that’s quite possibly one of the sweetest cinematic moments of this year).
I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say that Found Me is one of the greatest films to focus on both the joy and shame of loving something like professional wrestling.
I’m not sure what David Findlay’s plans are with this after the festival season but I hope he makes this special film accessible to all. The execution of this movie is much more serious and heartfelt than most movies about Pro-wrestling but at the same time it would make for a great triple feature with Ready To Rumble & Fighting With My Family.

THE SCHOOL OF MAYA DEREN PART NINE: DAVID LYNCH CONTINUED...

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Mulholland Drive

I know I said I drained the well with the Maya Deren/ David Lynch comparisons but I think I opened up a new realm after watching a bunch of Deren's films recently...

Make sure to check out parts; one, two & three of my exploration between Deren & Lynch for the more obvious/well-known comparisons.

Enjoy...


The interiors in their respective films are damn near identical from the movement of the camera to the actual furniture in the rooms...

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Inland Empire

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Blue Velvet

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Lost Highway

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Inland Empire

Ritual In Transfigured Time /
Inland Empire

Ritual In Transfigured Time / Inland Empire

Deren & Lynch's continued exploration of duality, dual identity & parallel universes...

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Lost Highway

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Lost Highway

Jeffery's voyeurism in Blue Velvet (right) kind of mimics Deren's voyeurism in Meshes Of The Afternoon (Left)

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Blue Velvet

Lynch's various themes, "tricks" & editing techniques also seem to borrow from Deren's earlier work...

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
The Elephant Man

Mysterious villains are murdered in similar fashions in both movies...

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Blue Velvet

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Inland Empire

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Inland Empire

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Blue Velvet

THE SCHOOL OF MAYA DEREN PART ONE: THE INFLUENCE ON DAVID LYNCH

I'm hardly the first person to make a connection between Maya Deren & David Lynch. Both are (primarily) L.A.-based surreal/experimental filmmakers with a lot of visual similarities (it should also be noted that both filmmakers have a fascination with black & white imagery as well).

But, like I say in my School Of Tarkovsky explorations, it's one thing to write and/or talk about the visual (and sometimes thematic) similarities between Maya Deren & David Lynch, and another thing to actually show it.

Below are some of my favorite examples of what I feel are Maya Deren's subconscious influence on David Lynch through the years (mostly starting from Lost Highway up to now).

Enjoy...

Meshes Of The Afternoon / LostHighway

Meshesh Of The Afternoon / Lost Highway/ Inland Empire / Twin Peaks: Season 3

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Ritual In Transfigured Time / Inland Empire

Ritual In Transfigured Time / Wild At Heart

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Lost Highway

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Mulholland Drive

Witches Cradles / Eraserhead

At Land / Eraserhead

Meshes O The Afternoon / Eraserhead

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Mulholland Drive

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Mulholland Drive

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Lost Hihgway

Witches Cradle / Inland Empire

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Inland Empire

Meshes Of The Afternoon / The 3 R's

At Land / Eraserhead

LAZERCISM (a new short film from Shaka King)

Check out the latest short film from PINNLAND EMPIRE favorite Shaka King...

WHITE FACE (A NEW SHORT FILM FROM MTUME GANT)

Between Moonlight, I Am Not Your Negro, Get Out & Atlanta, there is a lane/audience for White Face – the latest short film by director Mtume Gant about racial identity (which is an understatement to say the least). I don’t mean to be that guy to compare one “Black movie” to another “Black movie” but all the aforementioned films deal with racial identity on some level so it only makes sense to mention White Face in the same breath. The only difference is that White Face is much more transgressive and (intentionally) uncomfortable. So in a sense, you could say White Face created its own lane outside of the aforementioned movies & TV shows.
While many young/new/up & coming filmmakers model a lot of what they do after the obvious sources like Spike Lee & Ava Duvernay (which is fine I guess), White Face is a more progressive (dare I say dangerous?) film that draws more (possible subconscious) inspiration from the likes of Charles Lane, Wendall B Harris & Melvin Van Peebles.
The story of a Black character in white face is going to get an immediate comparison to True Identity (Charles Lane) and/or Watermelon Man (Van Peebles), but White Face is specific to 2000-now. Back in the 1960’s when Watermelon Man was made you were hard-pressed to find a Black American who would vote for an openly bigoted racist presidential candidate (like the main character in White face). But today we really do have Black people (and other people of color) openly supporting an openly bigoted racist president like Donald Trump (he’s also sexist and just an all around terrible human being but we’re just focusing on race right now).

If you think certain elements of White Face are too far-fetched - like a Trump supporting Black person - look no further than someone like Steve Harvey...

The problem with all this is that there is an office in this country called the ‘president,’ and you have to respect the office. You really do. Whether you want to or not. You have to respect the office. They got laws... -Steve Harvey

The basic plot of White Face – the story of a trump supporting Black man ("Charles") who walks around in actual White Face - reminded me of the lyrics in the second verse of the Ras Kass song; “The Evil That Men Do”

In eighty-one I remember the night

I covered myself with baby powder, so my black ass could be light

Cause God is white, and Bo Derek is a ten

I hate my black skin, it's just a sin to be a nigga - Rass Kas

This song was released in 1996 and there haven’t been many (or any?) verses before or after to address issues like this in such an unapologetic way. There are plenty of Hip-Hop lyrics calling out other Black folks who have the illusion of inclusion but very few to take on the first person perspective of questioning their own identity as a Black person. This is similar to White Face. Throughout the film we see Charles study white people (most notably his next door neighbor that he spies on through a peep hole) in an effort to perfect his self-adopted white identity.
With all the recent success of predominantly Black films right now, there are very few non-sympathetic Black characters. Even Denzel Washington’s portrayal as Troy in Fences has some sympathetic moments. Right off the bat White Face gives us a hateable/dislikeable main (BLACK) character to counter Chris (Get Out) and all the Chirons (Moonlight) of the present cinematic universe. Contrary to what a lot of modern-day cinema would have us believe, some black characters can be antagonists, villains & “bad guys” (it should be noted that the main character in White Face is certainly dislikeable but, given his mental state, some viewers who are more forgiving than me might feel sorry and maybe a little sympathetic for him).

This is a racially & politically charged film but it’s also very much about the moving image itself (a lot of films that set out to deliver a “message” sometimes fall short in the visual department but that isn’t the case here). When you put aside the very heavy plot and just look at some of the standalone images you’ll see that Gant has a unique eye and an appreciation for visually stimulating imagery…

While I cringe at words like "better", White Face is definitely a maturation & progression from Gant's previous short film S.P.I.T., which is always a good thing (I imagine filmmakers want to grow with each project).

Neon lighting (in conjunction with Scott Thorough’s Hal Hartley-esque score) also plays a huge part in the film’s comically unsettling ambiance…

To say that you enjoy stuff like Get Out or Atlanta but find issues with White Face would be a little strange to me. It’s almost like loving the music of A Tribe Called Quest but hating De La Soul. Sure you’re free to like and dislike anything you want but at the same time, examples like the ones I just gave kind of make me a little perplexed. Do you like Quentin Tarantino but dislike the work of Takeshi Kitano, Martin Scorsese, Jean Luc Godard & Jim Jarmusch (just some of the many filmmakers that helped birth Tarantino’s style)? No. The same should apply to White Face. The exploration of the complexities concerning racial identity shouldn’t stop at stuff like Get Out & Moonlight. No one should be satisfied. There needs to polar opposites to all the popular films concerning race right now and White Face is very much that. It isn’t safe and everyone wont like it but I’m almost certain that is one of the goals behind this project. Race isn’t easy & simple so why should films on the same subject be?

WHITE FACE: A SHORT FILM ABOUT OUR TIMES (A FILM BY MTUME GANT)

Hey all, S.P.I.T. director Mtume Gant is back with his latest project; White Face: A Short Film About Our Times. Gant's latest short film is the story of New York actor Charles Rodgers - a man who hates his Black skin and all the hardship that comes with it. Feeling trapped by his race, Charles believes he has found the solution to his problems - change his appearance to embody "Whiteness" - erase all that he has ever been and join the group he's believes he should be a part of. But is this ever possible?

Check out the trailer below...

Mtume is currently trying to secure funding for post production costs in order to finalize this project.

With shades of subconcsious inspiration from what appears to be Wendall B Harris & Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle (along with a lot of very real issues plaguing us today that many folks don't want to talk about), how could you not support this?

Click here to go to the kickstarter page in order to donate and get more info on the film.