Spooky Season & Community Filmmaking
My Cup Was Filled…
Recently, I’ve been feeling alone in my physical artistic space. There are places online in which I engage with other artists and art enthusiasts, but I’ve been longing for that face-to-face connection that has been absent for a while. Last Thursday, I was invited to “Look Different” a local documentary filmmakers’ meet-up sponsored by the Southern Documentary Fund. Started in part by my friend and Film Nuts guest, Saleem Reshamwala, “Look Different” aims to be a quarterly convening of doc-makers to learn, bond and collaborate. I went in nervous, as I always am when I’m not sure if I will know anyone at events like these. But as soon as I stepped into the backyard of Queen Street Magic Boat (an art house, dive shop and someone’s home), I was recognized by someone I had never met as the guy who used to make One With Wolfpack Football and Wolfpack Hustle, my docuseries for NC State Athletics! I was quickly put at ease by just talking with this person and his girlfriend about what they do and how they got interested in documentary filmmaking. Next thing I knew, Saleem came over and greeted me. Then I saw another artist I had worked with before and chatted with him for a bit. Then an executive producer of the production house I interned with over a decade ago sat next to me. And then the filmmaker who invited me, Victoria Bouloubasis, introduced me to one of her filmmaking partners and so on and so forth for the new couple of hours.
By the end of the night, I did not want it to be the end of the night. I wanted to keep meeting new people, to keep talking about what everyone was working on and to exchange thoughts and feelings on the short documentary snippets we watched that evening. This is what it’s all about for me. Filmmaking is making connections. Whether it be with topics or with people, it’s an exchange of thoughts and ideas in an artistic way that helps us get in touch with ourselves and each other. Anyway, I had a great time and I look forward to the next event as well as getting to know other doc-makers in North Carolina and beyond.
A fantastic meet up at Queen Street Magic Boat.
What I Watched This Week
Ghost in the Shell (1995): This was our final Movie Monday for the month of September, in which we featured the science-fiction genre. I was told this is an anime classic, and as someone who does not watch a lot of anime, I was very curious to check it out. If I put myself back in 1995, the ideas this movie puts forth are nothing short of groundbreaking, and the animation is dope. But when I’m watching this in 2024, I feel like I’m sitting through an 80 minute philosophy lecture first thing in the morning. This film talks at you a whole lot without any emotion whatsoever. As much as I had a headache by the end, I still gotta give the movie props though. We wouldn’t have The Matrix without this. The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
I can not overstate just how amazing the animation is in this movie.
Death Becomes Her (1992): And now it’s Spooky Season! My partner and I are attempting to do 31 Days of Halloween in which we watch one movie per night that fits with the mood of Halloween. I say “attempting" because we won’t be together every night in October. Anyway, we mix horror, comedy, science fiction and action into a trick or treat bowl of films from almost a century’s worth of cinema. While trying to stick with mostly movies new to us, we do have a few rewatches including Death Becomes Her. It is an absolutely hilarious movie starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis about the lengths in which we go to hold on to our youth. An unhinged, laugh-out-loud film with enough darkness and mild body-horror to fit perfectly into this time of the year. The film is currently streaming on Tubi.
I love the willingness of Streep and Hawn to be both glamorous and grotesque.
Talk to Me (2022): An absolute fantastic portrayal of a longing for connection. The distance that happens when a loved one passes or when your bestie gets boo’d up and how we become addicted to the ways in which we push away others, intentionally or not. The simple touch and warmth of a handhold, seemingly unattainable. Turning these deep feelings and modern social criticism into something still fun and suspenseful is an astounding achievement. And I hear there’s a sequel incoming! The film is currently streaming on Showtime.
Sophie Wilde gives an outstanding performance.
Monster House (2006): Written by Community creator Dan Harmon and collaborator Rob Schrab, this is a surprisingly dark and adult movie for an animated kids film. I laughed more than I thought I would, mainly at gloss-over jokes within the dialog, but it’s a shame that the animation style feels really dated despite Monster House being made with motion capture technology. When I used to teach college courses, my students would reference this movie a lot. Not sure how I missed this when it came out, but glad I finally got a chance to watch it. The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime/Freevee.
The house itself looked terrifying. The characters themselves looked weird.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): A part of the Spielberg pantheon, I’m ashamed I had not seen this movie already. Unfortunately, it didn’t vibe with me as well as I had hoped. But I do recognize a lot of the influence this film had on movies to come later. I did really love its message of finding ways to communicate and one fantastic abduction scene though. The film is currently available to rent on-demand.
The introduction to the alien ships was really cool!
They Live (1988): Weirdly, our inspiration to watch this John Carpenter movie came from a reference on Bob’s Burgers! This movie is wild! Give me a film that critiques late-stage capitalism, colonialism and consumerism, but also make it a goofy, over-the-top action movie filled with cheesy one-liners and laughable dialog any day of the week! I also found the minimal creature effects to be perfectly balanced between comical and unsettling. The film is currently streaming on Tubi.
You might not be aware of how much of pop-culture references They Live.
M3GAN (2022): Sometimes you just want to have silly fun, and M3GAN delivers. In a movie where you can see how things will go wrong from the on-set, it’s at least worthwhile to make the experience as entertaining as possible. Solid satire mixed with just the right amount of goofiness. The film is currently streaming on Starz.
An physical AI companion. What could possibly go wrong?
What is a Reaction Video?
The trend of reaction videos is fascinating. If you don’t know what they are, they are literal videos of people reacting to media for the first time. Honestly, I used to not understand them at all. Why would I care about what some internet stranger thinks about something they've never heard or seen before? What I discovered is that they can be ways we can re-experience joy vicariously through the uninitiated, we can feel a little less alone in an increasingly isolating world or we can learn something because of who the person is that is reacting. And that last part is what I attempted to do!
Ever since Hereditary came out back in 2018, people have been raving about it and pleading with me to watch it. So with it being #SpookySZN and all, I figured I'd give it a shot! I tried to drop a few gems, appreciate the filmmaking and emphasize the importance of imagery and symbolism in visual media. Anyway, let me know what y'all think! This is the first one I've ever done, so feel free to be brutal and honest in the Youtube comments🤣
Happy Haunting!
