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Singapore sling: O anthropos pou agapise ena ptoma (1990)
Singapore Sling secret revealed (SPOILER ALERT!!!!)
*********Spoiler******************* The Secret of Singapore Sling is revealed! I saw this fine masterpiece of modern post-morbidness and cracked open the perverse brain candy shell to uncover the hidden meaning.
The big clue is when the mother and daughter discuss the rules of servants. If you look up the 3 laws of Robotics established by Isaac Asimov you will discover the similarities between "robots" and "servants."
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
The women talk about "servants" following laws like these. They are really talking about how THEY too are "servants" (aka robots) trapped by these rules.
Now take note of the women's spastic movements and bizarre speech patterns. And the Singapore Sling character.. he spends a lot of time motionless and never speaks.
They are all robots.
They are robots struggling to re-enact the Laura storyline (from the classic movie released in 1944) so that they can learn about humanity.
As robots they do not understand things like nuances in speaking.. natural human movements, and human sexuality.
A further clue is when they are eating. Robots cannot eat! Thus they force food in, and then regurgitate that food back up. Without discomfort except for the regurgitation process itself. And they do not realize how this is not standard eating behavior.
And finally, Singapore Sling "himself" is seen rusting... asking about water supposedly. No he was telling them that he had become wet from the outside and his lips were rust covered. Look closely, those are not swollen lips that need water. Those are rusted lips that needed to be polished and cleaned.
The woman does not pee on Singapore Sling, she tries to kill him with water released from a valve because she does not know what else to do.
If you watch Singapore Sling with this secret uncovered, it becomes a movie that makes sense, and you can delight in seeing a story about robots trying desperately to re-enact a movie they knew about, to try to learn to become human. The water outside and in the pool is the constant threat that keeps them trapped inside.
The tragedy is that a robot cannot become human and thus at the end Singapore Sling decides to bury himself and deactivate instead of living the lie.
Watch it again with your Isaac Asimov books hand, and enjoy it for what it is... a fascinating study of humanity as seen from an alien perspective.
Shooters. Get the Picture (2007)
I got the picture!
And it was a high-res state-of-the-art black-and-white in-your-face journey of man's soul through the pixilated valley of his discontent that left me blinking in the light of the all too powerful camera-flash of the almighty. Heady words, draped with love across a tiny little powerhouse of a feature that really left an impression in me. I don't know a ton about cameras and the life of a photographer but I know what I like. And what I like is a powerful story, top notch acting, dazzling cinematography, and lots of full frontal nudity. This story completely skips the nudity, but that's OK, I wasn't serious about a movie needing it. Especially a movie like this. A fine job from everyone involved. Another gem that should be for sale, and once it is, will rest snugly on my movie shelf. Amen!
Red Seven (2006)
Great pacing! Great job!
A truly excellent short. I really enjoyed the pacing and the acting. The dialog sucked me into the story and the pacing definitely kept me there. Then ending left me wanting more. I wanted more story, to follow the characters farther along. Perhaps there can be a sequel, an unrelated story with the same characters. sequel or prequel actually, either one. I look forward to seeing what else this team can put together. I hope someone lets me know when this is for sale! Definitely put me down for a copy. Perhaps this can be released as a DVD of shorts from these guys, and we can enjoy other works from this team without having to get in our vehicles and criss crossing the nation in search of festivals that play these sorts of cool things. I'm definitely headed to the film festival on November 29th at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak to see it again.
Beyond Midnight (2006)
Very well done!
Not really a spoiler really, but I happen to know that "Beyond Midnight" is the sequel to "Midnight of the Mind," which is a full length movie that is in post-production. I had the pleasure of seeing "Beyond Midnight," and quite enjoyed it. I look forward eagerly to seeing 'Midnight of the Mind!" From what I hear, the two are not dependent on each other so seeing the sequel before the original is not a problem. Oops I have to write more. Um, when will "Beyond Midnight" be for sale? I demand it to be on Netflix, or Niche Flix, or Cafe Press, or Amazon, or Custom flicks. Or perhaps shady characters could peddle it from street corners in Detroit. Made up as zombies. With blood oozing from their Value Village and Salvation Army suit jackets. Yes let the streets run red with colored karo syrup. Let the skies rain down H20 and it won't stop the onslaught of vendors peddling "Beyond Midnight."
Love & Plutonium (2005)
Finally a superhero themed movie that doesn't have Ben Affleck!
Jeff Priskorn, taking over for Ben Affleck and not wearing skin tight red leather pants (thank you Jeff, we all appreciate this more than you will ever know), not only stars in this but adapted it to a screenplay from his wife's play, and directed it as well. Let's not forget his band Elixir, who has the movie theme song. I'm sure Jeff had more roles in this project, this guy doesn't sleep. And of course his wife Jacquie costars, along with a cast of other talented up and comers. Michigan is a hotbed of talent. The next Hollywood? Let's hope not, we have enough greed and corruption here in Michigan already from the Automotive Industry.
The movie is a charming love story of good versus evil with one large dollop of romance thrown in, mixed well with a teaspoon of wackiness, salt to taste, serve warm with a side dish of Arbor Daze if possible. In a town full of villains and heroes. Sort like the town that The Tick (tm) lives in. Yet this movie has its own unique identity and style.
Make sure you watch it again with the commentary tracks. Some fun stuff in there! Get it on DVD as opposed to VHS for this reason (plus the outtakes and bonus stuff).