A Sundance documentary about the horrific perils of social media
UPDATE: We’re re-posting a slightly re-edited May review of the documentary Catfish as it’s beginning to play in sold out screenings across the country in the upcoming weeks, so it seemed about right.
The scariest movie you’ll see this year has nothing to do with paranormal activites, exorcisms gone haywire, viral zombies, lovelorn vampires or sweet-talking serial killers. But it has everything to do with Facebook. Ah, Facebook. Betty White made fun of it on Saturday Night Live, calling it a “waste of time,” even though Facebook is kinda responsible for jumpstarting her post-Golden Girls career. Facebook is a little creepy, yet most of us still log on, post photos, give up personal information, and write on each other’s “walls” for the entire world to see. I’ve thought about “deactivating” (such an appropriate word for it), but I don’t wanna. Not yet. It’s entertaining. It’s free. And yes, it’s… a wee bit addictive.
Catfish is a documentary about the twisted, dark, odd power of sites like Facebook and Twitter. In fact, Catfish feels so hyper-real, you may find yourself wondering if it’s not actually a pseudo-documentary, made to look true. I happen to think it’s all too real. It’s too odd not to be. You know the Andy Warhol saying, the one about fifteen minutes of fame? I would love to know what Warhol would have thought of Facebook. In a way, he predicted it. Wouldn’t it be amazing to know what his Facebook profile would have looked like? Catfish in many ways is about that desire so many people have for that brief moment of recognition. The need to be seen, heard, loved, acknowledged. Most of the time, that need is pretty harmless. Sometimes, though, that need comes from the darkest depths of a person’s psyche. Haven’t you ever gotten a “friend request” from someone you’ve never met, but you have a friend in common so you think, what the hell, and click “accept”? Seems like an OK decision to make. But you’ve just let some totally unknown person into your weird little electronic world.
Hit the Jump to continue reading the Elf’s review of the ever-creepy Catfish…
It may be hard to believe, but this series of images, titled Another Place, are actually large oil paintings, not photographs. While hyper-real oil paintings are nothing new, these 3m x 4m paintings by Jonathan Wateridge are incredibly accurate, and have a cool central concept. Another Place depicts scenes from the production and narrative of a fictional American film centered around unseen catastrophic event. I like the painting-within-a-painting of the make-up girl painting the dude by the collapsed bridge. Nice touch.
Ikonoskop’s A-cam dII promises to revolutionize amateur film-making with manifold advances. It is the only digital video camera providing totally uncompressed images in RAW format — meaning images are completely uncompressed. The idea being that the A-cam dII captures pure high-resolution images, and lets your computer do the necessary processing afterward. Its size is also highly convenient, weighing less than 1.5 kilos it is arguably the smallest professional digital motion picture camera on the market. It records 1920 x 1080 pixels at a rate of 240MB/second — at almost twice the speed of other memories, Ikonoskop also claims the A-cam dII camera has the fastest memory in the world. One 80 GB Ikonoskop Memory Cartridge (included) has a capacity of 17 minutes of footage, audio and metadata. What makes the A-cam dII even more adaptive is the fact that its Super-16-sized sensor opens up the camera to be used with Super-16 mm lenses, enabling one to employ the best cine and prime lenses available. While Ikonoskop is not a household brand, they are not upstarts in the industry either — the sensor and technology around the A-cam dII is built on the knowledge and experience from their professional A-cam SP-16 motion picture camera. Of course the A-cam dII ain’t cheap, but at $8,900 (€6,950) it’s also not out of range for most budding filmmakers.
I would love to get my hands on this beautiful single-breasted Epsom coat from Paul Smith’s British Collection. Made from khaki and grey blend 100% wool fabric, the coat features a contrast red velvet collar, notch lapel with a high break, stand pocket, two bound flap pockets, a small flap ticket pocket and a concealed button down placket. Internally the Italian tailored coat is fully lined with various pocket details, and is completed with a center back vent and tonal black buttons throughout. You can always expect quality from Paul Smith. Pick it up for $970 (£629).
Includes two new short films, deleted scenes, artwork, stickers and 2D glasses
If you missed Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop documentary film while it was in the theater, you will be able to see it on DVD when it comes out next Monday, September 6th. Originally started as an unofficial documentary on Banksy by bumbling Parisian videographer Thierry Guetta, the famed street artist turned the camera around and decided to make the documentary about Guetta instead — and what it turned into was an exposé on the concepts of hype and self-promotion, culminating in Guetta’s remarkably successful Life is Beautiful show in LA where he sold millions of dollars in somewhat questionable paintings and prints as Mr. Brainwash. Many world class street artists are featured in the doc, including Shepard Fairey and Invader (who happens to be Guetta’s cousin). The DVD set of Exit Through The Gift Shop includes a variety of extras — including special “2D glasses”, cos you know Banksy can’t play it completely straight. The set also features two new short films, deleted scenes, artwork and stickers. Pre-order it now for $16 (£10.93).
Up and coming Canadian label Wings + Horns are pretty much unstoppable right now, putting out some of the best menswear around. Here they team up with Dayton to create this distressed leather service boot. Available soon in Black and Brown versions, you can pre-order at Roden Gray for $670.
Check out the Black Wings + Horns x Dayton Service Boot after the Jump…
Over seven hours of comedy from one of the funniest humans ever
There are few dead comics that stand on the pantheon of Great American Comedians, and the class is rare. George Carlin, John Belushi, Mitch Hedburg, etc (I’m sure I’m missing some, feel free to let me know). And on that vaunted Mount Rushmore of painfully piercing insight is Bill Hicks. Sure sometimes he repeated material, but as any fan will testify he re-used his material to hone his craft to a razor sharp edge of satire, a biting vorpal blade of social criticism that left very few heads unsevered. When Hicks was on point he was simply an unstoppable force of comedy. And finally there seems to be something in the air, a rising resonance to give Hicks his well paid dues. First there was the Bill Hicks Story documentery we discussed last March, and now Ryko is releasing an exclusive box set of all his material. The 2 CD, 2 DVD Box Set contains some of his most respected stand-up —over five hours of DVD footage from Bill Hicks’ personal archives including rare, never-before-seen performances from the early 80‘s, the cult short film Ninja Bachelor Party (starring Bill Hicks, Kevin Booth and David Johndrow), in-depth interviews with Hicks and a photo gallery from his family’s keepsakes. Plus liner notes by heads like Henry Rollins, Eric Bogosian, UK author Paul Outhwaite and UK journalist/TV personality Clive Anderson. Oh, and a download card containing original song recordings by Hicks mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, entitled Lo-Fi Troubadour. Sure Hicks may have called himself “Chomsky with dick jokes”, and that’s not far from the truth, but there’s a reason why he was so thoroughly embraced in the UK that he’s currently listed as the 4th Greatest Comedian in their 2010 poll. Yes, he’s that funny. Peep the video below, and if you need more proof do yourself a favor and pick up the box set, which is due to hit shelves on September 14th.. (Either that, or YouTube him and make the call yourself).
