Movies

Nina Paley: Seder-Masochism

Posted on by Stian

I’ve been a fan of Nina Paley’s animations for a long time, and her Sita Sings The Blues is one of my all-time favorite films. Her newest feature Seder-Masochism has now been released to the public domain, and is available for full HD download and streaming on the Internet Archive.

Seder-Masochism, an animated musical, loosely follows the Passover Seder story, with events from the Book of Exodus retold by Moses, Aharon, the Angel of Death, Jesus and the director’s father. The film puts a twist on the traditional Biblical story by including a female deity perspective – the Goddess in a tragic struggle against the forces of patriarchy.

Celebrating Georges Méliès

Posted on by Stian

Today’s first-ever Virtual Reality (VR) / 360° interactive Doodle—created in collaboration with the Google Spotlight Stories, Google Arts & Culture, and Cinémathèque Française teams—celebrates Georges Méliès, the trailblazing French illusionist and film director on the release date of what is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces: À la conquête du pôle (The Conquest of the Pole, 1912).

Méliès pioneered numerous technical and narrative film techniques in the early days of cinema, primarily in the use of special effects and creation of some of the earliest films of the science fiction genre.

Source: Celebrating Georges Méliès

Northern Disco Lights – The Rise and Rise of Norwegian Dance Music

Posted on by Stian

Northern Disco Lights – The Rise and Rise of Norwegian Dance Music – really cool new documentary about the rise of the Norwegian electronic dance music scene, affectionately known as “Trømso-techno” or “Space Disco”. It also has an awesome soundtrack featuring artists like Biosphere, Bjørn Torske, Prins Thomas, Mungolian Jet Set, Mental Overdrive, Rune Lindbæk, Lindstrøm and more!

Northern Disco Lights tells the untold story of a group of teenagers in the arctic city of Tromsø, who set off a chain of events that would go on to transform their country. To escape the boredom of growing up in a remote outpost they created their own music scene, setting up radio stations, parties, building synthesizers and making tunes. Word spread as like-minded souls recognised the call to arms and inspired a generation of kids who would go on to change dance music and Norway forever.

Currently you can watch it for free here (Red Bull TV).

Illustrated Family Doctor

Posted on by Stian

I recently noticed that my webhost SDF is hosting the site for an upcoming Australian independent movie called The Illustrated Family Doctor. This is the first I’ve heard of this one, and it looks really promising.

It has a suitably absurd storyline, and features the acting of Samuel Johnson, known from the excellent Aussie TV series The Secret Life of Us, who seems to fit the role of a hypochondriac office worker quite nicely.

The movie is due in Australian cinemas on March 3, but probably won’t make it to Norwegian screens for a seriously long time, but it will surely make the festival circuit, and I’ll try to get a hold of it on DVD once it’s released…

One Missed Call…

Posted on by Stian

One Missed Call posterLast night I went to a late-night preview of the Japanese horror Chakushin Ari/One Missed Call by director Takashi Miike. This is a really creepy movie, with much use of the supernatural, demons and creepy little children, along with all the regular horror effects to make you squirm in your seat.

It will come on in the Oslo cinemas in middle July, and is highly recommended for anyone who wants a good, heart-stopping scare movie! Also, the main actress is a real beauty, which helps a lot in the calmer scenes … 🙂