Back in 2006, this documentary was a wonderful tribute to the fans of Firefly who "saved" Serenity. However, it hasn't aged incredibly well. The documentary certainly does nothing to try to distance sci-fi fans from the stereotypical nerdy fan image. It also gives fans buying DVDs far too much credit for getting the Serenity movie made. However, the most uncomfortable parts are the brief clips of Joss Whedon shot at a what appears to be a convention's merch booth in what was likely a single short interview between autographs and merch sales. It's hard to watch him joking around knowing that actors from his various productions have come out against his actions. That aside, there are two other relatively minor things that have always bugged me about this documentary. First, more than once it's stated in the film multiple times by Adam Baldwin that a cancelled series getting made into a major motion picture has "never happened before". I guess people have forgotten that Star Trek was cancelled and then had a series of movies a decade later...not to mention the number of old TV shows that have had movie reboots in one form or another. Second, some of the fan-made songs on the soundtrack are great, but Dan Sehane's song "I'm Gonna See Serenity" has lyrics that really annoy me, especially when he says the line "They couldn't take the sky from them, Our big damn heroes made a film" over and over and over as if "them" and "film" are supposed to rhyme. It's very, very bad. Those issues aside, this documentary is an interesting look into fandom of the era. It's before social media and during the time of blogs, web sites, and forums. It's also interesting to catch a few faces such as James Gunn and Jenna Fischer who weren't as well known back then. Although the documentary was undoubtedly made on a very small budget, picture and sound quality is very good. It's a shame that Firefly cast members Gina Torres, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau are not part of this film.
In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, and left Stockholm to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special film buffs, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (An abridged version of Bergman's Video, 2012.)
Since its publication 200 years ago, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has influenced vast swathes of popular culture. Adaptations have starred cinema legends from Boris Karloff to Robert De Niro – and even Alvin and the Chipmunks. From tales of science gone mad (Jurassic Park) to stories of understanding the other (ET, The Hulk, Arrival), traces of the story and its themes have spread across our media. With Frankenstein Re-membered, video artist and film historian Chris Gerrard collects these diverse fragments from the birth of cinema until the present day and in the tradition of Victor Frankenstein himself, attempts to stitch them back together into an adaptation of the original Shelley novel.
Humankind has always dreamt of the night sky. Of the infinite freedom offered by the black void, and of the strong, shining beacon inviting us to ascend. This is a story, a history of the events that led up to our conquest of space, and the consequences throughout wider humanity. The film is a collage. Of genres, documentary and comedy. Of media, drawing from painting and film. Of films, cannibalising all film history. Of truth, both objective and subjective. Watch the small steps and let your mind take a giant leap.
An homage to the weird and wonderful world of B-movies, this short fauxdocumentary by film artist Chris Gerrard splices together classic clips with some new footage to tell the ludicrously fake story of the mysterious people (and things) lurking beneath us in the eerie River Tay. Feast your eyes on this unique archaeology of aquatic-themed film.
A poetic and dreamy visit of the French Cinémathèque's collection of devices.
The Magic Lantern was an projector of information and stories than preceded the cinema. How did its visual style translate into the moving image? This film traces the aesthetic narrative from the 19th century up until the 21st, calling in at the Victorians, Melies, Welles, Godard, Spielberg and Carly Rae Jepsen. It also shows how these techniques can inspire your own creativity.
"How Every Film You Watch Tells You To Love The Rich and What To Do About It" explores the representations of wealth in cinema. It looks into how most beloved characters are subtly more well-off than they should be, how criticisms of the system are crushed, how the rich have become the average in the world of the cinema. And it shows how these stories distort the view of the real world, and are used against you by politicians.
RAPE PLAY is an experimental documentary that explores fanfiction writing amongst teenage girls online and the learned narrativization of sexual experiences. Through interviews, lyrical essays, and fantastical reenactment, it touches on internet history, sexual assault discourse, and the magical cultural production happening in the bedrooms of teenage girls worldwide every day.
A portrait of Per Åhlin, who has been called the father of Swedish animation.
The most comprehensive retrospective of the '80s action film genre ever made.