MEMORA8ILIA

a filing cahinet for 8sided.blog

The Cremator is a horror film of the most horrifying kind. It depicts bourgeois banality swept up in fascistic promises, with the meek and privileged ultimately accommodating authoritarianism’s terrible aims. The film also follows the ‘rise’ of a morally weak and opportunistic sociopath, very much a topic of our time. That the horror is accompanied by satirically comedic moments only increases its darkness.

Regardless, it’s an eminently watchable film, masterfully drawn to the verge of cinematic perfection. Juraj Herz’s pacing and story-telling reveal just enough while subtly revealing a lot, enforcing the gut punch of the last ten minutes. The innovative cinematography evocatively portrays the unreliability of our narrator, dipping in and out of the protagonist’s narcissistic headspace and his timid reality. Jump cuts, fish-eye lenses, and disorienting edits from scene to scene give the viewer a sense of the encroaching madness. The music from Zdeněk Liška is one of the best scary-movie scores at times, made even spookier as it alternates between light-hearted themes and waltzes. And, it must be said, the lead performance by Rudolf Hrušínský is one of the creepiest of all time — name your favorite creepy film villain, and I assure you Kopfrking easily ranks alongside. A masterpiece.

https://memora8ilia.com/index.php/2022/06/11/the-cremator-is-a-horror-film-of-the-most/

❝ San Antonio-based artist Jason Limon conjures paper sculptures of 18th Century-style gowns, organs, and hollowed skulls with acrylic paint. The uncanny structures trap his recurring skeletal characters in cramped boxes and funhouse-esque constructions, where they attempt to disentangle themselves from their surroundings. Rendered in muted pigments, or what the artist calls “repressed tones,” the paintings utilize the anonymity and ubiquity of the bony figures to invoke emotional narratives. ❞ *

https://memora8ilia.com/index.php/2022/06/10/san-antonio-based-artist-jason-limon-conjures/

It’s not often we look to a member of Pavement for pearls of wisdom, but here we are. The idea is that repeatedly naming the world’s knuckleheads only makes them stronger. When, on the blog, I criticize an odious politician, a corrosive billionaire, or any other toxic individual making our world a more awful place, I make a point not to mention them by name. You still know who I’m talking about — it’s not difficult to make it obvious. (I guess on Twitter, that’s called a ‘subtweet.’) But naming directs attention and gives pleasure to power-hungry narcissists and, when done by enough people, thrusts them into ‘trending topic’ infamy. That’s the point. Don’t give in. Criticize as much as you feel necessary, but only lend power to someone’s wretched name if you absolutely have to.

https://memora8ilia.com/index.php/2022/06/10/its-not-often-we-look-to-a-member-of-pavement-for/

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One is a groundbreaking and fascinating documentary (or is it?) by the legendary William Greaves. Loosely, it’s about the nature of reality, the intended observer, and how film-making creates thorny issues between the two. I can’t say I’ve seen anything else like it. Supposedly Charlie Kaufman refers to Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One repeatedly in his novel Antkind, which welcomes the comparison: yes, one could say this is something like if Kaufman made a documentary.

Here’s a short video essay on Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One that might answer some of your questions:

https://memora8ilia.com/index.php/2022/06/09/symbiopsychotaxiplasm-take-one-is-a-groundbreaking/