NZIFF: The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came To Eden (USA, 2013)

Doco about a weird unsolved murder mystery in the 1930s Galapagos Islands. There were only a handful of people on the island of Floreana, all eccentric or mad to various degrees, locked in strange jealousies and rivalries. It’s a small cast of characters, none of whom are particularly endearing, all destined to be either victims or suspects.

It was a good watch, but like more than a few docos I’ve seen in the last few years, it was slooow. There was a tight, excellent 90-minute documentary film inside this 120-minute version, and I would much rather have seen that. But I can recommend it anyway – there is much in this account worthy of eyebrow-raising, and that is surely a good measure of a documentary’s worth.

NZIFF: Under The Skin (UK, 2013)

Scarlett Johansson is an otherworldly being who seduces Glaswegian men to their otherworldy doom. It’s shot, framed, told, and paced as an art film, but the narrative itself is fairly straightforward. (Which is good! That’s not a criticism!) There are many mysteries, mostly unexplained, although the shapes of answers are given. There’s a lot of improvised stuff where unsuspecting Glaswegian locals found themselves interacting with Johansson in seduction mode. The whole sequence on the beach is one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever seen.

I loved it. Best thing i’ve seen in ages. But this is really not for everyone.

Deep Breath Linky

Oh man this comic strip wrecks me. (Pixar related.)

Lots of fruit and veg never makes it to retail because it doesn’t look perfect. One supermarket chain has figured out an ingenious way to reduce this food waste: they, um, just sell it anyway. Lovely. (via Craig N)

Cinefix’s top 10 most effective editing moments of all time

Is Neko Case mocking nerds, or mock-mocking nerds? U DECIDE!

Weird Al doing Weird Al stuff, releasing a bunch of new videos in a rush. The man is a treasure. I particularly enjoyed this one:

Grantland intereviews Al and wonders how relevant he is in this digital era

What is weird? What is cool? (both of those via the excellent Nextdraft – I recommend signing up to the emails!)

Women just don’t have much upper body strength, and so there are certain things they just cannot – er, wait just one second while I watch this – oh. OH.

Billy’s come across some interviews with a fascinating scholar with a surprising perspective on many things – trees decide to take psychotropic drugs? Bacteria build roads? Wild stuff, read his summary.

Classic album covers minus their deceased members.

Neat 10-minute short film about a basketball agent making an offer to a promising high school player. Watch the film before you read the (great) interview.

And finally, via Robert Whitaker, wrestling promos edited so only the sound of breathing remains

Love 2 Hate Linky


Love 2 Hate: A party game for inappropriate people, kickstarter for my friend Colm’s game has just launched. It’s a little bit Apples to Apples, a little bit Cards Against Humanity, and it sure looks like fun times to me. Take a look and consider backing it!

(Huh, just checked the preview of this post – there sure are a lot of videos this week. Oh well!)

Frankfurt airport reimagined as a Star Wars starport

via Jamie N: “a preview of a show of Star Wars done with shadow puppets, as a
way to promote traditional Malaysian culture.”

More good news on the climate change front: solar energy is kicking ass in Oz.

Analysis of the visual techniques of Michael Bay, film stylist. Interesting and convincing as far as it goes, but kinda doesn’t mention the fatal incoherence of his editing. (via Mike Foster)
Also Michael Bay: Transformers 4 is a master class in economics (via Pearce)

Guy kickstarts making a potato salad. Spins wildly out of control. All I can think is, this guy is gonna be sick of potato salad by the time he fulfils all those rewards. IF HE EVER DOES.
Update: wow, this was at about $2,000 pledged when I wrote the above. it’s now at… substantially more. The Awl explains how this potato salad is a darkness alighting upon our souls.

Via Campbell March: The Gentlemen’s Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness (mid-19th C)

45 minutes of Whose Line bloopers and outtakes (NSFW) (via Phil Berghan-Whyman)

Japanese Doctor Who has been turning up all over:

So has American Doctor Who:

But only Craig Oxbrow pointed out this Arabic/Indian/something Doctor Who:

Posted without comment, because it would take more than I have to comment with any nuance: if you love science this will make you angry, says io9

What if Ingmar Bergman directed a movie about comicbook superhero The Flash?

And finally, via Robert Whitaker, the goals from that Germany-Brazil World Cup slaughter given the perfect commentary: from wrestling legend Jim Ross.

Emotion Contagion Linky

So Facebook ran a big experiment on their users, filtering the feed one way or the other and measuring emotional effects. It’s been a huge disaster in just about every way – this Guardian column sums it up smartly. But the most amazing thing, for me, is that this ongoing disaster – which is really hurting Facebook because it crystallises lots of pre-existing concerns about them – is for research that sounds, well, weak as hell. Here’s a ruthless takedown of the actual research. (For what it’s worth, I’m not exactly morally outraged about what was done – I think it was silly and wrong in the same way Facebook’s interference in the feed for commercial reasons is silly and wrong.)

All about the live-action Fantastic Four TV show from the early 60s. Totally true and genuine.

Cory Doctorow summarises Piketty. Good stuff.

For Lizzie Bennet Diaries fans, check out these NZ teens doing a vlog-adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.

Authors cosplay as their favourite childhood lit characters – via Marguerite

The house used by David Lynch for Laura Palmer’s family home is for sale. Some of the furniture is still there from shooting in 1988. Many comparison photos

Dice shaming

This Blackwater stuff is bananas. They took control of operations in Iraq then threatened inspectors who raised concerns – and the reporter behind that story is currently being threatened with prison for not revealing his sources. USA! USA!

Cleanse your palate from that, with this Aaron Swartz doco, free under creative commons. (It’s part of the NZ Intl Film Fest, too.)

John Oliver’s show “Last Week Tonight” is buried somewhere in NZ’s weird pay-TV structure but they put big chunks of it (all of it?) online. Watch some. It has an interest in the whole world – rare enough anywhere – and a big heart. It favours long, sustained stories, really getting into its subject matter in a meaty way. And it is HILARIOUS. Maybe start with this great piece about the US evangelical influence on Uganda’s homophobic laws.

9th Wonder’s 11-track tribute to Bobby Womack (free download)

38 wonderful moments in closed captioning history (via David R)

A theory of Star Trek economics

Women who cycle and wear skirts: here’s one neat trick

Interview with Morag and Erin, creators of the lovely Manfeels Park

Lionel Messi is impossible (via d3vo)

And finally, Nicolas Cage as Disney Princesses