Kino London

Posted by Andrew Taylor on Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm.

Since Laura posted her Kieslowski film last Monday, it’s all been a bit quiet on the western front. I’ll tell you what though, we have excuses.  As usual, Jamie’s been revelling – first in Barcelona, then at a festival in Holland, Laura’s been ill (flu-like symptoms), and I’ve been working my fingers to the bone. Not that we need excuses. It’s summer, and the last thing anyone wants while they’re sat on a beach in Spain, getting sand in their Stieg Larssons, is to be thinking about poor old Kino back in rainy old London.

Anyway, whatever. We’re back now – and how! The next Kino’s happening this very Thursday in Vibe bar, Brick Lane, which will provide you with the perfect opportunity to show off your tan. And, while we’re making announcements, I’d like to give a big shout-out to our friends at the Cineroleum.

For anyone who doesn’t know about that, it’s a petrol station on Clerkenwell road which, for a short time only, has been converted into a cinema. They have an excellent programme of features as well as short films beforehand. We’ll be curating the selection of shorts for their B-Movie night on the 4th September. Those will be drawn from stuff we’ve shown at previous screenings, and it will be all kinds of awesome. Get your tickets sorted and come on down (programme here).

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On then, to this week’s film of the week. It’s by Mike Jittlov, a stop-motion animator and special effects genius, who  happens to be a bit of a cult hero. Originally a short film, it was later expanded into a feature – I remember renting it on VHS when I was about ten and only getting about 20 minutes in, because I thought it was utter bollocks. However, I happened upon this last week, and it completely blew me away.*

There’s not much to this – a man in a wizard costume speeds across America and then into space. Err, that’s it. In an age before CGI however, the effects are absolutely incredible. In fact, it’s a bit of a crime to watch it on youtube , when it clearly begs to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Perhaps that’s why he expanded the original, even if the end product does sound a bit bizarre. The feature film’s story concerns a filmmaker who is making a short (the one above, I assume) for an evil film studio. According to Mbira314 on IMDB, this is what you can expect:

“Subliminal messages, Hollywood major-studio politics, art vs. commerce, a startling new use for a chrome bust of Mickey Mouse, fantasy vs. reality, the horrors of dealing with unionized labor, some plugs for the Church of the Sub-genius, lots of deftly-employed stock footage, and the most terrifying “pizza with everything” you’ll ever see.”

If that, or a “fascinating look at the art of low-budget special effects production,” sounds like your bag, you can watch the whole thing on youtube at the moment. It often gets taken down, so get on it soon – unless you’re watching it with a ten-year-old, or you are ten years old, I suspect it might be well worth it.

So, that’s all. See you Thursday, kids.

* And yes, if there are any Jittlovians out there, the film I’ve posted is the later version. I chose not to post the 1979 original, because it’s shorter, and ends with a slightly wack musical number. But for the completist, it’s here.