Another Mystery Night at the Prince Charles and this time we had a selection from one of the staff, and what a great choice. The film is a comic take of the professional dog shows in the US (like our Crufts) and features the team behind Spinal Tap doing a largely improvised production.
I'd not seen this before, which is always the gamble at the mystery nights, so it was great to finally get round to see it. I thought Parker Posey was great and Christopher Guest's Harlan Pepper character was great.
I think I can recite lots of types of nuts having seen this.
Merantau is the prequel to Raid and Raid 2, easily two of my favourite action films of all time. The start of that Iko Uwais also features in this and it was also directed by Gareth Evans.
Because it's the first one, it's not as good as the Raids but the fight choreography is still really top notch. There is some noticeable wire work but there's also some wow moments, my favourite being a clever and painful way of stopping a guy from jumping on you.
If you're a Raid fan try to dig this out. I did find one rip on youtube.
This film has little to do with being a mechanic, and more to do with copying the Hitman films. Jason Statham is Agent 47 and is sent to do a hit on Donald Sutherland, after that he takes Donald's kid under his wing and trains him to be a hitman too.
It's alright but if Blockbusters was still around, this film would be on the bottom shelf.
With this episode of Bug I went along to the one where the director comes along and this time the guest was Ninian Doff who has done a few Bug-worthy videos in the past.
Vitamin X "About to Crack"
A lot of animation in a short amount of time made this a great video to start out with. They're a Dutch thrash metal band.
Roisin Murphy "Whatever"
After the fast start this was very slow and sort of washed over me. Not being a heavy app user I didn't get all the references in the video.
DJ Shadow ft Run The Jewels "Nobody Speak"
This was a vid I'd seen a few weeks ago and knew it would find it's way to Bug. Some wonderful lip syncing as UK and US diplomats get into a ruck.
Schoolboy Q "JoHn Muir"
A day in South Central seen from the point of view of a car. This was alright.
Ralf Hildenbeutel - Disco
This was amazing with 12,000 individually drawn rotoscoped cells of 2 pro dancers put together. The music is good too!
The White Stripes "City Lights"
This is another vid I'd seen pre-Bug. Michel Gondry knocked this up for free and it's quite clever and extremely low budget. Literally just him in a shower. Buxton did make little jokes at being able to see a nipple in the video.
Miike Snow "Genghis Khan"
The first of the videos directed by Ninian and one that had been shown before, is this excellent nod to 60s movies. They had a good chat in how popular this video has become, and it has generated a heavy fan subculture. It's very good.
Miike Snow "My Trigger"
The second Ninian video is a "follow up" to Genghis Khan done in a very similar style. Being asked for a direct sequel which was turned down because Ninian didn't want to tarnish the following that Genghis had, we get a similar style video set during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Not bad, but not as good as his other one.
Avalanches "Subways"
The second video from the returning Avalanches who are back after a 16-year absence. This video has a very 60s Fritz the Cat vibe to it and I liked it a lot.
John Grant "Global Warming"
John Grant has a bit of a following but I don't get him, nor do I like his stuff, or this video
Frank Ocean "Nikes"
I really liked this, as did a few others in the audience. One even heckled by shouting "Rubbish". All the rolling in the money would have been better if they hadn't used the lowest denomination.
Funki Porcini "Conservative Apocalypse"
This one blew me away. Try to see this on a big screen and just take it in. It's like a trippy version of the Chemical Brother's "Star Guitar" video. Stunning!
The final video was "Gosh" by Jamie XX and this is a stunning video, that features an albino negro leading a group of Chinese kids in a Chinese ghost town that happens to be a copy of Paris, complete with Eiffel Tower.
Graffiti doesn't have the presence it used to in New York but there are still pockets of it, mostly in Harlem and as part of the 100 Gates project in the lower east side.
