Film Of The Year

It is something quite remarkable and daring to spend the first 20plus minutes of a film with no dialogue. But here it is and it's delivered with subtlty and success. Sublime and awe inspiring vistas of a possible distant future, consumed by it's own self absorbed conseit, have left planet Earth hidden under towering skyscrappers of rubbish. The human race has abandoned this arid Metropolis of scrap metal for a life of further more ablivious consumerism, on a spaceship light years away. Our one survivor left to clean up is the happy-go-lucky WALL.E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth class) and his friend the cockroach. WALL.E goes to work everyday, collecting, compacting, coverting kitsch and ends everday the same...watching "Hello Dolly" on his VHS and trying to hold his own hand. As you may have gathered WALL.E not only has emotions, but is also very lonely. Along comes EVE sent by the populous of starship cardiac arresst to find signs of organic life.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

I don't need to tell you where this is going and the point is that it's somewhat obvious storyline in no way renders the film a flop. Far from it. The fact it's an animated film is irrelevant (apart from the amazing skill and craftmanship) as the story, it's development, twists and execution totally envelope you. As with all art there is a message, weather on an individual or global level. With WALL.E we are reminded not to lose sight of the bigger picture and how everyones actions play a part, in ways beyond our line of sight. As technology develops and becomes ever more present, we become more dependent upon it for solutions. Love tour Wii but Dont forget there's no substitute for human interaction. This is hands down the film of the year and I'm just sorry that as an animated film it won't get the recognition it truly deserves. Please, prove me wrong.

Personal Demons

Looking at my bookshelf it's easy to recognise some obscure prerequisite I have in reading. And so there should be. Books are a most intimate of mediums, something we hold in our very hands. Reading alone or transporting us from the over crowded commute, where helvetica contours spiral off the page and imagination intertwined, making our senses deaf to the immediate environment. Creative non fiction, unknown poets, dated manuals, children's classics, art, textbook literature, environmental awareness and critical essays, all have their place. Simply put, anything that tackles our conscience and our actions, what we are and where we are going to. Design and rhythm, weather it be in imagery, text or engineering, all have a history and a future to behold.



Franz Kafka was no stranger to these struggles of self and circumstance. Writing three books based on such experiences, all of which he never completed, The Castle ending in mid sentence. A some what biographical novel, if only in tricks of the mind, we follow K. a land surveyor new to a village controlled by a castle. His every thought and action are contradicted with the next interaction. This kaleidoscopic labyrinth of here say and assumptions make each sentence a rebuttal to the previous. I'll admit the first few chapters were a challenge, but once I had accepted patina as true, the pages turned with some velocity. Divided by love, governmental procedures and the desire to survive, K. is suspended in limbo, although he can never openly say such. Kowtowing to everyone he attempts diplomacy, whilst in the same instant brandishing a horse crop at the very people sent to assist him. An acutely intelligible web of deceit and intrigue keep both the reader and K. transfixed on a solution which will never appear. A fantastic introduction to Kafka and the games our hearts play with our minds.

Men Behaving Madly

Delightful, quirky and quiet, who could resist such a film. Brent Hamer's Kitchen Stories (2003) is all that and much, much more. Set in Norway in the early 1950's, a group of Swedish behavioural researchers have a new study at hand. The kitchen routines of single Norwegian men. Observers are paired with a host, who they are forbidden to talk to or interact with in anyway what so ever. Observations and recording is their very being.

We follow Isak, a strange somewhat recluse of a man and his mild mannered house trained observer, Folke. The relationship is beyond awkward to start with Isak refusing to what he volunteered for. To be observed. But as the men get used to each other's constant presence, barriers recede and misconceptions evaporate.

This film is an absolute treasure of wealth, with it's simple yet beautiful cinematography and off kilter synopsis. Men are a funny breed, hiding emotions under a layered multitude of thick skin. Slow and steady wins the race...this film rewards those with patience.