Hypothesis

Watched https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenet from en.wikipedia.org

Several characters have complex timelines in the film due to inverting and reverting, notably Neil, the Protagonist, Sator and Kat.[186][185][187] Inversion allows multiple versions of a character to exist simultaneously; for instance, there are five simultaneous Neils (that are known) in the world during the moments of the climactic scene inside the Stalsk-12 hypocenter where he dies (two inverted and one normal on the battlefield, one normal at the opera siege and one more normal somewhere else in the world who will later meet the Protagonist in Neil’s first appearance of the film),[187] and the implication is that an older future Protagonist is orchestrating the events of the film behind the scenes without ever being seen by the viewer or his past self, in an example of a temporal pincer movement.[188] Inversion also sets up bootstrap paradoxes, whereby events are caused by themselves in a “chicken or the egg” scenario.[189]

Tenet – Wikipedia by Tenet – Wikipedia

I watched Tenet, but still am not sure what happened. I get the principle of stopping armageddon, but I am still confused how there can five versions of Neil in the final scene. It is one of those films where you want to go back and watch it all over again once it is finished. I think I probably need to read more on entropy to be honest.

I did enjoy the soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson and was interested in reading about the use of retrograde composition to generate melodies that would sound the same forward and backward.

Watched 2020 film by Bill Benz by Contributors to Wikimedia projects from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

The Nowhere Inn is a 2020 American mockumentary psychological thriller–comedy film directed by Bill Benz from a screenplay by Annie Clark in her film debut and Carrie Brownstein. It stars Clark, Brownstein and Dakota Johnson.

I had no idea what to expect from The Nowhere Inn, I am still not sure after watching it. There is something about St. Vincent where I feel both captivated by the theatre (see the Austin performance as an example) even if it leaves me even more confused about who the real St. Vincent is.

Like David Bowie, she uses fashion, hair, and stage production as a suit of armour. In the film, when “Annie” tries to be normal, she’s mocked for being uninteresting. It suggests a tragic trade-off: to be a captivating artist, you have to sacrifice the “real” you to the persona.

Apparently the film was actually born out of a real documentary attempt. When they realised a standard tour documentary was going to be “boring,” they decided to blow up the genre entirely and turn it into a psychological thriller. But then again, who would know?

Watched https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_and_the_Revolution:_Live from en.wikipedia.org

Prince and the Revolution: Live is a live concert video by Prince and the Revolution. Released after the Purple Rain Tour was complete, the video is a recording of the March 30, 1985 concert at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The concert was also broadcast live throughout Europe as the final act of the 15th “Rock Night”, an all-night show of four concerts staged by West German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk as part of its Rockpalast series that was simulcast by the Eurovision network of European TV stations.[2]

Prince and the Revolution: Live – Wikipedia

I am exhausted just watching this recording. It is a strange experience to watch a concert and how they can provide a deeper appreciation for what you hear. I had the same experience with Talking Heads.

Watched https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kjlh from bbc.co.uk

David Bowie’s spectacular two-hour show from Glastonbury 2000, shown in full for the first time on television. Featuring familiar hits including Ashes to Ashes, Starman and Let’s Dance.

BBC Music – Glastonbury, 2000, David Bowie

Not sure why I was unaware of this performance and its history, but I came upon it watching the documentary Bowie: The Final Act. It must have been a strange experience for promoters as nobody knew which Bowie would turn up. Clearly a Bowie willing to lean into his legacy. I really love the sound of the songs and the modern tinge that a number of them get, especially ‘Let’s Dance’. Also could not help laugh about the Laryngitis comment only to be smoking a cigarette next moment.

Watched https://iview.abc.net.au/show/bowie-the-final-act-2025 from iview.abc.net.au

By the 1990s, critics wrongly thought Bowie was creatively exhausted. His albums flopped and promoters couldn’t give away tickets. But what followed was the most remarkable artistic resurrection in music history.

Bowie: The Final Act (2025) : ABC iview by Bowie: The Final Act (2025) : ABC iview

Although the title, Bowie: The Final Act, gives the suggestion that it focuses on his final album, instead it reviews Bowie’s lengthy career with the end in mind. Subsequently, it jumps around and addresses various aspects of his career, before discussing his ‘final act’, Black Star, and lasting legacy. It was certainly interesting going back and listening to the album again.

Bowie is a fascinating topic. I remember watching Moonage Daydream, although there are elements that cross-over, sometimes it feels like this documentary is about a different person. It was interesting reading through the reviews collected in the Wikipedia page. Although I enjoyed the documentary enough, I felt that Ed Power’s captured some of my frustrations and confusions.

In The Telegraph, Ed Power gave 2/5 stars, writing: “A decade on from his death, the story of David Bowie’s last years is reduced to a haphazard highlights reel in the underwhelming David Bowie: the Final Act … After starting with Blackstar, the film quickly loses focus, hopping across Bowie’s career in fits and starts. It lingers inordinately on his critically panned Tin Machine project, jumps back to his final concert with the Spiders from Mars at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973, then pings forward to his mid‑1990s drum‑and‑bass phase (likewise loathed by critics). … Amid the zigzagging, the film at least lines up some impressive interviewees.”

Bowie: The Final Act – Wikipedia

I stumbled upon Bowie: The Final Act via ABC iView.

Watched https://www.criterion.com/films/33621-moonage-daydream from criterion.com

An ecstatic voyage through the creative and spiritual universe of David Bowie, Moonage Daydream is a fittingly unclassifiable tribute to the shape-shifting rock iconoclast and his singular sound and vision. Exploding the conventions of the music documentary, director Brett Morgen remixes dazzling, never-before-seen footage of the artist throughout his career, reveling in his otherworldly presence while revealing the restless philosophical inquiry that guided his myriad metamorphoses. Graced with soulful narration by Bowie, this immersive audiovisual head rush transmits the essence of a phenomenon that cannot be explained—only experienced.

Moonage Daydream (2022) | The Criterion Collection by Moonage Daydream (2022) | The Criterion Collection

Part documentary, part experience, Moonage Daydream provides more than a recount of the life of David Bowie. In particular, it brings in various archival material to support the story.

We’ve seen trippy documentaries before, but Morgen seems to have created this movie to be rock ‘n’ roll. That’s part of its colliding-image irreverence. Watching “Moonage Daydream,” there are essential facts you won’t hear, and many touchstones that get skipped over (in the entire movie, you’ll never even see an album cover). But you get closer than you expect to the chilly sexy enigma of who David Bowie really was.

Source: ‘Moonage Daydream’ Review: Brett Morgen’s Kaleidoscopic Head-Trip Meditation on Who David Bowie Was by Owen Gleiberman

Continue reading “📺 Moonage Daydream”

Watched https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/19/simple-minds-everything-is-possible-review-documentary from theguardian.com

ere’s a very straightforward music documentary about Simple Minds – the story of five working-class lads from Glasgow who started a band in 1977, and by the mid-80s were stadium rockers up there with U2. “The most iconic and influential Scottish band in history,” is how the film’s promotional material describes them. (Fans of the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Bay City Rollers and the Waterboys may take umbrage.) Today, only frontman Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill remain of the original lineup – and miraculously they’re still mates. And when Kerr says sweetly that their friendship is one of his greatest achievements, it looks like he really means it.

Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible review – a straightforward portrait of unpretentious rockers | Film | The Guardian

For a long time, I thought that Simple Minds only had one song, “Don’t You”, the lead song from The Breakfast Club. I discovered in Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible that it was not even their song. The documentary brings together a number of voices to tell the story of Simple Minds. Although it was both informative and interesting, what I find strange and frustration about these simplistic recounts is that they often sweep aside years and decades in a minute or two without saying anything. I recognise that a lot of people probably do not care for the later years, but if that is the case why include them?

I stumbled upon this via SBS On-Demand.

Watched https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Making_Sense from en.wikipedia.org

Stop Making Sense is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads.[3] The film was directed by Jonathan Demme and executive produced by Gary Kurfirst, the band’s longtime manager. The film was shot over four nights in December 1983 at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre while Talking Heads were on tour promoting their 1983 album, Speaking in Tongues. Stop Making Sense includes performances of the early Talking Heads single, “Psycho Killer” (1977), through to their most recent hit at the time, “Burning Down the House” (1983). It also includes songs from the solo career of frontman David Byrne and by Tom Tom Club, the side project of drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth.

Stop Making Sense – Wikipedia

I rewatched Stop Making Sense after stumbling upon this on SBS On-Demand. I watched it a few years ago after Kurt Hamilton did an episode of Strong Songs on it. Two things that I do not feel that I appreciated in my first watch was the frenetic energy throughout. I was also left wondering about how groundbreaking the stage projections must have been? It is easy to watch those sorts of things now and take it all for granted.

Watched https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show from en.wikipedia.org

The Truman Show is a 1998 American psychological comedy-drama film[2] written and co-produced by Andrew Niccol, and directed by Peter Weir. The film depicts the story of Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey), a man who is unaware that he is living his entire life on a colossal soundstage, and that it is being filmed and broadcast as a reality television show that has a huge international following. All of his friends, family, and members of his community are paid actors whose job is to sustain the illusion and keep Truman unaware of the false world he inhabits.

The Truman Show – Wikipedia

I am not sure why it took me so long to see The Truman Show. Of course I loved it. It was intriguing watching it after reading Fredric Jameson’s book on Postmodernism.

Mike Michaelson: Christof, let me ask you, why do you think that Truman has never come close to discovering the true nature of his world until now?

Christof: We accept the reality of the world with which we’re presented. It’s as simple as that.

Watched https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touching_the_Void_(film) from en.wikipedia.org

Touching the Void is a 2003 survival documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, and Ollie Ryall. The plot concerns Joe Simpson and Simon Yates’ near-fatal descent after making the first successful ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes, in 1985. It is based on Simpson’s 1988 book of the same name.

Touching the Void (film) – Wikipedia by Touching the Void (film) – Wikipedia

This was a recommendation that came up during a discussion of Ikigai & Kaizen – The Japanese Strategy to Achieve Personal Happiness and Professional Success (Anthony Raymond).

Watched https://www.thelostcityofmelbourne.org/ from thelostcityofmelbourne.org

In the 1850s, Melbourne was the fastest growing city in the world. “They dreamt big, they built big….it was a city jumping out of its skin”.

It became an epicentre of film culture and its hotels, restaurants and cafes became world renowned. However, the attempted ‘modernisation’ of Melbourne in the 1950s destroyed much of the city, including its elegant cinemas and picture palaces. Our buildings were deemed too Victorian, the opposite of a modern metropolis, and Whelan The Wrecker’s demolition blitz began.

Featuring rare archival film & photography, this film is a revelatory work that allows its audience to reimagine the former glory of the lost city of Melbourne.

Source: The Lost City of Melbourne

The documentary The Lost City of Melbourne takes us back into a world lost to modernisation and gentrification. It delves into the social and cultural life of “Marvellous Melbourne” from the Gold Rush era (1850s) onwards, showcasing the city’s reputation as a global centre for culture and art, including its theatre culture. It explores the the demolition blitz, primarily driven by a “cultural cringe” in the 1950s—especially in the lead-up to the 1956 Olympic Games—where Melbournians felt their Victorian architecture and looked outdated. The role of the demolition company, Whelan The Wrecker, is also a key part of the story. The film highlights the demolition of many monumental structures in the 1950s and 60s, which included grand hotels, cafes, restaurants, markets (like the Eastern Market), and even early skyscrapers (like the Colonial Mutual Life building). It is presented through sketches, photographs, video and commentary.

Watching the documentary, I was reminded of a post I wrote a few years ago about imagining the past:

Imagine that instead of having to go to somewhere like Sovereign Hill or the Pioneer Settlement to step back in time, we could instead look out across the city skyline of a place like Sydney and call up a vision of what it might have been like in the past or even better Machu Pichu when the Inca empire was at its height.

Source: Imaging and Imagining the Past by Aaron Davis

I wonder if this insight is only ever a glimpse, something of a false promise?

Watched Series 11 Bibbulmun Track, WA from iview.abc.net.au

Back Roads explores Western Australia’s beloved Bibbulmun Track – a 1000 kilometre walk through mighty forests and a rugged coastline. Guest Presenter Rae Johnston meets people transformed by the experience.

Source: Series 11 Bibbulmun Track, WA by @abctv

Enjoyed Rae Johnston’s exploration of the 1000km Bibbulmun Track from Perth to Albany, the outdoors and the ability for long walks to change you. Hard to imagine how grueling it would be for Erika Lori who travelled the track in 10 days.

After running, crawling, hurdling and climbing for 1,000 kilometres, Erika Lori has smashed the Bibbulmun Track record by half a day.

Ms Lori completed the gruelling trail from Albany to Kalamunda in 10 days and 18 hours, breaking the time set by her friend and coach, Shane Johnstone, of 11 days and seven hours.

Source: 1,000-kilometre Bibbulmun Track record smashed in gruelling ‘run, crawl and scramble’ by @abcnews

Watched 2023 film directed by Ben Wheatley by Contributors to Wikimedia projects from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

Meg 2: The Trench (titled Shark 2 in some territories[2]) is a 2023 science fiction action film directed by Ben Wheatley and a sequel to The Meg (2018), based on the 1999 novel The Trench by Steve Alten. Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris all return as writers from the first film, with Jason Statham, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, and Cliff Curtis reprising their roles alongside Wu Jing, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Skyler Samuels. Like the previous film, it follows a group of scientists who must outrun and outswim the megalodons when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.

Source: Meg 2: The Trench – Wikipedia

I Found Meg 2 on Netflix. I wonder if Jason Statham’s absurd heroics makes him one of the funniest people on film or maybe I have been listening to too much Sizzletown? Favourite line:

We do what’s in front of us, then we do the next thing.

Watched 1985 film directed by John Hughes by Contributors to Wikimedia projects from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

On the New Music Friday podcast, discussed The Bleachers origins as a soundtrack for an imaginary John Hughes film. (Read Yasmeen Gharnit’s attempt at matching up of John Hughes films associated with Strange Desires.) I was left intrigued at thinking about the Bleachers through this lens.

I grew up with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, Home Alone and Dennis the Menace, but for whatever reason, I never borrowed The Breakfast Club (or Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles) from the video store. I recently watched The Breakfast Club for the first time. It was an intriguing film, basically set in one space, similar to Reservoir Dogs. (I imagine that both films have been adapted this for the stage since.)

It is intriguing watch these films with hindsight, as Ringwald touched on in her 2018 essay rethinking her three films in a post-#METOO world:

John’s movies convey the anger and fear of isolation that adolescents feel, and seeing that others might feel the same way is a balm for the trauma that teen-agers experience. Whether that’s enough to make up for the impropriety of the films is hard to say—even criticizing them makes me feel like I’m divesting a generation of some of its fondest memories, or being ungrateful since they helped to establish my career. And yet embracing them entirely feels hypocritical. And yet, and yet. . . .

How are we meant to feel about art that we both love and oppose? What if we are in the unusual position of having helped create it? Erasing history is a dangerous road when it comes to art—change is essential, but so, too, is remembering the past, in all of its transgression and barbarism, so that we may properly gauge how far we have come, and also how far we still need to go.

Source: What About “The Breakfast Club”? by Molly Ringwald

There is something fantastical and absurd about all these films. But on a serious note, when were smoke detectors invented and where is the duty of care with leaving the students unattended for large swathes of time?

Watched

Not exactly sure how I ended up watching Rick Beato’s interview with James Maynard Keenan, but I did not regret it. I was intrigued by the discussion of the three bands and how the combination of musicians in each allows for a different side, perspective.

The T-Shirt.

However, the thing that really left me thinking was Keenan’s reflections on touring. He discussed the reality of not being able to eat after 3pm and why even though every dietician would cringe, he then eats a meal at 12pm, after performing.

I have to eat either at three o’clock or not until 11 30, after the show, because you can’t eat too close to the show, because I’m carrying it around and you risk your reflux and now you now you’ve compromised your voice for the next three shows. So I have to eat early in the day, knock that out, and then after the show, if you have talked to any dietitians, they’re like, “you’re eating at 11 30 at night or midnight what’s wrong with you.”

Source: Maynard James Keenan Interview (Tool, A Perfect Circle & Puscifer)

This reminded me of the sacrifices that Kate Miller-Heidke makes as a performer.

Watched

I watched the performance of I’m Just Ken from The Oscars with my daughter and then showed her November Rain to explain the significance of the guitar solo. Her comment within seconds of the solo in November Rain, “why is he smoking? Smoking is disgusting …” I will trying to provide her a lesson in culture, instead she gave me one.

This was after she came into my office the other day concerned about a video that came up in YTKids. I was worried and asked her to show me. It was Van Halen’s Jump. She was really concerned about David Lee Roth doing the splits in leather pants. I had never really noticed that before, really I could never get past the hair.

Watched Looking for Alibrandi (film) by Contributors to Wikimedia projects from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

Rewatching Looking for Alibrandi, I feel that there are films, such as Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet, that manage to transport your back to a particular time and place through the soundtrack. I feel that this is different to say Donnie Darko whose soundtrack feels like it is designed to construct a particular past.

Watched American Sniper by Contributors to Wikimedia projects from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

American Sniper, based on the memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History (2012) by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice, provides an insight into the conflicted nature of and sacrifices associated with war and challenges with returning back to society.

Watched

This video is being promoted as OpenAI’s first officially commissioned Sora collaboration with a musician as well as a filmmaker. Beyond the uncanny nature of the video, I found it strangely off putting the speed in which everything moved. It was interesting to compare this with something like Michel Gondry’s work with The Chemical Brothers.

Watched Love in Bright Landscapes: The Story of David McComb of the Triffids by Contributors to Wikimedia projects from Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

Love in Bright Landscapes: The Story of David McComb of the Triffids is a feature-length documentary, depicting the life and times of late Australian songwriter David McComb (February 17, 1962 – February 2, 1999) best known for his work with the Triffids, a band he co-founded in Perth, Western Australia. The Triffids were active between 1978 and 1990.

The film was the directorial debut of Melbourne-based writer/broadcaster Jonathan Alley, who also wrote the documentary screenplay. The film was produced by Atticus Media and The Acme Film Company and distributed in the Australian/New Zealand territory by Label Distribution.

The title Love in Bright Landscapes refers both to the Triffids’ compilation of the same name, released in 1986, and the poem by Spanish literary figure Rafael Alberti, who published The Coming Back of Love in Bright Landscapes] in 1973.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_in_Bright_Landscapes:_The_Story_of_David_McComb_of_the_Triffids

—

I had watched Great Australian Albums episode on Born Sandy Devotional and listened to Kirsten Krauth’s Almost a Mirror episode on ‘Wide Open Road’, so I was aware of The Triffids story. However, what Jonathan Alley brought to the table with were some of the voices closest to David McComb. What was weird though about this was that by the time this documentary was released in 2021, how many of these voices were long past, a point made by Alley in the credits.

One aspect that I felt Alley made more light of was McComb’s life after ‘Born Sand Devotional’. I had not realised that the record company wanted to seemingly replace the band in the recording process for Calenture, their Island Records debut. It makes you wonder in this circumstance where David McComb stops and the band begins, a similar experience I had reading Love & Pain by Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou.

Another interesting aspect to this sort of documentary are the voices that are included and the subsequent ones that are excluded. For example, Bleddyn Butcher is not a part of the discussion. Maybe as he has his own book Save What You Can, then he did not feel the need to be involved or was not asked?