#64: "deadpan pool of inspiration"
Welcome to issue #64 of THIS NEWSLETTER CANNOT SAVE YOU, our inaugural issue of the new year, and the only issue in which I can appropriately post one of my favorite jpgs:
It’s also the time of year when I present my annual list of music video favorites, cleverly titled:
Many but not all of the videos on the list were featured in this newsletter, but perhaps you might enjoy seeing some of them again. It’s the smallest collection since I started making these annual favorites playlists in earnest, topping out at 36 videos, down from a peak of 137 videos in 2020. Now 2020 was a year when escapism was a core interest for me, of course, but since I started the newsletter in 2021, short films have taken up a steadily increasing percentage of my overall viewing time. So you get 36 videos this year, a quite manageable number all things considered, and I do hope you enjoy a few of them.
Anyway let’s look at some interesting stuff on the internet, shall we?
Scottovision
“The Rainbow Bridge” (2024) - In this absurdist romp of a short film, a pair of mad scientists offer to help a woman communicate with her dying pet at a deeper level than just snuggling. We’re talking “MAXIMUM QUANTUM ZOOLOGICAL ALIGNMENT” here. Director Dimitri Simakis (co-creator of Everything Is Terrible!) lets his actors cut loose on his manic screenplay, bringing the whole situation to a weirdly hilarious boil within its mere thirteen-minute running time. Also, giant puppet!
“Shé (Snake)” (2023) - Filmmaker Renee Zhan is a favorite of this newsletter, thanks to her animated films Reneepoptosis and O Black Hole! among others. Here she forays into live action with the story of a young violinist whose inner fears take on a disturbing form when competition for first chair in her student orchestra arrives.
“Lehja” (2024) - This lovely and bittersweet track by singer Sheherazaad, about a girl who is born speaking a forbidden language that scares God, is accompanied by a remarkable music video. Seven dancers on an empty stage embody the expressionistic core of the story and it's captivating. Directed by Raghavi Agarwal, based on a dance piece by Somya Kautia.
“Space Plug” (2023) - In this sci-fi short film by director Marcus Anthony Thomas, a young boy is raised by aliens in an enclosed environment, and desperately searches for freedom he instinctively believes must exist somewhere outside the plain white room that houses him. The scenario is disturbing and the execution is sharp, and although the film doesn’t answer every question it poses, it succeeds as a weird thought experiment all the same.
“David Lynch Teaches Typing: Full Playthrough” (2018) - The gaming channel Kotaku spends a few minutes playing through the low-rez video game David Lynch Teaches Typing (“That typing tutor you like is coming back in style!”).
“Meet The Boys” (2024) - In this commission for Adult Swim’s Off The Air, the members of a popular boy band are lobbed friendly questions for your amusement. Director Joe Cappa returns with his grotesque-yet-adorable characters, drawing from the same deadpan pool of inspiration that brought you such weirdness as Gabbagooblins, the Toro y Moi Mahal listening party, and even this advertisement for a brewpub.
“Breathe” (2022) - A young woman’s unusual talent for healing is exploited by her desperate father in this short film by writer/director Stephen Kang. The story borders on horror, but it’s also a story about the consequences of faith, which is what drew me in.
“Conversations With A Whale” (2022) - This hand-drawn, stop-motion animated short film dramatizes the steady flow of rejections that accompany the path of the artist - in this case, rejections from a myriad of film festivals. Certainly such relentless rejection can build character and cause transformation, but let’s be clear, it also sucks, and this is no romanticization of the experience. Instead it’s a beautifully crafted, meditative film that did eventually reach an audience. Directed by Anna Samo.
“Guzzle Buddies” (2024) - What begins as an attempt to steer a friend out of a dissociative panic attack veers into an intervention with a self-admitted alcoholic. Although the therapeutic techniques deployed in each case might be unconventional, the genuine bond between the two individuals in question is very well-played. Written and directed by Michael Rees.
“Drawing a mouth accidentally swallowing a corn dog art tutorial” (2024) - Self-explanatory.
Exit Music
Sending you out this issue with a friendly reminder that this recording exists: the group Gestalt performing a powerful live a cappella medley of a Skylar Grey song ("Wilderness") and a Björk track ("Lionsong").
Here's the YouTube playlist with (many of) this issue's recos. Please enjoy responsibly.
Until next time, I remain your friendly correspondent, thinking of you,
Scotto
Scotto Moore is the author of WILD MASSIVE, BATTLE OF THE LINGUIST MAGES, and YOUR FAVORITE BAND CANNOT SAVE YOU.
See also: