An echo of an echo of an echo.

Blink twice. Don’t blink. Open your eyes.

What lurks below. What lurks within.

Shadow selves emerging. Darkness. Interdimensional. Ai hellscape. Uncanny valley.

The downward spiral. Taking everyone with you. Insidious addiction. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're pathetic. Wake the fuck up. Shame. The power of addiction.

ALCOHOLISM.

JACK TORRANCE.

The upside down. The downside up. As above, so below.

SEE the UNSEEN.

Claustrophobia. Carpet. Fluorescent light. HELL.

THE NEVER ENDING STORY. . .Don’t let the sadness of the swamps get to you. . .

Nonautomatic commentary:

THE SHINING in a strip mall. Clark is an Ai Jack Torrance come to life. A downward spiral journey into the alcoholic's deteriorating mind.

The scene where Mark Duplass and his family are watching the NeverEnding Story on T.V. brought two things to mind: Clark’s “never-ending” story is the “never-ending” levels or layers of his distorted reality. And Atreyu’s line in the The Neverending Story when he desperately tells his horse Artax, “Fight against the sadness, Artax! Please, don’t let the sadness of the swamps get to you. You have to try! You have to care. For me. You’re my friend. I love you!” Maybe that’s all Clark really needed to hear, but the sadness of the swamps had already gotten to him.

DENIAL. DESPARATION. EXPECTATION. PERFECTION. ILLUSION.

What is marriage actually? Why do we continue feel we need it? Is it really just a performance? A show? Is it really just something to post about? Is it really just more likes? More followers? Who do you want to think you’re happier than them? What does that rock on your finger really represent? Did you really mean “for better or for worse”? Is there really such a thing as “true love”?

Nonautomatic commentary:

A dark comical sideshow of insanity. The sickness that is upper middle class denial is a train wreck you can’t look away from.

My drawings, often done without lifting pen from paper, are also automatic. My instinctual, guttural responses to films through automatic drawing.

These “reviews” are then concluded with brief nonautomatic commentary.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy creating them.

Check them out here.

🌹

Prem

Nonautomatic commentary:

Is OBSESSION a feminist film? Or is it an anti woman film? Does it shed light on male entitlement? Does it reinforce the “psycho girlfriend” trope? What happens to a woman when a man decides she is his to control?

Nonconsentual relationships. Nonconsentual sex. Nonconsentual love.

Let’s be real. Nikki is raped by Bear.

It’s about male entitlement. About how even though Bear is a “nice guy” he still feels entitled to Nikki. To her affection, her body, and her love.

It’s about how gaslighting can make a person disappear. It’s about societal expectations of women. It’s about being trapped in those expectations. Who do we become when we sacrifice all of who we are for someone else? Who do we become when we sacrifice all of who we are for “love”?

Great performance by Inde Navarrette.

Great use of shadow and light.

A great film? I’m not so sure.

My father too. Different, but the same.

I am a writer. I am a director. I was an actor. Maybe I’ll act again some day. I see ME. I wasn’t. I am. I won’t be. I was. I am. I will be. Everything is connected. Sacred serendipity.

Sound matters. The sound of pain. Of blood. Of my insides. The sound of silence. There are universes under my skin.

Words are spells cast them wisely. Keep writing!

Breathing breath. Holding breath. Underwater. Under pressure. Addiction. Death. Rebirth. Explode. Go forth. Go through.

Addicted to addiction. Self medicating is the easy way out, not through.

Rock bottom. Darkness. Swim. Up up up. There is a light that never goes out.

Rush. Run. Roar.

Fall. Float. Flow.

Become.

Become water.

Nonautomatic commentary:

A daring directorial debut. A solid film with brave, bold, beautifully tender performances and a soundscape that conjures you back to life.

Why, TO BE! of course!

The core of who I am expressed in moving images. Immaculate performances, held by Mother Earth. Magic truly is everywhere. Open the eyes of your eyes. The visceral, gutteral pain of being human. The infinite beauty of being alive. Art is nature. Nature is art. The two walls: Birth and Death. The spectacular now that is the in between. We don’t die. We transform. Love doesn’t die. Love transforms. I am, you are, WE are Agnes and Will.

Nonautomatic commentary:

Incredible use of color, darkness and light to express beauty in the duality and liminality of existence.