Rec
iām sure thereās a doc iāve seen before this one where i ālearned moreā or whatever but at least in recent memory this one feels like an all-timer; the subject matter is interesting, the interviews are engaging, the found footage is immaculate, and the graphics feel so on-theme that you kinda forget that someone drew that, and that it wasnāt something akin to found footage. also just manages the tone really, really well ā the edit tells the story in a way that feels really intuitive and leaves you at the end with a sense of melancholy that you finished it because you just want it to keep going
Mar 28, 2024
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Rec
š²ooohh it was so hard to pick one but this is it for me. plus it's got one of my favourite sentences in all of existence (some flies are too awesome for the wall)
Jun 24, 2025
Rec
šOn a big olā documentary kick and have been steadily working through Adam Curtisās filmography.
More than being informative and engaging, theyāre almost like multimedia collage pieces. I read on his Wikipedia that he cites Robert Rauschenberg as an influence and I definitely see and feel that. Beautiful stuff. Great soundtracks.
He goes in so many different historical, geopolitical, cultural directions and somehow it doesnāt feel insane or boring or overwhelming. Itās almost relieving to have someone articulate so clearly the depth of the mess we have made.
Most of his work can be found for free on YouTube/Internet Archive. Proceed w caution, may contribute to feelings of anger and frustration.
More than being informative and engaging, theyāre almost like multimedia collage pieces. I read on his Wikipedia that he cites Robert Rauschenberg as an influence and I definitely see and feel that. Beautiful stuff. Great soundtracks.
He goes in so many different historical, geopolitical, cultural directions and somehow it doesnāt feel insane or boring or overwhelming. Itās almost relieving to have someone articulate so clearly the depth of the mess we have made.
Most of his work can be found for free on YouTube/Internet Archive. Proceed w caution, may contribute to feelings of anger and frustration.
Mar 16, 2025
Rec
š½scala (2023) is a brilliant documentary about the scala cinema in london, and how it influenced a whole generation of creatives. absolutely brilliant film and made me reconsider how i look at movies generally.
while we watched (2022) is the story of a ravish kumar, an indian news reporter trying to fight against the misinformation put out by the indian media and the pressure put on him by the government.
squaring the circle (2022) is a really fun documentary if youāre into your classic rock. all about the group that designed half of the famous album covers from that period, and the story behind the group and the art.
and lastly iāll say the sparks brothers (2021). just a brilliant display of how filmmaking can be used in a documentary. again, loads of fun, really beautiful shots, amazing lineup of interviewees. i hadnāt even heard of sparks before watching this but i was a big fan by the end.
while we watched (2022) is the story of a ravish kumar, an indian news reporter trying to fight against the misinformation put out by the indian media and the pressure put on him by the government.
squaring the circle (2022) is a really fun documentary if youāre into your classic rock. all about the group that designed half of the famous album covers from that period, and the story behind the group and the art.
and lastly iāll say the sparks brothers (2021). just a brilliant display of how filmmaking can be used in a documentary. again, loads of fun, really beautiful shots, amazing lineup of interviewees. i hadnāt even heard of sparks before watching this but i was a big fan by the end.
Top Recs from @alaiyo
Rec
a treatise on the attention economy - checked it out on libby and got through it over the course of a work day, a lot of really interesting social and cultural explorations about how time itself is the final frontier of hypercapitalism and what decommodification of our attention and time should look like
the book starts with a story about the oldest redwood tree in oakland and how the only reason itās still standing is bc itās unmillable, and how being uncommercializable is essential to our survival. it ends with an exploration of alt social media platforms (mostly p2p ones) and what keeping the good parts of the social internet and rejecting the bad ones should look like
all in all a super valuable read; my only nitpick with the book is that odell isnāt just charting the attention economy but also attempting to āsolveā it and relate it back to broader concepts about labor and social organizing, but her background is in the arts which leads to some really wonderful references to drive the points home while also missing some critical racial + socioeconomic analyses that one would expect (or at least really appreciate) from the book she promises to deliver in the introduction. but this does also make the book easier to read which is good because everyone should definitely engage with what she has to say
will definitely be revisiting
the book starts with a story about the oldest redwood tree in oakland and how the only reason itās still standing is bc itās unmillable, and how being uncommercializable is essential to our survival. it ends with an exploration of alt social media platforms (mostly p2p ones) and what keeping the good parts of the social internet and rejecting the bad ones should look like
all in all a super valuable read; my only nitpick with the book is that odell isnāt just charting the attention economy but also attempting to āsolveā it and relate it back to broader concepts about labor and social organizing, but her background is in the arts which leads to some really wonderful references to drive the points home while also missing some critical racial + socioeconomic analyses that one would expect (or at least really appreciate) from the book she promises to deliver in the introduction. but this does also make the book easier to read which is good because everyone should definitely engage with what she has to say
will definitely be revisiting
