Arise! - The Church of Subgenius

A brain-crushing collage of music and video presented in the form of a religious recruitment video. The topics covered (in deadpan narration) are basic psychology, the origin of the human race, spiritualism, religious dogma, UFO's, the end of the world, and the group's figurehead, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGenius leaders have developed detailed narratives about Dobbs and his relationship to various gods and conspiracies. Their central deity, Jehovah 1, is accompanied by other gods drawn from ancient myth and popular fiction. SubGenius literature describes a grand conspiracy that seeks to brainwash the world and oppress Dobbs's followers. In its narratives, the Church presents a blend of cultural references in an elaborate remix of the sources.

Ivan Stang, who co-founded the Church in the 1970s, serves as its leader and publicist. He has imitated actions of other religious leaders, using the tactic of culture jamming in an attempt to parody better-known faiths. Church leaders instruct their followers to avoid mainstream commercialism and the belief in absolute truths. The group holds that the quality of "Slack" is of utmost importance, but it is never clearly defined. The number of followers is unknown, although the Church's message has been welcomed by college students and artists in the United States. The group is often compared to Discordianism. Journalists often consider the Church an elaborate joke, but some academics have defended it as a real system of deeply held beliefs.

Oils on the Water (1985)

Here's the entire Oils on the Water concert from Goat Island in Sydney Harbour from 1985. I was 16 when this was broadcast. I had been listening to Midnight Oil for over a year. I had been introduced to them by a girl I had a brief thing with, and we went on to become lifelong friends (its been over 40 years now anyway). Midnight Oil changed reality for me. Prior to hearing their music I was a good little colonial boy. When I was 12 I wrote a 10 page essay on Winston Churchill, from an admiration. When I was 15 I won a school writing prize for a story about nuclear war being conducted like a cricket match. That change was largely due to the 1982 Midnight Oil album 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. Songs like US Forces taught a generation of Australians about the history of their nation that was not being taught in school. I was told in school that Aboriginal Australians were an "evolutionary dead end" and they would die out. It was only a matter of time. My discovery of Midnight Oil was the beginning of my awareness. It was shown on national television and broadcast in stereo simulcast on Radio JJJ - it was the 10th birthday for the station. Enjoy and think of Rob Hirst the drummer who died yesterday.

The Mindscape of Alan Moore (2003)

"Escape the limitations of your origins" - Alan Moore
The Mindscape of Alan Moore is a psychedelic journey into one of the world’s most powerful minds; chronicling the life and work of Alan Moore, author of several acclaimed graphic novels, including “From Hell,” “Watchmen” and “V for Vendetta.” It is the only feature film production on which Alan Moore has collaborated, with permission to use his work. Alan Moore presents the story of his development as an artist, starting with his childhood and working through to his comics career and impact on that medium, anarchism, and his emerging interest in magic.

Be Here To Love Me - A Film About Townes Van Zandt (2004)

Directed by Margaret Brown, Be Here To Love Me chronicles the often turbulent life of American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. The film includes interviews of Van Zandt's immediate family and contemporaries such as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle and Guy Clark, along with "home movies, old TV performances and, especially, mid-Seventies footage originally filmed by James Szalapski for his outlaw country documentary Heartworn Highways.

Anita: Dances of Vice

Anita: Dances of Vice (German: Anita – Tänze des Lasters) is a 1987 German avant-garde film directed by Rosa von Praunheim. The film premiered at the 1987 New York Film Festival and was also shown at, for example, the 1988 São Paulo International Film Festival.

The film follows a delusional elderly woman who believes she is Anita Berber (1899-1928), a German dancer who, along with her partner Sebastian Droste, epitomizes the decadence of 1920s Berlin. Nude dance performances, cocaine use, and an excessive sex life characterize their lifestyle. Anita Berber's story is told through the thoughts and memories of the old lady (played by Lotti Huber) who is being held in an "insane asylum". Scenes from Anita's scandalous life are replayed also in her dreams.

Deep End (1970)

Deep End is a 1970 psychological comedy drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski and starring John Moulder-Brown, Jane Asher and Diana Dors. It was written by Skolimowski, Jerzy Gruza and Boleslaw Sulik. The film was an international co-production between West Germany and the United Kingdom. Set in London, the film centres on a 15-year-old boy who develops an infatuation with his older, beautiful colleague at a suburban bath house and swimming pool.

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 1 September 1970. Deep End, considered a cult classic, went unreleased for many years due to rights issues. In 2011, it was given a digital restoration with the co-operation of the British Film Institute and was released in theatres and on home media.

Mike (John Moulder-Brown), a 15-year-old bathhouse worker, develops a crush on his older, attractive co-worker, Susan (Jane Asher). At first they help each other secure bigger tips by swapping their respective male and female clients. But their tidy business arrangement is severed when Mike discovers that Susan has not only shunned him, but is cheating on her fiancé with an older swim coach. As Mike begins stalking Susan in an effort to break them up, his innocent crush spirals into obsession.

The film features the song "Mother Sky" by Can in an extended sequence set in Soho, and "But I Might Die Tonight" by Cat Stevens in the opening scene and finale; the previously unreleased version heard in the film was eventually released in 2020 on a reissue of Stevens' album Tea for the Tillerman.

Deep End was one of David Lynch's favourite films.

"I don't like colour movies and I can hardly think about colour. It really cheapens things for me and there's never been a colour movie I've freaked out over except one, this thing called Deep End, which had really great art direction." - David Lynch

CAN Free Concert Cologne 1972

Film shot for the occasion of CAN's free concert in their home town of Cologne on February 3rd 1972, attended by over ten thousand. During the event, the multitrack tape recorder meant for the film's audio sync failed, and the band was left with only a highly flawed cassette recording of the concert from the front of stage.

The decision was then made to overdub the tape at Inner Space Studio the following month, and to film the overdubbing as well as CAN in their regular mode of improvisation. Two tracks recorded for the film later ended up on the album Unlimited Edition, titled "I'm Too Leise" and "LH 702 (Nairobi/München).

CAN (stylized in all caps) were a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by Holger Czukay (bass, tape editing), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). They featured several vocalists, including American Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and Japanese Damo Suzuki (1970–73). They have been hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene.

The founding members of CAN came from backgrounds in avant-garde music and jazz. They blended elements of psychedelic rock, space rock, funk, samba and musique concrète on influential albums such as Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973). CAN also had commercial success with singles such as "Spoon" (1971) and "I Want More" (1976) reaching national singles charts. Their work has influenced rock, post-punk, indie rock, post-rock and ambient acts.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is perhaps the most densely packed, aggressively weird movie to ever emerge from a major studio. It posits a hero who is a neurosurgeon, particle physicist, rock star, and comic book hero all at once. Peter Weller plays the titular character with a deadpan cool that holds the madness together. The film throws the audience into the middle of a complex mythology without a map, featuring a team of sidekicks called the "Hong Kong Cavaliers," an alien invasion by "Red Lectroids" from Planet 10 (all named John), and a plot involving a jet car driving through solid matter.

Despite flopping at the box office, it became a legendary cult classic because of its refusal to explain itself. It treats its absurd premise as absolute fact. The cast is a marvel of 80s talent, including Jeff Goldblum in a cowboy outfit, Christopher Lloyd as a manic alien, and John Lithgow giving a scenery-chewing performance as Dr. Emilio Lizardo. The film’s aesthetic and tone—particularly the end credits sequence where the cast walks in sync to the synth-pop theme—have influenced directors like Wes Anderson. It remains a litmus test for sci-fi fans: you either bounce off its chaotic energy, or you become a lifelong initiate of the Banzai Institute, quoting, "No matter where you go, there you are."

Brazil (1985) Full movie English

In a retro-future world, Sam Lowry, a clerk in the ministry department, is given the task to rectify an administrative error. However, in the process, he becomes an enemy of the state.

There is so much I could say about this film. It has shaped my life in some ways. This film is a work of genius.

Ongka's Big Moka: The Kawelka of Papua New Guinea

Ongka is a charismatic big-man of the Kawelka tribe who live scattered in the Western highlands, north of Mount Hagen, in New Guinea. The film focuses on the motivations and efforts involved in organising a big ceremonial gift-exchange or moka planned to take place sometime in 1974. Ongka has spent nearly five years preparing for this ceremonial exchange, using all his big-man skills of oratory and persuasion in order to try to assemble what he hopes will be a huge gift of 600 pigs, some cows, some cassowaries, a motorcycle, a truck and £5,500 in cash. As an example of the big-man familiar from written texts, Ongka is memorable, and the film manages to convey through this main character the importance of pigs, of exchange and of prestige in the life of these Highlanders. The film-crew never in fact managed to film the big moka, as the conspiratorial and complex manoeuvres involved in setting the date thwarted their plans. But we are shown Ongka replacing tee-shirt and shorts with his ceremonial feathers and setting off to a little moka where he collects pigs he `invested' with his wife's father. The interview with Ongka's wife raises the issue of the sexual division of labour and the importance of the wife's labour in pig-rearing and moka preparation, as well as the role of women in the establishment of a big-man.

A key component to Kawelka culture, the Moka ceremony finds those seeking to gain influence attempting to do so not by acquiring valuable objects, but by giving them away. This is similar to the Potlatch in Haida culture. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned and the leader of the tribe is ultimately threatened with violence as a result of his outwardly selfless act of giving.

Directed by Charlie Nairn, Ethnographer Andrew J. Strathern, In Disappearing World (London, England: Royal Anthropological Institute), 55 minutes