Damon Packard‘s latest A.I. experiment is a hallucinatory trip to the set of 1984’s Dune, where pugs romp in the sand and Sean Young is perpetually drunk.
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POD 366: REFLECTIONS OF DAMON PACKARD
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Audio only link (Soundcloud download)
Quick links/Discussed in this episode:
Angel’s Egg New York City screening: Discussion begins. Read Simon Hyslop’s review of Angel’s Egg. Mamoru Oshii‘s surreal, almost wordless anime fantasia gets a rare screening on September 10, with two sessions, lead artist Yoshitaka Amano in attendance (as part of a Amano retrospective) at both. Normally, we would speculate that a rare revival like this might herald an upcoming re-release of this fondly-remembered OVA, but the Japan Society also screened this in 2022, and there is no mention of a new remastered source or anything of the kind to suggest a new edition upcoming. At least they are keeping the legend alive, which may suggest to someone somewhere that the demand is there. Unfortunately, these two screenings will be sold out by the time you read this, but chances are you’re not reading this from New York City anyway. Angel’s Egg at Japan Society, Sep. 10.
Hello Dankness (2022): Discussion begins. The first film from the Tik Tok generation? Hello Dankness re-imagines America’s 2016 presidential election with a collection of re-edited (and unauthorized) pop culture clips. Writing for “The Beast,” Nick Schager called it “as bizarre as it is brilliant” (point of reference: he thought it was brilliant.) Hello Dankness official site.
Reflections of Evil screening: Damon Packard interview begins. Read the Canonically Weird entry! A rare screening of Damon Packard‘s underground classic in Los Angeles Saturday evening, September 16. Reflections of Evil screening at Los Feliz Theater (Los Angeles).
WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE:
No guest scheduled for Pod 366 next week—we’ll just chat about new releases. In written reviews, Giles Edwards and Shane Wilson investigate Cosmic Disco Detective Rene (2023) and Little Murders (1971), respectively, while Gregory J. Smalley listens to The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future (2022). Onward and weirdward!
SATURDAY SHORT: RATIMIS (2017)
Certified weird director Damon Packard edited this music video for Brahm’s recent title track “Ratimis”. Various weird movie scenes are tastefully placed over what sounds like a despondent subgenre of chillwave.
Content Warning: This short contains brief flashes of nudity.
288. REFLECTIONS OF EVIL (2002)
“At this point I had realized that Damon’s film was like a Zen riddle. The more you tried to understand it with rational thought, the more its true meaning eluded you. I’d learned just to sit back and enjoy the experience.”–Thad Vassmer, “The Making of Reflections of Evil”
DIRECTED BY: Damon Packard
FEATURING: Damon Packard, Nicole Vanderhoff
PLOT: Bob is a grossly overweight man trying to make a living peddling watches on the streets of present-day L.A. In flashback, we learn that his sister Julie died of an overdose in the 1970s. Julie’s spirit seeks out Bob with an important message from beyond the grave, which she eventually delivers to him at Universal Studios theme park.
BACKGROUND:
- Packard self-funded the film with an inheritance he received—one source estimated it at $500,000. He spent everything on the film and was broke immediately afterwards.
- Packard sent out over 20,000 original DVDs he paid to have pressed for free, sending many to celebrities. He published some of their reactions on the movie’s now-defunct official website.
- Reflections of Evil encountered serious distribution problems because of its unlicensed use of copyrighted material (such as Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Wooden Ships”). Packard recut the film in 2004 to avoid these issues (we review a different cut here).
- Per the end credits, Universal Studios “permanently banned” Packard (presumably due to his guerilla shooting on their property).
INDELIBLE IMAGE: Bob’s massive, angry face seems to fill about every third or fourth frame. You’d be safe picking any one of the many warped camera tricks Packard uses to make his own bloated visage appear even more grotesque.
THREE WEIRD THINGS: Young Spielberg’s death set; the Golden Guru; Schindler’s List: The Ride
WHAT MAKES IT WEIRD: Hiding behind the generic title Reflections of Evil (presumably chosen because Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid was already taken) is one of the most personal and peculiar movies ever made: a homemade mélange of bizarre editing, black helicopters, vintage 1970s commercials, angry L.A. street people, barking dogs, a barking watch salesman, a ghost in a see-through nightgown, and so much more. Repetitive, abrasive, grotesque, and intermittently brilliant, Reflections will shatter your mind, leaving you wondering whether you’ve just watched the magnum opus of a crude genius or the manifesto of a genuine madman.
Trailer for Reflections of Evil
COMMENTS: Although there is a loose story to Reflections of Evil, if Continue reading 288. REFLECTIONS OF EVIL (2002)