If you need help, ask the internet

The other day, while walking the dog, I heard my name--from my iPod. If you've ever had that experience, you know it can be a little odd, especially if what's playing is a podcast that often deals with occult and supernatural issues: Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. In this case, I asked for Ken and Robin to tell us about some hidden gems in the film world. (They often talk about films they saw at film festivals, which doesn't help much, especially since I don't get very odd films in the single theater here.) So, Ken and Robin gave a list of films that are already out in some form that could get more play. Here's the list:

Robin's list:

Muk Gong (Battle of Wits / Battle of the Warriors)

Beyond the Black Rainbow (streaming on Netflix)

A Film With Me in It

Ken's list:

Absentia (streaming on Netflix)

Alien Raiders

Tomorrow at Dawn

Forbidden Quest (note: not the 2006 Korean film)

I've already watched and loved A Film With Me in It, a black comedy from Ireland about a pair of friends who are stuck in their lives--an actor who can't book a film, whose relationship with his girlfriend is falling apart, whose brother is paraplegic (or locked in or brain dead--it's unclear), and whose landlord is quite hostile and uninterested in fixing the decaying apartment; and a drunk screenwriter-wanna-be who also has a gambling problem. The film starts off small and depressingly realistic (or realistically depressing)--and then people start dying in hilarious and unusual ways. (Warning: a cute dog also dies.) And now these two inept people have to decide how to deal with all the deaths, leading to more black comedy.

But the lesson here is clear: with Twitter and email, it's easy to ask people for their thoughts or opinions on things.

The flip-side to that is, why not pitch a hand in if you can? So, I recently wrote a review for the website SF Signal (where I often read reviews and notes) and wrote a list/essay for Pornokitsch (where I always read the other posts).