So, there’s a movement control order in place and you’re forced to work from home. Everyone knows that the most effective people take frequent productivity breaks. But what do you do with yourself in the prescribed 17 (or so) minutes when you should be focussing on something other than work? Fear not, because we’ve got your back. Instead of mindlessly scrolling Twitter, or picking a fight with some anti-vaxxer on Facebook, or stalking that special someone on Instagram, why not delight in something that will undoubtedly challenge your imagination.
Riz Ahmed’s The Long Goodbye
An unapologetic look at what it means to be both brown and British, Riz Ahmed’s 11-minute short film truly is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. That is all I will say. This is something you should experience while knowing as little about it as humanly possible. (While you’re here, you might as well check out his magnificent new concept album as well.)
Harry Styles: Tiny Desk Concert
Who knew that the only consolation we needed while the world burns was Harry Styles playing a guitar and crooning his heart out in a baby blue jumper.
What Did Jack Do?
The quintessence of what it means to be “Lynchian”, What Did Jack Do? is a deliberately low-fi piece of surrealist filmmaking. It is 17-minutes of noir that features David Lynch interrogating a talking capuchin monkey on whether or not the monkey may have committed a murder. It is funny. It is fucking weird. It feels like an art installation. It is the kind of thing only David Lynch could make.
Every Frame a Painting: What is Bayhem?
An oldie, but a goldie. Every Frame a Painting by Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou is essential film education. They stopped making new videos a while ago, but this one was always one of my favourites. They break down the visual style of Michael Bay and use it to teach us something valuable about how we process and perceive movies.
Hair Love
And finally, because we all need a good cry from time to time, here is this year’s Oscar-winning animated short, a sweet slice of life about a self-possessed African-American girl and her overwhelmed father, that proves you don’t need a lot of words to convey important ideas.
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