Film Nite 14: Clips nite special! Graham's Shittle of Super Vids: 16 Clips You Must Watch

In an effort to unleash the full horror of my mindbox upon my fellow film-watching cohorts, I had to plumb the depths, but instead I got lazy and showed a bunch of clips they've all probably seen before. However, I did try my best to assemble the clips into a vague and wispy narrative.

For the benefit of anyone who wasn't round my house that Saturday, behold what you missed:

1. The Golden Harvest Ident (1972)

Everyone who cares knows that the best idents come from Hong Kong. But what's the king of idents, you ask? Simple, it's the classic Golden Harvest ident circa 1972:




2. The Opening of Dead or Alive (Dir. Takashi Miike, 1999)

Miike veterans are probably chuckling at the prospect of Miike virgins clicking that play button. For the uninitiated, I will try to condense the full magnitude of this clip into one sentence to save your poor little eyes, ears and tummy. Here goes... The opening to Dead or Alive crams several violent murders, beatings, male sodomy, massive cocaine abuse, shotguns, a noodle explosion, pole dancing and Riki Takeuchi looking cool all in six marvelous minutes of rapid-fire cuts and a stonkingly over-the-top Jap rock score. Possibly the greatest opening ever. Come to think of it, the ending isn't exactly quiet.

3. The Intro to The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom (Dir. Adam Curtis, 2007)

A startlingly effective attack on our modern day, statistically-powered global democracy as envisioned by Cold War America, The Trap is Adam Curtis' masterwork. This short clip tells you what the series is all about in a much more eloquent fashion, with added John Carpenter synth music:




4. Eastbound and Down Season 1 Episode 2: Work Drugs (Dir. David Gordon Green, 2009)

Definitely one of the best clips from the first series of Eastbound and Down. Washed-up baseball player Kenny 'Fucking' Powers (Danny McBride) tries to win his childhood sweetheart's love at a kids' school disco, with ecstasy-fueled dance moves so crass that you'll almost forget his astonishing mullet (almost):




5. The Wire Season 1 Episode 4: "Fuck" Crime Scene Investigation (Dir. Clément Virgo, 2002)

While most people commend The Wire for it's groundbreaking narrative arcs, gobsmacking insights and it's peerlessly-researched storylines and characters, it first got to me through it's brilliantly black sense of humour. This is best exemplified by this crime scene investigation, with all dialogue between detectives McNulty and "Bunk" Moorland communicated through variations on the word "fuck":

6. Cop Hard Episode 9: Small Packages (Dir. Charles C. Custer, 2011)

Larry Hard is a cop with a raging hard-on for justice. If you try to 'make love' with this perverted moral crusader then you're in for a shock. Riffing on police procedural film and TV tropes, Cop Hard likes to take the joke that little bit too far and that's why I love it. Special kudos goes to Mark 'The Muscle' Winter for channeling the mania of Daniel Day Lewis in such a way that it'll never win him an Oscar. There will be blood in the following clip:



7. Sonatine: the Beach Sumo Scene (Dir. Takeshi Kitano, 1993)

While Sonatine might not be Kitano's most idiosyncratic or outre film, I think it's his most effective. What starts as a conventional gangster flick takes a turn for the transcendental when the narrative makes a Godard-like twist. Holed up in an Okinawan beach hut, a bunch of world-weary yakuza wile away the last few days of their lives playing childish games against a beautiful Pacific backdrop. Probably my favourite film.

P.s. the clip is missing English subs, but you'll get the point:

8. The Pervert's Guide to Cinema: Part 1: "I Want to Fuck Mitch" (Dir. Sophie Fiennes, 2006)

In between his mad-eyed stare and his wild gesticulations, Slavoj Zizek makes some baffling and brilliant observations about cinema and voyeurism. Taken from part 1 of The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, this insightful and humorous little ditty is a highlight, revealing Zizek's not insubstantial madness and penchant for the absurd:

9. The Parallax View: The Test Scene (Dir. Alan J. Pakula, 1974)

The greatest conspiracy thriller ever made, Pakula's masterpiece is a stark and cinematic piece of paranoia combining Cold War hysteria with Manchurian Candidate-style machinations. The underrated Warren Beatty sleuths his way through an increasingly tense series of set pieces as the invisible forces of the Parallax Corporation draw ever closer. This 'brainwashing' scene is the movie at its most subversive - how they mine such dread and emotion out of only a handful of clips and some cynically-produced music is staggering. Whether it really does turn Beatty's character into a card-carrying killer, or just a pawn in a high stakes game played out by a hidden layer of unaccountable conspirators, is up to you:

10. Ringu: The Cursed Video (Dir. Hideo Nakata, 1998)

The most chilling and effective of the late 90s J-horrors, Ringu always scares me with it's preference for atmosphere over narrative and character. It's genius is in implicating the viewer into the horror: I dare anyone to watch this video without worrying about the ensuing curse - prepare for that phone call:

11. Brass Eye Special: Paedophilia: Chris Morris Questions a Paedophile (Dir.Tristram Shapeero, 2001)

We owe a huge debt to Chris Morris for Brass Eye. Arch lampooner of the reactionary right-wing media and idiotic, fame-hungry celebrities, Morris' success means that he'll probably never quite reach the same heights of wrong ever again. Fortunately, we have moments like this to remind us of his cunningly subversive satire, which also happens to be bloody hilarious, too:

12. Sealab 2021: Season 1, Episode 3: Happy Cake (Dirs. Adam Reed & Matt Thompson, 2000)

Adult Swim have featured better TV shows than Sealab 2021, but no character comes close to Captain Murphy (voiced by the late Harry Goz). Murphy breathlessly chews and rambles his way through every episode with the pyschopathic glee of a disturbed man child. Words cannot capture his sheer idiocy and eccentricities. In place of a considered and thoughtful analysis of Captain Murphy's character, I hereby supply you with this episode instead:

13. Patlabor 2: The "Just War/Unjust Peace" Scene (Dir. Mamoru Oshii, 1993)

Good old anime. Sometimes I like nothing better than to switch my brain off and watch Fist of the North Star for the millionth time. But in between the exploding heads, I like to turn my noggin on max power and take in this exemplary political-thriller anime from Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell). Never mind comparing it to other anime, it's an amazing piece of cinema, exploring complex ideas without overcomplicating or dumbing down it's message. There may be a bit of giant robot action, but Oshii seems far more interested in the human conflict at the heart of this tale of an alternative future where Japan sits on the brink of war. Hats off to Kenji Kawaii for his lovely score:

14. A Touch of Zen: The Buddhist Scene (Dir. King Hu, 1971)

Comparisons to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are a bit boring by now, so I'll cut straight to the chase and say that this martial arts epic deserves your attention for some well-crafted fight scenes and a series of genre-transcending moments, such as this clip depicting a band of Buddhist monks silently bounding into righteous action:

15. Lonewolf and Cub: Babycart at the River Styx: Ogami Itto Fights the Hidari Brothers (Dir. Kenji Misumi, 1972)

There's something mesmerising about Tomisaburo Wakayama's middle-aged, overweight samurai. But when you see the dilapidated ronin swing into battle, all concerns about his sword-wielding prowess disappear in a whirl of katanas and arterial spray. The Hidari Brothers, characters that inspired John Carpenter's "Three Storms" in Big Trouble in Little China, are pretty tough, but even they get diced up big time. Gloriously staged and soundtracked, this scene features outlandish levels of violence and possibly the most out there final words from a dying man (as you'll discover when I finally work out how to burn the subs):

16. Time Trumpet: Episode 1: Changes (Dir. Armando Iannucci, 2006)

Absent from the UK DVD version due to licencing issues, the denouement to episode one of Time Trumpet features a simultaneously sickening, stupefying and mirth-filled musical number, edited to the sounds of David Bowie's 'Changes'. A fitting way to end this series of clips, I hope you'll agree: