Two teas that were pretty good.
Suntory Green Dakara Yasashii Mugicha. A standard barley tea. You can taste the seaweed which give its a nice extra taste.
Ito En Oi Ocha Bold Unsweetened Green Tea. This is really strong flavoured, and has a very pungent green tea smell.
I am loving these guys films. Something in the Dirt was my first encounter, a completely bizarre film about paranoia, disinformation, “buddies” experiencing the paranormal together and trying to document it.
It made me want to watch all of their movies and I have really enjoyed every one of them.
Resolution (2012), the first film by the duo. Not as outright crazy as Something in the Dirt, but lots of strange happenings around a relatively normal center story about a guy who wants to get his friend off crack so he chains him to the wall of the shack hes living in and stays with him until hes sober. While staying safe from drug dealers and exploring the surroundings it seems someone or some thing is recording them. This is definitely my favorite, though its hard to separate from The Endless.
Spring (2014) is heaps different to Resolution and Something in the Dirt. Its a body horror love story.
Completely different to what I was expecting. Its basically a “normal” horror film. Has make up effects and such. Its pretty good, its weird still and definitely interesting, has serious moments spliced with humor, particularly after the reveal happens to the main character, and has some of the quirky personality I really love in their Resolution and Something in the Dirt. And, like Resolution, an ending that leaves you guessing. But yeah its a professional looking supernatural horror about two lovers.
The Endless (2017) is in the same universe as Resolution and can be “interpreted” as a sequel, sharing some of the same characters. Two brothers who escaped a UFO cult as children are drawn back to it when they receive a video recording in the mail. One brother, Justin, thinks its a death cult, the other, Aaron, thinks its benign. They both have extremely different experiences at the camp – Justin’s one of horror, and Aaron’s one of an escape from reality. There are quite a few cross-over moments between this film and Resolution: A drug the owner of Sandy the dog smokes in Resolution (a red plant) reappears being smoked by a cultist. A cult member draws a picture of a “gun nut tweaker” – Chris, the drug addict main character from Resolution. Chris is also mentioned by a person trapped in the time loop to Justin when hes being told how to escape, and Justin visits the cabin and speaks with Mike and Chris, who is chained to the wall. Mike shows Justin a video of possibly the entity killing them and talks about how they are stuck in a loop. After Justin leaves we see Mike light fire to the cabin in what is possibly an alternative ending to Resolution. Justin encounters Aaron and they visit the trailer where the owner of Sandy the dog lives but he is away, they see the red drug plant again. Earlier while fishing Justin finds a tape and on it are the 3 religious people by the river in Resolution, two of them are Justin and Aaron. There is also a moment where they watch a TV and see they have been filmed by some”entity”. Another really great, bizarre and supernatural film by these guys.
Synchronic (2019) Two paramedics encounter bizarre deaths linked to a designer drug called Synchronic, its legal and I guess like K2 or bath salts, someone in the film calls it “fake Ayahuasca”. There’s a fair bit of story about the lives of the two guys and their personal issues, which is interspersed with the fucked up effects of the drug on the people they encounter during their job. Steve who has been diagnosed with a cancer on his pineal encounters the inventor of Synchronic who tells him the drug will be able to make him travel through time. He decides to experiment with it to find his partners daughter who had done the drug at a party and disappeared. And its gets weird. Like Spring, this is a more polished and “normal” film. It is mentioned the drug is made from a red flower, which is the drug we see in both Resolution and The Endless.
After Midnight (2019) and She Dies Tomorrow (2020), both films they were only producers on, I will watch at another time.
Rustic Films
Justin Benson @ Instagram
Aaron Moorhead @ Instagram
Bizarre, excellent film.
Does it even have an explanation beyond a character study of I guess a rather gullible person and a person who is already more invested both wanting to find answers. And I guess the dis/information overload of modern society. I liked it, a lot, watching it was confusing but thinking about it after I think is the only way to pull it together, which felt impossible while watching. Neither of them were right, but John was an asshole, convicted to something more already. And Levi was just looking for answers, troubled, and they both just got wrapped up in ultimately destructive bullshit. I don’t think the “behind the scenes” footage in the credits was in film, or showing the characters faking anything. I think we have to assume the supernatural things were their delusions, an expression of the characters investment in their endeavor, their want to see or understand more, hence why it created conflict when one or the other did or didn’t see or believe in each others things.
Honestly. I have no idea. I loved it.
This will do
And this amazing last minute find…Fantastic 80’s punk and Dischord label sound!!
Out on La Vida Es Un Mus.
Kertasníkir aka Candle Stealer, arrives on the 24th and leaves on 6th of January. Also known as Candle Beggar.
Candle Beggar arrives on Christmas Eve Day, 24 December. In former times, candles were the brightest lights available to people. They were so rare and precious that all children longed to have their very own candle for Christmas. And poor Candle Beggar – well, he also longed for a candle.
The thirteenth was Candle Beggar
– ‘twas cold, I believe,
if he was not the last
of the lot on Christmas Eve.He trailed after the little ones
who, like happy sprites,
ran about the farm with
their fine tallow lights.
Ketkrókur aka Meat Hook, turns up on 23rd and leave 5th of January.
St. Thorlák’s Day, 23 December, is the day of Meat Hook’s arrival. Meat Hook was crazy about meat. In the old days he would lower a long stick through the chimney and snag a smoked leg of lamb hanging from the rafters, or a piece of smoked lamb from the pot.
Meat Hook, the twelfth one,
his talent would display
as soon as he arrived
on Saint Thorlak’s Day.He snagged himself a morsel
of meet of any sort,
although his hook at times was
a tiny bit short.
Gáttaþefur aka Door Sniffer turns up on the 22nd and hangs around until the 4th.
Door Sniffer comes to town on 22 December. He is easily recognized by his huge nose. He loved the smell of cakes and lace bread – sometimes called leaf bread – when they were being prepared for Christmas, and always tried to steal one or two.
Eleventh was Door Sniffer,
a doltish lad and gross.
He never got a cold, yet had
a huge, sensitive nose.He caught the scent of lace bread
while leagues away still
and ran toward it weightless
as wind over dale and hill.
Gluggagægir aka Window Peeper appears on the 21st and hangs around until the 3rd of january.
December 21 is when Window Peeper visits. This Lad was not as greedy as some of his brothers, he just liked to peep through the windows and sometimes nicked the toys that he saw.
The tenth was Window Peeper,
a weird little twit,
who stepped up to the window
and stole a peek through it.And whatever was inside
to which his eye was drawn,
he most likely attemptedto take later on.
Defenses against Window Peeper
Call the cops!
Bjúgnakrækir aka Sausage-Swiper arrives on the 20th and goes away on the 2nd of January.
On 20 December we are expecting Sausage Swiper. He loved to eat sausages and stole them whenever he had a chance.
The ninth was Sausage Swiper,
a shifty pilferer.
He climbed up to the rafters
and raided food from there.Sitting on a crossbeam
in soot and in smoke,
he fed himself on sausage
fit for gentlefolk.
This guy seems like a real weirdo.
Defenses against Sausage Swiper
Dont have any sausages in the house
Eat all your sausages right now
Keep your sausages close to the ground.
Random November & December stuff.
Nail Brewing Gareth Skywalker Golden IPA, its a good beer, no idea when this was last canned though, probably a year old! | Innate Heirloom Czech Pilsner is a nice beer, Innante make some interesting stuff, | Rocky Ridge Crispy Concord NZ Pilsner one of their recent collabs real nice | Rocky Ridge Staved & Confused Oaked WCIPA, another of the collabs big oakyness, nice stuff | Nowhereman Rice IPA a collab with a local bahn mi place (Le Vietnam), really prominent rice character in a good way, some light lemongrass and ginger, another nice one | Beerfarm Firkin of Duck Dry Hopped Sour, real tart, real “fresh” hoppy, great | Beerfarm Azacca Vodou Haze, an Azacca hopped hazy, again real nice stuff.
