VANS Events & Results
Find details of our regular GTA events here.
185 topics in this forum
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The Favourites: Christmas Edition
by Mark Verstappen- 1 reply
- 504 views
The Favourites: Christmas Edition Come and join us on Wednesday 28th of december at 20:00 UK Time on PS4* for The Favorites! Just turn up to the Christmas tree on Legion Square in your favorite reable car where we will hopefully drive in the snow. We will determine who has the best nicest car brought to the meet before we start races where each participant can select their car and track combination they like to race! We will all race the car the player selected against eachother. The person choosing the car will have to own the car and share it unless he picks a stock car to race Pick whichever you think people should get a taste of or should suffer i…
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Tulip Redemption & Tahoma Comeback
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 426 views
Tulip Redemption & Tahoma Comeback Come and join us on Wednesday 21st of December at 20:00 UK Time on PS4* to give a nice end the the shortest day of the year! Just turn up to the parking garage of the Rockford Mall wither either vehicles to complete your christmas shopping, enjoy some races & company. NOTE: The 18th is the Final day you can get the Tahoma Coupe FOR FREE. We will find out who has the best American 2 door before we start a playlist to determine who gets to play Santa at the mall! We will be using custom Tulip M-100's & Tahoma Coupe against each other, but dont worry if you dont have either as we can share where needed.…
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- 22 replies
- 1.1k views
Yes, your eyes do not deceive you! For one night and one night only, this unconventional driving challenge returns for the first time in almost 2 years for its 5th installment. Join me as I guide you across the wild and challenging terrain of Los Santos' East Coast, with a route that promises to take you and your vehicle to the extremes! While no vehicles are outright banned (except flying / weaponised ones that are pretty obvious), I'd ask that you take something that is not going to be overpowered - in the spirit of the event and for your own enjoyment! I really hope to see some old faces there as this promises to be a pretty nostalgic one! Event s…
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Wide Beemers
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 538 views
Wide Beemers Come and join us on Wednesday 6th of December at 20:00 UK Time on PS4* for Wide Beemers! Just turn up to the upper parking lot of the Banner Hotel on Alta Street with your Sentinel Classic Widebody. We will determine who has the best Sentinel Classic Widebody before we start a playlist to determine the winner of the widebodies! We will be using custom Sentinel Classic Widebodies, but dont worry if you dont have one as I do and am willing to share. 😄 Post below to get involved! Verstappen Mulder Warriors *Subject to change depending on people with available platforms & who will all be there. 🙂
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Mystery Car November 2022
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 498 views
Come and join us for Mystery Car on Wednesday 16th of November at 20:00 British time. We will start out in free roam from the Horney's Burgers' parking lot from where we will have to follow the clues to find the Mystery Car. Once the car is revealed we will all buy it, if needed, modify it, then spend the night racing it. The price of the car will be less than $100k so don't worry about having to spend millions to join in. The usual rules will apply, don't bring the emergency services along with you in free roam, don't kill other players, race clean and respect the other racers.... Basically don't be a bellend. Post below to get involved with your available…
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Evil Weevil 🎃
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 741 views
Evil Weevil 🎃 Come and join us on Wednesday 2nd of November at 20:00 UK Time on PS5* for some Weevil racing! Just turn up to the bottom layer of the western parking garage of LSIA in either a Weevil Custom. We will determine who has the best car before we start a playlist for some fun racing! We will be using custom cars, but dont worry if you dont have one as we will be running the races in GTA mode to be able share cars. Post below to get involved! Verstappen Warriors *Subject to change to PS4 depending on people with available platforms & if Dave will make it. 🙂
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Cinquemila vs Rhinehart
by Mark Verstappen- 1 reply
- 485 views
Cinquemila vs Rhinehart Come and join us on Wednesday 19th of October at 20:00 UK Time on PS5* for some Sedan racing! Just turn up to the western parking garage of LSIA in either a Cinquemila or Rhinehart. We will determine who has the best car before we start a playlist for some fun racing! We will be using custom cars but dont worry if you dont have one as I do and am willing to share. 😄 Post below to get involved with your preferred car! Verstappen (Rhinehart) Mulder (Cinquemila) Warriors Dave Alex *Subject to change to PS4 depending on people with available platforms & if Dave will make it. 🙂
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Oktoberfest Wed 5th Oktober.
by SkyeDave- 3 replies
- 505 views
Is it about beer? Is it about German cars? Is it just because it's an even in October and Dave is struggling for a catchy title? Come along and find out this Wednesday 5th at 8pm UK time. PS5 We will be racing a variety of cars on a variety of tracks. Highlights will include the Hao's works prepared Arbiter GT around American Gran Park, The LM87 around the Nurburgring and the new Kanjo SJ around the Kortz Centre. We'll also pit the acceleration and straight line speed of Hao's Vigero ZX against the handling and cornering prowess of the Buffalo STX round the LS Airport Infield Raceway. All this and more.
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ZX!
by Mark Verstappen- 1 reply
- 486 views
ZX! Come and join us on Wednesday 28th of September at 20:00 UK Time on PS5* for ZX! Just turn up to the parking lot of Mirror Park Tavern with your Vigero ZX. We will determine who has the best ZX before we start a playlist to determine the tamer of the Torero ZX! We are planning on racing with HSW turned off although we might change this somewhere during the night depending on what people would like. We will be using custom Vigero ZX's but dont worry if you dont have one as I do and am willing to share. 😄 Post below to get involved! Verstappen Mulder *Subject to change to PS4 depending on people with available platforms…
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Survive the Hunt 5
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 535 views
Survive the Hunt 5 Come and join us in Survive the Hunt, where the aim is to... Well... Survive the hunt! On Wednesday 21st of September 20:00 UK time on PS5 or PS4 depending where the most players are. Starting from the parking lot next to the the Xero Gas warehouse near LSIA. What is Survive The Hunt? Essentially, Survive The Hunt is a freeroam game mode where one player is "hunted" by 8+ other players. There is no radar, HUD or name-tags in order to make this a bit more interesting. While there is no set tactic, the most popular and effective one is for the hunted player to "blend in" with the game AI - either on foot or in a car. This means obeying traffic…
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Cayo Perico Series
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 486 views
Cayo Perico Series Come and join us on Wednesday 24th of August at 20:00 UK Time for Cayo Perico Series! Just turn up to the LSIA Cayo Perico terminal with vehicle you'd like to race the move on Cayo Perico. We will determine who has the nicest vehicle before we start the races! We will be using custom Any vehicle of your choice. But dont worry if you dont have one thats chosen as we can share at the start. Post below to get involved! Preferably with your available platforms. Verstappen (PS4 & PS5) Warriors (PS4 & PS5) Mulder (PS4 & PS5)
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XO!
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 593 views
XO! Come and join us on Wednesday 17th of August at 20:00 UK Time for XO! Just turn up to the parking lot of Premium deluxe Motorsport with your Torero XO. We will determine who has the best XO before we start a playlist to determine the toreador of the Torero XO! We will be using custom Torero XO's but dont worry if you dont have one as I do and am willing to share. 😄 Post below to get involved! Preferably with your available platforms. Verstappen (PS4 & PS5) Warriors (PS4 & PS5) Mulder (PS4 & PS5)
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Criminal Enterprises Racing
by Mark Verstappen- 4 replies
- 655 views
Criminal Enterprises Racing Come and join us on Wednesday the 3rd of August at 20:00 UK Time for Criminal Enterprises Racing! Just turn up to the parking lot of the Golf Club in your favorite released newly release or updated car. We will determine who has the best car before we start a playlist to determine the best Criminal Racer! We will race the currently released cars from the Criminal enterprises Update (or updated cars). Each race will feature only one of the cars so we can all try them out equally. Don't worry if you don't own all/any of the eligible cars, we can spawn cars in for you where needed. Post Malone to get involved!…
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Dinky Winky! (PS4)
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 624 views
Dinky Winky! Come and join us on Wednesday 6th of July at 20:00 UK Time on PS4 for Dinky Winky! Just turn up to the beach in East Los Santos under the highway Bridge with your Winky. We will determine who has the best Winky before we start a playlist to determine the Winky King! We will be using custom Winky's but dont worry if you dont have one as I do and am willing to share. 😄 This may also involve races which are not regular circuit races. Post below to get involved! Verstappen Warriors Mulder
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Mystery Car June 2022 (PS4)
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 618 views
Come and join us for Mystery Car on Wednesday 15th of June at 20:00 British time. We will start out in free roam at the Burger Shot parking lot from where we will have to follow the clues to find the Mystery Car. Once the car is revealed we will all buy it if needed, modify it, then spend the night racing it. The price of the car will be less than $100k so don't worry about having to spend millions to join in. The usual rules will apply, don't bring the emergency services along with you in free roam, don't kill other players, race clean and respect the other racers.... Basically don't be a bellend. Post below to get involved! Verstappen Mulde…
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Rigged Random Car Extravaganza: Rockstar Games Special!
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 623 views
Come and join us on Wednesday 20th of October at 8 PM British time for the Rigged Random Car Extravaganza: Rockstar Games Special! After accidentally driving the forgotten Seven-70 last week I thought it was only fitting (and time) to see what wacky, fast, slow, stupid cars the game will give us again. After a meet up in free roam at the tennis courts on Vespucci Beach we will launch into a playlist of races where you will only know what car we will be racing each race when we get to the car selection screen. Each class is determined by a random number generator. After this when we are in the car selection screen i will press the 'random car' button and we will…
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Big Paulie's Budget Car Night!
by SkyeDave- 4 replies
- 542 views
Tired of all this chat of Liberty City coming to GTA online? Big Paulie is and he says, if you can't come to Liberty City, he's gonna bring Liberty City to you! Come join as at the LS docks this Wednesday where we'll meet a familiar face fresh off the boat from Liberty City who has brought some of the cars from GTA IV over for us to race in LS. We'll be racing OG classics such as the Dukes, Vigero, Primo, Blista Compact, Stallion, Futo, Sabre Turbo, Ruiner, Ingot, Stratum, Intruder, Habanero, Patriot, Oracle XS, and Rhapsody as well as others that I've forgotten and you can remind me about. Hopefully Paulie is going …
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Peashooter! 🟢
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 888 views
Peashooter! 🟢 Come and join us on Wednesday 18th of May at 20:00 UK Time on PS4 for Peashooter! Just turn up to the parking lot north of the gas station in Mirror Park. We will be racing Ardents as you before not used to be able to race them. R* only allows stock ones but that means no-one has to buy anything! 🥳 For this event the person in each race to finish lowest in an Ardent will have to drive a stock Turismo Classic. If you win in the Turismo Classic you switch back to the Ardent. This may also involve races which are not regular circuit races. Post below to get involved! Verstappen Dave Warriors Mulder
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The Paleto Bay Tourist Board Presents.....
by SkyeDave- 4 replies
- 777 views
Come join us this Wednesday 11th May at 8PM uk time on PS4 for the 30th Annual Paleto Festival. It's not just about the the Monster Trucks! We'll be racing Go karts, motorbikes, R/C cars, jet skis, as well as the usual tuners, sports, muscles and classics all in and around the streets, forest and cove of Paleto Bay.
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Sharknose! 🦈
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 937 views
Sharknose! 🦈 Come and join us on Wednesday 4th of May at 20:00 UK Time on PS4 for Sharknose! Just turn up to the parking lot behind the Chinese restaurant near the Vespucci Helipad in a Zion Classic. We will determine who has the best taste in cars before we start a playlist in Zion Classics to determine who is the Sharknose King! We will be using custom Zion Classics but dont worry if you dont have one as I do and am willing to share. 😄 This may also involve races which are not regular circuit races. Post below to get involved! Verstappen Mulder Catman Warriors
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Something with Compacts! Wed 27th.
by SkyeDave- 5 replies
- 480 views
Come join us this Wednesday 27th April 8pm uk time when we'll be doing something imaginative with the compact class. I was holding off because I thought there was some kind of update today but it's turned out to not be very much so I figure we can just race from the oft forgotten compact class round the tight and twisty stuff.
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Survive the Hunt 4
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 476 views
Survive the Hunt 4 Come and join us in Survive the Hunt, where the aim is to... Well... survive the hunt! Wednesday 20th of April 20:00 UK time starting from the bottom layer of the eastern LSIA Parking garage. What is Survive The Hunt? Essentially, Survive The Hunt is a freeroam game mode where one player is "hunted" by 8+ other players. There is no radar, HUD or name-tags in order to make this a bit more interesting. While there is no set tactic, the most popular and effective one is for the hunted player to "blend in" with the game AI - either on foot or in a car. This means obeying traffic laws, following the road at an AI-ish pace, stopping at traffic lig…
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Audience Participation Playlist, Wed 13th PS4
by SkyeDave- 8 replies
- 831 views
The Wednesday 8PM we'll run an mixed playlist where we take it turns to choose which car and class we race on some of our favourite tracks. We'll run GTA race or stock cars so no matter if you don't own anything specific. (I don't own anything except a Zion because I transferred to PS5).
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The Fastest Car
by Mark Verstappen- 2 replies
- 729 views
The Fastest Car Come and join us on Wednesday 6th of April at 20:00 UK Time on PS4 for 'The Fastest Car'! Just turn up to the parking lot in the middle of the Vinewood Racetrack in any car. We will determine who has the best taste in cars before we start a playlist in what everyone thought was the fastest car in 2013 to determine who is the Adder King! We will be using stock Adders for this so you dont need to prepare a car. Post below to get involved! Verstappen Mulder Warriors
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Coupé Kings
by Mark Verstappen- 3 replies
- 576 views
Coupé Kings Come and join us on Wednesday 30th of March at 20:00 UK Time on PS4 for Coupé Kings! Just turn up to the parking lot of the small str*p mall two blocks east of the Rockford Mall in any Coupé. We will determine who has the best taste in cars before we start a playlist to determine who is the Coupé King! This is the list of all Coupés currently ingame. Previon Zion Zion Cabrio Felon Exemplar Jackal Sentinel XS Cognescenti Cabrio F620 Felon GT Sentinel Oracle Oracle XS Windsor Windsor Drop Don't worry if you don't own all/any of the Coupés, we can spawn them in for you. But it would be nice if poss…
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235Rate the Last Film you Watched 2: Electric Boogaloo
Bladerunner (1982) dir Ridley Scott For me, this is one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time. It's a film that has be re-released at least twice. I have seen the original theatrical release, the 1992 Director's Cut, and the 2007 Final Cut. The 1992 version, I think, set the trend for other director's to release Director's cuts of their films. It's certainly the first one I ever saw. However, despite the name, Ridley Scott did not have complete control over that version. He did over the 2007 one, and it's that one that I am reviewing. I could not remember the differences to the 1992 one without looking them up, but both of the later ones get rid of a voice over (a bit like a 1940s detective film) and different ending that got added to the original after feedback from test audiences (I think). It's based on the Philip K. d*ck novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”. The basics of the plot is the same as the book, but the specific story is very different in places. I would recommend the book to anyone who is a fan of serious sci-fi, but it's the sort of book you need to really concentrate on. It was written in 1968 and set in 2019 when that seemed a long way in the future. The world the story is set in is way more advanced than we are now. Harrison Ford plays Deckard, a retired LA cop, a Bladerunner, who specialises in tracking down and terminating rogue androids, called replicants. These are indistinguishable from real humans to all but the experts. Even people like Dekard can only tell for sure by lengthy interrogation of suspected replicants that is designed to show up lack of emotions that real humans have. Replicants are banned from Earth, only supposed to be used on off-world space colonies. Any that do get found on Earth can be killed on the spot. Deckard is brought back by his boss Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh) and his assistant Gaff (Edward James Olmos) because a group of replicants hijacked a ship that was later found abandoned on Earth. They are believed to be in LA seeking their creator, Mr. Tyrell (Joe Turkel). The replicants, at least those that have not already been eliminated, are lead by Batty (Rutger Hauer) and others are played by Daryl Hannah, Brion Jones and Joanna Cassidy. William Sanderson plays Sebastian, a lonely man with a premature ageing disease who makes his on androids (not realistic or dangerous enough to be classed as replicants) and Sean Young plays Tyrell's PA Rachel. The cast are, overall, good, but Rutger Hauer gives the best performance I ever saw of him as Batty varies from charming, to psychopathic, to child-like fearful naïvety. There is a big plot element to do with Deckard and Rachel that I won't spoil, and various things thrown in that have kept some fans speculating as to the true nature of the various characters. If you know the film you will probably know what I am referring to here. I will say that I don't see in the film all the things that some claim to clearly see, but I see enough to agree with the consensus. Also some of the theories about that do not apply to all versions of the film. The sets and cinematography are stunning. It still looks to me well ahead of its time, as does Ridely Scott's Alien, so to me it shows what great film makers could achieve well before they had access to sort of CGI and AI tech available today. It also has a pretty good modern score from Vangelis. The best scene is the penultimate one, just with Batty and Deckard and includes the famous “tears in the rain” monologue that, apart from a few hundred years of technological development, would not have been out of place in a Shakespeare play. 10 / 10 The theatrical version I would only give an 8 to because, although I have only ever seen it once, I do remember the voice-over annoying me and the altered ending, a little bit added on, pointlessly changes the story.- 1
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1,034Two Brothers Playlist (GTA & RDR)
I'm happy to host this weekend. Planning the playlist right now.- 1
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0Atomized Frogger
Up n Atomizers and NPC traffic on high. Each frog for themself. 5 min. https://socialclub.rockstargames.com/job/gtav/Ontwci9ufUu7sojP2x-DBg- 2
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1,034Two Brothers Playlist (GTA & RDR)
In need of another substitute host this week. Thank you in advance. 🙂 Will be back to host next week. -
235Rate the Last Film you Watched 2: Electric Boogaloo
What I Watched This Week #172 (Apr 14-20) Alien dir. Ridley Scott/1979/1h57m One of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time, Ridley Scott's Alien stars Sigourney Weaver as a member of a deep space mining crew who takes a detour to an SOS message on the long journey back to Earth, finding a crashed ship full of eggs. My favourite thing about this film after seeing it so many times is how worn and lived in the ship is. I totally believe that it's real and functional and that this crew has spent months living in it. The opening sequence where we explore the empty ship while the crew is in cryosleep not only builds tension but allows us to take in the incredible details in the production design. Speaking of design, H.R. Giger's design for the xenomorph is the best in movie history (though the lil guy who bursts out of John Hurt's chest is kinda cute and goofy looking). The aggressively ph*llic look of it works well with the very male perspective fear of r*pe and childbirth. The whole cast is excellent, alongside Weaver and Hurt you have Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto, the latter two making a great comedic double team. 9.5/10 Lime's Film of the Week! Now You See Me dir. Louis Leterrier/2013/1h56m Now You See Me tells the story of a group of Las Vegas magicians known as the Four Horsemen (Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco) who rob banks live during their show, distributing the money to their audience. They are being tracked by Mark Ruffalo's FBI agent Rhodes who is determined to uncover their secrets. Totally forgettable fluff, there are some nice moments in here, and I liked the twist at the end even though you can see it coming a mile away. The big trick showpieces are entertaining in that artificial Vegas way that also feels hollow and meaningless. My biggest gripe here is with the four main characters and that I didn't like any of them. Like real magicians I found them to be annoying and so far up their own *sses that I was actively rooting against them every step of the way. The exception is Harrelson, though he comes close at times. There's solid support from Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, with Ruffalo giving the best performance in the film. This is the definition of inoffensive cinematic background noise. 5/10 Cinderella dir. Georges Méliès/1899/6m Georges Méliès here with some more ground breaking work from the dawn of cinema. Not only is this the first film adaptation of Cinderella, it's also the first film adaptation of any fairy tale and also the first film to use dissolves to transition between scenes (with this being his first film with more than one scene). Watching this is to watch the evolution of film in real time, and, like the rest of his work, it's nothing less than magical. This is Méliès becoming more innovative and inventive with his films becoming more complex and technically demanding. The sets and costumes are beautifully detailed and like illustrations come to life. It's amazing to me that a film from the 19th century can still be so magical. 8/10 How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies dir. Pat Boonnitipat/2024/2h7m This family drama/comedy from Thailand stars Putthipong Assaratanakul as M, a lazy young man who has dropped out of college to try and start a streaming career ("wow four viewers" his mother chides early on). When he learns that his grandmother (Usha Seamkhum) has cancer he thinks that he can weasel his way to the top of her will by moving in with her to care for her. A tender and gentle film that also surprises with some pretty dark humour, I found this to be incredibly charming with two excellent lead performances from Assaratanakul and Seamkhum. Seamkhum is particularly impressive in her late in life film debut as the wily old woman who sees through all the bullsh*t from her grandson, but also sees something of herself in him. The plot is fairly predictable - of course the two will grow closer to each other and form a real bond by the time she dies - but the journey to that point, and the touching epilogue, I really enjoyed. There's a lot of family drama with the grandmother's children but it always feels close to reality and not emotionally manipulative or overly melodramatic at any point. 9/10 Shock Treatment dir. Jim Sharman/1981/1h34m Shock Treatment is a sequel to one of my all time favourite films, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and picks up with Brad and Janet (now played by Cliff DeYoung and Jessica Harper) a few years later with their marriage now on the rocks. To rectify this they appear on a TV show with the result being Brad getting committed to a psychiatric hospital run by Dr. Cosmo McKinley (Richard O'Brien) and Janet getting groomed for superstardom. This is perhaps even more bizarre than Rocky Horror, certainly more cynical, with the world now seeming to exists as a series of TV shows, a live studio audience never leaving, sleeping in their seats as the film happens on screens all around them. It's a strange dystopia that seems to predict the dominance TV would have over our lives to an even greater extent in the era of commercialism and Reganomics. If there's not a camera on you then you don't exist, like the antithesis of Rocky Horror's theme of "don't dream it, be it". Many of the Rocky Horror cast returns with the exception of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick as Janet and Brad (though DeYoung and especially Harper do an excellent job in the roles) and most notably Tim Curry. I kept imagining him in the role played by Barry Humphries (most famous for playing Dame Edna Everage), a garishly sleazy host called Bert Schnick. Humphries is great, but we all know Curry would have been better. Another slight let down for me is the soundtrack. As a musical this doesn't really compare with Rocky Horror, though there are some catchy tunes in there, the main theme still popping into my head occasionally. 9/10 #21xoxo dir. Sine Ozbilge, Imge Ozbilge/2019/9m This animated short from Belgium shows a girl (Indra de Bruyn) and her experiences with online dating, hooking up with several men before finding a genuine connection. The most striking thing about this film are the visuals, with the film being rotoscoped, a process where live action footage is traced over by animators giving it natural movement, a process used by Disney for Snow White back in 1937. Here it's given a thoroughly modern makeover, with the screen bombarded with text and images and memes representing the experience of being chronically online. The aesthetic also calls to mind pop art of the 60's, showing that the digital world may be new but the problems of finding a partner are anything but. It's at times overwhelming, purposefully so, but there's still a cohesion between all these elements. The ending is a bit on the nose but it's well done, wrapping the whole thing up maybe a bit too neatly. 7/10 Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves dir. Chintis Lundgren, Drasko Ivezic/2019/18m Another animated short, this time from Estonia, this tells the story of Toomas (Drasko Ivezic), a wolf who is fired after turning down his boss's advances. With a wife and children to support he turns to prostitution and then gay p*rn. Meanwhile, his wife Viivi (Chintis Lundgren) is learning some things about herself thanks to militant feminist Alexandra Horn-Eye (Lee Delong). This reminded me a lot of Bug Diner, another charming and cheeky animation about sexuality and relationships starring anthropomorphic animals. That was stop motion while this is animated in a simple yet effective style, the linework wobbling between frames like Doug, the 90's cartoon. Like Bug Diner, this is also a very mature film with more human characters than a lot of live action films that tackle the same subjects. 8.5/10 No Home But Cinema: The Spaces of Chantal Akerman dir. Jessica McGoff/2025/14m (no trailer for this, so here's one for a similar film) This short essay film explores the films of Chantal Akerman through her use of space and locations, how she films them, how she moves through them and what they represent. McGoff doesn't narrate this film, rather her essay is presented as text on the screen over clips from films that illustrate her points. I like this approach and how it's executed. The text isn't presented in blocks but line by line and is edited with the rhythm of the film clips so that they're unobtrusive and allow you to fully immerse in the various worlds of Akerman. This doesn't go too in depth with any of her observations as they are things you will pick up on by just watching the films, but it would work as a good introduction to her and what to look out for in her work. 7/10 Hotel Monterey dir. Chantal Akerman/1973/1h3m (no trailer so have an extended clip) Staying with Chantal Akerman, Hotel Monterey is an observational documentary in which she explores the titular hotel, a cheap one in New York where she stayed when she first moved to the city, from the lobby to the roof. It starts off at night where her camera captures people milling about in the lobby, taking the elevators up and down. She then prowls the corridors like a ghost, her very formally structured compositions bringing out the textures of the grimy yellow walls. Methodically we move upwards until we are on the roof, it is day now, and the feeling of escape is palpable. We do this all in silence, and I mean total silence. No music, no background noise, nothing. Not only does this make us even more aware of what we're seeing on screen, but it also makes us aware of our own environment. An exploration of space is happening on the screen and in real life at the same time and it's kind of amazing once you notice that. It's like Akerman speaking out of time saying here I am, where are you? This also feels like a prelude to her masterful film News From Home, in which she takes the same approach but expands it to the whole city, though this time with sound. This totally isn't for everyone, it's not even close to what you'd call entertaining, but if you give it a chance you'll get so much out of it. 8.5/10- 1
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