Spectres of the Spectrum

it is perhaps ironic that i found this film on VHS, in a pile of forgotten movies being sold off to make room for an influx of DVDs at my favorite video store. it is a credit to the store that they stocked this film at all, and while i was sad to see many such films go the way of extra copies of Kangaroo Jack i was happy to snap it up for a measly fiver.

Spectres of the Spectrum is a masterwork of what the Subgenii call "bulldada," mixing conspiracy theories, lost history, and fiction to create a story that works without an excess of linear events or character development. if you're a fan of cut-up, collage, and creative copyright infringement, this is up your alley. and since it's on DVD now, it should be easier to find.

the source material draws largely from kine-scopes, video records of live television. Baldwin thus uses snippets of the peek into the Cold War mindset of the 50s to create a backdrop for a Brain War set in 2007. the use of obsolete technology by the resistance forces in the film mirrors the use of garbage footage by the filmmaker to create his work. in between the lines are bits of real history, and the entire thing is woven in such a way as to make one actually think while watching a film. outlaw stuff, these days.

i can see how someone more accustomed to traditional films would complain a little about the cheese factor of the story, but in the context of this film it fits well and keeps you from taking it too seriously.

see it, think about it, and see it again. it opens up a world of fascinating topics to explore.

That's how I was when I walked (staggered) out of this "film". I couldn't leave, because it was at a film festival and the cinema was full of people. I was stuck in the middle. Trapped.

The tiny fragment of original footage which attempted to bind this film together features some of the worst acting ever to grace the big screen. The daughter was a stand out performance - stand out in the bad sense.

Thge cinematography was hideous, consisting of disjointed framing and some of the oddest lighting I've witnessed.

As for the stock footage... well at first one...

Wait.

Why am I reviewing this film? Why do I acknowledge its existence? Please, don't watch it. Do something useful with two hours of your life and go watch some paint dry.

Loved the ideas of the film and how it was put together. Only negative aspect was there was so much information so tightly condensed, I wasn't able to absorb all of it. But after hearing Mr. Baldwin speak when he premiered it at my college, that was most likely a character trait of his. If you get the chance to see it, do so. If you get another, go again.

"Spectres of the Spectrum" is one nut job of a movie, which purports to tell how the future can be told through the noise of the past. It is made up of every possible and impossible clip of old movies that deal with both real science and fake science. All of it is jammed together with an insane narration by three voices who go on babbling for nearly 91 minutes thus making an effort to tell the tabloid story of "secret rays coming from outer space"; these secret rays are actually electromagnetic ones and as we all know so well they contain minute amounts of mysterious formulas only true advocates of the space brothers would know. Now, some of this is fun, but after a half hour it begins to wane. Some may say more is better, but for this reviewer I can get more of a thrill from listening to Corla Pandit's ruptured organ music on my own while I thumb through the pages of a thrift store copy of Dianetics. Those who have a tendency to receive messages from wind blowing out of their TV sets will certainly have a great time watching this. Others will definitely want at least 8 or 9 martinis to make the adventure worthwhile.

Spectres of the Spectrum can't be described in words, it has to be seen on the screen. This film is comprised of original material, stock footage and public domain film clips to give the history of electric media and how it will change the future of life on Earth forever. It is a non-stop barrage of sights and sounds that will leave the audience gasping for breath in the end. Make sure not to miss this film, it will change the way you look at the way we communicate and who does the talking for us.