Latest news with #experimental
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nacho Vigalondo retreats to an unimaginative dream world for Daniela Forever
There's a darker, more discomfiting film lurking at the fuzzy edges of Daniela Forever, writer-director Nacho Vigalondo's sci-fi-ish drama about the unfinished business of grief. Mourning the death of his girlfriend, a DJ named Nick (Henry Golding) is introduced by an old friend to a secret, experimental therapy program that promises a miracle cure for trauma and depression. It seems that some mysterious Belgian pharmaceutical company has developed a drug that induces lucid dreams, giving the sleeper potentially limitless access to their memories—provided, of course, that they stick to the text prompts supplied by the program. Nick quickly signs off on some threatening-sounding legal paperwork, collects his blister pack of magic pills, and, in tried-and-true cautionary-tale fashion, sets about disregarding the instructions he's been given, feeding the stern-looking company doctors stories about the childhood memories he's supposedly working through while he spends his nights in the dream world with his dead love, Daniela (Beatrice Grannò). In Vigalondo's earlier Colossal, a writer's alcoholic self-loathing was manifested as a giant monster rampaging Godzilla-style through a city on the other side of the world. Here, the metaphors and projections are directed inward. A gimmicky formal boundary is drawn between Nick's waking life and the dream world: The former is shot in 4:3 aspect ratio in a washed-out, grainy format that taps the current vogue for vintage prosumer video aesthetics, while the latter is lensed in crisp, saturated widescreen. Like so much in Daniela Forever, the idea is obvious. We are meant to understand that the world of Nick's lucid dreams is the more cinematic and attractive one, while reality is dishwater-dull. But in terms of alienation effects, the boxy low-res footage arguably looks more interesting—and, regardless, it all feels equally claustrophobic. The idea of controlling one's dreams and memories may suggest fluid, limitless potential, but the larger part of Daniela Forever is set around Nick's Madrid apartment and its immediate environs—a memory-palace dreamscape for the literal-minded post-pandemic, work-from-home era. The more time Nick spends in the dream world, the more he learns to control it, summoning locations and characters from his memories, stopping and fast-forwarding time. (The fact that he is, in a way, DJing and remixing his memories is just one of several wasted throughlines.) He is also able to control the version of Daniela that he's created, wiping her thoughts, instructing her how to feel, and generally tweaking the 'manic' and 'pixie' settings on his dream girl. To his confusion and frustration, she seems to be developing an emotional life of her own. It doesn't really make a lot of sense, and draws inevitable comparisons to far better and more emotionally imaginative films (the key references being Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Her), but Daniela Forever does introduce some tantalizingly uncomfortable ideas about loss and possessiveness—which is to say, is it really Daniela that Nick is yearning for, or a version of her that he can control in his head precisely because she's gone? This kind of extended metaphor doesn't have to be internally consistent. Our actual dreams certainly aren't. But as this somewhat overlong film continues on, it becomes increasingly shapeless, finally succumbing to the sort of soupy sentimentality it's trying to critique. Director: Nacho Vigalondo Writer: Nacho Vigalondo Starring: Henry Golding, Beatrice Grannò, Aura Garrido, Rubén Ochandiano, Nathalie Poza Release Date: July 11, 2025 More from A.V. Club 10 years and 15 superhero movies weren't enough to fight the DCEU out of second place Nacho Vigalondo retreats to an unimaginative dream world for Daniela Forever Larry David, the Obamas plan American history HBO comedy
CTV News
22-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
CTV National News: Experimental diabetes treatments hits major milestone
Watch A Canadian woman is praising an experimental treatment for diabetes. Avis Favaro with more on her experience.
New York Times
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Heels, Flesh and Fashion: A Dancer, Wild and Free, Finds Her Way
Lexee Smith sees dance as a kind of alchemy. She has amassed years of training, but for her, the body holds a deeper power than the ability to spin or to soar through the air. In her hypnotic movement studies, dance states become trance states. Smith, 24, makes her living in commercial dance in Los Angeles, working with artists like Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Addison Rae. But Smith is an outlier: an experimental dancer living inside a commercial world. While known for her work with pop stars, Smith also creates Instagram videos that float across the screen like dance poems. It's here that she shows the experimental side of her artistry, where dance is a form of self-discovery. 'Nothing feels as serious as just me and me sometimes,' she said. Beyond muscular elasticity, an airy wingspan and tensile strength, there are heels, flesh and fabric. Fashion is important — not as a costume, but as way to give movement color and depth. It's about living out a second skin. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Surprise Chef — Superb
Melbourne-bred instrumental combo Surprise Chef have built an enviable reputation upon their platter of cinematic jazz-funk and soul, featuring licks of library music, film scores, and hip hop. The band's tasteful updating of vintage sounds has earned them overseas attention while making them darlings of crate-diggers and community radio alike, serving up intoxicating atmospheres and grooves tight enough to set your watch to. Their new record, however, sees the group loosening up. Superb , Surprise Chef's fourth album in five years, trades precision for experimentation and carefully plotted courses for spontaneity. From the jump, Superb embraces a broader range of ideas and influences on music that's freer and more relaxed to tinker and explore. Slow-burning opener 'Sleep Dreams' welcomes you in with gently raked guitar and mysterious keyboard lines that draw from Middle Eastern psych-folk. 'Body Slam' begins with a bait-and-switch: a familiar soul-soaked arrangement swiftly giving way to a sinister, suspenseful affair with sleek xylophone, vibraphone and a squelchy synth lead. There are more electronic flourishes too, from the knob-twiddling decorating 'Consulate Case' and 'Plumb Tuckered', to the drum machine anchoring spacious stand-out 'Websites', building layered, sticky melodies upon buttery bass. Hailing from the inner-north Melbourne suburb of Coburg, the band continues their tradition for naming songs with hyper-localised references (such as 'A1 Bakery Pledge of Allegiance' and 'Blyth Street Nocturne'). Here, we get the Australian-specific titles 'Fare Evader' and 'Tag Dag'. The former is a smoky, hip hop-leaning groove while the latter is an album highlight. Dusty drums, faux strings and a sizzling triangle rhythm lock us into a luxurious groove and layered melodies. Like Surprise Chef's best work, it pulls at various genre threads to fashion something uniquely fresh. Surprise Chef have made fans out of The Roots leader Questlove and even scored a Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime ad. ( Supplied: Nick McKinlay ) Elsewhere, the dusty beats and smoky piano licks of 'Bully Ball' are begging to be flipped by a rapper. (Let's not forget Surprise Chef's 'Spiky Boi' was sampled in a collab between Wu Tang's Ghostface Killah and Rich Brian). But the track's twinkling melodies, wah-wah guitar and fuzzy keys have plenty of personality alll their own. The groovy 'Slippery Dip' closes the album on a high note, complete with a mid-song tempo switch toward something silkier and laid-back. Superb is the sound of a group who fully grasp their lush, signature sound but now confident enough to toy with it, loosening up without sacrificing what makes them special. By branching out, Surprise Chef deservedly join the ranks of Khruangbin, BADBADNOTGOOD, Sven Wunder or Budos Band — world-class (mostly) instrumental acts who evolve through a mastery of dynamics, interplay and undeniable groove, achieving what many vocal-fronted acts cannot. Offering extra spice to their established menu, Superb finds Surprise Chef living up their name – allow them time and space to cook, and they're guaranteed to dish up something tasty with a satisfying twist. Catch Surprise Chef touring Superb at the following dates: Saturday 24 May - Sydney Opera house for Vivid LIVE: Gadigal Land, Sydney Saturday 31 May - Porch & Recreation @ Burnside Ballroom: Kaurna Land, AdelaideFriday 6 June - The Night Cat: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land, Melbourne Saturday 7 June - The Night Cat: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land, Melbourne Thursday 19 June - Princess Theatre for Open Season: Turrbal Jagera Land, Brisbane
