Ultra Culture Cinema #03: Mother

Deadly bitter rival movie blogger Charlie Lyne from Ultra Culture this week invited us all round to his place (I'm assuming he lives at the ICA, it's the only place I've ever seen him) for the third in an increasingly numerically sequential series of film screenings and pre-show entertainment. This month the film was Joon-ho Bong's murder-mystery Mother, which stalkers of The Incredible Suit will remember I saw at the London Film Festival last year.

My worthless opinion of the film hasn't changed - it's still too long and drags in parts - except that I neglected to mention a quite brilliant sequence involving a close-up of some fingertips and a puddle of water. If any of the Hitchcock comparisons Mother has attracted are deserved, that bit is the most Hitchy by far. I also failed to notice how good the score is the first time round, which makes me a pretty shoddy film reviewer even by my own low standards.

But Ultra Culture Cinema is as much about the experience as the movies. The random gift-giving continues - those of us who have loyally attended every screening were rewarded with a KitKat each (only two fingers, the tight bastard) - and the charmingly ill-prepared games are entertainingly baffling. When you can win a director's entire back catalogue by dropping a golf ball onto a piece of paper from a distance of about four inches you know you're not on University Challenge.

We were also entertained by magician Chris Cox, who got plenty of LOL-mileage from his surname and awkwardly failed to magic the clothes off an attractive lady, although he did convince her to remove her scarf.

The hopefully-now-mandatory introductory video, though, was the highlight, and these short films are fast becoming surreal mini masterpieces to be held in the same esteem as Pixar's pre-feature shorts. This one featured Some Guy from Some Indie Band and I'm pretty sure it hides a deeper allegorical meaning but I'll leave you to work out what it is.



Finally, anyone who doesn't bother reading the pass notes given out at each screening is a massive nob.

Next month's film is a secret that only The Incredible Suit and several hundred other people know, but trust me when I say that if you've got a family funeral, hot date or job interview to attend on the evening of Wednesday 25th August you should cancel it now.

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