Orange You Glad I Said Banana

News to Me

"It actually looks bigger than it is, which is quite a crafty move. Was that the intention? – But it does look bigger than it is, as well... Two-thirds of the way through, having thought it's bigger than it is, you come to realise it's actually bigger than you thought it was..." —Chris Morris, Blue Jam

Nicky Otis Smith, good guy, editor of the Baltimore-based film zine The Servant. No, he's no Andrew Morton under the Chris Morris hot-lamp, he's not crafted a work that appears "bigger than it is," but that quote popped into mind when I was going over my own reactions at the beginning of the film compared to the end; I wouldn't call it a sneaky foray. smuggled in on a South Park joke détourné. Orange You Glad I Said Banana [2020] might first appear as the arbitrary hogwash of the throw-it-all-at-the-wall modern 'essay film' trend, but that reception couldn't be farther from the reality. It's an expression of and signal-jam for these particularly turbulent times. I'd recommend watching it once straight through in a single go, then returning to it afterward and treating it as a "pauser." Fast and furious and brilliantly edited, someone on Twitter X recently remarked that it's at least the equal of an Adam Curtis film. Watch Orange You Glad I Said Banana at Nicky's YouTube channel here, and decide for yourself. •

===