Lena Sanver, a previously featured artist based out of Sweden, has released another fantastic series named Only the birds know when it’s spring. The series focuses on winter and is one of our favourite series focused on winter.
You can find more work by Lena Sanver here.
Ying Yin, a China-based photographer, has released a series on the Osaka Prefectural Chikatsu Asuka Museum. The series features brilliant daylight photography that captures the true essence of the museum.
Writing about the series Ying Yin stated: “In my opinion, Tadao Ando is the best Japanese architect in the world. I love his brilliant works and decided to collect his design since 2017.”
You can find more work by Ying Yin here.
David Fincher and Tim Miller (the mind behind Deadpool) bring us Love, Death & Robots, a series of short animated episodes from various people and studios around the globe. With each episode telling a different story, they never relate to one another except in its themes of love, death, and robots.
All 18 episodes have a unique style of animation that brings distinctive direction and creative cinematography. The series is not for the faint-hearted, with the majority of episodes featuring crude language, gory violence, and nudity. At less than twenty minutes per episode, this is a series that can easily be binged or enjoyed every now and then.
With that, Netflix is the perfect place for this show – no British or American network would ever accept a show like this. With Netflix busting out an original series every three seconds it’s overwhelming to search through and find something to watch, but this show is rare and remorseless and cannot be matched anywhere else.
All episodes are great fun to watch, and with each story containing different plots and subjects, we get a brilliant mix of blood splattering horror, clever twisted storylines, unapologetic humour, emotional punches and a unique way of looking at yoghurt. The detail of the various animations is beyond impressive and shows how far the medium has come in just a few years; I would not be surprised if we soon get feature-length films from these studios and I, for one, would welcome that.
Personal favourite episodes:
Discuss your favourite episodes below or Tweet Elias at @EliasCMichael.
Stijn Hoekstra, a previously featured photographer and artist, released a series back in 2018 named Abstract Valencia. The series focuses on Valencia through the minimalist eyes of Hoekstra.
You can find more work by Stijn Hoekstra here.
Glenn Echo, a music project of Matt Gaydar, has been pushing out terrific music since 2015. Just today, we are pleased to announce the premiere of his latest project Overwhelm.
In this catchy single, Glenn Echo delivers a fluid production with equally silk-smooth vocals that will have you hooked on from the get-go. If this does not get you listening to Glenn Echo, we don’t know what will. This one is for the playlists.
“A majestic piece that deserves attention”
You can stream Overwhelm via Spotify here.
Andreas Levers, a German-based photographer, released the seventh night series back in 2018 named At Night 7. The series utilises street light to reflect the dynamic and foggy atmosphere of the place.
Writing about the series Andreas Levers stated: “These photos were taken in Potsdam and Berlin on November 24th 2018. While I don’t comment on the hardware used usually, I have to make an exception here. Adding the Olympus 12-100 zoom changed the the workflow entirely. By combining the integrated stabilizer of the lens with the one in the camera body I was able to get sharp shots around 1/2s, even at longer focal lengths. Not having to carry around a tripod was liberating.”
You can find more work by Andreas Levers here.
Henri Prestes, a photographer and cinematographer, released a splendid series back in 2018 named They Drive by Night. This series focuses on the theme of mystery that is built through dark surroundings and isolating spaces.
You can find more work by Henri Prestes here.
Coming in with smooth beats, vintage-like samples and catchy energy is the exciting music producer Kodiak Kid. In this wonderful instrumental piece To The Point, the rising artist Kodiak Kid showcases to us why he is the name to follow in the world of music with true finesse in combining interesting elements. To The Point is part of a five-track EP Drifting Status, which is available to stream now.
Delivering oomph with sweet-sounding vocals is the ray of bright energy Callum Pitt in his latest song Forgotten Kids. In his latest creation, Callum Pitt, a growing name in the world of indie music, delivers to us a wave of foot-tapping liveliness with top-notch production and a simply brilliant vibe. This one is for the playlists.
Shifting into a filmic world, we have Michael Logozar’s Rise, a piece which reflects and upsurges through gradually moving string and piano elements. In this majestic piece, Logozar delivers a journey of a composition that is worthy of the highest praise. If you’re looking for something alternative to our previous two selections, this one will be for you.
Previously featured Jacob Howard, a self-taught photographer, art director, and graphic designer who is currently based in Wellington, New Zealand, has released a brilliant collection of black and white photos named Backblocks. The series has some isolating and intriguing imagery which was taken in rural New Zealand.
You can find more photography work by Jacob Howard on his Behance here.
Kayla Day, played by Elsie Fisher, is a thirteen-year-old in her last week of middle school. Kayla posts YouTube videos on her account called ‘Kayla’s Korner’ where she gives life tips to the minuscule number of viewers she gets. Her videos giving advice about confidence are a stark contrast to her real life where she is so shy that she was voted the ‘Most Quiet’ in her year group. The film follows Kayla as she tries to be more confident, make friends, talk to that boy she likes and generally just survive the last week of middle school.
Whilst lacking in a clear narrative structure, with the film seeming almost like a documentary at times, Eighth Grade is very successful in giving us the adolescent story of Kayla Day. There is rarely a moment in the film where you won’t feel an intense emotion of some sort, as director Bo Burnham grabs your attention and doesn’t let go, regularly toying with how you feel using scenes full of embarrassment, fear, awkwardness and, every so often, relief and happiness. When he wants you to feel the embarrassment of the scene, he’ll have you sinking into your seat, and when he leaves you in suspense of what happens next, he’ll have you on the edge of your seat in anticipation, hoping that Kayla makes the right choices and that things go well for her.
The casting choices in this film are excellent and having opted to use actual 13-year-olds to play kids in middle school pays off greatly. Elsie Fisher, in particular, gives a perfect performance, which is not only impressive at her age, but was also essential as she is in every single scene in the film. Fisher’s personality being so similar to that of the character she plays allows her to give an incredibly naturalistic and believable performance and without her, Eighth Grade would not be as brilliant a film as it is. Josh Hamilton also gives a great performance as Kayla’s dad; It’s clear that he cares for his daughter deeply and wants to understand her, but understanding teenagers has never been a simple task for parents, and this is made blatantly obvious by his attempts at conversation with Kayla. The rest of the cast did not disappoint; performances of note were given by Emily Robinson who plays Olivia, a friendly high schooler, Catherine Oliviere who plays Kennedy, a popular girl who treats Kayla unkindly and Jake Ryan whose portrayal of Gabe, Kennedy’s cousin, is instantly lovable.
Burnham’s regular use of long takes allows us to experience each situation as fully as Kayla does, which when applied to the more awkward and embarrassing scenes in the film, can make you feel so extremely uncomfortable that you’ll wonder “when, just when, will this moment end”. This makes it that much easier to sympathise with Kayla and cheer for her to succeed and be happy. The choice of music used throughout the film is excellent and allows us to better understand how Kayla sees things and certain people, such as when, seemingly out of nowhere, loud EDM is played as Kayla looks at her crush Aiden, played by Luke Prael. Whilst over the top, this choice allows you to understand just how much she likes this boy.
Burnham, with the help of his young cast, shows an incredible understanding of how 13-year-olds behave and talk, making the film feel all the more based in reality. The comedic moments in the film always hit perfectly and do well to lighten the mood when things seem so dire. So much of the film has things go wrong for Kayla that those few happy moments we get feel so much more rewarding. The film feels so real, and you’ll feel so invested in Kayla’s story that towards the end of the film you’ll find it difficult not to tear up.
Eighth Grade explores many issues that come with adolescence and growing up in the age of social media. The pressure of being active on apps such as Instagram and Snapchat, the need to feel accepted by your peers and to feel like you belong, the struggle to be noticed by that person you like, trying to enjoy a party and be comfortable whilst being socially anxious and terrified of the idea, the risks of being alone with strangers and how quickly a fun day out can become a terrible and frightening experience. All of these topics and more are covered in the film, and Bo Burnham treats them, as well as the characters, with understanding, integrity, and respect.
Without a doubt, Eighth Grade is the most accurate coming of age film about being 13 to have been released in a very long time. While it may not be an accurate portrayal for everyone who’s ever been at that stage in their lives, most audiences will find that they relate deeply to the feelings and experiences explored in this film. The message that the film delivers about these experiences and how you can move forward despite them is so important; in fact, Eighth Grade is a must watch. With that, it can be said that Bo Burnham’s directorial debut is a phenomenal one.
Eighth Grade will be released in UK cinemas on the 26th April 2019.
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