Critic's Notebook

Electric Dreams

Joe Hunting/Sundance Institute

MOVIE REVIEW
We Met in Virtual Reality (2022)

By TIM HAYES

Scratch a modern innovation and something older, if not ancient, emerges. Virtual Reality was a term before anyone had even made a working transistor and some similar concepts occupied the Ancient Greeks, while no culture on the planet has failed to ponder the wet malfunctioning bag of gunk we have to cart around all the time, and wondered what the life of the mind might get up to if it wasn't held back by the life of the body. V.R. technology brings fresh perspectives on all this, and several positive viewpoints are available inside the online virtual community VRChat shown in Joe Hunting's documentary "We Met in Virtual Reality," perspectives offered up by enthusiastic Anime-inspired avatars of people who are undoubtedly being just as enthusiastic back at home.

Always Plenty of Brass to Go Around

By TIM HAYES

The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival

Film culture is strong in Bristol. The largest city in the south west of England is home to Aardman Animation and several other long-established production houses, and was traditionally an engine of BBC production; John Boorman once headed the Corporation's mighty Documentary Unit from here. But these are uncertain times. The BBC is retreating to cheaper points of the compass, Aardman are cutting staff numbers, and on the fringes of the Encounters Short Film Festival, Chris Hopewell of Bristol music video producers Collision Films was downbeat about his trade as a traditional starting point for aspiring film makers: "Don't bother," he said. "Music video as a tool for film making has fallen by the wayside under the onslaught of YouTube." The Google Goliath was to be the subject of much debate as the festival progressed.

Has the Reel Run Out for a New York Blog?

By MARTIN TSAI

Once the premier movie blog for the New York City audience, The Reeler lately seems like it’s hanging by a thread. In fact, more than a month has elapsed since the site’s last update. Most notably missing are contributions from its reviews editor Michelle Orange, whose work has been steadily appearing in The Village Voice. But The Reeler’s esteemed blogger, S.T. VanAirsdale, is apparently alive and well. A Google search yields results for the latest article from Mr. VanAirsdale appearing in The Huffington Post and The Village Voice this week.