Claim OwnershipEmissaries from the Void
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Description
Emissaries from the Void examines cinema that is odd, obscure, oblique, or opaque, with an eye toward theming. The tone is casual but thoughtful, and commonly analyzes content through feminist and leftist lenses, but there are plenty of jokes and silliness as well. Our goal is to make media literacy accessible for films that often defy easy explanation. Surreality, expressionism, absurdism, dream logic, Layers of Artifice, the uncanny, allegory, and occult themes are all common features of the void, and we invite you to explore it with us. Lose yourself, find yourself, transform yourself in cinema’s mirror, but be warned: When you open yourself up to change, you can never be sure where you'll end up…
34 Episodes
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Vide Noir
The dark side of romanticism, the virtue of letting go, escapism, art drug, indulging the void, intrusive thought worms, accountability, misery multiplication, Finding Alaska Syndrome, toxic yearning.
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Head (1968) –
Capitalist determinism, artistic dissonance, decency standards, algorithmic pipelines, the information firehose, subliminal messaging, scrambled context, short-form content, white-washed exoticism, Neil Breen and Paul Thomas Anderson are the only free creators, AAA vs indie games, the holocaust can't be filmed, red-washing, fascism, slavery.
The Cell (2000) -
control, hyper-specific schizophrenia synchronicity, dream logic inside and out, savior complex, lack of consequences, learning the wrong lessons, equine segmentation, corrupted curiosity, religious trauma
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Yin Yang Insane (2007)
Robert Z'Dar, Eternal Detours, Alleged Duststorm, War With Self, Desolation of the Soul
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Jennifer's Body (2009)
Cross out toxic feminity, timeless lingo, growth from trauma, gender role revenge, soft rock satanists, eat your enemies, the gendered spice must flow.
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Stitch (2014)
Horror tropes in a blender, a single good scene, "a big ass", wasted potential, hilariously bad practical effects, quantum hell dimension, tasteless endings, would have made a good anime
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
The Mask - 2023
Performance Art, the dark side of creative passion, Conor O'Malley, The Mask, conspiracy theory pipeline, dark comedy mockumentary, the decline of psyche on the Internet.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) –
The V~I~B~E~S, Christopher Marlowe, hipster art philosophy, funeral music for the world, art as "content," irony poisoning, corrupted blood, quantum entanglement, there is no shoe, creative fuel, strength in connection, Mad God, ethical consumption, nihilism vs optimism, forced commodification
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Bears Discover Fire
Technology, Humans vs Nature, the concrete hell, ascension, mistakes made by natural beings, how we'd treat aliens
Hellraiser 1+2+Reboot
Sensation, ongoing consent, limit experiences, addiction, a homeless dragon, sacrifice rewards program, curiosity predatio, the porous line twixt pleasure and pain, wearing Julia, releasing oneself, the anti-Lovecraft
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Antichrist (2009) –
Gendered grief, "gynocide," Inland Empire, Fateful Findings, unreliable director, let buried birds lie, the grief-despair-pain cycle, pain is a tool, nature is Satan’s church, internalized misogyny, the wrong shoes, schizophrenia, therapeutic malpractice, extreme codependence, intrusive thoughts
CW: Sexual Assault, Violence and Gore, Domestic Abuse
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Possibly in Michigan (1983) -
Toxic gender, consumptive love, Ohio, masks we wear, love of perfume, commercialism, death obsessed, Dave Made a Maze
Dave Made a Maze –
Imposter syndrome, ADHD, hyperfixation, why is Leonard, keeping the alligators fed, the illusion of creative control, tunnel visions, Hal Heartley, irresponsible creativity
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses (2009)
Low emotional intelligence, pushing away those you love, early internet humor, five second film core, "efficient product", people not wanting to deal with problems directly
Color Out of Space (2019) –
Cosmic horror, bubble of safety, environmentalist themes, chromatically modified organics, invasive species, watch out: you might get what you're after, an "intellectually abusive voice," dysfunctional communication, familial legacy, contagious change, fence-sitters die first
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Midnight Special (2016)
Space Jesus, cosmic forces with subdued undertones, pick a lane, unexpectedly enjoyable, good movies with underwhelming endings, electromagnetic manipulation, technokinesis, faith in the face of a cynical world.
1A Dark Song (2016)
Occult as therapy, trauma, revenge, healing, dysfunctional dynamics, the mental trap we make ourselves, inner demons enacting external tolls, angel summoning, learning to forgive, the price of revenge, ""black"" magic, the rituals don't matter, dying does wonders for one's priorities, garmonbozia, the ophanim in the room, a tattooed rat speaks, Vince Gilligan
CW: Domestic violence and abusive relationship dynamics, sexual assault
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Mad God (2021) –
Practical effects, Right VS Left Hand Path: Which is Better in 2025?, inside the atrocity engine, there’s always a bigger fish, as above so below, spiritual desolation, the shit we swallow, Mad as in ANGRY, endless cycles, infant alchemy, the life to suffering pipeline, ceasing the cycle within ourselves, The Last Man as Theif, The Last Man as God
Outro Music is Arcadia by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Active Volcano (2023), dir. Caroline Kopko — Mnemonic fallibility, the creative process, V~I~B~E~S, plus listener comments about "…World’s Fair.”
The Holy Mountain (1973) –
A spiritual Ocean's Eleven, ego death, mortality salience, tonal duality, paganism, horizontal conquest, sacred geometry, tossing the little man, suckling from the rebus, allegorical fourth wall, enlightened filmmaking, cinematic mercy
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