Directed by Hue Wong; produced by Hues Grafix.
Movie Summary: Yak Phlem Battles stehomites in the land of techno.
Links to the movie:
http://www.catatonic.net/
http://www.catatonic.net/films8/main1.htm
Films@catatonic.net features the best in underground and independent webfilms with resources, an online film fest and tools for the independent filmmaker.
Internet Movie Review
As an Internet Movies editor, I was reluctant at first to review this webfilm as it has such a dubious title, Yak Phlem: The Anti Hero. I am so glad I did not follow what my first impression told me. For I found it to be a very creative movie, and immensely entertaining at that. It is definitely low-budget, an Internet B-Movie if you please, yet it has a story to tell. Especially if you are having a stressful day at work like I was one fateful Monday morning.
In the office, there were scary rumors going around, which were heigthened by the news that my previous employer had conducted a mass lay-off. I had friends calling me from the other building about how scared they were about who was going to get the axe. A few hours later, my friend said the emails started trickling in. The magic 300 had been chosen and soon the walking papers would be sent out across the building to these unlucky individuals (one of whom was my friend).
Against this scary scenario, my senses yearned for something that would make me feel better, and that was when I thought of watching an Internet Movie to give me a break from all these superhuman tensions. So I went to www.catatonic.net by instinct. Perhaps it was the subconscious similarity in sound of the word “catatonic” to “cathartic” or “catharsis” which basically means to withdraw or have some sort of withdrawal syndrome from violence or whatever.
Back in college, the word “catharsis” had a very memorable ring in my mind. In my Psychology class, the professor dealt with the phenomenon of whether violence is cathartic or not. Unfortunately, the Hilgard and Atkinson book, Introduction to Psychology which we read back then had no definite answer. The authors argued that the findings were inconclusive as experiments at both ends both proved one or the other. What really stuck in my mind was the picture the book showed of a bloodied man who rampaged through the streets of a city I don’t remember, ending up stabbing everyone on his path.
Is violence cathartic, then? I don’t know the answer then. I know the answer now. Yes, violence is cathartic. Yes, Virginia, violence does reach a cool-down point. I knew that after I watched the Nukador short film. It goes this way. It starts with a lovely Carribean song, and goes on with no talkies, just music and a huge explosion in the end. There are two combatants here, both of whom look like what gets stuck in your throat and lungs when you’ve got the cold or the flu (Yak Phlem, get it?).
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