MisterWhiplash This is simply a three minute short film - maybe closer to what, if Anger had been working by the 80's, as a music video - where a man is shining a sexy convertible with a fluffy white piece that looks like one of those expensive looking cats. That's all you get here, nothing quite as complex as what Anger did in Scorpio Rising, but what he does is enough: cars are a fetish object, and so we see it as just that.Like Scorpio once again music and image get put together in such a way that meaning is unmistakable: "Dream Lover", not the faster version but the more slow-dance tempo, is meant to croon us into loving the car and seeing it as this boy may see it. There's also the inside of the car too, which has so many things to look at that it feels like something grandiose like a spaceship.At the same time it's a specific intention here: cars like this may be made and driven today, but back then (or more specifically even the 1950s which this hearkens back to), if a guy couldn't get a girl then at least he had his car, and if he did get the girl then it's double the pleasure. Perhaps what Anger then is saying is... the car could be enough, right fellas?

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) At least this is what I was thinking all the time when watching these slightly over 3 minutes. It's a 1970 film by famous short movie director Kenneth Anger and basically shows us a guy cleaning his car and then driving off with it. Anger has always used colors to emphasize the contents of his work and here pink is his dominant choice. I am not too sure how homosexuality was perceived in 1970, but the schmaltzy pop music together with the visuals clearly give off such a vibe here. And even if it was not Anger's idea how this would be perceived, it is interesting to see how perception changed over the decades. Anyway, Anger was in his 40s already when he made this, so in the middle of his career pretty much as he started shooting films already way before his 20th birthday. Today he is almost 90 and still active. I thought this was an interesting watch, but it does not have as much depth as I hoped it would. Don't feel the need to watch it anytime soon again and cannot really recommend it, but still I believe this is among Kenneth Anger's more successful works. Also pay attention to all the K's used in the title. A KKK reference? Or just the first letter from the director's name? Your pick.

MartinHafer This is from the second DVD of a set called "The Films of Kenneth Anger"--a collection of avant garde films by this odd film maker. I found the first disk to be more satisfying--the second has a lot about Aleister Crowley and Satanism that I found a bit dreary.KUSTOM KAR KOMMANDOS is about the closest you'll come to making love to a hot rod! Kenneth Anger met a guy with a beautiful custom-detailed hot rod and got him to agree to having the car and himself filmed. There is no dialog, just a slowly moving camera with deliberately intense colors. It's like a love song or poem all about the beauty and lines of the car and is the sort of film that hot rod enthusiasts might love. Otherwise, most will see it as a reasonably short and pleasant stroll down memory lane--but not a must-see film.

ebbets-field What a refreshing contrast to Anger's normal output -- this is short, to the point, simple, and under control. No pretentiousness, and competent technical qualities, for a change. It's not about anything of importance, just fetishism for the bodies of cars and of young men, but for once Anger masters his form and puts it to the service of his small idea. A mini-delight.