| Greetings Cinema friends, This week we raise a glass to doing it wrong—to unrelenting optimism in spite of talent, to mad pursuits of artistry, to breaking rules, to impropriety, and to playing with your food: this week we welcome The Phantom of the Open and Flux Gourmet. |
Maurice Flitcroft held the titles of crane-operator, shoe polish salesman, and occasional ice cream man before finding his niche in 1976 as the world’s worst golfer. The Phantom of the Open follows Flitcroft’s rise to infamy through blind determination, endearing ineptitude, and deception. Shortly after picking up golfing, Flitcroft aspired to compete solely for the love of the game. As an amateur without the time or resources to obtain an official handicap (the numeric measure of a golfer’s potential), Maurice simply declared himself a professional. Despite the British golfing establishment’s best efforts, Flitcroft would become a folk hero to talentless-yet-tenacious dreamers everywhere.
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Flux Gourmet, meanwhile, is the newest excursion from British filmmaker Peter Strickland. From sound engineering to the tactile obsessions of designer fashion, Strickland’s uniquely surreal and comedic brand of suspense is foregrounded in rich sensory experiences. This time around, the gustatory and olfactory systems reign supreme as an avant garde performance troupe employs food in all the wrong ways. Flux Gourmet’s art-world satire is deliciously stomach-churning (if not gag-inducing). Do yourself a favor and be sure to order a digestif.
| Lastly, we make a toast to our own history, as we celebrate Ragtag’s birthday this Saturday evening. We’ve come a long way from the definition of our namesake (Disreputable! Untidy! Incongruous!) but we’re still proud of our scrappiness… and there’s nothing wrong with that. -Ted |
