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Most movies we see are by people who have “made it.” There are many reasons to love the films of Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh, and chief among them is how they articulate both the struggle and the necessity of remaining creative even when any hope of “making it” falls away. — Will Sloan
Last summer, sold-out crowds packed a sweltering Spectacle to experience Motern Mania, a showcase of the films of Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh. Farley is a dedicated Spotify algorithm gamer who is probably the most prolific songwriter in the history of American popular music; streaming royalties for his untold thousands of songs — about poop, gluten, fear of the Pope, and everyone who’s ever had a birthday — fund a reasonable middle-class lifestyle, and support a flourishing filmmaking practice. Farley’s book, The Motern Method, is a Bible for aspiring outsider artists (sample chapter headings: “Release Everything”; “Embrace Nonsense”), and the films in which he stars, directed by longtime friend and coconspirator Roxburgh, are beacons of resourcefulness and, in this modern grindset world, refreshing examples of hustle culture directed to economically unrewarding but spiritually fulfilling aims.
Self-described “backyard movies” shot in accessible New England locations with a cast of friends and neighbors — each blazing their own their own unique trail through thickets of loquacious dialogue — the Motern films are charming and uncompromising advertisements for the DIY spirit, but are also distinguished by their canny realism about the life of the middle-aged small-town artist, plugging away in garages and grange halls for little to no tangible reward, and by their wildly inventive approach to genre, recombining the elements of classic creature features and exploitation films with a self-aware wit.
Following Spectacle’s initial streaming-only retrospective in 2020, Motern Mania has spread across North America, the tumor-like growth of their fame only increasing in its rapidity since last year’s retrospective. Farley and Roxburgh’s films have played to appreciative crowds at venues of increasingly legitimacy, including 2024’s TIFF precursor event Midnight Dankness. With the streaming release of their latest film, EVIL PUDDLE, now imminent, we’re delight to welcome them back to Spectacle with a new selection of old and new films, once again programmed in collaboration with Brianna Zigler.
Thanks to Peter Kuplowsky.