New on DVD

Dan Deacon and Jimmy Joe Roche: Ultimate Reality

Carpark

By BEN WESTHOFF | December 31, 2007

2.5 Stars

Kind of like one long Rorschach test, Ultimate Reality is a collaboration between experimental music producer Dan Deacon and visual artist Jimmy Joe Roche. It consists mainly of clips from Arnold Schwarzenegger films cut up, slowed down, and saturated with color, often beyond recognition. Although it’s fun at times — such as during snippets from lesser project like Kindergarten Cop and Junior — it’s mostly a one-trick show, with chaotic, inverted images clashing on the screen. Deacon’s delightful score features his trademarked euphoric peaks and droning valleys, and the disc’s highlight actually arrives during the bonus footage, when we get to see him dance. But Roche’s repetitive images wear thin before long. Although Ultimate Reality seems well suited for projection onto a large screen for accompaniment by live music (as Deacon is doing on his current tour), watching it at home — without the aid of hallucinogenic drugs, at least — is not quite compelling.

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Topics: New on DVD , Dan Deacon , Hermann Rorschach , Entertainment , More

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