As anyone who saw the LCD Soundsystem concert doc “Shut Up And Play The Hits” can attest, frontman and producer James Murphy needs to stay busy to stay happy, and since the band’s end in 2011, he’s done just that: an acting role in Rick Alverson‘s caustic film “The Comedy”, a collaboration with Gorillaz and Andre 3000 for Converse, and producer on the Yeah Yeah Yeah‘s “Mosquito” and Arcade Fire‘s recent album “Reflektor.” But Murphy’s also had his eye on directing as well, and now his debut short film has hit the web.
Murphy’s 16-minute short, entitled “Little Duck” is certainly not one would expect from him as a debut; shot in the Japanese countryside, it follows a young man “pulled from his life in Manhattan back to his home in rural Japan when his estranged brother runs into trouble.” Plot-driven but infused with quite a measured sensibility, the film hints that perhaps Murphy’s been catching up on his Ozu in preparation, so stylized is the static cinematography and pace. Although the “Tokyo Story” director never had the musical stylings of Childish Gambino and Reggie Watts to soundtrack his films as Murphy does here.
Meanwhile, in a complete change of pace, Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, the Creator, Taco, Jasper Dolphin and Lionel Boyce — members of hip hop delinquent collective Odd Future — dropped a six-and-a-half minute homemade horror movie called “The Ghosts Of The Hotel.” It’s about as silly as you’d expect a film described thusly: “A Little Girl Dies By The Stairs In A Hotel And Detective Ray And Tony Has To Find Out Who Did It Before Its Too Late………. Tyler, Jasper, Lionel, Taco And Earl Thought Of This At 4 In The Morning Knowing It Would Be One Of The Greatest Movies Of All Time.” [Pitchfork]