Here we come to yet another Friday, another end to another work week, another afternoon spent impatiently waiting for the hands of the clock to come into perfectly angled alignment signaling the beginning of the weekend. Allow Ectomo to present you with something to perhaps help the time go faster.

“The Earth was created, not with the gentle caress of love, but with the brutal violence of rape.”

So begins 1971’s The Hellstrom Chronicle. A documentary narrated by the fictitious Dr. Nils Hellstrom, played by Lawrence Pressman, an entomologist whose work has led him to a terrifying conclusion, that ultimately it will not be man who inherits the earth, but insects. Truly horrifying stuff, so horrifying in fact, that it requires Pressman to narrate the entire film in an impressively over-the-top, B-movie manner.

Dr. Hellstrom is not the reason you’ll watch, however. The real star here is the incredible footage of insects on display. Shot by a several cinematographers, they manage to get so close to their subjects that the viewer almost occupies the same space with them. It’s truly fantastic camera work, and more than makes up for the hammy, “We’re all doomed!” atmosphere that Pressman’s voice-over attempts to stir up.

Incidentally, this film would be the inspiration for Frank Herbert’s novel Hellstrom’s Hive, about a secret group of humans who model their lives upon social insects, and the unsettling events that unfold after they are discovered by the US government.

The Hellstrom Chronicle [YouTube]

New Zealand, land of emerald, sheep-dappled fields, rolling, sheep-dappled hills, and formerly rolling, sheep-dappled Peter Jacksons. Yes, New Zealand is a beautiful land, but a land that harbors a disturbing secret. Deep in its underground caves — perhaps the few places still sheepless — is a starry field, twinkling in the darkness. A starry field of horror.

This constellation of death is comprised of light emitted from the innards of Arachnocampa luminosa; glowworms native to these caves. The genus was formerly called Bolitiphila, meaning mushroom lover, but this was changed in 1924 to Arachnocampa, meaning spider grub. This was due to the way in which the glowworms hunt.

In order to catch their prey the glowworms hang long strings of mucus from the ceiling of the cave, which are connected to a mucus hammock, where the glowworm lays in wait. The light that the glowworm emits attracts insects, which are then ensnared in these viscous strands, allowing the worm to devour them alive.

Narrated by Sir David Attenborough in his signature style; that perfect mixture of expertise, awe, and showmanship.

Interessing Glow Worms Caves [YouTube]

Ah, Canada, that frozen wonderland to the north, with its lush, rolling fields of moose, beer waterfalls, and socialized medicine. Truly, it is a snow covered Eden. This week’s Saturday Morning Cartoons is (mostly) presented by Canada, featuring animators (mostly) from Canada, or films distributed (mostly) by The National Film Board of Canada. If you are so inclined (and you should be) all of these videos, with the exception of the first, can be viewed in a higher resolution on YouTube.

• The Cat Came Back: From Cordell Barker. Mr. Johnson has a yellow cat, which he is desperately trying to rid himself of. His efforts prove…unsuccessful.

• Last Time in Clerkenwell: Russian animator Alex Budovsky’s follow-up to Bathtime in Clerkenwell featuring more mind bending flash animation and infectious music.

• The Danish Poet: Torill Kove’s 2007 Oscar winning mediation on her birth, and the serendipitous events which led to it. Simple, clean lines lend this one a children’s book aesthetic which works perfectly.

• Ryan: Directed by Chris Landreth, Ryan is an animated tribute to Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. Thirty years ago, at the National Film Board of Canada, Ryan produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Winner of an Oscar in 2005, it’s a film whose visuals tell just as much of its story as its dialogue does.

• How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels: Craig Welch’s fantastic, creepy, surreal, Gorey-esque little film about a scientist’s quest for knowledge that is, perhaps, reserved for beings other than mere mortals. Cross hatching should be used more often in animation.

• Yellow Sticky Notes: Nine years worth of Jeff Chiba Stearns’s To-Do lists, written on sticky notes, animated with, well, sticky notes. Trust me, it works.

• Harvey Krumpet: I’m a big fan of Australian animator Adam Elliot’s work, having first seen his shorts Brother, Uncle, and Cousin through The Animation Show. Harvey Krumpet, narrated by Geoffrey Rush, continues the tradition of Elliot’s intimate storytelling; detailing the life of Harvey Krumpet, from his birth in Poland to the end of his life in Australia.

Saturday Morning Cartoons XXXIX: Oh Canada (Mostly) [YouTube]

Twelve years ago author and documentary filmmaker Jon Ronson received a call from a man named Tony. Tony was interested in obtaining a copy of a documentary Ronson did about the Holocaust for his employer, whose name he did not wish to reveal. After some cajoling Ronson finally extracted the gentleman’s name. Turns out it was Stanley Kubrick.

That was the last Ronson heard until a few years after the legendary director’s death when Tony called and asked if he would like to come poke around Kubrick’s mansion. What Ronson found there was a cinemaphile’s wet dream: thousands of boxes containing thousands of meticulously organized photos, memos, and letters, years of Kubrick’s career minutely categorized and filed. Ronson would spend five years sifting through them before they were carted off to their new home at the University of the Arts London.

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A BBC Radio documentary originally aired in 2006 covering the life and work of the late, great Howard Phillips Lovecraft; featuring interviews with Neil Gaiman, S.T. Joshi, Kelly Link, Peter Straub, China Mieville among others.

The Strange Life of H.P. Lovecraft [YouTube] : Under Vhoorl’s Shadow

A 1979 documentary focused on gang culture in the South Bronx. The film focuses on two gangs, the Savage Skulls and the Nomads — whose members have such colorful sobriquets as Fly, Comanche, and Crazy Joe — as well as Bob Werner, a member of the Youth Gangs Task Force that oversaw the area at that time. While it doesn’t spend a whole lot of time really digging into just how violent these gangs were, it does offer an interesting snapshot of New York at the time. Crime in the 70s was on a slow and steady upward climb as the city verged on the edge of bankruptcy and the increase in gang activity was one of the more direct results of an ever growing under class confined to the outer boroughs. Few perhaps realized how bad it would become in the 80s with the introduction of crack until its peak in the early 90s.

Also, notable for the plethora of 70s pornstar moustaches on display.

Note: the video itself is fine, however the language contained therein is of the NSFW variety.

80 Blocks From Tiffany’s [YouTube]

An informative documentary on European master — and Ectomo favorite — Peter Bruegel. The level of detail in his paintings has always astounded me and this episode pointed out some details that I had not been aware of. Something nice and laid back to start off your Wednesday.

Great Artists: Bruegel [Guba] : MONSTER BRAINS

Imagine for a moment that all your dreams have come true, and finally, you’re starting to turn into a metal monster. Now imagine that to your horror the transformation is less laser eyes and drill genitals and more a long, slow, painful metamorphosis into a rusted erector set. No, there will be no rampage of destruction and mayhem for you. After your diagnosis you’ll be transported to a terminal ward to live out your days being poked, prodded, and otherwise suffering the indignities normally associated with investigative medicine.

Interestingly, my highly refined medical acumen resultant from an exhaustive study in the hippocratic arts (four seasons of House and counting!) was perked at the names of the diseases and syndromes being bandied about. Impressively, the terminology is at least relatively sound. Although I can’t tell what I was more impressed with; that the film makers did their homework or that I’ve finally learned something from countless hours of television.

Microbia [Arist’s Site : Who Killed Bambi?]

Two clips from Werner Herzog’s 1971 documentary of Land of Silence and Darkness. Vladimir Kokol is a 22 year old boy who was born blind and deaf. The full documentary is strangely touching, following a modern-day Helen Keller type around as she reaches out to the blind and deaf community: it famously ends with a blind-deaf woman hugging a tree. But I have to admit I found the juxtaposition of the two clips hilarious: I couldn’t have been the only one utterly convinced that Vladimir was going to smash that radio into his face as hard as he could, and strangely disappointed when he didn’t.

Land of Silence and Darkness [POETV]