Hack The Planet Day
Renoly Santiago hosts a 35mm Hackers at Somerville Theatre on Sunday, September 2024.
Battlemode and DJ Wubson serve up the bleeps and bloops to bookend the night.
VKASH on the visuals.
The booker behind the local live music series Illegally Blind (puts together the Fuzzstival and more), Jason Trefts, is raising money to start a non-profit organization, staffed by brain tumor survivors, “that will provide free short-term care coordination services for people in the Boston, MA area recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.”
The mission of the project hits close to home for Trefts. In his own words, “I was diagnosed with an incurable Astrocytoma at 24 years old. I have spent the decade-plus since navigating chronic disabling conditions while working in the human services field.”
“Astrocytoma” is a type of brain tumor. And while Trefts has been dealing with that, he has also been working in care coordination himself, observing first hand how important the work is. His proposed non-profit would make more of that important work happen for more people. Find out the details and donate at the Still Around Gofundme.
Renoly Santiago
Phantom Phreak
I’ll excerpt my writeup of the show from Cambridge Day. But before I do, let me add a detail that I didn’t have space for in that live review. Namely, the superb attention to detail of the lightshow.
A visual artist by the moniker of VKASH created a 360-degree illuminated projection in the main theatre, which would have been an eye-catcher by itself. Guests who looked closely, though, would have noticed that the design of the projection mapped itself neatly onto the interior architecture of the space. It wasn’t just a light splatter dashed against the wall. You could observe this best with the “Access Granted” slogan, which fit neatly into the decorative tondo positioned at the uppermost point of the inner atrium. Impressive.
A sold out 35mm screening of Hackers in Davis Square marked the momentous 29th anniversary of the film that Roger Ebert once called “deeply dubious in the computer science department.” Siqq burn, Ebert. Who cares about the details when you’ve got psychotropic 90s eye candy like Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie rollerblading through Manhattan, as yet undefeated by “broken windows,” one-upping corporate goons? It was all part of “Hack The Planet Day” at Somerville Theatre.
The evening was a bit of a hybrid event, combining live music, a movie screening, and comic con vibes. Fans were decked out in vintage Hacker gear, a kind of gutterpunk meets raver aesthetic. The soaring atrium of the main theatre sparkled with the projected visual tropes of the film, designed by VKASH. Wubson, who also performed at the Crystal Ballroom afterparty, greeted guests with a hard-edged EDM DJ set as they found their seats. Local chiptuners Battlemode played a short set, highlighted by their hit of the (now waning) summer, “Playlist.” And Renoly Santiago, AKA Phantom Phreak from the film, made a celebrity cameo onstage before the film got rolling.
Wubson
Santiago seemed appreciative, if a little bemused, that his plucky film from the 90s could still sell out a theatre in 2024. But why the surprise? We’re past the era of the blockbuster film economy. Outliers like Barbenheimer only serve to remind us how far removed we are from a time when a 100 million dollar budget, an A-list star, and a Happy Meal tie-in was enough to make a purchase of the movie ticket in question a fait accompli for the majority of Americans.
What’s left that will draw the crowds? Maybe it’s more niche, atavistic cultural pop-up events like “Hack The Planet Day”? Will future audiences forget that there used to be a time when people attended movies in blue jeans and t-shirts, instead of cosplaying a Wookie, a Tomb Raider, or Harley Quinn?
Battlemode
Musicians, take note. Because if the waxing zeitgeist is all about subcultural, full immersion day trips, there’s nothing like music to whisk you back to the spirit of yesteryear. Get artists like Wubson and Battlemode to set the mood. Could be a good side hustle. Plus, think of how many new ears are listening, which wouldn’t have listened to a chiptune or EDM playlist otherwise.
Theatres, hire a band at your next film screening!
Photo Gallery
Renoly Santiago hosts Hackers at Somerville Theatre.