Hour 21: A Film and Interactive Media Blog

  This post is in loving memory of Gilbert “Gil” Kelly. Thank you Papa for showing me, day in and day out, what family truly means. You loved us grandkids equally. Even so, our relationship with you was uniquely our own. I for one, would not be who I am today, were it not for your willingness to drive me back and forth from Raritan Valley Community College for two years, on almost a daily basis. That was an immeasurable gift. You helped me start my college journey. You believed in me, even when I thought my disability would hold me back, you knew I could accomplish great things. Also, I don't know what came first, the chicken or the egg, in terms of my love of visual storytelling, but having a grandfather who played video games in the '90s was pretty awesome. PGA Tour, 1994 on the Sega Genesis for the win, along with all the racing games you could find for the system. Love you, Papa. Say hi to Danny for me, and I'll see you both again, on the other side of eternity. Streets...

  Mixtape (2026) "Because the music goes somewhere, and you're going with it." "You know how to jet?" "To what?” -Mixtape (2026) What is the capacity of a moment, and how do you define it? A consistent reminder of time is that we never have enough of it. It always seems to slip away, never really granting us a sufficient duration of our human capacity for experiencing life to its necessary fullness. Though, when you really think about it, time is not the enemy here. The enemy, with all its nuance and variety, finds itself not in time, but in our misunderstanding of it. Time isn't meant to be sped through, Its rhythms and tones should be savored, as much as they possibly can be. Mixtape offers us something special in the realm of reverie and appreciation. Allowing you and I to come to terms with the necessity of presence in the flow of our everyday lives. While Mixtape does chronicle the supposed final hours of a high school friendship, Stacy, Va...

  Coda (2021) “So the goal is to find the elective that asks the least of you.” “Choir, are you high?” “Do you have something to say?” -Coda (2021) Sometimes our greatest fears stem from the fact that our normal may not be as normal as we think it is. Though, when it comes to it, we realize that the uniqueness of our normal is what makes it so worthwhile to others. Coda is a wonderful encapsulation of this idea. The idea that what separates us is ultimately what will connect us with the world, and grant us a perspective and voice that others don't have. As it seemingly always does, simplicity hides a depth here that is so inviting that it is almost missed on first watch. The story of Ruby Rossi, and the challenges of being the only hearing child in a family of deaf parents as well as a deaf sibling, Coda is a film that seeks to break down barriers. Even though those barriers are invisible to most, they are still glaringly obvious to a world that is not designed to accommoda...