Just in time for Michael Almereyda's "Tesla," the best American film of the year, to be released quietly on VOD (Almereyda seems to only get quiet releases), here's a look back at one of the soulful magician's earlier experiments: the mummy movie that wasn't.
"The Eternal" (aka "Trance") was supposed to be what pushed Almereyda from indie curiosity to major leaguer. It wasn't to be. Not that he couldn't have used the push but I wonder if he'd be making movies as interesting as "Tesla" and "Experimenter" if he'd had a chance to get caught in Hollywood's machinery. Almereyda's work has an independent spirit and anything-goes aesthetic optimism that sets him apart from his peers, if he can be said to have many. I'll always root for an artist and thinker who says no to what's easy, and yes to what feels right.
To watch the rest of Scout Tafoya's Unloved video essays, click here.
