*Online Premiere* Baltimore director Corey Hughes comes up with startlingly unique images and atmospheres. One could view his films as obscure allegories about the decay of western civilization. Or as tongue-in-cheek tone poems that re-examine commonly dismissed aesthetics (a corny Carnival cruise ship in his previous film, Ouchiemongo, or a sterile Caesars Palace hotel room here). Or even, for their exploratory nature and focus on unusual camera techniques, glorified camera tests. Any way you look at them, they’re hypnotic. His latest piece, Caesars Palace, barely leaves its hotel room and doesn’t have a visible lead character. But the strange visuals, mixed with thumping beats and reverberating voice-over (that of a newly widowed woman away on business) keep you glued. Scanning an empty Las Vegas hotel room shouldn’t be interesting, but Hughes makes it so with odd, drone-like camera movements focused on the sink, or the shower head, or a mysterious pile of lettuce scattered throughout the room. It doesn’t feel natural, but somehow it feels true. (7 minutes) Directed by Corey Hughes.
