"Me, Myself, and my Third Eye" is the fourth full-length presentation by Adam Cooley. Cooley employs a number of unorthodox techniques to execute a series of grainy stories about 4 people with fascinating flaws. The use of stop motion, altering of a single image plus the weird and wonderful colour scheme hooks onto the viewers' conscience and pulls them into the tales of surrealism and melancholy. While all these make "Me, Myself, and my Third Eye" a compelling feature, there are far more reasons to appreciate Cooley's take on postmodernism.
The film can be drawn from several influences; the philosophical quips injected into the dialogue recall Xavier: Renegade Angel, the vivid imagery is reminiscent of the more creative side of David Lynch, not to mention the colours which bring to mind Shinya Tsukamoto's Tokyo Fist. All this is encapsulated in a Begotten-like grain; things move so fast and zoomed it is difficult to suss out the actions on screen. Long camera shots of people's faces remind one of the scenes from a Kitano or Godard film though these don't portray themselves as simple rip-offs from other things but rather a deep admiration Cooley has for other people's work that has inspired him.
This movie is the first after what Cooley has dubbed the 'No Trilogy', and while they were interesting pieces of art; it feels apparent that these were mere stepping stones to what would constitute a bigger work. "Me, Myself and my Third Eye" is this work, a full-fledged mature offering which paints Adam as a forerunner of the amateur picture scene. Elements are taken from previous works and stamped with a sense of cohesion, making this so far a magnum opus for the director. If there was one criticism, it would be that some parts outstay their welcome when other scenes could have had a lot of potential to be built upon and achieve crown-wearing status of the movie. However, this negative factor is minor due to the concise 55 minute running time (and due to the nature of the film, having a longer runtime would have been total overkill).
From someone who has only really been working towards a cinematic vision for the past year or so, "Me, Myself and my Third Eye" is exciting in that there are many avenues Cooley can now take which will further his style and refine his technique. I for one am looking forward to it.