Thom Yorke brings Tall Tales to cinemas for one night only

Tall Tales is “a collaborative visual and audio cinema experience a decade in the making”

Tall Tales the film almost flew under my radar, tbh. A collaboration between English record producer Mark Pritchard, Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke and visual artist Jonathan Zawada, it’s being released to coincide with the album of the same name, which drops on May 9.

Presented in collaboration with Warp Records, it’s “…a fairy tale for the modern world; depicting rising tides, kings & queens, amazon logistics and robotic arms under iridescent skies. Like all good fairy tales – this work edges light with the dark as Thom’s echoed chants intertwine with Mark’s shimmering electronics on top of Jonathan’s hyperreal environments.” as the press release helpfully tells us.

Which means it’s a music video, more or less. A long one, mind you. We seem to be getting a lot of these lately. Beyoncé’s done so many they’ve started appending her name to them like John Carpenter: Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. J-Lo managed to fang one out in that brief window when she was married to Ben Affleck. And now it’s Yorke’s turn, although Tall Tales certainly had a longer production timeframe than This Is Me… Now: A Love Story.

Let’s check out the trailer.

Well, it doesn’t really clarify anything, really, but the visuals are cool. Real Koyaanisqatsi vibes in places.

If you’re in Australia, you’ve got a fairly narrow window to check this one out. Tall Tales is getting an extremely limited from May 8, with screenings currently penciled in as follows:

NSW
Cremorne Orpheum
Dendy Newtown
Hoyts Broadway
Palace Byron Bay
Palace Moore Park
Randwick Ritz

VICTORIA
ACMI (Q&A on May 8 + May 10)
Cameo Belgrave
Cinema Nova
Classic Elsternwick
Lido Hawthorn
Mount Vic Flicks
Palace Astor
Palace Pentridge
Palace Regent Cinema Ballarat
Sun Yarraville

ACT
Dendy Canberra

QUEENSLAND
Dendy Coorparoo
Palace James St

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Hoyts Carousel
Luna Leederville (May 8 & 9)

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Palace Nova Eastend

TASMANIA
Star Theatre Launceston (16 May)
State Hobart

Victoria seems to be getting the bulk of the action, which makes sense – if ever a city was likely to have an excess of Radiohead fans, it’s Melbourne. The Northern Territory is missing out, but if ever a city had a dearth of Radiohead fans, it’s Darwin. Everyone else – you might want to get in quick.