I have a preternatural fascination with cities. I love the energy and constant state of change a big city creates and thrives on. I’ve been fortunate to have lived in a few very large cities and to have visited many more. All of them seemed to share something with each other that’s difficult to put into words — it’s that feeling you get when you know you’re witness to (and part of) something greater than the sum of its parts. It’s an energy and sensation that is humbling, exciting, and sometimes elusive.

With those thoughts about cities in mind, I saw Life in Loops last night [siff]. Life in Loops is a remix (or RMX, if you will) of the acclaimed 1997 film Megacities. Similar to Koyaanisqatsi before it, Life in Loops attempts to show us a different perspective of cities and the teeming mass of humanity that inhabits them. But that’s where the similarities screech to a halt. Whereas Koyaanisqatsi enhanced my overly romantic perspective, this film sought to destroy it along with any hope I ever had that humanity is worth a damn. Set in New York, Mumbai, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Moscow, it shows the seedy, sinister, and often pathetic underbelly of life in the city. For 80 straight minutes, it assaulted me with grotesque but profoundly compelling images. My cognitive dissonance was further enhanced by the bad ass soundtrack provided by the Sofa Rockers proving that even in the sinister and grotesque there can be rhythm and poetry.

Life in Loops plays again tonight at 9 PM at the Northwest Film Forum. If you’re in the market for a reality check, I highly recommend it.