Harmony Korine, courtesy of EDGLRD. Everyone lined up outside Knockdown Center to see Baby Invasion either works extra hard to bring downtown chic to New York City’s semi-suburban Maspeth or calls to mind my favorite line from Portnoy’s Complaint: “…like the crew off a ship stricken with scurvy.” The night is semi-chilly, the closest subway is a 20-minute walk, the attraction is an avant-garde horror film perhaps better suited for an art gallery, and, once we’re inside, the vibe feels like that of a rock concert. This is the power of Harmony Korine, who’s about to take the DJ booth. Most directors of Korine’s generation and stature have settled down, directing one feature every few years while working in television. The occasional mega-auteur commanding matinee idols and staggering budgets does nicely to even out such inequitable narratives. His combination of social influence and artistic intent blares almost as punishingly as the speakers at Knockdown Center, which left me concerned for the state of my hearing at least a few times over the film’s 80 minutes. For all of Korine’s hijinx, he proved to be a reporter’s dream when he called from the sunny balcony of his Miami apartment a week before the event. Funny and prone to laughter, the director was willing to answer just about anything, though he won’t run afoul of his hero Terrence Malick. We discussed Baby Invasion’s primal origin and final designs, self-reflective art, the most enduring legend of his 30-year career, and—Korine being the rare Cannes-fêted filmmaker who can even answer this question—what video games he’s been playing. ——— HARMONY KORINE: What’s up, bro? Nice to see you. NICK NEWMAN: Where are you calling from? KORINE: My condo in Miami. We’re getting ready to go to Paris to show the movies. NEWMAN: Which movies are you showing? KORINE: They’re going to show Aggro Dr1ft and Baby Invasion, and then I have a museum show that’s up right now. I haven’t even seen it, so I’m going to spend three days t