Two Magical Films
The Blog should be getting back to normal soon, but in the sake of completion let me just mention two films that were a big part of the process....or just two bizarro films that stand out in my memory.
Pokemon: The First Movie.
I'd like to stab Colin in the face for recommending this film...and I mean that in the best possible way. Really. Let's look at the name. It's a weird marketing ploy when you name your franchise's first film, the "franchise's first film." I'm already having trouble wrapping my head around that one.
(For those who are over the age of thirty and don't have kids: Pokemon are tiny collectible japanese monsters that kids (in the movies/games) pit against each other in a surreal variation of cock fighting. Each Pokemon has special powers, like shooting fire, belching poison, or just kicking you in the crotch repeatedly.
While I do intend on reviewing this in more detail later, let me just give you the brain-melting climax. An evil pokemon has created super-clones of normal pokemon and, to prove their superiority he magically "turns off" all the pokemon's special powers forcing them to fight via simple streetfighting. So instead of shooting fire or electrocuting one another, they bite and stomp each other. Appparently this is MUCH less humane than letting them blast each other with radioactive energy and toxic steam. It's really weird how everyone feels bad for the little critters when they have to bludgeon each other but not when they're setting each other ON FIRE. I know you're not supposed to think about like this, but it's a lot of fun thinking how PETA would reach to people trapping creatures in pocket-sized cages and only letting them out to fight to the death.
Moving on, check out this shot from a rubber monster movie produced by the dictator of North Korea:
One of the paintings (Ryan Estrada's suggestion to be precise) asked me to paint Kim Jong Il and gave me a bunch of information about why he was a nutty, nutty man. Besides having awesome hair, Kim Jong Il alledgedly kidnapped and forced a director to make films for North Korea, one of them Pulgasari. The film's not very good and is TERRIBLE when you realize what year it came out (1985). Still, it's a funny film about conquering old, abusive forms of government and liberating the people...and you can make a good argument that the monster represents capitalism, if you're the kind of person who sees everything as symbolism. The message is there, but it's sort of hidden behind a giant bull dragon monster smashing paper buildings. Last bit of trivia: The guy in that rubber suit is actually the same guy who was The Smog Monster, Gigan, and Godzilla (1984-onward). Expect a review sooner than later, I just had to share.
-jared
Pokemon: The First Movie.
I'd like to stab Colin in the face for recommending this film...and I mean that in the best possible way. Really. Let's look at the name. It's a weird marketing ploy when you name your franchise's first film, the "franchise's first film." I'm already having trouble wrapping my head around that one.
(For those who are over the age of thirty and don't have kids: Pokemon are tiny collectible japanese monsters that kids (in the movies/games) pit against each other in a surreal variation of cock fighting. Each Pokemon has special powers, like shooting fire, belching poison, or just kicking you in the crotch repeatedly.
While I do intend on reviewing this in more detail later, let me just give you the brain-melting climax. An evil pokemon has created super-clones of normal pokemon and, to prove their superiority he magically "turns off" all the pokemon's special powers forcing them to fight via simple streetfighting. So instead of shooting fire or electrocuting one another, they bite and stomp each other. Appparently this is MUCH less humane than letting them blast each other with radioactive energy and toxic steam. It's really weird how everyone feels bad for the little critters when they have to bludgeon each other but not when they're setting each other ON FIRE. I know you're not supposed to think about like this, but it's a lot of fun thinking how PETA would reach to people trapping creatures in pocket-sized cages and only letting them out to fight to the death.
Moving on, check out this shot from a rubber monster movie produced by the dictator of North Korea:
One of the paintings (Ryan Estrada's suggestion to be precise) asked me to paint Kim Jong Il and gave me a bunch of information about why he was a nutty, nutty man. Besides having awesome hair, Kim Jong Il alledgedly kidnapped and forced a director to make films for North Korea, one of them Pulgasari. The film's not very good and is TERRIBLE when you realize what year it came out (1985). Still, it's a funny film about conquering old, abusive forms of government and liberating the people...and you can make a good argument that the monster represents capitalism, if you're the kind of person who sees everything as symbolism. The message is there, but it's sort of hidden behind a giant bull dragon monster smashing paper buildings. Last bit of trivia: The guy in that rubber suit is actually the same guy who was The Smog Monster, Gigan, and Godzilla (1984-onward). Expect a review sooner than later, I just had to share.
-jared
posted by Jared at 3:31 AM
3 Comments:
...thanks for the run-down of the Pokemon movie, Jared. ...I've had to listen to my autistic students say phrases repeatedly from this movie (obviously waaaaaay out of context and random) -- and have always had this under-lying curiousity of what in the HECK they were mumbling about about!!!! aaah!
Hey Jared,
Give a call. How's things? I actually slept through that movie in theatres (in Binghamton at what was then Hoyt's). I could have warned you about it then, but I think it is way more fun that you went out and experienced it for yourself. :~D
~Tiffany
I actually saw the Pokemon movie in the theaters - on purpose - with other adults.
I don't remember anything about it though.
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