|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Feb 10, 2008 0:16:08 GMT 2
We've had Teen Movie, Epic Movie, Scary Movie and probably about four others I haven't heard of.. now we have.. Superhero Movie. www.superhero-movie.net/Another wretched "parody" of Superhero movies, it looks basically nothing but a humourless spin on the first Spider-Man film. Remember when these films used to be good? That was once the case, wasn't it? |
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin Haines on Mar 13, 2008 23:55:58 GMT 2
TV spots have started to air here in the States, and the film looks beyond wretched. I'll skip it, as I have for the other movies of this ilk that have been spewed out in recent years (and if staggeringly overwhelming word of mouth is any indication, I'm doing myself a favor with regard to those flicks). I do think that the first Scary Movie was actually good though. It had a purpose for its parody and actual dash of cleverness in its methods, and the heart in the movie seemed evident to me (something lacking from its sequels). For an actual good satire of comic book superheroes that's worth watching, I highly recommend Takashi Miike's 2004 film Zebraman. www.amazon.com/Zebraman-Akira-Emoto/dp/B000Z6GT72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1205444468&sr=1-1Remember when these films used to be good? That was once the case, wasn't it? As long as Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost are making works of brilliance like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the art of satire in film is not completely dead. But yes, the past decade has given rise to a stunning number of crap films of this variety. My list of the more worthwhile satire films: - King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
- This is Spinal Tap (1984)
- Spaceballs (1984)
- Scary Movie (2000)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- Zebraman (2004)
- Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
- Team America: World Police (2004)
- Snakes on a Plane (2006)
- Hot Fuzz (2007)
|
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Mar 14, 2008 22:37:54 GMT 2
Zebraman = My New Must Have Film.
|
|
|
|
Post by trashcanman on Mar 15, 2008 11:32:09 GMT 2
Great, great, great list, man. I haven't seen KKVG since I was quite young (I REALLY need to buy that one) but I don't remember it being satire....oh, wait a minute, it's all coming back to me. Kong gets ass handed to him ROYALLY, eats alligators and gets struck by lightning to gain superpowers and then proceeds to knock the shit out of the King of ALL Motherfucking Monsters. That can't be a serious film, good call.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Mar 15, 2008 16:54:02 GMT 2
Add "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" to that list. A BRILLIANT spoof of 70s blaxploitation films that is 100% on the mark.
And Trashy, try looking for the double bill of King Kong Escapes (the only Toho King Kong film, the one where he fights the robotic MechaKong) and King Kong vs Godzilla. You can get it for about $12 on ebay.
|
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin Haines on Mar 16, 2008 7:56:34 GMT 2
Great, great, great list, man. I haven't seen KKVG since I was quite young (I REALLY need to buy that one) but I don't remember it being satire....oh, wait a minute, it's all coming back to me. Kong gets ass handed to him ROYALLY, eats alligators and gets struck by lightning to gain superpowers and then proceeds to knock the shit out of the King of ALL motherfucking Monsters. That can't be a serious film, good call. The Japanese and American versions of King Kong vs. Godzilla are as different as night and day. Universal edited the hell out of that movie for the US release, adding tedious new bits with English-speaking actors in a TV studio, replacing Akira Ifukube's gorgeous score with stock music from other Universal sci-fi films, and generally excising a lot of important plot and character development footage. According to August Ragone's excellent book Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, Universal producer John Beck watched the Japanese version of the movie when it was completed and didn't understand it, never catching on that it was satire, which explains why he edited it down from an uproarious parody of itself to a run-of-the-mill '60s generic sci-fi film. The Japanese version of the movie is SO much better. It's a brilliant satire of both commercialism and the very nature of the two biggest screen monsters duking it out in itself. Mr. Tako sends a couple guys to Faro Island to collect these valuable red berries and investigate the legend of a giant monster called King Kong, believing it will bring him great publicity. But when Godzilla emerges from his iceberg prison and returns to the scene in Japan, all of the magazines and other press in Japan are covering him, making Mr. Tako jealous. How hilarious is that? A giant, radioactive, fire-breathing dinosaur monster who has killed tens of thousands of people in the past returns to wreak havoc in Japan, and this producer character is upset about it because he feels that Godzilla is stealing King Kong's publicity! It even has a double meaning to it by representing real-life King Kong fans upset at the prospect of Godzilla becoming a rival contender for movie monster popularity. Of course, once Tako's guys do discover and capture King Kong on Faro Island, all of the Japanese press turns their attention to the big ape, to Tako's great delight. But once Kong escapes and heads toward Godzilla, Tako (like any real-life producer) sees the prospective clash between the two titans as yet another opportunity for publicity. He sees using the potential battle between these two great monsters for sheer commercialism purposes. The very marketing for this movie is parodied in the movie itself! Even more than that, the film plays up the public's perceieved prospect of what "the battle of the century" really portends. Anybody in the general public (either in 1962 or today) who considers the two biggest screen monsters of all time going at it would probably expect the battle to be epic, thunderous, and the stuff of cinematic legend. The makers of King Kong vs. Godzilla took this perceived preconception and flipped it on itself. The first time King Kong and Godzilla ever appear on the same piece of celluloid, the battle is nothing more than a brief squabble, with Godzilla clapping and bobbing his head and Kong scratching his head and blinking his eyes when he's bedazzled by the sight of his opponent's radioactive fire. That's how the first-ever encounter between the King of the Apes and the King of the Monsters takes place, and it's hilarious! Then in the film's third act, when the true "battle of the century" is about to occur, it once again unfolds in the exact opposite manner of how anybody would have thought. Rather than King Kong and Godzilla charging toward each other and then locking themselves in mortal combat to the death, Kong is airlifted into the battlefield by balloons, dropped down the mountainside, slams into a Godzilla who is just casually strolling along, and the two go tumbling down the mountain. The proceeding battle then ensues, quite literally, like a sumo wrestling match, as that's exactly how SFX master Eiji Tsuburaya had it staged. That's it! That's "the battle of the century"! That's the wonder that is King Kong vs. Godzilla! Who in the general public going into this movie would have expected it to play out anything like that? Nobody, and it's brilliantly hilarious for that reason! Between that and the satire of commercialism, this goofy monster mash-up from the '60s is more layered and meaningful than anybody could see on the surface, and it's endlessly fun entertainment to boot. The comical elements of the monsters' battling are mostly preserved in the American version of the film, but I strongly, strongly encourage all of you Loyal Dwellers to seek out the Japanese version of the film by whatever means necessary in order to experience what a dream movie it really is. The only legitimate DVD releases of the Japanese version in the world come from Asia, and none are subtitled in English. I'm not one for movie piracy, but this is a case where getting the true, unaltered version of the movie with English subtitles is only really possible through less-than-legal means. Or you can buy the Japanese Toho R2 DVD release and download subtitles which are available online, then burn your own DVD-R copy of the film with them (something which I am not nearly computer-savvy enough to do, but if you think you can then go for it). The bottom line is this: One way or another, you must all see the Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! |
|
|
|
Post by trashcanman on Mar 16, 2008 10:47:08 GMT 2
The reason I never bought the film was for the reasons you stated above, Mr. Haines. I absolutely HATE what America hasdone to foreign films. It's not an issue anymore, but finding the "real" versions of classic kung fu, kaiju, and other Asian films has been like pulling teeth in the past and it still ain't always easy. I can't help but wonder if the American studios dumbed down these movies because we're really mostly idiots who can't comprehend a decent genre film or if our taste has just become that idiotic because of the drek the studios feed us (see first post of the topic). I'll scour ebay for the Japanese version of KKVG, it sounds like heaven.
|
|
