http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:10:13 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/19/151013.php James A. Wolf One of the nicest things about living in a major metropolitan area are the cultural opportunities that one can just not get in the hinterlands, or even smaller cities: museums, concerts, theater and movies. It is a real pleasure to be able to eschew the lowest common denominator, intelligence insulting, would-be blockbusters soulless mall multiplex to catch interesting flicks at the art house. So, Sunday night I went to the 'The Coolidge Corner Theater' to see a presentation of several of the Oscar nominated shorts subjects. The Academy has three categories for short subjects; animated, live action and documentaries. The program included all the animated shorts, and three of the five live action nominees. The last item was the sole documentary, 'Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks' These features are given short shrift by the Academy and ABC. It seems as though they do everything to distract the viewers from seeing the millisecond of clips they show. I know the camera dollies are cool, but do we really need to zoom around as these artists' hard work is playing for a brief moment on the screen. I know the audience is not paying attention. Or maybe they're only interested in the odd choices of announcers for these segments. But, still, these guys deserve respect. Frankly, the pre-Oscar hour would be better dedicated to these flicks, rather than Babwa Wawwa's inane celebrity suck-ups. Anyhow, here are my reviews: Animated Shorts. Some years I have been known to care more about this field than Best Picture. Past winners in this category have included giants like Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Nick Park and Walt Disney. The past few years CGI has taken over the field. Three of the five entries are computer generated. Interestingly two of the entries are from major studios and are available on DVD. Katedra (The Cathedral): Directed by Tomek Baginski. Poland. A wanderer in a wasteland on an alien planet enters a bizarre cathedral like structure, reminiscent of the Mines of Moria designed by H.R. Giger. Based on a story by Jacek Dukaj. The computer animation was gorgeous, but, the story was predictable. I am not sure what statement they were trying to make, but the flick did not, ultimately, have much of an impact. The Chubbchubbs!: Directed by Eric Armstrong. USA. A hapless extraterrestrial janitor at the 'Ale E Inn' (groan) has to shelve his dreams of singing stardom because THE CHUBBCHUBBS ARE COMING! . I have always had a dictum that even a dumb, corny gag, when well delivered is hilarious. This short is proof. It is chock full of goofy SF related sight gags. The computer animation is not as polished as Pixar products, but it's still pretty good Available on the Men in Black II DVD.Das Rad (The Wheel): Directed by Chris Stenner, Avrid Uibel and Heidi Wittlinger. Germany. Two rocks watch mankind's progress from their extended perspective. The workmanship was stunning, especially because the animation was stop motion and not computer generated. It was fairly clever and nice change of pace from CGI. But the message was fairly predictable. Mike's New Car: Directed by Peter Docter and Roger Gould. The gruesome twosome from Monsters, Inc. are back as Mike shows off his new car to his friend. Probably the odds on favorite to win the Oscar, but is is not as good either technically, or storywise, as 'For the Birds which earned the Oscar for Pixar last year. Both shorts are available on the Monsters, Inc. DVD. Mt. Head. Directed by Koji Yamamura. Japan. The only traditional cell animated movie of the group, this bizarre flick is definitely not what we would associate with anime. It tells the story of a stingy man who, after eating cherry stones, finds a tree growing from his head. The story veers rapidly from the grubby to the utterly surrealistic. The movie obviously parodies traditional Japanese storytelling, making me regret not being able to get all the jokes. Because of its foreignness, Mt. Head is the darkest for horses in a contest adjudicated by the middlebrows of LA-LA land. Live Action. Only three of the five were screened- all from Europe and two from the Axis of Weasel. Interestingly, both of the 'weasel land' films were less than 12 minutes, combined. Both were essentially single punchline tales that drew comedy from miscommunication. J'attendrai le Suivant... (I'll Wait for the Next One): Directed by Philippe Orreindy. France. A young man stands up on a crowded Metro car and announces to a seemingly indifferent world that he is looking for love. A pleasant piece of fluff, this light comedy, while laugh inducing, is utterly forgettable. Der er en Yndig Mand (This Charming Man): Directed by Martin Strange-Hansen. Denmark. Another romantic comedy, but with slightly deeper meditations on identity and ethnicity. Lars Hansen, an unemployed bookkeeper has discovered that Ida, a girl he used to tease back in school, is teaching Danish to immigrants. Unfortunately his ID number has been confused with a Pakistani immigrant named El Hassan. Thoughtful hilarity ensues. My money is on this one of the three I watched. The Academy voted for The Accountant last year, which indicates to me that they like the slightly longer , more complex stories. While the plot device of assumed identity is older than Shakespeare, it still felt fresh and witty in this flick. Fait d`Hiver (Fact of Winter AKA Gridlock): Directed by Dirk Beliën. Belgium. A professional, trapped in traffic during a snowstorm tries his new cellphone to call home. This stripped down, darkly comic flick takes an old gag and runs with it effectively and brutally. The last entry was the sole documentary of the evening, Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks, which told the story of the seamstress and activist who helped spark the turning point of the civil rights movement. This retelling used re-enactments, archival footage and narrators (including grandchildren of the participants). Mighty Times has its moments, but the too-clever-by-half style unsubtle style overwhelms and bludgeons its strong subject matter. A sparse, unflashy documentary is more effective. The audience should be regarded as intelligent enough to draw its own conclusions. Reportedly, Mighty Times will be shown on HBO. For all its flaws, it is still worth checking out. Video3929@blogcritics.org Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:10:13 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/01/09/211138.php James A. WolfIn Kaiju Big Battel danger can happen. For the vast majority of sane readers the opening sentence to this article makes almost no sense. Worse yet, the syntax is wrong. But it is the perfect summary of Kaiju Big Battel, a rambunctious combination of pop culture parodies that lampoons a broad range of subjects and provides a delightful spectacle. What is Kaiju Big Battel? Kaiju is the term for the Japanese giant monster movies, like Godzilla, Rodan, and Gamera. Now I am sure you've wasted many brain cells watching these cinematic classics created by men wearing huge foam rubber suits waddling through miniature cardboard cities. Now imagine combining it with Smackdown. Oh yeah. Kaiju Big Battel is the creation of Boston area art students who have made a hilariously compelling, cartoonish extravaganza that skewers both American and Japanese culture simultaneously. The website and literature is filled with 'Engrish' and the running storylines and many of the characters are parodies of pro wrestling. During the bouts, most of the characters are introduced with Japanese language videos. And the major villain has his minions hand out literature that mimics religious pamphlets. The combat occurs in a steel cage among cardboard buildings. Sometimes helium balloons are placed inside the buildings, flitting upwards when the buildings are flattened in the brawl. The combat is reasonably athletic, with flips, throws and the less cumbersome monsters leaping from the top of the steel cage. Sometimes the action even goes out of the ring The immediate area around the cage is the 'danger zone.' Spectators there can expect to be sprayed with toxic waste or battle debris. The last fight I attended one of the danger zone spectators (a petite and very attractive lady) was taken hostage by one of the bad guys. The cast of characters are far more colorful than any the WWF can create. The ringside announcer is the aptly named Louden Noxious. The main villain is Doctor Cube, who wears a white cubic helmet with a frowning visage that resembles an embittered smiley face. He creates grotesque minions (who, like the sinister Doctor, wear surgical scrubs) and has a menagerie of monsters who do battle with the various heroes, rouges and oddballs of the league. The actors do not break character. At one point later in the evening, I leaned over to look at a discarded prop- a toxic waste barrel used by one of the monsters. The referee (himself a major character) yelled out, "Don't touch it. It's toxic waste." Before the show Cube's spastic minions staggered through the audience handing out his literature. Their latest battle was at the BCA Cyclorama New Years Eve. When I arrived with my friends at 9, there was a fair sized crowd milling about. The last KBB event I attended (the 'Roxy Ruckus') had, according to local media. over 1,000 crammed in. This event seemed much smaller and I would be surprised if there were over 500. Before I describe the battle I want to briefly digress to voice a complaint. The schedule read complimentary beverages from 9-10. So we waited in line for your booze. The organizers handed out tickets to be exchanged for the alcohol. (If you wanted more than you had tickets, you could pay cash.) As you can well imagine people swarmed the bar and customers up front ordered multiple drinks. Naturally the time ran out long before many people who had been waiting patiently in line could be served. They should have honored tickets for those who had been waiting in line, or enforced a limit on drinks per person. That was poorly planned. So much for the complaint. On to the spectacle. Two monster enter. One monster leave. The fighting kicked off 2003 at the stroke of midnight. Literally. Kung Fu Chicken Noodle attacked RoBox the split second after the ball dropped in Times Square. Kung Fu Chicken Noodle is an acerbic and anthropomorphic soup can. He resembles nothing so much as a seriously deranged soup company mascot. RoBox is a large square box with an oversized lens and tubular arms. These two had met earlier in New York, where RoBox avenged the death of Club Sandwich (a bat wielding deli meal). But this time Kung Fu Chicken Noodle took out his mechanical foe. Next came the 'Santa's Secret Exchange.' When the stage crew put in new 'buildings' they also added stockings holding battle axes and other weapons. The next two combatants were Unibouzu, a orange and green man-sea urchin combination from the deep and Sky Deviler, a blue horned beast with a perfectly circular fang ringed mouth. Apparently, both monsters here deliberately omitted from Santa's list. But Sky Deviler was still in the holiday mood, wearing a Santa hat in the ring. The monsters began the festivities by handing each other gifts. I am not sure what Unibouzu gave, but Sky Deviler gave a brick. And he delivered it right on Unibouzu's face. It was not long before the two were delivering slices with the axes. Unibouzu repaid the subterfuge when another monster, whose name I did not catch, handed the sea beast an atom bomb, which he used to pummel his opponent. The next battle continued the holiday motif as that three of the four contestants in the tag team were seriously inebriated. The good guys, Los Platinos, twin Latin American fruit who wear camouflage trousers had clearly overindulged. Before their match they brought up some audience members to break open a pinata. Then on came the bag guys - two of Doctor Cube's worst. First was the equally inebriated Hell Monkey, a satanic scarlet simian cyclops. Accompanying him was Super Dimensional Slug 1, a remote controlled gastropod of stunning ineffectiveness. Here is where things took and extreme turn for the silly. The star-spangled pugilist American Beetle was supposed to give a 'state of the kaiju' address. As the crew set up new buildings, including a tower that looks like a podium flanked by poinsettias and a gingerbread house, I managed to move to the front row near the entrance which seemed to be the best view. It was. In waddled Gomi-Man! Gomi is Japanese for garbage. Indeed, this minion of Cube was a walking mound of refuse and carried a toxic waste barrel. Over his shoulder he toted a large garbage bag. As he walked through the corridor, up the ramp and into the cage, he sprayed the audience with 'toxic waste.' A phony news segment shown on the big screens showed the monster attacking people with the barrel. Before getting into the cage, he hurled disposable diapers into the booing audience. Close by the trashy fiend was his sinister master Cube. The monster ambushed the unprepared Beetle, who was recovering from a previous trashing (pun intended) by Gomi. The audience simultaneously cheered and hurled abuse at Cube. One guy (not saying who...) hit the arch-fiend on the helmet with one of the diapers. The rest of the battle one of the pit crew hurled detritus and abuse at Cube throughout the battle. Gomi-Man however had to deal with a new hero as Slo-Feng (a combination of Marvel's Thor and a linebacker) came in. And he was followed by a furious Gingerbread man intent on making Gomi-Man pay for smashing the confectionery structure. Thankfully good triumphed as the trash monster was (*ahem*) taken out! The last match featured the current champion Silver Potato taking on Doctor Cube's evil posse one at a time. As his name suggests, Silver Potato is a foil wrapped spud who can bust a move. Did I actually write that sentence? After haranguing the audience, Cube presented a large gift wrapped present for the super tuber. But inside the box was Hell Monkey, who was swiftly dispatched. SDS-1 was also taken down. But the two super-minions (one with cinderblock fists and the other with a tree limb arm) proved much harder. However Silver Potato came from behind and defeated both wretches and even cube himself, knocking off his eponymous helmet. At the end of the battle, alll the cast, heros, villians, deep sea monsters, aliens and combative foodstuffs entered the ring and generaly danced and capered to the blaring house music. A wonderful time was had by all. If You Go... Generally the performances last about two hours. Usually, there is no seating, but that varies with the arena. Photography is allowed and I recommend you bring a camera. There is a souvenir stand, but they seem only to take cash. Oh and if you plan to stand in the danger zone, wear old clothes. Kaiju Big Battel is not very intellectual, however it is a delightfully absurd. If you have a chance to see it, go. It is something to be experienced for the benefit of your inner geek. Remember, while danger can happen, fun will happen! For more information and general weirdness, check out their website, http://www.kaiju.com. Culture2571@blogcritics.org Thu, 9 Jan 2003 21:11:38 EST