Rising from the Grave...

 Well, I rediscovered that I had started this blog ages ago, so... why not continue?

I will not make excuses for my absence, since no one read this anyway. In the future? Who knows.

I have discovered, over the last month or so, that film critic Joe Bob Briggs is still active. Joe Bob is the persona of one John Bloom, and back in the 80s, his syndicated film review column was a must read for me in the papers. In the 90s and early 2000s, he was the host of TNT's MonsterVision, and brought his unique perspective to television film hosting. And now? Now he hosts 'The Last Drive-In' on Shudder TV.

Watching those is probably what brought me back to this... see, he looks at films the way I do. Or maybe I learned how to view films like him. I'm not sure of the chain of causality there. Not every film is a classic.... but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them. Not every film has a budget, or good acting, or coherent storytelling... but they are still fun. 

Some of these movies are downright BAD, in fact. But they can still be interesting.

That being said, not all of them are. 

So, I thought I'd talk a bit about some movies in this blog.

This week's viewing has been eclectic at best: Army of the Dead (2021), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Atragon (1963) and King Kong Escapes (1967).

So, capsule reviews:

Army of the Dead - Zach Snyder does zombies. Its largely what you would expect... lots of flash, lots of gore, some humor, some action, and some rather different zombies, which is refreshing. Most of the cast, lead by Dave Bautista, is solid, and even fun. I actually wanted to see more of the fatalistic helicopter pilot played by Tig Notaro, but my understanding is that she was mostly digitally inserted AFTER primary filming was complete, after the the original actor in the role was removed after charges of sexual misconduct. Consequences, people. Glad to see them really. What didn't I like about it? Zach Snyder put in a bunch of loose ends that are obvious lead ins for other movies. There is a heavy handed scene which implies TIME TRAVEL of all things. Its not to say that couldn't work, but it does rather come out of left field. Not a bad film, but not earth shaking either.

Cannibal Holocaust - considered one of the most shocking and controversial films of all time, even for horror films. It is definitely one of those movies that makes you feel dirty just by watching it. Its an unpleasant thing, and it was hard to watch... Its not a reaction I have to many films. I've only felt that way after, say, seeing Bloodsucking Freaks, or maybe one or two other movies. This is a movie that is the first of the 'found footage' genre made popular in later years by The Blair Witch Project. It details the recovery of film made by 4 young independent film makers who went to visit some cannibal tribes in the Amazon jungle. Its not much of a spoiler to say that they come to a bad end, and its all put on film to watch. I couldn't help but think, as the film went on, that these 'filmmakers' in the movie really deserved everything that happened to them, and I actually started to feel like the makers of the ACTUAL movie deserved some of the problems that THEY got after the release of Cannibal Holocaust as well. There is some seriously sick stuff in this film... from rape scenes to brutal violence, to the ACTUAL slaughter and butchering of live animals, this film really is just too much. I would never recommend it. And I recommend that most people avoid it. I watched it so YOU don't have to. This is not an enjoyable film... this is an endurance test.

Atragon - This a weird film, but not without its fun moments. Toho Studios was just starting to roll into their 60s Kaiju boom at this point. There IS a Kaiju in this film, and its impressive... but it also is all too brief in its appearance. Manda is the name of the Chinese Dragon styled monster that is worshiped by the undersea denizens of Mu, and they unleash it against the heroes spectacular multipurpose battleship, the Atragon (or Gotengo in the Japanese dub) during the climax of the film. Manda lasts about 5 minutes. However, if you DON'T view it as a Kaiju film, its a fun little science fiction piece with elements of espionage rolled in, and a more heavy handed call to put war and nationalism behind you as a way to move forward. The Japanese Nationalism displayed in the film would have been a more current concern when the film was first released, with the memories of World War II still fresh in the minds of the Japanese public. Several main characters embody the different points of view; Makoto Jinguji is the youthful heroine, who has largely grown up post-war, and doesn't like the cost of war on the people... Kasumi is a former Rear Admiral of the Imperial Navy, who lived through the war and surrender, and has grown to understand the limitations of war and the need for peace and a unified world... and finally Captain Hachiro Jinguji, father of Makoto, who sacrificed his family in order to NOT surrender his command at the end of the war, and who has been in hiding for 20 years developing a weapon to 'restore the honor and power' of Imperial Japan, and who refuses to aid against a global threat because he is so singularly focused on Japanese supremacy. These three figures play off each other nicely, and creating a lot of drama and tension, and make for a nice dynamic story. Modern audiences may find it slow, western audiences may find it strange territory (as its nationalism is distinctly NON-American in character and thus, not what an American audience or one used to American cinema would be used to), and Kaiju fans may find the battle with Manda somewhat of a disappointment, but its still a pretty solid film. This is a Japanese Science Fiction classic... and it tends to show up now and again. In 1995 it was remade as an anime called Super Atragon, which fleshes out some details and makes Mu a far more global threat, and has some nifty battle scenes. In 2004, in Godzilla: Final Wars, we get a rematch between the Gotengo and Manda, and we get to see the next journey of this impressive battleship (which is not only a ship, but but a submarine, a flying machine, and a burrowing machine. Its a fun premise, and personally, I'd like to see more done with it. I have a suspicion that Atragon would inspire the later ships seen in things like Space Battleship Yamato, Starblazers, and even the Harlock series.

King Kong Escapes - For sheer nonsense fun, this is a film that is ideally suited to entertain. Toho brings out King Kong, and MechaniKong to slug it out in Tokyo, and with the evil machinations of Doctor Hu, what more could you want? This is such a weird film, its impossible not to like it. Our heroes are the Captain, First Officer, and Nurse of an advanced submarine who stumble onto to Kong relaxing on his island. Kong takes a liking to the nurse (because, Kong apparently always needs a pretty girl to carry around) and they discover they can control him a bit by.... asking nicely. Who knew? We are told there is a native population on the island, but the only one we ever see is the crazy old man who shows up and shouts at them in a foreign language.(As a side note, this leads to a really bizarre exchange, when Akira Takarada's character of Jiro asks Rhodes Reason's Commander Nelson if he understands what is said... and the American Nelson informs him that yes he can, as its a Japanese Dialect... wouldn't the Japanese guy have been a better person to explain that to the white guy? Or why not make it some other language than Japanese so he's not white-splaining the language to the native speaker?) Meanwhile, Doctor Hu, a mad scientist in a black and silver cloak, is working for some unnamed Asian country trying to get hold of the massively powerful radioactive Element X... and has built a giant robot version of Kong to do the mining, because... apparently its just COOL to have a giant robot monkey rather than a digging machine. Dr. Hu is voiced, in the American dubbed version, but the late great Paul Frees, who gives him a softer edged Russian accent for some reason, making Dr Hu sound like Boris Badanov's cousin. Rounding out the cast of characters is the mysterious emissary of the country Hu is working for, an attractive lady who apparently switches sides in every scene she's in, sometimes working for Hu, sometimes for the Heroes, and sometimes against everyone. At the climax of the film, Kong and his mechanical counterpart climb Tokyo Tower, and fight over American Nurse Susan Watson, and create all manner of mayhem. Its a tremendously fun ride, but not one you want to think about too deeply.