This week Mitch and Chris are joined by none other than M.C. Wilson himself as they discuss the 1950 Akira Kurisawa film Rashomon. Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, it is also a fantastic exercise in storytelling, and not one to miss.
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This week Mitch and Chris dip into the festival’s first bit of New Hollywood: the 1973 Peter Bogdonavich con-man film Paper Moon. The film, set in Great Depression-era Kansas, follows confidence man Moses Pray (played by Ryan O’Neal) as he takes the newly-orphaned Addie (played by O’Neal’s real-life daughter Tatum) to live with some of her distant relatives, forming a reluctant bond along the way.
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This week I’m joined by stand-up comedian and stand-up guy Kyle Ayers as we discuss the 2005 documentary The Comedians of Comedy, the 2004 tour featuring Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford and Zach Galifianakis. The film itself is more than a tour documentary, however, and begins to delve deeper into the form and processes of the modern alternative comedy scene.
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This week brings the first episode of the Film Festival Podcast. I’m joined by the indomitable Chris Olsen as we discuss the 2006 French thriller Tell No One. Be sure to discuss the film in the comments section below, but if you haven’t watched the film yet, be aware that both the podcast and the comments section contain spoilers.
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We’re kicking off this year’s film festival with a bang with the 2006 French thriller Tell No One. It’s a fitting choice; The reason this film festival was started was to provide smart, entertaining films that counteract the dregs of mindless summer blockbusters. Every year, when I am inevitably let down by the studio tentpole releases, I am chided by friends, who ask me why I can’t just “enjoy the dumb fun.” The reason, in short, is because of films like Tell No One, which provide the same edge-of-your-seat thrills, but do so with an engaging story, well-rounded characters and top-notch filmmaking. It has enough depth for impassioned discussion, but is accessible enough that almost anyone can enjoy it. Despite winning several Cesar awards, making numerous critic’s top-ten lists and holding a 93% rating at Rottentomatoes.com, (100% with top critics) it was tragically overlooked by American audiences.
You can expect the first episode of the film fest podcast to go up this Friday, along with the discussion thread for this week. As is the case with every entry in this year’s film festival, Tell No One is available on Netflix Watch Instantly. To add it to your queue, click the button below.
Wake up and smell the sunscreen, folks. It’s summer once again, and you know what that means; It’s time once again for the Robot Panic Summer Film Festival. That’s right, all those months of trudging through snow and slaving over essays have finally paid off, and it’s time to kick back and enjoy some great film.
For those of you unfamiliar with the film festival, it was started three years ago as a means to collectively expand our film knowledge while counteracting the worst of the mindless summer action film. But before you say “Why would i do that? Movies are supposed to be FUN!” know that the goal of the festival isn’t to intimidate you or force you to trudge through hours of David Lynch pictures and hours-long Werner Herzog epics (as much as I may love them).
The name of the game has always been accessibility, and in curating the list of films this year, I’ve taken that into account more than ever. This year’s line-up is comprised of 12 great, thoughtful and discussion-provoking films that even the most budding film-lover can enjoy. The list includes French New-Wave films, modern classics, horror films, comedies, some over-looked, and some widely regarded among the best of all time. There’s something here for everyone, and this promises to be the most exciting year yet.
Another Hanna Barbera alumni of the USA Cartoon Express, Space Ghost was a bit different than the rest of the lineup. Rather than a lighthearted comedy, this ‘toon featured the strange adventures of an intergalactic superhero. Space Ghost flew around the galaxy in the Phantom Cruiser with the help of his sidekicks Jan, Jace, and Blip. Facing challenges from baddies like Zorak, Moltar, and the evil doppelganger Space Specter, Space Ghost episodes often included crossovers with other cartoons like The Herculoids and the Teen Force.
The main appeal of Space Ghost these days comes not from the quality of the show, but from how over-the-top cheesy it was. The plots always involved some sort of diabolical scheme that must be thwarted by Space Ghost, who was voiced in a stilted, ham-fisted baritone.
In recent years, Space Ghost saw something of a comeback on the Cartoon Network in Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a parody of late night talk shows that featured real-life guests like Thom Yorke, Mark Hamill, and comedy duo Penn & Teller.
The original show is great for goofy laughs, but little else, but Coast to Coast is often hilarious; as long as you’re into that Adult Swim humor. Both series can be found at Amazon by using the links below.
DuckTales was practically the perfect cartoon. It took well-known, beloved characters and placed them into a world that was oftentimes as thrilling as an Indiana Jones adventure. The dialog was smart, the villains were diabolical, and the tales were almost always entertaining from start to finish.
When their Uncle Donald goes off to join the marines, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are stuck living with their cranky old Uncle Scrooge in his lavish mansion. Instead of being thrilled to live among the rich and famous, the three ducklings are stuck in an attic room, watched over by an uppity butler. Slowly, over the first few episodes, Scrooge and his nephews grow fond of eachother and eventually they’re constant companions, off traveling the world and constantly saving Scrooge’s fortune from nefarious evildoers.
As solid as the main characters are, the supporting cast is great as well. Each week, Scrooge McDuck and his nephews are joined by Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge’s bumbling pilot, Gyro Gearloose, the wacky inventor, the nanny Mrs. Beakley and her grandaughter Webigail, along with a recurring cast of baddies. Magica De Spell, the Beagle Boys, and Flintheart Glomgold are the ones that appear most often.
I’m happy to report that DuckTales holds up beautifully these days and is still a near-perfect cartoon for any little adventurers-in-training you may have clomping around your house. In fact, DuckTales is the first television show that really hooked my son. Before he could speak, he would say “WooHoo!” (like in the theme song) to indicate that he wanted to watch DuckTales. And to this day, we still break out the DVD sets. Speaking of which, you can find them here:
True confession time: I only saw this a few times back when I was a kid. I stumbled upon it recently because at the age of two, my kid’s already a massive Ghostbusters fanatic and he and I spotted a DVD containing The Real Ghostbusters one day when we were out shopping for cartoons.
Yes, that is a perfectly legitimate father/son activity.
Anyway, the moment he saw it on the shelf, I knew I wasn’t going to get out of the store alive without that DVD in hand.
The Real Ghostbusters is so named because of another Ghostbusters cartoon by Filmation, which was based on a completely different property but presumably put into production to cash in on the success of the movie. In order to avoid confusion, this one was named “The Real Ghostbusters.” Clever, eh?
The main characters from the movies are here, including Ray, Egon, Peter, Winston, and their secretary Janine. But because every cartoon needs a lovable mascot, DiC (the producers) added Slimer as the trouble-making comic relief and foil to Peter Venkman. Plots here are fairly standard 80s cartoon stuff: ghosts and/or other nefarious figures plot to take over the city and/or Slimer gets the gang into some sort of trouble and the Ghostbusters heroically save the day.
The cartoon stands up pretty well today, especially if you’re a Ghostbusters fan to begin with. But the behind-the-scenes stuff is also of interest. Many episodes were written by noted writer J. Michael Straczynski, and at certain points the voice cast included Dave Coulier and Arsenio Hall. In fact, Arsenio Hall was awarded the role of Winston after Ernie Hudson auditioned for it! Crazy…
It’s time to put my revisiting of my favorite movie monster to bed (it was a helpful part of my Godzilla twelve-step program) with a review of the final, and most bad ass Godzilla movie of all time! Godzilla Final Wars is the final film of the Millennium series and the 28th film in the entire Godzilla franchise. Despite its title, this is not the last Godzilla movie, but rather a time for Toho to “temporarily retire” the character for a period of time. The latest Godzilla gossip has his probably return in 2013 or 14 for the 50th anniversary of the king of monsters.
Before we look at this film, I need to spend some time talking about the Millennium series of Godzilla films. Unlike the Heisei-era of films, the storyline in these movies do not extend beyond the picture itself. Many times we even see a reinventing of the Godzilla lore in order to tell the story. The only exception is the Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla III and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. where the stories do actually tie together. I chose to skip these two movies because Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla III is not available for streaming, and it’s even more Power Rangers than MechaGodzilla II. (Personally I kinda dig the Power Rangers, but don’t tell DJI…) If you are going to check out any other Millennium series movies, be sure to rent Godzilla 2000. Here we see Godzilla’s new look, and the new look and feel of the series as a whole. Toho released this film right after Sony’s lame version of Godzilla here in the U.S. Here we are reminded of what a true Godzilla movie should be like. You can still tell it’s a guy in a suit, but its so much more polished that it’s easier to suspend your disbelief. The only things that is really lacking in the film is the truly awful English dub.
Godzilla: Final Wars was released as part of the 50th anniversary of the Godzilla franchise. Many of the actors and monsters from the previous films made appearances as major characters or cameos in the film. Some of the monsters had not been seen on the silver screen in more than thirty years! Another awesome cameo in the film is the space combat vehicle Gotengo. The Gotengo (or the Atragon) is a submarine battleship that has appeared in several Toho Studio films starting with the movie Atragon in 1963. The ship is heavily armored and has a giant drill on the bow of the ship. If you have ever been up late and caught a Japanese sci-fi film from the 1960s or 70s, you’ve probably seen this ship. Seeing the Gotengo in the film sent my geek hairs on edge. Truly epic. (more…)
Personally I always preferred the Mario Super Show voice to Charles...