Kung Fu Hustle

I think the description on the poster above describes this movie perfectly. The movie therefore fits the model that Dr. McRae says is post modern. The movie looks like a ton of movies squished together. I still have a problem with the whole idea of postmodernism. Maybe the idea of using all of these references is to twist the way we think about those references using the context of the story that the references are used in?

The beginning is like most westerns you can see where there is a gang who controls the town and creates a lawless area that controls all the areas that the narrator describes except pig sty alley. Everyone is so poor here that the axe gang has no interest. Everyone in the alley exists like a western town does. Self sustaining without any help from the outside world.

As we progress further into the film we get some very exaggerated styles Kung Fu movies that I believe make fun of the genre in general. Some of the action becomes animated and ridiculous with exaggerated features, the lips. and fight scenes that turn into something from looney toons. I feel that all of this is on purpose to make the point that kung fu movies are so ridiculous that they are basically like cartoons.

The fight scene showed here is at the end of the movie after our main characters chi has been cleared out. He is called "the one" and takes on a bunch of generic thugs wearing black suits. *cough* matrix *cough*. In class we discussed that the choreographer for this movie is also the one that did the Matrix movies. We also get the guy that is more powerful than any of the masters that we had met before in the movie. Someone who is totally incompetent 15min before in the film. Could now defeat him outrightly after he was near death, or maybe even dead for a short period which they do not say in Kung Fu Hustle. This again is another plot point of the first matrix movie.


Another piece of Japanese culture that kept rattling through my brain throughout the movie is Dragon Ball. The animated series follows an alien on Earth named Goku. Goku learns to channel his energy, "chi," and use it in bursts of energy that are ridiculous. The do it with concentration and somewhat silly hand motions that are ridiculous. It has become a mocking point in anime culture.

The other reference is to the Blues brothers. He bring in another ridiculous thing. The blues brothers has little to nothing to do with kung fu but I feel like Stephen Chow makes fun of how important they feel there music is in their movie.

I feel that the pastiche held in the movie Kung Pow is to point to the ridiculousness in the different genre's we see today including Kung Fu!

Mulholland driveway

This was my first David Lynch experience. And I will have to say that I really really like the complexity of what is going on here. I call it Mullholand driveway because I feel that this movie was more of an exploration of the character Diane's head and does not leave there.

Much like Last Year at Marianbad, again this is my interpretation, we see the main character fail at something and then rationalize their failure with either a reenactment of the tragedy in a more favorable way or a list of possible outcomes that are postulated by the loser. In Mulholland dr. Diane is an up incoming actress who is friends with Camilla Rhodes, a very sexual person who ends up becoming involved with the director.


The beginning of the movie we see this very cheesy setting where the two characters meet. And to me this is setting Diane's first meeting with Camilla in her head as in the movies. Ultimately this relationship becomes sexual. Camilla is dressed and was casted to be a very sexual person. She is very dark, and her clothes really accentuate her womanliness, if you know what I mean. Camilla steals Diane's thunder by getting the part over her, it would seem by sleeping with the director. Diane tries to rationalize this by creating a mafia that controls hollywood.

My favorite part of this movie is the scene where we first meet the hitman. He stumbles in his murder attempt and this sets up his character very well. In class we talked about why that scene was necessary, I think it is purely to set up his character and brake up the lunacy of the cheesiness with some typical dark hilarity.

Another thing that we talked about in class was club silencio. This scene basically describes the whole movie. You see and hear things happening but there is no substance to it, it is just a recording there is no emotion or life, it is just a cheap display. I think this plays a lot to what this movie is about. We see at the end the decay of age frightening an actress to a point of suicide in a very dramatic fashion. Ones prettiness defines the lifestyle and success in Hollywood and age destroys that.

Blog on Heathers, "Heather's what?" "...?" "Will it be very?" "...Yes, it will be very very."

If you are confused, yes, I put Christian Slater's face on Ozymandias' body using the face in a hole website. While the image is not going to be the topic of the whole piece, I think it is a good place to start.

The whole discussion on postmodernism we had in class on Thursday really started to make me think, does the term 'postmodern' really refer to the period of time that has been around since the beginning of the cold war, then became an established genre in the 80s? Is it about empty references to point to the lack of meaning, or uselessness of the reference itself? If that is the case then Greeks were extremely post modern. There were so many references to other stories or names thrown in here and there that do not pertain to the story at all, but the author thought it necessary in order to please the audience.

Since the conception of the United States, we, as a culture, have become more blatant with how we portray life and death in media. The book Watchmen was published in 1986/87 and here we see a true post modern piece. A book that takes a situation to a really large extreme, compared with the situation we face in the real world, and the guy who is trying to make the world right is also the bad guy, because he is doing it in a bad way. I think postmodern piece blur the line between bad guy and good guy using extreme situations as a parallel to out own lives in order to make a point about the state of society.



In this movie we see JD mastermind a series 'suicides' in order to get rid of the popular kids who made everyone else's life a living hell. Once he sees that the people doing these things are not really the problem, someone else just fills in the position, like there was a job opening.

The position of mega-bitch is now an archetype, and JD, who is too smart for his own good, realizes this. He uses the new mega-bitch to get everyone to sign a bunch of papers that end up being a suicide note. JD realizes that in order to get rid of the archetype for good. He must make an example of the school, by blowing them up. He is searching for a school where the hierarchy is gone and everyone is friends and can get along. Which for the 1980's i don't think that is an uncommon theme to be against. With the Cold War raging at the time It is easy to see the capitalist/ socialist commentary. JD wants the school to be socialist, and Victoria realizes that that is not a plausible idea and realizes that they just have to work with the system. She takes the position of Mega-Bitch(President) and decides to use her power to make people happier instead of how it was before.

While the reading totally misses the whole message of the movie. I think it makes some really good points about archetypes in the movie. I thought JD's speech patterns were different when watching the film, and the reading pointed out the crazy similarity between his character and Jack Nicholson, which I think is spot on. It adds a level to the craziness of his character as we are reminded of films like the Shining where Jack Nicholson isn't all there. The reading talks about how there is no romance in the movie. There is no romance we just cut to them post doing it. JD is supposed to be the romantic hero, like Ozymandias is supposed to be the brainiac super-hero. Both of these characters archetype is changed as we progress through the films, they become the bad guy, with a good cause.

I think that these blurred lines between good and evil is postmodern. The complexity of these characters is further pushing our intellects to understand the complexity of our own world.

Who is the man who is dark without a tan? SHAFT! That's right baby.

Before viewing the movie Shaft, Dr. McRae told us that Shaft is generally credited with the initiation of the Blaxploitation genre. That there was a culture shot out from the making of this and maybe one other movie that I cannot remember. Shaft is a, get ready for it, 70s black noir film, funny right. Shaft is made out to be a mans man. A fierce force of strength, whether it be mental, physical, or sexual.

While this being an action movie, we actually see and hear Shaft establish himself as a dominant male by bragging about his prowess with the ladies. In the opening scene he is approached by two white cops and when Shaft leaves, one cop asks, "Where you going?" Shaft then replies quite haughtily, "To get laid." Which he does. He gets laid. The interesting part about the sex scene though is that it is not about exploiting naked women to try to get a bigger audience. The scene is about, Like the reading says, the enjoyment of the act, which it seems the women do enjoy. After an extended absence the Lieutenant asks where Shaft was, and Shaft says, "Gettin' laid." It is not, like we said in class, like action films of today, where dominance is shown through acts of violence, Shaft shows his dominance through his suave and sexuality which is a clue to a different time. Shaft demands respect from men in the movie from his smooth talking confident charm, something that is absent from films today, a great example would be the new bond films which star Daniel Craig compared to the old bond films of Sean Connery. Sean Connery would solve his problems through cunning and his manipulation of relationships as the new bond beats the crap out of everyone in a visually stimulating way.

One of the most interesting things that I thought was discussed in the reading as well was the scene with the pen and the coffee cup where we establish that neither character, Shaft or the Lieutenant, is completely black or white. I think this gives an interesting perspective on the rest of the movie as we see the relationship between the two grow. Shaft takes on this role of mediator as we see him interact with the different factions growing in the movie. The black panthers, the drug dealers , the cops, the mafia. Each group is trying to tip the fragile balance that has been created and Shaft, dramatically, comes in and evens the scales and returns the balance with a nice hearty laugh that ends the movie. Like it was child's play. It is also interesting that at the end of the movie he trades his black revolver for a white one. The superior technology that is associated with white is an interesting aspect in the movie. The only real technology that is present in the film, which is juxtaposed to the phone that bumpy uses which looked like it was from the early 1900s.

The movie Black Dynamite was released Oct 2009 as a straight to DVD feature that went through all the independent film festivals and actually won an award for best director. The film is pretty much a direct parody of shaft. Black Dynamite is a CIA agent, Kung Fu master, who makes money as a pimp. An extreme exaggeration of Shaft's occupation. It also makes through the B movie aspect of the film. A boom mic comes into the shot and Black Dynamite looks at the mic and continues the scene. The major conflict you find out is that the white men are trying to shrink black guys penises by putting a formula in the malt liquor. They subsequently die from having a small penis. Shaft climbs the hierarchical ladder until he ends up fighting Ronald Reagan at the end of the movie in the white house. It is extremely exaggerated and I feel it is a great way to analyze Shaft. It exaggerates the thematic points in Shaft in a way that is actually quite enjoyable.

Til next week!

My Technology is Better Than Your Technology :p

Vanishing Point is a term in art that refers to the point in the piece where most lines are drawing your eye too. The movie describes the point on the screen where there is a dodge charger doing 165mph.

The beginning of the movie gives us the false sense that movie will involve magical realism or something to that effect. There is a car chase with a couple of bulldozers and he turns around finds a car grave yard and then Sarafian gives us a still frame in which the car disappears. Weird right?

The white beauty of the movie is actually a suped up 1970 Dodge Charger. The car's technology has been advanced and sets the bar for other technology in the movie. We instantly get this fix of 165mph and how this is the kind of car that breaks records. The journey starts in Colorado and makes its way to California.



The first taste of the p0lice that we get in the movie are the motorcycle cops. There motorcycles cannot even begin to compare to the technology of the Dodge Charger.
As the movie progresses we see more cop cars and their prospective bases. The bases start out as extremely primitive and as the movie progresses the amount of technology increases along with the amount of close calls Kowalski has. The California base has tons of high tech, for the time period, devices and such in their base. The base is also run by mostly women and the occasionally old man. This modern base is supposed to stand out as a modern progressive technological marvel compared to all the other displays of technology that have tried to apprehend Kowalski up to this point.

There is one aspect that defies the technology and that is Super Soul. Super soul who still is a pawn to technology, to be able to communicate with Kowalski, but they also overcome the technology of the one way communication. Super Soul is able to read Kowalski through his 'Super Soul.' This relationship helps Kowalski to avoid the police and remain on the road. free. I couldn't find a picture, but there is a stop sign visible outside of Super Soul's window. A lot of the time we are left with these images of signs that tell people what to do on this long road that is supposed to symbolize freedom. Kowalski ignores these signs, just as much as Super Soul ignores the one outside of his window.


Vanishing point is a great movie for someone looking for speed, technology, and naked women. The next step to this movie would be the 2007 film tansformers. How much cooler would this movie had been if the cars started fighting each other! til next time!

Dr. Strangelove, Or how I learned to stop worrying and love Peter Sellers

The first time I saw this film, it was for American History 1945-present. I have loved it both times. I think Stanley Kubrick is a genius for changing the mood from a war drama to a nightmare comedy. Only by showing how absurd the situations are, after establishing a serious topic, does it become apparent that nuclear policy is in itself ridiculous.

It wasn't until we did the reading for class did I understand all of the sexual imagery in the film. The opening scene with the planes being refueled did not make sense to me until I read the article. The large phallic tube that transports fuel into the receiving party definitely hearkens to some sexual imagery. Also, the only female in the whole film is at the beginning, and she is wearing a bikini. The fact that she is wearing a bikini is also interesting because the bikini islands were made famous by the nuclear tests that were conducted there. These sexual images push the idea that the men in this film are driven by a very masculine sense of excitement.

The men in the B-52 are the only people in the movie that carry out there duties to a 't'. The reading talks about Stanley Kubrick's obsession with technology and how all the men in the plane are experts that will not let any technological disadvantages deter them from there goal. Slim Pickens list of all the things in the emergency kits they all get is famous for its ridiculousness. Condoms, nylon stockings, a half Russian phrase book half bible which is the size of the face of a watch, money, gold, a handgun, etcetera. They say after reading the list that they could have a good time in vegas with all the stuff. If they set off a hydrogen bomb, which is around 30x more powerful than the bombs at hiroshima, it would be hard to do much of anything, being dead. Also Major Kong (Pickens) tells all the troops that they will receive commendations for there dedication to duty in this instance, when the harsh reality is that everyone will die if they complete there mission so there will not be anyone to give them a medal. That last iconic scene where Kong rides the nuke into the base also has the huge amount of symbolism seeing as how the missile resembles a large penis.

Another story line is the events in the war room. We have a bunch of guys looking at a big board with the position of all the planes. Peter Sellers plays the president and is the most sensible person in the movie. Once he tries to implicate his plan however, he becomes an unassertive joke. This symbolizes the other side of the extreme conservatives, and how week they are. The movie is even filmed in black and white to help emphasize the extremes of the situation. You also have the comedic relief of the russian guy and turgeson who end up fighting because he doesn't want the russians to see the big board.



The most ridiculous aspect of the whole movie is Dr. Strangelove. In the reading Strangelove, is compared to three other figures that I am not to familiar with, but I find interesting the combination of scientists. Peter Sellers again does a great job. Accidentally calling the president mine furer was hilarious. His hand that has a black glove on it has a mind of its own, almost like the germans installed it to keep him quiet as he keeps trying to silence himself with it. My favorite part takes place immediately before the bomb drops and he is sitting and becomes extremely excited when the generals were talking about a mine gap between them and the Russians. He stands up and yells "Mine Furer, I can walk!" And then the bomb drops. It is hilarious. This technical mind is distorted by a taste for destruction and his view that the destruction these devices can call is beautiful. The end of the movie goes along with this with the bomb's exploding in an almost beautiful way.

The last story line is the one that follows Colonel Mandrake, Peter Sellers third role in this movie, he is amazing. General Jack Ripper has the stereotypical cigar and is shot from a low angle to make him appear menacing, but going back to to the sexual symbolism, the shot above looks like the camera is in his crotch. Almost like he is looking at things with his stubborn manliness. He talks about all of this conspiracy and radical things that do not make sense and he starts a nuclear war because of it.

Peter Sellers plays three different characters with three different nationalities beautifully in this movie and I couldn't find if he won any awards for his work here, but I think he deserves it. Dr. Strangelove is a great movie chronicling the absurdity of extremist view points when it comes to ideologies and nukes. I would use this as a text to show all of those radical conservatives pointing fingers now and say, "hey look, who do these people remind you of?"

Experiments in Narrative Film (and a baby birth)

Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last post and things have changed since we last talked. Things have gotten a little crazy and Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage have made a permanent imprint on retinas. Stan Brakhage seems to be more about the experimental-ness of the content, not just the technicality. Maya Deren explores the ways to use camera through a surreal setting.

"Meshes in the Afternoon" is an extremely interesting showcase of camera tricks and symbolism. While taken in context the image to the left makes some sense, it is really funny when coming across it on the internet. Personally, I have been getting semi-frustrated with all of the feminist media we are assigned in our classes. This collection however, made that subtext. Being an English major I look for the story.

"Meshes in the Afternoon" is very surreal. The film creates a smattering of different Maya Derens all repeating the same afternoon routine. There is a figure shrouded in black and has a mirror face. Yes, his face is a mirror. There is a lot of symbolism riddled throughout film. The key is cross cut with the knife, implanting the correlation between the two in our minds. So when we see her dead at the end of the film we assume that she killed herself in order to 'unlock' the way to her freedom. Sorry about the obviousness of that, but I feel it is an extremely important aspect of the film.

We find out quite literally that the shrouded figure is her companion. The ominous figure she is trying to escape from is not only her lover, which we see from her laying in the bed when he gets home, but is in fact the routine itself. What is really interesting is how previously we see Maya climbing the stairs. She is displaying the struggle in her subconscious of how she knows what is going on is oppressive and wrong. In her essay she talks about all of the camera tricks she uses in a very technical fashion and I think it is extremely interesting how she uses the camera to alter reality. In a great coordinative effort, Maya falls right and left with the camera as it shakes to the left and right. This gives the effect that the planet itself is being tossed around. As we get closer to the top Maya turns the camera sideways and upside down, she alters what we think is real with in an attempt to show us her knowledge of the camera.

"At Land" is great for considering the essay in which she talks about altering space and time. She starts at the beach which we can associate as the underworld as she only goes up from this point. In the middle world, or midgaurd as the Norse would call it, It is just a bunch of white men sitting at a table talking. Which is her metaphor for what our lives our like up here. She cuts the film stock so that it appears she climbs the tree trunk and immediately appears in this world. She alters space to explore what how film can manipulate reality.

A pawn falls down into the underworld and she goes after it. The pawn which by definition is meaningless and one of many, becomes men who interchange every time they are put in the shot. We also get this awkward situation where a woman in white and a woman in black are playing chess in the underworld, only two are doing it and that it feels like that is the only way they can get away with it. They do not seem to care taht they are playing chess which could mean that they are doing it and going through the motions just to spite men.

All in all I believe most of this collection is a feminist backdrop to great film tricks. I would talk about Brakhage, but I'm afraid to be fined by the FAA.