Episode 37 -- Ong Bak 2

Starring: Tony Jaa

Set in the regal times of King Naresuan, Tien (Tony Jaa) is a man who was born into nobility but had it stripped from him after his parents were brutally murdered. During his childhood Tien learned Khon, a form of dance which is usually reserved for royalty. Although he didn't know it yet, Khon would later prove to be an invaluable aide to him. After seeing his parents murdered at the tender age of 10, Tien is forced to live on the streets where he is eventually captured by a group of thieves who take him in and teach him how to steal and fight.

Tien's expertise as a thief and fighter grows and it isn't long before he is made head thief. Then Tien sees something that makes his stomach churn. A competition is being held to find the best knights to serve under the very man who had killed Tien's parents all those years ago. Tien passes the tests easily and is made Lord Rachasana's 2nd Knight. Now, he has his opportunity to strike but he will have to use all his skill and ingenuity if he is going to get his revenge on the man who killed his parents.

Episode 36 Flame & Citron

Synopsis-- Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelsen star, respectively, as Flame and Citron. As two members of the anti-Nazi Danish resistance during the Second World War, their activities predominantly consist of hunting down and rubbing out Denmark's most prominent Nazi collaborators, and thus furthering the way for the Allied cause. Although Madsen opts for conventional subject matter here, and even a traditional perspective given his film's anti-Nazi stance, his deglamorized presentation retains a certain uniqueness, with the two main characters presented not as conventional heroes, but thoroughly desperate characters from the dregs of society with nothing left to lose except for their own lives.

*We will do a comparison with Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds*

Godzilla: More than a Monster

We just finished our Kaiju Eiga month on Let's Talk Movies and it's got me thinking about what is the allure of the Godzilla franchise? Twenty-eight films so far and rumors are swirling that a Godzilla movie will be coming out around the time of the 60th anniversary. Godzilla represents our inner desire for destruction and to break free of the constraints of an industrialized world. Remember when the Independence Day movie trailer was shown and people clapped when the White House was blown up? Or the scene in Cloverfield where the Statue of Liberty's head rolls down the street? Godzilla is the ultimate bad ass! He is unstoppable and like a hurricane he blows in, destroys, and the world is left to rebuild till he comes again. In some ways Godzilla is representative of our rebellious streak. He is able to get away with what we could only dream of. If you shoot at him or get in his way he will shoot his atomic ray at you.

Godzilla has evolved to mean so many things to different people over time. The orginal movie Gojira from 1954 featured Godzilla as a representation of the atomic bomb. We create monsters and they will soon come back and destroy us. In the earlier films he is a villian, something that needs to be stopped. Inevitably he has managed to be resurrected over and over. The 60's and 70's movie portrayed him in a more comical and humane way. He became a father to Minilla--providing lessons on how to be a good monster. I was particularly struck by the films of the 90's. The films moved away from the atomic bomb to the effects of pollution. Leading to monsters like smog monster and biollante. There are deeper emotions in that the humans are conflicted on how to handle Godzilla. Should he be destroyed using whatever weapons necessary? Is he a creature who deserves to live and breath like any other animal? The films don't answer these questions, but allow each individual viewer to come to their own conclusion.

The films we talked about for the month of February are modern day representations of Kaiju eiga and owe their influences to Godzilla. Like Godzilla, The Host's monster is a mutation. He is a result of formalydehyde being tossed down the drain and ending up in the river. While the creature does not destroy buildings he does take away human life. The Bunraki (the bad dragon)of Dragon Wars calls upon his army to destroy Los Angeles as he hunts for the girl whose soul he needs to capture. Buildings are scraped, cars overturn, and helicopters are damaged along the way. While the monster of Cloverfield does not have an origin story he's just as destructive.

Godzilla stands apart from these other monsters, because he is not a one dimensional destroying machine. His emotions range from being angry, happy, mournful and comical. He also has a sense of consciousness. He knows when people are trying to help him. For example in Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla the recognition that passes between him and the psychic girl. She removes the device that allowed her to control him telepathically. He turns they make eye contact, we do not need words to know there is some appreciation there. He knows who the bad guys are. Remember the businessman who kept trying to shoot/bomb the hell out of Godzilla in the 2000 movie? Perhaps that is why I have a hard time rooting against him--he's more than a monster. Long live the King of all Monsters!

Episode 35 -- Oscar Nominations

Recording live right after the Oscar telecast on March 7. Tanya and Aaron discuss their reactions to the 82nd Oscar telecast. What wins were surprises? What were the funniest speeches? What were the most heartfelt ones? Whose speech put us to sleep?