Village Church of Gurnee recently approached me to make a shot-for-shot remake of The Mod Squad television show intro for their Vacation Bible School program. My first question: what’s The Mod Squad?
A quick YouTube search brought me this:
New Look, New Video
YouTube just launched it’s new look, and I jumped right on board. I’m not particularly fond of the sparseness and diagonal flow of the new layout, but it just makes sense for a viewer base that’s becoming less and less tied down to traditional desktop and laptop computers. I don’t own a tablet, but I’m sure the new design works really well in touch-based browsing.
In other news, I’m over my post-Christmas slump and back into full-tilt production on videos for Probably Okay. Here’s one of our newer entries, based on a famed Marvel comic hero. (Note: the military jet in the first shot was just a stroke of good luck.)
Kaiju Review: Gamera The Giant Monster
Gamera The Giant Monster
1965. Directed by Noriaki Yuasa
Gamera The Giant Monster is not a good monster film. It’s not a good film period. I’d previously seen the much mangled american re-cut, Gamera The Invincible, and I’d imagined that the original would be better. Not so much.
Shooting with the Starmite
Last Fall I purchased this sprightly little plastic camera from an antique store. Even though I knew its flash bulb would be basically impossible to replace, I liked the camera’s weird name and vintage design, and I thought it would be fun to shoot some 120 film with.
At home I quickly realized the camera was defunct, made for an extinct film format called 127. I tried to jam a roll of 35mm film into the back, but there just wasn’t enough room. The only hope was a pitch black room and a whole lot of electric tape.
J. J. Abrams: Super 8, Star Trek, and Star Wars
It’s official. J. J. Abrams is helming Star Wars Episode VII, and I am officially relieved.
Another Probably Okay Christmas
My comedy channel on Youtube has always seemed to focus on holiday themed videos. Maybe it’s because they’re so fun to make. Or maybe it’s just my way of getting into the holiday spirit. Whatever the reason, I make quite a few of them, and this Christmas was no exception. The goal was 25 Christmas themed videos. We didn’t quite make it, coming out with only ten, but it was still a whole lot of fun. Here are some of my favorites.
Kaiju Review: Gamera The Brave
Gamera was originally created as a rip-off of Godzilla by Toho’s rival Daiei, but over time the giant space turtle morphed from rampaging monster to benevolent defender of humanity and friend of children. The classic series lasted seven films, and was rebooted for three more in the 90s. Gamera the Brave is a second reboot, casting Gamera as a tiny baby turtle that hatches from an egg left by its predecessor and quickly becomes very, very big. Toru, a boy whose mother has recently died and who is struggling to connect with his father and friends, discovers this egg and raises Gamera Mark II as “Toto,” a delightful flying pet turtle that has a few surprises up it’s shell.
The Hobbit: Adaptation and Image
Adaptation
Filmmaker Peter Jackson wowed me as a teenager with his Lord of The Rings Trilogy in the early aughts. He took massive books that I knew well and loved deeply, majorly condensed them, added a bunch of crazy action scenes and confounding character changes, and still somehow won my heart and made what I felt were good adaptations that captured both the basic plot and the spirit of Tolkien’s three books. Now Jackson is back at it with The Hobbit, the prequel to his trilogy and what I thought would be an easy adaptation for him to get right. But I was very wrong.
Skyfall: Bond Gets a Tad Drab
I am not a Bond fan. An alcoholic heartless killer addicted to sex is not my idea of a hero. I admit, I occasionally enjoyed watching a kitschy moment or two of a classic Bond film on cable, but that’s where my fandom ended.
Looper: Bad Sci-Fi, Lovely Story
There’s this hit-man, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, who’s supposed to kill his future self, played by Bruce Willis. He doesn’t. Now it’s a battle between protecting the hit-man’s future and surviving his present.
What I’ve Been Up To Lately
Preaching To Myself: 10 Things People Who Didn’t Vote For Obama Can Do in the Next Four Years
I was really down in the dumps the day after the election. Then I decided to sit down and come up with a list of things I could do rather than just mope about. This list is as much for me as it is for anyone else who wasn’t thrilled with the outcome of the election. I’m no great political thinker, but in light of recent events I’m starting to realize how important it is for even the least politically minded to step up and take action. Here are ten things people who didn’t vote for Obama can do in the next four years:
The Rise of Mighty Kaiju or “I Have a Sickness, and the Only Cure is More Giant Monster Films”
Back in the day some guy named Cooper had this crazy idea for a film involving a giant ape. He got a guy named O’Brien to help make it happen, with some stop-motion animation that blew audiences out of their seats. Cooper made a few more films in the same vein, then the big monster genre kind of disappeared.
Mini Reviews 16
Melancholia
2011. Directed by Lars Von Trier
“The world is evil and no one will miss it.” “We’re alone.” “Life is only on earth, and not for long.” These are just a few cheery quotes from the characters of Lars Von Trier’s latest nihilist undertaking, Melancholia.
A Probably Okay Halloween
I haven’t made many videos for my youtube comedy series lately. Life’s been busy and ideas have been a bit slow coming. So I was really excited for Halloween this year, which, being based almost entirely on the human imagination, is one of the best holidays for creative content.
Mini Reviews 15
Take Shelter
2011. Directed by Jeff Nichols
Take Shelter is cryptic cinema. Michael Shannon delivers a solid performance as a man who keeps having horrific visions, visions that lead him to put his family’s well being on the line in pursuit of protection from what he sees as a massive approaching cataclysm. The acting is good, the cinematography is understated and lovely and the visions are realistically nightmarish, but the story is overly cryptic and just falls flat. This, plus a bizarre twist ending, leaves the viewer with a well-made yet confusing and seemingly pointless piece of cinema.
Notes on that movie about kids slaughtering each other in various horrible fashions
Much to my chagrin, I went to see The Hunger Games when it came out in March. It was playing a few blocks from where I live and I was really bored. I hadn’t read the book, but I’d heard enough negative comments about this cultural phenomenon to expect the worst. I took a notebook to keep track of my thoughts. I meant to write a review based on these notes, but I just couldn’t waste my time. The whole thing was just too laughable. So here are my random, mostly chronological thoughts, MST3K quip style for your perusal and, hopefully, your enjoyment.
Clix Feather-Weight: A Vintage Plastic Camera Mod
I found this little plastic camera at an antique store and payed way too much for it. I liked its weird look and ridiculously parallax circular viewfinder.
Opening it up, I found a used role of Pan 127 film, a very extinct format.