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Reviews
Jaianto robo (1967)
Johnny Sokko---a nice flashback to my childhood
For anyone who remembers this low-budget but entertaining '60s era Japanese sci-fi kids' show being shown in the early '80s, it's currently being shown on the new sci-fi digital channel CometTV at noon in the daytime, and 3:00 a.m. at night time. I first saw this show as a monster-movie loving ten year old who'd already seen a good number of Godzilla films, and grew up seeing that other popular Japanese sci-fi kids' show Ultraman, so I was all for watching this. It came on right after I came home from school--perfect time to watch it, and see some cool monsters five days a week, when the Godzilla flicks wouldn't come on until the weekend. Yeah, it looks cheap and the special effects are outdated by today's standards, but the weird as hell looking villains, the even stranger-looking monsters, the cute Unicorn agent U3, the giant flying robot, and the adorable little pint-sized hero Johnny Sokko made up for it. Nice trip down memory lane it you can catch it.
K.Y.E.: Kill Your Enemy (2007)
A hilarious gangsta flick satire straight from the D
Basically, I'm tired of "hood" films and generally wouldn't touch 'em with a 10-foot pole---in fact the only reason I checked this one out was because it was shot in the Big D (otherwise known as Detroit,MI). It's a local production shot on digital video,and the plot itself is like a cross between the foreign flick MAN BITES DOG and a parody of today's so-called "reality" T.V. shows--3 young men from Detroit's East Side have signed a deal with a cable show in which they allow themselves to be filmed throughout their last day of freedom before getting locked up for their crimes. They use the remaining 24 hours to clear up unfinished business and a final settling of old scores---however,once they begin doing exactly that, they find out that it's a lot harder than they bargained for. It turns out that these dudes aren't quite the gangster badasses they proclaim themselves to be---at least 2 of them turn out to be complete failures when it comes to being the so-called criminals they claim to be. To me the film definitely came off as a funny,acid-laced satiric critique of the whole "thug" mentality---it basically points up how pointless the whole thing can be sometimes.
The scene where a guy clearly hopped up on some kind of drug goes off on this crazy, insane gangster rant had me and a friend roaring with laughter, because we're heard people who actually sound just like him tripping the hell out like that! Anyway,the flick turned out to be a heck of a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be, and pretty well made. Worth checking out, especially if you live in the D and just want to see a goofy flick that reps your hood (if you're from the East Side of the D,that is).
ZeD (2002)
A program with a unique point of view
Found this show by accident one Friday night in Dec. 2002 on CBC Channel 9 from Windsor, and have been hooked on it ever since. It's a great underground /alternative music/short movie showcase that introduces the viewer to films/music/the work of artists from all around the world. You'll see all kinds of fascinating,crazy,disturbing stuff---from an artist who lets spiders crawl over her to an alternative club for East Indian-Canadian LBGTs (that's lesbian/bisexual/gay/trans-gender) to all different kinds of experimental forms of media,including animation---some a throwback to old-school techniques,some using the latest advances in the field. The program is shown late at night at the odd time of 11:25 (or at least it was when I was watching it early last year--it goes off the air in mid-January and returns in the wintertime). It also shows lots of full-frontal nudity courtesy of the films (not ALL of them have that,though) and runs the entire gamut of subject matter throughout the racial/sexual/political spectrum---some straight-up and in-your-face,others calm,laid back and peaceful; some the average viewer(like myself)won't know what the heck to make of. All in all,this program's a real treasure trove for anybody who enjoys seeing things way out of the mainstream (like me). I would say check it out,but it might be off the air for this season. Just tape an episode every chance you get---it's always worth it.
Any plans for this show to be on DVD that anyone knows of? I'd definitely like to know!