Moviefest Royale
I probably should have waited until my Netflix copy of Battle Royale II arrived, because really, 2 movies do not a moviefest make. But I was so pleased by the purely unintentional coincidence that I couldn't help myself. After having misplaced my copy of Battle Royale for some months, I happened to find it on Friday, shortly after receiving a copy of Casino Royale. And thus was born;
| Moviefest Royale!! | |
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Now, you might be saying to yourself that surely these two movies--the most recent Bond reboot on one hand and on the other, a somewhat obscure Japanese post-apocalyptic exploitation movie--cannot have enough in common beyond their names to be yoked together into a seamless movie experience. Ahh, there you would be wrong:
Although this may be the first time ever that Judi Dench and Beat Takeshi have appeared in the same sentence, both operate behind the scenes, and neither is completely in control over the events that take place. Only one dies, however.
Both movies involve scenes with unconventional bladed weapons--sickle (BR) and machete (CR)
Both movies have major characters with facial scars, although I would have to admit that the motivations driving Kawada and Le Chiffre appear to be a little different.
Much of the action in both movies takes place on islands--England and the Bahamas (CR), and the abandoned deathmatch island in BR. To be fair, there are no "danger zones" strictly speaking in CR.
In both movies, characters have an alarmingly easy time hacking the government's computer and information systems.
Perhaps most importantly, in each movie, damn near everyone dies.
And now, you may have revised your earlier opinion, and be wondering how it is that the people who brought us Battle Royale haven't sued the makers of Casino Royale for copyright infringement. (First they'd have to go after the WWE, whose latest Steve Austin vehicle probably could have been called Battle Royale 3.) There are a couple of crucial differences. The subtitles in BR are atrocious, making the movie a little more surreal than it might otherwise be. To my knowledge, there's no poker in BR. And there's no crazyperky introductory video in CR, nor dream sequences featuring basketball and/or walks on the beach with ice cream. And only one of the two, as far as I know, has been compared to Clockwork Orange.
But don't take my word for it. Watch them both yourselves.
Comments
You should watch Volcano High. You should try, at all costs, to avoid the U.S. release of the film which features dubbing from Snoop Dog and André 3000. You should not, under any circumstances, try to construct a two-film festival with Volcano High and Volcano as your selections.
Posted by: Gillian | April 16, 2007 10:24 AM
Hi Collin,
Thought I'd get this to you easier than an email.
I wanted to give due respect to your influence at SU re: implications of technology. I've begun to use a wiki in my classes-- rudimentary-- and introduce students to delicious as part of their research (and for fun). My approach isn't theoretical and rhetorical-- that's a different work-- but neither is it "mere technology"-- add ons that replicate what a paper and pen could do as well. I've found that I can use of this stuff to help students make work that matters to them --probably closer to Sirc's attempt to rope art into the realm of academic writing and Nelson Goodman's artistic knowing. Definitely the result of your overall approach to these things-- which made it worth checking out and staying with until I took the plunge.
What do they say on blogs-- "hat tip?"
Posted by: rdanberg | April 17, 2007 1:38 PM
Collin, have you seen M Dot Strange's work? i ask because i've been looking at his stuff every since his film We Are The STrange played at Sundance (didn't get to see it). he does Str8nime . . . see www.wearethestrange.com
it seems like something you'd like.
Posted by: bonnie | April 22, 2007 12:32 PM
BR is one of my all time favorites; even BR2 is a lot of fun, if not for the wild anti-American rhetoric that gets thrown around. Another good pairing could be the wacky sports fun of Shaolin Soccer and Battlefield Baseball, both sporting manic weapon-laden action sequences on their respective pitches and diamonds.
Hope you're well.
Posted by: Ben Mabee | May 3, 2007 1:26 AM