Heads up, fans of Hamlet and/or metal.
For those who don't watch METALOCALYPSE, there's an episode where Nathan Explosion, lead singer of the metal band (and twelfth largest economy in the world) Dethklok records the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. His aim to make Shakespeare metal.
In the actual episode, we didn't see too much of the actual performance. However--and I am very peeved that no one has told me about this--in the DVD, this here video is a special feature.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
(Erm, just ignore this link, the video above is all I'm posting here)
Holy. Bejabbers. I'm dying here.
I haven't had the time to watch the whole thing yet, but that easily joins the ranks of Arnold Schwarzenegger's HAMLET:
And, of course, the still-brillaint South Park (Canadian) HAMLET:
For those who don't watch METALOCALYPSE, there's an episode where Nathan Explosion, lead singer of the metal band (and twelfth largest economy in the world) Dethklok records the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. His aim to make Shakespeare metal.
In the actual episode, we didn't see too much of the actual performance. However--and I am very peeved that no one has told me about this--in the DVD, this here video is a special feature.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
(Erm, just ignore this link, the video above is all I'm posting here)
Holy. Bejabbers. I'm dying here.
I haven't had the time to watch the whole thing yet, but that easily joins the ranks of Arnold Schwarzenegger's HAMLET:
And, of course, the still-brillaint South Park (Canadian) HAMLET:
GO. Because the original Godzilla is a masterful exploration of the post-War ZEITGEIST.
Date: 2007-12-30 07:12 pm (UTC)YOU'VE NEVER SEEN A KAIJU FILM? WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. GET ON AIM RIGHT NOW!!
Because the original Japanese version of the first Godzilla film - the one from 1953 - was the first film ever in Japan to deal explicitly with the implications and collective terror of the Japanese Zeitgeist in the atomic age. It is a MASTERPIECE of tense pacing, the soundtrack is rightfully considered one of the finest film soundtracks ever, and it perfectly embodied the Japanese terror of illness, mutation, and unspeakable horror after Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Many, many highbrow film critics cite Godzilla as a masterpiece, including Pauline Kael, who once wrote a five thousand word essay on it. Think about that CAREFULLY, because Americans so often Just Don't Get It. Imagine living in Japan in the fifties, being the only country that was ever nuclear bombed. Imagine how profundly intertwined that experience is in your culture.
That's why Godzilla was a landmark social, historical, and cultural event.
The full Japanese version was finally released here in 2004, to rave reviews - did you know that?
Ishiro Hondo went on to direct many, many other films, many very good films in fact, but he always cited Godzilla as the one nearest and dearest to his heart, because he said it was his most passionate and heartfelt work.
NOW, FOR MORE AWESOME: have a clip of Gamera, Guardian of the Universe, rightfully considered by many to be the finest monster film ever made. It was put out in 1999, and it features highbrow special effects, and some of the sequences are HEARTSTOPPING. It took monster films to the next level, and recast Gamera (the giant turtle who loves kids) as sort of the Punisher - a darkher, more deadly anti-hero. This clip is set to Killing Joke's Judas Goat, and my GOD, IS IT BRILLIANT:
NOW TELL ME THAT ISN'T AWESOME. I've never seen a monster film with such graphic depiction of human collateral damage.
Re: GO. Because the original Godzilla is a masterful exploration of the post-War ZEITGEIST.
Date: 2007-12-30 09:37 pm (UTC)Better then most fan vids on its own, but the fact that they used Final Countdown just brings it up to a whole new level.
Re: GO. Because the original Godzilla is a masterful exploration of the post-War ZEITGEIST.
Date: 2007-12-30 09:50 pm (UTC)