A Simple Job

Oh the Horror

Artificial Night

Robots, Zombies, and A Chicken from Outer Space

While driving a Light Cycle from Tron through the massive landscapes of the internet, I stumbled upon a treasure from the past that I never gave too deep of a look into. Dismounting the cycle, I meander over and picked up a rock which was covered in simple slapstick, a dog, and the Cartoon Network emblem. However there was some shine to this rock and much like Aladdin's lamp, this rock held inside treasures beyond the workings of time and space. With a few rubs I soon found great artistic vision, a dark and comical view on the paranormal, and enthralling story lines. There he stood in front of me, Courage the Cowardly Dog, my newest muse.

For those unfamiliar with this cartoon, here's John R. Dilworth's Golden Globe and Academy Award nominated animated short that started it all, The Chicken from Outer Space.

A major part that makes Courage, Courage is its artist design. Blending a world of cartoon with elements of 3D, such as the chicken's UFO, brings a level of creepiness and other worldliness.

 In many other episodes, vehicles, characters and other elements are created in the 3D format which makes them stand out within this shabby world Courage lives in. Another element of its artistic design, is the color choices. Courage the Cowardly Dog is drawn up much like Watchmen, keeping towards the secondary colors like green, purple, and orange. This ultimately gives the world a tone of it's own. Using secondary colors in a world dominated by primaries, allows the cartoon to look withdrawn from the world we're used to. These two elements allow the slapstick filled cartoon to continue to haunt us during each viewing.

In addition to the artistic vision, the story lines are mixture of Looney Tunes and The Twilight Zone. The opening of each episode, tells us everything we need to know about each character, who never grow, just continue being ignorant about the world they live in (except for Courage). Every episode starts with the conflict being introduced and Courage is then faced with a large amount of slap stick, one liners, and most important paranormal. Most episodes draw from a different seminal piece of work of science fiction or horror. References to Peter Lorre, Sweeney Todd, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame all are used as starting points for stories, however other stories pull ideas out of nowhere, such as an island inhabited completely by bananas or a gerbil vacuum salesman named Doc Gerbil. While many episodes follow similar curves of villain appears, Eustace and Muriel are in danger, and Courage gets beaten to a pulp but manages to save the day, the story stays fresh with the references and many other original ideas. This save the day story line combined with the dark paranormal references and slap stick comedy, creates a haunting tone which leaves you uncomfortable at times. When Courage has been comical brutalized by a Weremole and his teeth are knocked out, are we intended to laugh or feel sorry for our hero?

Courage the Cowardly Dog's greatest strength was it's fearless approach to create a story. No subject or reference was too far for this show. If the story was about foot fungus, then they have the fungus take over Eustace and act like Little Caesar. The Doc Gerbil episode ends with a boat chase dubbed over with operatic music. The show continued to test the bound of the comedic cartoon platform and ended with a haunting story of a dog seemingly living the same day over and over just with a new twisted turn of events. If Nowhere, Kansas isn't hell, I'd fear to find out what is. 

Everyday People in Extreme Situations

"In my films, I focus on pain and fear. The fear just before an act of violence and the pain after. This applies to the perpetrators as well as the victims." - Chan-wook Park

The Revenge Trilogy which consists of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance are films about revenge, kidnapping, pain, suffering, and everyday people. While considered a trilogy they are no more related to each other than Sergio Leone's Man Without a Name trilogy are. Chan-wook Park (writer/director) acts as a conductor who skillfully leads his characters through the worst part of their lives. The pain reverberates through the room leaving each viewer feeling it in their chest as the credits role.

Each person has great days and bad days, the characters within these films are pushed to their greatest extreme during one of those bad days, for some, a bad 15 years. Park builds suspense unlike any other director. Violence hovers over ever shot even when peaceful imagery fills the room. Tension builds as stomaches tighten and sweat pours down foreheads. Hammers, baseball bats, and pairs of scissors are the weapons of choice to exact harm against protagonists and antagonists alike. While the word "senseless" can be thrown around, the violence essentially makes sense. Characters are left with no life left to live except that of revenge, what would they turn to other than violence? (Religion?) In addition it is never glorified and always leaves a sense of disgust or anguish left in its wake.

Where most films involving violence focus on it alone, Chan-wook Park uses it but always focuses on human relations and qualities of being human. He cares about these characters and knows that they are not just violent soles. Great moments are hand crafted with no words exchanged to tell so much about each relationship. From a small smile to a brushing of hair out of another's face, a human quality is given to each character. It's because of these heart felt well constructed scenes that the film work. Tears role down faces and people yell and scream in anguish because love lost is one of the greatest pains in life.

Needless to say the acting with these films are top notch, proving that other countries do have actors to contribute to cinema. Every character is at their wits end and are hysterical at times, only the best actors could pull such scenes off and leave an audience speechless. Min-sik Choi in Oldboy eats a live octopus which he performed four times on set. He also lost 20 pounds for the part and has one of the most emotionally demanding roles in the trilogy. Where is his oscar? (A day late and a dollar short)

No one ever lives happily ever after in these films, but who ever does. Chan-wook Park makes the viewer actually feel something whether it is pain, sympathy, fear, or even disgust. His skill is measured in how much he effects his audience and in that case it is immeasurable. Just like Leone's trilogy there is no order which you have to watch these films, you just should watch them because they are what real movie magic is made of.

The Villain Always Wins

Well with both The Golden Globes and the SAGs behind us, the BAFTAs and Oscars are looming over the many award winning films which will receive nominations. While I'd love to nick pick over who should and should not win, there is a category that I feel has already been decided. The supporting actor award has practically been won already by German actor, Christoph Waltz. Having won literally every award for his portrayal of Col. Hans Landa, he has even won the Golden Globe and SAG award for supporting actor.

This is where it gets interesting. IF Christoph Waltz wins the Oscar, this will be the third year in a row that the Supporting Actor award has been received by an actor in a villainous role. For those who do not remember Heath Ledger nabbed a posthumous Oscar for his role as The Joker last year and Javier Bardem won for his role as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men the year prior. While this sets a trend, not all villains win. William Hurt in 2006 lost with his role as Richie Cusack in A History of Violence. The real question is what sets villains apart from heart warming old men (Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild) and possible pedophile priests (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt).

First and foremost roles of these nature allow the actor to over act. Was the Joker really a seamless blend of reality and villainy? No! He was a character. Character acting is one of the best ways to get people to notice your skills as an actor, without having to break down crying in front of the camera. Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Petter Lorre and many other funny little men have made a living with character roles. While Javier Bardem's role might not come off as overacting, the little smile he gives the gas station clerk pushes a barrier that cannot be seen. Actors are allowed to act inhuman, unethical, and unruly all while they smile. It also allows the audience to escape into a mind set they will never embody or create something to absolutely hate. This reaction from the audience is what film in essence is about. Film is about reactions- crying, laughing, fear, etc.

Take a movie like It's a Wonderful Life. Jimmy Stewart is given continuous praise for his new cynical acting style which he embodied after his run in WWII. While Stewart is extraordinary, Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter is probably the most successful of all the roles. He makes you hate him and by doing so we can easily side with Stewart even with his feelings for Mary (He loathes her because she represents him never getting out of the grubby little town). Taking this idea of the villain allowing the viewer to like the lead, look at films like The Dark Knight or No Country for Old Men. While there is no doubt in my mind that Josh Brolin and Christian Bale are two of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen, their characters are not the most lovable or praise worthy. The reason an audience member screamed "HELL YEAH BATMAN!" after Batman took out the 18 wheeler, is because Heath Ledger has laid down the unsettling road to which we side with the Batman.

With actors becoming so unsettling and the perfect outline for what a villain should be, audience members can end up siding with them. More people undoubtedly dressed as the Joker for Halloween, rather then the Batman. In this case the villain has become so successful he outshines the hero. Unlike The Dark Knight which is about the black and white and grey areas of morality, Inglourious Basterds is about showing that all of the characters are in the grey or black. When Christoph Waltz outshines Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, and Diane Kruger, it is alright because they all are cruel characters. There really is no good or bad, just bad and worse.

The villainous role has slowly left the realm of Snidley Whiplash and moved towards Professor Moriarty or even Sherlock Holmes on a bad day. This transformation has undoubtedly improved cinema, just as leaving the Dudley Do-Right characters in the past and making leads multilayered emotional anchors. It is because the villainous role as started to truly mature so much we are siding with them, actors are receiving more nominations for such roles.