The One With The Guitar Wolf Reference
I hate being right sometimes.
This past winter and spring, I was fond of telling my friends that the upcoming summer was going to be insanely hot, because the winter had been remarkably warm. After a couple of weeks of mid-to-high 90 degree days (with the humidity and heat index applied, temperatures were easily over 100 degrees), it would appear my prediction was correct. I hate being right sometimes.
Yesterday we were waiting for a predicted rainstorm to come and cool us down. After a cooler than expected morning, the rain came – after which the humidity and temperature shot up again. Boo. The temp eventually cooled off again through this morning, and now it’s starting to get hot again, although a return to 90+ degree temperatures isn’t expected again until next week (coincidentally, just in time for Chief Oddball and Apple’s arrival).
As a result I’ve been renting and watching a lot of movies lately, largely Asian horror. In watching all these Asian horror movies, I’ve come to a conclusion – yes, Asian horror is largely better than Western horror, but still awfully flawed. I can’t count how many Asian horror movies I’ve picked up that started with an interesting premise, only to completely fall apart at the end. The latest movie I watched – the Korean horror film Hayanbang (The White Room — for some reason released as Unborn But Forgotten here in the U.S.) – is an example of this. The premise is largely inspired by Ringu – a woman sees a website and has 15 days to live – with some twists (the only people who die are women, who end up thinking they’re pregnant for some reason). Unfortunately, by the end of the movie you have no idea what happened; the movie ends up pretty much not explaining why the supernatural occurrences (central to the movie’s plot, remember) happened, and the ending is a total head scratcher that really has nothing to do with the rest of the movie.
On a sad note, I generally check the IMDB listings for the movies I rent, if only to see if, say, an actor in a particular film appeared in anything else that I may find interesting. Upon checking the page for Hayanbang, I discovered that the lead actress in the film, Eun-ju Lee – who was around the same age as me – actually slit her wrists and hanged herself to death early last year. She was only 25.
Since I don’t want to end this post on such a down note, I will mention one Asian film I rented lately that was thoroughly enjoyable – Wild Zero, a zombie film starring Japanese rock band Guitar Wolf (whose leader Guitar Wolf wrote the lyrics for – and added vocals to – the Puffy song “Onna Machine-gun”, available on the Japanese version of Splurge, which I’ve talked about at length on these pages lately). It’s totally insane – microphones shoot flames, Guitar Wolf decapitates a horde of zombies with razor-sharp guitar picks, everyone seems to incessantly comb their hair and shout “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!” at the drop of a hat – yet totally fun. I recommend it to anyone who likes zombie movies, or for anyone looking for a insanely fun movie to watch. I may even have to rent it next week to show Chief Oddball and Reaper when we all get together.
In other Puffy related new, I’ve also recently learned (via the Tofu Records forums) that the chorus of the song “Tokyo I’m On My Way” – written by the Offspring’s Dexter Holland and also released on Puffy’s Splurge CD – was actually ripped off from the song “Tokyo”, by ’70s Dutch rock band Gruppo Sportivo. Now, there have been Puffy songs in the past that sound very similar to other, more well-known rock songs, but nothing was ever exactly copied. In this case, Holland apparently copied the lyrics and melody from the chorus of “Tokyo” – except he slightly altered the lyric (from “Tokyo I’m on my way, and in my new Toyota, it’s not so far away” to “Tokyo I’m on my way, in my brand new auto, it’s not so far away”).
I don’t think Puffy had any knowledge of this – honestly, it’s a song by a Dutch rock band that was released 28 years ago – but obviously Dexter Holland has something to answer for. I wonder if he’ll try to use the “I ripped the song off subconsciously”, as George Harrison did when he was sued for ripping off “He’s So Fine” in his own “My Sweet Lord” back in the 1970s. Of course, George was still found guilty of plagarism in that case (and, in a weird twist, ended up owning the publishing rights to “He’s So Fine” later in his life), so that defense doesn’t work.
Honestly, though, I wonder how this will turn out (apparently the guy who wrote “Tokyo” is planning some sort of action). At the very least the original songwriter should get a proper songwriting credit on the track; probably some monetary reward as well. But the way copyright cases have been handled in America lately – with big coroprations getting what they want, whether it’s the right decision or not – you never can tell. I just hope that Ami and Yumi don’t get dragged through the mud for recording a song they more than likely thought was a Dexter Holland original.
And lastly, soon I’ll be able to be like every other Japanese culture fanboy and be able to list what blood type I am. I gave blood for the first time yesterday; if I’m really anxious I can call to find out what my blood type is in three to five business days. Otherwise, I have to wait two months for my blood donor card.
Can you feel the anticipation building?!?! Because I can’t.
Categorized as Life, Media, Media/Movies, Media/Music, Randomness
Ah, Asian horror. Usually better than Western horror, but sometimes still loaded with pitfalls, UPOs and general goofiness. At the very least it tends to be more cerebral — or at least more amusing — which makes it preferable regardless of its faults.
The Hollywood horror blokes must agree, because the trend of remaking Asian horror films in the Western world continues. The latest is “Pulse,” a remake of the extremely werid Japanese film “Kairo,” wherein we learn that when people die, they don’t go to an afterlife, they go to rot in a “ghost dimension” which is now full and can’t hold any more souls. Now, the dead souls are starting to bleed over into the real world via the Internet, and are making live people disappear. Hee…to hear myself describe it, it sounds like a comedy, but it’s actually one of the darkest horror movies I’ve ever seen.
…Not to mention weird as hell. The ending was mega strange, depressing and apocalyptic on a huge scale. The recurring imagery of deadly rooms sealed with red construction tape, and the appearance of the chilling ghost forms, was like something out of nightmares I had as a kid. The point of the movie was basically to tell us that we’re all individuals leading very lonely lives, lives that go nowhere when they end. The scale of the story was abnormally large; normally in a psychological thriller like this, one or two people find themselves going through some hell, isloated from the rest of society. But in this movie, the entire world is affected. I found myself struck by the overwhelming weirdness of the film, and was actually greatly disturbed. Apple, on the other hand, slept through most of it.
Speaking of such films, if you happen to come across a Thai horror/comedy (think “Evil Dead”) film called “Sars Wars“, please God, rent it. I want to see it, and Netflix doesn’t stock it.
Ooh boy! Blood type! Now you can make up your own VITAL STATS card and pass it around to potential dates. I don’t know what my blood type is, either. I remember when I went into the hospital with my wrist bleeding all to hell, I asked humorously, “With all this blood everywhere, do you think I can at least get it typed?” The nurse barked “NO.” Jeez, okay…
My video store has “Kairo”, and I actually rented and watched it some time back. I thought it was interesting, but…I dunno, it just seemed “off” to me. In fact, from watching the ads for the U.S. version, it seems like they tried to add a whole lot of “action” and “jump scares”…which the original didn’t have a whole lot of. I agree with your observation that Asian horror, at the very least, tries to be more cerebral than Western horror. Of course, sometimes that means that a movie can get so bogged down by the director trying to be clever that the film falls apart under the weight of its own pretentiousness.
Back to “Kairo”, though. I will agree that the film as a whole was pretty damn depressing — especially with everyone blowing their brains out (and especially when the computer tech girl shot herself when her would-be boyfriend stood and watched in horror after trying to help her). Not to mention the ending with the protagonist on the ship, and her being practically the only person left on Earth…Fun!
…I’m being slightly unfair, though, because most of the Asian horror films I’ve seen seem to end on a depressing note (especially Korean ones…my God those can be some major downers). And that’s actually one of my complaints (and this applies to Western horror, too): the directors want to have a twist/shocking/depressing ending so badly that it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the movie (which actually happened with “The White Room”…the ending had practically nothing to do with the rest of the film as a whole).
I haven’t seen “Sars Wars” at my video store, but I noticed they had a review of it on the Zombie Club site you sent me the link for a while back. You should probably see “Wild Zero”, though…it very nearly defies description. But if I see “Sars Wars” anywhere, I’ll be sure to let you know.
As for my blood, I’m slightly curious as to what type I am, but it’s not like I’m clamoring for it. Actually, my mother is more interested in knowing than I am; she’s O-negative, and thus hopes that I am too so she won’t be the only one the Red Cross bugs every eight weeks to give blood (as everyone can use O-negative blood in a transplant).
Yeah, as a movie I agree that “Kairo” was somehow off. Visually and psychologically it got under my skin big-time, so as a piece of art I somehow felt it was a success, if that was its intent. But it was way too depressing, as well, for the reasons you stated.
“Wild Zero” sounds like a great trip, in the same vein as “Sars Wars,” and definitely something I’d like to see.
Ah, another O-neg family member, eh? Blood type is inherited from one parent, as I recall, so if that’s true, I’m either O-negative or AB-positive. In other words, either the universal donor, or the universal recipient!
According to Amazon, a Region 1 version of “Sars Wars” is due to be released on the 15th of this month!
“Wild Zero” is insane. Perhaps not as insane as “Sars Wars”, though. “LOCK ‘N’ LOLL!!!!”
Holy shit, really? That kicks ASS! I’ll have to check the Netflix stock to see if they get it in, but if not maybe I’ll buy the thing.
This is relevant to absolutely nothing, but from looking at the Amazon page for the Region 1 “Sars Wars”, it looks as if the distributor in the U.S. for the movie is the same fine company that brought us the Region 1 DVD of “Sexy Soccer”. Joy.