[Weekly Update] April 5, 2021

Welcome to April. It's summer in Montreal. Oh, how I wish I can go out and travel. Instead, I have Monster Hunter.

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

• Relatively uneventful week. Everything is going according to plan. The script for our Godzilla vs. Kong video is completed, and will be uploaded tomorrow. Hopefully we can get it out within the week!
• Afterward, we'll likely have a video on Ghibli studio's first 3D feature, and the biggest Ghibli failure to date. May or may not contain some swearing for that video, we'll see.
• With the April Fool's video, which I hope you enjoyed, this is a packed month. Contractual agreements meant I have to push every video towards the front of the month. So, after our Ghibli video, we'll take a 3 week break to research something: Searching for the worst Japanese.
• Oh and I also have a bad Korean movies video planned. But that one I know exactly what I want to talk about.

ABOUT MEDIA

• Godzilla vs. Kong is well received! The consensus appears to be that it is loads of fun, and makes you feel like a kid again.
• It's a good time to be a nerd and loves geeky stuff. It makes me happy to know that people think being a kid is fun. In the adult world, especially in academia, there is this snobbery that requires everything to be serious and heavy and realistic, and I hated it. Just look at the Academy Award. Where are the fun movies?
• Since I have that in my mind, let's talk about childhood movies, movies that make you feel like a kid.

• Let's start with movies for teens. These are the movies that teens think they are adult for watching. But adults think it's a bit too simple for them... Either that or they think it's a violent movie, ruining their child.
• There is, of course, the Godzilla movies. The Heisei Godzilla is dark, but not OG Godzilla dark. It's a cool kid's movie. The kind teenagers watch, and think it makes them adult.
• Really, when you think about the Heisei series, you think about Mechagodzilla, Mecha Ghidora, Space Godzilla. You know, the Dark Link, Dark Pit, Dark Samus. It's a shonen trope, an easy way to inject some edge into a property. But in its heart, it is still a kids movie.
• There is the TMNT live action movies, of the 90s, not the new ones. This one appeals to kids slightly younger then Heisei Godzilla, but the first film is still set mostly at night, with moody lightings, mild violence and swearing. It takes itself rather seriously for a movie about turtles.
• I personally don't have a lot of connection with this film. Only watch it when I was well into adulthood. Even then, it still managed to give me a sense of nostalgia, like seeing an old friend. The first movie is almost like a tamer version of Batman. It's a kids movie, but done with respect.
• Beastmaster is like the tamer version of Conan the Barbarian. Not sure how many of you know this one, but it was a cool movie to show your kids. It has a handsome young hero, journey alongside two cute ferrets. and a black tiger, it has both the cuteness and the badassery down.
• Despite its appearance, Beastmaster is really not that violent of a movie. Viewing it through the lens of an adult, and you can see all sorts of fantastical and whimsical elements that entertains kids, while hiding behind a competent and mature facade.

• Now, movies for even younger kids.  These are the movies that both young kid and adults enjoy, while edgy teenagers think they are too mature to watch them... Oh and some edgy adults do that, too.
• A classic example is your older Disney stuff. For example, Mary Poppins. Its a movie for very young children, but still entertaining to adults. That is, adults generally can appreciate it. But teenagers who are trying to absorb more adult oriented materials may not find it interesting.
• I find it particularly sad, however, when adults do the same. Even worse, some adults are too proud to appreciate the color, the music, the fun in these movies. And they always oozes this snobbery, dismissing anyone who enjoys them. I know plenty of those people in film school.
• That movie that gets the short end of the stick because of this is Speed Racer. This movie got a much warmer reception now. But it was really harshly reviewed when it first came out. Expectations for it was all over the place.
• Open up Rotten Tomatoes, and read up some of the reviews: "You have to be 12 to like it", "Twelve-year-old boys should be wowed". This is the kind of snobbery I was talking about. What so wrong about a movie for kids? Are you so lacking in imagination and empathy that you can't relate to a kid any more?
• And if you do lack imagination, why so proud of it?
• It is, of course, absolutely okay to not enjoy these movies. I didn't enjoy Speed Racer, either. But I can appreciate its appeal. And so should a professional critic.
• I guess what I'm saying is, I'm happy this snobbery is being drowned out by passionate fans who enjoyed Godzilla vs. Kong. Having the heart of a child is not something to be ridiculed. It should be celebrated.

Well, it's pass midnight here and evidently, my writing is getting incoherent. So I'll conclude my update here. Have you see Godzilla vs. Kong? Do you like it? Let me know!