Mouse on The Keys is a unique mixture of drums and keyboard, as well as the unlikely pairing of post rock with jazz fusion. Hailing from Toyko, here is the official music video and a rather inventive performance of the opening track off their mini album, Sezession.

Man Vs Wild epic fail.

Kseniya Simonova, Ukraine’s Got Talent winner from 2009 constructs complex narratives through the usage of sand painting and synced musical scores.

via THR.com

Described as an epic Western with a sci-fi twist, the show will revolve around “a gunslinger caught between worlds” and will feature a nod to “Planet of the Apes,” said Rosenbaum, who is executive producing with Wonderland’s McG and Peter Johnson. “What I’m really interested in is the revamping of the Western genre where you still have all of the iconic Western themes and iconic Western tropes but the idea is that it will feel incredibly contemporary and will introduce the Western to a whole new generation,” Rosenbaum said.

Not to criticize a potential series before it even goes into production, I find this announcement somewhat ridiculous. Off the bat, it bears striking resemblance to another recent Fox series Firefly, which was a sci-fi with Western flavorings. Its also probably worth mentioning “another” older Fox production, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. which was conversely a Western with sci-fi flavorings. Both of which were canned prematurely.

I’m not saying its an unsuccessful formula since both works were rather incredible and sadly cut short, but how Fox could even think of doing it again and pass it off as some sort of unique “twist”.

Needless to say, there was a definite contemporary angle but thats a given in any circumstance. This obviously meant that although there would be Broadway renditions, the majority of the material would be popular music….much of it being less than favorable. This was fine though for the large part. If Michele’s early rendition of Rihanna’s Take A Bow was any indication, I couldn’t complain. The insertion of material like Queen and Journey was also a refreshing surprise as well.

Overall though, the personal draw for the show was its potential to serve as an outlet for Broadway stars in guest role capacities. This and possibly only this was the major reason why I found myself following a a rather dull and incredibly derivative high school melodrama. Thus I faced growing disappointment as the episodes progressed.

John Lloyd Young’s appearance probably marked the pinnacle of this disappointment. Here is the man who quite skillfully captured the awesome range of Frankie Valli’s voice in Jersey Boys and had a role specifically written in for him….and he doesn’t get so much as a solo or any sort of musical attention for that matter. His appearance was brief and his musical activity even briefer being relegated to a small snippet of supporting vocals. Its almost mind boggling how they put possibly one of the most talented singers in the episode, into the smallest singing role. Its moronic irony to the nth degree. Maybe he will re-appear, I can only hope so, but it honestly didn’t seem like the case.

Ultimately this led to a rather drastic drop in anticipation for Kristin Chenoweth’s own appearance last night. If they so royally f*cked up Young’s episode, I didn’t really expect anything different here although thankfully, that wasn’t the case. She was given the guest star treatment she deserves in addition to getting countless musical numbers that did not fail to impress.

The most significant moment from the episode was easily a duet between Chenoweth and Lea Michele of a rendition of Maybe This Time from the musical Cabaret. Its basically exactly what I wanted, Broadway stars doing Broadway numbers, or at least close to it. Music aside, seeing Chenoweth at all on-screen post-Pushing Daisies is an automatic plus. She definitely has a certain charm in front of the camera which is flawlessly matched to her incredible vocals.

Chenoweth doesn’t just sing her lines rather performs the song with complex texture, of which none of the other regular cast has been able to replicate (Michele excluded). Its possibly telling of why the inclusion of actual Broadway blood into the series will be its saving grace instead of simply relying on “singing actors”.

Maybe This Time (Kristin Chenoweth & Lea Michele)

Alone (Kristin Chenoweth & Matthew Morrison)

Released a few days ago on TED, Simon discusses and showcases her work. An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar attempts to reveal and direct light on facets of American culture and society rarely examined and The Innocents takes a look at the role photography itself has played with the wrongfully accused.

As far an fan-made films usually go, its often an embarrassing affair. Low budget productions coupled with adolescents who figure they can achieve more then they set out to do. There’s a reason why the high-gloss of Hollywood production or the careful craftsmanship of independent features is not easy to emulate. It takes careful training, intense logistical organization, and often times some sort of studio backing.

I wouldn’t go so far as to rave over Philanthropy or even cite it as an example opposite of this dilemma, but it comes close. Created by actual film students who seemingly have the abilities to work in the commercial industry, the film overall is quite impressive and surprising. The production level emulates a mid-level TV show which is quite impressive as is. Acting seems professional as well as the costuming, staging, and mise en scene.

The only major issue I had was with the rather younger-skewed selection of actors. Its probably more an issue of availability and simply getting one’s friends in on the production, but it seems odd seeing Snake especially as a college-aged grad/undergrad. Given the character’s aging problem and the fact that this should take place after MGS2, Snake should look rather old, probably 40-50. The same could be said of the supporting characters, many of which really do appear like kids in costume more so then believable characters onscreen.

As far as mise en scene goes though, its quite impressive. The camera work in addition to the computer graphics really brings this low budgeted wonder to full attention. At times its so successful that I forgot I was watching a fan effort, and not a commercial release.

Its altogether difficult to discern as well, between which locales are merely film and which ones are fabricated. Either which way, the production team did an amazing job scouting location shoots and melding it with the help of computer models.

Overall though its hard to say what kind of audience such a production can attract outside of loyal fans to the franchise. Some of the scripting and narrative is so dependent upon the franchise itself, that the production will merely appear campy and illogical to those unfamiliar. Its probably most accurate to say that the whole thing basically feels like the game’s cutscenes acted out by real individuals as opposed to generated models, for better or worse.

Regardless its technically impressive and if anything, I imagine it will provide those involved with a strong jumping-off point into the actual industry. Its great portfolio material but its not really anything to take too seriously in lieu of the possibility of a full-fledged Hollywood adaptation.

The whole film can be downloaded free to view at the official site below:
Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy Official Site

Embedded Trailer

Overall, films that were both commercially viable and critically successful on a global scale were becoming increasingly more likely. This was in direct contrast and often times in conflict with a parallel trend that was heavily aimed at drawing in domestic tween markets, with embarrassingly sappy melodramatic fare that was often times both formulaic and utterly mindless. Unsurprisingly, this latter trend won out and the emergence of this domestic innovation seemed to disappear altogether. Park Chan Wook and his contemporaries were still pumping out yearly works for the festival circuit, but it didn’t appear that anyone new was entering the limelight.

Its quite a sad affair and one that has honestly decreased my personal attentions to Korean film making on the whole. Thus I watch less films as years pass and pay increasingly less attention to industry developments. This isn’t to say I’ve completely given up on them but merely that my attentions are focused elsewhere on the globe. I still catch the new Kim Ki Duk or Park film when the opportunity presents itself. And on some rare occasions, still catch that oddball film that may have peaked my interest via a blog post or blind rental. Castaway on the Moon is such a film and one that I viewed wholly by accident.

I first read about Castaway on the Moon over on Twitch a few weeks ago and it caught my attention rather quickly. The director was unheard of but the premise itself seemed promising. A man attempts to kill himself to escape social ills by jumping into the Han River. By an ironic twist he doesn’t succeed and ends up stranded on Bamseom, a small untouched island in the middle of Seoul. It paints a rather striking image of urban isolationism rather literally. Here we have a man who in the middle of a bustling metropolis, seemingly goes ignored much like the rather odd island that miraculously goes equally undisturbed by the surrounding populace.

The narrative overall seems to resemble a comical version of Robert Zemeckis’s Cast Away. Kim, the man in question, even has his own version of “Wilson” and goes through the process of subsisting off the wild. Though instead of the more realistic pursuit of fishing/gathering by Tom Hanks, Kim opts to grow his own greens to make himself some Jajangmyeon; a rather ridiculous and nearly impossible stunt.

There is also a parallel narrative that bears some striking similarities. This one concerns a female hikikomori who literally lives her whole life in the confines of her darkened bedroom, completely isolated from the rest of society. She works through her computer and seemingly lives her life wholly on the net. Like Kim, she is seemingly caught in the middle of a bustling urban society but easily goes unnoticed. Its as if on both sides of the spectrum, both of these characters have failed to consolidate themselves satisfactorily into the social sphere at large.

The significant difference between the two though, is that while Kim is in actual physical isolation, “Ms” Kim is in a self-imposed simulacrum of the former. Her retreat away from social interaction itself seems to emerge more as a phobia then anything else. The reluctance to interact is so strong that to her own mother, she communicates via text messages rather then simply speaking directly to her.

The rather convoluted and irrational manner of socialization poses an interesting duality. On the one hand, Kim is faced with forced separation from society. On the other hand, Ms Kim is in the midst of society yet hides away, instead choosing to socialize and subside through the internet. The virtual distance of Ms Kim is therefore quite analogous to Kim’s physical distance and separation away from the surrounding city.

As the film progresses and the two narratives converge, viewers get treated to an Amelie-like quirky romance that brews between the two Kims. Both of whom never actually meet but communicate instead by long distance. Kim by writing large messages in the sandy beach and Ms Kim by chucking bottles with messages in the cover of night. Through this interaction, the presumed isolation wears away and Ms Kim actually ventures outside although in a characteristically Rube Goldberg-like manner.

There is also definitely a critique upon urbanization akin to Edward Yang’s Terrorizers. Ms Kim although shying away from society seems to revel in its cultural artifacts. If her bleached hair is any indication, she seems to hold a certain degree of vanity and obsession with keeping up appearances for wholly non-existent social interactions. She exercises daily, browses and occasionally buys objects of fashion, and participates in avatar-ism.

It is thus all the more ironic that such a character is overly concerned from exposure, going so far as to cover her face with a motorcycle helmet on those rare skirmishes into the outside world. Her bubble-wrapped closet also seems to fall into these notions of over-protection or fear of contamination. She treats sunlight like foreign pollutants, fearfully backing away from its radiance.

As Kim himself comes to terms with his situation, he seems to develop a respect for his new-found life. Away from the worries of societal life, he pleasantly goes day to day directly making a living off the land. Its a far cry from the monotony of everyday urban life that seemingly has become absurd to the likes of Kim.

Ms Kim also seems to open up in unison. As Kim starts to work a small farm he has constructed, she finally vocally interacts with her mother. She starts to grow her own plants and takes in the sun’s natural radiance. Her once comforting bubble-wrapped commode, becomes agitating and she finally shifts her sleeping space back into the openness of her room.

The ultimate conclusion of the converging narratives is quite the ironic development. The final and surprisingly delayed realization by government workers of Kim’s residence upon Bamseom is rather shocking and comedic. Their appearance is as sudden as it is unexpected, but as viewers we simply wonder why it even took this long in the first place. The ignorance of society upon the individual is startling and Castaway On The Moon provides a clever representation.

Despite all this, its hard to summarize the film as completely critical of urban society and contemporary modes. While the ending may end hopefully and on a seemingly positive note, its somewhat of a contradiction. While the two Kims finally meet and seemingly come out of their individual bubbles, the means in which this is made possibly is troubling.

As Kim is being ferried away back to the mainland, Ms Kim in a courageous burst runs across town to meet him. She barely misses him as he steps onto a bus that speedily retreats. As both Ms Kim and viewers give up hope, Seoul is hit with a regular emergency drill which stops all traffic and business. Thus in an ironic twist, these escapees of society are saved by the very same institution they were seemingly trying to detract from. Its a somewhat enigmatic ending and is highly reminiscent of Mike Nichols The Graduate. Both coincidentally also end in a bus with a possible false veil of positivity.

Regardless, Castaway On the Moon is possibly one of the first mainstream films to deal directly with some of the much ignored social ills arising in East Asian metropolises. The desocialization isn’t relegated simply to otaku and social rejects like hikikomori, but increasingly becoming a major trend. Freeters or parasite singles or more common then ever and arguably occurring with increasing rate here in the West. Its not so much a dilemma of the social fabric irrationally tearing down, rather the reluctance of the institutions in power to come to terms with these emerging trends.

External Links

Castaway On The Moon @ Han Cinema
Castaway On The Moon @ Twitch Film

Embedded Trailer (off Vimeo)

Castaway on the moon, Trailer *김씨표류기 from Imagebakery on Vimeo.

Awesome rollickin’ goodness courtesy of the short-lived Jack Of All Trades back in 2000. Way over the top and beyond, much like the show itself and its key star Bruce Campbell. One-liners and sexual innuendos abundant with an over-larged dosage of pure camp.

Gonzo untethers and gets his nipples fondled by Pepe. Boggles my mind how this got into a Disney production…