Please don't gatekeep!

 Hey! I want to talk about something and something that has been bothering me for a while. Gatekeeping: When someone takes it upon themselves to decide who does or does not have access or rights to a community or identity (Urban Dictionary).

The best example of Gatekeeping I always use: 'Omg, you like the so-so movie, you can't be part of this group'

Growing up, I didn't have a lot of friends or people to talk to about horror movies, video games, or anything nerdy--I was an outcast who was bullied, quite a lot.  Younger Kurt always strived to be a part of something and never fit in anywhere. And never fitting in is a horrible feeling.

People like me and others found solace in the things we loved because it kept us sane and it gave us a place to escape, and when the internet came into our homes, we started to find others like us and started to feel normal (whatever normal is). We found a place to fit in and garner friendships.

So, imagine, some young kid or adult has been feeling like this his entire life and finds a group of people and he starts discussing his favorite movies. But he's shrugged off and told: You're gay for like this or fuck off with that nerd shit.  Now that person feels left out and hopeless because now he has to give up the one thing that's kept him going and is miserable for the rest of their life. congratulations! You ruined someone's life.

It's unfair.

Films, movies, and games are meant to be enjoyed by everyone. You can't tell someone what to like and what not to like. It's bullshit. Now, you can disagree with an idea or opinion, but you have no say who is a fan and who isn't. There is no super-elite of a fandom. Let people enjoy what they like.

Gatekeeping is contributing to a toxic fanbase, which has ruined the likes of Star Wars, Nostalgia, and Anime.  I will not get involved with anime just because of how toxic some of the people are. 

We need to start calling it out and putting a stop to it--the worse feeling in the world is being left out of something you enjoy.

because you don't like all the same stuff.

TL;DR Don't be a fucking dick and let people enjoy their fandoms.

Godzilla Review

Two notable things stand out in World War II: the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the

attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Why should they stand out? Easy, they were the beginning

and the end point in our conflict with the Japanese. Both conflicts ended in multiple deaths, a

beginning, and an end to the horrors of war. Millions dead—countries in shambles. America

recovered, Japan recovered, but not before having to surrender their military forces in order to

prevent Japan from re-arming and starting another war. This marked the end of World War II,

the world remained in peace.

While Japan surrendered their forces it made the country feel weak and they feared

invasion, the invasion would never come—the fear remained—only in the last twenty years, or so

have the Japanese fought to regain a glimmer of military presence. A second horror remained in

the eyes of the Japanese people. Two Atomic bombs had obliterated their fellow country-men

and women. The horrors of the war had never escaped the small country. Even though the

decade following the war—the fear of nuclear weapons haunted their dreams—who was to

defend their country, now, that a small defense force was in charge of keeping the invaders out,

what if, they had to deal with a situation that had never become the small country?

In the1950’s, a Japanese film company wanted to make a film about the horrors of war—

the original idea never came to fruition (based on the invasion of Indonesia, the Japanese refused

visas). When producer Tomyuki Tanaka was flying back to Japan after failed negotiations with

the Indonesian government to shoot the film, he looked out at the ocean, and thought about a

monster that comes from the sea and attacks the mainland! While the idea seemed to be a

ludacris idea, it would serve the film company well. The film company was known as Toho

Studios. The Film would come to be known as Gojira (Godzilla).

The movie starts out in the ocean, we see a boat, the crew seems to be having a grand old time,

singing, dancing and joking around, suddenly, a flash of lights, the boat begins to sink in a fiery

mess, slowly, sinking below the ocean floor. Shortly after the sinking, a second boat is sent to

investigate, the same flashes are seen, and the second boat has a meeting with the ocean floor,

with few survivors. A fishing boat from the nearby island is also destroyed, causing the residents

of the nearby island to venture into Tokyo to seek aid and relief as the fishing near the island has

plummeted down to near threatening levels. Once the locals arrive they describe a large creature

destroying their villages, the Japanese concerned they decide to send renowned paleontologist

Dr. Kyohei Yamane to investigate the islander’s claims. Once he and his team arrive on the

island-- they discover the village in almost ruins—Dr. Yahmane discovers a giant footprint of the

massive creature, with a trilobite embedded within the footprint, which turns out to be

radioactive. The village bell rings out and the creature finally reveals itself—the villagers dub it

Gojira (Godzilla). After this horrifying discovery, Yahmane returns back to Japan and presents

his findings that “Gojira” is a remnant of dinosaurs slumbering beneath the waves and the testing

of atomic bombs have disturbed his sleep. The Japanese government responds by sending a fleet

of ships to deploy bombs and try to destroy Godzilla. Which, causes the creature to rise and head

towards the mainland.

Dr. Yamane’s daughter Emiko, who is engaged to a colleague. Dr. Serizawa, she does not love

the man as she loves a young trawler operator Hideto Ogato, a young reporter arrives to

interview Serizawa and he refuses. He does show Emiko, a secret project he is working on. In

which, the air is removed from the water, causing fish and sea life to disintegrate. This Horrifies

Emiko. “Gojira” begins to attacks the mainland, after a few short minutes the attack is over and

he returns to the ocean. After the attack, the government consults with the Japanese Self-

Defense Force (JDSF) to build a 100 ft. electrical tower to kill the creature. Dr. Yamane is

distraught that they plan to kill the creature rather than studying it. Emiko and Ogato are waiting

for her father, so they may have permission to wed. Ogato and Dr. Yamane, engage in a fierce

vocal battle about the fate of the creature, and Yamane orders Ogato to leave. “Gojira” Emerges

again in Tokyo bay and attacks the city a second time. Ripping through the trap the JDSF had

set, breathing his radioactive, melting the steel like wax. Godzilla continues his rampage

destroying and killing thousands of citizens. After, the attack, we are introduced to the horrors of

the previous night. The dead and wounded overcrowd the hospitals. Emiko runs to Ogato and

tells him of Serizawa’s weapon the “Oxygen Destroyer” Both go to Serizawa and plead with him

to use the Oxygen Destroyer on Godzilla and stop him once and for all. Serizawa hesitant to use

the weapon, he decides to use the weapon, but not before destroying the documents. Ogato and

Serizawa travel to where Godzilla was last spotted, both of them dive to the bottom of the ocean.

Once they spot Godzilla, Serizawa plants the bomb, he motions for Ogato to surface. Serizawa

cutting his own oxygen supply, detonates the bomb. Destroying Godzilla and the secrets to the

weapon with him.

We catch a glimpse of Godzilla rising from the ocean as he melts away. We are left with a quote

from Yahmane, as they mourn for their friend, Serizawa.

“I can't believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue

conducting nuclear tests, it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world

again.” 

While the plot may seem silly, it portrays its dark tones rather well—Godzilla being an allegory

for nuclear threat/invasion, the characters interact with the creature with either horror or

admiration. And a key scene that plays into this is where Yamane is describing the creature and

its possible origins, and why it is so intent on destroying Tokyo. While other players in that

scene want it destroyed with no question. We see people struggling in awe on how to deal with a

threat that seems new, but now have to deal with it at half their normal strength. Another scene

that shows a real struggle and emulates the idea that something of this magnitude (using

nuclear technology) is where Emiko tells her father she plans to marry Ogato, and he agrees that

Godzilla should be destroyed. These two scenes show a man struggling to convince others that

what he wants is for the best. Knowing the power of what has occurred and what could occur. A

nuclear attack was still a possibility in the 1950’s—not by intention, of course. Americans were

still close enough to the country to accidentally cause more damage, an incident did occur, The

Lucky Dragon No.7 was close enough to Bikini Atoll during a test to receive fallout from the

explosion, causing major concern for the Japanese. (The first boat attacked in the movie was

based on Lucky Dragon No.7). Another scene, which, we should pay close attention to is when

Godzilla first starts attacking Tokyo, setting the buildings on fire, destroying everything in his

path. The JDSF is useless in stopping him. This plays homage to the attacks in Nagasaki and

Hiroshima; there is even a brief mention of the attacks. A mother holder her children and trying

to comfort them tells them in sobbing words. “We will be with father soon.” Indicating he was

one of the victims of the bomb. Godzilla is a powerful force that relentlessly attacks the people of

Japan and they feel useless in stopping him.

Two years after the first film was made—an Americanized version of the starring Raymond

Burr was released. While this version of the film feels is not as dark as the Japanese version. It

still shows the horror of the Atomic bombs through the view of an American reporter, while the

plot is the same, this version is still rated highly. The American version is a great companion, for

a different view of the film. Just two years ago, we released another American Godzilla film,

dealing with a different nuclear threat, plants going into meltdowns—this version also plays into

the social effect of how we as people are ignorant to the dilemmas and threats that happen across

our globe on a single day.

The music also emulated the themes of the film. Heroic and dingy sounds to expand the scenes,

and draw you into the moment. While most of the music is accompanied by the monster’s roar,

and footsteps it has the rare ability to summon the emotions and fears of the viewer. (Akira

Ifukube went on composing for the series up until the mid-90’s). The scores themselves are

memorable, and are joy to listen to on their own.

Godzilla is a movie everyone should see, regardless if you’re a historian or film buff. The movie

portrays a lot of themes dealing with the atomic age and war, in general. While, Godzilla has

spawned off from the original message and horror of the first film, it still portrays a message of

anti-nuclear weapons. During the sixties and seventies the Godzilla films took over as a

protector of people. All Godzilla films portray a message whether it’s from one of the sillier

movies, or the dark depressing atmosphere of the first: We need to find a way to protect

ourselves, we need to take a look at what we do on a daily basis and think about how it is going

to affect ourselves, or the land and people around us. Overall, Godzilla may have changed over

the last sixty years, but the message itself, still remains the same.

Halloween (2007) Republished

 * This Content was originally published on Thomas S Flowers Machine Mean Blog

Imitation is often seen as a tribute to an artist; other times it is seen as a mockery and a laughable attempt to establish, oneself, in a world of other artists.  A question that should be asked, what separates the good imitations from the worst?

The answer is a little more underlying.

A work of imitation can branch off and become something different, something appreciated by others.  The difference is—Appreciation for the original work and artist—nothing more.

In 1978, John Carpenter set out and defined the slasher genre.  Many fans were introduced to their first masked serial killers: Michael Myers.  The original story was enough to send millions of fans into a terror-filled adventure, murder, and mayhem a-plenty.  Man escapes mental institution after murdering his sister twenty years prior and begins slashing and stabbing his way through Haddonfield, IL. The original was the perfect slasher and one that would define the masked serial killer for future generations. And one of the few slasher movies to have several sequels and warrant a remake, which would come in 2007 and directed by the prolific Rob Zombie. Remakes rarely, ever, come close to the original. There have been a few exceptions: The Fly (1986), Night of The Living Dead (1990), and The Thing (1982). Rob Zombie had his work cut out for him, remake a classic, and be able to turn it into something that will outlive the original. The movie opens with Michael wearing a clown hat talking to his pet rat.  The movie then cuts to a mother cooking breakfast and a domestic argument begins.  The argument is cut short by Judith entering the kitchen and showing off her womanly curves—teasing the boyfriend.  Michael is in the bathroom cleaning up a bloody scalpel used to kill his pet rat. Early on, the film wants to establish an abusive household, which differs from the original greatly. We never learn anything about Michael or why he turned the way he did.  The first half of the movie covers Michael’s “Origins” and his escape from Smith’s Grove Mental Institution.

The rest of the movie follows fairly close to the original movie, and doesn’t need to be re-stated and pined over.   What really needs to be discussed and combed over is the first part of this film.

It ruins Michael as a killer—The Shape—an entity that was used to create terror.

Everything used to describe Michael’s childhood is a trope—things we were told that would develop into a serial killer/psychopath. But that’s what makes him scary! He had an abusive relationship with his parents!

No.

It makes him a trope. What made Michael Myers terrifying is that psychopathic behavior just happened. There was nothing leading up to it.  No information on his background.  Having a normal child snap and go on a killing spree made it scary. A random child could just awaken as a monster and take what he needed to without any remorse or empathy to what he was taking. He was a predator. Stalking and consuming.

Early on in the film, it’s established that he is obsessive over his baby sister, which isn’t revealed until the second Halloween film (1981).  It’s a well-known fact that Laurie Strode is his sister and Michael wants to kill her, but in this version, the reason for him tracking her down isn’t made clear—does he want to love her and be with her or does he want to kill her, even in the climax his intentions are unclear.

Another addition to the film is Michael’s escape from Smith’s Grove.  We are now shown a relationship between Myers and the Janitor, whom he then kills and escapes.

The story overall is covered like a fan film—not one where the director shows the fans what they’ve been clamoring for, but more of what the director thought would be cool and exciting.  Zombie took tropes from a horrible childhood added them to the film, and boom—we have the Origin of Michael Myers. The story is a mess and even the sequel (which will be covered later during the Slasher and Serial Killer run) is a low-grade fan film with a higher budget.

Rob Zombie is a music legend, and it’s a surprise that he didn’t compose the film’s score, instead, that was handled by Tyler Bates.

Halloween is known for two things: Michael Myers and The movie’s infamous theme.  John Carpenter created the theme for the 1978 and has been a staple in the series.  Among horror fans, it is one of the best-known themes around. If you listen to Bates’ version and you listen to the original—a few things will be made apparent. Carpenter’s version is clean and gives the sense of a predator stalking its prey. It gives a sense of hunter vs hunted.  The theme is still recognizable and that’s a huge tribute to the fans of the series, but it’s also littered with orgasm sounds and loud bangs—instead of sounding like a predator stalking its prey—it has the essence of a house cat tripping and bumbling over its toy.

In short, the Halloween remake is a mess, it took something that could have been great! But it ended in a sea of disgust and disgruntled fans. And it’s not always easy to do a remake; or your own take on a franchise, but what you have to realize is that there are set elements in place.  These have been crafted through a decade of storytelling.  If you’re not able to follow the guidelines and appreciation you end up with a knock off that others can spot and poke fun at over the course of history. The only thing a re-make needs is an appreciation for the filmmaker, fans, and established canon.  You can always make it your own, but it should never stray far from what made the original successful. Zombie could have had success if only he understood the basics, instead, we end up with a fan film with little understanding of the source material and notch into his resume.

Welcome to my couch!

 One of the most important pieces of furniture is the couch, you can find it anywhere, in basements, bedrooms, and more importantly in the living room right across from the entertainment center. The couch is where you can sit and grow roots, if you're lucky enough you can even find a fortune in that creation of fabric, wood, and cotton.

We get it! The couch is an awesome place to sit--why call a review blog The Couch, well, it's quite simple. The couch is where I play my video games and watch movies--it's also a bed--I love fucking couches, okay? 

The most precious memories are sharing an evening with my best friend watching exploitation films and playing video games in his basement while sitting on his couch. Drinking gallons of sodas, pounds of snacks, and the occasional bottle of booze we would smuggle in.

The Couch is a blog where I'll review B-movies, games, and the occasional interview with a stagehand, someone who walked on a movie set, or the guy that stands outside the convention hall 'who claims' to know Roger Corman.

This blog where I share the entertainment I love with you! The creepy internet people.