jeffore.com/blog

The month of April has been pleasantly busy and not just on the work front. As I mentioned before we’re trying to get out and enjoy Austin more. It’s been fantastic. After seeing The Kids in the Hall (who are still on tour - go see them if they’re coming near you) the Alamo Drafthouse was having a Sci-Fi retrospective month. We got to see two classic science fiction films:

2001: A Space Odyssey - This was incredible. I’ve only ever seen 2001 on the small screen on home video and never realized what an amazing visual and auditory experience it was until I saw this 35mm print on a ginormous screen. It was tremendous.

Blade Runner - I’ve only seen this once and it was on home video (VHS) with bad sound and picture. I didn’t remember it all that well. It’s a great flick with great visuals and sound. I think it’s definitely worth the big-screen experience.

Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash was a definite treat. Japanese people have a really screwed-up sense of humor and I love it. You wouldn’t believe how fast 90 minutes of random weirdness from Japanese TV can go by. From this show we were introduced to Hitoshi Matsumoto - the biggest comedy name in Japan. This guy is a riot. One of the best segments shown during SHFMB was where he had to pay off a bet to a fellow performer on his comedy show. Since Matsumoto lost, his punishment was that he had to spend a day at home getting hit with pies. Yes, pies. All day people would be hitting him with pies and he would not be able to acknowledge their existence or react to the punishment. It was a surreal and devastatingly funny, made all the moreso by the fact that this was being done in his actual home. The actual segment is on YouTube and I have to post it for you (probably safe for work due to blurring, but it would be best to wait if you have doubts):

Matsumoto is responsible for the other flick we saw this month Big Man Japan, a mockumentary about the guy who gets blasted with electricity that makes him grow to a huge size to fight the monsters that seem to always try to destroy Japanese cities. The problem is that the public is sick of Big Man Japan and feels he does more harm than good. This film was insanely weird and I loved it! Here’s the trailer (safe for work):

That pretty much covers our April entertainment adventures. Coming up, we’re going to see more Master Pancake Theater mockings at the Alamo Drafthouse. We’re also trying to get tickets for Eddie Izzard, in June. All three shows are sold-out right now, but the Paramount Theater sometimes holds tickets back and makes them available to theater members/donors.

Share This