poodleface
A couple of months ago, I subjected my movie group that watches ridiculous movies to Planet of the Apes, followed by it’s four sequels in subsequent weeks. There were howls of protest and anemic attendance for the first film, but people started trickling back in with “Beneath the Planet of the Apes”. My primary reason for showing them all was because it is something I had been plotting and planning for years. Years, I tell you, as my Planet of the Apes boxset lay unwatched. This desire was fueled by my seeing “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” years ago on A&E on a late Sunday afternoon and being sucked in, transfixed by the darkness of the film which managed to completely transcend the ridiculousness of the costumes, or/because of Ricardo Montalban. I found that “Conquest” definitely held up for me, and if you ever planned to watch only one of the “Apes” movies, this would be it. Montalban manages to spit out the three sentences of expository dialogue needed to know what the hell is going on in fine fashion. Like all Apes movies, it ends bleakly, with the following speech, which can’t be labeled a spoiler since the film transparently builds to this moment from the opening reel: “Where there is fire, there is smoke. And in that smoke, from this day forward, my people will crouch and conspire and plot and plan for the inevitable day of Man’s downfall - the day when he finally and self-destructively turns his weapons against his own kind. The day of the writing in the sky, when your cities lie buried under radioactive rubble! When the sea is a dead sea, and the land is a wasteland out of which I will lead my people from their captivity! And we will build our own cities in which there will be no place for humans except to serve our ends! And we shall found our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty! And that day is upon you… now!” Behind Caesar is that torrent of fire from the paperback cover, and it is actually chilling, because Caesar has changed completely over the course of the film from innocent to more than willing to engage in whatever force is necessary to achieve his ends. It is the transformation of an idealistic intellectual to brutal pragmatist! I can’t say enough great things about this movie. On a related note, the songwriting for my next album is coming along swimmingly. It will be a spiritual sequel to “The Great Directors”, with every song being named after an “Apes” movie. It will be the most depressing thing I’ve ever done. I’m treating the subject matter with complete seriousness! I’m engaging in serious kayfabe here… there will be no winking on this album. Like my recent GBA game, I expect a lot of confused looks. At this stage of my life, I think I prefer it this way.

A couple of months ago, I subjected my movie group that watches ridiculous movies to Planet of the Apes, followed by it’s four sequels in subsequent weeks. There were howls of protest and anemic attendance for the first film, but people started trickling back in with “Beneath the Planet of the Apes”.

My primary reason for showing them all was because it is something I had been plotting and planning for years. Years, I tell you, as my Planet of the Apes boxset lay unwatched. This desire was fueled by my seeing “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” years ago on A&E on a late Sunday afternoon and being sucked in, transfixed by the darkness of the film which managed to completely transcend the ridiculousness of the costumes, or/because of Ricardo Montalban.

I found that “Conquest” definitely held up for me, and if you ever planned to watch only one of the “Apes” movies, this would be it. Montalban manages to spit out the three sentences of expository dialogue needed to know what the hell is going on in fine fashion.

Like all Apes movies, it ends bleakly, with the following speech, which can’t be labeled a spoiler since the film transparently builds to this moment from the opening reel:

“Where there is fire, there is smoke. And in that smoke, from this day forward, my people will crouch and conspire and plot and plan for the inevitable day of Man’s downfall - the day when he finally and self-destructively turns his weapons against his own kind. The day of the writing in the sky, when your cities lie buried under radioactive rubble! When the sea is a dead sea, and the land is a wasteland out of which I will lead my people from their captivity! And we will build our own cities in which there will be no place for humans except to serve our ends! And we shall found our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty! And that day is upon you… now!”

Behind Caesar is that torrent of fire from the paperback cover, and it is actually chilling, because Caesar has changed completely over the course of the film from innocent to more than willing to engage in whatever force is necessary to achieve his ends. It is the transformation of an idealistic intellectual to brutal pragmatist! I can’t say enough great things about this movie.

On a related note, the songwriting for my next album is coming along swimmingly. It will be a spiritual sequel to “The Great Directors”, with every song being named after an “Apes” movie. It will be the most depressing thing I’ve ever done. I’m treating the subject matter with complete seriousness! I’m engaging in serious kayfabe here… there will be no winking on this album. Like my recent GBA game, I expect a lot of confused looks. At this stage of my life, I think I prefer it this way.

Posted 1 year ago