Kolda Planet of the Apes

Monkey Fist of Fury!

     Burton’s Planet of the Apes deals a lot with superiority; who is civilized and who is not. On the strange planet Leo lands on, the apes are “civilized” while the humans are “savages.” But the qualifications of these two opposites are not very well defined. Are the apes more civilized because they have cities, language, and military power? Are the humans savages because they act apelike (in the way that we are used to seeing apes act)?

     Burton is trying to tell us that superiority is not something accurately measured in technological advancement. The “lesser” species is misunderstood as unintelligent and lazy. But that is because they are denied the chance to live like the other. Apes and humans simply live differently. Who is to say which way is better? The species with the technology tends to be the more ruthless one. Leo asks Daena how the apes got this way, to which she answered, “What other way would they be?” and he told her that usually, his monkey buddies would be begging him for a treat. He now finds himself in the position of having to beg for the treat of freedom.

     Leo’s astronaut friend in the beginning of the film asks him not to tease the monkeys because they will get aggravated and violent if they find reason to do so. Later in the movie, Ari is warned about the danger of wild humans and how she must keep a distance from them for her safety. This misperception of the other species is one that gets traded back and forth and used as evidence that one is civilized while the other is savage, when in reality they are simply afraid of one another. 

Kolda Mars Attacks

Mars Attacks! came out right after Independence Day, which is a film about the human race coming together to defeat the aliens, and uses patriotism as a source of drama and pride. In Mars Attacks!, all traces of patriotism are destroyed and then regarded by the aliens as a joke. The lack of drama about the deaths of all the characters makes the film feel much lighter and funnier. The makers of this film clearly do not take themselves too seriously, which is refreshing. And the Hollywood super stars in the movie are also poking fun at the “invincibility” of stardom. Most of them sre killed by aliens along the way. And with the invincibility of stardom, the invincibility of the government is also made fun of. 

 The government is portrayed as powerless in the scene where the alien Prime Minister issues his formal apology and then zaps the entire congress to red and green bits. This powerlessness is further shown in the failure of the nuclear missal, which was simply captured and inhaled by the aliens while they laughed at the impotence of the military. It is funny because the general was so forceful with the president to sign the agreement to use the missal because he was absolutely sure it would take the aliens down. But indeed it did not. There wasn’t even much of an explosion.

 Jack Nicholson is the all-important leader of the Unites States of America but also a big-talking hustler in Las Vegas. Tim Burton is pointing out that the people with government positions have shadows just as much as every one else. This double Jack Nicholson appearance also confuses the audience and makes them think that maybe it is the same person; that he is deceiving the public to think that he is a purely good man, when in reality he is not. This deception might make sense, as the aliens also use this tactic. They tell the humans not to run and that they come in peace right before frying everyone to death, which is a little bit like the way the U.S. government is viewed.

Kolda, Ed Wood

Three elements in Burton's film that pay homage to Ed Wood himself:

1) Glen or Glenda is about Wood’s struggle with his weird obsession with women’s clothing. Ed Wood also has a focus on this issue, though Burton’s film focuses more literally on Wood’s life and relationships. We see how this obsession affects his movie making and his relationship with his girlfriend, who has little tolerance for his cross dressing or movie making. She is the kind of person that Wood has to work against.  

2) The movie has weird quirks that Wood's films also have. For one, there is the use of very unrealistic animation in both Ed Wood and in Tim Burton’s films. In Plan 9 From Outer Space, there are three space ships that are used in the movie frequently. The same spaceships are used in Burton’s opening credits as well as extra animation. The animated octopus tentacle is in reference to the fake octopus with no motor used in one of Wood’s films. And the names written on gravestones is taken straight from the opening credits of Plan 9 From Outer Space.

3) Ed Wood is not what the audience expects. The opening credits set the stage for a horror movie, yet Ed Wood is much more realistic than expected after watching the credits. This is similar to the way Wood’s movies were not what we think they will be. Glen or Glenda for example is supposed to be a funny movie about a sex change. Instead, it is a drama about his own struggles with being a transvestite.

By filming this movie in black and white and adding strange quirks, Burton is paying respect to the way moviemakers had to do things with the little resources they possessed. In a way, he is turning Ed Woods films into one that has a chance of being seen, but does so in a way that praises Wood, and still gives him the credit.