The world is a beautiful place with DVD players - the problem is finding DVDs that have the appropriate amount of senseless violence and comedy for your discriminating taste.
The Daily Lobo serves up two new collections for your approval: "Kung Faux" vs. "Happy Tree Friends."
"Kung Faux," pronounced kung fo, is a series of classic kung fu flicks that have been truncated to fit into under half an hour, leaving only the basic plot elements and the best kung fu moments. The new element is a completely overdubbed dialogue provided by hip-hop emcees, comedians and DJs.
Also added into the mix are '70s-style split screens, filters, Batman-style "bangs" and "pows" and electricity effects. The result is a kind of kung fu "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" within the hip-hop aesthetic.
Though hip-hop filmmaking goes back to the early days of hip-hop with the now classic "Wild Style," very rarely has a film actually used elements of the hip-hop music aesthetic structurally. At www.kungfaux.com, Tommy Boy Films Director Mic Neumann explains: "Tommy Boy Films is following the same formula used in the creation of hip-hop music. We've taken existing product, and remixed it with new music and talented artists, new technology and a healthy sample of pop culture to create a new genre that we call 'dubtitled' and a new brand called 'Kung Faux.'" Of course this could all go horribly wrong without the right vocal talent. Included in the mix are Guru of Gangstarr, Lord Sear, Mr. Len and Mr. Live of Company Flow, Jean Grae, Sadat X of Brand Nubian, DJ Roc Raida, comedian Brooklyn Mike and Black Belt Ron Van Clief.
The result is a fun show, now airing on MuchMusic USA, but the DVD is only for the true hip-hop/kung fu aficionado.
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On the other side of the fence of new DVD releases is a show that may be aptly called a sin against nature. "Happy Tree Friends," gaining popularity through the Web at mondominishows.com and happytreefriends.com, has just released its first collection titled "First Blood."
On a surface level the show appears to be geared to the Teletubbies demographic with its simple pastel, animal characters and misleading title. However, describing the violence in the show as just extreme or graphic or disgusting, is wholly inadequate. It's like "Itchy &Scratchy" for our dimension.
The premise is simple: little forest animals are happily playing and something goes wrong and every character dies gruesomely. After the violent deaths and the credits, a helpful hint like "Plant a tree!" or "Brush your teeth!" adds to the sadistic nature of the program.
The hint - though programmatic and expected - becomes a great counterpoint to the carnage. Though there's a bit of overuse of the "smashed by a tree" death, the series and the DVD have their merits and surprises as increasingly creative fatalities occur.
The main problem with the shows is their brevity. Oftentimes the annoying title music, which is the same as the end music, actually plays longer than the show itself. Watching each show on the DVD is only bearable with excessive use of the 'mute' button on the remote control.
