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The Bootleg Files: Tokio Jokio

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BOOTLEG FILES 736: “Tokio Jokio” (1943 Looney Tunes cartoon).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright allows anyone to make dupes of this animated short.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: The folks at Warner Bros. aren’t particularly proud of this one!

Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of V-J Day, when Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces brought World War II to a long-overdue close. To help observe this important occasion, we are presenting a short film that generated relatively little attention when it was first released during World War II but has since taken on greater visibility for some of the most impolite examples of political incorrectness captured in an animated short.
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Clapboard Jungle (2019) [Fantasia Festival 2020]

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Justin McConnell’s “Clapboard Jungle” is essentially about artistic pursuit and the search to grab even the slightest success in a world filled with artists. How does an artist make it in a world where millions of others are working night and day to make theirs heard? How do you thrive without competing or stepping over others? How do you stave off imposter syndrome? And in a climate of consistently rotating and interchangeable titles, is it even possible to deliver anything fresh or appealing in cinema anymore?

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Yummy (2019) [Fantasia Festival 2020]

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Now Streaming Exclusively on Shudder

Lars Damoiseaux’s “Yummy” reminded me a lot of the sub-plot in Robert Altman’s “The Player” where the two aspiring executives have an idea for the opening of a drama. Tim Robbins’ character snickers behind their backs that they have a movie with no second act. “Yummy” is a movie with a great concept, but no real execution behind it. It’s a gory darkly comic zombie movie set in a plastic surgeon’s office… and then… not much else happens beyond that.

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Morgana (2019) [Fantasia Festival 2020]

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Isabel Peppard and Josie Hess’s “Morgana” is a documentary begging to be turned in to a feature film. It’s a wonderful and heartbreaking account of sexual repression, forced domesticity and using pornography as a means of re-claiming individuality. “Morgana” is short, but it’s an engaging journey in to the life of Morgana Muses, who suddenly found herself without the demands of a marriage that offered zero fullfilment. When she’s finally free she has no idea what to do with herself. That is until she realizes sex is a big part of what kept her from blossoming as a woman and adult.

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In Memoriam: Tomas Navarro

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A werewolf passed away on a full moon

This may seem like an odd way to start, but he would have liked it. This is not going to be your usual, almost cold in memoriam piece… I was hoping to have my first piece on this filmmaker and friend be about his work, not about this.

Tomas Navarro passed away during the night of August 2nd to August 3rd, 2020 at his home in San Diego, California. He was a filmmaker, playwright, director, writer, actor, occasional model, he wrote for Cinema Crazed a few times, and amazing human being. Born and raised in San Diego, he was proud of where he was from and working toward making a name for himself in the horror film industry with his production team at SavageZack. They have produced a few short films and music videos and he was working on reshooting his first short film as a director to make it the best film it could be. His last acting part will be released soon in the film Continuance by Tony Olmos, whom he had worked with previously on the film South of 8.

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State of the Cinema Crazed 2020

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I once got in to an argument with a guy who explained that art is pointless and wholly inessential, especially in a modern society. This was a guy who played video games, by the way. For past eight months I think it’s become apparent to just about everyone that we need art now more than ever. Most of us are troubled with the ideas of what tomorrow is going to bring us, and one of the few remaining doorways in to escaping the reality and weight of our current situation has been art. I think since January we’ve all realized how much we sorely need art, and how much we take it for granted.

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