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Extra Credit 001 - MAD GOD (Patreon)

Published:
2022-07-30 14:00:05
Edited:
2024-09-20 23:36:32
Imported:
2026-06
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This month we're bowing before Phil Tippet's stop-motion epic MAD GOD!

Next up, we're going down the rabbit hole with Mimsy Were the Borogoves by Lewis Padgett!

Comments

No, Remake This!

This is such an old post, but it's bewildering just how much grosser this movie is than they're letting on. Like the little guys they mention who are the most relatable figures in it are made of literal excrement.

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

Yes! A great way to start my Saturday morning. On current films, I should also recommend you gents see Nope while it's on the big screen—especially in IMAX, if you can. It's superb, but in a way it's also especially for you, I think. ... It's possible Jordan Peele made the first IMAX horror film a creature feature.

Clint Page

I wasn't aware that Phil Tippet did the CBS Dinosaurs! animation. I had a home recorded VHS of that that I watched over and over when I was a kid. I'm certain it was the same special because my memories include CBS promos in the commercial breaks.

Cole Caron

I sat there and watched the whole movie twice, first in a friend-of-a-friend's fancy home theater and later in a real theater. No breaks for me in either viewing. It's bleak, but I'm surprised neither of you found any of it funny. The blacklit colorful world struck me as a completely comic scene to give you some energy for the final leg of the film. I loved seeing those two weird naked aliens in a glowing Edenic garden eat mealworms together and have a lovely time while mellow lounge music plays. Mad God is loaded with jokes. I loved it when the second assassin kept hitting the radio to keep the jeep from playing inappropriately happy music, or when he came to a complete stop at a crossroads as if he was worried about being pulled over for blowing through through a stop sign. The mix of little jokes with large scale horrific absurdity really plays to the comic side of cosmic horror. The comic laughs and uncomfortable laughs started to blur together after a while. Also, did anyone else have a hard time perceiving scale after watching Mad God? We put on Mr. Bean afterwards as a palate cleanser and I kept getting slightly confused over how big things were supposed to be.

I Like the Cut of Your Gibbering

I eagerly awaited this film, and it didn't disappoint! The only thing is I watched it my first night of isolation after developing COVID. The two did not do well for my addled brain!

Morgan Tudball

I went into this film blind and watched it in one sitting, and I think that led to it seeming very disappointing. The visuals and themes seemed great initially, but after the first ten minutes I was constantly waiting for some story or characters or plot, and until halfway through, I don't think there really was anything. Without those, and without realising that it was definitely more of an artistic film, the bleakness and oppressive scenes just seemed relentless, and a bit repetitive. (Cool, some body-horror just committed an atrocity. Can't wait for the next scene to see what atrocity the next body-horror is going to commit.) I was glad that at least some of my thoughts were shared by you two - when it comes to the more art-house types of media, no-one wants to be the lone dimwitted oaf who doesn't appreciate it because they "don't get it".

Grackles

Where do I see the film? Is it streaming on youtube or something?

Elisheba

I got to see this at the local indie film theatre. I’m not sure it was better that way, but it did lead to comforting sense of mass confusion.

Fire Every Time

I watched this entire movie in one sitting and wow! That was a lot to take in. Given that Mr. Tippett has actually stated that the film doesn’t have just one meaning (https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/06/12/bhr-l-mad-0612/ ) what really stood out to me was all the Biblical imagery. The quote from Leviticus was obvious, but there were so many others. The opening shot made me think of the Tower of Babel, and how man was punished for his arrogance and aspiration to be God-like. The imagery of the Assassin descending through space and time felt like a symbol of Christ descending from Heaven. The scene where he is violently stripped for the audience’s entertainment (and subsequent torture/surgery/murder) was very like public crucifixion. Alternatively, the offspring could be symbolic of the virgin birth, with the baby’s blood and viscera ultimately bringing new life. Of course the irony in all this is that it doesn’t work. The title of the movie indicates as much - that God must be mad to set this all in motion and allow it to continue. You’ve heard the expression that the definition of madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result, and that’s essentially what is happening throughout the movie, with the countless briefcases and assassins. It never works, but they just keep on doing it . In the beginning descent, we see all the different time periods, civilizations that rose and fell, and the gods they worshipped. All dead and gone, and we are no better off for their sacrifices. The message seems to be that, if God exists, he must be mad. It actually felt quite Lovecraftian to me. The humanoid felt creatures were created in a sort of shoggoth like way, possibly a joke, to be used and disposed of, all of it senseless. Final thoughts: I appreciated the Jeep radio playing a piece of “Ring of Fire” in the barren wilderness, and I kept thinking the nurse was Lady Gaga. 😂

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

I don't have access to the film right now, but very much enjoyed Marc Maron's interview with Tippet on WTF.

Daniel Hernández

After hearing the episode i run to watch the movie, and it is very good!!, it seems to me like the world that i imagine in my head when reading Harlan Elison's "I Have No Mout and I Must Scream", but also, there is a graphic adventure of that tale, with a very similar artistic design, but an IA not as sick as in the tale. c:

Jason Thompson

To add to the downer feeling and to what Chad said around 15:00, you get super familiar with gross bodily functions at the other end of a human life too…. 😬

Exanimus

In "Light & Magic", the new Disney+ show, Tippet talks about suffering from bipolarity and anxiety and stop motion being his form of meditation. It's interesting to think of Mad God as both the manifestation of that anxiety and also the cure.

The Spider Incident

Great discussion on the nature of art, especially modern art. I saw a sticker somewhere that said "modern art = I could do that + yeah, but you didn't". Just because I could draw a solid-colored rectangle but wouldn't think to present it as an art piece, doesn't mean it's not art when someone else does it. It's about intention; if you're setting out to make art, then what you produce is art. It's also about the intentions of the observer. If you're in a setting where you are anticipating seeing art, and where pieces are presented as art, you're going be thinking about them in terms of art. So it goes beyond just the work itself. There's the mindset of the observer, there's the setting, there's the atmosphere, there's how things are presented. And this leads into the discussion about value: if someone is willing to pay X amount of money for a piece of art, then the piece of art is worth X amount of money. If some art collector wants to pay millions for a piece of art, that's their prerogative; they've seen the piece, they know what they're paying for. That doesn't really sound like a scam to me. (This is setting aside the fact that "private art collections" are often a way for rich people to dodge taxes, which actually is a scam, but a different kind.) As you mentioned into the episode, not all art is made to be simply enjoyed. Some art is made to make you think, and sometimes its made to challenge your notions of art itself. If someone paints a few colored rectangles on the wall of an art gallery, and you scoff at it because you don't think it "deserves" to be there, then guess what? You've had an emotional reaction to a creation by an artist, and it has made you think about what "art" is. You have just experienced art, whether you like it or not.

Stefan Larsson

Is there any way at all to watch this movie outside of the US? Did a bunch of googling to try and find it somewhere, but it seems extremely region locked. Sad face.

Robert Curtin

I really enjoyed it, my brother did not however. He had a viscerally negative reaction pretty much the whole time, but, trooper as he is, he stuck it out with me. We took an evening and watched it all at once in the dark, and it was absolutely an experience. I need to re-watch it to see what I've missed, and I really enjoyed your deconstruction of it, and I think any meaning derived from it is as good as any other meaning. I feel it's less about the specifics and more about how it makes you think, as Chris mentioned in his art rant. Excited for more extra credit!

Saint Fu

I certainly believe that there are a lot of people who agree with Chris about Jackson Pollock. Those people are wrong, too.

Runninghead

I rarely post but felt I had to today as I think Chris & Chad have been on fire lately! The insightful explorations of both Chesnut Beads and MAD GOD took me back to the Haita the Shepherd episode (still one of my favourites). The Chesnut Beads episodes reminded me of an event in the game "Red Dead Redemption 2" where an old cowboy meets a sufferagette in the big city who proclaims "When women have the vote there will be no more war, for what woman could countenance sending her own child to die?!". 😬 MAD GOD is such an exceptional piece of work but I still prefer The Street of Crocodiles, which contains no actual horror at all, yet is as nightmare-inducing a piece of art as one could possibly hope for! I hope there'll be a Strange Study of that too. For the record, I both agree and disagree with Chris regarding Jackson Pollock, almost every other Abstract Expressionist has me reaching for my revolver though. 😡

David Halstead

Thank You so much! I watched this and totally dug it. I've got some friends to watch it and discuss it, getting some interesting viewpoints, but a lot just baffled me. That didn't diminish my enjoyment. Most movies don't give you much worth thinking about. This does, by the barrel full. I appreciate that. Still, hearing your thoughts on this helped click some things into place. Rachael's points were especially enlightening. Each time I think about, talk about, or listen to a podcast about this movie, every discovery, I get more out of it.

Michael Cunliffe

Mad God is definitely on my to-watch list, but I feel like I need to build up my emotional fortitude to sit down with it (despite producing a lot of surreal and Dark art, I’m pretty sensitive to freaky things 🤣). I tend to define an art film as an experience, rather than a story, mainly because of the overlap of art and indie, but I might be influenced by watching Un Chien Andelou. On a side note, Dali’s work in film would be a great topic for Extra Credit, since it bridges the space between pure surrealism and pop culture/accessible narratives (a boundary/liminal space which I think is important in creating the Strange).

Tara Murphy

I need to subscribe to Shudder to watch this, so this episode will have to wait until that happens.

Tara Murphy

Chris, I'm doing German on Duolingo as well. Tara Murphy/evilcritter if you want to be Duo friends! Ditto for anyone else on here!

Jake

Phil Tippit's work is a crucially important background influence in so many films I grew up on and enjoyed. RoboCop's Ed-209 is frightening and alive, and the dinos of Jurassic Park have a sinister playfullness that only Phil could influence. His artistic flair brings to life so many characters that would not have the same life or character without him in much of our classic cinema that fuels nerd culture today. After first viewing of Mad God, I just don't see much of that personality on display. What is there seems to be quick cuts for a music video. The disoriented choice of storytelling and scenes are without some kind of structure or story. I didn't enjoy what I was watching, but was able to appreciate the artistry involved by supplying my own meanings to the mess of scenes. This is the work of a Mad God of cinema. A singled out creator in movies who sits among the pantheon of the greats. Yet who has their vision singled out among the chorus of visionaries is just a little too intense for mere mortals.

Adequately Excellent Entertainment

After watching the movie I have to say that I think the whole thing is a con played on the people who venture down as these assassins/explorers. The one we watch is snapped up to be used for… something while nothing is done to the bomb, and yet it stops. I don’t think the pile of briefcases and the bomb stopping is an indication of the assassins/explorers failing their missions, I think it’s a brutal monument to the number of VICTIMS claimed by the process of those above sending tribute/payment/material to those below. (Like the pile of shoes they find in that house halfway through “The Road”. It is a byproduct of an untold number of atrocities.) I think the briefcase with the bomb is just a tool for tricking these people into agreeing to go down. It seems to me, the whole point of the process is getting the person into the hands of the guy who cuts them open.

Ryan Harrison

I want to agree with what a lot of people are saying here (Professor Koshka, Cole Caron) about the abstract expressionism. One of the things I think you get in trouble with when you start to say "a piece needs X level of effort" or "skill" or "time" to be art is that you are going to end up excluding a lot of work, and it is likely because your understanding of how much "effort" or "skill" went into it is pretty limited. This isn't to say that people doing big rectangles now are necessarily brilliant artists, or even good ones - I think that one has to look at the abstract expressionists in their point in history as well. At the time they were groundbreaking and challenged definitions of art. Nowadays, new similar work might be considered derivative unless someone is putting some new exciting spin on it. Also, Chris, you should look at the link between fascists/reactionaries and their hatred of abstract art (or any art they consider "degenerate"). It's still happening today.

chase hansel

You guys should do the movie Annihilation next. It is big time Weird, takes some general ideas from Color Out Of Space, and is one of those movies that left me thinking and wondering for a while. Highly congruent with this audience.

Donny Bliss

I enjoyed the backstory on Phil Tippett and coincidentally just heard the Jurassic Park movie story from the viewpoint of the amazing animator Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams. He had a crazy thought that he could simulate dinosaurs better by building a skeleton, then covering the skeleton with muscles and skin. The folks in charge of the film said, NO WAY and forbid him from wasting any time with computer animation. He said he stayed very late, built a dinosaur skeleton, set it to walk, and then left it to render overnight. He was anxious that it wouldn't be done in the morning but it was, so he set the short movie looping on a computer off to the side. When the execs came in later, one of them noticed it and asked what it was. They were all blown away. They showed it to Spielberg and he loved it too. Spaz said he felt bad for Tippett but, like you said, Tippett was kept on staff to help with the rest of the movie. The take away from the talk was if you have a great idea, don't let your boss stop you from doing it. Spaz called it his act of rebellion.

Andrew Brown

So it’s an hour long Tool video????

Rafe Ball

I initially misheard and thought you were doing a drive-by on Casper Van Dien there, saying you could believe he was a stop motion creation as he's not talented!

James Anthony

You guys might enjoy the films by Kevin McTurk over at http://www.thespiritcabinet.com/ He's doing spooky films using a combination of live action, puppets, and stop motion. There's a definite supernatural/horror tilt to it, though I don't know I'd classify it as "weird fiction", if only because the supernatural stuff is definitely supernatural, not of unknown cause. Still, they're short and well worth binging on a stormy night.