That would be "What's Up, Tiger Lily?"
You're right. "What's New Pussy Cat" was an early Tom Jones hit from about the same era and about as silly as Woody Allen's film, with that signature Burt Bacharach off-beat sound. I seem to remember that song being the theme of one of Woody's early movies.
I agree Godzilla was childish . . . it was a franchise akin to Flash Gordon serials and so forth.
I agree. Even as a child I could see the wire's holding up Flash's wavering, smoking "space ship" and thought it was mighty poor special effects done on the cheap. And I can understand the Japanese resenting the recent US remake; I also stayed away from that movie.
Based on what you've written I can say there is a whole lot you've missed. . . . While it's true there is a lot of camp, and dubbed versions are indeed atrocious, it does help to understand a little of its history if one is so inclined.
You say "missing," I say, "choosing." One need not read every comic book to understand the history and art of the comic book industry, and fans of
Tales from the Crypt were unlikely to be frequent readers of
Mickey Mouse, in that we all pick and choose our own favorites. Same applies to movies: I saw the first
Godzilla, found it to be neither interesting nor entertaining, and avoided the rest of that series in favor of films like
Seven Samurai.
The high-flying fantasy epics, however, were originally based on Peking operas and folktales and have been made since the silent era. What you see hitting the theaters today are just revivals of a genre that is tied very closely with Chinese culture.
I was vaguely aware that the high-flyer martial arts films had a connection to oriental theater, probably Chinese. With no knowledge of either, it's hard for me to distinguish Chinese theater from Japanese theater, although I'm pretty sure both cultures have produced martial arts films for the US market. I also am not sure whether the puppet shadow plays back-projected on movie screens are more indicative of the Indian or the Indonesian cultures. That said, if I tred on anyone's toes by mistaking one culture from another, I'm sorry for that offense. Blame it on Hollywood where someone like Anthony Quinn can be Mexican, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Native American, Filipino, Anglo, or Asian in one picture after another. Gee, Officer Krupke, no wonder I'm a mess!
I'm sure watching the high-flying leaps of Chinese characters in a live on-stage production would be quite amazing, as when the Beast transforms back into the Prince in the live production of Beauty and the Beast. Or when a magician makes an elephant disappear on stage in a live performance. But when done onscreen with the help of camera tricks, it's less impressive to me.
[quote=Misterking;373924]I happen to like Big Trouble In Little China. It's not meant to be a spoof, but an homage.[/i]
Well, Carpenter certainly fooled me on that one. With the leading man getting knocked out with falling plaster when he fires into the air, the villan sporting feet-long fingernails, and a monster monkey on the loose, I thought it was a spoof. Kinda liked it on that basis. But if it were a serious effort to make the Occidental character look the fool, maybe it was a racial insult. Still, it was funnier than most kung-features that I've seen.