Credits
Animator: Brendan Burch, Eric Yahnker Creator: Brendan Burch, Eric Yahnker, Kris Shinn, Mark Griskey Director: Eric Yahnker Principal Cast: Daran Norris Producer: Dean Terry Writer: Eric Yahnker
Watch this film at http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/conten...
This animated film is a two-minuter that spoofs Conan the Barbarian, Patriot, and Twins, but it is actually more of the latter. And so, if you've seen Twins starring Danny De Vito and Arnold Schwarzenneger sometime in the late '80s, you should have no problem understanding how this film works. It makes fun of Arnie's heavy accent, partnering him with a midget of a brother with roast beef for an obsession.
It is also a rather timely entertainment piece about the September 11 terrorist attacks, which woke up that sleepy patriotism in the American bone. All of a sudden, it's okay again to display the Star Spangled Banner in front of houses, let alone wave it in the air like Mel Gibson did in the film, The Patriot.
Though the film in question is sheer entertainment or humor stuff, its spoof on the Patriot just reminds me of how prescient that film really was. Here comes a flick idealizing July The Fourth, which despite all the advertising efforts didn't quite make a big splash in the box office, yet it calls to mind that sense of patriotism which would be unleashed in the days after the September 11 attacks. It also reminds us of the many other twists of fate, such as having the Brits on our side these days, when they were a major adversary in history. See how the British general's head gets cut off like Thanksgiving turkey in Conan the Patriot, and relive history, if only for a bit.
Conan the Patriot also brings to mind the Hollywood machinations on the American psyche. Notice how a trend started by the West Wing is earning rave viewership, making all the major TV networks use the same formula of injecting plots with terrorist concepts. And of course, in times of war, as CNN attests, there are more people watching violent films. Or so I thought, that this embargo on mayhem would hold for a while, and that films like Armageddon would be in the shelves for a very long time. I was wrong!
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