The Big Bang - Picha - 1987

This is silly. But silly with a political message about mutually assured destruction. Made in 1987 I guess the idea that missiles might be fired was still fresh in peoples minds. I'm not sure if it is anymore.. I dont know enough about this but I'm not particularly worried. I'm too involved in my own world I think.

Anyway, Its about a superhero who is a binman in space. He gets sent to Earth to rid the planet of nuclear weapons. Earth has gone through world war 3 seperating the planet into 2 continents, The USSSR populated my mutated men and Vaginia populated by mutated women both with armys and a super nuclear weapons at their disposal constantly threatening to wipe out the universe. On the way he meets a girls and shags a mutant queen. I dont really know what else to say about this film, its just fun. It doesnt have the same grit as Heavy Traffic or Fritz the Cat but its still good.

Heavy Traffic - Ralph Bakshi, 1973

Hello. I really like Heavy Traffic, I feel like it doesnt have the same awesomeness that Robert Crumb brought to Fritz the Cat, but the story line is gritty and unforgiving. The main character is a guy called Michael who has an Italian father and a Jewish mother who are constantly at each others throats. He spends most of his time in the games arcade playing pinball, like Fritz the Cat he becomes disillusioned and deciding to go out and live life. There are several subplots featuring other strong characters. I'll go through the characters so as not to spoil the film. There is a crazy man who lives on Michaels roof who Michael likes to get stoned with, the invinvible Godfather who eats spaghetti with little people in it, a queer masochist who spends time in a local bar and is constantly rejected in his advances towards huge burly violent men and cripple who is in love with the bar lady. This film can be watched in parts on youtube at the moment... Do it!!! :D Its interesting.

Fritz The Cat - Ralph Bakshi & Robert Crumb, 1972

Ive seen this film a good few times but watched it again recently as I love showing it to people. It was conceived by Robert Crumb as an x-rated comic strip and made into a film in them in the mid 70's. All hand animated which is quality to see since most animation is computer generated these days. The story starts with Fritz and his freinds going to the park to play guitar at girls in hope of getting laid. When they realise all the space has been taken up by students younger than them Fritz steps it up a notch and starts screaming and shouting about being such a tortured soul, this performance rewards him with a drug fuelled gangbang in a bath tub in a squat.

"Winston! You have such an existential little body!"

"Whats existential?"

"You know, cool, groovy, gear, silly."

The police (characatured as pigs) bust the party and Fritz runs away, burns all his books and decides to go on an On The Road style road trip where he becomes involved with Harlem gangsters and Nazi, junk addicted activist rabbits and Winston among a few other characters.

I'd reccomend this film to anyone into gritty cartoons. I've seen more than enough Japanese and European animations that are in no way shape of form directed at kids so it feels good to watch western cartoons that arent all fluff and fantasy. Not that I've got anything wrong with fluff and fantasy, its just fluff, fantasy, sex and violence is a more satisfying experience.
If we are the desensitized generation, it seems the previous generation set the bar.