Monkey Versus Robot

March 29, 2001 5:56 AM

Monkey Versus Robot will set you free! How can you deny the power of the internet when it brings you riches such as this? M-O-N-K-E-Y R-O-B-O-T
posted by cornbread (35 comments total)

Ick.
posted by Dane at 6:05 AM on March 29, 2001

Please, please, please, put some warning in brackets when you link to media like this, since it always crashes my system and is slow loading for modem-heads.

Thanks.
posted by Outlawyr at 6:10 AM on March 29, 2001

Sweet sassy molassy! It looked like monkey was kicking ass until robot threw him off the building. I would watch a show like that. Two buddies: monkey and robot torn apart by something and then become sworn enemies fighting each other around the world. That would kick ass!
posted by Stretch at 6:39 AM on March 29, 2001

Is there a mirror? The server's a little "overwhelmed", apparently.
posted by jpoulos at 6:48 AM on March 29, 2001

Pictures good, soudtrack shite.
posted by Mocata at 6:59 AM on March 29, 2001

Monkey rules, Robot drools....
posted by jpoulos at 7:24 AM on March 29, 2001

James Kochalka Superstar

It's hard to deny he's an idol of mine. Some of his songs are so painfully clever, some are just painful, but they all rock the house.

Unfortunately, from what I've been told, he mainly tours Belgium or something silly like that and spends his time living in Vermont drawing comics.
posted by dakotasmith at 7:28 AM on March 29, 2001

There's a bar here in DC that plays off-the-wall, arty, independent, or otherwise psychotronic films every Tuesday. MvR plays every week. Nothing like a bar full of half-drunken film geeks yelling out M-O-N-K-E-Y! R-O-B-O-T!
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:39 AM on March 29, 2001

Monkey vs. Robot Rules
posted by yangwar at 7:39 AM on March 29, 2001

I heard James' videos were good, but hadn't seen them yet. Perfect accompaniment to a great song.
posted by mathowie at 7:45 AM on March 29, 2001

Which bar, MrMoonPie? The public has a right to know.
posted by anapestic at 7:46 AM on March 29, 2001

For the broadband-deprived, the 56K version. (If you just got audio, btw, that's what the fat version falls back to.)

Cornbread, not everybody can swallow 300K feeds, OK? Have a little courtesy.
posted by dhartung at 7:58 AM on March 29, 2001

i don't know, that monkey doesn't look very real to me. i think it's faked. in any case, go ROBOT!
posted by cheesebot at 8:18 AM on March 29, 2001

What Dane said.
posted by hijinx at 8:20 AM on March 29, 2001

Check out the web page of the Washington Psychotronic Film Society. Email me if you'd to meet up there--I go most Tuesdays.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:21 AM on March 29, 2001

I like it.
posted by jennyb at 8:33 AM on March 29, 2001

But which one is the Democrat?
posted by Postroad at 8:36 AM on March 29, 2001

HAHAHAHAHAHA Postroad. Good one. You comment was the one that finally made me laugh out loud.
posted by a3matrix at 9:44 AM on March 29, 2001

But which one is the Democrat?

Clearly, postroad, the answer is apparent.
posted by jpoulos at 9:59 AM on March 29, 2001

I watched this in a room full of semioticians who immediately began debating over whether this was an extremely clever commentary on the conflict between neo-Luddites and techno-utopists, or merely a bunch of guys screwing around with a video camera.
posted by matthew at 10:17 AM on March 29, 2001

" . . . a room full of semioticians . . . "?

Jesus, Matthew . . . run.
posted by Skot at 10:23 AM on March 29, 2001

For those in the know: Which came first the book or the video?
posted by bison at 10:43 AM on March 29, 2001

I don't think it's quite as complex as that, matthew. I saw it as a plain old "man vs. machine" fable, not an intellectual interdisciplinary struggle.

Plus, MONKEYS IS SOOOOO SILLY!
posted by jpoulos at 10:48 AM on March 29, 2001

Please, please, please, put some warning in brackets when you link to media like this

While I second the suggestion to warn when linking to odd media (i.e. other than html, txt, gif, jpg), but really, this is why you should always look at the status bar to see where you're being sent.
posted by daveadams at 10:58 AM on March 29, 2001

I like the Lettermanesque change-of-pace love scene where their riding on the kiddie rides. That cracked me up even though it's an old gimmick.
posted by fooljay at 10:59 AM on March 29, 2001

Utterly Delightful. I was torn, though. Do I root for the monkey? The robot? The monkey and the robot? Do I root for the meta-commentary? Just the commentary? Just the meta?

If I could hang out with Matthew's people, I'd vote on the side of a bunch of guys screwing around with a video camera, who know in the back of their minds that it could be a clever commentary on neo-luddites vs. techno-utopists, but don't really give a damn and thought it would be pretty damn funny to just shoot the monkey and the robot kicking each other's ass.
posted by amoeba at 11:02 AM on March 29, 2001

Oh come on, guys. Neo-Luddites? Techno-utopists?

It's just guys having fun with a camera. If it's derivative of anything, it's old Japanese movies. King Kong. Ultraman. If you set out to make a commentary on man vs. machine, you wouldn't use a monkey. And it wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun.

Of course, it's amusing to project meaning. But you can't assume that the meaning you see was intended by the creators.

As to whether you root for the monkey or the robot, that's the kind of thing that's supposed to keep you up nights, waking up in a cold sweat from a really bizarre dream.
posted by anapestic at 11:42 AM on March 29, 2001

Actually, the comic came first. Well, the comic and the song were at about the same time. Then the video.
posted by dakotasmith at 12:05 PM on March 29, 2001

Crowe and Roberts move over...my Oscar vote goes to MONKEY hands down.
posted by mrBMsandwich at 1:23 PM on March 29, 2001

I used to contract James Kochalka for original artwork at the magazine I used to work at. (Gettingit.com, R.U. Sirius' short-lived online zine.) Very, very nice guy. He did a naughty comic strip for us and illustrated several of our feature stories.

It's too bad the site was so god-awfully ugly and impossible to navigate (not my fault), or I'd link to some of the articles.
posted by waxpancake at 2:36 PM on March 29, 2001

Just incase ya'll didn't know, you can download the video file here.
posted by holloway at 3:27 PM on March 29, 2001

ps, money versus robot is lovely!
posted by holloway at 3:32 PM on March 29, 2001

the more i watch it the better it gets. i keep seeing more and more in this video - it's absolutely brilliant. i can't stop, go ROBOT. it looks like ROBOT wins in the long run, right?
posted by cheesebot at 9:08 PM on March 29, 2001

Maybe, but he cheated by letting that little kid help him. Monkey was ROBBED!
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 10:38 PM on March 29, 2001

Oh my GOD. I just got to watch it with sound. It has now entered the realm of "soooo much funnier".
posted by fooljay at 11:17 AM on March 30, 2001