January Madness

Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness.” – From Karen Joy Fowler’s 1991 novel “Sarah Canary”.  

Madness—a recurring theme through the arts and sciences:

  1. There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness. – Friedrich Nietzsche
  2. I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
  3. Madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push.” – The Joker, The Dark Knight
  4. The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad. – Salvador Dalí
  5.  Oh, you can’t help that… We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.– Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, the Chesire Cat.
  6. The edge…There is no honest way to explain it, because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” – Hunter S. Thompson
  7. You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
  8. The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.” – G.K. Chesterton
  9. “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” – Marilyn Monroe
  10. Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t. – William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Source: Mental Health by the Numbers, NAMI. Graphic: The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893, Munch Museum, Norway. Public Domain.

Looney Toons–Live Action

Kung Fu Hustle: Sing (Stephen Chow), seeking to transcend his timid nature and achieve greatness, attempts to join a 1940s-era criminal gang in Shanghai. Through much pain and failure, he ultimately discovers his true inner self.

The film is a superb achievement in comedy and special effects, referencing, one way or another, dozens of movies and animated features from the past. Looney Tunes takes a central position in the film, along with The Karate Kid, The Shining, Gone with the Wind, The Blues Brothers, The Godfather, The Hulk, countless martial arts movies, and the final scene tips its hat to The Matrix Reloaded with the zillion Agent Smiths attacking Neo-ahh-Sing.

James Gunn, director of the Guardians of the Galaxy series and the upcoming 2025 Superman release, told Allie Capp in 2021, “Although I can, on occasion, be prone to hyperbole, I say without it here: Kung Fu Hustle is the greatest film ever made.

Genre: Action–Comedy–Crime—Fantasy–Martial Arts

Directed by: Stephen Chow

Screenplay by: Stephen Chow, Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, Tsang Kan-cheung

Music by: Raymond Wong

Cast: Stephen Chan, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Eva Huang, Leung Siu-lung

Film Location: Shanghai, China

ElsBob: 8.0/10

IMDb: 7.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 91%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 89%

Metacritic Metascore: 78%

Metacritic User Score: 8.1/10

Theaters: 23 December 2004

Runtime: 98 minutes  

Budget: $20 million

Box Office: $104.9 million

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Capps Allie Capp, WGTC, 2021.Graphic: Kung Fu Hustle Trailer, 2004, copyright Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures.