After "Bing'ai let out at 9 p.m. on Thursday, it was a quick bike ride (hovering over a wet seat) down to the Orpheum Stage Door to catch one of the few seats available the beginning 20 minutes of "The Planet." The environmental documentary combines strikingly beautiful visually imagery (I could have probably watched the digitally enhanced bird- and sattelite-eye views for hours) with commentary from 29 environmental experts.

The film plays again on Sunday at 1:45 p.m. at the Stage Door.

But the real reason I made the trek down State Street was for the film next door at 9:45 p.m.

"Big Man Japan" starring, written and directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto is a faux documentary and send-up of Japanese monster movies. Matsumoto plays Daisoto, a laconic, borderline depressed middle-aged Japanese man who is separated from his wife and daughter and laments the loss of the old days. He also happens to be the lone superhero left to defend Japan from Monster attack. When trouble strikes, Daisoto heads to the nearest power plant to be zapped into a gargantuan the size of a high-rise and his electrified Don King hair adds a couple of stories.

Unfortunately, it's not as glamorous of a job as it used to be. The scariest part of the "Strangling Monster" is its wicked comb-over, and people only pay attention to Daisoto's early morning tv program when he is on the receiving end of a beat-down.

He is also forced to tattoo sponsor logos to his chest and back just to pay the bills, while his agent shows up to meetings in her brand new $50,000 SUV.  

The movies combination of monster gags and "regular guy" documentary footage yields some great moments. When he is shown newspaper stories that tell of of his senile grandfather "The Fourth" (a hero in his own day) deciding to zap himself big and run amok in Tokyo, Daisoto simply shrugs his shoulders. "Every family has problems," he says. 

Most of the monster effects are computer generated, but the ending of the film reverts to the old foam costume and model approach some shots at the "Power Rangers" style of monster show. Four American superheros show up to save Daisoto. After some hilarious and intentionally bad fight scenes, they join hands, yell "Peace," and shoot a rainbow ray at a monster which causes it to horribly explode.

Best of all the film answers all the nagging questions one might have about an everyday superhero like "How does he get into those huge purple underpants?" Or "How much does a superhero make?"

The answer: $5,000 per month.

And how much would he like to make?

"About $8,000."