tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-357180972024-03-14T05:27:23.440-07:00ROCKIN' MONKEYWild and wacky movies, Crazy rock and roll, and other random cultural artifacts that shape the universe.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-79476432966367844432010-03-25T18:26:00.000-07:002010-03-26T06:40:44.924-07:00THE TIGERS DEDICATED TO NAIL<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ferdyonfilms.com/happiness%20family.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 150px;" src="http://ferdyonfilms.com/happiness%20family.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is for <a href="http://rustingworld.blogspot.com/">Nail</a>, who commented on my <a href="http://rockinmonkey.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-monkey-rock.html">MORE MONKEY ROCK post</a> about GS (GROUP SOUNDS, or Japanese garage rock). He has a whole blog about The Tigers singer Julie (Sawada Kenji). Julie was a heart throb as singer of The Tigers, and went on to have a fruitful acting career. Julie/Kenji is still in the movies - he was the father in HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS. The Tigers mostly sang, fluffy soft stuff to make the girl swoon, but had a few upbeat numbers (sort of like the Beatles in a way, though I think the Beatles had more rockin numbers). Anyway, here's one of my favorite Tigers moments - yes it's a rocker, not a swooner - from one of their films. This number is called "C C C" and has an awesome bridge refrain of "I'm so high, I'm so down, I'm so blue..."<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xHxLIOibaxQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xHxLIOibaxQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Here's one of their signature tunes. This was used in at least one Japanese TV commercial:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ovQR-4nKj4U&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ovQR-4nKj4U&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-55982226594005605022010-02-06T12:46:00.000-08:002010-02-09T06:56:22.908-08:00GONKS, THUNDERBIRDS AND OTHER LUNATICS.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/wanderingmoon/gonksp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 158px; height: 214px;" src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b78/wanderingmoon/gonksp.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>It was Paul from <a href="http://www.dirtywaterclub.com/">The Dirty Water club</a> who first told me about this ridiculous movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Gonks Go Beat</span>. Paul is a 60's garage deejay / impresario extraordinaire. He's one of those guys, kind of like my pal <a href="http://dirtygrooves.blogspot.com/">Dave Cruse</a>, who was born with record collector's luck. Paul would tell stories like finding an<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:NROzFWiut55YNM:http://helium.lunarpages.com/%7Efunky4/pictures/ironleg/sonicspsycho_45.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 122px; height: 126px;" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:NROzFWiut55YNM:http://helium.lunarpages.com/%7Efunky4/pictures/ironleg/sonicspsycho_45.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> original copy of The Sonics "Psycho" 45 for less than a dollar - or maybe 50p, since he's from over there. And it seemed like he got half of his stuff from '<a href="http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/media/images/r/g/Newton_Abbot_Market_Sunday_Car_boot_Sale_1_large_image.jpg">boot sales</a>.' That's basically the British version of a flea market - the boot meaning car boot, or trunk, where folks sell their old stuff out of. Anyway, Paul described the movie as completely inane with some cool musical moments: It's got a sort of Romeo and Juliet premise with the inhabitants of 'Beat Island' and 'Ballad Island' as the two feuding sides. That means you have to suffer through some bad crooning and folky bits to get to the raunchy rock and roll. There's a really cool scene with a groovy instrumental (something that would fit on one of those <a href="http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=sj6y7g2smy"><span style="font-style: italic;">Instro-Hipsters </span></a><a href="http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=sj6y7g2smy"><span style="font-style: italic;">A Go Go</span></a> comps) as these cats drive down an open road in bad ass roadsters like a Spitfire 4, an Austin-Healey 3000Z, a Shelby Cobra, etc. My brother the car nut would dig it even more than I do. That video unfortunately is not available on the web (nary an image even). But here are a couple of those cars:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cornwallclassiccarhire.co.uk/site/ourcars/header/austin-healey-3000.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 368px; height: 157px;" src="http://www.cornwallclassiccarhire.co.uk/site/ourcars/header/austin-healey-3000.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.limit4000.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/shelby_cobra_427_1967.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 364px; height: 271px;" src="http://www.limit4000.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/shelby_cobra_427_1967.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And we DO have this swinging number by the Graham Bond Organization from <span style="font-style: italic;">GONKS</span>:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-3jUiKFIlYQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-3jUiKFIlYQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Of course my favorite scene in the whole stupid movie is also not readily available to post as a video here. That would be the song "Love is a Funny Thing" by the cheekily named The Long and The Short. Like the Bond Organization, the band simply plays the tune on the beach. It's a <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://dkpresents.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/44897.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 174px; height: 174px;" src="http://dkpresents.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/44897.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>tough, uptempo beat number, with nice twangy guitar. You know, sort of like one of those fast Beatles songs, only with balls. The Nashville Teens also make a welcome appearance towards the end of this silly bit of pop melodrama. Remember, the Teens were the incredible backing band on the amazing <span style="font-style: italic;">Live at the Star Club</span> album by Jerry Lee Lewis. And while we're talking about U.S. rockers backed by crazed local European acts, check out Gene Vincent on Belgian TV backed by The Sunlights:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1E4TcHOlHZc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1E4TcHOlHZc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Gonks, by the way, refers to the alien race that comes down to observe the shenanigans of the beats and the balladeers. Or something like that. What reminded me of <span style="font-style: italic;">Gonks, </span>and prompted this post, was <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=35718097&postID=9033780028734342796">the comment</a> from the Master of <a href="http://ivanlandia1.blogspot.com/">Ivanlandia</a> on my last post. Something about Cliff Richard in puppet form singing a more rocking tune in <span style="font-style: italic;">Thunderbird's are Go</span>. Without further ado:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="205"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I6ngmDPXI2U&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I6ngmDPXI2U&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="205"></embed></object><br /><br />I went to England (the first time) in 1994. We had some downtime in London and I went on my own to The Museum of the Moving Image (since closed). It was in fact similar to the <a href="http://www.movingimage.us/site/site.php">MOMI</a> in Queens. One of the most memorable items on display were original models and puppets from <span style="font-style: italic;">Thunderbirds</span>. I certainly don't recall a Cliff Richard puppet. I like the Shadows and his singing okay, but he is some kind of scary Christian that at one time performed to support the Billy Graham crusade. And he's been knighted!<br /><br />Anyway, on that same trip, since we had at least a week of free time in London, I went to a bunch of movies including my first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kitano">Beat Takeshi</a> film: <span style="font-style: italic;">Sonatine.</span> Weird, funny, arty, lyrical movie about <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upru1_0sDdM">yakuza</a> that merges <a href="http://www.joeydevilla.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/highbrowlowbrowchart.jpg">highbrow and lowbrow</a>. It has this memorable face-off between Takeshi and his at the time mistress Aya Kokumai:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tadateto.net/img/sonatina_02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 227px;" src="http://tadateto.net/img/sonatina_02.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tadateto.net/img/sonatina_03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 230px;" src="http://tadateto.net/img/sonatina_03.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>If you haven't seen a Takeshi movie, run to your Netflix queue or whatever. After I returned to New York I went to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_uB18XbHreKVMnFKSlTrC0QcLdZwGD0viiUrAEh-crhcadgJxKLjPB71K4Q0YVmvJbucUqk2TffDclvkwbQ7Z95Y5mKSXxK7x8G_Ku0gBjpQr9Nhu4V8zxZjlG0mNMTdoIlS/s400/kims_video.jpg">Kim's Video</a> and rented his first film <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C2hTZ4RKhU">Violent Cop</a></span>. Takeshi had to take over directing the former when original helmer, maestro <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnpjzyNS2vY">Fukasaku Kinji</a>, became ill. It features the most poetically violent scene with a baseball bat ever committed to celluloid. <span>His second feature,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Boiling Point </span>is actually called <span style="font-style: italic;">3-4x October</span> in Japanese (a weird baseball reference), and it is also deliriously wacky and poetic at the same time. My favorite hysteric moment was when the owner of a bar slaps down an 'ikeiki gal' (an now dated Japanese slang word for sort of a party girl). You have to see it, especially in context of the whole crazy movie. Definitely a reflection of Takeshi's crazy TV comedy shows where he would abuse and torment his friends and guests (notice the plastic hammer Beat is brandishing - he usually hits folks on the head with something - and also the momentary audio sample of The Stooges "Raw Power"):<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bi27QgqvEaM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bi27QgqvEaM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />It was a fun time roaming around London, seeking out different cinemas in various neighborhoods. I also caught Walerian Borowczyk's bizzare little arthouse/exploitation film about a monster, a woman and sexual obsession, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Beast</span>. I remember it was in a nice, quaint area, and there weren't too many other folks in the audience that late afternoon. It also reminded me of a short film my friend Bob Nozawa had been in.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7y2GWclCYgU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7y2GWclCYgU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />And I also managed to catch late 70's punk band The Vibrators in a local pub.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OIf2Jn6vC3I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OIf2Jn6vC3I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Let us close with this classic query: What do you call a person who hangs out with musicians?<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xOGj7UNuegw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xOGj7UNuegw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-90337800287343427962010-01-31T15:22:00.001-08:002010-02-03T05:53:47.873-08:00SNAP, CRACKLE, POP...SMASH!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p246/tapehiss/birds1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 288px;" src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p246/tapehiss/birds1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> ON THE RIGHT, <span style="font-weight: bold;">THE BIRDS</span> (NOT THE STONES):<br /><br />I have a friend who loves <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBXVOBN_G8&feature=related">Radio Birdman</a> (and so do I) but hates, I mean HATES The Rolling Stones. I'm not sure why, and I think it might be a 'long story' reason. It's funny because even though Birdman don't sound like The Stones per se, you can't deny that they bear at least some inkling of their influence as most rock bands do. In a way the disparity of preference doesn't seem completely logical, but that's what makes personal taste...so personal. As we well know, it's hard to gauge who will like what and what will be popular based on simple facts alone. But then I have at least one friend who claims The Stones are the greatest rock and roll band ever, and anyone who thinks differently is wrong. And another friend claims they made some of the best rock and roll movies ever. So what's the best Stones song? Well, I might be too much of a novelty head here but I love their Rice Crispies spot. It's so punk! In and out, get the job done raw and fast. Call them a sell out shilling for cereal, but this still SOUNDS subversive, or at least disruptive:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nZBmhEMFdl0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nZBmhEMFdl0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I used to have this on an 8 hour video tape of garage and 60's bands, from The Kinks and The Who to Q65 and so forth. One of the best clips aside from the Rice Crispies spot was from this British B movie The Deadly Bees that featured The Birds - not to be confused with the U.S. folk group who spelled their name with a Y, but the incredible British beat / r&b band featuring future Faces member and Rolling Stoner Ron Wood. Damn, I wish they'd released this song as a single or something, because this is unfortunately incomplete. This seems to be the only known recording of the song:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/D6xGdYxbQsI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/D6xGdYxbQsI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-72925490326455568302010-01-30T08:17:00.001-08:002010-01-31T14:06:06.788-08:00LAUGHING POLICEMEN AND DANCING GIRLS!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://chud.com/articles/content_images/5/taking_of_pelham_one_two_three.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 281px;" src="http://chud.com/articles/content_images/5/taking_of_pelham_one_two_three.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>On the plane to and from Tokyo back in November we were subjected to the remake of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Taking of Pelham 123</span>. I like Denzel and Travolta fine, but they can't seem to stay away from formulaic dribble that panders to the masses (who don't seem to care). They changed around the story a bit with this whole subplot of corruption in the MTA (really?), while Travolta's badman had a different, seemingly unnecessary back-story than Robert Shaw's bad-ass ringleader. The remake tried to be a more psychological thriller, but it ended up being a smarmy potboiler at best. Back in New York I re-watched the original to get the bad taste out of my mouth. It's so great, straight-forward and no-nonsense. It's like good pulp fiction - no bullshit or lots of explanations why this drastic heist is going on - it just is. And people will die. Robert Shaw's bad guy was a <a href="http://ivanlandia1.blogspot.com/2010/01/rumble-in-jungle-dark-of-sun-is-so.html">mercenary</a>. He fought wars for a living. And now he wants more money so he's gonna take it from the city of New York. Simple economics. The mayor is a bumbling stooge whose staff convinces him pay the $1,000,000 ransom to save votes, not lives. Sort of an indictment of the capitalist system on par with Leone's <span style="font-style: italic;">For a Few Dollars More</span>...maybe. Love Walter Matthau. He had this salty everyman quality that made him perfect in films like <span style="font-style: italic;">Pelham</span>, <a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/03/film/mavericks-from-the-east-and-last-of-the-independents-against-the-tide-rebels-and-mavericks-in-contemporary-japanese-film"><span style="font-style: italic;">Charley Varrick</span></a> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Laughing Policeman</span> - the latter is what I ended up re-watching right after <span style="font-style: italic;">Pelham</span>. It has a great <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lconti.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 231px;" src="http://lconti.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>raw look to it. Man, urban America in the 70's had a nice dirty, creepy, yet cool vibe - in these movies and also my memory of Manhattan as a kid. I remember White Castle on the corner, grimy gas stations, and greasy restaurants with rotisserie chickens in the window. And auto-mats. Anyway, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Laughing Policeman </span>starts off in a San Francisco bus station and it has that sort of nasty city feel that you can really sink your teeth into right at the beginning. There's some random violence (not unlike that of the Michael Winner/Charles Bronson flick <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxv-kgJ_DOI&feature=related"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Stone Killer</span></a>) and a litany of low life cretins and oddball characters. One example is a funny, sort of dated scene with Lou Gossett Jr. as a cop reading the riot act to a mean hooker-beating pimp. Perennially creepy Bruce Dern is perfectly cast as Matthau's really annoying and arrogant new partner. There's a weird moment where they meet an informant in a cafe and then the camera cuts from Dern's gaze to a close up of a chic's ass, for no reason other than to see the ass maybe, and underline his character's creepazoid factor. Weird rhythm but it somehow works. The film quickly wraps up the conclusion and doesn't really make any sense. It was based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laughing_Policeman_%28novel%29">a popular Swedish detective novel of the same name</a>, which I haven't read, but the Czar of <a href="http://ivanlandia1.blogspot.com/">Ivanlandia </a>did read it and said the book didn't make much sense either. However, the title of the book comes from the old song, a record of which is given to the detective by his daughter as a gift. This is not in the movie though, so without knowing that you just assume the title refers to the protagonist, a somewhat sardonic detective. Wow, okay check out this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4QKiYar9pI">plate of shrimp</a> coincidence: I really liked Tsai Ming Liang's <a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/2/film/watermelon-time"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Wayward Cloud</span></a>, especially the ridiculous musical numbers to old Chinese pop songs. I was watching those on youtube right after I saw <span style="font-style: italic;">The Laughing Policeman </span>and finally made the connection. Here's Hong Zhong's 'Strange Date' from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wayward Cloud</span>:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v5oNpOjWd6c&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v5oNpOjWd6c&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And then I discovered Hong Zhong's number was a cover of this old English dance hall song:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hI1nPd7hezM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hI1nPd7hezM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Then I found out that's where the book got it's title from. Whew. Now for something slightly different, perhaps you've already seen this bit with Chiang Kai Shek, also from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wayward Cloud</span>, (it says "Be Patient," but that's a mistake, it's really "Love Begins") but I dig it so here it is redundant or not:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K2oLavw5aVg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K2oLavw5aVg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />This long trailer for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Laughing Policeman</span> shows Matthau being salty, Dern being creepy, and Gossett acting tough. Gritty, funny, sleazy - all in all a nice bit of big studio exploitation:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/s0y_ZLXMbv4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/s0y_ZLXMbv4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-55168167485629038362010-01-20T20:19:00.000-08:002010-01-21T19:56:05.816-08:00EUROCRIME IS COMING BACK!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.superstrangevideo.com/prodImages/LaMalaOrdina_Poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 308px;" src="http://www.superstrangevideo.com/prodImages/LaMalaOrdina_Poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cultcine.com/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/thumbnails/almost%20human.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 108px; height: 150px;" src="http://cultcine.com/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/thumbnails/almost%20human.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Cool, I just stumbled on the news that this cat Mike Malloy is making a documentary on <a href="http://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Poliziotteschi:_Italian_Crime_Cinema">Poliziotteschi</a> - those gritty Italian crime movies from the 70's. Wild, violent and nasty stuff, like the truly vicious <span style="font-style: italic;">ALMOST HUMAN</span> or the standout revenge flick that puts a positive spin on the term 'potboiler' - <span style="font-style: italic;">LA MALA ORDINA</span>. And consider those ridiculous, yet evocative titles (that Italian genre cinema always offers) such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFVLPOXq-1k"><span style="font-style: italic;">LIVE LIKE A COP, DIE LIKE A MAN</span></a>. Here's the trailer:<br /><br /><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/La0YXLQ9Zjw"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/La0YXLQ9Zjw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Yes, that's John Saxon being interviewed. He deserves his own special corner, somewhere here in cyberspace. Anyway <em>Eurocrime: The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled The ’70s is</em> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eurocrime-The-Italian-Cop-and-Gangster-Films-That-Ruled-the-70s/129675307702?v=wall">here</a> too. Ever since IFC did those hour long docs on Shaw Brothers and Spaghetti Westerns, I figured that the crime films would follow. There are docs on Mario Bava, Dario Argento and even Lucio Fulci that cover Italian horror. Now I suppose all that's left are docs on sword and sandal and Italian sex comedies (!?!).<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.tamtamstudio.com/public/content/labelproduction/CommediaSexy200.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 123px;" src="http://www.tamtamstudio.com/public/content/labelproduction/CommediaSexy200.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I think a large reason behind the Euro crime film's appeal is how unapologetic they are in their right wing ideology, yet so utterly transgressive in their depravity. That, and all the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyDg0akbnb4">car chases</a>, gun fights, macho posturing and brutal brawls; sick set pieces like machine gun assassinations and a spike through the throat, etc. A lot of rough stuff going on in Italy then - and I suppose still is - and it's palpable from these films<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/08/Maciste-MarkForest.jpg/200px-Maciste-MarkForest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 197px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/08/Maciste-MarkForest.jpg/200px-Maciste-MarkForest.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And I just found out there's <a href="http://www.fabpress.com/vsearch.php?CO=FAB105">yet another book coming out about spaghetti westerns!</a> I'd like to see it, especially since it's from Fab press, who are all <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fabpress.com/artwork/medium/FAB105.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 186px;" src="http://www.fabpress.com/artwork/medium/FAB105.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>about outré cinema. But Alex Cox's <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.kamerabooks.co.uk/10000ways/index.php?title_isbn=9781842433041">10,000 WAYS TO DIE</a> </span>is hard to beat. It's obsessive, but it's not one of those simple fanboy-type volumes of hype without substance. Cox looks at the films from a filmmaker's perspective and breaks down each film with constructive criticism. That means he tells you that Sergio Corbucci's pre-<span style="font-style: italic;">DJANGO </span>film <span style="font-style: italic;">RED PASTURES</span> "is a bad film" and why. It goes chronologically year to year and is an engaging, conversational sort of read. Don't know much about this new book, but part of the spaghetti western fascination is the fetishization of the mythology, reinforced by these sort of 'studies' (yeah, I use the word study loosely).Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-19534763393470197232010-01-16T18:03:00.001-08:002010-01-21T20:03:33.390-08:00WHY DO POSTMODERNISTS RUN AMOK?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cinefilevideo.com/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/big_Fassbinder.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 153px;" src="http://www.cinefilevideo.com/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/big_Fassbinder.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Last March I got hipped to these director / rock star t-shirts. And speaking of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9owo">postmodernism</a>, the place that's selling these - <a href="http://www.ifccenter.com/">the IFC Center</a> - is now doing a one week run of HOUSE - also know as HAUSU. <a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/06/film/hausu-party">Here</a> is my two cents on that movie from when it played at last summer's <a href="http://www.subwaycinema.com/">NYAFF</a>. This belated U.S. theatrical run (over 3 decades after its domestic release), along with the praise from <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/movies/15house.html?ref=movies">Manohla </a><a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/movies/15house.html?ref=movies">Dargis</a> among others, proves that director <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M-RvibVNzk">Obayashi</a> was ahead of his time, not to mention out of his mind - in the best sense of the phrase.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.ifccenter.com/images/films/house_592x299.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 110px;" src="http://media.ifccenter.com/images/films/house_592x299.jpg" alt="" border="0" /> </a><br />Those shirts might be too smarmy, or should I say <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snarky">snarky</a>, for one to wear in good conscience. But that's the conceit I suppose - the meeting, or I should say melding, of so-called high and low brow culture. I think it was at <a href="http://www.cinemaclassics.com/">Cinema Classics</a> where I saw some DVDs labeled with the slogan 'cult movies are the new rock and roll,' or something to that effect. Speaking of '<a href="http://dcairns.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cult-movies-book.jpg">cult movies</a>,' one night I came home from a funny night at a cozy bar, turned on the TV and saw a movie that was almost as obscure and legendary as the aforementioned HAUSU. I'm talking about this:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/A3EwKPJd93g&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A3EwKPJd93g&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />This was the best clip I could find, it's still so obscure, but <a href="http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=281749">TCM has a great page for it</a><a href="http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=281749"> with a more tasty clip</a>. Zines like <a href="http://www.shockcinemamagazine.com/">SHOCK CINEMA</a> and <a href="http://www.psychotronic.com/site/">PSYCHOTRONIC</a> heralded praise for both these films umpteen years ago. Used to be you'd go to Kim's for an un-subbed VHS of HAUSU and if you were lucky you'd stumble on a bootleg of DARKTOWN...The latter proves once again that if you revel in the offensive, you can also transcend it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs046/1101868216413/img/416.gif?a=1102894395454"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 113px;" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs046/1101868216413/img/416.gif?a=1102894395454" alt="" border="0" /></a>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-79186263641117518142010-01-01T21:49:00.000-08:002010-01-01T22:52:24.694-08:00NO GO DIGGY DIE!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmH2QF49tr9nsYC-rPHqxj5t40Aj7CnFqroJLeYVZmsMiuAP0sT2XLpLPIBTytwB9615B6AyKdHjsAFj3ixvJTxBU_UVFN2aboLQ_7eyiiusE-Z__f10Gg0kVFuqXOadsX3-5NYQ/s320/Jon-Wayne-Texas-SMALL.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmH2QF49tr9nsYC-rPHqxj5t40Aj7CnFqroJLeYVZmsMiuAP0sT2XLpLPIBTytwB9615B6AyKdHjsAFj3ixvJTxBU_UVFN2aboLQ_7eyiiusE-Z__f10Gg0kVFuqXOadsX3-5NYQ/s320/Jon-Wayne-Texas-SMALL.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Back in the early 90's my weirdo friends had wacky bands like <a href="http://www.myspace.com/sarcasticorgasm">Sarcastic Orgasm</a> and made crazy mix tapes of bizarre, often prickly music spiced with the best novelty songs. T. Valentines's <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKQkohmCrGY">Hello Lucille...Are You A Lesbian?</a> is a standout example of the latter. I also remember around this time finding out about this odd, obscure band - purportedly from Texas (but the word on the web is they were actually disgruntled session guys from L.A.) - called Jon Wayne. Perhaps the song <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Egyptian</span> was on one of those mix tapes. In any case, they sounded like a fall-apart punk band playing country music out of tune, with a drunk, demented singer who sounded like he had a plate in his head. The southern drawl and odd mannerisms might have been affected , but nevertheless something about the whole train-wreck affair smelled authentic. You can probably still find their <span style="font-style: italic;">Texas Funeral</span> album in the dollar bin. That's where I found my copy back in the day. I swear I had hipped my friend Dean to this then too, but he has no recollection of it now. Oh well, you can't blame him. Nonetheless I feel it stands the test of time. Here's one of them user-made videos from youtube so you can hear the masterpiece <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Egyptian</span>:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tFAH-fwx1bI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tFAH-fwx1bI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Now after all these years, again thanks to youtube, I've actually seen the band on stage - well this video has some live bits, and some music video, including one for <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Egytpian</span>:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oNlqlh2adR0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oNlqlh2adR0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Obviously Jon Wayne was deeply influential:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DV7pESwUTt8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DV7pESwUTt8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And I can't resist offering an example of some rocking prickly music:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q0fikUrtTTQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q0fikUrtTTQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-91402619972039091202009-08-09T08:35:00.000-07:002009-09-19T19:25:11.583-07:0070's CINEMA: GRIT AND VENGEANCE<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/toestubber/1561702934/in/photostream/">Bill Lustig</a> (director of notable genre films, <span style="font-style: italic;">Maniac</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Vigilante</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Maniac Cop</span> and owner of <a href="http://www.blue-underground.com/">Blue </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Stone_killer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 445px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Stone_killer.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.blue-underground.com/">Underground</a>) is an exploitation film maven. Last year at <a href="http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/">Anthology Film Archives</a> Lustig put together a series of vigilante films (which I missed unfortunately). This year he's back with "The Seventies - Buried Treasures," a series of gritty genre films, none of which are available on DVD. The series opened on Friday and I made a beeline to catch <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ1esbTHLRg">THE STONE KILLER</a>, Charles Bronson and director Michael Winner's transitional teaming between <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9QekeOkSi8&feature=PlayList&p=628570A4D5509248&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34">THE MECHANIC</a> and DEATH WISH, and THE OUTFIT, an adaptation of a Richard Stark/Donald Westlake novel, featuring Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker. Before THE STONE KILLER, Jed of Anthology brought Bill Lustig out and they called up director Michael Winner in London on a cell phone. Bill put the phone in front of a mic and did a little q & a / intro with the director. Winner said he and Bronson were in a car on their way to JFK after wrapping STONE KILLER when he said to Bronson, "I have a script about a man who's wife and daughter are mugged so he goes out and starts shooting muggers," to which Bronson said, "I'd like to do that. I'd like to shoot muggers." Brand new print of THE STONE KILLER, which could be described as a good Dirty Harry knockoff. It's based on a novel called <span style="font-style: italic;">A Complete State of Death</span>. According to Winner the producers didn't like that title, but they kept it as a line in the script. Not the greatest Bronson movie, but hard boiled and violent fun as expected. <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2873775788_772b37c1a2_b.jpg">Stuart Margolin </a>was great as the ex-army soldier hired by the mob to run an elaborate revenge scheme. I'm sure you all remember him as Angel in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNjv35DfSo4">The Rockford Files</a>. Towards the end of the film a big POP was heard when the projector bulb blew. They switched the reel to the other projector in five minutes, during which time Lustig said something like - 'this is part of the old 42nd St experience' and then started reminiscing with other folks in the audience about the grindhouses<br />back in the day ('guards with steel-toed boots' etc.). Since that bulb blew they had to move THE OUTFIT to the downstairs theatre. It was packed. Paul Giamatti sat behind me. THE OUTFIT was great. Same director as ROLLING THUNDER, John Flynn. Robert Duvall starred as the badass out of prison going after money he felt the mob owed him. It's from another Richard Stark novel, so similar plot to POINT BLANK. Joe Don Baker was Duvall's buddy / partner.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/72009/outfit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 369px;" src="http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/72009/outfit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Cool cast also featured Karen Black, Timothy Carey, Robert Ryan, Sheree North and some other characters. Violent and mean spirited. Cinematically Flynn is very matter of fact, not stylized, tells stories well and gets good performances. One thing is that you'd think the mob would have more muscle at some of their undergournd casinos and so forth. It's kind of easy for Duvall and Baker to take what they want. Still, lots of fun, I recommend it.<br /><br /><object width="360" height="140"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nMj9L2wwkdw&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nMj9L2wwkdw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="140"></embed></object><br /><br />ROLLING THUNDER is one of the top revenge movies. Dig the voice over in this great trailer.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-74735359699921324102009-06-28T07:51:00.000-07:002009-06-28T09:45:29.726-07:00LAMENT FOR STRAY CAT ROCK AND PUSHIN' TOO HARD.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nikkatsu.com/dig/noranekorock/top/top_main.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 214px;" src="http://www.nikkatsu.com/dig/noranekorock/top/top_main.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>PART 1<br /><br />The dissonance accompanying the passing of the so-called King of Pop includes obituaries that have gone by all but unnoticed. On Monday June 22nd Yasuharu Hasebe died at age 77. Hasebe was a journeyman director of Japanese action and genre pictures, with a long career that included several inspired films, among them a few brutally transgressive and offensive pieces of exploitation. On his ascent through the ranks of the film industry, Hasebe worked as an assistant to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seijun_Suzuki">Seijun Suzuki</a>. Hasebe is well known internationally for his biker girl films, (a precursor to the <a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/04/film/dvd-culture-how-pink-got-so-violent-a-guide-to-japanese-female-exploitation-films-of-the-70-rsquo-s-on-dvd-by-david-wilentz">pinky violence</a> genre) the <span style="font-style: italic;">Stray Cat Rock </span>series starring Meiko Kaji.<br /><br /><object width="420" height="200"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8sbX4ocCBGI&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8sbX4ocCBGI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="200"></embed></object><br /><br />He will also be remembered for the ridiculous pop kitsch <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Tight Killers </span>featuring a team of go-go booted ninja girls equipped with lethal bubble gum and deadly 45 rpm records! <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7lWaN2Qrqc4&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7lWaN2Qrqc4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> When Nikkatsu studios went exclusively 'roman-porno' in the 70's, Hasebe turned out some shocking roughies, like <a href="http://10kbullets.com/reviews/a/assault-jack-the-ripper-mondo-macabro/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Assault! Jack the Ripper</span></a>. Hasebe also helmed the fourth Scorpion movie (the last one featuring Kaji Meiko) <a href="http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/female_prisoner_701_scorpion_grudge_song_trailer/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Grudge Song</span></a>. The great <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/monthly_classics_no_borders_no_limits">Nikkatsu action series at Japan Society</a> featured Hasebe's 4th picture, the inspired Nikkatsu Action 'fun with dynamite' yakuza romp <span style="font-style: italic;">Roughneck (Arakure)</span>. Hasebe kept working up until his death (pneumonia).<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/e9ot-fErRRU&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/e9ot-fErRRU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />PART 2<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cmHTyLBIZ1g&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cmHTyLBIZ1g&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><object width="425" height="344"></object><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/arts/music/27saxon.html">Sky Saxon, legendary vocalist, bassist and songwriter of The Seeds, passed away on June 25th</a>. A fateful day indeed. The story goes that Saxon wrote the proto-punk masterpiece "Pushin' Too Hard" on a 15 minute break during a recording session. You might not know the band name, but you've most likely heard this indelible 2 minutes of pulsing vitriol. The Seeds first album also featured another classic, the haunting "Can't Seem to Make You Mine." Saxon and the Seeds personified the image and sound of snotty, gritty psychedelic garage punk. <a href="http://austin.decider.com/events/fuzz-club-sky-saxon-and-the-seeds,70842/">Their far spread influence proves the unruly power of two chord rock</a>. Saxon sounded like a weird, acid casualty, unstable and unpredictable. Freaky stories surround the man, perhaps mostly myth, but whatever the case, his music often proves compelling and inspired.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vV8KvKYRxig&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vV8KvKYRxig&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-8187309096235540092009-05-27T20:01:00.000-07:002009-05-28T06:08:09.462-07:00I AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GHOST!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cinemassacre.com/gallery/Gallery_additions/photoshop_art/Ghostbusters_3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 322px;" src="http://cinemassacre.com/gallery/Gallery_additions/photoshop_art/Ghostbusters_3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I got wind of the news that GHOSTBUSTERS III is in production. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghostbusters </span>franchise is great. I'm afraid I can't say the same for this poster though. Now that really is kind of scary. I just saw Ernie Hudson in a Broadway production of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/oct/04/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries">August Wilson</a>'s <span style="font-style: italic;">Joe Turner's Come and Gone</span>. And he co-starred with <a href="http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/cutty.shtml">Chad L. Coleman, who played one of my favorite characters on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wire</span>, Cutty</a> (the ex-con turned boxing coach). Back to <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghostbusters</span>, you can't really go wrong with <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/1380/saturday-night-live-bill-murrays-apology">Bill Murray</a>. I just saw him in <span style="font-style: italic;">Limits of Control</span>. I actually like Jim Jarmusch, but his last bunch of films have been lost in pretension and this script is no exception. I will say that he made excellent choices in production: cinematographer Christoper Doyle captures the beauty of Seville Spain and renders a fascinatingly modern universe - the envornments are more interesting than the script itself, like the industrial landscape they pass by on the train ride or all those ultra-modern airports. Plus he gets to shoot a great cast: Tilda Swinton, Gael Garcia Bernal, John Hurt, Kudo Yuki, an incredibly interesting face in Isaach De Bankolé, and an incredible ass (whole package actually) in <a href="http://www.filmcatcher.com/uploads/img/Limits_of_Control-Paz_De_La_Huerta.jpg">Paz de la Huerta</a>. Jarmusch is very much about homage and his use of de la Huerta reminded me a little bit of <a href="http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/images/michaelwalford/2007/09/03/bardot_and_god_created_woman_1.jpg">Bardot in Contempt</a>. Anyway, it's been 20 years since the last <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghostbusters </span>film. A lot of the audience for the new film were barely alive when the first two films were released. The nature of media is different now. I'm just imagining what it would have been like if they had released an <span style="font-style: italic;">Easy Rider part 2</span> in 1988. And the "I ain't afraid of no ghost" refrain reminds me of that comic genius Mantan Moreland.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.serialexperience.com/image_gallery/Mantan_Moreland.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 243px;" src="http://www.serialexperience.com/image_gallery/Mantan_Moreland.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> He was almost one of the Three Stooges! amazing for a black comedian in the 50's. He was in those Charlie Chan movies and East Side Kid pictures and he ended his career in the incredible <span style="font-style: italic;">Spider Baby</span>:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zIKaDi-iW9s&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zIKaDi-iW9s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />One of my favorite Moreland performances is how I menatlly connected him to <span style="font-style: italic;">Ghostbuster</span> - his show stealing turn in <span style="font-style: italic;">King of the Zombies</span>:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZHe1J5e2Aqo&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZHe1J5e2Aqo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-25052440570127296832009-05-26T18:46:00.000-07:002009-05-26T20:01:01.458-07:00MORE MONKEY ROCK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.monkeyheaven.com/masaaki_monkeydance.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 294px;" src="http://www.monkeyheaven.com/masaaki_monkeydance.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Speaking of monkeys and rock and roll (the previous post), I remembered that great sub-genre <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_Sounds">Japanese GS</a> (group Sounds): Japanese 60's garage and psych music. <a href="http://www.kiwi-us.com/%7Ehitomi/spiders.htm">The Spiders</a> largely spearheaded the sound of Japanese GS. Check out this opening of one of their many rock and roll movies: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sGactojjARE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sGactojjARE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> The Song is "Akai Dress no onna no ko wa" - The Girl in the Red Dress. A great prototype of psych/garage/powerpop with distinctly Japanese nasal vocals. The crazy thing about this clip is that the title "Road to Bali" comes up. Hey wait a minute! That was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_to_Bali">Hope and Crosby </a>vehicle! How uncanny that The Spiders had a single (pictured above) of a song called "Monkey Dance" b/w the dance floor mover <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNJSfA_FIM4">"Furi Furi"</a> (Shake Shake). There's actually a more frenetic version of Furi Furi than the one on the single. Notice the two lead singers on the cover aping the movements (couldn't resist) of primates to perform the monkey dance. In the 70's the more clownish of the two singers (the one slightly more upright on the record cover) <a href="http://www.monkeyheaven.com/masaaki.html">Masaaki Sakai</a>, would star in the super popular <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_%28TV_series%29">Monkey TV show</a>, based on the Chinese classic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West">Journey to the West </a>about the mischievous monkey king Sun Wu Kong. Monkey was broadcast in Australia and the U.K. where it enjoyed almost as much popularity as it did in Japan. Meanwhile the states got Ultraman and Tesujim 28 (Gigantor).<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZlWaTAZUxUQ&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZlWaTAZUxUQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-9493488825786284702009-05-24T16:08:00.000-07:002009-05-26T15:54:51.318-07:00MONKEY ROCKS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/images/FF_2009_DJ_ms_420x421.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 236px;" src="https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/images/FF_2009_DJ_ms_420x421.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />When I started up this little cyberspot I just gave it the first name that came to mind: Rockin' Monkey. I've always liked monkeys and rock and roll - the two go together so well. And we're talking real rock and roll - that means from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCH_n9CTTbA">Louis Jordan</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Feq_Nt3nM">Big Joe Turner</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUKUt8CtSOI">Bo Diddley</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM6nasmkg7A">The MC5</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw6Fjo6VXTg">The Sonics</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmSToIqtjQM">The Mummies</a>, NOT <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEKUmzJO54Y">Huey Lewis and the News</a> (although I love that story about how their sound truck <a href="http://www.sharevirus.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=65164">picked up the hardcore band Impulse Manslaughter</a>, who were hitching with guitars in tow after their van broke down). <a href="http://wfmu.org/">WFMU</a> dj <a href="http://www.wfmu.org/spazz/">Dave the Spazz</a> is a great testament to how real rock and roll and primates of all sorts (especially chimps) are a perfect combination. I remember being at Dave's house for a party attended by the late great soul singer supreme <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_orgfkSHz44">Nathaniel Mayer</a> and he dug all the various monkey icons and decorations Dave had in his place. And I met <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy-hHRhmRqU">Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown</a> who saw the monkey cover art for a Dave the Spazz compilation tape (Monkey Fever volume 1 - volume 3 is pictured here and was his latest <a href="https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/premium_popup.php?p=504&pr=1">dj premium</a>) and he started laughing hysterically and uttered something about a cartoon with monkeys in it. But the name "Rockin' Monkey" is a bit lame. Maybe it's the apostrophe, or just the crudity, or both. So I figured I'd switch it around, at least for the time being, to Monkey Rocks. I like that this configuration of the words is more ambiguous. And I also recall the early Australian punk band <a href="http://detailedtwang.blogspot.com/2009/02/breaking-78-sound-barrier-with-rocks.html">Rocks</a> that I first heard on the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9uTPgyYUGwP0W2j1bJUayhsFCo-ItRh5IJjqac8wnwEh_O4k-rYJjJlqKJTAOlneDaSVQGGLpro7AIqvMAKebHOtJHkbo9xmE6fLuf9jHy6lPvZJsHztDgkGRHGUkDkIiEz_/s400/Feel+Lucky+Punk+Front+2.jpg">"Feel Lucky Punk?" compilation</a>. I showed it to my friend Mick from <a href="http://www.myspace.com/spacejuniors">The Space Juniors</a> and he laughed because he used to play shows with Rocks and made funny impressions of them, telling me how they had handlebar mustaches and were awkwardly macho. But while Rocks might be a great choice of words, the blog name is still kind of lame. Feel free to comment with suggestions, or hate mail, or whatever...Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-22476550783834716792009-05-18T16:10:00.000-07:002009-05-18T17:27:14.341-07:00STICK IT TO THE MAN<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejSGGP7M_8-9k4_O8ZpG-JClQq5vTvilGQ_pD0wAB0b1HUXwD4zLSmYD7LjeO8RImqGdp198TzBMIOh2CI_up_wGGgzES3C8aPctmNITWmrY4c9JLGq3rOZOowZUPYMzmQPE0-g/s1600/BLOWOUT.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejSGGP7M_8-9k4_O8ZpG-JClQq5vTvilGQ_pD0wAB0b1HUXwD4zLSmYD7LjeO8RImqGdp198TzBMIOh2CI_up_wGGgzES3C8aPctmNITWmrY4c9JLGq3rOZOowZUPYMzmQPE0-g/s1600/BLOWOUT.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The first folks I saw when i got to the Born Loose show the other night were the blogmasters of <a href="http://ivanlandia1.blogspot.com/">Ivanlandia</a> and <a href="http://ottomannixreport.blogspot.com/">The Otto Mannix Report</a>. They told me about their spanking brand new blog collaboration on biker movies: <a href="http://ivanlandia1.blogspot.com/2009/05/and-we-wanna-get-loaded-national-film.html">BIKER MOVIE BLOWOUT</a>. The ensuing conversation was a litany of title-dropping. "Did you mention <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nQDGTli3uc"><span style="font-style: italic;">Werewolves on Wheels</span></a>"; "What about the one with Joe Namath?" (<span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUb0EIRhkc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26q%3D%2522cc%2520%2526%2520company%2522%2520trailer%26sa%3DN%26tab&feature=player_embedded">CC & Company</a> </span>- featuring a performance by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh0-zb3eWsw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF-8%26q%3DWayne%2520Cochran%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwv%26um%3D1&feature=player_embedded">Wayne Cochran</a>); <span style="font-style: italic;">"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnGzl-OEyGE">The Wild Angels</a> </span>is the cream of the crop"; "That one with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IzCyp-dwbs">Harry Dean</a>, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFBf6g1mN6A">The Rebel Rousers</a>, </span>was such a bore<span style="font-style: italic;">;</span> "Is this one a biker movie?" (e.g. <span style="font-style: italic;">Mad Max </span>- answer: no, it's a post-apocalyptic cop revenge movie. The outlaw bikers are only villains, and not the main characters); "Some of the best are actually hybrids" (<span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Brm7OGii0">Hells Angels 69</a> </span>is a biker-cum-heist movie). I didn't even realize that the master of Ivanlandia had actually curated a biker series at Anthology in 1990. I'm sorry I missed it. I feel like such a dolt.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-67840300624526281552009-05-17T15:01:00.000-07:002009-05-17T16:15:23.963-07:00THE DEVIL'S WORK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rudosandrubes.com/images/devilBornWithoutHorns/cover_large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 312px;" src="http://www.rudosandrubes.com/images/devilBornWithoutHorns/cover_large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The moment I met <a href="http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/28/l_ac26f1ae095e24461264c15e0aae33a7.jpg">Michael Lucas</a> I felt a brotherly kinship to him. He's one of the funniest people I've ever met, which puts him alongside <a href="http://www.vaginaldavis.com/">Miss Vaginal Creme Davis</a>. Their style of humor is somewhat different, but they share an innate ability to amuse off the cuff, never affected, but seldom out of character. Of course in Miss Davis' case, the characters are multiple. I haven't seen Mike for a few years, but you can imagine my excitement when I discovered he had published a novel via the display at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/St.%20Mark%27s%20Bookshop">St. Mark's Bookshop</a>. I've known he was a writer since I met him, and used to read him in <a href="http://maximumrocknroll.com/">Maximum Rock and Roll</a>, but this was the first I'd heard of him authoring a full tome. Topping it off was the wonderfully crude retro cover art that references <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucha_libre">luche libre</a> wrestling. Mike's sardonic sense of humor and incredibly astute social insights are intact in this thoroughly enjoyable read. The tale is set in the 90's and concerns a film school grad who gets a job delivering modern furniture to a mostly insufferable shi shi clientele. His boss is a clueless queen and his partner in schlepping is a daft Englishman. I know that Mike was (might still be) a furniture mover, and wonder how much of the autobiographical bits extend to the extraneous characters. One choice moment is when our protagonist encounters a young coed from school, now a committed junkie. She pretentiously name-drops Burroughs, to which the main character asks "Edgar Rice?" It's a 'can't put it down' sort of read, with a dark overtone and depressing ending. Overall, it's a hilarious and biting commentary on how inane life can be. I know Mike is rather obsessed with <a href="http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/basement/5706/collectors.html">South American garage music</a> and pop culture in general, so the allusions to Mexican wrestling made perfect sense. The wry descriptions of San Fransisco in the 90's, especially the 'hipster' scene, brought on euphoric laughter. Mike published this on his own press, Rudos and Rubes. Rudos are the bad guys in Mexican wrestling. I believe <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n-L4b5Pjxo">Black Shadow</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXdXOXuc4Gc&feature=related">Blue Demon</a> were both rudos, although Blue Demon might have switched sides at some point. A rube is defined as an "Awkward and unsophisticated' person. That of course maintains Mike's scathing sense of irony, since obviously us <a href="http://www.rudosandrubes.com/">Rudos and Rubes</a> readers are highly sophisticated.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-42467208522573727372009-05-17T10:23:00.000-07:002009-05-17T19:03:42.146-07:00BORN LOOSE?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/85/l_730233680d344cc792236f6a9132307b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 395px;" src="http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/85/l_730233680d344cc792236f6a9132307b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://rockinmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/02/attack-of-rock-and-roll-polar-bear.html">The </a><a href="http://rockinmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/02/attack-of-rock-and-roll-polar-bear.html">Candy Snatchers</a> are one of my all-time favorite bands. Desperate, insane, balls out punk rock; they put on some of the greatest live shows I've ever seen. Just under a year ago we lost Snatcher's legendary guitarist <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2008/07/love-70sera-rock-formed-guitarist">Matthew Odietus</a>. Now the Snatcher's just as legendary front man Larry May is back where he was born to be - on stage leading a raging band. They are Born Loose, though I wonder if they ever considered being The Born Loose. I wonder if there is a band called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRwrL9kDowE&feature=related">The Born Losers</a>, named after the Tom "Billy Jack" Laughlin biker movie. Digressions aside, the band was part of Dean Rispler's latest great rock show at The Trash Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Unfortunately I missed <a href="http://www.myspace.com/itsthemessaround">The Mess Around</a>, who friends said were tight and rocked the power chords. I went in as Larry was taking the stage with band beers in hand. The band includes <a href="http://www.myspace.com/sukemfer">Suke</a>, a great guitarist who played second guitar with the Snatchers at some point, not sure how many gigs. He is a confident player and must have listened to lots of hard rock and metal judging by his screaming solos. The rhythm section were in a band called <a href="http://www.myspace.com/novaexpress">Nova Express</a> that I'm not familiar with, but based on their heavy hammer style of playing they're obviously right for the part. They both looked pretty jovial. The drummer sported a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHJOj9qeXSg">Two Thousand Manics</a> t-shirt and the bass player's hair sort of reminded me of Pedro Ramone's - in a good way. As the band finished tuning up and making the appropriate pre-set instrument noises Larry started to tell this story about his old friend Chris Kuchar (sp? I don't think the guy's name is really the same as that of the incredible <a href="http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/26/kuchar1.html">Kuchar Brothers</a>). Seems ol' pessimistic Chris once retorted to Larry's casual 'What a nice day' comment by saying 'Larry, if it's so nice, why don't you fuck the day.' Larry told the story in the way that only Larry can. He had a few drinks but was rather lucid at this point, yet still managed to elongate the simple tale in an amusing manner. At one point Dean yelled from the sound booth 'Hey Larry, that's really interesting. Tell us more.' A frustrated Larry responded to Dean by inserting the words god damn and fucking into a phrase of gratitude, then they launched into a great, straight-ahead uptempo number. The first song was a good indication that Born Loose retains the Candy Snatchers penchant for high octane music, but also showed a little more influence of 70's rock. I suppose The Faces are the source of some inspiration. They don't sound like Stewart and co. per se but did have plenty of breakdown parts that allowed songs to coast for a while with some guitar licks and calmer vocals and then explode once again in a rave-up ending. Not nearly as wild as a vintage Snatchers show of course, but they did keep the energy high and did too well picked Snatchers songs: <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm a Bastard</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Doin' Time (With you).</span> As the show went on Larry's between song banter became more and more like that of James Brown. Apparently down in Larry's home town of Virginia Beach, when you're fucked-up and rambling on uninteligibly they call it 'speaking mayonnaise.' In any case, Larry Mayo rules. After the show I found out they'd only practiced five times before this impressive first gig. I look forward to more Born Loose.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-69443354471580083142009-01-19T17:26:00.000-08:002011-02-13T10:27:27.232-08:00The Brooklyn Rail on Asian film and more...Below are links to most (if not all) the film pieces I've published in the Brooklyn rail. Enjoy...<br /><ol style="font-weight: bold;"><li style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/12/film/apoorva-lakhia-with-david-wilentz"><span style="font-size:78%;">Apoorva Lakhia with David Wilentz</span></a><br /></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/03/film/gauze-manga-and-delinquency">Gauze, Manga and Delinquency, Tadanobu Asano with David Wilentz</a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/04/film/wilentz">Alex Cox with David Wilentz</a><br /></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/02/film/watermelon-time">WATERMELON TIME! The Plastic Fantastic Universe of Tsai Ming Liang</a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/05/film/brute-force-1947-i-criterion-collection-">Brute Force</a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/06/film/more-freedom-and-more-shocking">More Freedom and More Shocking<span></span></a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/04/film/dvd-culture-how-pink-got-so-violent-a-guide-to-japanese-female-exploitation-films-of-the-70-rsquo-s-on-dvd-by-david-wilentz">How Pink Got So Violent: A guide to Japanese female exploitation films of the 70’s on DVD</a><br /></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/11/film/dvd-culture-jigoku-criterion-collection">DVD Culture: JIGOKU</a><br /></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/10/film/dream-so-real">Dream So Real - An Interview with Miwa Nishikawa</a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/06/film/new-york-asian-film-festival">New York Asian Film Festival 2008</a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/07/film/japan-cuts">Japan Cuts</a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/09/film/johnnie-to-in-charge">Johnnie To In Charge<span style="font-style: italic;"><span></span></span></a></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/12/film/i-pretty-poison-i-20th-century-fox">Pretty Poison</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/03/film/imamura-retrospective-at-bam">Imamura Retrospective at BAM</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/10/film/elephants-ass-kicking">Elephants & Ass-Kicking: Tony Jaa & Jet Li</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/07/film/languid-winds-and-daring-kimonos">Languid Winds and Daring Kimonos</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/02/film/dawn-of-japanese-animation">Dawn of Japanese Animation</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/05/film/the-unseen-and-the-unspoken-the-films-of-lee-chang-dong">The Unseen and the Unspoken: The Films of Lee Chang Dong</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/05/film/silent-ozu-box-late-ozu-box">Silent Ozu & Late Ozu box sets</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/09/film/i-roman-porno-i-to-i-desu-noto-i-the-ody">Roman-Porno to Desu Noto - The Odyssey of Shusuke Kaneko</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/11/film/kawaii-unchained-sailor-suit-machine-gun">KAWAII Unchained: Sailor Suit & Machine Gun</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/07/film/french-noir-and-flying-swordsmen">French Noir and Flying Swordsmen</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/04/film/blacktop">Two Lane Blacktop</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/07/film/tatsuya-nakadai-retrospective">Tatsuya Nakadai Retrospective</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/03/film/mavericks-from-the-east-and-last-of-the-independents-against-the-tide-rebels-and-mavericks-in-contemporary-japanese-film">Mavericks from the East and Last of the Independents</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/05/film/noir-at-the-film-forum">Noir At the Film Forum</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/09/film/princes-and-assassins">Princes and Assassins</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2005/11/film/the-absolute-cool-of-death-and-horses">The Absolute Cool of Death and Horses</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2005/09/film/samurai-flashback">SAMURAI FLASHBACK</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/02/film/dvd">DVD CULTURE SAMURAIs</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/06/film/the-turntable">The Turntable Is The Cosmos: Asian Summer in New York</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/11/film/old-fashioned-gore-and-familiar-tropes-t">Old Fashioned Gore and Familiar Tropes: The 2006 NYC Horror Film Festival</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/02/film/monsters-and-madmen-box">Monsters and Madmen box</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/02/film/yojimbo">Yojimbo/Sanjuro: Two Films by Akira Kurosawa<br /></a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/03/film/yakuza-films-at-the-asia-society">Yakuza Films at the Asia Society</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/07/film/dvd_culture_july">Burst City</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/03/film/takashi-miike-takes-new-york">Takashi Miike Takes New York</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/06/film/hausu-party">Hausu Party (HOUSE from Japan is THE CRAZIEST MOVIE EVER)<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/06/film/in-league-with-satan">In League with Satan (House of the Devil)</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/09/film/10-true-90-lies">10% True, 90% Lies interview with Sion Sono</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/10/music/in-conversation-the-naked-heroes-with-david-wilentz">The Naked Heroes with David Wilentz</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2010/07/film/japan-cuts-">Japan Cuts 2010</a></span></span></span></li><li style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span><a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2010/06/film/wild-boars-run-amok-the-2o1o-ny-asian-film-festival">WILD BOARS RUN AMOK: THE 2010 NY ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL</a><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></li></ol>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-5215135890505713542008-11-24T05:19:00.000-08:002009-05-23T17:38:49.223-07:00TATTOOED HITMEN ONLINE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://patrickmacias.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/05/tate350.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 302px;" src="http://patrickmacias.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/05/tate350.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In the wake of Bruce Lee's worldwide success came the x-rated violence of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=537MurkV2uU">Sonny Chiba</a> and more stateside exploitation of Asian action (e.g. <a href="http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/09/film/princes-and-assassins">Shogun Assassin</a>). It seems there was only one low-brow attempt to cash-in on yakuza films (Schrader's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yakuza"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Yakuza</span></a> don't count) : TATTOOED HIT MAN! That's Bunta Sugawara brandishing the smoking gun. The original film is the 1974 modern yakuza yarn <span style="font-style: italic;">Yamaguchi-gumi gaiden: Kyushu shinko-sakusen</span> - a mouthfull of a title which as far as I can suss out is along the lines of 'Yamaguchi Gang tale: Invasion of Kyushu.' New Line dubbed it in English and re-named Bunta 'Bud.' It's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tattooed-Hitman-Bunta-Sugawara/dp/6304266391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1227534640&sr=8-1">available on VHS only</a> but you can watch it widescreen on Netflix.<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gU_aN1JUo70&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gU_aN1JUo70&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>The skinny from <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1569316813.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg">Patrick Macias</a> is that New Line was actually trying to start a boom off of the Schrader penned film. Sydney Pollack is a respected director but his films were often <a href="http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/tootsie-DVDcover.jpg">wincingly trite and stylistically constipated</a>. You'd hope a team of writers like Paul and Leonard Scrader (both <a href="http://www.paulschrader.org/articles/1974-FCYakuza.html">deeply invested in yakuza-eiga</a>) and Robert Towne would ensure a compelling film but my memory of it was ho-hum at best. Anyhow, New Line figured they'd go the easy route - what they sort of did with Sonny Chiba's <span style="font-style: italic;">Street Fighter </span>- dub an existing movie in English. This time they got Jack Sholder (who would go on to direct <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7R7YB_338o&feature=related">The Hidden</a> </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Nightmare on Elm Street 2</span>) to re-write and edit. Apparently they just ditched the whole last reel in which Kyushu is invade. What you do get is a transgressive caricature of a gangster potboiler. Those dubbed voices sound familiar. It's got to be same team that did <span style="font-style: italic;">Street Fighter</span>. Does the guy doing Bunta actually talk like that or is he trying to sound Japanese? Or does he think this is a spaghetti western and he's playing a Mexican revolutionary? The original film itself was a cash-in on Fukasaku's 'true-document' masterpiece <span style="font-style: italic;">Battles Without Honor And Humanity</span>, which is notorious for it's crude foul mouth characters. The dubbing is perfectly primed for <a href="http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/Deuce/42.html">the deuce</a> with all the 'motherfuckers' and other insults worthy of a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr5WWakDt38&feature=related">Dolemite</a> game of the dozens. And the way this film looks now (slightly worn, replete with a few jumpy edits, etc.) is exactly what those guys tried to do with that grind house double movie. In essence it's an (unintentional) action comedy that features anarchic thugs, loose women, a VD gag (again, unintentional), misogyny, gunfights, moral bankruptcy, and barely a thread of plot. Nevertheless, most of the Netflix customers who commented gave it bad reviews...And following the previous video nostalgia post, this was released on VHS by <a href="http://patrickmacias.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/05/tathype350.jpg">Wizard Video</a>.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-85897536319021159362008-11-22T06:46:00.000-08:002008-11-23T04:43:53.420-08:00SLEAZY SEGUE EXTRA: VIDEO NOSTALGIA<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.critcononline.com/images/raw%20force%20media%20vhs%20front.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 296px;" src="http://www.critcononline.com/images/raw%20force%20media%20vhs%20front.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The stream of consciousness continues to flow. The previous post's reminiscence of film flotsam such as <span style="font-style: italic;">Firecracker </span>brought back a flood of video rental memories. For instance, speaking of <span style="font-style: italic;">Firecracker</span>, mention must be made of <span style="font-style: italic;">Raw Force</span>, the zombie martial arts movie made in tandem with the former, also featuring the alluring Kesner in the cast alongside B-movie vet Cameron Mitchell (who might deserve his own post) and a bunch of kung fu no names. This one actually had TV commercials! This brings to mind a film that came out around the same time that never made it on video here and remains shrouded in obscurity, despite its incredible title: <span style="font-style: italic;">Karate Killers on Wheels</span>. This was in New York area theaters circa 1980 or 82 and <a href="http://www.joebobbriggs.com/">Joe Bob Briggs</a> raved about it. Still, no one else seems to remember it and it doesn't seem easy to find. From what I've sussed out it's a violent biker~martial arts movie made in 1976 by none other than Shaw Brothers, also released as simply <span style="font-style: italic;">Killers on Wheels</span>. The only sign of any video ever being available seems to be in German (sans subs). <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.celestialpictures.com/images/films/other/poster/176020%20op.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 285px;" src="http://www.celestialpictures.com/images/films/other/poster/176020%20op.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Chinese title is "Wu Fa Wu Tian" which means something along the lines of "Totally Unlawful." Celestial Pictures, who now <a href="http://rockinmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/11/sleaze-report-poison-woman-from-hong.html">own the Shaw library</a>, have it <a href="http://www.celestialpictures.com/level3_search_detail.cfm?l_movie_id=SL176020">listed on their website</a>. Wouldn't it be nice if some DVD distributor picks it up? Apparently it features actress <a href="http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/images/people/large/lauweiyue_92d58278a135a0dfc0a68fa801de40cf.jpg">Liu Hui Ru</a>, who played 'Princess Dragon Mom' in the incredible <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okxWjilRY3s"><span style="font-style: italic;">Inframan</span></a>. Back when Sneak Previews was still on channel 13 (public television) and <a href="http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/siskelfilmcenter/">Siskel</a> and Ebert made snarky comments at each other, they did a great 'guilty pleasures' episode on which they featured Van Peebles seminal blaxploitation outcry<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><em>Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song</em> and the Shaw Brothers cash-in on <span style="font-style: italic;">Ultraman</span>, featuring Bruce Lee imitator <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwtAGUqkHQk">Bruce Li</a> (Ho Chung Dao) as the titular <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Inframan</span>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/SuperInframanposter.jpg/420px-SuperInframanposter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 285px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/SuperInframanposter.jpg/420px-SuperInframanposter.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Anyway, the advent of home video in the 80's was the first death knell for grindhouse exploitation pictures. A ripe catalog of juicy taboo-defying genre films made there way into homes. I remember looking at an early video catalog that featured provocative titles such as <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-DfLCGZxz0">The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula</a> </span>and <a href="http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/t-z/torturechamberdeathsmiles6773.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism</span></a>. The avatars of distribution included major and indie labels, both mirroring the sleazy marketing tactics of exploitation days of yore. Paragon Video remains endearingly carved in the memory for their copious and diverse low-budget fare, big boxes and close to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK5CYTtdSBc&feature=related">15 minutes of lurid trailers on every tape</a>. Titles included the gloriously shameless <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXHCyFB1FXk"><span style="font-style: italic;">One Armed Executioner</span></a>, about an Interpol agent on a Death Wish styled mission of vengeance; Lucio Fulci's gratuitously gory <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUrv8awJJUs">The Gates of Hell</a>; </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc6TYHttAlo&feature=related">Weird run-of-the-mill b-movie fare</a> like <span style="font-style: italic;">Hotwire</span>, a southern fried potboiler about car thieves. Check out this <a href="http://www.critcononline.com/video_companies_cover_art.htm#Budget%20Labels">incredible online gallery of vintage VHS box art</a>.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.critcononline.com/images/one%20armed%20executioner%20vhs%20front3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 469px;" src="http://www.critcononline.com/images/one%20armed%20executioner%20vhs%20front3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-90615954359476726782008-11-16T19:13:00.000-08:002008-11-23T05:08:31.607-08:00SLEAZY SEGUE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.pinky-violence.com/imx/films/sexfury/sexfury_poster01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 432px;" src="http://www.pinky-violence.com/imx/films/sexfury/sexfury_poster01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Following the stream of consciousness from the previous post about <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death</span>, the mention of Swedish sexpot Christina Lindberg brings us to <span style="font-style: italic;">Sex and Fury</span>, a pinky violence co-opt of the popular <a href="http://www.brns.com/japan/pages1/japan29.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Red Peony </span>female gambler series</a>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Sex and Fury </span>(the original title is something like 'Story of delinquent elder sister Ocho') features voluptuous (and shameless) <a href="http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/529250.jpg">Reiko Ike</a> as the sexy Ocho who is an expert card sharp, pickpocket and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28RC0y_PKO8">kicks ass at nude swordfighting</a>. Speaking of fighting in the nude, does anyone remember Cirio H. Santiago's <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiNrKuFQhyI">Firecracker</a> </span>(aka <span style="font-style: italic;">Naked Fist</span>) starring <a href="http://www.jilliankesner.com/index.htm">Jillian Kesner</a>? It features a memorable scene in which Kesner's character, a martial arts expert searching for her sister, is assaulted and ends up defending herself while each item of clothing is cut off her body, one by one. Apparently <a href="http://video48.blogspot.com/2008/10/cirio-h-santiago-72.html">Santiago</a> (a journeyman director of Filipino exploitation cinema who just passed away September 26th) knew this was a good idea when he tried it the first time in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8hVf9o_HRA"><span style="font-style: italic;">TNT Jackson</span></a>, featuring Jeannie Bell, one of the first African American playmates of the month. Actually, I think <span style="font-style: italic;">Firecracker </span>is a remake of <span style="font-style: italic;">Jackson</span>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MG/193387%7ETNT-Jackson-Posters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 341px;" src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MG/193387%7ETNT-Jackson-Posters.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>ANYWAY, Lindberg appears in SEX & FURY as a foreign gambler put in more than one compromising position during the course of the film's lurid action/comedy/sex combo. <span style="font-style: italic;">S & F </span>is a low-brow good time helmed by legendary Japanese exploitation auteur Norifumi Suzuki. I thought it was a funny coincidence that there's a character with the same name in Japan's domestic blockbuster of a few years back, (the insufferably saccharine) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtquCdmu-_0"><span style="font-style: italic;">Always: Sunset on Third</span></a>. To its merit <span style="font-style: italic;">Always </span>does feature a nice recreation of postwar Tokyo, an interesting inversion: artificial design of a setting associated with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9805LvrMiw8">neo-realism</a>. Nostalgic indeed. Anyway, enough with the digressions. In the 'Japanese Cult, Pulp and Exploitation Cinema' class I've been co-teaching we just screened <span style="font-style: italic;">School of the Holy Beast</span>, a rousing <a href="http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/nunsploitation-c-25_16.html?sort=2d&page=1">nunsploitation</a> film by Mr. Suzuki. Here's some of the info I provided the students:<br /><br /><style></style><div><em>School of the Holy Beast</em> (<em>Seiju Gakuen</em>) (1974) director Norifumi Suzuki was a screenwriter first who worked on yakuza, chanbara, karate, exploitation, sexploitation and such genre films. Suzuki wrote some of the Red Peony scripts and directed the second installment, <em>Gambler's Obligation</em>. His niece is none other than Oryu herself <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU7JCA2DSWw">Junko Fuji</a>. Suzuki directed his fare share of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydG_DYNt4pI">pinky violence</a> ( a lot of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnLL9zqOY_s">sukeban</a>) films and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAEABHMiycU">Sonny Chiba</a> movies. He also directed the popular <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtIprkxUVXY">Truck Yaro (Truck Rascals)</a> </em>series about renegade truck drivers, featuring yakuza eiga stalwart Bunta Sugawara. Suzuki's serial killer film <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwiDx6fKf7M">Star of David: Beauty Hunting</a> </em>is even more infamous (and shocking) than his foray into nunsploitation. Suzuki also claims credit for introducing the term 'porno' to Japan (an alternative to the common expression 'pinku').<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000AOD5S.09.LZZZZZZZ.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 227px; height: 325px;" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000AOD5S.09.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div> <div> </div> <div><br /><em>Holy Beast </em>featured the debut of lovely lead Yumi Takigawa. Takigawa was scouted off the streets of the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. She went on to appear in other genre films such as <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEkOK3byZP0">Graveyard of Honor</a> </em>(yakuza film by Kinji Fukasaku), <em>Bullet Train </em>(Sonny Chiba has to rescue a hijacked bullet train from bomber <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4hi0OPF4nU">Ken Takakura</a>), and <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K0VaKSM48Q">Karate Bear Fighter</a></em>. Takigawa also had the honor of reviving the role of scorpion in 1976's <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITX1nnhA1uE">New Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701</a></em> after Meiko Kaji departed the series. She went on to a successful TV career and forged an image antithetical to that of a pinky violence starlet, enhancing the cult value of<em> Holy Beast </em>(because of her rare risqué performance).<br /><br /><br /></div>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-7278789698006096042008-11-03T05:43:00.000-08:002008-11-15T19:55:47.726-08:00SLEAZE REPORT: POISON WOMAN FROM HONG KONG<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/images/movie/large/KissofDeath_3bebe50b31eca3f356b23445b5aa1665.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 431px;" src="http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/images/movie/large/KissofDeath_3bebe50b31eca3f356b23445b5aa1665.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>At the beginning of the millennium <a href="http://www.celestialpictures.com/level2_story.cfm">Celestial Pictures acquired the Shaw Brothers film library</a>, or at least a good chunk of it, including lots of classic kung fu, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia">wu xia</a>, and other cool genre stuff. There has since been revival series and foreign region DVD releases as well as Shaw Brothers documentaries on cable TV. In the past few years various titles have been licensed to Dragon Dynasty, Image Entertainment and Media Blasters, allowing a slew of Shaw Brothers titles to pepper the DVD shelves. Image recently released <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death, </span>a tawdry exploitation film, offering a curious counter to all the standard martial arts fare. Granted this one has martial arts too, but that's not really the focal point of this gruesome venture.<br /><br />SPOILERS AHEAD - though in this kind of film you pretty much know what's going to happen before it starts...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death </span>is a rape-revenge movie. Ling is a young, attractive and pure factory worker. On her way home from work she is brutally violated by 5 slothering low-life criminals. She makes her way home to the silhouettes of her guardians (not sure if they're her actual parents or aunt and uncle). We only see their shadow through a paper screen as they admonish her for coming home late and say she should work as a bar girl to make more money. Poor traumatized and stigmatized Ling has no one to turn to. The original Chinese title is Du Nu, or "Poison Woman" and it's a double entendre. Soon Ling discovers she's contracted <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Vietnam%20Rose">Vietnam Rose</a>, a notorious strain of syphilis (apparently it's also the name of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Rose">Phillipino soap opera</a>). For the rest of the movie she suffers occasional attacks of the disease, feeling pain down there and treating it by popping some mysterious pills. It's very random and nonsensical, only adding to the gleefully sleazy exploitative thrills. Without giving the whole thing away (wait, what's there to give away?) Ling ends up working as a bar hostess (just as her uncaring caregivers suggested) in order to seek out her attackers and extract revenge. The gimp but badass bar owner, played by Kung Fu movie stalwart <a href="http://www.lovehkfilm.com/people/lo_lieh.htm">Lo Lieh</a>, becomes her martial arts mentor. The training scenes are pretty entertaining because at first he shows little of that "I don't hit women" attitude, simply knocking her down until she's fierce enough to counter his attacks. <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death </span>glides along by the numbers at a typically fervent but deliberate Shaw pace. The melodramatic tones are amped-up : lurid colors shrouded in shadows, super-groovy canned music, and last but not least overwrought emotions Chinese style. The villains, plucked from <a href="http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/images/people/large/magnificent-butcher-022_e7b0b8df65ffa147537c694219bbab47.jpg">central casting</a> (meaning Hong Kong alleyways), are hopelessly sleazy and evil, chewing up the scenery. There's a great psychedelic club scene where the baddies drug a couple of young co-eds and frame them into being sex workers, while our heroine infiltrates the party on her mission of vengeance. Completely ridiculous and devoid of any metaphorical value, <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death </span>simultaneously delivers on its promise of (unintentional) high camp and disturbing gritty action. <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss </span>is not as imaginative as some of those <a href="http://brooklynrail.org/2006/04/film/dvd-culture-how-pink-got-so-violent-a-guide-to-japanese-female-exploitation-films-of-the-70-rsquo-s-on-dvd-by-david-wilentz">pinky violence</a> films, but in some ways it's actually better than the legendary <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INtW9pe_PtM">They Call Her One Eye</a> </span>because that Swedish exploiter is a little too far fetched. It doesn't make sense that the titular One-Eye, played by lovely Lolita <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/christinalindberg">Christina Lindberg</a>, is supposed to be an enslaved prostitute, yet is allowed free time (and salary) to go out and hire men to train her in guns and martial arts to wreak vengeance. It dilutes the tension big time. The fascinating thing about <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">They Call Her </span>One Eye </span><span>though</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, </span>is that the director, like <a href="http://www.herschellgordonlewis.com/films.htm">H.G. Lewis</a> and Dave Friedman did with the gore film, deliberately set out to cash in on a low-budget, taboo-breaking <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.grindhousedatabase.com/images/Thriller1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 374px;" src="http://www.grindhousedatabase.com/images/Thriller1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>twisted twist on a fairy-tale. And it worked. Seen in its original 42nd street grindhouse context, the impact must've been ten fold more shocking and entertaining. As for <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death</span>, its tawdriness is di riguer for Hong Kong cinema, particularly at that time. Now I have to get my hands on a DVD of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_IUfLSDkeQ"><span style="font-style: italic;">Sexy Killer</span></a>, the sleazy Hong Kong remake of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786436093/">Jack Hill</a> helmed Pam Grier vehicle, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jVAIitIP-4"><span style="font-style: italic;">Coffy</span></a>. Chen Ping, star of both <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of Death </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">Sexy Killer</span>, boasts a <a href="http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=3296">filmography</a> chock full of genre and exploitation titles, from the kung fu spaghetti western <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzMsebACvhc">The Stranger and the Gunfighter</a> </span>(starring Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh) to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-HUPDYfva8&eurl=http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=1690"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Mighty Peking Man</span></a>.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-25529770546196134372008-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:002008-10-31T20:38:21.166-07:00TURKISH DEATH WISH!?!After all those posts on revenge movies look what I find...<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q55yd7-LGJU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q55yd7-LGJU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-14530569451872006372008-06-14T18:58:00.000-07:002008-06-16T16:54:14.580-07:00TRAILER FLASHHere is the trailer for the new Japanese low budget indie <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Bakabakance</span>. The title roughly means stupid dance. Baka (stupid) is a great overused Japanese word. Apparently the movie's about a road trip a guy takes with his co-worker and the ex-girlfriend who left him for another guy. Read about it at <a href="http://www.nipponcinema.com/news/because_everyone_loves_a_slacker_road_movie_heres_bakabakance/">Nippon Cinema</a>.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/saMJZ0A7FV0&hl=en"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/saMJZ0A7FV0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />And here's one with English subtitles for <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Good The Bad and the Weird</span>. I mentioned it earlier <a href="http://rockinmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/05/upcoming-cult-exploitation-titles.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/imgdpz_0m-8&hl=en"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/imgdpz_0m-8&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />More trailers <a href="http://rockinmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/02/its-ocd.html">here</a>.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-43103143211948829592008-06-07T05:49:00.000-07:002008-11-15T13:28:41.655-08:00MORE REVENGE: CHOP SOCKEY VINDICATIONKung fu film's wholesale use of vengeance as a plot device borders on self-parody. When the boom first went global in the early 70's vengeance was to wrong the evil doings of greedy oppressors. The Japanese were often targets, painted as the devilish scourge of modern China. Eventually films with higher production values, slightly more complex structures and less racially inspired themes would emerge, largely from the famed Shaw Brothers studios. Vengeance still ran rampant but style and choreography improved hand in hand. Directors like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lau_Kar_Leung">Liu Chia Liang</a>, <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/chang.html">Chang Che</a> and <a href="http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=1371">Chu Yuan</a> defined the sensibilities of the kung fu film goldmine that came out of the 70's and 80's.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.drunkenfist.com/img/movies/36th_chamber_of_shaolin_poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://media.drunkenfist.com/img/movies/36th_chamber_of_shaolin_poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978):</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>This is the quintessential kung fu film. Its aboutness is the meaning of kung fu itself. The bare bones political plot was inspired by what would become a preferred storyline in the films of Chang Che and other kung fu period directors: the struggle of native Chinese rebelling against the evil Manchus that ruled over them during the Qing dynasty. The Manchu's kill young would be rebel San Te's father. San Te, on a vengeance fueled quest to depose the Manchu's, escapes to the Shaolin temple to learn martial arts. But the film concentrates on what it means to gain high martial skills and the ideal way those skills should be used. Vengeance is a given, but is superseded by greater principles. The idea of fighting for the good of society as a whole ends up taking precedence over individualistic motives and desires.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://twitchfilm.net/site/images/mastheads/5superfighters01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://twitchfilm.net/site/images/mastheads/5superfighters01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">5 Superfighters (1978): </span>This enjoyable kung fu yarn is stripped down to its bare elements. An evil kung fu expert comes to town challenging anyone he deems to be of lesser skill. His mission, he claims, is to 'correct bad kung fu.' He beats the hell out of an elder teacher. The teacher's 3 young disciples each find another teacher and learn new techniques to teach the evil kung fu guy a lesson and serve retribution to their master. Minimizing the structures of an already formulaic genre renders 5 Superfighters a trope-driven comic book. Yet it also, believe it or not, offers one of the most existentialist kung fu movies ever made. Every character in this films exists by and for kung fu only. This of course allows for a lot of fun and interesting displays of martial arts. Some highlights include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3PA81ChQrA">the female kung fu master</a> and the exhibitions of monkey kung fu. The archetypical villain is excellent and defined completely by his pure, immoral, yet principled quest for 'perfect kung fu.'Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-46534460450395076692008-05-26T19:29:00.000-07:002009-05-17T18:58:10.625-07:00AN EYE FOR AN EYE: REVENGE FILMSVengeance is a primal instinct as well as a philosophically rich source of visceral drama. Revenge works in so many varied milieus, from kung fu and spaghetti westerns to corporate espionage and so on. Part of what makes revenge so fascinating is that it is ultimately futile; a vicious circle that may lead to catharsis, but does not necessarily bring about redemption or justice. Nevertheless, retribution fuels countless thrills throughout cinema. Below is the start of a list of various revenge movies. Think of this as a potential syllabus for a class on revenge cinema or maybe worthy of discussion in a book. Please suggest some of your favorite revenge movies.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rolling Thunder (1977):</span> This tough film slowly boils over in outrage towards <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3857/rollingthunderposterah9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 333px;" src="http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3857/rollingthunderposterah9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>suffering, injustice and the American establishment in the Vietnam era. William Devane plays Major Rane, a returned POW who is honored as a hero by his hometown. However, soon after his homecoming Rane faces horrific tragedy in the face of a gang of greedy lowlifes. Paul Schrader's hardboiled script and John Flyn's taut direction translate angst and anomie into visceral mayhem. Tis a pity there's not an official U.S. DVD available.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/item/253/218/22/massacre_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/item/253/218/22/massacre_2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Massacre at Central High (1976): </span>This very strange low budget exploitation exercise concerns the dire consequences of bullying in high school. The universe of the film is self contained and detached; adults are never seen for the most part, while the cast appear to be more in their early 20's then actual teenagers. This isolation adds a stirring sense of claustrophobia. The whole production is off kilter and stilted in a way that makes it effectively disturbing. Director Renee Daalder was a protege of <a href="http://www.renedaalder.com/docs/05.html">Russ Meyer</a> and through Meyer came to work with The Sex Pistols. Daalder designed the "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLC3uT3aCoE">My Way</a>" sequence of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Great Rock And Roll Swindle</span>. Massacre At Central High is definitely a punk rock movie, if not musically both in spirit and aesthetic.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Bad Sleep Well</span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">(1960)</span> is Akira Kurosawa's take on Hamlet. Set in contemporary Japan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.toshiromifune.org/images/kurosawa%20postcards/card19.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 190px;" src="http://www.toshiromifune.org/images/kurosawa%20postcards/card19.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> with a backdrop of corporate intrigue, the story of a man's climb up the executive ladder unravels a quest for retribution. The links to Hamlet would seem to be patricide, conspiracy, introspection and doom. Kurosawa's always complex construction incorporates some heady social commentary. Apparently some inspiration came from headlines contemporaneous with the production. Kurosawa hits an intensely stirring, bleak tone. Mifune is excellent as always in the vengeance seeking Hamlet role. Kurosawa's sensitivity to human feelings raises complex moral issues. By weaving a tale that transcends the usual physical modes of revenge Kurosawa also defies expectations. The result is a philosophically provocative and cinematically striking thriller.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/johnny%20Hamlet111.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/johnny%20Hamlet111.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Do you think director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzo_G._Castellari">Enzo G. Castellari</a> saw the above Kurosawa film before he made the cheekily inspired spaghetti western <span style="font-weight: bold;">Johnny Hamlet (1968)</span>? Apparently it was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Corbucci">Sergio Corbucci</a>'s idea but he was to busy to realize it into fruition. Therefore Corbucci bequeathed the project onto Castellari. Johnny comes home after fighting in the civil war to find that his father was murdered and his mother married his Uncle Claudio. This is an exploitation film so it is very much about the physical modes of revenge. But so much of the source material is intact, including Hamlet's tortured soul, and, if I remember correctly, he does get visited by his father's ghost. There's an added Gothic tone to the production, wild colors and the like, plus some rowdy fist fights thrown in for macho good measure. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ0i4w18m9g">trailer</a> is pretty psychedelic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.vafilm.com/1995/images/once_upon_a_time.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.vafilm.com/1995/images/once_upon_a_time.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>Probably the most influential spaghetti western with a revenge plot-line is the Leone masterpiece <span style="font-weight: bold;">Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)</span>. Haunting theme music enforces the mythical mystique of Charles Bronson's vengeance seeking loner known as 'Harmonica.' And of course <a href="http://www.joebobbriggs.com/drivein/2003/charlesbronson.html">Bronson</a> went on to become the icon of revenge for his star turn in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Death Wish </span><span>films<span style="font-style: italic;">. </span></span><span><span>He publicly denounced the vigilantism of his Death Wish character in the wake of the <a href="http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id311.htm">Bernhard Goetz</a> incident. Death wish director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Winner">Michael Winner</a> had worked with Bronson 2 years earlier on the revenge tinged action film <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Mechanic (1972)</span>. The laconic hitman Bronson plays helped seal his on-screen persona of a no-nonsense anti-heroic badass. So the question arises: What is the most identifiable face of revenge floating in our collective consciousness? From the Bronson perspective it would seem to be someone at piece with themselves; someone who understands the meaning of restraint. But circumstances beyond their control exhaust that restraint. In the Mechanic the concept of vengeance is played out more existentially. For Bronson and Jan Michael Vincent's character revenge becomes a game of cat and mouse that defines </span></span><span><span>their lives. Winning the game somehow supersedes the moral and emotional impetus de riguer for the path of vindication.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://uashome.alaska.edu/%7EJndfg20/website/ladysnowblood.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://uashome.alaska.edu/%7EJndfg20/website/ladysnowblood.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span><span>Perhaps one of the most iconic and </span></span><span><span>beautiful </span></span><span><span>faces of vengeance belongs to the strikingly</span></span><span><span> stoic visage of Kaji Meiko. After establishing herself as an action star in films like <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-4MRXEb86k">Wandering Ginza Butterfly</a> </span>and Nikkatsu's juvenile delinquent <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmZDJSWYB44">Stray Cat Rock</a> </span>series, Ms. Kaji </span></span><span><span>starred in </span></span><span><span>several influential revenge films during the 70's. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lady Snowblood (1973)</span> is an ultra-violent samurai action tale based on an even more violent <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-nbTsuHz5PDLfPSjXddBbhbFTTfdScmSfIGg1TZKEKosKYCXjI_vRJu6mlkgUrxaEc8_z6pifZDRvyN2na8dAgmG5BL47_Y3wTLBrmPuHMz3Fn0adQShejjC8XujpfiEFTNLA/s1600-h/ladys2p4.jpg">manga</a></span></span> (and was the template for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kill Bill)</span>. Perhaps even more impressive (and also based on a manga - Japan has really cultivated comic book ultra-violence) is the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Female Convict Scorpion</span> series. These breakthrough women in prison films follow the blood-soaked path of Nami, a woman wronged by the evil and greed of others. They feature some of the wildest, over the top set pieces ever.<br /><br />Many more coming soon...Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35718097.post-51914062499159756822008-05-18T14:00:00.000-07:002008-05-24T05:03:58.751-07:00GOLDEN NIGHTSFriday night out on the town. Well,<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hookorcrook.com/pic1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.hookorcrook.com/pic1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Williamsburg that is, home of the affected hipster. <a href="http://b6.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/00043/69/48/43698496_l.jpg">Dean</a> and I went to Snacky. <a href="http://a222.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/40/l_c6cca1ed7b61f7e22868461cfbfbdbf5.jpg">Jimbo</a> from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Om0ihXkK0">Uncle Morty's Dub Shack</a> was sitting in the same seat as last time I was there. Maybe he has a share in the place. They were showing the Jackie Chan classic <a href="http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HpW9HhigLLE&feature=related">Young Master</a>. We had the Zatoichi special: $4 sake shot with a Tsingtao chaser. Dean, who is the mayor of <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/u9cc8as00w">coolsville</a> ran into about 5 people he knew while we drank and chomped down on fried rice and <a href="http://www.bob-an.com/recipe/dailyjc/ref/ramen/ramen.html">shoyu ramen</a>. Then we made our way down the street to <a href="http://thetrashbar.com/">Trash Bar</a>. We got there just in time for the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/imaginaryicons">Imaginary Icons</a>, Tom and Ted's band (I don't know the other two guys). They are reviving a genre that barely ever existed: neo British post punk. Think heavy influences of Wire, Swell Maps, etc. Maybe Mission of Burma was influenced by some of that stuff or had similar sensibilities but they remained fairly original. That was the thing with the first wave of post punk bands: the originality in an era of stale music. By stripping things down those early British bands allowed other complexities to emerge. Imaginary Icons are pretty good, and have interesting parts but I'm still waiting for that one hit song. It does seem like their almost putting on English accents. Maybe it's the familiar phrasing of their vocal lines and arrangements, I'm not sure. The Big Boys "<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/vsym7axog0">Heartbeat</a>" popped up on my ipod the following day and I realized that they were also playing with weird staccato rhythms while mixing musical genres, though their influences seemed more disparate, namely punk rock and funk/r & b. Next up was <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thegoldenboys">The Golden Boys</a> from Austin (pictured above). Don't know how to describe them exactly, somewhere between underground rock, country and a little bit of singer songwriter in a very disheveled sense (that's a good thing). They had a great, chaotic energy but managed to keep everything together despite the lead guitar struggling with his strap through the first two numbers. They had a keyboard player with a curly mustache and all four of the upright musicians assaulted the front of the stage in a happy melee of flailing limbs and twangy sounds while the drummer slammed hard and thrilled the audience at one point with a one armed passage, brandishing a beer in the other hand. I left early so I missed <a href="http://www.myspace.com/spiderbags">The Spider Bags</a>, who Dean said were great, and the self-proclaimed country rock of Puddin' Tang. So much for me and the scene.Sq. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339857068454901408noreply@blogger.com1