REWIND: NYAFF 2008-2009 postcard promos
May 9th, 2012 by Mr. C
Just a few New York Asian Film Festival promotional postcards from 2008-2009 that I scanned in – courtesy of the Mondo archives!
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Freedy Johnston performed at the Hoboken Art and Music Festival
May 9th, 2012 by Mr. C
Freedy Johnston – born & raised in Kansas but rooted in Hoboken, NJ – performed at the Hoboken Art and Music Festival last Sunday! His ordinary look with subtle vocals always finds a way to paint the town with emotions through the use of his lyrics!
Freedy was the (I stand corrected by Chocko – Yo La Tengo was THE 1st-August 1992) one of the first live acts that introduced us to CBGB’s in the early 1990’s and we were instantly hooked with the venue and his somber but catchy power folk/rock tunes. Yes, we also got into the grunge scene with the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, & Alice in Chains but I was secretly playing Freedy’s “Can you Fly” (1992) album with The Lucky One on continuous loop. (note: The Lemonhead’s “It’s a shame about Ray” got some serious play, too!) Johnston’s melodies and meaty freedy hooks combined with his storytelling vocals to his words of love, loss, coming of age, rebounds, & disappointments in life always garners some feelings in these icy veins. Some of my favorite albums of his are: Can you Fly (1992), This Perfect World (1994), Blue Days Black Nights (1999), & Rain on the City (2009).
Freedy’s set list from the Hoboken Art & Music Festival includes:
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I’m not hypnotized
Don’t fall in love w a lonely girl
Love grows where my rosemarie goes – Edison Lighthouse cover
Rain on the city
Lucky one
Wichita lineman – (Jimmy Web cover recorded later by Glen Campbell)
Bad reputation
Perfect world
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Check out some footage that we took at the performance:
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(Aldo “ZAR” Sanchez – old skool Graffiti writer from Paterson,NJ)
Tags: freedy johnston, hoboken art music festival
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Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2012) – Montclair Film Festival
May 8th, 2012 by Mr. C
Morton Downey Jr. – the punk rock of talk show hosts from the late 1980’s seemed to be a man with many faces motivated by the game of fame. This entertaining documentary was a great character study of him during his rise, fall, & crash in his personal & professional life. Old footage from his show taped at Channel 9’s WWOR in Secaucus supplemented with interviews with his daughter and also his adversaries at the time including Alan Dershowitz, Steve Pagones (Officer accused in the Tawana Brawley case), Gloria Allred, Stanley Crouch, Bill Boggs (Executive Producer of the Morton Downey show), and Dave Giegold (Security/bodyguard on show) would offer a nice slice of insight to the original “loudmouth”. The directors use of animation to tell bits and pieces of the story was also a clever way to insinuate that Morton Downey Jr was an outrageous animated-cartoon character in his own right as well as provide some humor to the visuals.
The film went on to give us a background on Downey Jr.’s early years as a singer and songwriter in the 1950’s trying to follow in the footsteps of his more famous father who was a well regarded Irish Tenor – singer/songwriter. The MORE FAMOUS part is the dynamic that the filmmakers were trying to bang the drum with as Jr. seemed to have wanted more notoriety and fame rather than get casted behind his fathers shadow. Suggestions of a dysfunctional past with this domineering father seemed to be a big catalyst in Downey Jr’s rage and fire or was that just a self induced – combustible firestarter?
Also, a turning point in Morton Downey Jr’s career that sparked a light bulb in his brain seemed to be the influence of The Joe Pyne show from the 1950’s. This show was the predecessor to trash-talk TV as we know it today. The Joe Pyne show was an in your face, confrontational talk show forum discussing current events such as the Vietnam war, racism, politics, feminism, and homosexuality. Downey seemed to have gotten a charge after discovering this type of forum and style.
Now, fast forward to the late 80’s in Secaucus, NJ on the WWOR set on Channel 9 and a reboot of the Joe Pyne show would lay before us with a new facelift of stereotypical Jersey characters as the loudmouth audience members. There were definitely some Andrew Dice Clay looking – hardcore NJ Devil hockey fans in those studio tapings at the meadowlands! Speaking of which, our very own reporters at Planet Chocko – Roy (Chocko) and Joel (JoeNJDev) were at one of those Morton Downey Jr show tapings in Secaucus – early evidence that we were into trashy media! They couldn’t remember what the panel discussion was about at that particular taping so I guess it wasn’t one of the more memorable shows. The MDJ show would be a dumping ground for a forum that provoked & attacked guests verbally on controversial topics such as politics & liberal party bashings, race relations, sexuality, the death penalty, & current events. The target audience in the meadowlands WWOR studio and also behind the TV set were the angry populace – The right wing heterosexual male who believed that the MAN is to blame for their misfortunes.
Some other great archives of the show courtesy of the WWOR vaults included the famous Tawana Brawley case to the fueds with Alan Dershowitz and Gloria Allred. Who can forget the presence of Curtis and Lisa Sliwa from the Guardian Angels on the show as well. Of course we cannot talk about the show without mentioning the incomparable Al Sharpton who by the way arguably draws very similiar qualities in terms of publicity and antics as Morton Downey does. There was also awesome footage of the show that they taped at the Apollo Theater that involved Roy Innis and his physical confrontation with Al Sharpton!
Of more interest, the movie documented the cross-fire with the dynamics of the relationships between Downey’s wife, his music friend/bandmate – Lloyd Schoonmaker who started working for him as his confidant/hype man, and Downey’s girlfriend – Lori ? Some surprising revelations or suggestions thrown onto the table in the film included Downey’s motives of doing what he did during the skinhead incident. The story was reported by him that skinheads had attacked him in the restroom, cut his hair, and then tagged the swastika symbol on his face and clothes. Many believed Downey fabricated the whole thing. The only person with him at the time in the restroom was his friend Lloyd Schoonmaker. He will have his words about this in the movie! In any event, the skinhead incident was basically the beginning of the end with the quick rise and fall of the Morton Downey Jr. Show from 1987-1989! It was quite ironic that Downey rode the Tawana Brawley case on his forum until the wheels fell off and in essence, he might have sabotaged his own show in the same fashion.
Evocateur is definitely a recommended film to investigate further even if you’re not a Morton Downey Jr. fan. I’m even going out on a limb and say that this might be a nice case study for the psychotherapist in you! Was Downey just a misunderstood man with a passionate (not angry) side to him? Was it all just a hollywood – showbiz act in desperation for money, fame, and acceptance? Whatever the scenerio, Morton Downey Jr. is one interesting character with a very tragic story. Go see this!
There was a brief Q&A after the movie with two out of the three directors of the film in attendance – Seth Kramer and Daniel A. Miller moderated by Steve Adubato who did a great job of taking the bull by its horn and taking over the session like he owned it! We have some footage of the interview below.
(L to R) Steve Adubato – Seth Kramer – Daniel A. Miller – Photo by mr c
L to R – Seth Kramer – Daniel A. Miller – Photo by mr c
Tags: montclair film festival 2012, morton downey
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Montclair Film Festival – thank you!
May 7th, 2012 by Mr. C
– IT’S SUNDANCE. ONLY JERSIER.
The 1st Annual Montclair Film Festival from May 1st-6th came and went just like the urban legend of the Jersey Devil but not without leaving a lasting impression, though. Due to scheduling conflicts, we were only able to attend four screenings including 3 documentaries: Lemon, Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. The Movie, and The Atomic States of America. The fourth film was Robot and Frank. The collective unconscious here at Planet Chocko will write a report on these movies shortly but in the meantime, we wanted to just acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the organizers of the Montclair Film Festival by throwing down a machismo Morton Downey Jr. inspired loudmouth-shoutout and standing ovation to the organizers of the Film Festival including the Festival Directors: Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen. Apparently this unsung duo have run other fine screening events such as the Toronto International Film Festival, the Stranger Than Fiction series at the IFC in NYC, and DOC-NYC at IFC! Other honourable hero mentions of the Festival must go out to all the volunteers. Their enthusiasm, smiles, and politeness in creating order was much appreciated. Last but not least, I was taken aback to see how much pride, love, heart, & soul the community of Upper Montclair & Montclair had shown the festival goers in preparation for this event. Many storefronts and public spaces were adorned with decor – all to the theme of the film festival! You would find King Kong signs, film reels, paper mache retro film cameras, and even film wrapped around all the parking meters by Bellevue Theater! The energy set forth by the businesses and residents of Montclair certainly injected a sense of art, culture, & community pride to this whole event. Having gone to Montclair State College in the early 90’s and I probably shouldn’t admit to this, but I’ve also worked at the Clairidge Triple Cinema for some time during my tenure at MSC – I’m NOT surprised that Montclair finally stepped forward with creating a Film Festival of its own because the city has always had an amazing cultural diversity and has always shown its appreciation for the arts as well. My only question is: What took you so long?
A very last bit of kudo droppings to the film organizers and the town of Montclair for providing those shuttle trolleys along with the friendly drivers to bus everyone back and forth between the venues. It certainly made for a stress-free way to get to all the screenings on time without shuffling the car. We hope to get invited back to the 2nd Annual Montclair Film Festival next year!
We wanted to just leave you with a few photos that we took during our travels at MFF 2012! Hope to see you all next year!
Tags: montclair film festival 2012
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all roads lead to Silk City – New Jersey
May 6th, 2012 by Mr. C
(photos by mr c)
Paterson also known as Silk City (silk production in 19th century) or the locals affectionately call it P-Town is home to Lou Costello, Lou Duva (boxing trainer-promoter), Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (Boxer), Uncle Floyd (Uncle Floyd Show), Tim Thomas (NBA Basketball player), Victor Cruz (NY Giants wide receiver), and EastSide High School’s – famous Principal, Joe Clark – the baseball bat & bullhorn wielding disciplinarian who was depicted in the 1989 movie LEAN ON ME.
P-Town is a tough, working class-gritty city with tremendous evidence that it was once a mighty industrial town. Textile, firearms, silk, and railroad locomotive manufacturing industries once called it their home there. This city takes a good lickin’ but keeps on tickin’ through the hard times. A tell-tale sign with the STATE OF NJ running the Paterson Public School System instead of the local government should also provide some hints of lingering issues. That compounded with Police Force cutbacks in urban jungles such as Trenton, Newark, & Paterson does not help with the situation. Despite the negative connotations associated with P-Town, some very successful people have grown up through her ranks. If you can make it out of the Paterson bootcamp, you sure can make it anywhere!
That being said, the Planet Chocko experimental area201 headquarters is merely 8 miles away from Silk City and there are some gems to be had here. Lou Costello said so! This also includes the PATERSON GREAT FALLS, a memorial for Lou Costello, & LIBBY’S LUNCH for some authentic NJ hot dogs & off the tap-birch beer! Garrett Mountain technically in West Paterson is also a nice refuge when I want to hug trees and build up my chi level for eternal existence! These are just a few examples of some really neat spots in paterson. On a food level, you can find some serious authentic Puerto rican, mexican, Peruvian, & Colombian eats here. There is also a large section in Paterson that can satisfy your halal needs as well. On this particular day, I ran into the Paterson Art Walk! Enjoy the diversity in Silk City, y’all! Check out our recent photos below from the sites of P-Town.
(Lou Costello Memorial at 50 Ellison Street Paterson, NJ) – Lou’s on first
(The Paterson Great Falls – 65 MCBRIDE AVENUE PATERSON, NJ)
(part of the 1st Annual Paterson Art Walk) – Hangin’ by a Thread!
Tags: new jersey, paterson, silk city
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CONTOUR (2006) – Eric Jacobus and The Stunt People
May 4th, 2012 by Mr. C
Director: Eric Jacobus
Fight Choreographer: Eric Jacobus
Stars: Eric Jacobus,Ed Kahana Jr,Andy Leung,Dennis Ruel,Stephen Reedy,Tyler Wang,Ray Carbonel,Vlad Rimburg
Genre: Low budget-martial arts,action
Martial art – action fans lets bring on Eric Jacobus and the Stunt People! If you haven’t heard of Eric and his crew then you’ve just tapped into a whole new resource of talented individuals looking to bring the R-A-W back with the old school – HK influenced – no nonsense fighting and stuntwork updated with a modern flare. The Stunt People brought back that high voltage wow factor in films that we’ve come to reminisce about just like those throwback HK action movies from the 80’s & 90’s that have changed the game! Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that all the films put out by the Stunt People and Eric Jacobus are flawless pieces of work with story scripts destined for the Oscars but I AM saying that the action and fight sequences designed, performed, and executed by Eric Jacobus and the Stunt People have a certain ebb and flow to them backed up by some thunderous techniques delivered with some serious intent is definitely a force to be reckoned with!
Contour is a quirky and hokey film about a thug for hire named Law (Eric Jacobus) who takes on drug heists, bank robberies, and beating up immigrants. When not a hired gun, Law is busy running his tour guide shtick taking his clients around the sights of San Francisco. Among his clients includes lesbian Renee (Tyler Wang), a Prince from Uruvia – Alfonso de la Rosario (Ed Kahana), and Lei Tak (Andy Leung) his bodyguard. Little did these tourists know that they would be slowly let on to be involved with some of Law’s night job antics. But also, little did Law know that this tourist bunch would be highly skilled in their forms of fighting including the deadly style of TAE PHO! When not intercepting drug deals, Law would be hired for a job worth $2 million dollars to find a “special moments” VHS tape lost by the King of Uruvia!?
The fighting choreography is where it’s at in this film involving long drawn out chess like battle sequences usually with multiple opponents as they exchange fisticuffs, jaw dropping kicks, & acrobatic moves turned into deadly aerial assaults. Weapons such as baseball bats, sticks, guns, knives, & a steel chain will make contact with flesh as well!
Fight scene 1: Wonderful sequence of Law (Eric Jacobus) vs gang of 5 in a warehouse. Guns start popping off but bodies soon start to scatter between the aisles to avoid being turned into swiss cheese. Mostly focused on long range fighting but a few throws and elbow locks & reverses make their way onto the scuffle. The introduction of the main villains, Esteban (Dennis Ruel) and his co-hort (Ray Carbonel) will show themselves!
Fight scene 2: An awesome scene between Law vs Lei (Andy Leung) in the Hap Ki Do school. Beautiful exchanges of kicks on kicks, backflip turned kicks, sweeps, & other really aesthetically pleasing aerial moves! Probably my favorite fight scene in the movie.
Fight scene 3: No batta’, batta’ – a pretty wicked scene with Esteban & his assistant getting jumped with 6+ with baseball bats, but the numbers would soon find the weapons turned against them as Esteban & friend use the bats with filipino like stick fighting techniques. Esteban does this awesome aerial 3 kick combination while also showing us some aikido/hap ki do like immobilizing locks and throws. Pure awesomeness!
Fight scene 4: Is what I call the ‘find the tape scene’ as the dorky Alfonso de la Rosario finds himself fighting a masked bunny in the streets in his dream? Alfonso surprises us with some fluid kung fu moves as he connects with a flying fist as he dispatches the masked one in no time. Alfonso’s second opponent, a mime that looks & moves like Jet Li with a white mask on wearing a white lab coat?! They both exchanged long range fighting techniques which flowed like kung fu.
Fight scene 5: Last serious and LONG fight sequence has everyone back at the warehouse with Law squaring off vs Esteban and Lei vs Esteban’s assistant (Carbonel). Guns are poppin’ off and some serious hand to hand and foot to foot combat is being made! The mighty Alfonso is also going rage against the machine as he goes ape on the villains! The lesbian chick makes her presence known as well by poppin’ (guns) and lockin’ (joint locks) her opponents down! Carbonel shows off some wing chun like hand movements while also throwing down some intercepting kicks a la jeet kune do style. A wildcard is thrown in as a pissed off cross-dressing chubby dude joins in on the action, tag teaming with Lei to take down Ray Carbonel! Funny-funny scene! Andy Leung displays some serious shaolin/kung fu licks here as the northern kicks are in effect! The use of the long pole also added to the bulls on parade! A hint of drunken style and the flow of Jackie Chan in Drunken Master 2 – final fight scene can be used to describe the attitude with Andy Leung here as he uses the whip chain to slay his foes! Awesome display of the chain!
Meanwhile, Law (Eric Jacobus) is in a serious battle with Esteban (Dennis Ruel). They batter each other from aisle to aisle, fist to face, kicks to body – Jackie Chan style as the final countdown would come down to a deadly weapon — a neck tie! A real exhausting fight scene in the warehouse I must say!
Contour is recommended viewing for the serious action fan, no doubt! But to those that like to nit-pick about story lines and acting performances or that there’s not enough twists to the plot, you best pass this up! The outtakes after the film are also a hoot to watch! Blooper reels, deleted scenes, the hilarious TAE PHO instructional video, Contour Training videos, and the Stunt People Demo reel are in itself worth the price of the CONTOUR DVD! Check it out folks!
I’m really looking forward to the new Eric Jacobus/Stunt People film – DEATH GRIP. We first saw a glimpse of the trailer from last years San Diego Comic Con during Ric Meyers’ Kung Fu Extravaganza event. The film looked action packed!
More information can be found about Eric Jacobus here: http://www.ericjacobus.com/
The Stunt People here: http://thestuntpeople.com/
Tags: contour, eric jacobus, stunt people
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Record Store Day 2012: RSD Recap
May 4th, 2012 by chocko
As a record collector and a fan of music, Record Store Day is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s a chance for all record collecting nerds to get together and dig in the dusty crates for those vinyl exclusives. April 21 was circled on the calendar and after work, Joey Teacups and Chocko hopped in the whip, peeled out of suburbia and started the day late…our first stop was Tunes in Hoboken. They had all the RSD exclusives on display near the entrance including the Misfits “Walk Among Us” album on colored vinyl, Amanda Palmer “Polly” (a Nirvana cover) single and the RUN DMC and Carolina Chocolate Drops “You Be Illin” single. The original 1986 old school track is on one side and the country old-timey Carolina Chocolate Drops cover is on the flipside. It seemed like Tunes jacked up their prices ($12 for a 7″ single?!?). Not cool. Those Mockingbirds were performing an acoustic set in the back by the “el cheapo” bins. We stayed for a few songs then we headed out for the Motherland, NYC.
We got to Generation Records (210 Thompson St.) and it was the most packed that store’s been since I can remember. There were crowds hanging out outside, girls in the basement flipping through some records…it felt like we stepped into an alternate universe. Zachary Lipez from the band Freshkills was on the wheels of steel next to the Generation Records RSD 2012 shirt feat Godzilla and King Kong (pictured above). Generation Records is an excellent place to spend Record Store Day…bands play (Night Birds!) and special guest DJs spin all day including Tom Scharpling of WFMU’s Best Show who we ran into outside. Scharpling had an exclusive Best Show pin for those who said ‘hi’. By 4:00 PM, a lot of the RSD gems were gone but I still managed to pick up the Tegan And Sara “Get Along” LP on white vinyl (awesome live album!) and the Mike Watt + The Missingmen/The Chuck Dukowski Sextet single.
We met briefly with Mondo for some cheap and good eats at Go!Go!Curry! and then checked out Other Music (15 E. 4th St.) a couple blocks away. Earlier in the day there was a line to get in that wrapped around the corner all the way past the gym on Lafayette St. When we got to the record store there was a much shorter line to the corner which moved as people left the store. Psychic Ills were on the turntables playing some dope tunes (pictured above). A lot of the RSD records were swiped away by early birds and collectors but there were some goodies still left on the shelves for Chocko: Now, Now/The Lonely Forest split 7″, The Avengers reissue of “Paint It Black” on Superior Viaduct and The Black Angels single which features a cool Zombies cover of “She’s Not There.” I also picked up a copy of Ex Cops, brand spanking new on Other Music Recordings. Other Music putting out their own music is a cool thing!
We capped off the day in Brooklyn for the 7:30 PM in-store performance of Mates Of State at Sound Fix (44 Berry St.). The crowd was spilling out into the street by the time the band started up. The band played nearly a dozen songs including a Daniel Johnston cover of “Love Will Find You In The End” and “Long Way Home” by Tom Waits. It was hot up in there and I thought I was going to pass out, but the upbeat songs got me fist pumping and smiling. Mates of State is always a great band to check out live. The last stop of the day was Academy Annex (96 N. 6th St.) where East Village Radio was broadcasting live. They had the RSD goodies in the glass case by the register. I picked up the early 70’s Afro-funk reissue by The Apostles on Academy LPs. After that, Chocko was tapped out!
Check out a video of the Mates of State performing a song “Unless I’m Led” from their new album titled Mountaintops live at Sound Fix.
Tags: 2012, academy annex, generation records, mates of state, other music, record store day, records, review, rsd, sound fix, vinyl
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Jane Lui performed at Rockwood Music Hall – stage 2
May 2nd, 2012 by Mr. C
Jane Lui, a sensual vocalist & classically trained pianist partly bred in Hong Kong & California injected NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall last weekend with a little bit of her smooth jazz-pop vocals to a tune of melancholy at times. She has a bit of that broadway flair in her not without some soul, though. Her cheerful personality & nerdy disposition as she kept it real certainly added a layer of fun & uniqueness to her performance. Perhaps her ability to make fun of herself, peels away the onion skin of emotions allowing her to open up to her audience. This being the 2nd time I’ve seen Jane perform, she definitely has no problems connecting with her listeners. She was accompanied by an accordion player, a guitarist, and a drummer providing just the right amount of backup to not overpower her voice & bright piano playing. Her whimsical cover of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast showed off her gentle vocals which also unleashed the inner dorkness in all of us while the performance of Edelweiss from her Goodnight Company album got the audience involved with whistling along to the melody. Other tunes from the night included Heaven on a Hill, Long Ago, and a jazzed up version of Take Me for Now which you can witness below.
I really dig the live performances at the Rockwood because the settings are so intimate in which the audience is literally only a jab and a whiskey shot away from the performer! Besides that, the sound system and the acoustics of the venue always sound so fresh and so clean!
Jane ended the night with a really fun tune doing the Do-wah-diddy’s and the la-la-la’s to the History of Lyrics that aren’t Lyrics medley! This medley is basically a collection of familiar songs from the 1960’s to the current times that do not need any lyrics for an introduction! We definitely have to have more of Jane Lui live in NYC! You heard – sister girl!
Check out Jane Lui and her latest album – Goodnight Company! Some of my favorite tunes from this album include: Goodnight Company, Jailcard, Illusionist Boy, Long Ago, and New Jersey!
She can be found nerding out on Twitter when she’s not song writing and belting out disney tunes!
Rockwood Music Hall
196 Allen Street
New York, NY 10002
Tags: jane lui, jazz, pop, rockwood music hall, vocals
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Asbury Park Comic Convention – May 12th at Asbury Lanes
May 1st, 2012 by Mr. C
The 2012 Asbury Park Comic Convention – May 12 at ASBURY LANES (Yes, it’s a bowling alley!)
Asbury Lanes
209 4th Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ
Tickets:
THE 300 FREE TICKETS ARE NOW GONE. FREE TICKET HOLDERS ENTER AT 11 AM
PAID TICKET HOLDERS ENTER AT 10 AM.
AN ADDITIONAL LOT OF TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE, FOR $4 PLUS A .90 SERVICE FEE). ONE DOLLAR FROM EACH TICKET SALE WILL BE DONATED TO HERO INITIATIVE, A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT HELPS COMIC CREATORS AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO MAY BE IN EMEGENCY MEDICAL AND FINACIAL NEED.
KIDS UNDER 12 GET IN FOR FREE WHEN ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.
GUESTS Include:
EVAN DORKIN
Eisner Award winner, creator of Milk & Cheese and co-creator of Beasts of Burden comics for Dark Horse Comics. Dorkin has also writer for Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Shin Chan.
http://evandorkin.livejournal.com/
SARAH DYER
Creator of Action Girl, writer for such television shows as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Shin Chan, Superman, and Batman Beyond.
HouseOfFun.com
MICHAEL KUPPERMAN
Creator of Tales Designed to Thrizzle and Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910-2010 for Fantagraphic Books. His Snakes and Bacon animated series is scheduled to appear on Cartoon Network sometime this year.
Here Comes Madness
JAMAL IGLE
Super Girl, The Ray, Action Comics, Green Lantern Corps, Superman, Zatana, Night Wing, and many other DC books.
jamalligle.blogspot.com
DANNY HELLMAN
Artist for New York Press, Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Screw, Village Voice, Fantagraphics, Last Gasp, DC Comics and many others.
DannyHellman.com
STEVE MANNION
Creator of Fearless Dawn and The Bomb comic books for Asylum Press. Steve is a former DC Comics bullpen artist.
FearlessDawn.com
WALT FLANAGAN
Walt Flanagan artist on Batman: Cacophony and Batman: The Widening Gyre (written by director Kevin Smith), The War of the Undead (written by Bryan Johnson, co-host of the podast Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave! and actor in Clerks I & II, Mall Rats, Dogma, and star of Comic Book Men.
viewaskew.com
CLIFF GALBRAITH
Creator of Rat Bastard, The Saurus Gang (Partyasaurus, Shopasaurus, et al), and the upcoming comic Unbearable for Crucial Comics.
RatBastardComics.com
MIKE and MING
Mike Zapcic and Ming Chen of the AMC television show Comic Book Men bring their popular podcast to Asbury Park Comicon for a live remote broadcast.
Tags: asbury park comic convention, comic convention, comics
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After Dark Films releasing 5 action movies – May 11th – remember the date!
April 28th, 2012 by Mr. C
After Dark Action/Films is releasing a whole host of high voltage martial arts-action movies on May 11th that is getting me all jazzed up! On top of this heavyweight list of destruction is DRAGON EYES starring Cung Le (I call him the kung fu kid), a mixed martial arts champion and chinese grappling stylist of san shou. He’s been fighting in the ring since the 90’s and has only gotten into films fairly recently. He can be seen kicking Donnie Yen’s ass in BodyGuards and Assassins. He’s also in True Legend, Tekken, & was interviewed in the I am Bruce Lee documentary. The great Jean Cleade Van Damme is also in this movie playing more of a dramatical role being a mentor to Cung Le’s character in prison! DRAGON EYES looks like it has some serious bone smashing martial arts action in it. The story seems to have a similiar flow to Michael Jai White’s BLOOD AND BONE. If it can come anywhere near as explosive to the fight scenes in Blood and Bone, then I’ll consider that a success! Here’s a trailer to get the adrenaline flowing! :
Director: John Hyams
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme,Cung Le,Peter Weller
STASH HOUSE starring I must break you Ivan Drago, He-Man, & Brandon Lee’s partner in crime in Showdown in Little Tokyo – the legendary Dolph Lundgren looks like a crazy acton-thriller in where Lundgren plays a very bad man in his drug cartel outfit stashing the goods in the walls of an unexpecting suburban couple’s home! What will this innocent couple do when they are imprisoned in their own home?
Director: Eduardo Rodriguez
Stars: Dolph Lundgren,Briana Evigan,Sean Faris,Jon Huertas
THE PHILLY KID is a look at a former NCAA wrestling champion who is incarcerated for being involved in the killing of a police officer. After 10 years of prison, he is offered parole but trouble will soon find him on the streets of Louisiana. Mixed martial arts and fighting in the ring seems to be part of the solution or is it really part of the problem? Michael Jai White is listed in the credits of the movie so expect bodies to be flying!
Director: Jason Connery
Stars: Wes Chatham,Devon Sawa,Sarah Butler,Neal McDonough,Lucky Johnson,Chris Browning,Michael Jai White
TRANSIT tells the tale of a family camping trip meant to heal wounds & reunite the group back in harmony, but when the family discovers 4 million dollars in a luggage rack – they find themselves being hunted down by some ruthless killers in search of their loot!
Director: Antonio Negret
Stars: Jim Caviezel,James Frain,Harold Perrineau,Elisabeth Röhm,Ryan Donowho,Diora Baird,Sterling Knight
Last but NOT least is EL GRINGO starring Christian Slater and martial arts/action extraordinaire – Scott Adkins. Adkins plays a gringo who looks to cross over to mexico with his cool 2 million and his checkered past with plans to retire on the beaches of Acapulco. But of course where money goes trouble is sure to find you. El Gringo almost looks like a Robert Rodriguez style film a la Desperado. This may be the real Let the Bullets Fly!
Director: Eduardo Rodriguez
Stars: Scott Adkins,Yvette Yates,Christian Slater
Tags: after dark action, after dark films, dragon eyes, el gringo, stash house
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1st annual Montclair Film Festival: May 1st – 6th!
April 27th, 2012 by Mr. C
Montclair, NJ – a town that is about 12 miles away from NYC has a very special place in my heart. I spent about 4, cough-cough OK, maybe 5 years of school there which at that time was known as Montclair State College located in nearby Upper Montclair. Downtown Montclair was always a cool – offbeat – hippy’ish setting in an urban environment filled with artists, art galleries, antique stores, a handful of local movie theaters, a few indie bookstores, coffee shops, and neat eateries. I even worked at the Clairidge Triple Cinema on bloomfield ave (this is all going to tie into the article folks!) wearing a multitude of hats including working the concession stand, being a ticket taker, usher, & even backup projectionist until I botched up threading the humongous 70mm platter of film for The Rocketeer and Doc Hollywood! That was fun times! My other favorite movie theater in Montclair was a small joint called the Screening Zone that showed Independent movies. Here is where Chocko, Buggy, & I caught up on some stuff that the Angelika and IFC in NYC would of screened as well! Great to not have to pay the tolls to cross over to the other side of the Hudson sometimes – just saying!
Well anyway – I wanted to wax some poetic & reminisce about Montclair for a bit as the 1st Annual Montclair Film Festival is about to set sail from May 1 – 6th as 45+ films and 50+ special guests will be in attendance including Kathleen Turner, Michael Moore, Olympia Dukakis, & Patrick Wilson! The Clairidge Cinema, now owned by Clearview is also one of a few movie theatres in town that is going to play host to this festival. Some films on my to watch list includes: Brooklyn Castle, Lemon, Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr movie, David Bromberg Unsung Treasure, and King Kong! Bada bing, bada boom – See you guys and gals in Soprano land at the film festival!
More information on the Montclair Film Festival: http://montclairfilmfest.org/
The schedule in PDF format here: http://montclairfilmfest.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/MFF-2012-Schedule.pdf
Full lineup online: http://montclairfilmfest.org/films-and-events/
Festival Overview: http://montclairfilmfest.org/festival-overview/
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Hole Lotta Love! Hole reunited at Public Assembly
April 23rd, 2012 by chocko
The after-party for the movie Hit So Hard took place at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, NYC last week on the night of the 13th. We had no idea what to expect but the $5 admission with ticket stub sure was enough to get us to cross the river to Williamsburg, BK on a Friday night (Gasp!). The show took a while to get started and there was no sign of anything about to happen and it was already past midnight. After what seemed like forever, Patty Schemel, Melissa Auf Der Maur and Eric Erlandson (3/4 of the most well known Hole lineup from the 90’s) took to the stage and played some songs for the crowd to celebrate Patty’s documentary.
Melissa took the lead vocals early in the set and did a few covers including “Seasons In The Sun” and the Beat Happening’s “Red Head Walking.” The trio then performed 2 songs they did earlier in the night at Cinema Village, an instrumental of “Use Once & Destroy” and Sebadoh’s “Brand New Love.” They also did The Smiths “Paint A Vulgar Picture.”
A “special guest” was being called to the stage for the next song. A shocked audience did not expect Courtney Love to step to the stage. It was a surreal moment to see the band back together on a stage. The 4 band members hadn’t played together in 15 years, making the moment even more special for the unsuspecting crowd. Courtney cracked jokes and was a good sport about her guitar not having a guitar strap. The band performed “Miss World” and after the song Courtney hugged her band mates and walked away as the crowd chanted for one more song. James from Yo La Tengo was going to perform a Wipers cover “Over The Edge,” but Courtney returned to the stage and agreed to sing. She did that song some serious justice. It was amazing to see Hole again.
Tags: brooklyn, courtney love, eric erlandson, hit so hard, hole, melissa auf der maur, patty schemel, public assembly, reunite
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