Portland Jam
September 28th, 2011 by chocko
Chocko recently landed the spaceship in the North West corner of the United States finding himself in Portland, Oregon…a city with great coffee, fun shopping, yummy food, and friendly people that love to ride bikes. Here are some places that you should check out especially if you’re on a budget! (The White Stag Sign pictured above is located at the White Stag Building, at 70 NW Couch Street)
About 80 miles west of Portland is Cannon Beach featuring the 235 foot Haystack Rock. It’s an amazing sight to see…you might recognize the beach from the Goonies movie. The drive to Cannon Beach is beautiful. There are mountains and forests for miles and miles. Sadly you can also see a ton of deforestation in the mountains.
Powell’s Books is an independent bookstore located at 1005 W Burnside and takes up a whole city block. If you’re a fan of books, this place will keep you busy. You’ll need a map to navigate all 4 floors of the Godzilla of indie bookstores. Open 365 days a year!
For snacks, try Voodoo Doughnut located at 22 SW 3rd Ave. and open 7 days a week and they’re open 24 hours. They got all kinds of doughnuts-vegan, ones with breakfast cereal as toppings and bacon too. I waited an hour one night for them suckers. If people in the Portland area see you carrying one of those pink voodoo boxes filled with doughnuts, good luck. You might as well be walking with a spotlight on you. Walk fast or you can kiss those doughnuts goodbye.
The gentle, cascading Wahkeena Falls is not too far of a drive from Portland. There’s a small bridge about a half mile hike from the base where you can get a closer look at the 242 ft. waterfall. The much more majestic 620 ft. Multnomah Falls is also in the vicinity and the Benson Bridge also offers a view that will knock your socks off, but be careful of the slippery trails and poison oak.
There are are hundreds of food carts in Portland. You can find a whole fleet of them parked around the perimeter of a parking lot on 10th Ave and Washington. All the food Chocko tried was delicious, but the favorite meal was the chicken pesto sandwich from Rotissol & Greens who specialize in healthy home cooking and for dessert, the banana pudding from A Little Bit of Smoke-a bbq joint right next door. So much food (inexpensive too!), so little time…gotta go back soon!
There are a ton of record stores in Portland, but the ones I went to were Everyday Music (1313 W. Burnside). They have a massive amount of stuff from vinyl (new and used), CDs and DVDs. I found some pretty good used CDs along the Sale wall. EM is a local chain and have several locations. Another store I enjoyed was Music Millennium (3158 E. Burnside) which has been around since 1969. They have a second floor devoted to vinyl and huge CD sections of every genre including hip hop, folk and classical. They host a lot of in-store events and their window decorations are the best! Another great Portland record store is Jackpot Records (203 SW 9th Ave). They have a great inventory that includes new and used records, CDs and collectibles. Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips was in the house to promote the Strobo Trip Light & Audio Phase Illusions Toy which included a 6 hour song. The line wrapped around the block and the dude only brought 11 Strobo toys with him. C’mon now…
The Hoyt Arboretum in Washington Park was a highlight of the trip. There are 12 miles of trails to explore and plenty of trees, plants and flowers to see and smell. My favorite place was the Redwood Deck surrounded by huge redwoods and sequoias. I wanted to hug every tree there!
Another attraction in Washington Park is the International Rose Test Garden. Both the Arboretum and Rose Garden are free…no need to take the wallet out. There are 8000 rose bushes to check out and there is a really nice view of Mt. Hood from the Garden.
For $4 (roundtrip) you can ride the Portland Aerial Tram and get a spectacular bird’s eye view of the Lair Hill neighborhood and a bunch of highways and mountains. The tram travels back and forth between the South Waterfront Terminal and the OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University).
Food Fight! Vegan Grocery Store (1217 SE Stark St) is a great place to buy vegan mock meats and junk food. They also sell shirts, DVDs and stickers too. Herbivore Store (1211 SE Stark St) is located next door and sells vegan products, clothes, books, art and jewelry. Sweetpea Bakery (1205 SE Stark St) on the corner, sells vegan baked goods. I tried a pumpkin muffin. Damn good muffin! The Microcosm Store (636 SE 11th Ave) is located a couple blocks away and they sell zines and shirts. If you love zines then you must go there! They sell other things as well including shirts, movies and books. Microcosm Publishing puts out some of the best zines and books around. If you are planning a trip to Portland, I recommend picking up “The Zinester’s Guide to Portland” for info on cool, free, cheap and weird things to do in the Rose City.
(photos by chocko)
Tags: cannon beach, flaming lips, food fight!, haystack rock, herbivore store, hoyt arboretum, jackpot records, music millennium, oregon, review, sweetpea bakery, vegan, voodoo doughnuts, wayne coyne
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The Weird World of Blowfly (2010)
September 24th, 2011 by chocko
Director: Jonathan Furmanski
Starring: Clarence Reid as Blowfly, Tom Bowker, Otto Von Schrach
Genre: music documentary
The documentary, The Weird World of Blowfly is a wild ride with Clarence “Blowfly” Reid at the wheel. Back in the 60’s and 70’s, Clarence Reid was a well known writer and producer of many hit records from the R&B and Soul scene in Miami, Florida. Reid’s notorious alter ego, Blowfly donned a cape and mask while spitting X-rated raps and soul and disco parodies. Blowfly’s nasty party records sold like hot cakes, party people went to the shows and Blowfly became an underground sensation.
Before slipping away to obscurity, Blowfly joins forces with a drummer, Tom Bowker in 2005. Tom becomes Blowfly’s manager and drummer, they form a band, record new songs and take the show on the road. By this time, Blowfly is in his senior years and his arthritic knee and unhealthy food choices (the one scene where he’s eating a sloppy, greasy unidentifiable meal from McDonald’s is hilarious and sick!) ain’t helping the old man get the bills paid. The film focuses on Blowfly’s struggle for success while touring dingy bars in the United States and playing in front of unappreciative crowds in Germany.
Blowfly is the self proclaimed inventor of rap music, predating Sugar Hill Gang and Kurtis Blow, so it was nice to see legends such as Ice-T and Chuck D of Public Enemy talk a little bit about the controversial music of the masked man. One of my favorite scenes from the movie was a brief clip of Blowfly singing his X-rated version of Otis Redding’s “(Sitting on) The Dock Of The Bay” with Isaac Hayes on the piano. There’s some brief archival footage of early shows. Was that Henry Rollins in the front row checking out a Blowfly show? There’s also a tiny bit of footage from the “Fonky Party” video with Blowfly getting down with Rudy Ray Moore a.k.a. Dolemite. Check out the full video for some cameos by other Blaxploitation stars, Antonio “Huggy Bear ” Fargas and Jim “Blackbelt Jones” Kelly!
The movie is truly entertaining, weird and very funny. I enjoyed it and definitely put it up there with some of my favorite music documentaries such as Louie Bluie by Terry Zwigoff and Anvil! The Story of Anvil. During the opening weekend of the movie at The Quad Cinema in New York City, Blowfly sat and watched the movie with the audience and answered questions from the audience following the screenings. Check out Saturday’s q&a below. He was more than happy to sign autographs for his fans and even serenaded quite a few of them with his filthy songs. Check out the movie The Weird World of Blowfly but please leave the kids at home!
(photo by chocko)
FONKY PARTY
Jason Newman (freelance writer and editor) interviews BLOWFLY and Director Jonathan Furmanski at THE QUAD CINEMA in NYC 09.17.11.
BLOWFLY and Director Jonathan Furmanski at THE QUAD CINEMA in NYC
Tags: Clarence Reid, documentary, Jonathan Furmanski, movie, The Quad Cinema
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GIRLFIGHT (2000) — friday night fights at the movies!
September 23rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Karyn Kusama
Stars: Michelle Rodriguez, Ray Santiago, Santiago Douglas, Jaime Tirelli,
Genre: boxing drama
This film is on my top 10 favorite boxing movies of all time. It offers a look at a raw, gritty, and unglamorous look at boxing under the covers without all of the hollywood bon bons. Girlfight is Michelle Rodriguez’s breakout film and she defintely broke out with an intense portrayal of Diana Guzman, a troubled teen in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn with a Dad that was abusive to her mom. The opening sequence of the film would reveal that signature cold, death stare that cuts like a knife which Michelle Rodriguez would be known for. Those freaking eyes my lad, those killer eyes! She is one intense young lady with the looks and a left hook that kills! Diana’s bottled up anger would be present at school and at home with her father and younger brother. She would eventually find her solitude in the art of boxing as her anger would turn into rage with technique! A deadly combination! She discovers boxing when she escorts her brother, Tiny (Ray Santiago) home from training at the front street boxing gym after she pays the trainer for his services as instructed by the shit head dad! Diana adores the soft spoken and gentle Tiny as she acts like a bodyguard for him. She even cold clocks a boxer who lended a cheapshot to her little bro! Soon, Diana would seek out Hector the trainer (Jaime Tirelli) so she can fuel her anger with boxing and also to have an outlet to express herself and more importantly, express it on someones face! Hector would soon fill the shoes of that father figure that Diana wished she had. Suffice to say, she would also have a confrontation with the real dad in her own brooklyn way!
After being tweaked into a well tuned fighting machine at the renowned boxing gym in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn (Gleason’s Gym), Diana would not turn down any bouts including fights with males and a more established women boxer. All would get a chance to taste that Red Hook thunder with her thudding combinations in the ring! Things would get turned upside down as she meets Adrian (Santiago Douglas), a boxer from Gowanus who is looking to get out of the hood courtesy of his fists. Love would be their next opponent as they bob and weave through a few hood rats, obstacles, and emotional monkeys! A surprise bout in the ring between Adrian vs Diana scheduled by their promoters would test their relationship…and their chins!
Girlfight is a raw in your face film, y’all! Michelle Rodriguez is the urban Million Dollar Baby! Check out this joint if it somehow eluded you!
Tags: boxing, movies, mr c
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Hong Kong TVB’s reality show: KUNG FU STAR
September 21st, 2011 by Mr. C
A reality show/competition in Hong Kong to search for the next new Kung Fu movie star cropped up on the TVB Channel last month! The show’s name is roughly translated as “Kung Fu’s new star” or “Kung Fu Supernova”. I’ve only watched the first episode and it was pretty darn entertaining! Some old school judges included the great Lau Kar Yung (The Young Master,Tigress of Shaolin, Shaolin Disciples,Dragon’s Claw), Shaw Brother’s favorite lady: Kara Hui Ying Hung (Dirty Ho, My Young Auntie, Lady is the Boss), & Tony Leung Siu Hung (Actor/Stuntman/choreographer: 36 Crazy Fists,Enter the Fat Dragon,Angel,Long Arm of the Law).
The hosts of the show boasts the slick duo of MC Jin, hip hop artist from NYC, currently residing in HK and Chin Ka Lok, veteran HK actor/stunt choreographer.
There were 12 contestants on the 1st show and two would go home that night! I think there’s a total of 6 shows! Some categories of competition include martial arts, stunts, & acting! The 1st episode included performances with the double nunchucks, a spear set, a karate form, a young lady doing a broadsword routine, a pole form, & the competitors running through a glass door?!
Here’s Lau Kar Yun & Tony Leung Siu Hung giving some advice to the contestants:
To be continued….
Tags: action, hong kong, tv shows
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True Legend (2010) screening at Museum of the Moving Image + Rock Steady Crew
September 19th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Yuen Woo Ping
Stars: Vincent Zhao, Zhou Xun, Jay Chou, Michelle Yeoh, Andy On, David Carradine, Gordon Liu, Cung Le
Genre: Qing dynasty period piece, kung fu action
True Legend was shown at the Museum of the Moving Image as part of the Fist and Sword programming hosted by Warrington Hudlin. Following the screening, Sifu Jose Figueroa, a Chen style Tai Chi specialist and Jo Jo Torres, one of the original founding members of the Rock Steady B-boy crew will discuss and demonstrate the dynamics of kung fu and breakdancing! Jose & Jo Jo have been childhood friends since elementary school while growing up in the Bronx. Why are they having a panel on b-boying and kung fu? Because this movie will put both of these elements on display! And because both of these art forms have been meshed together in urban areas since the kung fu craze & hip hop madness from the 1970’s!
As the Director & fight choreographer of True Legend, Yuen Woo Ping would deliver an old school vicious throwdown enhanced with technology accompanied by a simple plot: revenge, revenge, & more revenge! The drunken fist style would get a spotlight in this film to no-ones surprise along with a nice dosage of ground fighting inspired from the power moves of breakdancing! Yuen Woo Ping, if you didn’t know was responsible for cult favorites such as the Drunken Master, Drunken Tai Chi, Iron Monkey, Dance of the Drunk Mantis, Wing Chun, & the Tai Chi Master besides many, many modern HK martial art films! Woo Ping had an early vision of incorporating breakdance in his Fu movies with Donnie Yen in the 80’s like Mismatched Couples & Drunken Tai Chi. His father was the great Kung Fu film legend Simon Yuen who often specialized in drunken boxing playing the role of beggar So or Sam Seed aka Ol’ Dirty! All the old skool fans will know what I’m talking about!
The cast would reveal the ultimate who’s who list filled with old school, new school, every school, mixed martial artists, pop stars, & even contained the last performance by the late David Carradine before his untimely death. The lead character was played by the chinese wushu beast himself, Vincent Zhao (The Blade & Once Upon a Time in China) while being backed up with tremendous help from the kitchen including the capable Andy On and Jay Chou (Green Hornet). For the additional wow factor & for the salt over the shoulder effect, veterans David Carradine, Gordon Liu, & Michelle Yeoh would be the tie in for old school flavor! Even mixed martial artist, Cung Le was thrown into the True Legend wok to stir up the dragon’s flame! The fighting choreography was fast, furious, superhero like, and sometimes dreamy but the action still managed to come off as dark and gritty especially when the crazy Yuan destroyed anyone in his path with the 5 venoms fist style along with his stitched in body armour of steel to his flesh! This is one of those movies where the fight scenes probably dominated most of the screen time and thank god it did because it more than made up for the wack & lack of story! The setting of the movie takes place at the end of the Qing dynasty when General Su (Vincent Zhao) and his adopted brother, General Yuan (Andy On) barely get back to home base after a brutal battle. Su is praised by his leader and recommends to the emperor to promote him as governor for his brave mission. Yuan will rage on with deep disgust. However, General Su decides to retire from the cause to spend time with his wife and kid and concentrate on a life of martial arts while the brother heads back into the mayhem of the battlefield. When Yuan comes back from the war, he will unleash the beast with his deadly venom techniques! The first half of the film will concentrate on family dynamics and filial piety or lack thereof! Michelle Yeoh would make a cameo as a legendary healer from the mountains! The God of Wushu (Jay Chou) and the Sage (Gordon Liu) would play the role as the mysterious walk on water kung fu masters offering a beatdown in order to reach the next chow down! Is Su fighting for redemption or is he battling an inner demon? Su would eventually learn to develop some new techniques known as the drunken style while he encounters a drunk in a restaurant! Floor techniques from breakdancing would get thrown in the mix with drunken flare as windmills, freezes, and plenty of familiar down rock routines were used as a perfect weapon! The old Rock Steady Crew in attendance at the theater were hootin’ and hollerin’ when the familiar B-Boy moves were magnified on the screen! Head spinning and one armed freeze techniques was a sight to see from Beggar Su! It was definitely a fun sequence with solid choreography! The latter part of the film would segue into a fighting tournament with larger than life opponents in a win or die state of mind! General Ma, one of Su’s confidants from the militiary would find himself in this death match. Beggar Su and his son would stand by his side as his B-Boy backup ready to take battle on stage when called! The bottom line with True Legend is that if you are familiar with Yuen Woo Ping’s intricate fight choreography on his films in the past, you will surely appreciate the martial arts action being put forth in this project as well. Like I said earlier, the fight scenes dominate most of the screen time and just as well because the plot was nothing to write home about. The visuals were incredible, though! I’m not a huge fan of CGI but I felt in this case it really complimented the scenes in order to relay their super human abilities. I can only imagine the sensory overload if I actually saw True Legend in 3D! When the credits were rolling after the film, we all gave a nice applause in memory to David Carradine.
I can’t wait to purchase this film on Blu ray when it becomes available!
After the movie, sifu Jose Figueroa and Jo Jo Torres talked about their backgrounds and the influence of kung fu films with breakin’ and vice versa. Yuen Woo Ping would pay homage to the b-boys by implementing their culture into his films as early as the 1980’s with Mismatched Couples featuring Donnie Yen. He would do so again with True Legend!
This event ended with Jose, Jo Jo, and other O-G members of the 1st generation of the Rock Steady Crew forming a circle with the audience before they took the show to the floor! A nice steady mix of Jimmy Castor’s “It’s just begun” would light the fire for Jose as he swept the floor like he wanted to take down the crowd with drunken vengeance! I think Jo Jo Torres would of blew a load if “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band would of came on! Jo Jo did an amazing headspin as he cut up the floor like it was the 1970’s! The moves that father time has taken away was made up for by great energy and that B-Boy attitude! It was really fun to watch this old crew of masters from the Bronx get down!
Tags: hong kong, mr c, rock steady, yuen wo ping
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5 POINTZ : street art in long island city,queens-nyc
September 18th, 2011 by Mr. C
Just a few pics from the mecca of graffiti in long island city on my queens romp today….I haven’t been to 5 pointz since the fall of 2010 but big foot chocko can be found lurking about more on the regular. Show your support and save 5 Pointz, y’all!
Tags: 5 pointz, graffiti, street art
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STREETS OF GOLD (1986) — Friday night fights at the movies!
September 16th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Joe Roth
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Adrian Pasdar
Genre: Boxing, Drama
Streets of Gold is one of my favorite boxing movies of all time. It’s obviously not a filmmaking masterpiece in any sense of the word, but I really enjoyed the gritty nature of the story along with the characters of the two up and coming local boxers from Coney Island & the Gravesend section of Brooklyn being trained by the Mr. Miyagi version of boxing from the Soviet Union! Alek Neuman (Klaus Maria Brandauer) is a jewish immigrant from the USSR who was a former boxing champion that was not allowed on the Russian national team because he was a jew. Alek would soon defect from his home country in hopes of better pastures in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn which has a large population of residents from the Soviet Republic. He struggles day to day working as a dishwasher in a restaurant while drowning his past sorrows with mr vodka. Alek had a funny line in the movie: “In Russia I lived like an american and in America, I live like a russian”.
Alek stumbles onto an underground fighting circuit where he sees boxers fight such as Roland Jenkins (Wesley Snipes), a jive talking, street smart local champion from Coney Island with a tremendous upside and Timmy (Adrian Pasdar), a raw & brute talent from the nearby Gravesend section. These kids will eventually seek out the Miyagi like boxing technician to help train them after they’ve seen how gracefully a drunk Alek handled himself vs the cocky & heavy handed Wesley Snipes! The U.S.A. boxing team will eventually get wind of these NYC talents and covet them on their team much to the delight of Alek! A bout with the Russian national team will harden the stool for an intense encounter with Alek’s old coach. Some beer muscles will make a presence as it would inspire additional twists to the hips while celebrating at the neighborhood restaurant on Brighton Beach.
There were a few ethnic slurs & derogatory words being tossed back and forth mostly involving the “N” word directed at Wesley Snipes’ character coming from a jealous & selfish hate monger. Despite a few ignorant creatures in the film, the brotherhood of boxing would be much more deeper than color, race, creed, & cultures. There were also no political or religious agendas being stirred up in the Streets of Gold as a black muslim, a jew, & a training brother preached comradery, loyalty and friendship till the end. The issue with the Russian national team being anti-semitic remained in the background without further air time until personalities met in the locker room. The actual fight in the ring was less about the russians vs the americans rather it was more about believing in yourself, the hard work & effort put forth, and your trust in the circle of friends that you surrounded yourself in.
I loved some of the views and backdrops of Coney Island from the 1980’s in this film including the boardwalk and Astroland Park!! It gave us a glimpse of that gritty old charm of NYC that we miss so much! I just wished some company would remaster this movie or at least put out a passable copy of Streets of Gold on DVD but for now, my trusty beat up VHS copy from Vestron via Tower Records clearance will have to suffice!
Tags: boxing, movies, mr c
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Anthrax played Best Buy Theater 09.12.11.
September 13th, 2011 by chocko
I walked up to the Best Buy Theater about an hour before doors, expecting to stand in a line for about an hour, but instead I was told there were extra wristbands for the Metal Masters Clinic 2 which was in progress on the very stage Anthrax was going to play on in about 2 hours. You couldn’t turn that down, so after bumrushing the stage I notice that Kerry King (Slayer) is on guitar along with Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) on drums, David Ellefson (Megadeth) on bass, with Scott Ian, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello of Anthrax. They’re just jamming and the crowd was losing it…headbanging all over the place. After a couple songs with Frank on vocals, Phil Anselmo from Pantera joins the band to take over the vocal duties and cranks out two Pantera songs, “A New Level” and “Fucking Hostile”. Daaaamn!
After the Clinic and after the crowd picked their jaws off the floor from the madness they just witnessed on stage, Kerry, Frank, Charlie, Mike and David signed stuff for the fans in the lobby. The line was long and people brought magazines, posters, albums and guitars to get signed. There were a lot of freebies at the table including the new Revolver magazine with Five Finger Death Punch on the cover and killer trading card sheets inside featuring the bands playing the BIG 4 at Yankee Stadium-the ultimate metal concert feat. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Back on stage, Lady Starlight was on the turntables playing metal vinyl and strutting her stuff to the sounds of Iron Maiden, Ozzy and Dio.
Eddie Trunk introduced the band in fine fashion and Anthrax took to the stage and the place erupted into a sea of fists and mosh pits. Joey Belladonna is back in the lineup as the lead singer and the band sounds awesome. The last time I saw the band was many moons ago at Roseland with John Bush on vocals. It was a great show with White Zombie opening up, but fast forward to the present with Joey back on the mic…you can’t beat that. The rest of the lineup consists of the usual suspects-Rob Caggiano (guitar), Frank Bello (bass), Scott Ian (guitar) and Charlie Benante (drums). Their set started with “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t” off their highly anticipated album “Worship Music”. It just came out and every metal fan should buy it. Do yourself a favor! The band went right into “Time” then the crushing classic slab of metal, “Caught In A Mosh”. The mosh pit in the back was intense with pretty much older dudes running around throwing fists, elbows and head butts. I counted 3 fights…2 of them got a little bloody-not bad for an Anthrax show! Kerry King came back out to toast the band on the eve of the album release and Phil Anselmo showed up during the song “Indians” for a little fun at the end of the song with Bello’s bass and Belladonna doing a little metal worshipping. The band closed out their 10 song set with a crowd favorite, “I Am The Law” and during the encore, ended off the night with another track off “Worship Music” titled “Earth On Hell”.
SET LIST
Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t
Time
Caught In A Mosh
Antisocial
The Devil You Know
Indians
Madhouse
Metal Thrashing Mad
Only
I Am The Law
Earth on Hell (Encore)
Tags: anthrax, big 4, heavy metal, megadeth, new album, pantera, slayer, thrash, worship music
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REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962) — friday night fights at the movies!
September 9th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Ralph Nelson
Stars: Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris
Genre: boxing drama
This movie had a heavy hitting hollywood cast and they would prove to not disappoint! The story revolves around an aging pro heavyweight boxer, Mountain Rivera (Anthony Quinn) and his supporting team in the ring: manager-Maish (Jackie Gleason) & trainer-Army (Mickey Rooney). The film starts out with the young Cassius Clay (yes, the real Cassius Clay before the name change to Muhammad Ali) beating the pulp out of Mountain before knocking him down & out in a match in NYC. He gets a severe beatdown which forces Rivera to retire due to a grotesque eye injury much to his dismay. This film really had little to do with boxing instead it delves into the struggle of a man’s 2nd life after 17 years of nothing but fisticuffs in the ring. As Rivera beats himself up mentally on the reality of his education and job skills, Maish the sleazy manager (Jackie Gleason) tries to scheme a way into convincing Mountain towards a professional wrestling career as an American Indian character known as the “Fighting Chief”. A monkey wrench would get tossed into the plot when Mountain meets Miss Miller (Julie Harris), a counselor at the unemployment agency. She encourages him to interview for a job at the summer camp for kids. A sort of beauty and the beast relationship will soon simmer in the hot pot. However, Jackie Gleason would have his own agenda and most definitely will have a few condescending words for this lady of goodwill. Mickey Rooney’s character despises the selfish manager for the mind games he plays in order to dupe the soft hearted brute.
This black & white film contains a lot of colorful performances led by Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Julie Harris, & Mickey Rooney. The characters they portrayed instantly hooked me into the story. I felt total sympathy for Mountain Rivera as the “beast” looking to find himself after a career in the fight game with the help of the “beauty” at the unemployment agency. The selfish & conniving character played by Gleason will make you want to 5 knuckle sandwich the tube! A whole host of closeup shots of Mountain at his emotional points will help to convey his feeling of despair & frustration to the viewer. This movie will appeal to all, NOT just boxing fans! Go see this, y’all!
Tags: boxing, movies, mr c
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John Doe played Sound Fix
September 8th, 2011 by chocko
John Doe played an intimate show to a few dozen people last night at a Brooklyn record store, Sound Fix Records. John is an original member of the legendary California punk band, X. You best get to steppin’ if you don’t own their first 2 albums…Los Angeles and Wild Gift. At least have those in your record collection. I walked in during soundcheck and heard some of “Burning House of Love” off the Ain’t Love Grand record. John sounded great and that song would be the only X song played later that night. The rain didn’t stop his fans from showing up to see him play some songs of his new album, Keeper on Yep Roc Records. It’s his 8th solo album and it’s got 12 brand new tracks of laid back, mature rock and roll tunes. You won’t find any punk rock songs on the record, but the second track, “Never Enough” a song about hoarding, does get a bit rowdy. Cindy Wasserman provided backup vocals for the in-store performance. She’s got a great voice and she sings on a bunch of tracks on the new album, but do check her out in her own band from California, Dead Rock West. John shot down a request of X’s “4th Of July” but he did play “Golden State” which was a highlight of the night.
SET LIST
Handsome Devil
Burning House of Love
Little Tiger
Don’t Forget How Much I Love You
This Far
Golden State
Never Enough
Giant Step Backward
Tags: cindy wasserman, dead rock west, in-store, john doe, performance, punk, show, x
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street art nyc
September 8th, 2011 by chocko
Creepy on 145 Ludlow St.
Nanook + Gaia collaboration on 145 Ludlow St.
YOK on 145 Ludlow St.
JR on Grand St.
JR on Wooster St.
photos by chocko
Tags: art, graffiti, new york city, street art
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The Great Buster Keaton
September 8th, 2011 by Mr. C
The Film Forum in NYC ran all day screenings of Buster Keaton silent films on labor day monday so you know I had to get out to see at least a few of his gems! What really added to the appeal of this event was the live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner on all of the films! It was a real treat to hear Sterner set the mood scene by scene upon his tempo and style of play! The experience of watching a silent film with live music definitely gave it a retro vibe. I’ve been a Buster Keaton fan since the early 1980’s when Jackie Chan mentioned that Keaton’s physical comedy is what really influenced him to incorporate self deprecating slapstick with unbelievable stunts to his own peking opera-kung fu background! From then on, I began to discover what a genious, Buster Keaton was as an artist, performer, & director!
Steamboat Bill Jr. was one of the features I saw at the Film Forum and it’s easily one of my favorites! There were plenty of scenes in that movie that still amazes me to this day! Buster plays a college kid on school break enroute to meet his father (Ernest Torrence), a captain of a paddle wheel boat known as the Stonewall Jackson which makes its daily rounds on the Mississippi river. The problem is he hasn’t seen his boy since he was a baby so he has no clue what he looks like. All Bill Sr. knows when he picks up Jr (Buster Keaton) at the train station is that he is wearing a white carnation. Unfortunately, every young lad seems to be donning a white carnation at the station! This will lead to a whole host of chuckles! They eventually would cross paths! The diminuitive Bill Jr tugs along his ukelele while sporting a french style hat as opposed to the usual ‘pork pie’ look that we are all accustomed to seeing him in. This is not exactly the son that the big rough & tough man of the mississipi pictured his son to be. Jr also has a fancy for a young lady that happens to be the daughter of the owner of a competing luxury boat targeting to put the Stonewall out of business! The two fathers will most certainly have conflicts! Sr goes berzerk and soon finds himself behind bars! The events that follow will prove that Bill Jr is not just any ordinary clumsy fool. He’s a fool with integrity and good luck with the blessing of newton’s law of gravity always by his side! Some outstanding stunts/scenes from the movie includes the crazy storm sequence that teared down houses like they were toys as Buster was swept away! The scene that everyone links to Keaton is when the whole front side of a building falls down on him but fortunately the glass-less window frame lands exactly where he is standing! Classic! The jailhouse skit was also insane! The hat and more hats scene was hilarious as well. This was the 1st time that I’ve seen a Buster Keaton film on the big screen and with the added live piano accompaniment, it really made for a great way to appreciate the master at work! The balls of laughter coming from the audience including children really proves that his movies are timeless! I was bummed that THE GENERAL screening was sold out that day as that also has some amazing stunts of Buster on a train! He seemed to have this uncanny ability to bring inanimate objects to life! It was a pleasure to watch Jackie Chan’s inspiration come to life again on the screen! Thank you Buster, Buster!
Tribute to Buster Keaton via DrMoonRat@youtube
Tags: buster keaton, comedy, movies
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