Helldriver screening at the Japan Society
April 29th, 2011 by Mr. C
The Helldriver screening at the Japan Society on thursday night was hella’ full of zombie fun! It was our 1st time attending an event/screening at the J-Society and boy, if this was indicative of how the Japan Society, Sushi Typhoon, & Subway Cinema do things there…um, where do we sign up?! The director, Yoshihiro Nishimura & actress, Eihi Shiina were on hand at the screening to introduce the film & do a Q&A with the audience immediately after! Marc from subway cinema did a great job MC’ing the event as well as surfacing on the screen in a cameo role in the film! Nishimura & Marc both appeared onstage at the japan society after the film in a psuedo sumo loincloth, what da? It was over the top, wacky, & hilarious which pretty much describes the movie! Nishimura even whirled around a devilish inspired zombie baby attached to a cord as a weapon of choice which made chucky from child’s play look like a choir boy! Eihi and Yoshihiro were gracious enough to stick around after the screening to take photos & sign autographs! A few limited photos & logo hankies were made available for sale to benefit the Japan earthquake relief fund. Ticket sales for this event also went to the cause. Some good snacks on a stick, beer, & Vaura, a death metal band were waiting in the wings in the lobby for the after show party!
The movie would showcase a beautiful young lady played by Yumiko Hara who has been physically & mentally tortured in all of her existence. Through trials, tribulations, & circumstances from a stolen heart by the dirty soul of her mother played by Eihi Shiina, Yumiko will find a power invested in thee to wield a chainsaw in a configuration of a samurai sword in the name of saving japan from the savages of a zombie nation led by her twisted & abusive mom & her psychotic uncle which reminded me of Anthony Wong with a mohawk. The zombies would lurk around with a devilish looking horn on their head which looked like a modified wishbone! They looked voraciously for an opportunity to prey on human flesh! The movie did not waste any time from the get go as the 1st scene went right into battle mode with the zombie hunter slaying his subjects for their wishbone horn! Later on in the movie, they will explain the significance of the horns! After what seemed to be like 20 to 30 minutes into the film, they finally showed the opening credits! If that was the intro to the film, then what was to become of the climax! The amount of glorified blood gushings, violence, guts spillage, over the top characters, & insane zombie voiceovers were totally absurd which made it that much more fun! The soundtrack was a mix tape full of rock, metal, & classical pieces all under the guidance of a devil maestro if you may! My favorite props & visuals of the film included the insane hot rod car infused together by zombie limbs which looked partially designed by Frank Kozik! The giant monster mothership was composed of dead zombies with the head comprised of the evil mom accompanied by the maestro was pretty wicked as well! Also, who can forget the pickup truck jousting with the multiple zombie hands slicing & dicing with the samurai swords! A really funny scene in the movie involved our tenacious zombies prancing & dancing about like in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video! Kamikaze, bonzai, & heads will fly! If you liked Tokyo Gore Police then Helldriver is definitely up your alley! I can’t wait for more of these insane movies to surface at the NY Asian Film Festival at the Japan Society!
Eihi Shiina & the director, Yoshihiro Nishimura introduce the film before the screening!
Q&A after the film!
Tags: eihi shiina, helldriver, japan society, subway cinema, sushi typhoon, yoshihiro nishimura, Yumiko Hara, zombie
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Seaweed played the Bell House
April 27th, 2011 by chocko
Last Friday, April 22, 2011 marked the triumphant return of Tacoma, Washington’s Seaweed to NYC where they have not played in over ten years. Their show at Bell House was their first show in Brooklyn and to say that I was totally psyched for this show, would be kind of an understatement. Seaweed formed in the late 80’s but I didn’t become a fan until discovering their 1992 Sub Pop album “Weak” which I still have on cassette. I used to play that tape non-stop and after popping it in the tape deck recently…it still plays and sounds so awesome. “Weak” came out after their first album “Despised” which was released in 1991. After releasing three more album and playing shows with Green Day, Superchunk, Quicksand and countless other punk and grungy bands the band called it a day in 1999. After almost ten years Seaweed rose from the ashes to reunite, work on a new album and play shows again. The show in Brooklyn featured openers All Eyes West and (Damn) This Desert Air. Both excellent bands…do check them out. Seaweed started their set with “Antilyrical” off their Merge Records release “Actions and Indications” straight into “Crush Us All” from their 1995 album on Hollywood Records, “Spanaway.” From there, the band..original lineup pretty much intact, played songs that got the crowd smiling and singing along. The set list covered every album and even featured a brand spankin’ new tune. Bring on the new album dudes! The crowd, a tad bit older and wiser were slow in starting up the crowd surfing. There was lots of fist pumps and polite pogoing, but about midway into the set the crowd probably got more drunk and reckless…the dancing got kicked up a notch and the crowd surfing began and didn’t stop until the end. It was a fun night of music and I know a good amount of fans traveled long distances to see the band. It was also sweet to see some familiar faces in the crowd including Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile who was there with her twin sister!
Seaweed’s first Brooklyn show ever
Allison and Cindy
my “weak” tape…still in effect
SET LIST
antilyrical
crush us all
losing skin
one inch punch
free drug zone
steadfast shrine
start with
measure
red tape parade
thru the window
squint
new tools
magic mountain man
service deck
stargirl
baggage
common mistake
kid candy
saturday nitrous
bewitched
Tags: bell house, brooklyn, grunge, punk, records, seaweed, show, sub pop
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Underwater Love (2011) screening at Tribeca Film Festival
April 25th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Actors: Sawa Masaki, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Emi Nishimura, and Fumio Moriya
Genre: pinky musical, exploitation, cult
I went to a wet and wild if not a bit enigmatic screening of UNDERWATER LOVE at the Tribeca Film Festival last Saturday night with the director, Shinji Imaoka & the lead actress, Sawa Masaki in attendance for a short Q&A session after the movie. This movie hit the “what the fuck” spectrum & bounced off a few prisms in transit! It’s to be noted that Underwater Love was conceived in 5 days of filming with only 1 take! Talk about keeping the production time & budget down! The cinematographer behind the eyes of the viewfinder was the acclaimed, Christopher Doyle who also had an eye in a few of Wong Kar Wai’s visions! They classified this quirky film as a pinky musical, but Mr. C’s night of the living basehead terminology will describe this film as a bollywood like production on crack with excuses to throw in softcore porn as a popcorn trail to distract you for some sexual thrashings of the human & japanese folklore reptilian nature! The basic premise of the story without revealing too much tits, ass, scales, & turtle power is about the character Asuka, a 35 year old woman who works in a local fishery who happens upon a kappa (a creature from japanese folklore that grabbed children & pulled them to sea). This hybrid beast turns out to be someone that Asuka had known from in the past and has comeback to profess his love for her! Meanwhile, Asuka & her fiance romp here & romp there with some skin on skin poundings of non rhythmic sex. While that’s going on, the kappa gets seduced from a chubby young lady who works with Asuka. Miss chubb rock rides the kappa like a cowgirl destined for a rodeo championship! Sandwiched in between hot & heavy reptilian-human sex would house some musical scenes enhanced by funky 80’s style electronica tunes with twinkle toe dance moves that Fred Flinstone & Barney Rubble can master. A twist in the story would get sauced in when a shinogami (Death God) reveals to the Kappa that Asuka has only one more day to live. The games would soon begin as the kappa & asuka tread hand in hand together through the forest in search of an answer to prolong her life. The answer would come in a pill format, but the ingestion technique would prove to be quite an undertaking! Folks, this movie will have you murmur ‘what the bluck’ on your breath while you get entertained from 87 minutes of trying to answer why,why,why? Maybe the answer to this question might of been better served while watching this flick stoned!
Tags: Emi Nishimura, Fumio Moriya, Mutsuo Yoshioka, shinji imaoka, tribeca film festival, underwater love
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Taxi Hunter (1993)
April 23rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Herman Yau
Actors: Anthony Wong,Yu Rong-Guang, Ng Man-Tat, Athena Chu Yun
Genre: Revenge! exploitation!
Taxi Hunter at first glance might lead you to believe that this is Hong Kong’s version of Taxi Driver by Martin Scorcese, but the buck stops there when comparing the two! However, the characters of Travis Bickle & Ah Kin do share something in common…rage and revenge!
The inscrutable, Anthony Wong plays an insurance agent named Ah Kin who is a very caring & gentle person in his own quirky type of way. He & his lovely wife are expecting a child very soon. For those who’ve never seen Anthony Wong in any movie roles before, gentle & caring is usually not a word used to describe this beast of an actor! Wong often plays a twisted psychotic man, bad cop, or triad leader. Hold up, wait a minute, I’m not finished…he starts off as a gentle, docile creature, but circumstances would change this man’s life forever! Now, we’re talking! Will the real Anthony Wong please stand up?!
Ah Kin always finds himself in the grasp of the sleazy & opportunistic Hong Kong taxi driver on a daily basis. The taxi driver usually falls into at least 1 of these categories if not all: 1)verbally abusive towards their customers. 2)wheels & deals with negotiating fares instead of using the meter; 3)driving in loops to extend the ride if they are using the meter; 4)profiling his fares in terms of location preferences; 4)hurling insults to their customers; 5)ALL OF THE ABOVE. This frustrates Wong to no end, but this is all tolerable until one stormy night when his wife goes into labor & starts bleeding. The husband calls for a taxi, but the cab driver ends up leaving for another fare who negotiated a higher price. With the wife in tow, bleeding, and in labor pains in the rain no less, the hubby flags down another dirtball taxi driver who promptly negotiates a fare to take them to the hospital emergency room. However, after seeing the wife bleed profusely, mr. cabbie reneges the ride offer because he doesn’t want blood stains in his ride, god forbid! The taxi driver takes off like a Domino’s delivery guy promising to deliver pizza in “30 minutes or less or it’s free” mode! The problem is that the wife is still attached to the cab. She is dragged in the rain for a block or two belly down. She finally curdles to the curb without the cab with something more than a rash. Unfortunately, the wife & the baby do not make it. REE-VENGE! Ah Kin’s outlook on life has now been shaken upside down & tossed inside out as he looks to eradicate all sleaze bucket taxi drivers in Hong Kong! Kin hails taxi cabs in order to test out these slime ball drivers and if there are any signs of foul play, a prominent choke hold till death will ensue! Ah Kin ups the ante when he graduates to handguns! It all comes to a head when Kin’s friend who is a cop sets up a sting operation to trap the Taxi Hunter!
This movie is pure Hong Kong exploitation at its best! Surprisingly, the film is not as dark or dreary as you may think! There are even sprinklings of humor in it! There’s a bunch of car chase scenes & stunts that will make you say, yeaaah son! Check out this Herman Yau directed film, y’all if you can grab a hold of it! I don’t think it’s on Netlix, though. Suddenly, I have an urge to hail a cab in NYC! Take me down to chinatown and then, to the halal cart on 4th & 6th ave, you son of a sleaze ball! Say hello to my….woo!
Tags: anthony wong, herman yau, hong kong exploitation, taxi hunter
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Tear It Up played Europa
April 21st, 2011 by chocko
Last month the original lineup of NJ’s legendary DIY hardcore punk group, Tear It Up, played to a packed house at Europa in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Paul, Andy, Doug, Matt and Dave had not played a show together since 2003 and to see them on stage for the first of two reunion shows was something I was totally psyched for. I knew as soon as they hit the stage that the “no stage diving” rule posted all over the club would be broken and all sorts of mayhem would ensue. I was pretty close to the stage and the place was packed like sardines and dimly lit. People were stage diving and you couldn’t even see them until they were a foot away from you coming in for a crash landing on your face. I know the dude next to me definitely got his nose broke. It was so packed by the stage that you couldn’t even leave if you wanted to. Bodies were flying, slamming and moshing everywhere. It was definitely one of the craziest punk shows I had been to in a long time. Most of the songs played were off their 2001 “Nothing to Nothing” album. The crowd sang along to every song and Dave, the lead singer put the crowd into a frenzy while crowd surfing and somehow making it back to the stage without missing a beat. Their “Nothing to Nothing” album was recently repressed by Six Feet Under Records and they had it on sale at the merch table along with a limited edition ‘zine (I think the band only printed 100 of them) which featured old photos and flyers from the band’s archives. I wish I had bought a ticket to night 2 at the Irish in Kearny, NJ but that got sold out and there was no chance of getting in. Hardcore punk rockers from Western Massachusetts, Last In Line, also reunited for the show, which was cool because they used to play with Tear It Up a lot back in the day. Cell Mates, a punk band from Maryland, opened up the show. Check out their new single out on Wallride Records.
Tags: brooklyn, cell mates, diy, europa, hardcore punk, last in line, new york city, nyc
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Record Store Day 2011
April 20th, 2011 by chocko
regina spektor at other music
Happy Belated Record Store Day. How did it go out there? Did you wait in a line like me and Mr. C to stock up on limited edition vinyl? That’s what we did on that unusually cold spring morning in New York City last Saturday. First up was Other Music located on 15 E. 4th Street between Broadway and Lafayette. This store has been there as long as I can remember…back in the day they were shadowed by the mighty Tower Records and Tower Video stores across the street. Those stores are no longer around but OM is still in effect. We were joined by about 100 people waiting in line for doors to open at 11 a.m. The line moved pretty fast once the doors swung open. I picked up a few goodies…Pay to Cum! the reissue of the 1980 debut of Bad Brains and OFF! Live at Generation Records 7″. The extra special bonus at Other Music was the first 100 customers who bought the the new 7″ four from far by Regina Spektor, got to see her perform for free. Oh, you know we had to go to that. After shopping and a quick lunch, we got back in line and waited for about about an hour until Regina to showed up and played at the piano on a small stage in the no longer empty store front next to Other Music. When Regina arrived the crowd went bonkers and her fans were treated to a short set of songs which included riot gear, all the rowboats, ballad of a politician and better. She was funny and interacted a lot with the crowd. She appeared a little nervous about the fact that it was all being taped for a future release, but it all went well in the end. By 3:30 we made it to Generation Records at 210 Thompson St. and by then the rain began. I’ll talk more about that later. We just missed Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo spin some records but the Jay Vons were still playing and they’re always a great band to see live..full of soul and funky as hell. If you were in the back of the basement like me, you couldn’t see but you could definitely hear Dave Amels on the organ. The dude is badass on the keys. I made a couple more purchases at Generation like the new Bouncing Souls “Live at Generation” red vinyl. Oh Yes!
angel olsen
bow ribbons
After getting beat down by the storm and walking to Kim’s Video & Music on Ave. A, we rounded out the evening with a double in store performance by the beautiful and gentle sounds of Angel Olsen and Brooklyn’s own Bow Ribbons. Angel Olsen is a lo-fi folk singer out of Chicago who pours her soul into her somber tunes which sound like old songs from days long gone. The small crowd swayed and swooned to her crooning and sweet yodels. I wanted to get the new “Strange Cacti” on vinyl which was originally released on cassette, but the store sold out of all their copies. You go girl. It’s out now on Bathetic Records and I just might have to buy it online. I can’t wait any longer! Definitely be on the lookout when she plays at a venue near you. Bow Ribbons played next. Their gentle songs smolder but the one Bettye Lavette cover of “let me down easy” brought down the house. God damn, woman what a set of pipes! It was getting late and our original plans were to head over to Brooklyn to check out what was going down at Sound Fix, Permanent Records and Fat Beats, but the rain was relentless. There were lots of sad, broken umbrellas all over the sidewalk. It was definitely a lot of fun, we bought a ton of records and saw some awesome performances for free! Record Store Day 2012…Can’t come soon enough!
Tags: angel osen, bow ribbons, generation records, kim's video & music, new york city, other music, regina spektor
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Fiat Abarth 695!
April 20th, 2011 by Mr. C
Late 1960’s Fiat Abarth on mercer street by NYU on Record Store day! Steve Urkel posed as a model for a size perspective of the diminuitive 4 wheeler! Talk about a stylish urban assault vehicle!
Tags: fiat abarth 695
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Soul Brothers of Kung Fu (1977)
April 12th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Yi Jung Hua
Actors: Bruce Li, Law Mong, Ku Feng, Lee Hoi San, & Carl Scott
Genre: Brucesploitation
The Soul Brothers of Kung Fu comprise of actors, Ho Chung Tao aka Bruce Li, Law Mong, & Carl Scott! This chauncy is about 3 illegal immigrants played by Li, Carl Scott, & Law Mong from mainland china & the states(?) who work at the shipyards of Hong Kong in the late 1970’s. Two of the chinese soul brothers run into gangster lean types while working on the dockyard. These 2 would have no choice but to lash out with a few quarts of phoenix & dragon whoopass unto thy triads making them pussyfoot back to their leader with evidences of a serious beatdown in chinatown(Hong Kong)! The 3rd soul brother would slowly emerge played by brotherman, Carl Scott who gets a severe smackdown of his own while working on the job site by the same grease heads. Fortunately, the other two outlaws are there to pick up the afro pieces and unleash the beast for a nice chop socky feast! The fearless three band together as Carl Scott is anxious to learn all the extraordinary kickass asiatic moves from Bruce Li & Law Mong! Trouble seems to find the 3 amigos as the gang members are relentless in hot pursuit of them. Soon, the refuge of working in a nightclub will not be so secretive afterall as gangland finds the whereabouts of the trio. Ku Feng plays the most cunning of mob bosses as his leadership & fighting skills would lead you to believe that he is a henchmen disguised as a playboy. Fortunately, Ku Feng has the muscle of hong kong kickass veteran played by Lee Hoi San as one of his kung fu killing machines with a hard head! Lee Hoi San usually plays the role of a rabbid, off the meat rack Shaolin Monk that you don’t want to mess around with! Ku Feng will also use the power of the pussy to help lure one of the soul brothers astray in order to convince him to join their organization. This film is a frankeinstein’ed tale of friendships, hardships, & betrayals with lots of kung fu action…that I can ‘guaron-tee’ (in my best Louisianna southern accent!)
I’m not going to vouch for any of the academy award winning acting in this film that’s for sure, but the fighting choreography isn’t half bad for a brucesploitation flick! Having the horses in the movie that can actually screen fight definitely helps with the situation! Ho Chung Tao better known as “Bruce Li” for exploitation purposes is probably the best bruce lee imitator around. Not that anyone can ever peform the moves that Bruce can especially with his signature timestamp in passion and intensity with every movement that only he can deliver. But, Li is definitely one of the better clones around. Law Mong who plays number one soul brother is a studded presence in the film with his rock hard abs, forearms that popeye would take notice to, & a chest that would impress Bolo Yeung. Most of you old skool kung fu movie fans might know Law Mong in his roles as the Toad in the “5 Deadly Venoms” amongst his many venom brother roles with the Shaw Brother Studios. Most recently in 2010, he starred in “Gallants”. A movie that I really enjoyed with many throwback actors in the cast!
Carl Scott, the diminuitive 3rd soul brother from another mother in the film was also one bad azz mofo of a fighter! He doesn’t have as strong a role in the movie as the other two, but his kung fu-kempo skills is off the school yard! Scott has not been featured in many films as I can only think of two other ones he starred in, but his skill level is definitely extraordinary. It really blew me away when I saw a non-chinese (african brotherman) perform some really cool kung fu routines in the movie, “SUN DRAGON”. Carl Scott was blazin’ a crazy leopards fist style with some rabbid kicks, & showed off a pretty mean looking pole routine that the “8 Diagram Pole fighter” – Gordon Liu might say, ”RIGHT ON, Brotha” ! I always wondered why Scott didn’t get as famous as Jim Kelly or Ron Van Clief because he certainly was struttin’ the right stuff!
Veteran actors Lee Hoi San & Ku Feng will also add some spice & everything not so nice on the menu to thwart the advances of the Soul Brothers of Kung Fu! Check it, this movie is best caressed with some soul food or at least some chicken wings & fried rice…right,right!
Tags: bruce li, carl scott, ho chung tao, ku feng, law mong, lee hoi san, lo meng, soul brothers of kung fu
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Heavy Cream played Public Assembly
April 8th, 2011 by chocko
Straight outta Nashville…Heavy Cream played to a Brooklyn crowd last night in the back room of Public Assembly. They played another Brooklyn show last week at Death By Audio with but that got sold out and I’m sure got packed like sardines. The Public Assembly show was a little easier to get into and this was the second time I’ve seen them play. So far, I like what I see and hear. The band consists of 3 girls (Jessica on vocals, Mimi on guitar and Tiffany on drums) and 1 dude (Daniel on bass) and they play super catchy garage-punk songs that will make you lose your mind and hop along to the beat. This band has everything I like…girls, cool guitar riffs, thumping drums and songs that could have come off a Runaways or Ramones album. Jessica is an excellent frontwoman…always energetic and intense…the whole band is definitely fun to watch! They played for about 40 minutes and I can’t wait until they come back to play again. They’ve been playing the NYC area a lot lately in support of their new album, “Danny” which came out last summer on Infinity Cat Recordings which was produced by Jake Orrall of another Nashville band, JEFF The Brotherhood. It’s a really good debut album of 12 killer tracks guaranteed to make you pump your fist, get your heart pounding while you dance until the asscrack of dawn. Yeah, so go to your local record store and pick it up…you can’t miss it. The cover’s got 3 hot babes on a horse. C’mon you know you want it.
Tags: d.i.y., garage punk, heavy cream, infinity cat recordings, nashville band
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Pharoahe Monch performed at Best Buy NYC
April 7th, 2011 by chocko
Pharoahe Monch best known for his monster hit “Simon Says” in the late 90’s and for being in the group Organized Konfusion made a recent appearance at the Best Buy in Union Square in New York City on March 22 to perform some songs off his new album. The new album on Duck Down records is titled “W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)” and features 13 brand new tracks with guest appearances by artists such as Immortal Technique, Phonte, Jean Grae, Royce Da 5’9″, Citizen Cope and Jill Scott. It’s a great hip hop album and one of my favorite albums to come out so far in 2011. The lyrics are complex and his flow and delivery have remained one of the best in the industry. There was a decent amount of people there including some familiar faces in the crowd…Mr. Beatz, Dru Ha and Jean Grae in the building. Shoutout to the girl who baked Pharoahe Monch-themed cookies for the event. My cookie was decorated with a black fist with “w.a.r.” written on it…that was pretty gangsta and tasty too. DJ Boogie Blind provided the beats and his turntable skills while Monch performed a quick 3 song set with the help of two backup singers. The songs he performed off the new album were “Shine”, “Clap (One Day)” which also features DJ Boogie Blind on the album and “Still Standing.” Needless to say the crowd wanted more…Jean Grae was there, they could have done “Assassins” and the reason he didn’t even touch “Simon Says” was that there were too many curse words in it. What da? Afterwards, Monch signed stuff, shook hands and seemed like a nice and humble dude. Anyway, get the new album “W.A.R.” and check out Pharoahe Monch when he comes to a venue near you if you’re into that real hip hop. You know what I’m saying?!?
DJ Boogie Blind
Jean Grae with the salute! We had a good laugh after this photo.
Tags: best buy, duck down records, hip hop, underground, union square
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STREET SOLDIERS (1991)
April 7th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Lee Harry
Actors: Jun Chong, Hwang Jang Lee(Jason Hwang),Jeff Rector,David Homb
Genre: action, martial arts
I went rummaging into my VHS collection that I was about to set a blaze to & pulled out this gem, Street Soldiers in ‘it’s so bad that it’s so good’ category of film! STREET SOLDIERS is a 1990’s production that is a result of offspring when THE KARATE KID meets THE WARRIORS who are armed with guns then gets ejaculated on by DEATH WISH forefathers while a ROCKY & THE BEST OF THE BEST like soundtrack is being played in the background! The skinny of the film revolves around a ragged street gang called the JP’s who’s leader, “Priest” played by Jeff Rector gets released from prison after doing hard time. The JP’s terrorize the streets & swap meets of L.A., smacking down ho’s & chumps along the way. The gang also gets an extra boost of balls & a triple shot of testosterone when their fearless leader slithers his way back onto the scene! In comes some high school raggamuffins donning varsity jackets called the Tigers who interrupt the flow of JP street swagger. Teenagers get jumped, faces get spray painted, misfits get tae kwan do kicked, girls get smacked up, people get shot, & fools get stabbed! The Ed Mcmahon sweepstakes get turned up a notch when one of the Tigers has a hankering for one of PRIESTS’ old flames with which he wants to rekindle the fire with. Tae Kwan Do, knives, snakes, condoms, handguns, oozies, & bar brawl style bashings are the weapons of choice when getting to know one another! Jun Chong who plays Master Han teaches the Tigers the korean specialty of Tae Kwan Do to defend against the street neanderthals. Master Han would also have a purpose in his rage against the Priest & the JP’s. Jun Chong of course is the real life Tae Kwan Do/Hap Ki Do master from the Los Angeles area! Some of you might recognize Chong from the film, L.A. STREETFIGHTERS playing a role as a high school kid turned bouncer! Hell, if Dustin Nguyen can do it in 21 Jumpstreet, why not?
Another Tae Kwan do legend that graced this film was no other than, HWANG JANG LEE! On the ending film credits, he was acknowledged as Jason Hwang. Jason who? Hwang Jang Lee is better known & recognized as the kickass villain in Jackie Chan’s SNAKE IN THE EAGLES SHADOW & DRUNKEN MASTER amongst his vast filmography! You know…that guy that can use his legs for weapons as easy as you and I can eat a folded NY slice of pizza with a slight hunchback to drain the oil on the ground & walk at the same time! He is highly regarded as being one of the best martial art kickers that the film industry has ever seen! HJL plays a mute & crazed sidekick assassin to the psychopath, Mr. Priest in the film. Hwang also has a pet cobra snake that he commands on will to spew out venom to the opponents eyes! What? Like his kicking wasn’t enough! It’s really cool seeing HJL in street wear as opposed to period piece costumes. He dons a hat in the movie that even ODDJOB from GOLDFINGER would be jealous of & even shows a bit of his solid man cleavage with a buttoned down shirt & vest!
With Jun Chong & Hwang Jang Lee playing good vs evil, you know that a martial arts wetdream is in the horizon! Unfortunately, the end fight is a little bit underwhelming in my opinion, but you can’t deny the excellency of their techniques when these two famed Korean tae kwan do legends mix it up on the screen! That alone is worth the price of admission! The soundtrack of the film was also a knockoff throwback to a blend of similiar sounding tunes to the BEST OF THE BEST, ROADHOUSE, ROCKY, & THE LAST DRAGON! Especially during the training sessions & street chases! Guess they couldn’t afford the Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, or Blues Traveler of the world!
Jun Chong Martial Arts : 6340B Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. 90048
Tags: david homb, hwang jang lee, jason hwang, jeff rector, jun chong, lee harry, street soldiers
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The Black Dragon’s revenge (1975)
March 29th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Chin Ku Lu
Actors: Ron Van Clief, Charles Bonet, Phillip Ko
The Black Dragon’s Revenge aka Death of Bruce Lee was one of many movies that surfaced after the sudden death of Bruce Lee on July 20th, 1973. A new genre of martial arts film would soon be born known as “Brucesploitation” in an attempt to grab box office sales with anything linked to the name Bruce lee. Yes, it seems sleazy & yes, the Hong Kong film industry wanted to leech on this for obvious reasons. They seized the opportunity to quench the thirst of fans with the fascination of the man, the myth, the legend of the diminuitive one. The production of some of these movies are quite frankenstein-esque, but it’s the formula of train wrecks in film that when it’s so bad, it makes it so good! This movie does NOT recreate a clone of Bruce Lee, but instead tells a tale of the speculation of the Little Dragon’s death. The Black Dragon, a hired gun from the USA is recruited to try and piece the puzzle together of who, what, why, & how Bruce died. He tag teams and karate kicks with another compatriot played by Charles Bonet. Upon the Black Dragon’s investigations in Hong Kong, he runs into a myriad of obstacles that hinders his search.
The Black Dragon character is played by the real life BLACK DRAGON himself, New York martial arts legend, RON VAN CLIEF. Bruce Lee had dubbed Van Clief as the Black Dragon upon their encounters in the late 60’s! Grandmaster Clief has been a big proponent of Goju-Ryu Karate in NYC since the 1960’s. He studied with the grandfather of NYC martial arts, Moses Powell as well as other famous teachers like Peter Urban & Wing Chun’s Leung Ting. He went on to develop his own hybrid style of fighting called Chinese Goju. Hanshi Charles Bonet who plays the Black Dragon’s sidekick in the film is also another big force in the NYC martial arts scene since the 1960’s. Bonet is of puerto rican descent and spent his time in the Bronx and Spanish Harlem. He was known as the “White Dragon” in the martial arts world. It seemed like the NYC martial arts community developed alot of badass mofos in the 1960’s-1980’s! The drug infested streets, poverty, grit, grime & crime of NYC helped bred a generation of tough, no nonsense individuals. Another common denominator with these two NYC fighting legends is that they both served in the military. Van Clief & Bonet are militiary & NYC street combat approved!
The martial arts action by these two in the film are fast & furious! I can tell you it’s raw with no special effects of any sorts. It’s the pure action of whoopass from these urban artists which manifests itself through the extension of their hands & feet whole heartedly without being tampered with from technology that makes these movies such a gem! Go check this film out in your nearest grindhouse theatre…or bootleg enclave!
The Black Dragon, Ron Van Clief , although relocated to the Virgin Islands, still has a New York state of mind. He conducts seminars & runs classes on the weekend on the beach!
The White Dragon, Hanshi Charles Bonet no longer resides in New York, but the nuyorican in him & his voice can never be denied. He has been teaching his Shorin-Kai International system in Arizona for at least a decade now.
Tags: black dragon's revenge, brucesploitation, charles bonet, chin ku lu, death of bruce lee, phillip ko, ron van clief
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