VOLTURE
February 19th, 2011 by chocko
VOLTURE is a Heavy Metal Band straight outta VA featuring Municipal Waste’s Ryan Waste (bass), Brent Hubbard (vocals), Twisted Tower Dire’s Dave Boyd (guitar), Nick Poulos (guitar), and Barry Cover (drums). They’re influenced by the New Wave Of British Metal (NWOBHM) era and their shows are guaranteed to make you bang your head and lose your mind. Their debut mini-album titled “Shocking It’s Prey” is out now! A big shout out to Ryan for taking the time out to do the interview. If you haven’t been to a Volture show, I trust that sooner or later, you will find yourself in their clutches!
How did everybody in the band meet each other and form Volture?
The five members of VOLTURE for the most part have known one another for quite a while. I’ve been friends with our drummer Barry Cover the longest. He filled in for Municipal Waste on drums for our first European tour and helped us out of several other jams. Brent Hubbard (vocals) and I met over nine years ago and I immediately wanted to do a heavy metal band with him upon hearing his incredible singing voice. Brent, Barry and I formed a band called Immortal Avenger back then that played some serious heavy metal but it never really took off. I played bass then, which was my primary instrument and I wanted to go back to the four strings once again. Nick Poulos (guitarist) had moved to Richmond around the same time Immortal Avenger was playing gigs and we became friends, but we never jammed together until a few years ago. I made him some mixes of old NWOBHM and other obscure heavy metal acts and we talked of doing a band in a similar direction. It had always been a lifelong goal of mine to put a real deal heavy metal band together and Nick was the missing link. I called upon Barry and Brent once again to fill out the lineup. We recently added Dave Boyd from Twisted Tower Dire on second guitar and the pieces have all fallen into place.
Describe the music the band plays.
We play upbeat rock-based heavy metal with piercing leads, high vocals and hard-driving rhythms. This is heavy metal music in it’s purest form with no drum triggers or overproduced studio trickery. We stand by our passion for real heavy metal and don’t compromise to current trends.
What metal or punk bands are you inspired by?
Mercyful Fate, Heavy Load, Gotham City, Persian Risk, early Priest, Sabbath, Scorps, UFO, Thin Lizzy, Satan (UK), Black Axe, Black Flag, Witch Cross, Talon, Boston, Trouble, Candlemass, Cacumen, Brats, Bleak House, Crucifixion, Tank, and a countless amount of NWOBHM & early US/Euro Heavy Metal.
How has the reaction been for the mini-LP Shocking Its Prey?
The reviews have been quite flattering actually. We’ve been receiving a lot of mail from overseas telling us that we’re playing the kind of heavy metal that old-school heavy metallers can appreciate. We’ve been getting a good amount of feedback from young people who seem to dig it too. So I guess it’s a pretty wide spectrum, which is great.
Do you have a favorite song on the record?
That’s a tough question. If I didn’t like them all then I wouldn’t be doing this. My favorite song of ours is one that’s not on the album called “Rulebreaker”. We wrote it right after we recorded the album. We might release it as a single and it will definitely come out on our first full length album. We are just getting started, so the best is yet to come!
I’m digging the logo and art on the album cover. Tell us a little bit about how that came about.
I’m very involved in the process of the cover art and logos, so I appreciate you pointing that out. We wanted a mascot for the band and the only fitting one would be the electric winged bird of steel itself, the VOLTURE! It was a major back and forth ordeal in the sketching process. We went through two artists and finally Sean McGrath, who drew the logo ended up tackling the actual drawing. We actually came up with the final concept when we ran into each other in Guadalajara, Mexico oddly enough. I always wanted the image of a metallic bird swooping down and attacking instead of waiting for it’s meal to die like an actual vulture would. The Volture was electrically charged and it acted on getting what it wanted. We decided to leave it a mystery to what it was preying on, so you’ll have to wait for the full length to delve deeper into it’s mythology. The painting was done by my good friend, the talented Andrei Bouzikov. He and I had worked together on the last two Municipal Waste album covers and I knew he’d be perfect for the job. He brought the drawing to life in paint and I have it hanging in my bedroom.
How have the live shows been so far? Any highlights?
We’ve played four live shows as of now and they’ve all been killer. The highlights for me have been just seeing the reaction on peoples faces. A lot of headbanging went down. Three of the shows were with our good buddies in CAULDRON and the highlights were all in the ham. We get a really mixed crowd too, so it’s cool to see a lot of people getting into heavy metal that you wouldn’t normally expect. I still think the US is warming up to proper heavy metal. There are always the die-hards out there, but I wish the States had the same passion for heavy metal that Europe or South America has. I’m sure you can guess where we will be headed next…
What bands are you listening to now?
Everything I mentioned in the “inspired by” question of course…but lately: Dealer, Mendes Prey, Gotham City, Limelight, More, A-II-Z, Survivor, Excalibur (UK), Griffin, H-Bomb, Lezlie Paice, Alice Cooper, Wildfire, Oz, Black Rose, Traitor’s Gate, Trespass, Gary Moore (R.I.P.) and a lot of AOR & Soundtrack stuff
Any favorite movies?
River’s Edge, Black Roses, Blood Diner, Shock ‘Em Dead, Rock ‘N Roll Nightmare, Rocktober Blood, Phantasm I-II, They Live, Repo Man, Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Maniac, The Thing, The Leprechaun II-VI, Spinal Tap, Fear of a Black Hat, Raising Arizona, Troll 2
Do any members of the band have any unusual hobbies or interests outside of music?
I can cook, DJ and I’m an obsessive organizer. Brent makes my organizing seem normal and he’s an avid weight lifter. Barry DJ’s as well and knows more about Zappa than anyone. Nick has dreads and he can use them in magical ways. Dave brews beer and helps save the environment.
Any updates on Municipal Waste or your other projects?
The Waste is currently writing a new album, enjoying some time off and playing a few festivals in the near future, namely HELLFEST in France (with Judas Priest, Scorpions, Ozzy, Trust, Angel Witch, Sodom, Coroner, etc!!!!)
What are the future plans of Volture?
We are focused on writing a full length, pushing the debut mini-Lp and trying to turn anyone on who’ll listen to our brand of Heavy Metal. We plan to tour Europe next spring and do a few runs in the US in the meantime. We are only just beginning our quest and it’s already a thrilling ride.
Any closing comments?
Thanks so much for your time! You can pick up the album here:
http://store.heavyartillery.us/
or listen and download here:
http://heavyartillery.bandcamp.com/album/shocking-its-prey
For any other news about Volture visit:
www.facebook.com/voltureofficial
and
www.volture.us
Tags: heavy metal, municipal waste, ryan waste, thrash, twisted tower dire
Posted in interviews, music | Comments (0)
Hong Kong action films, a retrospective: Stephan Berwick & Mike Woods at the Museum of The Moving Image
February 9th, 2011 by Mr. C
The Moving Image musuem in Astoria, Queens runs a pretty cool monthly series called Fist and Sword which is an event that screens contemporary and classic martial arts movies from all over the globe! Last sunday, they had martial artists Stephan Berwick & Mike Woods, both pioneers from the western hemisphere who graced hong kong action films as performers/stuntmen in the 1980’s & early 90’s! The program was curated by Warrington Hudlin as they showed clips of their special guests in all their kickass glory on the screen with a Q&A session-open forum to follow. There was also a screening of Stephan Berwick’s new 15 minute short film called “Final Weapon” starring Ren Guangyi (Chen tai Chi master) & Mike Woods with a special guest appearance by Lou Reed! They were all in attendance at this event at the moving image! Take a walk on the wild side, baby!
I was getting pretty hyped up when they were introducing each guest by blaring old school hip hop joints when showcasing action clips from each of their selected filmographies! Stephan Berwick graced the screen to ERIC B & RAKIM’s, FOLLOW THE LEADER & Mike Woods got intro’d to PUBLIC ENEMY’s, FIGHT THE POWER! My bobblehead was rockin’ back & forth side to side to Rakim & Chuck D’s aggressive lyrical flow while the kung fu action jackson erupted the adrenaline to the danger zone! A quick bio from berwick & woods revealed that they both got discovered by YUEN WO PING & his crazy clan at their kung fu school in Boston with their famed teacher Grandmaster BOW SIM MARK! Miss Mark is the mom of famed HK actor/martial artist DONNIE YEN! Donnie was a bit younger than Stephan & Mike at the time when they both were studying with his mom. They describe DONNIE YEN jokingly as a wannabe b-boy when growing up in Boston! Donnie’s 2nd “break” (pun intended!) in the film industry included a break dancing-Fu eclectic movie called MISMATCHED COUPLES from 1985! It’s a fun & entertaining flick! It’s worthy of a viewing if you martians can get wind of it! When Donnie was filming mismatched couples, he had asked Mike Woods & his friends to show him a few break dance moves with some pop and lock techniques to which they happily obliged in b-boy style with that celebrated stance!
Stephan & Mike were the 1st wave of martial artists from the USA who were hired by the Yuen Wo Ping clan to guest star in fight sequences when street style HK action was getting too hot to trot so they needed some new tots to kung fu fight for real! Hong Kong directors were in the need for foreign bad boy faces & badass traces of whoopass for hire! As Stephan & Mike described, Yuen Wo Ping & his posse wanted to hire highly skilled martial artists that needed no training that did no nonsense fight sequences, & stunts to the directors raw liking and fly back to the states with no questions asked for basically a barrel of moo shu. The pros of this was that these foreign kung fu cats could get exposure to more films & guest appearances . The cons were that they basically were at the mercy of the crazed directors. Stephan & Mike endured lots of painful outtakes of action sequences & had to take the brunt of full force kicks & punches from the stars of the movie. A question from the audience peeked more interesting stories from the duo including: Did you get challenged to fights on the movie set? In general, they both said no, asians usually challenged asians on the film sets, & left the foreigners alone. (maybe because the americans were bigger and more outrageous!), but they mentioned that there were some instances when competing stuntman-martial artists from other nations like England/Australia would be a little jealous because the dynamic duo from the states were brought in by Yuen Wo Ping. Mike Woods described one encounter in the gym when a friendly challenge by an englishmen ended pretty quickly when woods executed a spinning heel kick to the young lad’s head! Stephan mentioned that his nickname on the movie set when translated to english was “vicious legs” or “poison kicks”. He was known for his outrageous kicking combinations which prompted other stuntmen to challenge him to a little kicking competition. Suffice to say, the other stunthands left him alone after they got a thrashing from the poison kicks! Stephan Berwick did most of the talking in the discussions at the moving image event, but I really appreciated the brutal honesty of Mike Woods when he grabbed the mic. He stated how defiant he was when working in the hong kong movie set & how much more work he could of gotten if he just held his voice in. Woods was not scared to express himself to protect his neck despite the harrowing circumstances beyond his control in the hong kong film industry at that particular time. Woods was a very passionate, honest, & a very headstrong guy. I respect that.
The finale of the event concluded with a screening of Berwick’s short film “Final Weapon”. It stars Ren Guangyi (Berwick’s Tai Chi teacher), Mike Woods, & a guest appearance from Lou Reed (also one of Guang yi ren’s students). There’s very little dialogue in the film, as the images & action speaks for themselves. The mood & heartbeat of some of the scenes were enhanced by Lou Reed’s vintage music (Street hassle,Finish Line,The spirit, & Set the Twilight Reeling). The film throws out the notion to the viewer similiar to weapons of mass destruction, the pondering crucial decision to take that final battle and at what costs? Master Guang yi ren answers that question in the movie with his decision, but the final answer has to be explored in each viewers mind relating to current affairs and not just relegated to combat alone. The actors of the film were also in attendance including Lou Reed as they all assembled on a panel after the screening to answer a few questions! Jose Figueroa, the producer of the film & also, one of Guang Yi Ren’s senior students joined the roundtable for a discussion.
It was a fun afternoon event at the moving image museum that left me thirsting for some action movies! It’s nice to get insider information during a period of filmmaking when Hong Kong action films were at its rawest, most beautiful, & purest form albeit that it was at the expense of the actors & stuntmen. Mike Woods & Stephan mentioned that this all changed for the good when Jackie Chan & his stunt team started to get safety equipment & procedures in place after learning from hollywood! Check out Stephan Berwick & Mike Woods in action in some of my favorite 1980’s modern HK movies in the TIGER CAGE & IN THE LINE OF DUTY series! (see video below with Donnie Yen Vs Mike Woods + Stephan Berwick in TIGER CAGE!)
I’ll leave you with the final question posed to the panel: What is your favorite martial arts movie? Jose Figueroa(Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Guang Yi Ren (Ang Lee movies including PUSH HANDS), Lou Reed (47 Ronin), Stephan Berwick (Kung Fu Hustle), Mike Woods (danced around the question).
Make sure to checkout the MOVING IMAGE MUSEUM in Astoria-Queens, folks! I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to check them out! They have a pretty neat archive of photos, costumes, movie sets, toy collectibles, old school arcades, and everything in between relating to american cinema! The collection of vintage production video cameras, film projectors, sound equipment, film editors, microphones, TV’s, phonographs, & radios blew me away! It was a straightup history lesson and timeline for the audio/videophile! Moving image had a few vintage & operational mutoscopes of charlie chaplin movies for you to watch, too! It was awesome! They also had a display called the FERAL FOUNT which was amazing to see in action! It was basically a series of different sculptures spinning on a wheel which created an image when strobes of light were shined on the sculptures in the dark. It basically recreated an animated scene. Definitely check out the Museum of Moving Image for other cool events! Next week, they’ll be screening KING HU’s film, THE VALIANT ONES (1975) with Sammo Hung as the fight choreographer! Represent, y’all! King Hu redefined swordplay-wuxia films with straight as an arrow storylines and non stop action…one time for your mind! The KING pretty much started the rage in swordplay films which I’m sure influenced the period piece chops & passion of TSUI HARK! We love big country films! Tsui Hark’s latest gem includes DETECTIVE DEE & THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME! Check it!
Tags: final weapon, fist and sword, guang yi ren, jose figueroa, lou reed, michael woods, mike woods, moving image, stephan berwick, yuen wo ping
Posted in art, movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
Tura Satana 1935 – 2011
February 6th, 2011 by chocko
One of exploitation film’s most bad-ass females has passed away at the age of 75. Tura Satana was well known for appearing in movies such as Ted V. Mikel’s THE DOLL SQUAD and ASTROZOMBIES. She is probably most recognized for her role as Varla in the Russ Meyer film FASTER PUSSYCAT…KILL! KILL! I had the pleasure of meeting her a couple times at Chiller Theatre, a local horror convention. She was one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. She was always kind to her fans and she even was nice enough to do an interview for us in the print version of PLANET CHOCKO way back in 1999. Be sure to check out the movies mentioned above. Here is the entire Tura interview (circa 1999) from a truly kick-ass woman of the silver screen…Rest in Peace Tura…you will be missed.
How did you get involved in television and movies?
I was a professional dancer, when I got an offer to do the Hawaiian Eyes Series show. After that, it was like any other job. You work when you get offers.
What was the experience like working with Ted V. Mikels in the movies ASTROZOMBIES and THE DOLL SQUAD?
It was always very interesting to work with Ted Mikels. Ted had a fantasy about me from the time he saw me dance at the Silver Slipper Club, that used to be in Las Vegas, NV. I can keep Ted on his toes when necessary. He thinks that he rules the roost, but that is not always so.
Have you spoken to Mr. Mikels lately?
I speak to Ted Mikels every so often. He is very dear friends with my family and children.
Please tell us a little bit about the filming of FASTER PUSSYCAT…KILL! KILL!
The filming of Faster Pussycat…Kill! Kill! was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. We were filming in temperatures of 110 degrees in the shade. I was able to make Varla a very believable character, I guess she is a lot like me and had the outlet to vent a lot of my anger against the world in general.
What is Russ Meyers like as a director?
Russ is a very capable director and producer. He has the ability to be able to listen to his actors and actresses, without worrying about what it would do to his film. He gave me the freedom to make Varla who she is.
What is your fondest memory from making that film?
I think that my favorite parts of the film were the fight scenes. I also enjoyed the racing scenes and the dining scenes. But most of all, it was the friends that I made with the other people on the set.
Was it easy working with your costars and have you stayed in contact with any of them
Yes, I have stayed in contact with Haji and Russ, plus Stuart Lancaster. Every once in a while we have a nice dinner together and remember those younger days.
What are some of the things you’re doing now?
I am writing my autobiography and planning a film of my life story. I am also helping with a script for a new screenplay that will thrill my fans, I am sure. I also own an engine rebuilding company in Long Beach, CA called Engine Power Technology, Inc.
What is your favorite television show?
I just love the Martial Law Show, plus Walker, Texas Ranger and of course, Xena Warrior Princess.
What are your favorite movies?
Irma La Douce, Chuck Norris films, Jackie Chan films and musicales.
Do you have any plans on appearing at any conventions in the near future?
At the present time, I don’t have any plans yet, but if I get an offer to appear at a celebrity convention or something of that type, I will consider it.
Please tell us about your website and fanclub.
My website is located at www.turasatana.com. The official Tura Satana Fan Club is located at 1027 N. Rose Ave., Burbank, CA 91505. Any letters to me, should be sent there, since they usually know what my current location would be at any given time.
Do you have any interest in working in films in the future?
Yes, I will be working in a film soon, once it is sold to the studios. It is the one that I have been helping write the script on.
Do you have anything else you would like to say to your fans?
I hope that my fans will continue to enjoy whatever work that I may do. I will try to continue in the vain that I am and hope that they will like what they see. I hope that any of my fans will feel free to write to me at my website link. I personally, will be answering their letters and e-mail. I may not answer right away, but I will eventually answer their letters and questions. Thank you all for keeping my image and memory alive. I love you all.
Tags: faster pussycat...kill! kill!, russ meyers, ted v. mikels, tura satana
Posted in interviews, movies | Comments (0)
Tina Dico at the Highline Ballroom
February 3rd, 2011 by Mr. C
TINA DICO performed at the Highline Ballroom on 1/31/2011 with her folk-pop inspired bad self! She was accompanied by a full band this time around including the multi-talented, HELGI JONSSON playing the guitar, keyboards, & trombone. Helgi actually opened up for Miss Tina playing a few earthy tunes of his own including a cover by Roy Orbison, WILD HEARTS RUN OUT OF TIME. Helgi has a real distinct sharp & high voice that hit a few registers that i didn’t know existed for a dude! Getting back to the main event, Tina Dico is mega popular in her home country of Denmark & in europe in general and usually plays to sell out crowds in larger venues. It’s truly a tremendous treat when she performs in the states with her great stage presence, lyrical chops, beautiful haunting voice, long flowing blond hair, dazzling storytelling, & awesome melodies! It’s really a double edge sword because you know that she should be getting much more press than she gets here in NYC, but it’s also a sharper edge on the other side of the blade because we can see her play in a such a small venue at bargain basement prices, $10 or $15 day of show for such an honest & emotional performance! I get hooked everytime I listen to her older tunes like Home, Break of Day, In the Red, No time to sleep (Grey’s anatomy), Room with a View, & Count to 10! Tina’s lyrics mostly comprise of what she calls longing for something, whether it’s longing for romance, hear me outs, observations on urban life like in HEAD SHOP, cravings for that certain heartbeat in the city like her SACRE COEUR song which is ode to Paris! Tina delivered an emotional performance with a song dedicated to COPENHAGEN where she just recently moved back to with a sole mission of soul searching! Why do I like listening to Tina dico? I love her unique delivery & heartbeat in her songs, her powerful voice with clear, cut like a knife pronunciations, her storytelling which grabs your attention, her singing which really grips your heart because she bleeds like an emotional monkey when pitching her songs, & she’s got the look, to paraphrase ROXETTE! My favorite performances of the night include IN THE RED, COPENHAGEN, NO TIME TO SLEEP, LOVE ALL AROUND, an awesome soul inspired tune that Tina wrote for a movie called oldboys, & an old tune from her ZERO 7 days called HOME! It really brought down my home when she sang it! TD teetered from rockin’ out to the electric guitar back to the acoustic when a noticible humming noise was amplified when they crossed back over to the electric. At that point, it was all acoustic, baby! Miss Dico also belted out full force md melodies head on into the mic then faded into acappela mode without the mic which gave it a fresh, organic sound on a few tracks like In Love & Long Way Home. The sound was pretty wicked! I really wish this lyrical danish vixen would play in NYC more often because she’s really got soul, pizazz, & all that jazz! I definitely would recommend picking up Tina Dico’s new album called “Welcome Back Colour”. It’s a 2 CD hybrid album consisting of compilations of her most popular songs with a few new songs like “Welcome Back Colour” and “Copenhagen” amongst others. She describes this new album as a retrospective look in the mirror of herself with a leap of faith going forward for a new colourful beginning! Well, hell’s yeah! Check out the performance of “love all around” & “home” by Tina at the Highline ballroom! (above & below!)
Tina Dico’s Setlist
count to 10
in love (ode to NY)
get to know you
in the red
he doesn’t know
copenhagen
watching him go
room with a view
glow
friend in a bar
no time to sleep
sacre coeur
silence
long way home
love all around
home
heaven and hell
Helgi Jonsson Setlist
Aurura
blindfolded
ashes away
wild hearts run out of time (roy orbison)
digging up a tree
Tags: helgi jonsson, highline ballroom, planet chocko tina dico review, tina dico, welcome back colour
Posted in mr. c, music | Comments (0)
THE DRAGON TAMERS (1975)
January 31st, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: John Woo
Actors: Carter Wong, James Tien, Ji Han Jae
Genre: old skool martial arts
The DRAGON TAMERS is John Woo’s 2nd effort in the directors chair backed by Golden Harvest! No, it’s not a classic hong kong triad shoot em’ up in a church or hospital setting like THE KILLER or HARD BOILED, nor is it a tale of an ex-gang member trying to mend a relationship with his PO-PO brother like in A BETTER TOMORROW. It’s more like an old school fusion of the fighting arts of karate, tae kwan do, & kung fu competing for chopsocky time! The movie starts off with a bunch of kickass chicks from a karate school duking it out with a bunch of switchblade sisters of the Tae Kwan Do influence! One minute they’re in street gear & the next, BLAM…they’re in their repective gi uniforms! In a matter of a second, before anyone can say KIYAA! chicks are karate choppin’, some are joint lockin’, others bitch slappin’, still others cold clocking each other to oblivion! Moments later, other chicas are rolling around in their gi in the mud with tits hanging out, high beaming each other! Word to the mutha, this is my kinda movie! Karate, cute chicks, tits flashing, & rolling in mud! The opening music soundtrack to this fight sequence is also off the wang chung as it reminded me of what SUPERFLY’s RON O’NEAL, JIM BROWN, STEVE MCQUEEN, FRED WILLIAMSON, or bad ass JIM KELLY might walk out to before demolishing their foes! Hell, if that was an appetizer before the meal, then what is the entree? I was hoping for PAM GRIER whoopin’ some country ass while going topless & then getting some ass after the class, but it was a CARTER WONG show. The story unfolds as Carter Wong, a kung fu technician from china (chiner was the english dub translation in the movie!) who takes a trip to Korea to challenge Tae Kwan Do master JI HAN to a friendly match. Carter befriends a young TKD teacher played by James Tien who has a smattering of lady students who were involved in the 1st fight sequence. Wong runs into some trouble when he gets busted up by a Karate clan headed by an evil trio including one cute but twisted SISTA! This bad bad karate group looks to challenge & squash all martial art schools so they can reign supreme as the chosen one! Carter then meets a worthy Tae Kwan Do master named PA MAK to learn “the secret glow” from..Ooops, sorry wrong film…Sho-nuff…The Shogun of Harlem…cough…cough, THE LAST DRAGON! A few circus acts & snacks from the movie include some side bon chon of romance, a scene in a hot tub with the estrogen connection with some more tits bursting out, & the friendly match that turns into a guilt trip! The finale concludes with the kung fu technician teaming up with the young tae kwan do teacher vs the deadly karate kids. Not surprisingly, the end game also involves some tits waving at you from inside a karate gi/uniform! Dragon Tamers was certainly a no frills film with a simplistic story, but it was most certainly very fun to watch! The martial arts choreography was 1st rate especially for an early 1970’s film! The tae kwan do displayed in the movie was very traditional as opposed to the sport style tae kwan do that we all have come to grips with in the current times. You can see some early seeds of John Woo’s work in this film with the panned out camera shots & slow motion sequences coordinated with gangster like dramatical soundtracks that would eventually give birth to A BETTER TOMORROW, THE KILLER, & HARD BOILED! If you aliens can get a hold of this movie, I would definitely suggest a look see!
Tags: carter wong, dragon tamers, golden harvest, james tien, john woo, planet chocko dragon tamers review
Posted in movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
Vigilante (1983)
January 29th, 2011 by chocko
directed by William Lustig
starring Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Willie Colon
This revenge flick from the early 80’s was directed by William Lustig (MANIAC and MANIAC COP) and stars Robert Forster (MEDIUM COOL and JACKIE BROWN) as Eddie Marino, a normal everyday guy and factory worker who gets pushed to the edge after his wife is stabbed and child murdered by a gang of sadistic thugs led by Chico played by Salsa legend, Willie Colon. Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (HELL UP IN HARLEM) plays Eddie’s buddy in the film who leads a group of vigilantes who have had enough of thugs and pimps running the streets and have lost faith in the corrupt system. Fred Williamson has never been better in the role of Nick who vows to take back the streets, chasing down punks and giving them beatdowns. The film was shot in different parts of New York City and my favorite scene is Fred Williamson chasing some low-life drug dealer into an abandoned pool in Brooklyn (McCarren Pool Park in Williamsburg). It’s also interesting to see old NYC landmarks like the Twin Towers in the background.
After Forster’s character, Eddie, loses his cool in a courtroom scene after a judge sets the killer of his child free, Eddie gets thrown in the slammer for thirty days. The gritty prison scenes were all shot at Rikers Island, New York City’s infamous prison complex. Woody Strobe (SPARTACUS) plays a fellow inmate and is in a memorable scene in which he saves Eddie from being a victim of an attack in the shower. Yo, don’t drop the soap! I can only imagine the audiences in the theaters in Times Square in the 80’s totally going crazy when Woody saves the day like John Wayne and knocks out two thugs half his age. A total kick ass scene!
When Eddie gets out of prison, the action picks up as he goes berserk and proceeds on a bloody and brutal rampage, seeking revenge on the suckers responsible for turning his life upside down. The DVD is available on Blue Underground and features an audio commentary with director William Lustig and stars Robert Forster, Fred Williamson and Frank Pesce. If you like revenge movies like DEATH WISH and you enjoy blaxploitation movies and spaghetti westerns, then this exploitation classic is for you.
Tags: blaxploitation, fred williamson, movie review, revenge, robert forster
Posted in movies | Comments (0)
AS TEARS GO BY (1988)
January 27th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Actors: Andy Lau,Maggie Cheung,Jacky Cheung,Alex Man
Genre: Triad, romance, action, violence
AS TEARS GO BY is a classic hong kong triad movie in my books with all the motherloads of stylistic cliches that might have started the trend in HK cinema to begin with! Evidences of slow motion, blurred action, gang violence, romance, canto pop ballads, & canto-remixes of classic american 80’s soundtracks in this case Berlin’s TAKE MY BREATH AWAY from TOP GUN – reigns supreme in this directorial debut of WONG KAR WAI ! This movie is heavily casted with HK brat pack stars in the making that would make THE BREAKFAST CLUB look like crack addicts! Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, & Alex Man with the addition of the director himself rocked the movie set like no other!
The story revolves around gangster lean, AH WAH played by Andy Lau & one of his followers named FLY played by Jackie Cheung. Ah Wah is a well respected henchman in this triad who is constantly bailing out his best friend FLY from all sorts of trouble. Whether it’s collecting extortion money, gambling debts, or creating family dissention when organizing his younger brothers’ wedding reception on their apartment building’s roof! Fly literally attracts “triad flies” & trouble has no problem finding him. These triad conflicts are all within the same gang, though. The character development in this film is very fresh, & you get an understanding of the emotional struggles that FLY is going through when he tries to do better for himself, but digs himself deeper in the hole when his mouth proves to be a liability. AH WAH stands by his buddy like BEN E. KING’s song, STAND BY ME for better or for worse with the help of some best friends like the chinese cleaver, ginsu knives, & automatic firearms! Andy Lau does a great job in playing the kickass pretty boy heartthrob which he is known for! In tandem to this soap opera another story brews in parallel, ah wah develops feelings for his cousin played by MAGGIE CHEUNG from lan tau island. Gotta say, Maggie Cheung was a real cutey ‘patooty’ in this film as she melds in front of the camera like a cripsy thin layer of fresh batter incorporated into some general tso’s chicken! Yummy! Maggie also develops some wonton love for her cousin AH WAH as they both rendezvous on lan tau island! With all this yearning & earning for desire, FLY gets into some major trouble with a bad bad character in the same triad played by ALEX MAN! This confrontation will lead up to a finale that will definitely go out in a bang in true Hong Kong cinema fashion! AS TEARS GO BY definitely was a golden piece of chivalry that snowballed WONG KAR WAI to fame! Now, go away so I can play back that old 45 of Berlin’s, TAKE MY BREATH AWAY! Ree-Wind!!
New Kids on the Block, move over! Andy Lau & Jacky Cheung on the same movie set?! Game over! Canto-pop forever, mang!
Tags: alex man, andy lau, as tears go by, jacky cheung, maggie cheung, wong kar wai
Posted in movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
Tiffany & Debbie Gibson played Canal Room
January 24th, 2011 by chocko
Mr. C pretty much covered it all in the last post. Yes, that was me doing the truffle shuffle in your peripheral vision. A big shoutout to the 80’s Tribute Band, Rubix Kube who played all the hits we all remembered growing up in that crazy decade-a more innocent time before cell phones, mp3s and the internet. They had the crowd singing and shaking their booties all night long. They played a bunch of songs before bringing out the 80’s teen pop queens. Tiffany sounded amazing with a voice that can knock you off your feet. She hit us with a 1-2 punch of her biggest hits “Could’ve Been” and the Tommy James and the Shondells hit that made her famous, “I Think We’re Alone Now.” She was definitely looking fine…I wish she did a couple more songs. Her set was over way too quick. The band played more 80’s songs, then Debbie Gibson came out on stage. Now if you’re wondering what Debbie’s been doing all these years…the answer is situps! She threw me off a bit with her belly shirt and rock hard abs. I guess I was expecting her to come out in ripped acid wash jeans and a varsity jacket wearing one of those “blossom” hats. She perfomed 3 of her hits and complimented the band admitting that they sounded just like the record. She busted out a little acapella before “Only In My Dreams” which is how she used to perform it in the clubs to show the audience that she wasn’t lip syncing. After Rubix Kube played more 80’s tasty delights (it never got tired), the two headliners came out on stage together for the very first time and peformed Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” which brought down the house. Check out the videos below and be sure to check out Debbie Gibson and Tiffany as they star in the SyFy Channel Original Movie: “Mega Python Vs. Gatoroid” Premiering January 29th!
Posted in music | Comments (0)
Rubix Kube with special guests TIFFANY & DEBBIE GIBSON in NYC
January 23rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Rubix Kube’s 80’s tribute band with guests Tiffany & Debbie Gibson performed at the Canal Room this past saturday! It was hella fun as I machine gun blasted my fists into the air & alternately twisted my hips from side to side with my arms flailing in unison like courtney cox in Springsteen’s dancing in the dark video! I couldn’t see what Chocko was doing, but my antennas sensed some pretty dynamic movements going on to the side of me! It was a fun night as I instantly flashbacked to my martian teenage years when 1980’s inspired movie images, TV Shows, & music icons were projected onto a screen set in back of the stage while performances were being had.
Images of Back to the future, Karate Kid, Family Ties, Devo, National Lampoon’s vacation, Coming to America, The Goonies, Alf, Smurfs, Care Bears, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, & the likes were constantly being refreshed on the screen! Rubix Kube slowly stepped onto the stage to the music of Kenny Loggins’ FOOTLOOSE like heavyweight prize fighers were getting introduced into a boxing match! RK then played the classic ROCKY Theme music as their opener! I was definitely getting my punching combination scenerios coordinated in my head! The cover band played 80’s hits like Loverboy’s Working for the weekend, Rick Springfield’s Jessies Girl, Walking on sunshine, A-HA’s Take on me, hey Mickey, Devo’s Whip it, Madonna’s Into the groove & Like a virgin, MJ’s Billy Jean, 99 red balloons, Eddie Money’s Take me home tonight, Video Killed the radio star, & some more classics that I can’t quite remember right now.
The 1st special guest to appear on the stage was Tiffany! She looked & sounded great! She sang Could’ve Been & I Think were alone now while busting out a few synchronous dance moves with the rubix kube band members!
Debbie Gibson anchored the set with some major hits of her own like Shake your love, Electric Youth, & Only in my dreams! Gibson also ripped up the dance floor with some throwback dance moves like the roger rabbit, a modified wop, & new kids on the block dance!
The finale was OFF the planet chocko spaceship radar when Debbie Gibson & Tiffany both came out to sing a duet version of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing! It was an epic performance FO SHO! It was a fun time to be had & it was awesome to see that 80’s musac still lives on! Right on! Rubix Kube did a great job playing live 80’s mock up music, but the hairstyles from that era had me thinking, what da bluck were we thinking of?! The big hair, glam rock, waynes world, mullets, chow yun fat, & flock of sea gulls hairdo, what da?! Almost seemed like a circus sideshow act with clowns after a while! Who am I kidding?!….I’m still sporting my David Hasselhoff hairdo as long as I have hair! Peace! Oh, & I hope Chocko is gonna tell his rendition of the performance, too with bonus droppings of some funky funky rhymes wit some funky funky style pics & vid! Chocko-san looked like he was gonna B-Boy battle some crew from alphabet city when the madonna tunes came on! A one-two..A one-two!!!
Tags: canal room, debbie gibson, rubix kube, tiffany
Posted in mr. c, music | Comments (0)
Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield played Maxwell’s
January 21st, 2011 by chocko
The Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield show rolled into Hoboken, New Jersey last night and played to an enthusiastic soldout crowd. Aly Spaltro a.k.a. Lady Lamb The Beekeeper opened up the night with poetic songs with strong vocals and guitar. She easily quieted down the crowd and had everybody’s full attention during her set which is not an easy thing to do when people don’t really know who you are and there’s a bar in the back with people getting their drink on. She recently won the folk artist of the year award for the Boston Music Awards and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from her in the near future. The room eventually filled up and everybody moved forward to get a closer look the the night’s headliners. I guess if you don’t know, Evan Dando founded the band, The Lemonheads which was pretty big in the 90’s and put out a bunch of albums including “It’s a Shame About Ray” with catchy alt-rock songs and a cover of “Mrs. Robinson” which got them a lot of attention. The album is a near-perfect pop-rock album and I think one of the best that came out at that time when grunge was all the rage. After about a 6 year hiatus, Evan reformed the band with a new lineup in 2004 and continues to record and play shows. Juliana Hatfield played in a Boston indie band, Blake Babies and after they broke up in 1991 she went solo, recorded a bunch of great albums which produced songs like “my sister” and “spin the bottle.” With all the attention, she sort of became a huge role model to a lot of young girls at the time for her views on issues that concerned young women. What’s interesting is that both Evan and Juliana have performed on each others albums but never toured or performed together until recently. Needless to say, I was pretty psyched for this show. After a short break, Evan and Juliana hopped on stage with their acoustic guitars and sang, taking turns on lead vocals and backing each other up through out the night. A screen behind them was set up and showed videos of driving through city streets and highways which played while they performed. Evan and Juliana looked the same as I remembered them from the 90’s when Lemonheads cassettes played in my car nonstop and at a time when everybody had a crush on Juliana. Anyone remember that “universal heartbeat” video MTV used to play? Oh, yeah she’s still a dream and her voice still sounds super sweet. Evan was rocking long hair again and a scruffy look, sang with his smooth vocals and played all the songs we came out to hear. The set included solo stuff, lots of Lemonheads songs, three Blake Babies songs, a Teenage Fanclub cover and a Gram Parsons song, “$1000 wedding” which Evan performed on a covers album. My only beef was that there was no encore… I guess both of them didn’t feel like playing more at the end of the night (I heard Juliana telling Evan that he could do another if he liked, while putting away her guitar) so they just bolted off the stage. It was a fun night of songs that brought back a lot of great memories. Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield are a perfect combination and I hope they play again together and come back soon.
SET LIST
all my life (Evan Dando)
butterflies (Juliana Hatfield)
bit part (Lemonheads)
brain damage (Blake Babies)
cells (Teenage Fanclub)
choose drugs (Juliana Hatfield)
down about it (Lemonheads)
what is wrong (Juliana Hatfield)
hospital (Lemonheads)
it’s about time (Lemonheads)
my darling (Juliana Hatfield)
paid to smile (Lemonheads)
rain (Blake Babies)
ride with me (Lemonheads)
it’s a shame about ray (Lemonheads)
somebody’s waiting for me (Juliana Hatfield)
so alone (Juliana Hatfield)
outdoor type (Lemonheads)
$1000 wedding (Gram Parsons)
waiting for heaven (Blake Babies)
drug buddy (Lemonheads)
Tags: blake babies, lemonheads
Posted in music | Comments (0)
Rock And Roll Reunion #2 at Continental
January 20th, 2011 by chocko
Continental, located at St. Mark’s Place in New York City closed its doors in 2006 after a long run of hosting live rock shows only to reopen as a trendy bar without live music. It sucked for the music scene in NYC which had already lost some legendary spots to catch live music such as Coney Island High and CBGB. However, last Sunday the rock returned to St. Mark’s Place and all the misfits and cretins including Chocko and Mr. C came out to check out some of the bands that played there in the past. I missed their set, but I heard that Furious George kicked some major ass. Punk Rock! I caught the last song of The Threads set. They sounded awesome and the lead singer looked familiar-Mike fronted the L.E.S. Stitches back in the day and played at the club plenty of times. There were plenty of highlights that night including Bebe Buell (Playboy’s Miss November 1974) who looked and sounded great. Just a little quick fact: She’s Liv Tyler’s mom. Local NYC band, The Bullys also were on the bill and pissed off and ready to start a bar room brawl when their microphones weren’t working. They are badass and their punk songs about fast food, crappy jobs and dating sluts are the best around. The Bullys was started by Johhny Heff back in 1997 who was also a NYC firefighter who lost his life on 9/11. He had an incredible stage presence and you could tell he had a great work ethic and really believed in the band. I e-mailed him one night back in the day with a bunch of questions for an interview for our little ‘zine and the following morning I woke up to his e-mail and the entire interview completed. I’ll never forget that. He was such a cool dude…may he rest in peace. Trigger’s Allstars featured workers from the club and a Bully on guitar who played a bunch of cover songs to get the crowd pumped including some Ramones tunes. Sea Monster played a loud set of drunken punk biker blues and had some of the ladies in a frenzy. One lady took her top off and her big titties were flying all over the place. Amazing. God Bless Sea Monster. The Waldos featuring Walter Lure of The Heartbreakers were also on the bill. Walter has the energy of a man half his age and he definitely put on a great show performing songs such as “Monkey Business” and “Chinese Rocks” a rather saucier version than the slightly tamer Ramones’ version. For me, the reason for going there that night was the CJ Ramone set featuring Daniel Rey on guitar and Michael Stamberg (Eggplant Queens) on drums doing a full Ramones set. CJ donning the Yankees cap played an excellent set which included blitzkrieg bop, judy is a punk, beat on the brat, cretin hop, endless vacation, sheena is a punk rocker, my back pages, pet cemetary, strength to endure, listen to my heart, wart hog, commando, pinhead, i wanna be sedated and r.a.m.o.n.e.s. It was 2:30 AM by the time CJ’s set was done and it was definitely a fun blast from the past. I hope they all do it again next year.
Tags: bebe buell, cj ramone, new york city, punk rock, ramones, sea monster, the bullys, waldos, walter lure
Posted in music | Comments (0)
JIAN GUI aka THE EYE (2002)
January 16th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: The Pang brothers
Actors: Angelica Lee,Lawrence Chou,Chutja Rujinanon
Genre: Horror,drama,thriller
JIAN GUI or GIN GWAI in cantonese is literally translated to “seen a ghost” in chinese. The western masses might know this original chinese film under the name, THE EYE. I’ve heard a few “expert” movie analysts slaughter this film in their reviews, but this E.T. found this ghostly piece to be an entertaining flick! JIAN GUI inspired directors David Moreau & Xavier Palud to remake this movie in 2008 for the rest of the united foreign nations which casted heavy hitter & easy on THE EYE, Jessica Alba!
The Pang brothers did an awesome job of adding nuggets & bon bons to the cinema trail tantalizing the viewer into putting pieces of the movie puzzle together to formulate the story of JIAN GUI! Without divulging too much information, Mun Mun is a blind young lady who lives life to the fullest even with her misfortunes. She excels in playing the violin, & escorts herself throughout hong kong like nobodies business. Mun Mun finally gets her wishes & gets a cornea transplant from a donor that lost her life unexpectedly. A mun slowly readjusts to life when she suddenly gains an added sense that she has been living without almost all of her existence. With all of these added features to the new eyes came a bonus track that suprises her, she can see spirits of the deceased when no one else can. Mun Mun tries to come to grips, but is frustrated that nobody else believes her. She hauntingly sees flashbacks to unfamiliar situations which is driving her paranoid. A mun can also forcast when death looms because she can see dark faded figures appear before lives are whisked away. Luckily, one person is by her side and they both go on a trip to thailand to trace the life of her eye donor. With this information, they unearth the reason behind JIAN GUI!
I really enjoyed the emotional ride of this film! I also found THE EYE with Jessica Alba pretty entertaining as well. There are a few modifications here & there with the western version because certain scenes would probably not translate well to the american audience in the name of religion & customs. Not a spoiler either, but Thailand in JIAN GUI is Mexico in THE EYE. And one last popcorn kernel, the ending of both of these movies are a bit different, but they achieve the same results! Got it?! Now, watch it!
Tags: angelica lee, jian gui, laurence chou, pang brothers, the eye
Posted in movies, mr. c | Comments (0)
