We are back with another beefy episode for the Gentle-Minions!!!
This week the Gents cover City of the Living Dead (1980) directed by Lucio Fulci and Night of the Juggler (1980) directed by Robert Butler. We also go over some details on how you can program an episode of the GGtMC and we want to dedicate this episode to Martijn at OMG Entertainment.
Large William's Pick: BLACK SWAN (Region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray; Fox Searchlight Pictures) While this may seem like an obvious choice, and perhaps the most above ground one we'll make on show, there's no denying the skill behind and in front of the camera with Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. Having been fortunate enough to see this at tiff, I couldn't wait for people to begin to see it and hear their thoughts. Aronofsky takes a backdrop(ballet) that holds no interest whatsoever to me, but turns it into part Argento, part Polanski, part Powell/Pressburger, and all insanity. Superbly shot, directed and designed, featuring the BEST performance from an actor this year. Black Swan is a can't miss.
Sammy's Pick: SHERLOCK HOLMES: COMPLETE COLLECTION (Region 1 Blu-Ray; MPI Entertainment) The Sherlock Holmes Box Set on Blu, starring Sammy's favorite Sherlock, the one and only Basil Rathebone. I have a fondness for these films that is unmatched, spending time with my grandmother watching these films is one of my greatest memories. Great midnite cinema in my opinion, up late at night with a nice cup of coffee and a great mystery...this is the set to own!!!
Rupert Pupkin's Pick: TEEN WOLF (Region 1 Blu-Ray; MGM) I never thought I see the day when TEEN WOLF would make it to a high definition format. The film's director Rod Daniel was primarily a TV guy so you'd think the film would be pretty flat. In parts, I suppose it is, but Daniel shows many flourishes of style from the wonderfully memorable opening shot to many other interesting camera angles and positions he chooses throughout. I must say that it's been very rewarding for me to see the cult of this film grow and grow over the years. I've loved it since I first saw it on VHS 20 plus years ago and even recorded a fan commentary for it with a friend of mine at one point. I feel like it's always lived in daunting shadow of the other Michael J. Fox film that came out the same year. It's really neat to see it get this kind of release and I can't wait to see it this way!
There were MANY other cool Blu-Ray releases this week, just wanted to mention them by name at the very least: Poor Pretty Eddie Blu-ray, Dorm that Dripped Blood Blu-Ray and of course Soylent Green Blu-Ray
Welcome to a long awaited episode of the GGtMC, we have been holding off on covering these two films with Miles from ShowShow and we finally worked our schedules out and put this show to hard drive!!!
This wee we cover Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978) directed by Gordon Hessler and The Killing Zone (1991) directed by Addisson Randall and starring Deron McBee AKA Malibu. A mighty chuckle and good time was had by all and we hope you enjoy the episode.
So a bunch of hookers walk into a Shriners’ convention...
That’s either the set up for a tasteless joke or the beginning to a blaxploitation movie.
You called it. That is the opening scene of 1974’s Willie Dynamite.
For the faithful fans of this genre, we’re back in that magical world. The place where there are elaborate and colorful pimp summits.
Is there a theme song about not “messing with” the title character? You bet there is.
Does the “hero” drive a decked out pimp-mobile with flashy vanity plates? Of course, and they proudly read: “Willie D.”
Most importantly, do we get to witness some awful fashion disasters? Willie wears some of the most mind blowing costumes I’ve ever seen in my life.
So is Willie Dynamite the slick, ultra cool anti-authority figure that will win our hearts? Is he “the man” that is the staple in this kind of movie?
Well, no.
That is the beginning of what differentiates Willie Dynamite from just about every blaxploitation film that I’ve seen. The trappings of my favorite guilty pleasure are at least momentarily here. Those, however, are eventually stripped away to reveal the beating heart of a morality tale.
Willie (played by Roscoe Orman) is endlessly vain, immature, and self serving. He is relentless in his desire to be “number one.” Do you want to know when your lead character has issues? The guy can’t even play nice with the other pimps when they want to create a union.
Orman, let it be said, is fantastic through out here. You might think that he is over acting in the first quarter of the film. That is until you watch his nuanced, emotional work in the second half. (Yes, Orman was Gordon on the original Sesame Street. Let’s all have a chuckle and move on.)
The social worker (Diana Sands as Cora) gunning to take Willie down is much more likable. Her intentions are incredibly noble. She just wants to clean up the streets and get rid of that nasty prostitution. That’s not something that you can fault any decent person for.
So when do the tables turn? When was the rug pulled out from under me? When did a wicked awesome movie about pimpin’ become a tough inner city drama? I don’t want to reveal too much about the machinations of the plot. The easiest way to summarize it is to tell you that Willie starts to lose everything. Cora the Social Worker meddles in his affairs, the cops won’t leave him alone, and the hookers don’t bring in enough dough.
That’s all pretty standard stuff that you can watch for yourself.
I would rather call your attention to a scene that comes about half way through the film. We follow Willie to a family dinner at his parents’ house. Really, the pimp goes home to eat with his Mama? Indeed he does, and it’s heartbreaking.
Willie tries to buy off his Mother’s (Royce Walker) disappointment by giving her a mink coat. He also tries to convince his family that his girls are just hooking until they finish “the album.” That’s right, Willie would have his family believe he isn’t a pimp but a future music mogul. This sequence cuts a lot closer to an emotional bone than most blaxploitation would even dare.
This doesn’t come as a shock, or an awkward attempt at respectability. I’ve seen several other exploitation movies which try to have their cake and eat it too. They want their artistic pretensions to somehow cancel out the sleaze. That usually never works unless a solid foundation is laid. That is most definitely the case here.
(On a side note: I was mildly let down by the lack of lurid elements. No nudity, very little profanity, and hardly any violence. This is a very soft “R” rating, but I digress).
Where does the credit for the quality go to? I would like to hand it to the writer Ron Cutler and the director Gilbert Moses. They obviously knew what kind of movie they wanted to make. I have a suspicion that they took the funding to make a blaxploitation flick with an agenda. They would do just enough to make the producers happy, but satisfy themselves in the bargain.
That’s how a pimp movie becomes a story about failure and redemption.
So is this a glowing review? Not quite.
There are some flaws I’m inclined to point out. I felt like the second act was top heavy with plot. There is a chase sequence on foot that needed to be cut to shreds. A few of the attempts at humor don’t work. Does it matter? Not so much in the long run.
Time to break it down:
MVT: I’m going to hand it to the man who played Willie...Roscoe Orman. Oh screw it...”P” is for pimp.
The Make or Break Scene: The family dinner scene I mentioned earlier.
Rupert Pupkin's Pick: JACKSON COUNTY JAIL/CAGED HEAT (Roger Corman's Cult Classics) (Region 1 DVD; Shout! Factory) Continuing their already fantastic series of Corman Cult Classic release, here we get a fantastic little double with two excellent exploitation films. CAGED HEAT looks really good for a film shot at this time on this budget. Tak Fujimoto's cinematography really pops. The film has lots of great style as you might expect from a guy like Jonathan Demme. The early enthusiasm from both Demme and Fujimoto comes through in a really wonderful way. Disc also includes a great commentary with director Demme, Tak Fukimoto & Erica Gavin. Along with GGTMC favorite ROLLING THUNDER of course, JACKSON COUNTY JAIL contains an excellent early Tommy Lee Jones performance. Also looks great and has commentary.
Sammy's Pick: THE SANDLOT (Region 1 Blu-Ray; 20th Century Fox) With baseball season approaching (Sammy's favorite sport) I think the pick of the week for high definition lovers is The Sandlot. A great kids movie that celebrates the sport and young friendships that doesn't pander to it's audience. If you love baseball or just a great coming of age film, The Sandlot is a great pick!!
Large William's Pick: THE ANDY SIDARIS COLLECTION: GIRLS, GUNS & G-STRINGS Region 1 Box Set; Mill Creek) Monsieur Sidaris should be no secret when it comes to fans of the GGtMC; his winning formula of playboy centrefolds, Uzi's and exotic locales and plenty'o'action is the golden equation in most Men's eyes. Millcreek has put out this 12 film set for the very reasonable price of $9.98, that's less than a buck a film. Bear in mind, these will be VHS rips of varying degrees, but still! Also, You'll get The Estrada, Danny Trejo, teased hair and more! Well worth the chingoleros!
Welcome to a special bonus episode of the GGtMC, in this episode our West Coast Correspondent, Rupert Pupkin, interview Paul Malleck AKA Dormarth. We first heard of Paul in the first published interview we did with Zack Carlson and Rupert landed an interview with him recently...
Zack Carlson professed that Dormarth is the biggest horror fan in the world and when you hear him speak about his wonderful VHS collection, you may be inclined to agree with that statement. Dormarth also puts out a cool zine that comes highly recommended, you can order issues at dormarths_houseofhorror@gmail.com
Directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. Featuring Fenriz, Count Grishnackh, Hellhammer, Abbath, Demonaz, Harmony Korine, Bjarne Melgaard, Faust, Garm, and Frost.
For years, ever since my interest in Black Metal was piqued, I have been searching for a documentary on the genre that was worth a shit. The closest thing to being remotely interesting that I could ever find was a documentary not on the genre itself, but on a figure who has become a prominent one in today's Black Metal scene, the now former vocalist of the band Gorgoroth, Gaahl. It was a made-for-television documentary (which you can watch here) that wasn't even feature-length, but I remember finding it to be interesting for what it was. It still wasn't enough, though. I needed something that talked about the history of the genre and the controversy that surrounded it at one time, and featured interviews with key players from Black Metal's "inner circle".
ONCE UPON A TIME IN NORWAY was boring; MURDER MUSIC seemed promising but required you pay money to be a member of a certain website to see it. Harmony Korine has talked about doing one for years, but I'm not sure what happened to the project. So last year when I found out about UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US, which seemed to be the be-all, end-all of Black Metal documentaries based on what I had heard about it, to say that I was simply looking forward to seeing it would be an understatement. For me, it was a documentary that I've been highly anticipating. For those who don't know anything about Black Metal and would like to get a better understanding of it, this would be the documentary to watch. For those who are already familiar with the genre, this documentary won't teach you anything new, but you will get some very candid and revealing interviews with some of the more important people involved with the genre.
I had planned on introducing the primary people who are interviewed and followed throughout the documentary, as well as do a brief write-up on the history of Black Metal for the sake of familiarizing some of you with it, but instead, from this point on, any links included in this review will take you to a Wikipedia page where you can do some more reading and researching yourself if you feel so inclined.
The two main people who are interviewed in UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US are Varg Vikernes - former bassist of the band Mayhem and the sole person who comprises the band Burzum - and Darkthrone member Fenriz. During the production of the documentary, Varg was still incarcerated and serving a fourteen-ish year sentence for the murder of his former bandmate in Mayhem (he was released last year), Euronymous. Varg also uses the pseudonym Count Grishnackh, but for the sake of not having to constantly type "Count Grishnackh" (a typical convention of the genre is for musicians to use pseudonyms), I will simply refer to him as Varg in this review. Anyway, Varg is one of the more controversial and notorious figures in the Black Metal scene for obvious reasons. In the documentary, however, he comes across as a very intelligent, well-spoken, and humorous person. Not that you'd be able to tell it by the screenshot below.
Fenriz may initially seem quiet and soft-spoken (well, he did in the documentary anyway), but once he opens up, he reveals himself to be a bit sarcastic and with an awkward sense of humor. He's funny, but serious at the same time, if that makes any sense. He also looks like the type of person who has a lot on his mind, but is reluctant to speak it. This, of course, may be wrong, but that's the impression that I got just based on watching this doc - it's not like I know the guy in real life or anything. The documentary opens with Fenriz being busted on a train for having tear gas in his possession. The punishment? A fine. He got to stay on the train. Following the bust, Fenriz calmly suggested that he still had drugs on his person which may or may not have been stored in his anus, but I wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. Again, a sense of humor, but serious in delivery. I guess the reason why he had tear gas on him in the first place will forever remain a mystery.
"Topics of discussion" in UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US includes the history between Fenriz and Varg Vikernes, the Black Circle, the tragic history of Mayhem (a band that still exists to this day, albeit without murderers and suicidal people in the band), a Black Metal sanctuary of sorts called Helvete, the murder that led to the arrest and subsequent incarceration of Faust*, the numerous church burnings that were linked to Varg Vikernes, the popular misconception that people involved in Black Metal are Satanists and devil-worshipers, and the evolution of Black Metal, amongst other things.
*"Well, when I was told that Faust actually killed this fucking faggot back in Lillehammer, I was quite surprised because, I mean, I didn't think he had the guts to do such a thing, but, I mean... I really honor him for that" - Hellhammer on Faust
Perhaps the most interesting topic that was covered in the documentary is the one that I had been wanting to hear about for a while: the murder of Mayhem founder Euronymous. I already knew all about it beforehand, and it's a tragic event that was responsible for me becoming interested in Black Metal in the first place. Not the music, but rather the reputation surrounding the genre (although I have become a fan of the music since then). Not only are his death and the events leading up to it covered, but they're nonchalantly recounted by the murderer himself: Varg Vikernes. Other than the murder of Euronymous being talked about in great detail, we also learn about the band's original vocalist - the ironically named Dead - who took his own life at a young age. If you'd like to learn more about his bizarre suicide and why a photo of the scene of his death (*NSFW*) serves as the cover of a Mayhem album, you can read all about it here.
Top: Dead; Bottom: Euronymous (second from left) with Mayhem
Varg Vikerenes on Euronymous: "To (Euronymous), everything was about image and he wanted to appear extreme. He wanted people to think of him as being extreme. The most extreme of them all. But he didn't want to be extreme. And he wasn't really extreme. He gave people the impression that he was the organizer. That is what he wanted it to look like. He started to talk about this Black Metal mafia, this mob, and he wanted to look at it as if he was the godfather of some organization."
Vikernes immediately following his sentencing in 1994 for the murder of Euronymous
Make or Break Scene: In general, anything having to do with Fenriz of Darkthrone was pretty fascinating; I don't mean that in a pretentious way, but I just found him to be an interesting dude. If I had to go with a specific scene, it would have to be of Fenriz in a museum observing some Black Metal-influenced hipster artwork and pretty much being disgusted with it but being polite to the artist nonetheless.
MVT: The Most Valuable Thing, for me, is a cop-out pick, but it's the topic of the documentary itself: Black Metal.
Score: 7.25/10
As a whole, UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US is interesting and it does provide a lot of background information on some of the more crucial events, bands, albums, and people that make up the history of Black Metal. As I said before, it covers a lot of ground that people who are already fans of Black Metal are familiar with, but there's enough in the documentary to provide for a fascinating, or, at the very least, moderately interesting watch. There's also more than enough information provided throughout the doc to enlighten those who are unfamiliar with the genre/culture; whether or not there's enough to keep them interested in the subject matter is another story.
This week the Gents cover The Blood of Heroes (1989) with Rutger Hauer and L.627 (1992) directed by Bertrand Tavernier. Two films that really couldn't be more different than each other. We also tackle a big chunk of back logged listener feedback!!!
Take the time to head to our blog site at theggtmc.blogspot.com and help with donations to Japan during their time of crisis and look into our partnerships with the different DVD sellers we are working with, we implore you to shop from these company's as they are dear friends and they will be providing materials for your listening enjoyment going forward!!!
13 Assassins - Screening to Benefit Japan Jûsan-nin no shikaku
Japan, 2010, 126 Minute Running Time Genre/Subjects: Action/Adventure, Foreign Language: Japanese English Sub-Titles
Special Benefit Screens Sat March 19 at 10:15pm & Sun March 20 at 1pm $15 - all proceeds to benefit Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund through Global Giving This special screening is made possible by the great folks at Magnet Releasing!
35mm Presentation - Cult director Takeshi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Audition) delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a wartorn future. Peaceful times in feudal Japan are threatened by the bloody rise to power of cruel Lord Naritsugu. Above the law because he is the Shogun’s brother, the sadistic young Lord rapes and kills at whim. Distressed by the Lord’s murderous rampage, top Shogun official Sir Doi secretly calls on esteemed samurai Shinzaemon Shimada to assassinate the evil Naritsugu. Outraged by Lord Naritsugu’s vile acts, noble Shinzaemon willingly accepts the dangerous mission. Shinzaemon gathers an elite group of samurai, each with their own deadly skill and together they plot to ambush Lord Naritsugu on his annual journey home from Edo.
The Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema podcast has recently partnered up with DiabolikDVD.com for a promotional deal. If you place an order on Diabolik DVD of $50 or more, you can use the promotional code diabolikmidnite10 to get 10% off your order. Diabolik DVD is a great site that offers a wide range of films from different genres at competitive and reasonable prices, and, most importantly, it's ran by genre movie fans who keep an ear to the street and are in tune with what fellow cinephiles and consumers are looking for. Check out their webstore and don't forget to use the Gentlemen's Guide promotional code for 10% off!
Also, the GGtMC has teamed up with a collective of podcasts and blogs to display a widget on their respective sites to direct people to the Japan Society website, where you have the option of donating money to a relief fund to help the wonderful country of Japan as they attempt to recover from the devastating earthquake that they were struck with on March 11, 2011. If you'd like to donate to a good cause, feel free to click the link on the top of the sidebar and explore the Japan Society website for more details. And, please feel free to post the widget on your blog or website by simply cutting and pasting the picture below and linking to the following url: https://www.japansociety.org/japan_earthquake_relief_fund
Sammy's Pick: BMX BANDITS (All-Region DVD and Blu-Ray; Severin) Gotta go with BMX Bandits on Blu Ray for this weeks pick....childhood favorite of Sammys and commentary from the great Brian Trenchard- Smith....cant wait to get my hands on this disc!!!
Large William's Pick: FERNANDO DI LEO CRIME COLLECTION (Region 1 DVD box set; Raro) If ever there was a pick of the week for the GGtMC, this is it. The GREAT Raro has brought Fernando Di Leo's masterful Milieu trilogy to region 1 for all of you who haven't gotten a region free player yet(and if not, why not?). In any event, Milieu is THE series as far as Euro-Crime goes, and La mala Ordina is my all time favorite Euro-Crime film. This set is worth every dime!
Pinpointing the precise nadir of the Canadian film industry can be a difficult task. There are quite a few points from which to choose, but 1979’s The Shape of Things to Come must certainly be in the top 5.
Ostensibly an adaptation of the HG Wells’ 1934 novel of the same name, the film has no real connection to the source material other than both stories are set in the future. In this future, mankind lives in domed lunar colonies and requires a drug (Radic Q2) from planet Delta 3 to combat radiation poisoning.
The tales focuses on two scientists; a good one played by Barry Morse and an evil one played by Jack Palance. The rest of the cast consists of a bunch of vapid young actors, save for Anne-Marie Martin (Sledgehammer!) and Nicholas Campbell who, apparently, was once actually young. I’ve got the feeling they only signed Palance for 5 days of shooting, as he might only have 12 minutes of screen time through the whole movie.
Toronto residents will get a kick out of seeing Ontario Place standing in for the supposedly futuristic New Washington. Things look pretty serene, but not for long. Jack Palance has taken over Delta-3 and has sent a cargo vessel carrying a shipment of Radic Q2 crashing through the protective dome. This sounds much more dramatic than it actually is: the special effects budget was obviously redirected to hair care products, diminishing the impact of this terrorist act.
Palance’s demands are pretty simple: put me in charge as ruler or you all die. There’s a lot of diplomatic mumbo jumbo that further slows down an already glacially paced narrative. The stoic Barry Morse, looking somewhat lost in these sub-Space:1999 sets decides to put together a small group, including one of cinema’s most annoying robot sidekicks, to defeat Palance.
Their high speed trek through space is a lesson in how not to portray hyperspace. Anyone could have create the same effect with a some fishing line, a toy Slave-One or Bird of Prey and some 70s wallpaper. There’s also a wonderfully cheesy bit in which Campbell and Martin ‘portray’ weightlessness. Along the way, they get to explore some Ontario countryside, drive an old Jeep and run into the some children with radiation poisoning, which apparently manifests itself by producing oatmeal on the skin.
Meanwhile… the group deposed by Palance does its best to get back into his compound. This entails running through some fake looking tunnels and the boiler room of some random building while avoiding Palance's army of robots. The robots are both the best and worst thing about this movie. They are the kind of robots you built with your friends when you were 12. Of course, you didn't take advantage of tax breaks and make a movie with them.
The climatic battle looks like something out of a LARPing For Beginners video, and Campbell and Palance fight over who gets to wear a highly coveted protective fishbowl over their heads. Mercifully, it eventually comes to an end.
Make or Break: It’s a break, and it’s really the unbelievably bad decision to make a bid budget space opera with $25,000 (Canadian). The whole thing looks atrocious and viewers expecting the poster must have been terribly disappointed. Canadian cinema has often excelled at portraying small ideas on the screen. You cannot do a dumb, action-oriented science fiction movie with some rakes and flexible PVC hose.
Most Valuable Thing: I want to say Palance soooo badly, but he was really sleepwalking here. I will actually go with Anne-Marie Martin as she was the only person on-screen with even a hint of charisma
Score:1.5 out of 10. It's dreadfully boring and completely charmless, but there are a few 'so bad it's good laughs' (the giant projection of Palance is a hoot) scattered throughout the film. I only wish there were more. The script is wordy, the acting wooden and the direction is almost non-existent. This production makes The Starlost look like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
This week we brought Rupert back to talk a couple of picks from Large William. He picked Bugsy Malone (1976) directed by Alan Parker and The Beast and the Magic Sword (1983) directed by and starring Paul Naschy.
Much feedback was covered, many tangents were explored and Uncool Cat Chris will never probably let me live down a certain sound clip ;)
It's really tough trying to do a traditional review for the Godfrey Ho "lensed" 1987 pseudo ninja flick, Devil's Dynamite, as I'm a little short on words for how I can actually describe it. The plot of the film seems to be very simple on the surface, however, I must have said to myself, "what the fuck is going on right now?" at least 37 times. 37 times is a lot (just ask Dante), so I really don't know exactly how to summon up a fully realized plot synopsis for this one. The story is inconsequential and probably made much more sense in both 1979's The Giant of Casino and 1982's The Stunning Gambling, mostly due to the fact that apparently both of these films were pieced together to make Devil's Dynamite. I've not seen either film, but knowing Ho (who went under the 'American' friendly name, Joe Livingston, for this one), I find this very easy to believe.
Now, the truth is not exactly one of the qualities that Devil's Dynamite possesses, as the entire thing is a bit of a bait in switch in a way. Take the poster art for instance, which is seriously a badass piece of awesome if I do say so myself. You've got a desert landscape, blue ninjas, machine guns, grenade launchers, blue ninjas wielding machine guns and grenade launchers, helicopters being blown the heck up…it's a wet dream waiting to happen if you ask me. Sadly, there are none of these things in Devil's Dynamite, not even the blue ninjas. There are ninjas, but they either rock all black, or, in the case of the real deal Holyfield, they roll deep in that silver space suit shit that's become all the rage in the Ninjutsu world. Sure, there aren't any exploding helicopters, but who needs that garbage when you got a dude walking around wearing a silver space outfit like it's no biggie. Funny thing is, the guy that rocks the NASA suit is actually nicknamed Shadow Warrior. Okay, lets take a moment to think about that name and what it implies:
Warrior: Someone that is skilled in the art battle, in this case a martial artist.
Shadow: Something that lurks behind unsuspectingly in a stealth like way, without drawing attention to itself.
Shadow Warrior: A highly skilled martial artist that has the ability to maneuver without being noticed.
Guy in Tin Foil Suit: A skilled martial artist that is wearing a reflective outfit, hammer pants and a silver space helmet.
I ain't no mathematician, but that name and description just don't seem to add up for some reason. Either way, no reason is necessary, as, in all honestly, I love Shadow Warrior and his ultra hip baked potato get up. He looks like an asshole, but the dude can throw down, specifically against the jumping vampires that seem to be causing such a problem for everyone. Oh yeah, there are jumping vampires in this one, which are always so frightening, especially when they, you know, jump. These jumping vampires are the direct result of a criminal rivalry between two onetime lovers, Steven (Tsung Hua) and Mary (a very yummy Angela Mao). You see, way back when, Mary had Steven sent to prison for a reason that I believe was never explained; now that Steven is out of jail, he looks to cause a little trouble for Mary, while Mary is hoping to get her hands on the gold that Steven had stashed away before he was sent to prison. Conflict ensues between the two and yadda yadda yadda and a lot more yaddas occur.
What it boils down to is, Devil's Dynamite is a cluster fart of a film filled with so many random characters and scenes that it's very easy to loose track of what is going on at any given moment. Characters are introduced, only to never be seen again, while others clearly have no sort of connection to anyone but themselves and whoever may be in their specific scene. It's a sloppy mess that only barley stays cohesive enough to express the main story, but I guess that's not what it's all about, right? I mean, this is supposed to be a martial arts film, so I should really take a few moments to talk about that aspect of Devil's Dynamite. As messy as it is story wise, the fighting is competent, mostly because those behind the fists and feet are quite proficient. There are many of the stereotypical elements found in cheap 80's ninja/kung-fu flicks; such as, horrendous dubbing, over-the-top sound design, lots of obvious reverse photography and perfectly executed jump cuts that result in the 'magical' appearance of either a) a ninja b) a weapon c) a jumping vampire or d) tin foil man.
Make or Break: Yikes, this one is pretty tough, as Devil's Dynamite is quite flawed in many ways. However, I feel comfortable about going with a make, which would have to be the first time Shadow Warrior (aka space suit ninja) shows up. I mean, the guy is wearing this outfit and laying blows on bros like it's no ones business. Better yet, he seems to be dressed this way for no reason whatsoever.
MVT: I'm dropping a triple bomb MVT on yo ass with my pick going to some of the fashion choices that the characters made. There's the often mentioned and beloved "weather balloon" dude, and then there is his mentor, who's get-up of choice comes in the form of a spicy mustard yellow ying yang suit that is only guaranteeing that the ladies will be dropping their pants. Most importantly, however, are the short shorts that this one young man wears, in full confidence nonetheless.
Score: A fair score for me would have to be a 5, which is not as bad as it looks. The film is incredibly flawed and even more nonsensical, but it's so ridiculous that it's hard to not find some enjoyment out of it. It's a perfect background movie for when you can only half pay attention half the time, and sometimes that's all that's needed.
Large William's Pick: JACKASS 3D (Region 1 DVD and Blu-Ray) alright gang, we're back and this week sees a boatload of great releases; I mean it's a really strong week for rock solid releases and promises to cater to all tastes. If you want zombies, the first season of AMC's critically acclaimed Walking Dead comes out, if socially conscious doc's are your thing, Inside Job drops, Four Lions the razor sharp Brit comedy about Muslim suicide bombers also hits shelves this week. To keep it British, one of the best doc's of the past few years, Banksy's Exit through the gift shop drops, and since that will be Sammy's pick, most likely. I however, am going to give it up to Mr.Knoxville and the gang. Have you ever thought to yourself: "y'know, Tuesday's been great so far, but if I could see a large pig toss a man's salad in high def or 3-D in the comfort of my own home, that would really put the icing on the cake!" If so, Jackass 3-D is the one for you! buy! buy! buy!
Sammy's Pick: THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (Region 1 Blu-Ray) My pick is The Man From Nowhere on Blu....some pretty impressive stuff in this ultraviolent action flick with one of the best knife fights I have seen put to film...Blu is only $13.99 at Amazon
Welcome back for another episode of the GGtMC, or if this is your first episode we welcome you to our little universe of cinematic excess.
This week the Gents cover The Shout (1978) directed by Jerzy Skolimowski and Blue Collar (1978) directed by Paul Schrader. We hope you enjoy the episode and Sammy's quiet talk to avoid waking his little boy....it was tricky but we somehow managed....
The tales focuses on two scientists; a good one played by Barry Morse and an evil one played by Jack Palance. The rest of the cast consists of a bunch of vapid young actors, save for Anne-Marie Martin (Sledgehammer!) and Nicholas Campbell who, apparently, was once actually young. I’ve got the feeling they only signed Palance for 5 days of shooting, as he might only have 12 minutes of screen time through the whole movie. 
Toronto residents will get a kick out of seeing Ontario Place standing in for the supposedly futuristic New Washington. Things look pretty serene, but not for long. Jack Palance has taken over Delta-3 and has sent a cargo vessel carrying a shipment of Radic Q2 crashing through the protective dome. This sounds much more dramatic than it actually is: the special effects budget was obviously redirected to hair care products, diminishing the impact of this terrorist act.
