DIRECTOR: Ishiro Honda. CAST: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai, Toranosuke Ogawa, Ren Yamamoto, Hiroshi Hayashi, Seijiro Onda. Forget about Godzilla: Hokey Kid’s Matinee Hero; that nonsense does not apply here. Godzilla was originally a post-World War II nuclear nightmare, a prehistoric fusion of land and sea reptiles awakened by American weapons testing in the Pacific Ocean. Japan’s citizens relive the horror of August 1945 when the monster attacks the city of Tokyo, setting things aflame with his atomic breath and laying waste to everything else in his path. Although Godzilla is not without its share of melodrama, it is so much more than a cheesy monster movie—the atomic bomb metaphors are abundantly clear, as are the questions raised about Japan’s psychological state in the early 1950s. Godzilla’s fantastic black and white photography gives the film a documentary-like quality that enhances its somber tone. Excellent and completely deserves to be remembered as the king of kaiju movies. AKA Gojira.
DIRECTOR: Ted Kotcheff. CAST: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott, Chris Mulkey, John McLiam, Alf Humphreys, David Caruso. First Blood deserves better than residing in the shadows of its more bombastic sequels. John Rambo is a former Green Beret with PTSD issues that prevent him from fitting in with society after returning from combat. He drifts from town to town looking for his fellow soldiers, only to find that they are all dead. Rambo finally snaps after enduring harassment and abuse from a small-town sheriff and his underlings, escaping to the woods where he brings the Vietnam War home to the redneck cops who have no idea of the things he went through in battle. Loosely based on the book by David Morell, First Blood is a darkly nihilistic story where good guys and bad guys do not exist and the hunters unwittingly become the hunted. All of the following sequels take place in a different context, making First Blood more a part of the series in name only. Director Ted Kotcheff went on to join the staff on Law & Order: SVU where he is a director and executive producer.
Great split LP that deserves its place in any self-respecting crusty punk record collection! ASUNDER drops two heavy slabs of death/doom on your cranium and believe me, it hurts! Reminiscent of the greats like MY DYING BRIDE or PARADISE LOST and they are not afraid to take their time. “Tides of Ruin” crosses the ten-minute mark, but never feels overlong or boring. Nice mix of blackened crusty sludge from Texas metalpunks LIKE FLIES ON FLESH, who would have been right at home here in the Bay Area. I wish we could have heard more from them in the future, but this was their only recorded output. Whatever limitations you hear are excused by the recording methods—both ASUNDER and LIKE FLIES ON FLESH originally released these songs as demo tapes before mixing and mastering them for split LP preservation. ASUNDER forged on until 2009 with three more great releases—the monstrous A Clarion Call, a great split LP with GRAVES AT SEA, and ending with Works Will Come Undone. LIKE FLIES ON FLESH vocalist Jamie Myers has kept busy in the years since. She joined HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE circa 2003, releasing The August Engine and The Locust Years before guesting on WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM’s Diadem of 12 Stars album and their Malevolent Grain 12-inch. She now sings for occult rockers SABBATH ASSEMBLY.
I’m pretty sure I saw this on TV back in 1990 when it was first broadcast. This clip was just a teaser of the Mastodon’s entrance in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Not exactly being up to date on New Japan, I had no idea what to expect from Big Van Vader, but I knew his crazy-looking helmet was pretty awesome! As the weeks progressed and the promotional videos revealed more of what this guy was about, it became more apparent that an unstoppable monster was on his way! I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t wait to see Vader in action!
This guy got off lucky! Questioning the integrity of professional wrestling to one of its participants used to be a sure-fire way to get your ass handed to you big time! I have read plenty of stories over the years about various incidents taking place in bars and nightclubs—one of the more drastic measures taken to prove wrestling’s legitimacy consisted of actually tearing an eye from its socket! Some of the more ruthless practitioners would grind the eye into a pulp under their heels! I think I read a story about a wrestler actually EATING an eye during a bar fight once!
DIRECTOR: John Schlesinger. CAST: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane, Marthe Keller, Richard Bright, Marc Lawrence, Tito Goya, Fritz Weaver, Jacques Marin. One of the decade’s best suspense thrillers! Marathon Man concerns three people who are all in a figurative race to stay one step ahead of each other. First is Dr. Christian Szell, a Nazi war criminal hiding out in South America and living off stolen diamonds from his Auschwitz murder victims. He will stop at nothing to retrieve the remaining gems from his recently deceased brother’s safety deposit box in New York, despite the great risk of having his identity exposed. Second is Henry “Doc” Levy, who fronts as an oil industry executive while working as a secret government agent and one of Szell’s couriers. Szell trusts no one after his brother’s death and tries to have Doc killed several times to no avail. Doc follows Szell to New York to confront him. Third is Doc’s brother Thomas “Babe” Levy, a Ph.D. candidate and would-be marathon runner suspected of having knowledge of Szell’s identity and motives. Unfortunately, he has no idea that he is about to be mixed up with Nazis and secret government agencies. Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, and Dustin Hoffman are all excellent as always in their respective roles. Marathon Man is one of those films that get better with each viewing that reveals more of the hidden gems in performance, direction, and photography. Based on the novel and adapted for the screen by William Goldman.
I only remember the Gilman Street staff being judgmental and irritated that "heavy metal" bands were playing at their precious "punk rock club," only to be completely won over and wanting more by the time HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE finished their set.
DIRECTOR: Nai-Choi Lam. CAST: Siu-Wong Fan, Mei-Sheng Fan, Ka-Kui Ho, Yukari Oshima, Tetsuro Tanba, Gloria Yip, Philip Kwok, Frankie Chin, Koichi Sugisaki, Kwai-Hung Wong, Gan-Wing Chang, Kai-Wing Lam, Ging Chan, Kwok-Leung Wong. The Story of Ricky does not just blur genre lines; it tramples the very notion of these distinctions. Ricky’s hyper-violent story takes place in a future (2001, to be exact) where housing criminals is simply a government job run by the private business sector. He is serving a sentence in a maximum-security prison after running wild on a gang of drug dealers who caused his girlfriend’s death. Ricky soon runs into trouble with the thugs who control the prison population at the corrupt warden’s behest, resulting in scenes of bloodshed and disembowelment that would make Herschell Gordon Lewis smile. Eyes pop out of skulls like ping-pong balls, fists punch through stomachs, and intestines used for strangulation. Ricky even ties his own severed tendons back together to continue fighting! The Story of Ricky is an unforgettable spectacle of carnage; it is epic in its own way and readers must see it at least once. Based on the Japanese manga Riki-Oh.
DIRECTOR: Mark L. Lester. CAST: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Vernon Wells, Dan Hedaya, David Patrick Kelly, Bill Duke, James Olson, Drew Snyder, Michael Delano, Charles Meshack, Carlos Cervantes. Commando has a place in every Arnold fan’s heart, as it was the first vehicle specifically tailored to highlight Schwarzenegger’s physical presence and his natural charisma. Rest assured that Commando was as cheesy and silly in 1985 as you would likely find it to be now. Arnold is John Matrix, a former Special Forces colonel forced out of retirement when mercenaries kidnap his young daughter Jenny from their secluded mountain home. Poor Jenny’s life is on the line as they demand that Matrix perform a political assassination in South America to get her back. However, Matrix has a better plan: become a one-man army and kill everyone standing between him and his daughter. No one upstages the Governator here, not even Vernon Wells (aka Wez from The Road Warrior) as the homoerotic main villain or Bill Duke himself. Alpha male Arnold repeatedly proves who is more macho, dispatching many of his foes with a nicely timed one-liner. Commando is where you will find the roots of Schwarzenegger’s film persona; this is where it really all began.
Looks like a rough day at the office for Superstar Billy Graham! He can't be feeling sweeter than German chocolate cake at the moment! Gordon Solie would have been proud to refer to Billy’s face as the crimson mask! I’m sure John was pleased as punch to have his autograph though.
Jimmy Carter puts a side headlock on Mr. Wrestling II in a famous photo that I believe was taken during Carter’s time as governor of Georgia! Both Jimmy and his mother Lillian were avid fans of both Mr. Wrestling II and Georgia Championship Wrestling! Carter even invited him to his presidential inauguration, but the Secret Service insisted that Mr. Wrestling II appear unmasked for security reasons! Nobody tells Mr. Wrestling II to unmask, so he had to decline the invitation! Fortunately, Jimmy and Miss Lillian understood completely and their friendship continued. I hope the Secret Service agent who made the demand to unmask was fired! What kind of anti-American commie fascist pig tells Mr. Wrestling II to take off his mask anyway?
