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!
