Ghetto Klown at the Lyceum Theatre
May 6th, 2011 by Mr. C
Johnny “legs” Leguizamo was large and in charge once again on broadway with his latest one man show dubbed, GHETTO KLOWN! Leguizamo was definitely in his comfort zone of live theatre by showcasing his great storytelling abilities all meshed together with his comedic, class clown undertones often adding a bit of physical comedy which he executes flawlessly with plenty of street swagger flavor in a new york minute! Besides the obvious over the top urban comedy that I love about Leguizamo, he seems to genuinely express himself with tremendous emotion when conjuring up stories from his past especially with his family. When he re-enacts the characters of his parents and his grandfather, you truly get a feel of who they are which influenced who he is. You also get a sense that Leguizamo uses Broadway as a vehicle for therapy for himself when he comes to grips with different stages of realities in his life. Ghetto Klown fills us in on the rest of John’s story in decades from the 1960’s onwards where his other one man broadway shows like FREAK left us off. He focuses more on his acting career while also driving home the personalites of his parents, grandfather, & his wife. Stage props included a movie screen with a mini stage-boardwalk like platform that John would jump up & down on to act out a few scenes with projected images & film being played in the background. The show opened with James Brown’s “Sex Machine” being played while John Leguizamo busted a nut or two with some funky dance moves! He briefly explains his parents’ pilgrimage from Colombia (South America) to Queens, NY which would promptly jump the decade to the 1970’s with the song “It’s just begun” by Jimmy Castor being played on the loudspeaker while Leguizamo busted a B-boy breakdancing artery in his best B-Boy NY Mets stance! Funny, funny stuff! John-L would mention two acting teacher influences which ignited his passion in the arts. One was a lady who he called “Tweety” & the other was the venerable, Lee Strasberg. Other colorful characters that Leguizamo brought to light was his best friend “ray-ray” the ghetto genious, his jewish girlfriend Kat, his LES NuYorican poet society ex wife-activist, Lisette who loved to dance the “hustle”, his malignant manager Irving, & his current wife, “teeny”! His first acting role included beating out Benicio Del Toro (John dubbed mumble king), Benjamin Bratt, & Esai Morales in the auditions for a spot in the TV Show Miami Vice starring Mr. Smooth, Don Johnson! John Legs then morphed into his grandfather who often told him to stay white in terms of skin color & be the latin vampire that saw no sun! Darker skinned latin guys would get typecasted in thug like acting roles so the grandpa suggested to stay pale skinned & just to be safe, don’t even eat dark colored food! Leguizamo would leave no stone unturned as he told funny on the set tales of Sean Penn(Casualties of War), Don Johnson(Miami Vice), Kurt Russell + Steven Seagal from Executive Decision, & Al Pacino in Carlito’s Way! Johnny Legs also told the story of Project Ho aka “To Wong Foo” with funny stories about Patrick Swayze & Wesley “the darkest black man alive” Snipes! Another funny scene included showing clips from his latin variety show called “House of Buggin” when they played a skit with the Bloods & the Crypts vs the Latin West Side Story! There were many, many stories & experiences told by Leguizamo that just had me on the floor coughing up a lung! There were also some very touching & emotional moments in Ghetto Klown amongst the silly slapstick that almost lead me to shed a tear. They included his confrontation with his father, his last words with his grandfather (Disney disease & etch a sketch), his run in with “ray ray”, & the epiphany he had on the subway train at the end! John made it clear onstage that whenever he seems to lose himself, lose his soul in hollywood, he gathers his spirit by writing & performing in these plays! Mambo Mouth, Spic-o-Rama, Freak, Sex-a-Holic, & this latest reincarnation are all therapeutic gems for him & the audience for that matter! If you haven’t seen Johnny “legs” Leguizamo perform in any of his one man shows, I strongly urge you to check him out! You’ll soon see why! Leguizamo bleeds thick Nueva York blood, & his story will resonate to all regardless of color, creed, sex, & greed! In my opinion, he encompasses the true new york state of mind! I loved how Leguizamo still pronounced Manhattan as ‘Manhatty’ just like they did in “Hangin’ with the Homeboys“! John Leguizamo/Ghetto Klown has extended their act till July at the Lyceum Theatre so get your ragged ghetto fab ass out to Broadway!
I’ll leave you with a few quotes from the show below!
“You can’t make somebody love you”
“Be yourself, you clown” (Al Pacino to John Leguizamo on Carlito’s Way set)
“Everyone else says that you’re just one girl, but to me you’re the world!” (From John to his wife)
“Dad, George Lopez is funnier.”
“Madonna stole freestyle from Safire & Sweet Sensation”
“Career jealousy & infidelity” (John describing his breakup with Kat)
“You have the Disney Disease” (Grandfather to John Leguizamo)
“But there are no spics in space, John” (Irving to John, regarding a role on Apollo 13)
Via playbillvideo
Tags: broadway, ghetto klown, john leguizamo, lyceum theatre
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Beastie Boys “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two”
May 4th, 2011 by chocko
The new Beastie Boys album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two dropped yesterday. It’s been at least 4 years since their last album. It’s safe to say Adrock, MCA and Mike D are back! This album is a must-have for all the fans out there. Definitely, pass the sauce-16 tracks of vintage Beastie dopeness…bad ass beats and funky fresh rhymes. Guaranteed to make you smile…lots of funny lyrics. Let’s have a listen..
1. Make Some Noise – the video for this song is chock full of cameos from Frodo to Jack Black smashing beer bottles and windows and raising some hell which hasn’t been seen in a Beastie Boys video since “Fight For Your Right.” Will Ferrell on the wicked cowbell solo is not to be missed. Adam “MCA” Yauch directed the video and it is a nice homage to the “License To ILL” era. The song features the Beastie Boys doing their thing without compromise or giving in to present trends in “hip pop” music.
2. Nonstop Disco Powerpack – a tribute to old school hip hop which finds the 3 MC’s shouting out some of the pioneers of the genre: Rammelzee, Afrika Bambaataa and Spoonie Gee! MCA sounds dope on this track…definitely going in hard for the dunk.
3. OK – features a goofy beat with vintage synths and keyboards that culminates into a crazy electro jam explosion that will get all the b-boys and b-girls spinning on their heads.
4. Too Many Rappers – this sounds like it could have come off the “Check Your Head” album. Nasty NAS comes through nice with the cameo. I like when Mike D spits his lyrics like a lost member of U.T.F.O. “go back in time and fax from my car”…that’s some back to the future ish right there.
5. Say It – the Boys sound hungry on this one…they sound like they’re about to rob a bodega. The chorus features a sweet call and response that will have you waving your hands in the air. The song gets really bugged out towards the end when it switches up and sounds like a video game soundtrack to a Colecovision game.
6. The Bill Harper Collection – a short voice mail, um not really a track. An inside joke perhaps?
7. Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win – alrighty, we’re back on track. This has a bouncy reggae dub beat which sounds like a great summer tune to blast through your speakers. Santigold sings on this track which is a nice relief…I can’t remember a female being on a Beastie Boys track. Sounds hot.
8. Long Burn The Fire – MCA makes a nice Cold Crush Brothers (Grandmaster Caz) reference, Adrock sounds on top of his game and Mike D rocks this track. Nothing too crazy on this track…a decent instrumental. The cutting and scratching definitely sounds nice here.
9. Funky Donkey – spaced out funk to blow your mind and rattle the eardrums. This song will make you wanna pop and lock on the dance floor for sure!
10. The Larry Routine – this track is less than 30 seconds and blends in with the last track.
11. Tadlock’s Glasses – the Beasties at their best with a dusty old beat and crazy, dope rhymes. Wild Style-era Fresh!
12. Lee Majors Come Again – this song is a straight up bionic, punk rock song. It sounds like the Bad Brains with 3 MC’s, keyboards and a turntable. The mosh pits will be going buck wild when this song gets played live. (please no kung fu kicks in the pit…I hate that! It’s not the place to practice your roundhouse kicks.) Beware!
13. Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament – funky bass line on the song will get your head bobbing. It’s the only instrumental track on the album.
14. Here’s A Little Something for Ya – another vintage track…cowbells, keyboards, a party-rocking break and lots of energy.
15. Crazy A** Sh**t – there’s a kid’s voice sampled on here saying things like “on and on ’til the break of dawn” and nice drums very catchy…this reminds me of “Cookie Puss” for some odd reason.
16. The Lisa Lisa/Full Force Routine – this track left me wanting more…clocking in under a minute. It could’ve been a tad bit longer. I will say the the beat on here is straight up nasty!
Tags: adrock, album review, hip hop, mca, mike d
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Rappin’ (1985)
May 3rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Joel Silberg
Actors: Mario Van Peebles,Kadeem Hardison,Eriq Lasalle,Richie Abanes
genre: urban, rap musical
yes, yes, y’all & you don’t stop! Mario van peebles plays John “rappin” hood in this light hearted & fun rap musical from 1985! John hood is fa..fa..fresssh outta jail when he returns to his not so mr. rogers neighborhood with a whole new outlook in life full of positive energy, & a freshly oiled geri-curled puff hairdo while struttin’ his stuff & rappin’ to the beat on the city streets to greet his brethrens of the concrete! His jive talkin brother played by Leo O’brien, the same actor that played the smartass brother of the Last Dragon, Bruce Leroy was a diminuitive mischief of the streets! John Hoods’ homies including characters played by Kadeem Hardison (A Different World) & Eriq Lasalle (Coming to America,ER) stand by their boy be it for old school throwdowns, homie the clown beatdowns, dance offs to one offs in the club, or just street rappin! Former john hood crew member, Duane takes rappin hood as a threat to his pride when he resurfaces to the scene again. All is not good in the hood as Van Peebles’ character will have Duane & his new gang to deal with while trying to bail his little brother out of juvenile detention. Another bigger problem simmers & will eventually erupt when the slumlords & the real estate moguls collaborate to try & evict the residents from their apartments in order to lease out to more well to do prospects. Hood & his homeslices has their own ways to deal with things as they “rap” their case in the court of law to convince them otherwise. Sandwiched in all this drama would lie a few fun rap musical performances by Van Peebles & his crew rhymin’ about a “snack attack”, “neighborhood walk”, “double trouble-grandma rap”, & other street hustles! A few off the yin-yang cameo appearances & performances in the movie includes Eugene Wilde & Joanna Gardner singing “First Love Never Dies”, ICE-T & the Rhyme Syndicate rappin’ to “Killers”, The Force MD’s with “Itchin’ For A Scratch”, & Tuff Inc. performing “Golly,Gee”! Lovebug Starski had a few soundtrack joints in there as well, but no cameo appearances from what I could see! At the end of the movie, the whole neighborhood would start rappin till the ending credits came home! All’s well, ends well in the NOT so Mr. Roger’s neighborhood, y’all!
“We can’t stop..We won’t stop..rockin that rhythm till we hit the top!”
ICE-T & the Rhyme Syndicate + The Force MD’s + Eugene Wilde & Joanna Gardner
Dance Off scene + Snack Attack performance!
The ending credits rappin performance!
Tags: Eriq Lasalle, force md's, ice t, joel silberg, Kadeem Hardison, Mario Van Peebles, Richie Abanes
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The Artist Zone: Chris Castaneda
April 30th, 2011 by Mr. C
Chris Castaneda at the MoCCA Festival in NYC
Planet Chocko had the pleasure to attend the MoCCA Festival which was held on April 10th & 11th at the Lexington Avenue Armory in NYC to benefit the 10th anniversary of the Museum of Comic & Cartoon art! Chocko went in one direction while I went the opposite as we foraged into the abyss of comic-zine-cartoon art aficionados & made a few exciting discoveries! The impressive neo-classical structure of the Lexington Avenue Armory housed an impressive list of creative geniouses of the comic, cartoon, & zine faction! Among these artists was Chris Castaneda who lured me into her art galaxy like a spectactor in a coney island sideshow with her unique creations of mythical looking characters dare I say demonic & satanic looking! Chris graciously spared a few minutes of her time to answer a few questions regarding her art work & background! Check out some images of her creations below as well as a few photos of her studio in Mexico City! Cute kitty & hello Pequeno Jose! And Chris, we love Ghost World, too! Enjoy, share, & appreciate!
PC: Where are you from & how has the environment & culture (ethnic,music,pop culture) influenced your vision for the arts which is manifested through your creations?
CC: I was born and raised in Mexico City, so living on one of the most important cultural centers in the world has been like heaven and hell. Heaven because we have a great amount of museums and the mixture of cultures is awesome. And hell because it can be very noisy, chaotic, a little bit violent, but still lovely. The constrasts are so evident that it also becomes a strange phenomenom, but anything you need you’ll find it here.
PC: What type of media do you like to work with?
CC: Photography and drawing are the mediums that I enjoy the most, but I sometimes experiment with sculpture and video. Drawing and photography are as my faithful husbands, and sculpture is like my lover.
PC: Can you describe your work & what messages if any are intended for the eyes of the beholder?
CC: Drawing is another kind of language (or that’s how I perceive it), and what I love about it is that there are no absolute truths. In my graphic work you can see demons, sacred symbols and pagan messages, but what I really wish is that the viewers have the same feeling of enjoyment I get while I’m creating each and every one of my pieces. Fear, excitement, passion, hate… whatever! But I want the viewer to travel and be penetrated into the mystical worlds that I invented. I want them to swell with more doubts and join me in these strange parallel universes where the limits of the goodness and evil fade.
PC: With some of your renderings & drawings that we saw at the MoCCA Festival which includes snakes, demons, satan, & other cool looking mythical creatures, is sorcery or witchcraft the source of this vision?
CC: Being raised in a catholic environment influenced my work but more in a perverted way.
Although my parents have strong beliefs about religion, I could never understand many things that were said in the Church. That is why I´m approaching to what we fear, so this experiments always get me out of the comfort zone. I have been researching on Satanism, witchcraft, and things of that style (I always wanted to be a witch), and although there are things which I identify with myself completely, it also makes me doubt about everything, so I’d rather be kind of a vomiting-cocktail of things I like, and explore the faith of the human condition with greater freedom.
PC: TOYS! Describe your toy sculpture creations & inspirations!
CC: I’m in love with toys and I love collecting them, so I decided to create my own characters: Maggot Girl & Slurp-O. Maggot Girl is a girl who looks like a Caterpillar and has mouse ears, and Slurp-O is a demon of very long, sticky tongue who eats garbage and feeds himself of that. Its crazy look is very sexy and his grains are more! Both are the result of what I love to see in comic books and on TV, especially those movies which are so rubbish that later become an epiphany of bad taste.The sculptures were made by my boyfriend (who is a master at that), and we will do the official presentation of the toys very soon.
PC: What is the story behind your zine, The Adventures of Maggot Girl?
CC: Maggot Girl was created 2 years ago along with other characters on their acid-mystic trips. She is a girl who was born without legs and arms, so her mother was very disgusted on embracing her. That’s why Maggot’s mom decided to weave her a suit. One day Maggot Girl went to the world’s largest amusement park and bought some mouse ears. Never more she removed them and her mother adapted the suit with ears.
Sometimes, you can see her travelling with demons or fighting with her clones. She can be evil with her friends and even to herself, but seconds later she turns into the sweetest girl in the world. I think that she is like my alter ego, as the girl who can move to strange worlds and then return home without any problem.
PC: Who are some artists that you admire?
CC: The Mexican artists that I admire the most are Manuel Manilla, José Guadalupe Posada, Ernesto “El Chango” Cabral and Pedro Friedeberg (although he was born in Italy, most of his work was developed in Mexico). The novohispanic and religious art is amazing and inspiring too! Looking to Cristóbal de Villalpando’s paintings make me shudder. Also, the films of Kenneth Anger and Christopher Ulrich’s paintings make me want to continue working, and about comic artists I am ardent fan of Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Frank Woodring and Tove Jansson.
PC: Do you have any upcoming projects that we should know about?
CC: Right now I’m preparing an art residency that will take place in Iceland. I’ll play the role of a witch that invents herself a new religion and this project will end in a solo exhibition. This project is sponsored by the Fundación / Colección Jumex, so I’m very excited for this trip, and I’m very anxious to find a big wall for street art, so if you know any place that needs a satanic drawing, please let me know.
PC: Do you have any other hobbies to free your mind when not creating artwork?
CC: I’m like a trash collector. I love to go to garage sales and find little treasures that once were useless. Sometimes I find cool outfits for my two cats, so cat cosplay is another hobby too. And I love to read the dictionary, specially the “Dictionary of Occultism”, but one of my strongest desires is to learn taxidermy and to be a tattoo artist.
PC: What foods do you miss the most when away from home?
CC: I really miss my mother’s “fideo seco”, her mashed potatoes and a stew that looks like a big meatball. The coziest meal you’ll ever have.
PC: Any must eat destinations for travelers to Mexico City?
CC: If you visit Mexico any time, the must place is “El Cardenal” restaurant. The “agua de amaranto” (amaranto water) is simply delicious and the “panza de borrego con tortillas” (belly lamb with tortillas) tastes like heaven!!! There’s another place near my studio, “El Maquech Púrpura”, that has one of the greatest lime soups that you’ll ever try.
PC: Your favorite bands to listen to are…
CC: My all time favorite band is The Velvet Underground, but while I’m working I like to listen to Os Mutantes, The Zombies, Wanda Jackson, The Kinks… surf, psychobilly, rockabilly, darkwave and 80’s are a must too when you enter to my studio. The retro atmosphere comes good for sketching the upcoming drawings.
PC: What are some of your favorite movies?
CC: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “Holy Mountain” is one of my favorite movies ever. His film has been a big influence on my work. I saw a few weeks ago this japanese movie “Hausu” and it just killed me. The moments when the vomiting cat and the floating body parts appear are priceless! David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart” is another favorite one, but “Gentlemen Broncos” entered on my top ten when I met the actor Héctor Jiménez (the guy that plays Esqueleto in Nacho Libre). You must know that my boyfriend is a make-up artist, so horror movies are always on the TV too.
PC: Where can fans contact you to purchase your artwork, toys, & zines?
CC: You can visit my virtual diary christiancastaneda.tumblr.com theadventuresofmaggotgirl.blogspot.com and christiancastaneda.carbonmade.com .
I love to receive emails and chit chat, so you can catch up with me at xiancv@gmail.com
or you can facebook me too! http://www.facebook.com/christiancastaneda.v
(Oh, I have a flickr account, but you must be 18 or older). http://www.flickr.com/xian_cv/
PC: Any other tidbits, closing comments, & words of wisdom for the aspiring artists out there?
CC: If you love to make mistakes and learn from them, then you’re on the right way as long as you have fun and passion. The hard work always has rewards. Just like Aleister Crowley said: The joy of life consists in the exercise of one’s energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience. To stop means simply to die. The eternal mistake of mankind is to set up an attainable ideal.
I love to receive all kind of comments (the dialogue is always enriching), so if you want to make a collab, any trade or something you like to add you are very welcome!
Chris
Tags: chris castaneda, drawings, maggot girl, mexico city, mocca, photography, sculpture
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Helldriver screening at the Japan Society
April 29th, 2011 by Mr. C
The Helldriver screening at the Japan Society on thursday night was hella’ full of zombie fun! It was our 1st time attending an event/screening at the J-Society and boy, if this was indicative of how the Japan Society, Sushi Typhoon, & Subway Cinema do things there…um, where do we sign up?! The director, Yoshihiro Nishimura & actress, Eihi Shiina were on hand at the screening to introduce the film & do a Q&A with the audience immediately after! Marc from subway cinema did a great job MC’ing the event as well as surfacing on the screen in a cameo role in the film! Nishimura & Marc both appeared onstage at the japan society after the film in a psuedo sumo loincloth, what da? It was over the top, wacky, & hilarious which pretty much describes the movie! Nishimura even whirled around a devilish inspired zombie baby attached to a cord as a weapon of choice which made chucky from child’s play look like a choir boy! Eihi and Yoshihiro were gracious enough to stick around after the screening to take photos & sign autographs! A few limited photos & logo hankies were made available for sale to benefit the Japan earthquake relief fund. Ticket sales for this event also went to the cause. Some good snacks on a stick, beer, & Vaura, a death metal band were waiting in the wings in the lobby for the after show party!
The movie would showcase a beautiful young lady played by Yumiko Hara who has been physically & mentally tortured in all of her existence. Through trials, tribulations, & circumstances from a stolen heart by the dirty soul of her mother played by Eihi Shiina, Yumiko will find a power invested in thee to wield a chainsaw in a configuration of a samurai sword in the name of saving japan from the savages of a zombie nation led by her twisted & abusive mom & her psychotic uncle which reminded me of Anthony Wong with a mohawk. The zombies would lurk around with a devilish looking horn on their head which looked like a modified wishbone! They looked voraciously for an opportunity to prey on human flesh! The movie did not waste any time from the get go as the 1st scene went right into battle mode with the zombie hunter slaying his subjects for their wishbone horn! Later on in the movie, they will explain the significance of the horns! After what seemed to be like 20 to 30 minutes into the film, they finally showed the opening credits! If that was the intro to the film, then what was to become of the climax! The amount of glorified blood gushings, violence, guts spillage, over the top characters, & insane zombie voiceovers were totally absurd which made it that much more fun! The soundtrack was a mix tape full of rock, metal, & classical pieces all under the guidance of a devil maestro if you may! My favorite props & visuals of the film included the insane hot rod car infused together by zombie limbs which looked partially designed by Frank Kozik! The giant monster mothership was composed of dead zombies with the head comprised of the evil mom accompanied by the maestro was pretty wicked as well! Also, who can forget the pickup truck jousting with the multiple zombie hands slicing & dicing with the samurai swords! A really funny scene in the movie involved our tenacious zombies prancing & dancing about like in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video! Kamikaze, bonzai, & heads will fly! If you liked Tokyo Gore Police then Helldriver is definitely up your alley! I can’t wait for more of these insane movies to surface at the NY Asian Film Festival at the Japan Society!
Eihi Shiina & the director, Yoshihiro Nishimura introduce the film before the screening!
Q&A after the film!
Tags: eihi shiina, helldriver, japan society, subway cinema, sushi typhoon, yoshihiro nishimura, Yumiko Hara, zombie
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Seaweed played the Bell House
April 27th, 2011 by chocko
Last Friday, April 22, 2011 marked the triumphant return of Tacoma, Washington’s Seaweed to NYC where they have not played in over ten years. Their show at Bell House was their first show in Brooklyn and to say that I was totally psyched for this show, would be kind of an understatement. Seaweed formed in the late 80’s but I didn’t become a fan until discovering their 1992 Sub Pop album “Weak” which I still have on cassette. I used to play that tape non-stop and after popping it in the tape deck recently…it still plays and sounds so awesome. “Weak” came out after their first album “Despised” which was released in 1991. After releasing three more album and playing shows with Green Day, Superchunk, Quicksand and countless other punk and grungy bands the band called it a day in 1999. After almost ten years Seaweed rose from the ashes to reunite, work on a new album and play shows again. The show in Brooklyn featured openers All Eyes West and (Damn) This Desert Air. Both excellent bands…do check them out. Seaweed started their set with “Antilyrical” off their Merge Records release “Actions and Indications” straight into “Crush Us All” from their 1995 album on Hollywood Records, “Spanaway.” From there, the band..original lineup pretty much intact, played songs that got the crowd smiling and singing along. The set list covered every album and even featured a brand spankin’ new tune. Bring on the new album dudes! The crowd, a tad bit older and wiser were slow in starting up the crowd surfing. There was lots of fist pumps and polite pogoing, but about midway into the set the crowd probably got more drunk and reckless…the dancing got kicked up a notch and the crowd surfing began and didn’t stop until the end. It was a fun night of music and I know a good amount of fans traveled long distances to see the band. It was also sweet to see some familiar faces in the crowd including Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile who was there with her twin sister!
Seaweed’s first Brooklyn show ever
Allison and Cindy
my “weak” tape…still in effect
SET LIST
antilyrical
crush us all
losing skin
one inch punch
free drug zone
steadfast shrine
start with
measure
red tape parade
thru the window
squint
new tools
magic mountain man
service deck
stargirl
baggage
common mistake
kid candy
saturday nitrous
bewitched
Tags: bell house, brooklyn, grunge, punk, records, seaweed, show, sub pop
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Underwater Love (2011) screening at Tribeca Film Festival
April 25th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Actors: Sawa Masaki, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Emi Nishimura, and Fumio Moriya
Genre: pinky musical, exploitation, cult
I went to a wet and wild if not a bit enigmatic screening of UNDERWATER LOVE at the Tribeca Film Festival last Saturday night with the director, Shinji Imaoka & the lead actress, Sawa Masaki in attendance for a short Q&A session after the movie. This movie hit the “what the fuck” spectrum & bounced off a few prisms in transit! It’s to be noted that Underwater Love was conceived in 5 days of filming with only 1 take! Talk about keeping the production time & budget down! The cinematographer behind the eyes of the viewfinder was the acclaimed, Christopher Doyle who also had an eye in a few of Wong Kar Wai’s visions! They classified this quirky film as a pinky musical, but Mr. C’s night of the living basehead terminology will describe this film as a bollywood like production on crack with excuses to throw in softcore porn as a popcorn trail to distract you for some sexual thrashings of the human & japanese folklore reptilian nature! The basic premise of the story without revealing too much tits, ass, scales, & turtle power is about the character Asuka, a 35 year old woman who works in a local fishery who happens upon a kappa (a creature from japanese folklore that grabbed children & pulled them to sea). This hybrid beast turns out to be someone that Asuka had known from in the past and has comeback to profess his love for her! Meanwhile, Asuka & her fiance romp here & romp there with some skin on skin poundings of non rhythmic sex. While that’s going on, the kappa gets seduced from a chubby young lady who works with Asuka. Miss chubb rock rides the kappa like a cowgirl destined for a rodeo championship! Sandwiched in between hot & heavy reptilian-human sex would house some musical scenes enhanced by funky 80’s style electronica tunes with twinkle toe dance moves that Fred Flinstone & Barney Rubble can master. A twist in the story would get sauced in when a shinogami (Death God) reveals to the Kappa that Asuka has only one more day to live. The games would soon begin as the kappa & asuka tread hand in hand together through the forest in search of an answer to prolong her life. The answer would come in a pill format, but the ingestion technique would prove to be quite an undertaking! Folks, this movie will have you murmur ‘what the bluck’ on your breath while you get entertained from 87 minutes of trying to answer why,why,why? Maybe the answer to this question might of been better served while watching this flick stoned!
Tags: Emi Nishimura, Fumio Moriya, Mutsuo Yoshioka, shinji imaoka, tribeca film festival, underwater love
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Taxi Hunter (1993)
April 23rd, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Herman Yau
Actors: Anthony Wong,Yu Rong-Guang, Ng Man-Tat, Athena Chu Yun
Genre: Revenge! exploitation!
Taxi Hunter at first glance might lead you to believe that this is Hong Kong’s version of Taxi Driver by Martin Scorcese, but the buck stops there when comparing the two! However, the characters of Travis Bickle & Ah Kin do share something in common…rage and revenge!
The inscrutable, Anthony Wong plays an insurance agent named Ah Kin who is a very caring & gentle person in his own quirky type of way. He & his lovely wife are expecting a child very soon. For those who’ve never seen Anthony Wong in any movie roles before, gentle & caring is usually not a word used to describe this beast of an actor! Wong often plays a twisted psychotic man, bad cop, or triad leader. Hold up, wait a minute, I’m not finished…he starts off as a gentle, docile creature, but circumstances would change this man’s life forever! Now, we’re talking! Will the real Anthony Wong please stand up?!
Ah Kin always finds himself in the grasp of the sleazy & opportunistic Hong Kong taxi driver on a daily basis. The taxi driver usually falls into at least 1 of these categories if not all: 1)verbally abusive towards their customers. 2)wheels & deals with negotiating fares instead of using the meter; 3)driving in loops to extend the ride if they are using the meter; 4)profiling his fares in terms of location preferences; 4)hurling insults to their customers; 5)ALL OF THE ABOVE. This frustrates Wong to no end, but this is all tolerable until one stormy night when his wife goes into labor & starts bleeding. The husband calls for a taxi, but the cab driver ends up leaving for another fare who negotiated a higher price. With the wife in tow, bleeding, and in labor pains in the rain no less, the hubby flags down another dirtball taxi driver who promptly negotiates a fare to take them to the hospital emergency room. However, after seeing the wife bleed profusely, mr. cabbie reneges the ride offer because he doesn’t want blood stains in his ride, god forbid! The taxi driver takes off like a Domino’s delivery guy promising to deliver pizza in “30 minutes or less or it’s free” mode! The problem is that the wife is still attached to the cab. She is dragged in the rain for a block or two belly down. She finally curdles to the curb without the cab with something more than a rash. Unfortunately, the wife & the baby do not make it. REE-VENGE! Ah Kin’s outlook on life has now been shaken upside down & tossed inside out as he looks to eradicate all sleaze bucket taxi drivers in Hong Kong! Kin hails taxi cabs in order to test out these slime ball drivers and if there are any signs of foul play, a prominent choke hold till death will ensue! Ah Kin ups the ante when he graduates to handguns! It all comes to a head when Kin’s friend who is a cop sets up a sting operation to trap the Taxi Hunter!
This movie is pure Hong Kong exploitation at its best! Surprisingly, the film is not as dark or dreary as you may think! There are even sprinklings of humor in it! There’s a bunch of car chase scenes & stunts that will make you say, yeaaah son! Check out this Herman Yau directed film, y’all if you can grab a hold of it! I don’t think it’s on Netlix, though. Suddenly, I have an urge to hail a cab in NYC! Take me down to chinatown and then, to the halal cart on 4th & 6th ave, you son of a sleaze ball! Say hello to my….woo!
Tags: anthony wong, herman yau, hong kong exploitation, taxi hunter
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Tear It Up played Europa
April 21st, 2011 by chocko
Last month the original lineup of NJ’s legendary DIY hardcore punk group, Tear It Up, played to a packed house at Europa in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Paul, Andy, Doug, Matt and Dave had not played a show together since 2003 and to see them on stage for the first of two reunion shows was something I was totally psyched for. I knew as soon as they hit the stage that the “no stage diving” rule posted all over the club would be broken and all sorts of mayhem would ensue. I was pretty close to the stage and the place was packed like sardines and dimly lit. People were stage diving and you couldn’t even see them until they were a foot away from you coming in for a crash landing on your face. I know the dude next to me definitely got his nose broke. It was so packed by the stage that you couldn’t even leave if you wanted to. Bodies were flying, slamming and moshing everywhere. It was definitely one of the craziest punk shows I had been to in a long time. Most of the songs played were off their 2001 “Nothing to Nothing” album. The crowd sang along to every song and Dave, the lead singer put the crowd into a frenzy while crowd surfing and somehow making it back to the stage without missing a beat. Their “Nothing to Nothing” album was recently repressed by Six Feet Under Records and they had it on sale at the merch table along with a limited edition ‘zine (I think the band only printed 100 of them) which featured old photos and flyers from the band’s archives. I wish I had bought a ticket to night 2 at the Irish in Kearny, NJ but that got sold out and there was no chance of getting in. Hardcore punk rockers from Western Massachusetts, Last In Line, also reunited for the show, which was cool because they used to play with Tear It Up a lot back in the day. Cell Mates, a punk band from Maryland, opened up the show. Check out their new single out on Wallride Records.
Tags: brooklyn, cell mates, diy, europa, hardcore punk, last in line, new york city, nyc
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Record Store Day 2011
April 20th, 2011 by chocko
regina spektor at other music
Happy Belated Record Store Day. How did it go out there? Did you wait in a line like me and Mr. C to stock up on limited edition vinyl? That’s what we did on that unusually cold spring morning in New York City last Saturday. First up was Other Music located on 15 E. 4th Street between Broadway and Lafayette. This store has been there as long as I can remember…back in the day they were shadowed by the mighty Tower Records and Tower Video stores across the street. Those stores are no longer around but OM is still in effect. We were joined by about 100 people waiting in line for doors to open at 11 a.m. The line moved pretty fast once the doors swung open. I picked up a few goodies…Pay to Cum! the reissue of the 1980 debut of Bad Brains and OFF! Live at Generation Records 7″. The extra special bonus at Other Music was the first 100 customers who bought the the new 7″ four from far by Regina Spektor, got to see her perform for free. Oh, you know we had to go to that. After shopping and a quick lunch, we got back in line and waited for about about an hour until Regina to showed up and played at the piano on a small stage in the no longer empty store front next to Other Music. When Regina arrived the crowd went bonkers and her fans were treated to a short set of songs which included riot gear, all the rowboats, ballad of a politician and better. She was funny and interacted a lot with the crowd. She appeared a little nervous about the fact that it was all being taped for a future release, but it all went well in the end. By 3:30 we made it to Generation Records at 210 Thompson St. and by then the rain began. I’ll talk more about that later. We just missed Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo spin some records but the Jay Vons were still playing and they’re always a great band to see live..full of soul and funky as hell. If you were in the back of the basement like me, you couldn’t see but you could definitely hear Dave Amels on the organ. The dude is badass on the keys. I made a couple more purchases at Generation like the new Bouncing Souls “Live at Generation” red vinyl. Oh Yes!
angel olsen
bow ribbons
After getting beat down by the storm and walking to Kim’s Video & Music on Ave. A, we rounded out the evening with a double in store performance by the beautiful and gentle sounds of Angel Olsen and Brooklyn’s own Bow Ribbons. Angel Olsen is a lo-fi folk singer out of Chicago who pours her soul into her somber tunes which sound like old songs from days long gone. The small crowd swayed and swooned to her crooning and sweet yodels. I wanted to get the new “Strange Cacti” on vinyl which was originally released on cassette, but the store sold out of all their copies. You go girl. It’s out now on Bathetic Records and I just might have to buy it online. I can’t wait any longer! Definitely be on the lookout when she plays at a venue near you. Bow Ribbons played next. Their gentle songs smolder but the one Bettye Lavette cover of “let me down easy” brought down the house. God damn, woman what a set of pipes! It was getting late and our original plans were to head over to Brooklyn to check out what was going down at Sound Fix, Permanent Records and Fat Beats, but the rain was relentless. There were lots of sad, broken umbrellas all over the sidewalk. It was definitely a lot of fun, we bought a ton of records and saw some awesome performances for free! Record Store Day 2012…Can’t come soon enough!
Tags: angel osen, bow ribbons, generation records, kim's video & music, new york city, other music, regina spektor
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Fiat Abarth 695!
April 20th, 2011 by Mr. C
Late 1960’s Fiat Abarth on mercer street by NYU on Record Store day! Steve Urkel posed as a model for a size perspective of the diminuitive 4 wheeler! Talk about a stylish urban assault vehicle!
Tags: fiat abarth 695
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Soul Brothers of Kung Fu (1977)
April 12th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Yi Jung Hua
Actors: Bruce Li, Law Mong, Ku Feng, Lee Hoi San, & Carl Scott
Genre: Brucesploitation
The Soul Brothers of Kung Fu comprise of actors, Ho Chung Tao aka Bruce Li, Law Mong, & Carl Scott! This chauncy is about 3 illegal immigrants played by Li, Carl Scott, & Law Mong from mainland china & the states(?) who work at the shipyards of Hong Kong in the late 1970’s. Two of the chinese soul brothers run into gangster lean types while working on the dockyard. These 2 would have no choice but to lash out with a few quarts of phoenix & dragon whoopass unto thy triads making them pussyfoot back to their leader with evidences of a serious beatdown in chinatown(Hong Kong)! The 3rd soul brother would slowly emerge played by brotherman, Carl Scott who gets a severe smackdown of his own while working on the job site by the same grease heads. Fortunately, the other two outlaws are there to pick up the afro pieces and unleash the beast for a nice chop socky feast! The fearless three band together as Carl Scott is anxious to learn all the extraordinary kickass asiatic moves from Bruce Li & Law Mong! Trouble seems to find the 3 amigos as the gang members are relentless in hot pursuit of them. Soon, the refuge of working in a nightclub will not be so secretive afterall as gangland finds the whereabouts of the trio. Ku Feng plays the most cunning of mob bosses as his leadership & fighting skills would lead you to believe that he is a henchmen disguised as a playboy. Fortunately, Ku Feng has the muscle of hong kong kickass veteran played by Lee Hoi San as one of his kung fu killing machines with a hard head! Lee Hoi San usually plays the role of a rabbid, off the meat rack Shaolin Monk that you don’t want to mess around with! Ku Feng will also use the power of the pussy to help lure one of the soul brothers astray in order to convince him to join their organization. This film is a frankeinstein’ed tale of friendships, hardships, & betrayals with lots of kung fu action…that I can ‘guaron-tee’ (in my best Louisianna southern accent!)
I’m not going to vouch for any of the academy award winning acting in this film that’s for sure, but the fighting choreography isn’t half bad for a brucesploitation flick! Having the horses in the movie that can actually screen fight definitely helps with the situation! Ho Chung Tao better known as “Bruce Li” for exploitation purposes is probably the best bruce lee imitator around. Not that anyone can ever peform the moves that Bruce can especially with his signature timestamp in passion and intensity with every movement that only he can deliver. But, Li is definitely one of the better clones around. Law Mong who plays number one soul brother is a studded presence in the film with his rock hard abs, forearms that popeye would take notice to, & a chest that would impress Bolo Yeung. Most of you old skool kung fu movie fans might know Law Mong in his roles as the Toad in the “5 Deadly Venoms” amongst his many venom brother roles with the Shaw Brother Studios. Most recently in 2010, he starred in “Gallants”. A movie that I really enjoyed with many throwback actors in the cast!
Carl Scott, the diminuitive 3rd soul brother from another mother in the film was also one bad azz mofo of a fighter! He doesn’t have as strong a role in the movie as the other two, but his kung fu-kempo skills is off the school yard! Scott has not been featured in many films as I can only think of two other ones he starred in, but his skill level is definitely extraordinary. It really blew me away when I saw a non-chinese (african brotherman) perform some really cool kung fu routines in the movie, “SUN DRAGON”. Carl Scott was blazin’ a crazy leopards fist style with some rabbid kicks, & showed off a pretty mean looking pole routine that the “8 Diagram Pole fighter” – Gordon Liu might say, ”RIGHT ON, Brotha” ! I always wondered why Scott didn’t get as famous as Jim Kelly or Ron Van Clief because he certainly was struttin’ the right stuff!
Veteran actors Lee Hoi San & Ku Feng will also add some spice & everything not so nice on the menu to thwart the advances of the Soul Brothers of Kung Fu! Check it, this movie is best caressed with some soul food or at least some chicken wings & fried rice…right,right!
Tags: bruce li, carl scott, ho chung tao, ku feng, law mong, lee hoi san, lo meng, soul brothers of kung fu
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