Moved on Out

I have most of my stuff transported out of my new apartment and just have to go back for my bed and some small things. On the hunt for a career to support myself (and perhaps the show) while I try to figure out an old camera my girlfriend gave to me. In the meantime, I found some more tapes that are a bit more childish than my other tapes.

Monster High: A high school with monsters. It's suppose to be a comedy, but I'll just have to see about that.

Double O Kid: A PG-13 family film about a teenager who fights bad guys with a supersoaker. Sounds like my kind of movie.

Street Sharks Vol. 1: JAWesomely terrible toon from my youth. I wonder how well it'll hold up.

Beetleborgs Metalix Movie: Yes, there was a Beetleborgs movie.

VR Troopers (unkown volume): One of the lesser Power Ranger rip-offs about virtual reality and a talking dog.

Samurai Syber Squad (unknown volume): A much lamer rip-off Power Rangers.

Another Salvo of Tapes

Hollywood Video is STILL selling out their VHS library. Here is another big bundle I picked up.

Omega Cop: Stars Ron Marnchini and Adam West in the future of 1999.

Force of Evil: Lloyd Bridges in a TV horror movie.

Flatfoot: A fisting cop takes on the world.

Aerotroopers: A direct-to-video 3D adventure film. Stars Mark Hamil, Billy West, and several other popular voice talents.

Flash Gordon (animation): Made by DiC. Don't have much more info on this one yet.

Killings at Outpost Zeta: Bought this one based on the name alone.

Car Crash: A car shaped like a rocket. What more do I need to say?

Shooting Elizabeth: Jeff Goldblum dark comedy about killing his wife.

Street Fighter: For $1, how could I refuse?

Babar Goes to America: Wonderful little nugget of classic TV animation.

Robo Man: Elliot Gould in a science fiction film about a "kill machine with a megaton mind".

Heidi and Sinbad: Two classic Japanese animated movies.

Analysis of a Scene: Undefeatable

Occassionally, I wonder how one would write some of the most ridiculous scenes. In this particular film called Undefeatable, Nick DiMarco (John Miller) fights Stingray (Don Niam) as Nick's girl, Kristi Jones (Cynthia Rothrock), observes the carnage until she decides to join in. Here is how I imagine writing that scene went down, action by action.

INT. FACTORY - STINGRAY stares menacingly at NICK as he licks blood from the blade of his knife as if to say "come and get it, big boy." STINGRAY gives a huff as his face begins to move more erratically.

NICK starts to get angry.

STINGRAY begins to move slowly as he shoots NICK a dead serious look of death.

NICK does the same adding several quick nods to try and psyche STINGRAY out.

The two get into position to fight. STINGRAY lunges first with his knife and NICK evades his attack. STINGRAY tries to stab NICK again, but he grabs STINGRAY's hand. STINGRAY then begins to deliver a series of blows with his other hand on NICK.

STINGRAY punches NICK in the jaw in a slow-motion sequence that will look totally awesome. In fact, it's so awesome, STINGRAY hits NICK twice. NICK is pissed off at STINGRAY now.

NICK punches STINGRAY in the cheek in awesome slow-motion.

NICK breaks free from STINGRAY and rips off a piece of his shirt. STINGRAY is now pissed to see his favorite shirt ruined. He is royally pissed.

NICK squeezes the piece of shirt he ripped off in anger as he has always hated that shirt, but never had the guts to tell STINGRAY about it. He throws the piece to the grown and is even angrier. He then looks at both sides of his shirts and decides it would be more cool if he fought without his shirt on. He rips it open and lets out an angry man yell.

STINGRAY responds quickly by also ripping off his shirt with manly grunts.

Once the two have ripped both their shirts off, they let out an angry roar and continue to fight. STINGRAY tries to stab NICK again, but NICK grabs his arm and kicks it several times before STINGRAY just drops the knife.

STINGRAY, angered by NICK breaking all his things, starts delivering a series of punches to NICK's chest.

NICK responds quickly by punching STINGRAY.

STINGRAY replies with kicking.

NICK replies with kicking.

STINGRAY gets the drop on NICK and starts slapping his hand against NICK's chest. NICK doesn't like this so he knocks STINGRAY to the ground.

STINGRAY falls to the ground, but finds his knife.

Happy with finding his knife again, he rushes towards NICK to show it to him while letting out a manly roar.

NICK has a fear of knifes, so he politely kicks STINGRAY in the face to get it away from him. STINGRAY insists, however, that NICK take a look at his knife as he continuously swings at him.

STINGRAY corners NICK and tries to force him to look at it, but NICK grabs STINGRAY's face with his hand. The physical contact scares STINGRAY so he gently pushes NICK's arm away. STINGRAY decides to get back at NICK for that action by grabbing his shoulder. NICK then grabs STINGRAY's arm to show the feeling is mutual.

KRISTI arrives and watches in awe at the two men working their differences out.

After observing the men fighting, KRISTI decides she wants a piece of that action and grabs a towel from the ground. She swings it around all kung-fu like and latches it on to STINGRAY's arm.

STINGRAY is now made open for kicking by NICK and KRISTI and they do just that in an unfair, but very funny move.

STINGRAY breaks free as he doesn't like being picked on like that. KRISTI didn't think that was very nice so she pushes STINGRAY against a wall.

STINGRAY accidentily slammed his face into a wall with a pointy object and looses an eye. He grabs his face as his eye socket loses blood at an alarming rate. This makes him sad as he lets out a manly cry.

The History of Anime on VHS

Animation from Japan has become a mainstream style and a cultural icon in the past few years. But how did this form of entertainment become so popular? It all started with video sales. Sure, there was Speed Racer, Starblazers, and Battle of the Planets which were huge success on network television, but it was still just a tool of afternoon children's programming. So, how did America transition into recognizing anime as more than just Saturday morning fanfare?

It all started with a company called Streamline Pictures. The studio was founded by Carl Macek, the producer of Robotech, and Jerry Beck, an animation historian, in 1988. The studio brought many 'mature' anime series and movie to home video and movie theaters. Some of their titles included such Hayao Miyazaki titles as Castle in the Sky, Castle of Cagliostro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro. However, their most notable title which caused a huge buzz in the world of film and animation was the English release of AKIRA in December of 1989. It was this very film that would shape how many mainstream viewers would view anime for many years.

However, when releasing anime on VHS, a problem arose. There were many just getting into the art form who desired to see anime the way it was originally heard in Japanese. Thus, there were two forms of tape made for each anime: one with an English dub and the other in Japanese with English subtitles. The tapes that featured anime in Japanese with English subtitles were much more expensive and as time went by the prices increased quite dramatically.

ADV Films would release two episode tapes of anime series that cost $25 in English and $30 in Japanese. Bandai and Manga Entertainment would do the same only the English version cost $10. The most expensive of all the companies releasing anime was Viz which charged $30 for English dub and $35 for Japanese. How could anyone consider charging $35 for a VHS tape with about an our of content? This wasn't like two decades ago either; this was back in 2000.

Needless to say, this caused a huge dispute among those who prefered English or Japanese. Thankfully, this problem was quickly resolved with the coming of DVD that provided both versions on the same disc. Sadly, some people still argue over this issue today which doesn't make sense to me. We've been given the chance to see this art form in our own language and the Japanese language. We should be proud to have this kind of variety.

Ralph Bakshi films still on VHS

If you don't know who Ralph Bakshi is, he is the director who pioneered adult animation from the 1970's and onwards. He has also been parodied on such animated series as Tiny Toons and Ren and Stimpy. He's made some of the most controversial animated films of all time and also done a few TV series pilots.

Here is a list of his films that are currently on DVD...
-Fritz the Cat (1971, MGM)
-Heavy Traffic (1972, MGM)
-Wizards (1977, Fox)
-Lord of the Rings (1978, Warner Bros)
-American Pop (1981, MGM)
-Fire and Ice (1983, Blue Underground)
-Cool World (1992, Paramount)

Sadly, two of his films have not yet made it to DVD and it's a shame because I think they some of his best work. Here are those two films...

-Coonskin (1975, MGM)
Considered one of Bakshi's most controversial films from 1975, Coonskin takes a bizzare and surreal look at the dark world of a black bunny in Harlem who did some nasty thing to get to the top of the crime world. Right from the title you can tell this is going to be controversial film as the opening features Scatman Crothers singing a song called "I'm a Nigger Man." Mixing live-action and animation, Coonskin is a very hard film for those sensitive to the subject of race. In the actual animation, there are tons of stereotypical racist exagerrations. I mean, the main character is suppose to be black and is portrayed as a black bunny with big lips. It should be noted, however, that this film features the only acting role of Barry White and the most live-action Bakshi has ever used in his animated films. It seems to fit as Bakshi made this film as a parody to Songs of the South, but Songs of the South was a very controversial film as well.

So, naturally, Coonskin caused twice as much uproar. This was either a hate it or love it kinda film. Soon after it's theatrical debut, the film came under attack by the Congress of Racial Equality which lead to the film being pulled too quickly from theaters. Interestingly enough, the NAACP actually supported this film. How did the rest of the public view it? Well, at one screening, some one set off a smoke bomb inside the theater as part of a protest.

It's been rumored that the Wu Tang clan plans to make a sequel to Coonskin with Ralph Bakshi. How about releasing on DVD first? The film was eventually granted a video release years later under the less-offesnive title, Street Fight. This has got to make it to DVD eventually, but I prefer it be called Coonskin only because a documentary on hate crime was released in 2005 called Street Fight.

-Hey Good Lookin' (1982, Warner Bros)
Probably one of Bakshi's most grounded works, Hey Good Lookin' follows Vinnie, a member of the street gang called the Stompers. He hangs out with his best friend, Crazy Shapiro, and his girlfriend, Eva. The film's main conflict arises when Vinnie is thrown into a rumble with an African American gang called the Chaplins. The film has a great story, some good laughs, a dash of rotoscoped animation, and some interesting 50's music. I have no idea why this title isn't on DVD yet as it is one of Bakshi's 'tamer' adult animations.

In addition, there are also a few Bakshi TV animations I'd like to see make it on DVD.
-Christmas in Tattertown pilot (1987, Nickelodeon)
-The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse (1988, CBS)
-Hound Town pilot (1989, unaired)
-Spicy City (1997, HBO)

Character Profile: John Diehl as The Killer

John Diehl
Plays "The Killer" in the 1984 movie "Angel"

John Diehl has a decent film career guest starring on several TV shows (The Shield, ER, The X-Files) and movies (Jurassic Park 3, Nixon, A Time to Kill). However, one of his lesser and probably worst roles was playing The Killer in Angel. It wasn't a very good role as his only line was the last one in the film and he didn't get much character development. I guess that is why the director decided not to give him a real name and just call him "The Killer". It just doesn't make sense how a character could be so uninspired and underplayed when he is the main antagonist of this film.

We are first introduced to The Killer as he is a well-dressed man out on the town. Once he starts following some hookers and the creepy music plays, that's when you realize he is evil. So, he lets a hooker pick him up and she leads him to a motel. However, before they get to the door, he grabs her behind a corner, covers her mouth, and guts her with a knife.

The next scene for The Killer is in his apartment. Surely, we can learn something about The Killer at this point, right? Well, I know he likes to exercise and cut himself afterwards. Other than that, there isn't much else too him. His apartment is pretty empty and pretty dirty. He must have bad hygene. It doesn't make too much sense, however, as he mostly appears well-dressed.

The next victim he actually lets her lead him all the way into the apartment. The hooker takes her top off and tells The Killer to remove his clothing as well. Later on, we find her body all cut up in the shower when the main hooker, Angel, discover her body.

Back at his apartment, we learn more about his life as he displays his favorite food. He likes to crack open an egg, suck out the filling, and smash it against his head. How fun.

Later on, The Killer is brought in for questioning and a police line-up. Angel comes in to try and point him out, but she is not sure. Then, in a very stupid move, one of the cops walks into the line-up room to give the officers some coffee and The Killer grabs his gun. He shoots up the place and escapes. That has got to be the dumbest cop in the world. Clearly, you don't bring weapons into the line-up room.

The Killer once again escapes back to his place. At this time, The Killer gets a great idea to go undercover to kill more hookers. He's been noticing a lot of monks running around the city chanting. What a great chance to go stealth. So he goes to the bathroom and shaves all the hair off his head in a scene that reminds me of when The Terminator cuts open his eye.

So, he goes undercover, but is quickly found out by a cop when he ditches the monk group to sneak into Angel's apartment. The cop follows and is soon murdered by The Killer somehow. I don't know how because the next shot we see of the cop, he's dead by the wall. So either The Killer stabbed him to death quickly or he had a heart attack. I can't quite say. Angel isn't home, but her cross-dressing best friend is in her place. They have a very interesting and very funny fight. I mean, how you can you not laugh at a bald monk fighting a crossdresser? Eventually, The Killer kills the man-woman and escapes.

At this point, Angel is fed up and decides to walk the streets with a gun to draw him out. The Killer eventually reveals himself and starts running. The scene then turns into a run-and-gun chase sequence until The Killer is eventually shot. With his last dying breath, he mutters some line which is too inaudiable to hear. What a bummer for John Diehl. His only line in the film and it's muffled by poor audio equipment trying to record soft dialogue. It's very sad as the closing shot focuses on his dead body in an alley as Angel and her friends just walk away.

Worst Ending Lines

-Ghost Dad: In the last scene where Bill Cosby and his family leave the hospital, he spots the taxi driver who drove him off the bridge, Curtis Burch. How HE survived is uncertain, but he is a crazy satanist who went nuts when Cosby claimed to be satan during their taxi ride. After screaming at each other, Curtis hands Cosby back his wallet and then this dialogue closes the movie.

Curtis: Master, I am at your command!

Cosby: Command!? I command you to go to hell and sit on hot coals! And wait for me there until it snows!

Curtis: *smiling* Oh, thank you, master *pounds his own skull* thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! *drives off*


-Space Rage: In the final showdown, The Colonel has just shot Grange with his shotgun. Grange has pretty lost at this point and tries to throw his knife one more time.

The Colonel: Don't get up....*shoots Grange one last time*


-Final Justice: After Joe Don Baker defeats the main bad guy and is helped to his feet by the female lead, he utters this fantastic closing line.

Joe: Could you grab my badge? It's in the boat.