Thursday, March 26, 2009 Zombie Radio

Of late I've been following A.Z., a bi-weekly radio drama produced by KCMD 970 AM in Portland, Oregon. A.Z. stands for "After Zombies", and the series follows the exploits of a group of survivors of an undead apocalypse. Despite being broadcast by a professional radio station, this is strictly an amateur affair.

The scripts and acting have improved a bit over time, but the writers really need to do a better job of getting action across. As it stands, it's often hard to tell just what's going on, especially when all the cast is screaming in horror. More ambient sound effects, a crucial element to this medium, would be a big help. In episode 3, for example, it's hard to tell if the characters were supposed to be walking through the snow or just standing around. I also think the desire to broadcast the episodes live are hindering things. Yeah, that's how they used to do it back in the day, but they really didn't have much choice at the start, and the use of transcription discs eventually became the standard for all but the biggest shows.

All that said, I'm enjoying the series. I'm a big sucker for the genre, of course, and I have to give mad props to anyone actually trying to bring back radio drama to the American airwaves. A.Z. is an obvious labor of love from folks who share a lot of my interests. The poor bastards.

I'm following the show via KCMD's podcast page. All six episodes of A.Z. are available for free download, as are the other efforts of the "CBS Radio Theater" team.

Download A.Z. via the KCMD podcast page

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Real-Life Spider-Man Rescues Boy

From yesterday's BBC News:

Thai 'Spider-Man' to the rescue

13:05 GMT, Tuesday, 24 March 2009

An unusual disguise has helped a Bangkok fireman rescue an eight-year-old boy who had climbed on to a third-floor window ledge, Thai police say.

The firefighter dressed up as the comic book superhero Spider-Man in order to coax the boy, who is autistic, from his dangerous perch.

Police said teachers had alerted the fire station after the boy began crying and climbed out of a classroom window.

It was reportedly his first day at the special needs school.

Efforts by the teachers to persuade the pupil to come back inside had failed.

But a remark by his mother about his passion for comic superheroes prompted fireman Somchai Yoosabai to rush back to the station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume in his locker.

The sight of Mr Somchai dressed as Spider-Man and holding a glass of juice for him, brought a big smile to the boy's face, and he promptly threw himself into the arms of his "superhero", police said.

Mr Somchai normally uses the costume to liven up fire drills in schools.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 Random Image: Chemistry Lab

From Shaun O'Boyle's stunning Modern Ruins website.

Monday, March 23, 2009 DVD Shuffle: Random Play 2

PUNISHER: WARZONE
Lexi Alexander - 2008

Is Punisher:Warzone a gory cartoon spoof or a kickass vigilante wet dream? The filmmakers tried to have it both ways and, IMO, failed. Campy moments jar uncomfortably with scenes of extreme sadism and clumsy attempts at poignancy.

The actor playing Jigsaw seems to be channeling Jack Nicholson's Joker; a bad choice, but it's not what ultimately derails the character as villain. Jigsaw and his brother are despicable creatures we want to see dead, but they are never credible threats to someone who routinely plows through heavily-armed goon armies with ease. The Punisher's "weaknesses" are his outlaw status and his rigid morality, and Jigsaw was in a position to exploit both points. But having the NYPD work hand-in-glove with Castle neuters the former and the villains didn't hit upon the latter until the very end, far too late to establish any tension.

Good points? Castle's flashbacks and the supporting cast will please fans whose main criteria is adherence to the comics. Colin Salmon is always watchable and manages to keep his dignity in a role that is little more than Castle's punching bag. And I'm pretty sure the over-the-top gore will excite the Punisher's core audience.

But goddamn, Julie Benz has wasted away since Angel. I guess that's what it takes to get roles these days - actresses are required to be as nearly two-dimensional as the characters they play.



THE BATTLE WIZARD
Pao Hsueh-Li - 1977

I have a fondness for loopy movies, and I now have a new favorite.

Based on Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, a sprawling wu xia novel by the legendary Jin Yong, The Battle Wizard tells the story of a young prince who masters kung fu without really trying. If I say the movie is fast-paced, it'd be a bit of an understatement. Clocking in at just over 72 minutes, The Battle Wizard careens from plot twist to bloody fight and back again without pausing for breath. And whenever things look like they're settling down, you're hit with a new "WTF?" moment. I don't want to ruin too much for potential viewers, but there's a chicken-footed villain whose lust for vengeance is surpassed only by his desire to control a really tough gorilla, and a love interest who throws flesh-burrowing snakes at people she doesn't like. Oh, and the deadly plastic bone! Fans of Kung Fu Colt Master and Super Inframan will want to give The Battle Wizard a try.




THE MAN FROM HONG KONG
Brian Trenchard-Smith - 1975

Jimmy Wang Yu plays a brutal Hong Kong cop who comes to Sydney to extradite an HK drug smuggler (played by Sammo Hung). When his prisoner is assassinated, Wang decides to take on the local drug kingpin responsible for the hit.

Man From HK is no classic and drags a bit at first, but once it gets going it really doesn't stop. There's car chase, foot chases, big explosions, bloody fights, and countless kicks to the crotch. In his commentary track, writer/director/producer Brian Trenchard-Smith swears the whole thing was meant tongue-in-cheek; when a romantic montage kicks off with, "Have you healed enough to make love?", you have to hope he's telling the truth.

Sammo also does the fight choreography, and while it's not his best work, one has to remember he was working with Wang Yu and a crew of mostly Aussie stuntmen. (Though they all scream "ah-yah" like HK stuntmen when they get hit, for some reason.) The final duel between George Lazenby and Wang is a standout, however, with Lazenby showing off some decent moves and even performing an outrageous fire stunt himself. The Aussies do shine when performing the non-fight stunts, including a pretty rousing car chase and a hang-gliding romp high above Sydney Harbour.

It's all very Seventies - even the car seat belts are wide. The villain's office is decorated in Early Eyesore, and one of Wang's police liaisons looks and dresses like an oversize hobbit. When Wang isn't ripping throats out, he's driving muscle cars and knocking boots with local gals. (I'm pretty sure he had a good time making this film.) Oh, and the theme song is "Sky High" by Jigsaw! I was giddy to learn that this AM staple from my yoot was commissioned especially for the film!

As mentioned in my post on Wang Yu, I had ordered the Australian DVD of Man From HK. The 2-disc set from Madman Entertainment has some nice extras, the most interesting of which is Kung Fu Killers, an Australian TV documentary also by Trenchard-Smith. Killers follows stuntman Grant Page around Sydney, Hong Kong, and Macau as he learns about martial arts and kung fu filmmaking. There's lots of footage from Wang Yu and Bruce Lee films (including scenes with "Harlem Globetrotter Raoul Jabbar"), and interviews with George Lazenby on the set of Stoner and Stuart Whitman on location for Shatter. Carter "Maybe I Can Herp You" Wong and Angela Mao (who looks far cuter in "modern" hair and wardrobe than she ever did in her movies) also turn up. There's even a talk with a professional voice dubber! The grand finale has Page doing a rope stunt off the side of a mountain.

The anamorphic R4 DVD is definitely worth picking up if you're interested in this film. I'm now jonesing for similar quality releases of Stoner and Beach of the War Gods.

Coming this fall - Law & Order: The Shire

Sunday, March 22, 2009 Lair Hunting in a Buyer's Market

If you're a neophyte hero like Mysterion or the Coon, you may be looking for a secret lair. Via dornob via the forteana mailing list, here are a couple of real-life dwellings that may prove inspirational.

First up is this grand design, well-suited as either the convivial home for a band of heroes or the impressive lair of a brooding evil genius:

The house, by an Australian firm, is essentially a sphere with the "unnecessary" parts removed. There is a green element to the design, such as rainwater collectors and partial solar heating. You will have to supply your own AI majordomo and laser security screens, however.

Speaking of green, here's a lair that exemplifies the concept:

It's a solar-powered cabin in Sweden, carefully designed to provide maximum space and a terrific view while still adhering to some rigid zoning laws. The cabin actually extends on steel railings when in use, pushing the living area over the lake that borders the property. While there's no running water or phone lines, the cabin is off-grid and, with the solar panels and lake water, nearly self-sufficient. Coupled with an exterior that blends in perfectly with its environment, the cabin makes an excellent choice for animal-themed supers with privacy issues.

The photos above only give a rough idea of these amazing structures. For a more in-depth look at these houses, including interior shots, make sure to check out the links above.

Saturday, March 21, 2009 Hickey & Boggs

I own a lobby card and theatrical insert for Hickey & Boggs, but not a DVD. Because there isn't one.

I have no idea why that is. H&B is a terrific little crime drama written by Walter Hill and directed by Robert Culp, who reunites here with his I Spy co-star Bill Cosby. The duo play a couple of down-on-their-luck private investigators hired to locate a missing woman. The trail leads to a small fortune in stolen money and many, many dead bodies.

This film must have shocked fans expecting a breezy I Spy follow-up when it was first released in 1972. It's unrelentingly grim, cynical and pessimistic. And while the espionage show made occasional stabs at portraying the brutality and futility of violence, it was still light years removed from the ugliness depicted by the later film. Hickey & Boggs is buoyed only by the patter and presence of its leads, who remain likable even when portraying alcoholic losers.

Outside of a few episodes of Greatest American Hero, Culp never directed again, which is a darn shame after such a strong debut. Hickey & Boggs was an obvious inspiration for Don McGregor's Detectives, Inc. graphic novels and is probably the best of the neo-noirs of the era (until Chinatown came along, at least). Thanks to Fancast.com, you can check it out yourself. Look for Michael Moriarty and James Woods in small roles.

Saturday, March 14, 2009 DVD Shuffle: Random Play

Still been struggling to catch up with the unwatched pile. You would think with my unemployed status I'd have more time to watch movies, but I've spent the past several weeks doing nothing but sleeping and playing Call of Duty 4. And crying. Lots and lots of crying. Still, I managed to eyeball a few films, all from my NetFlix queue.


CHOCOLATE
Prachya Pinkaew - 2008

An autistic girl goes ballistic on various thugs in the latest Thai backbreaker to storm our shores. She's the daughter of two gangsters, a sexy Thai loan shark and a stylish Yakuza boss, who wind up in one of those Montague and Capulet affairs. Left to raise their child alone, the mother succumbs to a movie disease and needs pricey medical care to survive. Zen, the daughter, and her adopted brother Moom find Mom's old ledger and attempt to recoup the money still owed her by various lowlifes. Luckily, Zen is a martial arts prodigy who got her skills the same way (according to Joe Bob Briggs, at least) the simians evolved in the Planet of the Apes films - she paid really close attention.

Twenty years ago, Chocolate would have been made in Hong Kong as the left-turn sequel to a heroic bloodshed film about Zen's parents. I think I would have preferred to see that movie instead of the one we've got. Zen's parents are far more interesting than their daughter, which I guess is only natural given the circumstances. Zen's dad has a touch of autism himself, manifesting as an obsession over defects in otherwise pristine objects. And Zen's mom, Zin, is just gorgeous, even when she's supposed to be wasting away from illness. The movie makes no real attempt to give these two any back story - heck, it doesn't even show the fate of a major character - and I found myself wondering about how they both ended up where they were at the start of the picture.

But we watch these things for the fight scenes, in much the same way that our parents and grandparents watched musicals for the songs and dancing. Chocolate is a bit of a let-down for most of its running time, I'm afraid. Star Yanin Vismitananda seems a bit stiff through most of the film, rechambering herself awkwardly after every move. This might have been intended to reflect the autistic nature of the heroine, but the end result is that the fights look stagey and unconvincing. Happily, the move is redeemed by its blistering finale, when Zen finally takes on professional gangsters instead of whatever amateur mooks happen to be around. Yanin comes off a lot better in these scenes, showcasing some real skill and a spunky willingness to put herself through a lot of punishment. Make sure to stick around for the outtakes over the end credits.

Inspired by this film, I plan on someday using an all-transvestite hit squad as adversaries in my modern pulp RPG campaign. Don't tell my players.



ALIEN RAIDERS
Ben Rock - 2008

A group of gunmen take over a small-town supermarket just before closing. At first it appears to be an ordinary robbery, until some of the hostages are singled out and executed in cold blood. The armed men appear to be hunting someone or something, and they're prepared to die if necessary to see their mission through.

I rented this one based on good buzz throughout the intertubes. I don't feel the urge to rush out and buy a copy, but I enjoyed it. It stands out among its DTV brethren because it's so friggin' competent. The direction is decent, the cast is solid (and would probably be familiar if I watched broadcast TV), the pacing is strong, and the script doesn't have characters doing dumb things just to advance the plot. There's no groan-inducing moments, save perhaps for an unnecessary "twist ending" you'll see coming a mile away. Another big plus is that most of the effects appear to be live and not CGI; between this and the Feast movies, I hope we're seeing a new trend in low-budget genre pictures.

The title is awful, of course, and makes the movie sound like a SciFi Channel production. But if SciFi made films like this, I'd actually watch the damned thing once in a while.

TRANSPORTER 3

Olivier Megaton - 2008

Well, it was better than Transporter 2.



HULK VS.
Sam Liu & Frank Paur - 2009

First Hulk smash Canada, then Hulk smash Asgard. Then Hulk go home, wait by phone to see if Hulk's agent gets Hulk another live-action sequel, maybe have tacos for dinner.

If you're the guy in the audience who shouted "Boring!" five minutes into Watchmen when I saw it last week, have I got a DVD for you. The latest in Marvel's series of DTV cartoons, Hulk Vs. is essentially two long fight scenes. It takes some real effort to make animated mayhem interesting to me. The filmmakers have to either give me a strong emotional connection to the characters, or show me something really neat and inventive in the fights. Hulk Vs. didn't deliver on either score.

Hulk Vs. Thor at least tries for some drama involving the fate of Bruce Banner in Hel (not a typo). However, the scenario was lifted pretty much wholesale from Alan Moore's "For the Man Who Has Everything" (most likely via its JLU adaptation), and on top of that it isn't given enough time to develop. I also felt the actor playing the God of Thunder had too high and too young of a voice for my liking, and he really dropped the ball delivering the movie's take on a fan-favorite Thor quote. Still, it was kinda neat to see the Warriors Three in animated form.

Hulk Vs. Wolverine - geez, I can't even work up the enthusiasm to comment on it. Deadpool had some good lines, I guess, but I was just waiting for this one to end. And yet this is the segment getting the most fanboy love on the 'net.

In fact, I'm sure there's plenty of Marvel fans who'll get a big kick out of Hulk Vs. There's loads of blood and destruction, and the characterizations hew closely to their comic book equivalents. If you're the type who hated the X-Men movies because of the costumes, thinks Wolverine could kick God's ass, and/or can look at Omega Red without giggling, these cartoons may be right up your alley.