Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Born in East L.A.

 

TITLE-Born in East L.A.

SOURCE-Universal Double Feature DVD

Was sure I had seen this. Remember the video store poster vividly. And not that long ago found the above pictured DVD Double Feature new cheap. 

Wanted something funny to watch and put on Born in East L.A. and maybe 15 minutes into the movie realized I had never seen it and was getting it mixed up with the other film Cheech made ,Shrimp on the Barbie.


Cheech  is sent to go pick up his cousin at factory. This is the same day that INS is raiding this factory. Cheech didn't grab his wallet when he left his home. Has no ID and no one is at his home to bring him his ID. 

Cheech gets deported and is now stuck in Mexico. And he is a Chicano who speaks almost no Spanish.

Based on Cheech's parody song,of the same name,this was Marin attempt at a solo comedic film career. Him and Chong had a falling  out and Cheech kept acting.

So we got Cheech in Mexico and at first he tries sneaking across the border. Like hiding in the fridge of a motorhome driven by an old white couple. Guess what they are drug smugglers so the drug dogs at the border smell the drugs. The Border guard find Cheech and he is back to square one.

Daniel Stern plays a ppool hall owner who is also a coyote. Cheech ends up working at the pool hall,doing various jobs,to earn enough to pay to be snuck across the border.

While working at this pool hall/strip club/bar Cheech meets and falls in love with a waitress. And on his last night in Mexico he finds out she is also in  love with him.

The next morning Cheech gets into the truck that is gonna bring him back into the US. A couple shows up,but only the husband has enough money to make the trip. Cheech gets up and gives his spot to the wife. 

Cut to  the hill  by the border. We see the two US border patrol guys in their truck having lunch. Then up on top the hill is Cheech,the waitress and Daniel Stern. Then they are joined by what appears to be 2000 more people. As they all rush the border Neil Diamond's Coming to America plays.

Cheech and his lady make it across with Border patrol on their ass. They end up in the middle of a Cinco De Mayo parade. Where a nearby Priest marries them right before INS gets to them. THey try to deport Cheech's new wife but can't now cause she is married to a citizen.

While it isn't as wild as the Cheech & Chong films,this isn't bad. I was laughing hard many times. With some of the best parts is when Cheech is trying to teach a group of Asian guys,one of whom is a young film debut Jason Scott Lee,how to "act like a vato". So when they go across the border they don't stand out.

Did some reasearch and seems the TV edit of the film adds in a pile of cut scenes. Need to track down that version.


For the buck I paid I am more than happy with this.

Born in East L.A. gets a B+

Friday, March 1, 2024

Tank


 

TITLE-Tank

SOURCE-DVD Rip off PLEX

It's odd how memory works. I doubt I have seen this movie since 85 or 86. But I remembered the last 10 minutes of the film clearly.

Released in 1984 starring Jame Garner and Shirley Jones,plus a young C Thomas Howell,this is a story about Garner who is in the Army. He is nearing retirement age. All he wants to do is spend time with his one son and finish his contract. They just moved to a new base in rural Georgia.

All is well until Garner goes to a local bar. Where he learns the sheriff deputy runs a brothel out of some trailers behind the bar. This all snowballs into the deputy planting drugs in Garner's son's school locker. So Garner ,the hooker(played by Jennilee Harrison) hop in the Sherman tank Garner owns. Break out the son and are heading to the GA/TN state line.


Fairly simple plot. And it is a movie that if I hadn't seen it as a kid I doubt I would have watched it again the other night. What saves this film is the acting. Jame Garner is a guy I have enjoyed in pretty much everything I have seen him in. I was surprised with Jennilee Harrison. Only having seen her short run on 3s company. She shows more range in this film than she ever did on that show.

So that ending part that I remembered? The mayor of the town with the hookers and corrupt deputy has set up a trap for Garner and his tank. They block the road with 18 wheelers. And the field the tank tries to cross is muddy. The Tank gets stuck. And somehow the Mayor has gotten a anti tank rocket launcher. Which misses.


Thankfully a local biker bar had this story on the tv. So the biker gang comes and using a piece of heavy construction equipment drags the tank across the state line.

Yea this is nothing I will go watch more than once every 30 years. Not that is it a bad film. It made for a fun movie night. 

Tank gets a C+


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Red Room The Antisocial Network TPB


TITLE-Red Room The Antisocial Network

FORMAT-Trade Paperback

When the Cartoonist Kayfabe Youtube channel started I became a fan. I knew who Ed Piskor was cause I had read Hip Hop Family Tree. Once Ed revealed his next project was a horror comic based on  the idea of Red Rooms and he had been reading piles of Splatterpunk fiction and watching piles of Gore movies I knew I wanted to read it.

I ordered Red Room vol 1 issue 1 from Fantagraphics. Got it in and stuck it in a longbox. As soon as the TPB was out for pre-order I did that. Got it in and stuck it on the shelf where it sat unread until very recently.

Why did I let the issue then the TPB sit there unread for over 2 years? Not really sure why. Been a few times I would grab the TPB and start to read it. Then change my mind. 

During my night sit down and read after dinner time I had just finished another TPB and figured I would read issue 1 of Red Room out of this collection and then the next night finish it. Forgetting the first issue was double sized. Once I had those 64 pages read I went ahead and finished the TPB.

Ok what is a Red Room? Rumored for years they are places online where you can  pay and watch someone be tortured and killed.  If you have seen the Hostel films this is similar.

Ed Piskor is the writer and artist on this series. Many times he talked about how he wanted it where yoou could pick up any issue and read it without having to have read previous issues. He managed to do this. The 4 issues in this TPB are connected. But could be read in any order and still work. With each issue being a standalone story. A standalone story that also is building a world.

In the series we get introduced to the various people running these Red Rooms. They are using the Dark Web to broadcast these snuff films. People use Bitcoin to buy entry into the rooms. Then pay even more to see some graphic kills.

The kills are gruesome.Since I was a young kid I have watched horror films. Read horror comics and books. This series shows that Ed has also read a pile of the same books I have. Seen piles of the same gore movies.

Add in how good of an artist Ed Piskor is. He talks about how he wanted this to look like the so called outlaw comix of the 80s and 90s. Black and white indie comics that were filled with violence and various things you were not seeing in most comics back then. Piskor's art has this slightly cartoony look to it. Which makes a good contrast. You got something that looks like it could be taken from that silly comic strip your Aunt Lindey reads in the newspaper every day. Then the next page you will see Pokerface ripping out someone's eyeball then pulling their tongue through the now empty socket.

I just wish the writing was as good as the art. Might just be I have read/watched most of the stuff that inspired Ed to do this comic. For me the story is just a collection  of highlights from the last close to 50 years of extreme horror fiction. I wanted more about how the various groups keep their Red Rooms going. Instead of page after page of shhots of the live streams and the chat room to the side of the live stream.
Been told vol 2 is better ,story wise. And as of right now Red Room is over. There is 3 volumes. Feels like the sales were dropping so Ed cut bait.

Really it is hard to say who this comic is for. The hardcore horror nuts will more than likely be like me where the story feels like something we have read before. And those that aint hardcore horror nuts will be kept away by the levels of ultra violence and gore in the comic.

While I do enjoy Ed on the Cartoonist Kayfabe vids out of the 3 comics I have read from him the only one I can recommend to people is Hip Hop Family Tree.

Red Room The Antisocial Network TPB gets a C-.


Monday, February 12, 2024

Shoot Em Up!

 

TITLE-Shoot 'Em Up

SOURCE-Lionsgate Blu ray

I never seen anyone mention this modern action classic. Clive Owens sees a woman give birth. Then people trying to kill her baby. So the rest of the film is Clive protecting this new born.

Seems a Senator that is running to President is using babies for their bone marrow. And someone this is also connected to a plot to change gun laws.

Really this is a film you watch and don't really care much for the plot. It is a pure spectacle of violence and action. With many scenes feeling like they are out of some PS2 era video game. 

Clive Owens is great as the lead. Playing him similar to to how Clive was in Sin City. Paul Giamanti isn't his normal comedic self. Nope this film he is a pure evil piece of shit. Took me way too long to realize the lead female is Monica Bullucci. Her part sadly she isn't given much to work with.

If you grew up on all the great 70s and 80s action movies this is one to track down and see.

Shoot Em Up gets a B+

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

American Lowrider DVD Review

 

TITLE-American Lowrider aka Perfect Sunday Aka Lean like a Cholo

SOURCE-DVD

Thanks to streaming so many are selling off their DVD/Blu Ray collections. Which means the market is flooded. One of my local sources for used media has a big shelf of dvds/blu rays/cds/vhs. Buck each buy 10 get 1 free. 

I was in this place recently had found 7 dvds I wanted so was looking for 3 more to hit the 10 mark. Saw the above cover and figured what the hell take a chance on what appeared to be a b-level comedy.

Plot is simple our leads are three brothers who live with their parents. Early in the film they get challenged to a low rider bounce off and lose. They dont  have the money to pay off this lost bet,but a local "wise guy" pays it for them and they got a week to repay the wise guy. The film is a remake of "Friday" but this time with an all hispanic cast.

So looking at the cover you would expect Danny Trejo to have a huge role...I knew better. Knew that after he became a name he would appear in low budget films for small parts. Usually be on set for a day and get about 15 minutes of screen  time. I am betting Danny was on set for at most 2 hours,cause his screen time is at most 3 minutes and almost all of that is in one scene early on.

And as you can see up near the top this movie had 3 titles. I started off as Perfect Sunday. Made in 2010 this film sat on the shelf. No distribution. A company that specialized in films aimed at the growing Hispanic market was going to distribute the film but wanted a title change. So for a short bit this film was known as Lean like a Cholo. Still no distribution. But in 2013 RedBox wanted some exclusive titles and so they put it out and that is when it got the American Lowrider title.

Which is an odd title cause after the bounce off in the first 10 minutes low riders aren't part of the film.

How much you enjoy this will depend on how much you like low budget comedy. Yea half the jokes fail. But I still enjoyed this. And it is one I doubt I watch again in the next five years.

American Lowrider gets a solid C.

Thursday, January 18, 2024

National Lampoon's Barely Legal

 

TITLE-National Lampoon's Barely Legal AKA After School Special

SOURCE-Sony DVD

National Lampoon,use to be the name that you trusted for funny movies and a great magazine. Then by the mid to late 90s anyone could license the National Lampoon name and put it above the title of their film. Which lead to piles of really shitty films with National Lampoon over the title.

It was 2004 or maybe 2005. I had recently been linked up to a torrent site that was packed with screener dvds. Nice rips of these screeners and usualy in the DIVX codec. Bonus I had 2 dvd players that could play DIVX files. While browsing that site one day after work I saw the title National Lampoon's Barely Legal and grabbed a rip. Burnt it to a cd-r and the plan was watch it my next day off. Somehow that rip on the CD-R got tossed onto a spindle and sat unwatched until 2007. 

Was a shitty time in  my life I needed a laugh and saw National Lampoon and yea I knew the odds were this movie would suck. Still put it in the player and hit play. A bit over 90s minutes later it was over and I had laughed more in that  hour and 1/2 than I had in weeks. Which is why years later when I found the above pictured DVD at a thrift I grabbed it. Having lost that CDR years ago. 

Our leads are 3 guys in high school. They run the AV club and use that to cover their side business. 

Bit of history. I'm almost 50. So when I was in high school it wasn't like now where everyone has access to porn. Nope just having a Playboy gave you status. And thanks to someone I knew that owned a video store,and me owning two VHS vcrs,I had access to porn tapes. And could make copies. Most of my 3 years at high school I was copying these movies and selling them. Cause I thought about it back then guys my age wanted 3 things,beer/pot/porn. And the first two if you got caught with them at school you got in big trouble. But get caught with porn they just took it from you and sent you home for a day. Many days I would show up to the high school with 4  or 5 vhs in the bback pack,labeled as Married with Children reruns,which it was actually stuff like One Night In  Bangkok or Sweat ont here. 

These high school guys,one of whom works at a video store,are making copies of the pornos and selling them. Then the video store guy loses the job. So now they gotta get a supply of porn to sell. 

And they come up with the idea of filming and selling porn. They call their production company and website After School Special and claim it is ran by the nerdy guys you knew in high school.

Of course to make porn they need women. So armed with bad fake IDs our trio go off to the nearest strip club. They find a lady interested iin making  the movies and our wacky hyjinx start.

The cast is odd,a mixture of people you will know then others that have solid careers in b movies. Tom Arnold is the father of the main guy. You got Horatio Sanz as the Ron Jeremy Stand in. Amy Smart as the pretty girl that is interested in our lead guy. 

Speaking of Horatio,he gets mad cause these After School Special guys are making too much money. And we get a crazed Horatio trying to track down and kill our leads.

Now yea this isn't nearly at the level of the comedis National Lampoon was putting out in the 70s and 80s. But it is way way better than shit like RoboDoc or that second Van Wilder movie.

As for the second title. Guessing since National Lampoon is a very US thing.So outside the US and maybe Canada,this movie is known as After School Special.

So if you want a halfway decent comedy,with a plot that by 2003 was becoming a thing of the past,give Barely Legal a watch.

National Lampoon's Barely Legal gets a C+

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Blue Beetle Graduation Day TPB

 

TITLE-Blue Beetle Graduation Day

FORMAT-Trade Paperback

Back earlier in 2023 I heard a Blue Beetle movie was coming out. Then heard it wasn't gonna be Ted Kord as Beetle and I figured ok I will just wait till the film hits streaming to watch it. Cause while I have been told the current Blue Beetle(Jaime Reyes) is a unique take on this generational hero I rather not pay 12 bucks for a ticket to a movie with a version of a hero I am not use to.

Then not long before the film came out I was in Walmart,one of the major drawbacks of living outside a small town is there isn't many places to shop. And in the book section I saw the TPB pictured up above. A TPB that reprints the 6 issue long Blue Beetle Graduation Day mini series. And included a HUGE pull out poster. With it only being 15 bucks for the TPB I took a chance. IE I bought it tossed it onto the "To Read one day" pile and forgot about it.

Not many months into 2023 my mother let me know she didn't feel like she should drive anymore. Which means when she has to go see her doctors I now drive her. No biggie. Back in September she had an appointment to see one of her many doctors,nothing major just a check up to make sure her meds were working. Knowing that usually waiting rooms have nothing worth reading and if there is a TV it is tuned into a News channel when I have to drive Mom to an appointment I will load a few podcasts up onto my tablet and bring a comic book hardcover/TPB/OGN with me to read.

This day I over slept. Got up and instead of having an hour or so to get ready I had 20 minutes. Instead of my normal going through my unread pile and narrowing it down to 2 or 3 books I just grabbed the first TPB that caught my eye.

Get her to her appointment 10 minutes early. Sit down put on the newest episode of The Movie Graveyard podcast and started reading my first Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle comic.


In what felt like 10 minutes,turned out to be closer to an hour,Mom was done and I still had 2 issues to read. And as soon as I got home I made lunch and sat down and finished this TPB.

Now sure I knew the basics of Jaime becoming the new BB. And I have always enjoyed how DC has different generations of a hero. Like how there has been what 4 or 5 official Robins so far. As a kid and teen I had read the second Blue Beetle,TeD Kord,in his own series then his time in the Justice League. This 6 issue collection does a good job  of not only explaining Jaime and his family but also showing what makes Jaime different from the two previous Blue Beetles.

Jaime is suppose to be at his high school graduation,nope he is off fighting a super villain. And in this battle which only lasts a few pages the writer,Josh Trujillo, gives a good glimpse into Jaime's personality. For me he reminds me of how Stan Lee wrote Peter Parker for those first 50 issues.

After defeating the villain Reyes heads off to his graduation. Here is a minor complaint I have about this mini series. Jaime Reyes and his family speak Spanish  in this comic. Cool. But we are not given a translation. Yea I took 2 years of Spanish in high school. Like with any skill if you don't use it often you lose your ability in it. And after halfway learning Spanish I didn't use that skill for so long the only Spanish I remember is all lucha libre terms. 

And this is why in an hour I only got 4 issues read. I was having to stop get my phone and use Google Translate to find out what was being said. Normally the average comic from DC or Marvel I can read an issue in 4 to 7 minutes tops. This one was taking me much longer cause of having to pause to translate.

Reyes family hates him being in danger cause of his powers. Which are supplied by a Scarab. And Jamie is sent off to live with family in another town for the summer. Plus Superman meets up with Jaime and after a talk we are given the impression that Jaime is more powerful than he knows.

These 6 issues do what they are suppose to do. Introduce us to this new Blue Beetle. Give us various future story ideas. And if what I have read about the Blue Beetle movie is true these 6 issues were changed a bit and that is what the film is based on.

Adrian Gutierrez hands the pencils and now he is a name I will look out for. The art is a neat mixture of manga style with modern Capeshit style. 

This collection also did what I am assuming they wanted it to do. Give the people that see the Blue Beetle a easy entry into the Blue Beetle comics.  Cause that is an issue with Comic Book Movies. Think about it this way,say you see a few of the X-men films and now want to read the comics. Where do you start with X-men? And having read the X-titles for over a decade straight I can't think of a great starting point. Blue Beetle Graduation Day TPB is that great starting point. 

After finishing this TPB I went and added the next one to my wishlist. Planning on one day ordering it.


Blue Beetle Graduation Day TPB gets a C+. 



Thursday, January 4, 2024

SGT Rock vs The Army of the Dead

 

TITLE-DC Horror SGT. Rock VS The Army of the Dead

FORMAT-Hardcover

Over the past 4 years I have re-discovered my love for the War genre of comic books. I have a circuit of thrifts/junkstores/pawn shops/antique malls I hit up a few times a month. At one at the booth where I normally find comics and dvds cheap I saw a huge stack of late 70s/early 80s Charlton War comics. Grabbed an issue with a Vietnam War cover. 

Then as sometimes happens that comic sat unread for over a year. Late one night when I couldn't sleep I did what I have always done if it is late and I can't sleep. I grabbed a stack of unread comics and sat at the bar in my kitchen listening to music and reading. 

After reading that Charton war comic,Battlefield Action, I went and set my clock. I wanted to get up and be back at that Antique Mall as soon as it opened. Knowing that odds are good most of those war comics are still there.

3 hours of sleep and I am off ot Vendors,yes the Antique Mall I wrote about close to 10 years ago. Go straight to the booth and not only is those Charlton War books there but so is a nice stack of DC War titles.  And seeing a cover of Sgt Rock I had a memory flash back on me.

When I was a kid on my mother's side I was the only grandchild for right at 6 years. Usually once a month my parents would drop me off at my Grandparents' home on Friday and I would stay there until Sunday or Monday. And every Sunday after Church Grandpa would drop Grannie off at the house then him and I would walk to a local newstand. Grandpa would grab the local Sunday paper and the New Orleans Sunday paper. Tell me "Grab you some comics." Which I quickly learned grab 3 bucks worth of  comics,and back then that was 4 to 6 comics. And Grandpa would grab either a SSgt Rock or GI Combat comic. If there was none of those he would grab whatever Charlton War comic was available and had a WWII story.

Sure as a kid I knew Grandpa had served in the  navy. But I really had no clue that this World War II I was reading about was the time when Grandpa served.

Once back to the house,while Grannie made us lunch Grandpa would read his comic and newspapers. Then he would have me read him at least a story or two out of whatever comic Grandpa got.

So I am standing in Vendors,head full of memories of my now dead Grandpa. I bought every war comic in the bin. And since I have learned how much fun these comics could be.

In early 2023 I heard about how Bruce "Ash from Evil Dead" Campbell was writing a Sgt Rock mini series for DC. Thought it was odd that an actor mostly known for horror&comedy was writing a war comic. Then saw this mini series would be part of the DC Horror line.

With the mini series being 6 issues and the average comic now priced at almost 5 bucks an issue I decided to wait till this mini came out as a TPB. I love horror and love SGT Rock. But wasn't ready to drop 30 bucks to read a story. Not when I knew the TPB would be 20 bucks.

Skip ahead to a few days after Xmas 2023.Flush with Amazon giftcards,and wanting comics to read I saw that not only was SGt Rock vs the army  of the dead was out in collected form but also Amazon had the hardcover for cheap. Thinking it was 12 bucks shipped. Ordered it along with a pile of other TPBs.

Been after dinner a few nights a week sitting at the bar listening to a podcast or music and reading a tpb/hardcover/OGN out of my huge unread stack. The day Sgt Rock came to the house I was reading it while having dinner.


Under that gorgeous Gary Frank cover to issue 1 this tale starts. Nearing the end of the war Germany is losing. Low on supplies and troops Adolph Hitler has one last hope. One of his scientist thinks he has come up with a way to reanimate the dead.

After some US soldiers encounter these Zombie Nazis the comic gets going. Sgt Rock and Easy Company are stuck with a boring duty. When Rock gets a message telling him they are needed for a top secret mission he is ready.

In this first issue Bruce Campbell shows he is a Sgt Rock fan. This series is made for the older audience. Which means we get an unrestricted war book. And Bruce uses this to give us the SGT Rock that was always hinted at in the old series.

Rock and Easy get outfitted with top of the line weapons and gear. Then are told what they have to do. They gotta go deep behind enemy lines And do whatever it takes to destroy the Nazi Zombies and how they are being created.

Issues 2,3,4&5 are just jam packed with action. Pages full of Easy Company doing what they do best. Killing Nazis! With issue 6 containing what we have all been waiting for. A fight that anyone that has ever read any SGT Rock before has wanted to see. Sgt Rock vs Hitler during the last days of World War II.

The twist is this Adolph Hitler has been injected with the serum that reanimates the dead. Yep Zombie Hitler vs SGT Rock!!
Of course SGT Rock wins. Hitler dies. Skip ahead and Rock is in the hospital recovering. Where we get a hint that we might get another SGT Rock mini series. 

Yea the story is damn good,the art is really good. And let me speak on the art a bit. The main covers,this series had a pile of variant covers,are by Gary Frank. An  artist I have enjoyed since the 90s. The interiors are by Eduardo Risso. Eduardo's art is nice. Has this dark feel to it that works well with the horror story.  My only real complaint about this hardcover is I do wish Gary Frank had did the interior art.
Being a hardcover I was expecting this to have some extras. Which it does. The art above is one of the variant covers. And a pile of variant covers are reprinted after the main story. Another extra and I have noticed DC does this often,is under the dust jacket on the front cover is an Army Sgt's rank patch. Little small things like this make this Hardcover stand out.

If you like horror comics grab this and read it. If you like war comics grab this and read it. 

DC Horror SGT Rock vs The Army of the Dead Hardcover gets a B+


Saturday, December 30, 2023

TMNT The Last Ronin and Last Ronin The Lost Years

 

Back what was it 3 years ago  ,might be longer,rumors started that Eastman and Laird were working on a new TMNT comic. Supposedly the final story. Having heard rumors of them working on something for decades now I just figuered nothing would come out of it.

Then months back I saw the hardcover collection of this series was out. Did some reasearch and learned a pile. Eastman does some art in this series. But Laird is just credited cause they are using like 4 pages of notes Eastman and Laird came up with back in 87. Yea what 3 years into the Mirage run. 

In the near future NYC is now controlled by Shredder's Grandson. And one lone Turtle is trying to kill this grandson. Appearing to be equipped with all 4 of the Turtles signature weapons. Then near the end of issue one we learn that not only is April O'Neil still alive but this lone surviving turtle is

SPOILERS BELOW

Michaelangelo. And with his brothers and father dead,and he thought Casey and April too,he is on a mission to finish the war between Master Splinter's clan and Shredder's.

After hearing this comic compared to a pile I love I went in very hesitant. Expecting to hate it. By the end of the first issue I was hooked. 

Most nights after dinner I clean the kitchen then try ,if I have the time, to sit at my bar and read for at least an hour. The night I started Last Ronin my plan was read an issue or two. 

Almost 3 hours passed and when I finished the book I hadn't realized that much time had passed. 

So the rest of the hardcover is Mikey telling us the story. How each of the other Turtles are gone. How he was sure April and Casey were dead,just Casey passed. Plus we see how he is constantly haunted by the ghosts  of his brothers.

Then that last issue..... Mikey manages to complete his mission. Got a bit dusty in the room right then folks. 

And I am thinking  ok this is over. It is all wrapped up. Nope we go back to the Turtle lair,where April and her daughter Casey Marie Jones live. Seems Casey Marie has used mutagen and is working on raising the next 4 Turtles. And as his final gift Mikey has left her Master Splinter's teaching manual.

Of course this series being a huge seller we were getting more.

And then we get the prequel/sequel series Last Ronin the Lost Years. The above is the version I got with a Walmart Exclusive cover,that spoils who the Last ROnin is.

Laird had nothing to do with this series. Eastman handles some art.

This show us what Mikey did after he lost his family. For a bit he just went into the wildness trying to die. Finally he goes on his hero's journey. And the one goofy fun loving silly Mikey becomes a force of nature. Even going blind,and that was wild,doesn't slow him down. 

And in the sequel parts we get to see the next generation of Turtles training and learning how to work as a team. One neat feature is this time each of them has a name that means ONE.

Lost Years is almost as good as the first series. And it like the first one was one were one night after dinner I planned on reading an issue and read the entire thing.

Saw that a new Ronin series is coming out. My plan is wait till it hits hardcover and grab that.


Sunday, November 5, 2023

Bad Manners

 

TITLE-Bad Manners

SOURCE-Scorpion Releasing Blu Ray

Back earlier in the year hit up the Kino Lober fall sale and really was just grabbing various items that caught my eye. And this 1984 comedy did that. I had never heard of it. Just saw Martin Mull and Karen black plus a orphanage full of bad kids and figured it was worth the 5 bucks.

Piper gets taken by the cops to a orphanage. Where he meets Girl Joey,a tomboyish referee shirt wearing tough girl.Mouse,small freckled faced terror. The one black kid at the orphanage,known as (this is how the subtitles spelled it) Blacky. And this blonde kid that I think they were trying to say was a skater kid. 

This orphanage is ran by nuns and the flamboyantly gay dude from Airplane,who in this one appears to have a crush on one of the younger nuns.

Or lead kids get put in medatation room,aka the freezer,and using Piper's switchblade cut their fingers.With Mouse cutting his middle finger,and become blood brothers.

Mouse gets adopted by Martin Mull and Karen Black. Who are some super rich 80s era Yuppies.Mouse goes to live with them and meets their oddball kids. Up first is their son. Who appears ot only ever watch Shogun Assassin ,the movie,wears his hair like a samurai and thinks he is Japanese. And their daughter played by Kimmy Robertson from Twin Peaks.

Back at the orphanage the remaining lead kids decide to break out. Make this wacky plan to shut off the electric fence that surrounds the property. The plan works in a way. They escape. 

Making it to a bus station they figure out they need about 11 bucks a kid to take the bus to where Mouse is. While trying to steal a purse in the bathroom Girl Joey gets caught. And speaking of girl Joey,I know this actress from something later on in her career. Can't be arsed to go look her up. Guessing there is another Joey at the orphanage that is a boy.

Back at Mouse's new home he is being a holy terror. Like hiding in the shower with a poloroid camera. And taking pictures of his new sister naked. Yep if you ever wanted to see Lucy from Twin Peaks naked get this film.....

Our lead kids get enough money and hop a cab. Their driver is drinking beer. Which leads to our kids drinking beer on the ride. And a conversation you wouldn't get in a comedy aimed at kids now. 

Mouse tries to escape by hitching a ride with a biker lady. He is almost to the Orphanage,yep he rather be there than be Mull's kid,but gets arrested along with a biker gang. So off Martin Mull and Karen Black go to bail their new son out of jail.

Piper and the rest arrive at the house. Kimmy talks them into tying her and her brother up to teach "My parents a lesson." Piper and his friends FUCK UP this house majorly.


Mull and Black get back home withh Mouse. More wackiness happens. And the film ends with Piper and the rest of the orphan kids,including Mouse,driving off in Karen Black's Triumph.

Credits roll over postcard like shots of the kids in various tourist areas. Including Hawaii.

Besides a some trailers and the subtitles there is no extras. The film looked good sounded good.

So yea this is very much a way too late ripoff of Bad News Bears. Got dialogue that feels like it was cut from Bad News Bears.

This was cheap in the sale. $5 IIRC. Scorpion is gone,the owner passed in 2023. So this is Out of Print and I really do not see another label putting it out on 4k or putting it out again on Blu ray. 

Bad Manners gets a C.