Double T's blog of reviews

Black History Month 2012 fourth movie

2012-02-09T23:25:00.000-06:00

I'm gonna git you sucka
MGM DVD
1988

This is the movie that introduced me to the Wayons family. Now before seeing this film I had seen a few of the various 70's blaxploitation films. But not that many really. So I am sure on the first viewing lots of the various jokes and spoofs went right over my head. It didn't matter this became one of my favorite comedies. For some reason it seemed like this film never aired on any of the movie channels I got. So I had forgotten about it till sometime in the early 90s Fox aired it as a movie of the week. I watched it,and Fox had edited the shit outta it,and fell back in love with it.

Keenon Wayons plays Jack Spade,he is coming home on leave from the army and finds out his brother has OG'd. That means his brother died from wearing too much gold. So Jack goes on a crusade to find out who is selling all this gold. He ends up teaming up with Bernie Casey and with help from Bernie and his friends they try to take down Mr Big.

What makes this film stand out so much is all the appearances from the stars of all the older blaxploitation films.You got Jim Brown,Issac Hayes,Antonio Fargas and many others. Fargas is a stand out as Fly Guy. He is a former pimp that has spent the last decade in jail. And the scene when he gets outta jail and puts on his oh so 70's pimp outfit is one of the funniest moments in the entire film.

Usually with a spoof film they hit you with so many jokes that outta every 5,2 or 3 of them fail. Not so in I'm gonna git you sucka,besides one over long scene with a young Chris Rock every joke hits it's point. One of my favorite scenes is when the guys go to take down the Big Brim bar. Where everyone is wearing a huge hat. And under most of these hats a midget is hiding. Midgets always make me laugh and this scene made me laugh so hard my sides were hurting.

Now the print on the DVD looks great. The sound is good. But the only extra is a theatrical trailer. I wish they had done a commentary with the Wayons brothers and maybe some of the other stars. But since I got this DVD for around 4 bucks I won't complain too much about the lack of extras. I'm gonna git you sucka gets a A.

Black History Month 2012 Third movie

2012-02-09T00:33:00.000-06:00

Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son-In-Law
Xenon DVD
1977

Outta all the various Dolemite/Rudy Ray Moore films this is my favorite. We start off with Petey being born during the middle of a hurricane. He comes out wearing a diaper and looks to be 6 years old. Fast forward a few years and now Petey is a well known stand up comedian. He books a week long stay at a local night club. Which pisses off local comedy duo Leroy and Skillet. So they put out a hit on Petey. Petey gets killed and goes to hell.

In hell he meets Lucifer who tells him he will bring Petey back to life. But Petey has to marry Lucifer's fugly daughter and provide Lucifer with a grandson. Petey agrees. He gets sent back to Earth with a magic pimp cane.

The rest of the film is Petey using his magic pimp stick to solve problems and trying to figure out a way outta his deal with Lucifer.This DVD looks amazing. Before getting it I had only seen Petey Wheatstraw on the old VHS,which looked horrible. Sure the DVD is full frame. But then it seems every DVD from Xenon is full frame. Petey Wheatstraw the devil's son in law gets a B+.

Black History Month 2012 Second movie

2012-02-09T00:09:00.000-06:00

Don't be a menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood
Director's cut DVD
1996

I have been a fan of the Wayons since I first saw "I'm gonna git you sucka" years ago. So when I saw ads for this movie I knew I had to see it. Well for some reason I didn't get to see it in the theater. But made sure to go rent it the day it came out. What we get is a spoof movie of all the various "hood" films that were popular at the time. And of course most of the Wayons family has at least a small part in the film. I don't remember seeing Damon but the rest of them are there. Now I have never been a fan of either Shawn or Marlon Wayons.But this is the only film with them I enjoyed.

Ashtray is in his late teens,and his mom sends him to live in da hood with his Father. His dad seems to either be the same age as Ashtray or maybe even younger. Ashtray's best friend is Loc Dog. Who is a drug dealing under educated mess of a person.

We gets lots of great parody scenes. And plenty of laugh out loud moments. Now this dvd is the director's cut. But I only really saw 3 scenes that I didn't remember from the theatrical version. Thanks to the deal Miramax has worked out with Echo Bridge entertainment this dvd is easy to find for $5 and totally worth that price. Don't be a Menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood gets a B+.

It's Black History month at Double T's Blog of Reviews day 01

2012-02-01T00:00:00.004-06:00

Dr.Black Mr Hyde
1976
VCI entertainment DVD

Usually when I have heard about a film for years but never seen it,when I do finally see it I am almost always disappointed. I had heard of Dr Black Mr Hyde for decades now. But never seemed to find it for rent in any video store. And never saw it airing on any of the movie channels. So last year when I found it in the Walmart $5 dvd dumpbin I was somewhat excited.

Bernie Casey is a doctor working on a formula that regrow dead liver cells. He also works at the Watts free clinic. We get to see how he actually cares for all his patients and does whatever he can to help them out. Well after years of work he thinks he has profected his formula. So he uses it on himself. And there is one seriously bad side-effect.

The formula turns him white and he goes out killing people. Now this shouldn't be funny,but instead of say hiring a white actor to be Mr Hyde they instead seem to throw some white pancake make up on Bernie's face. Then spray something onto his Afro to make it white also.

After attacking a bunch of pimps and hookers the cops track down Mr Hyde to the Watts Tower. At first they send in some police dogs to get him. But Bernie breaks it's neck and throws it over a fence. This part had me laughing super hard,cause it was so obvious that the dog was a fake. Of course at the end the villain dies and the world is safe again.

The DVD is pretty much bare bones. But the print looks good and the sound if well done. I love the cover. Dr Black Mr Hyde gets a C+.

What is coming up next month

2012-01-30T00:11:00.002-06:00

With next month being Black History month I have decided to review nothing but films with all black or almost all black casts. Most of what I review will be from the blaxploitation genre. Strange thing,I was a fan of this genre before I even knew it existed. Back when I was a kid we got 5 TV channels. And one of them was a independent UHF channel. Well every Saturday after they stopped showing cartoons at 12pm they would show two movies. The first film was always a horror movie. And was even for a few years hosted by the local horror host. But the second film could be almost anything. The channel did seem to show stuff in cycles. Like for a few months the second film would always be a martial art film. Then they would do a month or so of all the old Blondie movies. Then one week after they showed "Frankenstein vs the monster from outer space" they were showing a film I had never heard of. But my Dad was excited to see. The movie was the original "Shaft". I sat there and watched it with him and was hooked. Well for the next 2 months they showed all kinds of Blaxploitation films. The ones I remember are "Sheba baby","Get Christie Love" and "Blackula". I was so pissed off when after 2 months they went back to showing Blondie movies. Something about the slang,clothing and just oddball energy of the blaxploitation films appealed to me then.

Now I have no idea if I will do this like I do the Horror movie a day thing each October. But I will promise to have up a new review every Monday,Wednesday and Friday in the month of February.

Hulk Hogan -My life outside the ring

2012-01-26T05:29:00.000-06:00

My Life outside the ring by Hulk Hogan

Back in 2004 I found the first Hulk Hogan biography in hardback at Dollar Tree for a buck. Figuring it would be worth the buck.I picked it up and while lots of it was total bullshit it was still a halfway entertaining read. Well fast forward about 7 years and I find his second biography in the bargain bin at Wal-mart for 3 bucks. I had already read a few reviews of the book and thought what the fuck it's only 3 bucks.

The book starts off with Hogan sitting in a room with a loaded pistol and thinking about killing himself. But then he gets a phone call from someone unexpected that saves his life. But we don't find out who called till way later on in the book. The next chapter has Hogan as a young kid and we get told some of the same stories he told in his first biography. But this time somethings are changed and some stuff contradicts what was in the first novel. We do get more stories about his early days wrestling in various regional feds. And this is the best part of the book.

Hogan skips ahead a few years and tells us,again,the story about how he met his now ex-wife Linda. And this book really seems to focus on how Linda and the Hulkster have been having marital problems for years now. He talks about how she drank all the time and loved to spend his money on stuff that wasn't needed . After reading the book it seems the divorce is entirely her fault. The only mistake Hogan will admit to is having an affair with Brooke assistant.

We get lots of behind the scenes info about the filming of "Hogan Knows best". Which was the short lived reality show that aired on VH1 for 2 or 3 seasons.Hogan at least admits to how staged lots of the show was. But again he puts the blame of the show being canceled squarely on Linda. I think maybe the show was canceled cause it was pretty shitty,but what do I know.

Then we get lots of info on the infamous car wreck Nick Hogan was in that left a close friend of his with permanent brain damage. Hulkster makes sure to inform us that even though Nick was speeding the wreck wasn't his fault,cause "Speeding is what teenage boys do."

Really I am wondering which of the two Hogan biography novels is more full of shit. This one has plenty of bullshit in it. But I did enjoy the sections talking about Hulk wrestling in various regional feds. My life outside the ring gets a C-.

A bunch of quick reviews from various dvd multipacks

2012-01-06T09:38:00.000-06:00

Last night I actually managed to get to sleep at what most people would consider a normal time. But after a pretty bad nightmare I said fuck sleep and ended up watching a bunch of movies off some DVD multipacks I own. And since I haven't had a new post here in awhile I figured I would type up some short reviews of the films I watched and post them.

Savage Weekend

This is on the Mill Creek "Drive in Movie classics" 50 pack. Been wanting to watch it for months now but for some reason never did. Group of friends head up to upstate New York for what is suppose to be a relaxing weekend. But end up getting stalked by a masked killer. This starts off very very slow,but is worth watching. William Sanderson from "Newhart" is in it. And while looking it up on IMDB I discovered that a young Yancy Butler has a part in it. It seems a kind of Unofficial sequel was made in 1994. It is a short film titled "Not Another Savage Weekend". So if you happen to own the Mill Creek Drive In movie classics 50 pack give this a watch.

Mutant

This is on the Mill Creek "Pure Terror" 50 pack. Released in theaters back in 1984. This is a backwoods zombie movie staring Wings Hauser. The print on the DVD looks pretty good. It is full frame but doesn't look bad at all. Sadly the film is pretty forgettable. If you have the Pure Terror set save this one till you have already seen most of the films on the set. It isn't horrible but it also isn't anything special.

Grave of the Vampire

Another film from the Pure Terror 50 pack. Released back in 1972,this is a film that I can remember seeing the VHS cover for years at the video store. But I never rented it. A dead man rises from the grave and goes and rapes a young lady.The girl gets pregnant and has a baby boy. Who she gives bottles of blood to. When the boy is grown up he hunts down his father and confronts him. Sadly with this one the old VHS cover is way better than the film. This was so boring I kept fast forwarding to see if it would get any better and it didn't. Avoid this stinker.

The Devil's Nightmare

This is from the old Brentwood "Fright Night" 10 pack. The print is obviously ripped off from a Redemption laserdisc. You can tell cause Brentwood didn't bother removing the shot on video introduction by Ellien daily. Once we get to the movie it turns out to be a nice piece of early 70s euro-horror. A busload of tourist break down way out in the countryside. They find a old castle and the owner allows them to spend the night. But it seems the owner's dead daughter is back as a succubus. We get some good kills all based a the seven deadly sins. Overall this is a fun way to pass an hour and a half. Plus there is 2 smoking hot euro babes that have a fun little softcore lesbian scene. Worth picking up if you find it cheap.

Pieces

Another great piece of euro sleaze from the Brentwood "Fright Night" 10 pack. This is another one I can remember seeing the VHS on the shelves when I was younger. But again I never rented it. What we get is a gory,nonsensical,giallo. Lots of nice kills. Plus you have Bluto from the live action Popeye movie as a great red herring. Then there is the ending which makes no damn sense but is still a great mind fuck. I am pretty sure Grindhouse Releasing has put out a great 2 disc DVD of this. Which I might have to track down.

Sisters of Death

This is from the Brentwood "Tales of Terror" 10 pack. Released back in 1977 this plays very much like a TV movie of the week. And really if it didn't have the late Claudia Jennings in it I bet it would be forgotten now. After a Russian Roulette mishap many years ,a all-girl secret society is invited to a remote house for a reunion. But once they get there they realize something isn't right. This is the only Claudia film I have seen where she doesn't at least get topless. About the only other thing about it that is somewhat memorable is the actor that played Nat ,the peach pit owner,on 90210 is in it. Sisters of Death isn't something I wouldn't go outta my way to watch,but it also isn't horrible.

Jack the Ripper

Directed by Jess Franco back in the 1976. This is a decent fabricated telling of the story of Jack the Ripper. Staring the insane Klaus Kinski and Josephine Chaplin. Sadly this DVD from the Brentwood "Vault of Horror' 10 pack is a rip of a VHS that isn't in the best shape. There is some decent gore scenes. And unlike most of the other Jess Franco film's I have seen,this one makes sense. Worth watching if you are a fan of Klaus and/or 70's Euro horror.

Point of Terror

From the Mill Creek "Pure Terror" 50 pack. This film was released back in 1971. I have been wanting to watch it for a few years. Mainly cause it stars Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne. Well it is so bad I didn't make it more than 30 minutes into it before I had to turn it off. Slowly paced and really nothing fucking happens. Only worth watching if you must see every film staring Dyanne Thorne.

Hands of Steel

fi film. Released in 1986 the only person in the cast I knew is John Saxon. It is one of the better Italian made mid 80's post apocalypse films. But nothing amazing. If you are a fan of post apocalyptic films it is worth a watch. But don't go in expecting something on the level of say Battle Truck or Warriors of the Wasteland.

Twister's Revenge

From the Mill Creek "Drive In Movie Classics" 50 pack. This is one of the very last films that Bill "The giant spider invasion" Rebane did. What you get is a monster truck version of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider versus a army tank. Lots of great WTF moments in this movie. Like when the lead villains find a fully working US army tank in a junkyard. And the tank also seems to be still fully loaded with all the ammo it needs. Twister's Revenge is a great brainless way to waste 1 1/2 hours.

Ok Documentary Month is over early

2011-12-20T06:46:00.002-06:00

Thanks to being sick,computer issues,car trouble and the upcoming holidays I am ending Documentary month. Sorry about that. Most likely I won't have a new post up until after X-mas. But hope every one has a happy end of year.

Sorry folks

2011-12-17T01:53:00.003-06:00

Been sick as shit the past 2 days. So haven't been watching much stuff. Tried to watch Devil times Five this morning but my cold meds knocked me out before I made it more than 20 minutes into the film.

Documentary month Day 15 film 15 Ramones:RAW

2011-12-15T22:04:00.003-06:00

Ramones Raw
2004

Back in the mid 2000s we got 2 documentaries about my favorite band of all time. This one is made up of all kinds of video footage that was shot by Marky Ramone while he was in the band. So we get to see lots of behind the scenes stuff covering a pretty big era in the band's history. Sadly the footage is mostly the guys goofing off and bullshitting. And this stuff is boring to even a huge Ramones fan like me. I have never really like Marky,personally or his drumming abilities. So that I think is one of the reasons I don't really care for this documentary. Ramones Raw gets a C+.

Documentary month Day 14 film 14 Perversion for profit

2011-12-14T21:56:00.000-06:00

Perversion for Profit
1950s
Bootleg DVD

This is a 50's era documentary about how the "evil" pornography is treating the American way of life. Full of made up "facts" and other bullshit. We have a host who introduces us to 4 different types of porn magazines that are infesting the newstands. They are straight up porn mags,Nudist magazines,Muscle magazines and the men's action/adventure story magazines.

The host informs us how while the straight up porn mags are the most obvious the other types are just as evil. We are told how the Nudist mags are causing young males to go out and rape people. How the muscle magazines are converting our young boys over to the homosexual way of life. And how the men's action/adventure story mags are corrupting all kinds of minds.

While it isn't meant to be this is actually pretty funny and worth watching once for a laugh. Perversion for Profit gets a C.

Documentary month Day 13 film 13 Shock Cinema 1 and 2

2011-12-13T21:42:00.000-06:00

Shock Cinema 1 and 2
1990
Brentwood DVD

Hosted by Brinke Stevens,this is a documentary that seems to have been filmed at various horror conventions. Brinke goes around and interviews the following people.Charle "Puppet Master" Band,Fred "Evil toons" Olen Ray,Jeff "Leatherface:TCM III" Burr,Scott "Intruder" Spiegel,David "Nightmare Sisters" DeCoteau,J.R. "Tempe" Bookwalter,Forest J "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Ackerman,Melissa "Angelfist" Moore and about 14 more people. Most of the interviews are interesting. But the suffer cause of how short they are.Brinke does a decent job as the host,but doesn't have the skills to really coax interesting info outta some of the people. Also another negative is each volume is about an hour long. Which for how many people are talked to,isn't enough time to really get much done. Shock Cinema 1 and 2 gets a D.

Documentary month Day 12 film 12 Slam School

2011-12-12T21:23:00.001-06:00

Slam School
2002
BCI DVD

This DVD was made in conjunction with the California based Empire Wrestling Federation. In it we have two guys,one of whom was the original Black Ranger on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers,who go to learn how to become pro wrestlers.

The school is run by Jesse Hernandez. Who is better known as a referee in WWF and a jobber in AWA. Him and one of the wrestlers from the EWF take the two guys and step by step teach them some of the basic wrestling moves. Then we get to see each guy attempt to do these moves.

Sadly this is a pretty boring documentary. The moves they teach are mainly things that anyone who has watched pro wrestling for more than a few years should already know how to do. Neither Jesse or the other trainer have much charisma. I really have no idea who the target audience for this documentary is. Wrestling fans would be bored to tear with in the first 10 minutes. The only thing that kind of makes it stand out is it does have the original Black Power Ranger in it. Slam School gets a F.

Documentary month Day 11 film11 A night at the Movies:Stephen King

2011-12-11T22:30:00.000-06:00

A night at the movies:Stephen King
2011
TCM TV airing

A night at the movies is a regular series of specials on the amazing Turner Classic Movies channel. And this October they did one with Stephen King. Running right at an hour long it is a must see for any fan of Mr King's work.

We get Mr King sitting down and telling us all about the various horror cinema he loves. Starting with the stuff he saw as a kid at Saturday morning double features,then at the drive-in,and finally up to modern day. He divides it up in segments like Vampires,supernatural,etc. In some ways this comes off as a update/follow up to his great non-fiction book Danse Macabre. Mr King is great at getting to the root of why certain things scare most people. And that part is my favorite thing in the documentary.

I have no idea when this will be aired again. I bet next year in October TCM will show it again. A night at the movies:Stephen King gets a B-.

Documentary month Day 10 film10 End of the Century The story of the Ramones

2011-12-10T22:05:00.001-06:00

End of the Century The Story of the Ramones
2005
Rhino DVD

I have been a huge fan of the Ramones for over 30 years now. And was lucky enough to see them 3 times before they broke up. Well a few years back 2 different documentaries about the band came out. The first one I saw was "Ramones:Raw" which was made up of behind the scenes footage Marky "Monkey boy" Ramone filmed during the years he was touring with the band. I found this one very disappointing and kind of worthless. Then there is End of the Century. Which is almost perfect.

We get a great history of how and why the band was formed. Turns out most of the core members all grew up together and formed the band cause well they really had nothing else to do. There is plenty of interviews with people who knew the guys before they became famous. And we get to know the Ramone's real personalities.

The next section of the DVD deals with them starting to tour and the recording of their first album. And WOW this section had info that I had never heard before. Which is strange cause I have done a pile of research of the Ramones.

Next up we get all kinds of interviews with the surviving members. Sadly before this was done Joey had died. But at least we got interviews with Johnny and Dee Dee. Now I had always heard that Johnny is kind of a right wing asshole,and his interviews proves this. Dee Dee sounds and looks like a drugged out Carol Channing. Which always makes me laugh.

One part I really enjoyed is the interviews with all the people that were part of the band for short periods of time. Like Richie,Elvis and CJ. The interview with Richie confirms the stories I have always heard about why he left the band. It seems he wasn't getting his fair share of the money they made off the t-shirt sales. This really sucks,cause he was IMHO the best drummer they ever had.

The DVD has a plethora of extras. Mostly parts of interviews that got cut from the final film. But the best part is a part where Tommy Ramone sits down and tells us who wrote what on the first 3 albums. End of the Century The Story of the Ramones gets an A.

Documentary month Day 09 film 09 His Name was Jason

2011-12-09T23:48:00.000-06:00

His name was Jason
2009
Anchor Bay entertainment DVD

This is a 2 DVD documentary about the series of films
that Jason Voorhies has appeared in. Hosted by Tom
Savini,it has interviews with some of the cast. Plus a whole
bunch of people that have nothing at all to do with the Friday
the 13th series. Plus the DVD release came with a coupon to
$7 off a ticket to go see the remake. Well since at the time a
ticket at the local theater was only $7 I got to see the
remake for free.

We get a virtual tour through out the history of the Friday
franchise. Sadly there is so much more this documentary
could have done. There is so many people that were in the
Friday films they could have tracked down and interviewed.
But instead we get segments with one of the guys from
Psych and Adam Green.

Weirdly the second disc which contains stuff that was taken
out of the documentary is better than the actual
documentary. I get the feeling that with some good editing
there is a great documentary here.
Overall unless you find this cheap,like say 5 bucks or under
avoid it. His name was Jason gets a D-.

Documentary month Day 08 film 08 Beyond the Mat-ringside edition

2011-12-08T22:25:00.000-06:00

Beyond the Mat-Ringside Edition
1999
lionsgate DVD

When I first heard about this documentary back in 1998 I was super excited for it. So I ended up driving to Houston to see it when it hit theaters. Then bought the dvd as soon as it came out. Well then in 2003 I found this newer version.

Beyond the Mat is a documentary that follows around a handful of pro wrestlers and gives us a idea of what goes on outside the ring. The main people it follows are Mick "Mankind/Cactus Jack" Foley and Jake the Snake Roberts. Foley is at a pivitol moment in his career. He knows cause of injuries his career is almost over. But he has finally made it to the big leagues and wants to make as much money as he can before he retires. We get to see his infamous fall off and then through the cage at a Hell in the Cell match. This is still one of the most shocking moments in wrestling.Then we get to see how his I quit match with The Rock effects his kids and wife. Who are at ringside. Foley takes 20+ chairshots to the head,and you can tell this causes much pain for his family.

Jake the Snake is a sad case. At one time he was one of the biggest names in pro wrestling. But drug problems have now effected him a bunch. He is stuck doing small shows for $50 a pop in tiny towns. There is a scene in which he goes to see his daughter,and you can tell they really can connect. Then later on we get to see a scene that was filmed right after Jake has smoked some crack. And this scene is chilling.

Beyond the Mat ringside edition is a loaded down DVD. We get a neat feature that has Mick Foley and Jesse Ventura watching the film and doing commentary. Plus it ports over the older commentary that has the ring legend Terry Funk. Beyond the mat ringside edition gets a A.

Documentary month Day 07 film 07 Clive Barker Art of Horror

2011-12-07T22:28:00.000-06:00

Clive Barker the Art of Horror
1992
Paramount VHS

I had actually forgotten about this short documentary until last October when someone mentioned watching it. This was a promo tape. When you rented Hellraiser III and sent in your receipt to Paramount you got this tape. Some where over the years I lost my copy. So I was pretty happy when I got a new one.

This is a very short,a little over 30 minutes,interview with Clive Barker. He talks about his thoughts on horror and where he thinks it is headed. We get lots of clips from the various films based off Barker's stories. Sadly pretty much everything in this documentary is stuff that I had heard before in various interviews with Mr Barker.

While this is a interesting piece of horror history,mainly cause of how it was distributed. It is overall disappointing. Clive Barker the Art of Horror gets a D+.

Documentary month Day 06 film 06 Stan Lee's Mutants,Monsters and Marvels

2011-12-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

Stan Lee's Mutants,Monsters and Marvels
2002
Columbia Tristar DVD

This DVD is made up of two short documentaries. The first one is titled "Creating Spider-Man" and the second is "Here comes the Heroes". Both of them have Stan Lee sitting down in a comic shop and being interviewed by Kevin Smith. Now quite a few years ago I had picked up both of these documentaries on VHS and loved them. So when I found the DVD at Biglots a year or so ago I knew I had to get it.

The Spider-man centric documentary is up first. And Stan talks about what inspired him to create what I believe to be the first teenage super hero. Plus we get information about Spidey's original artist. Smith of course ask the one question that is on lots of the comic fans mind. Is Mary Jane Watson named after "Mary Jane"? Stan claims he had no idea at the time that Mary Jane was slang for pot. And I do believe Stan on this. One thing I would have liked is more info about how it was for Stan to be working with my favorite Silver Age comic artist Steve Ditko. But overall this is a nice source of info on the early years of the Spidey comic.

Next is another documentary,again with Stan Lee and Kevin Smith. This one about some of the other big name heroes that Stan co-created in the Silver Age. We get lots of great stories about how the famed "Mighty Marvel Bullpen" worked. Plus Stan tells stories about what caused him to create heroes like the Fantastic Four,Thor,Hulk,etc. My only real complaint about this segment is I wish it was longer. But still it is a entertaining watch.

Now the DVD has some extras that weren't on the VHS release. The main one,to me at least,is Stan telling his side of the story about the never released Roger Corman Fantastic Four film. It somewhat contradicts what I have heard from other sources,but is still pretty good. Stan Lee's Mutants,Monsters and Marvels gets a B-.

Documentary month Day 05 film 05 Not Quite Hollywood

2011-12-05T22:51:00.000-06:00

Not Quite Hollywood
2009
Magnet DVD

Now before watching this I really didn't know shit about the Australian exploitation film industry. Sure I had seen the Mad Max films and Dead end Drive In. But didn't know how many great films had come outta Australia in the 70's and 80's.

We start off with a quick history of the Australian film industry. And how for many years there was almost no real homegrown directors. But then in the 70's there was an explosion of well done drive in cinema. It started off with mostly sex comedies. But then morphed into every other genre.

What made most of these films stand out was the amazing stunt work. The stunt men down under are fucking insane. We get lots of behind the scenes footage of the stunts being performed. I am surprised more of these stuntmen didn't die doing these crazy stunts.

Well the DVD is loaded with extras. We get a great commentary that has lots of the directors that are talked about in the film. There is a Quentin Tarentino interview with Brian Trenchard-Smith. Plus lots of other fun stuff. Not Quite Hollywood gets a A.

Documentary month Day 04 film 04 Decline of Western Civilization 3

2011-12-04T00:18:00.000-06:00

Decline of Western Civilization 3
1997

Been wanting to see this documentary for years now. But since it has never been released I figured I would never get a chance to see it. But thanks to someone I managed to get a copy.

Decline 3 is about the punk rock kids that are homeless in 1997 LA. We get to see their daily lives. Which seems to mainly be begging for change and drinking as much beer as they can afford. Most of these kids come from abusive backgrounds and left home at an very early age.

We also get some footage of LA punk bands of that era. And really none of them appeal to me at all. They all have lots of energy on the stage,but the music and lyrics don't connect with me at all.

Overall this documentary isn't near as good as the first one,but as good if not better than part 2. I would love to find out why it has never gotten any kind of real release. The one rumor I keep hearing is music rights issues. But anyway Decline part 3 gets a B-.

The poll is over and we got a winner

2011-12-03T23:53:00.002-06:00

Thanks to everyone that voted. The winner is Devil times five. Will try to get it watched sometime this upcoming week.

Documentary month Day 03 film 03 King of Kong

2011-12-03T02:36:00.001-06:00

King of Kong
2007

Who would have thought that a documentary about 2 guys trying to set the world record on Donkey Kong would be so much fun. This is the story of two men. Steve Wiebe,an out of work family man. And Billy Mitchell,a rich man who owns a a hot sauce company. Billy has had the world record on Donkey Kong for decades.

Through out the film Wiebe keeps trying to get Mitchell to play him head to head in Donkey Kong,and Mitchell never does. Even when He is about 10 minutes away. This makes Michell come off as a total asshat. And after reading up on him it seems this is pretty accurate.

We are also introduced to the other "big" names in the world record scene for classic arcade games. And it is loaded with lots of very oddball people. Like the one guy who has set the world record for playing Crystal Castle with his foot.

The DVD comes loaded with hours of extras. There is 2 commentaries that are both fun to listen too. Plus a few updates and deleted scenes. King of Kong gets a A-.

Documentary month Day 02 film 02 Jefftowne

2011-12-02T00:00:00.005-06:00

Jefftowne
1998
Troma DVD

Jeff Towne is a 40 year old man with Down's Syndrome. He lives with his invalid mother. And he has three things he loves more than anything else. Beer,Porn and pro wrestling. This documentary was made by Daniel Kraus. Who worked at a movie theater that Jeff hung out at all the time. We get taken on a tour of Jeff's day to day life. Which is him mainly watching TV,3 Stooges shorts and pro wrestling being his favorite shows. Eating piles of food. Drinking a bunch of beer. And looking at cheap porn mags.

Jeff usually spends most of his day hanging around the cineplex in the local mall. He is there so much that the manager gave Jeff a uniform to wear. Jeff does help out some,by cleaning up the lobby and stuff like that. When he isn't hanging out at the theater he is busy getting drunk at the bar in the mall. Or getting porn magazines for free from a local gas station.

The documentary really shows that most of the people at the movie theater really care for Jeff and are worried about what will happen to him when his mother dies. Both Jeff and his Mom are in bad shape. It seems his mom hasn't left their home in over 20 years.

We also get to meet a few former and current theater employees that Jeff has had crushes on. Daniel even shows us a love note that Jeff wrote to one of the former employees. It is typed out in red ink and seems to be just Jeff copying the words written below the pictures in the various porn magazines he has.

One thing I love about the film is how through out the entire thing no one is ever trying to make fun of Jeff or take advantage of him in anyway. Matter of fact the theater owner gets Jeff started improving his life. He gets Jeff into a assisted living apartment. Gives Jeff a real job at the theater and by the end of the film it seems like Jeff is well on his way to being an independent adult.

Since this is a Troma DVD it is loaded with extras. We get 2 or 3 commentaries. One of which has Jeff on it. It is great listening to Jeff commentate on the film. Plus we also get a short sequel to Jefftowne. Where we find out that Jeff is doing great. He is living on his own and still working at the movie theater. Jefftowne gets a A-.

Documentary month Day 01 film 01 Into the Pit:the shocking story of Deadpit,com

2011-12-01T00:00:00.006-06:00

I discovered the Deadpit Radio podcast some time back in 2009. And after hearing a few episodes I went and downloaded a bunch of their older shows. While listening to these episodes I kept hearing them talking about some crew of filmmakers making a documentary about Deadpit Radio and the two guys behind it. Well finally this year after making everyone wait for at least 1 1/2 years the documentary was released straight to DVD. So I quickly went and ordered me a copy.

Deadpit Radio was started back in the mid 2000s by two life long horror fans. Wes "Creepy Kentuckian" Vance is the loader and more outspoken of the two. And Aaron "Uncle Bill" Frye is the quieter more intellectual of the duo. They have been friends for many years and it shows. Now I figured the documentary would be about their lives and how and why they started up the podcast. And while it is ,it is also about how much it sucks to grow up and live in a small southern town when you aren't part of normal society. Neither Wes or Aaron like the stuff that most men in small southern towns like. Instead they have a huge passion for metal music and horror movies. Through out the film we get to see the town they live in. Which is a slowly dying town that is mainly made up of Christian conservatives.

But about halfway through the documentary I started noticing something that was lying underneath the surface. To Wes the podcast seems to be the most important thing in his life. His passion for it really shows and is part of the appeal of the podcast. But for Aaron Deadpit Radio is just a hobby. We see him going to college to get his degree. It seems he wants to become a drug counselor. There is even a part were Wes is mad cause Aaron had to miss part of the podcast,cause Aaron is busy taking his college exit exams. It also seems that Aaron has doubts about how much longer he will be doing the podcast. Now since this documentary was filmed a few years back we do know that Aaron finished college and got the job he wanted. And while he has settled down and had a kid is still doing the show.

Also in the documentary we get interviews with fans of the show and various people involved in the horror film industry. We also get to see lots of footage of the duo are various horror cons. And seeing all this makes me wish there was a good Horror convention with-in driving distance of my house.

Now I gotta say I really enjoyed the documentary. Not sure how much of that is because I am a fan of the podcast. But there is some flaws with this product. There is a few spelling mistakes on the DVD menus and I think on the back cover of the actual DVD. But my biggest complaint is about the price. After making the fans wait so long for it to come out,Rusty Robot production charged $19.95 for the DVD. Which isn't a bad price for a niche market DVD that is suppose to have a very limited print run. But what got me is they wanted 10 bucks for shipping and handling. So to get the DVD it is almost 30 bucks. Well I ordered one and it took about 7 days to get to me. When it got here it was in a plain mailer,not even one with the bubble packing material inside. Plus it had been shipped the cheapest way possible. There is no way the cheap mail and shipping the DVD cost more than 4 bucks. As far as I know there is still copies for sale. If you are interested go to www.intothepitthemovie.com/ . Into the pit:the shocking story of Deadpit Radio gets a B-.