GENERAL DISCLAIMER

All the pics displayed in this blogs are from the author's private collection or just snapshots from his private movie collection. Whenever I use another web's or person's pics, it will be always mentioned.

Feel free to use the information or pics showed but please ask for permission or just remember to add the source wherever you use them. THANKS

Todas las fotos mostradas en este blog pertenecen a la colección privada del autor o son capturas de las películas de la misma colección. En caso de usar material de otra persona o web, siempre será mencionada su procedencia.
La información y/o fotos de este blog están a disposición de cualquiera, pero por favor pidan permiso para usarlas o al menos indiquen su procedencia. GRACIAS

martes, 29 de junio de 2010

My Name is Mauser, Ernest Mauser

After more than a month without any kind of updates dued to the birth of my second baby & the slow ( and expensive) recovery of my poor wife, I come back with a special (at least to me) entry to this humble blog. An entry dedicated to the western actor who has appeared in hundreds Hong Kong movies but was never credited on them. I was lucky enough to meet him in Hong Kong in February & June 2009.

We have seen him in dozens, hundreds of HK movies along the years, we have recogniced him movie after movie while he was playing police officers, casino attendants, guest at parties, piano player, mafia boss, priest, envoy, prisoner, bar client, tourist & countless roles during the two decades that HK cinema golden age lasted...and he is still active as long as I have seen him in Johnnie To's Sparrow & I met him in hong Kong last year.!

I am talking about Ernest Mauser, the man who played the pianist who hides guns under his work tool on John Woo's A Bullet in the head, the police officer in charge at the beggining of Angel terminators 2...counting all his movie credits would be annoying & boring, so that's why I prefer to include here his filmography as listed on www.hkmdb.com, no need to say, it is an uncompleted filmography since most of Mr Mauser roles during the 80's & 90's were bit roles or just cameos & not all those cameos are collected in his filmography.

Here I show the movies where Ernest Mauser is credited on HKMDB but I also added some other titles that HKMDB doesn't mention but have Ernest Mauser on the cast. Anyway, as I stated above I can't consider this filmography as a completed one...there is always some missing titles aorund.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983)

The Champions (1983)...VIP at soccer stadium opening

The Big Sting (1984)...Hu Jin's funeral attendee

The Seventh Curse (1986)...Party guest

Legacy of Rage (1986)... Prisoner

Dragons Forever (1987)... Client at bar

I Love Maria (1988)...Hero Gang's engineer

Final Justice (1988)...Hostage

Casino Raiders (1989)...Casino patron

Aces Go Places V (1989)...police officer

Mr. Canton and Lady Rose (1989)...Welcoming party at pier

Perfect Match (1989)...Funeral attendee

Mr. Coconut (1989)...Air passenger

The Iron Butterfly (1989)

How to Be a Millionaire (1989)

Thank You, Sir (1989)...Snr Police Officer

Dream of Desire (1989)

God of Gamblers II (1990)

When Fortune Smiles (1990)...Comes out of toilet [cameo]

Bullet in the Head (1990)...pianist

Undeclared War (1990)

Curry & Pepper (1990)...Guest at birthday party

Watch out officer (1990)... Ceaucescu

Return engagement (1990)... police officer

No Risk, No Gain (1990)...Spectator at gambling competition

Queen's High (1991)

Shogun And Little Kitchen (1992)...Uncle Bo's customer

Mary From Beijing (1992)

Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)...soldier

Casino Tycoon (1992)

The Magic Touch (1992)...Priest at clinic

Fight Back to School III (1993)...Party musician

Angel Terminators 2 (1993)

Vampire Family (1993)

Rape in Public Sea (1993)

Sam the Iron Bridge - Champion of Martial Arts (1993)...Foreign envoy

Ghost Lantern (1993)...cop

Raped By An Angel (1993)...party guest

Always On My Mind (1993)

My Hero II (1993)

Return to a Better Tomorrow (1994)...Snr Police Officer

Let's Go Slam Dunk (1994)

One Arm Hero (1994)...Foreign envoy

Organized Crime & Triad Bureau (1994)

Police Confidential (1995)...councilor

Dream Lover (1995)...doctor

Spike Drink Gang (1995)

Young and Dangerous 2 (1996)

God of Gamblers 3 - The Early Stage (1996)...Audience member

Theft Under the Sun (1997)...Paterson's contact

Hitman (1998)

Extreme Challenge (2001)

Horror Hotline... Big Head Monster (2001)

Brothers (2007)

Sparrow (2008)...Tourist

But Ernest Mauser is not in this blog because he is probably (well, not probably, let's say surely) the most prolific western actor in Hong Kong Movies. No, my friends, he is here because he also worked under Tomas Tang's Filmark in some of the most memorable & funniest movies from Tang's factory.

James Crockett, another great guy who is never credited on HK movies along with Ernest Mauser on Ringo Lam's Undeclared War

Ernest Mauser played the vicious mafia boss in Robovampire, a criminal whose name, Martin Cole, was used again in Ninja force of Assassins where he insists on trading drugs but using ninjas instead chinese vampires but the results were the same in both movies althought he is smart enought to scape to death or being caught by police & once again Martin Cole strikes back on Cocrodrile Fury...this time our anti-hero tries to expand his drug empire hiring a witch!!!!!...not even Fu-Manchu was so clever enough.


Great scene from RoboVampire

Ernest Mauser Filmography at Filmark

Robovampire... Martin Cole

Ninja, force of assassins... Martin Cole

Cocrodile Fury... Martin Cole

Project G-7

Ernest Mauser is from Canada, he has a very reserved character & when I met him he denied he is an actor, he was totally unaware about the cult following Robovampire has around the world. When I showed him some of his movies at Filmark, he tried to hide a feeling of surprise & anger since he didn't know the fotage shot during 15 or 20 days he worked for Tomas Tang was used in at least 4 different movies. He thought he was just an extra on those productions but althought he was never credited under his real name, he was the main villain on them with a lot of screen time.

Angel Terminators 2

At the begining, when we first met by chance ( we were staying in the same hostel in kowloon!!!!...it is true), his attitude towards me was not so close. He surely thought I was crazy when I first talked to him asking if he was an actor...he denied, later some other people around us talked to me he was the actor but he was quite shy to talk about it...

Mr Mauser shaved his moustache on his cameo appareance on Samo Hung's Dragons Forever

Later, after I showed him I was a fan of his characters on screen & I have a lot of movies & I was searching information about him & other western actors, he changed...He realized I was not joking or making fun of him...I made copies of some of his movies he didn't know he worked in & then we spent almost 4 hours talking about HK cinema.

Ernest Mauser & Jesus Manuel after being chatting for hours about HK cinema

I hope this pic can show that I am not kidding & I felt extremely honoured to have met the man who made me enjoy some of the craziest but funniest movies ever come from Hong Kong.

lunes, 24 de mayo de 2010

Dias de Hospital / Days at hospital

Dear friends & visitors, I would like to inform you my wife is at hospital now. Yesterday, she, at last, gave birth our second baby after 42 weeks of risky pregnancy. She had to afford a cesarean that had some complications since the frontal part of her uterus was one-piece with the internal skin of her belly so it wasn't so elastic to produce a natural birth. The problem now is we don't know how many days the "cut" needs to get over.

The baby has small breathing problem because a small air bubble has been created in his right lung but the doctor think 2 or 3 days would be enough to be ok.

As soon as we are back at home, i will complish of my promises ( AT LAST!!!!!!!!!) & all the movies & packages will be sent.

See you in some days with new updates about IFD & Filmark movies.

domingo, 16 de mayo de 2010

Rarest of the rarest, the most obscure of the obscure

I have been trying to compile a list of each & every title ever came from IFD, Filmark & Asso Asia. IFD is still working & distributing movie rights in thos most famoues film markets but Filmark & Asso Asia are very different subjects to study.

Asso Asia was created during an interlude of time between the fisrt age of IFD & the birth of Filmark International. The problem to get a definitive list of Asso Asia movies or a full list of each title is quite hard to do because the films produced or distributed by the company founded by Tomas Tang & Joseph Lai were divided into Lai & Tang after the latter decided to go his own way when founded Filmark International. I mean, some titles from Asso Asia are now in the catalog of IFD & others were on Filmark's.

Till now, I thought Asso Asia only distributed Korean martial arts films that used to imitate models from Hong Kong or Taiwan, but once again, I was wrong. Few days ago, while I was surfing in the net searching for some information I found that Asso Asia also produced, at least, a women in prison explotation film titled Strike of the tortured angels.

the art cover looks like those japanese pinku eigas from the 70's. I love it!

I don't have a clue about what this movie is about. Never listen about it & it is not listed in any database. Luckily, I have been able to contact a Spanish friend who holds a copy of it dubbed in English & I hope to receive it in few days, if my wife & baby to be born are ok.
Anyway, it is a fact of time this movie arrives to my hands.
There is a title on IFD catalog titled Angels with golden guns ( Virgin Apocalypse) that looks like similar to this one. I only wish Strike of tortured angels has at least few lines of plot. The experience of watching Angels with Golden pistols was more than enough even for a IFD fanatic as me. I only say I have watched it 3 times & I still don't know what the movie is about.

Great title, great art cover, bizarre movie, but where is the plot?

The second surprise of the day came from Filmark International. Catroxp, one of the webmasters of http://subsploitation.wordpress.com/ told me there was a rare Filmark movie among the Spanish VHS collectors. The movie is DARK DAY EXPRESS & I don't have a clue about it. It seems it is another of those rare gems just edited in few exotic countries and there is not too much info about it.

When the Vietnam war raged...in Hong Kong???

PLEASE, if anyone have any hint or info about this two titles, they will be very appreciated. I am able to get a copy of Dark Day Express from a friend but I am not sure when, since the following days ( or weeks) I am going to be pretty busy taking care of my wife at hospital, I can't close any deal till we come back home.
Anyway, as I told above, any details about these two movies would be very appreciate.

sábado, 15 de mayo de 2010

Reseña en CineCutre de Tough Ninja Shadow warrior

Volviendo a pasear por los callejones de www.cinecutre.com, me he encontrado con esta reseña divertidisima de una de las películas mas divertidas y al mismo tiempo desosegantes de la factoria Tang, la Filmark International.

La reseña original la podeis encontrar aqui:

http://www.cinecutre.com/index.php?modulo=criticas&id=606

En una universidad de Pekín, Godfrey Ho, ayudado por "Tomas Tang" y Joseph Lai, imparte una clase sobre cine, muy particular...

¡Atención! Bienvenidos amigos, bienvenidos al mundo de los ninja. Nosotros somos ninjas, somos los guerreros de las sombras. Nosotros os enseñaremos a rodar la película de ninjas definitiva. Os enseñaremos a cortar y pegar de mil maneras. Os enseñaremos recursos y técnicas que harán de vuestra película un clásico de culto en los videoclubes. Recordad que será una película de ninjas. No son buenas, ¡pero son pelis de ninjas, SON PELIS DE NINJAS! Ahora, comencemos vuestra instrucción...

Para ello, hemos escogido esta película, Tough Ninja, que sin duda es mi obra cumbre, porque respeta prácticamente a la perfección todas las pautas del género, y a su vez logra tener personalidad propia y que el metraje robado sea igual de entretenido que las escenas con ninjas, lo más complicado de conseguir y sólo al alcance de los mejores cineastas. Vuestra película de ninjas deberá respetar dichos pilares o fracasaréis en el intento. Seréis perfectos después del entrenamiento, pero tenéis que practicar, TENÉIS QUE PRACTICAR. Los pilares a respetar serán:

-Metraje tailandés/filipino/vietnamita/camboyano

¡Los ninjas contamos con pocos recursos pero somos sumamente habilidosos! No podemos permitirnos el lujo de rodar la película enteramente por nuestra cuenta, putos ineptos de mierda, así que aprovecharemos el trabajo realizado por otros, que de gilipollas no tenemos un pelo, y buscaremos una infrapelícula asiática de mierda, o incluso dos si es necesario, como en el caso que nos ocupa, pagaremos los derechos a sus responsables con 4 boles de arroz, y reciclaremos su inmundo metraje para acoplarlo a nuestras propias secuencias. En dichas infrapelículas nunca aparecen ninjas, pero ese puto inconveniente sin importancia lo solventaremos con la ayuda de otras técnicas que aprenderéis en este cursillo de mierda.

¡No os preocupéis por la sinergia entre las diferentes partes! ¿A quién coño le importan el argumento y la coherencia en UNA PELI DE NINJAS? Nuestro público quiere ver ostias y oír constantemente la palabra ninja, eso es lo único importante y se lo vamos a dar con creces, ¿ha quedado claro, pandilla de hijosdeputa?

-Presencia constante de ninjas

¡Es una peli de ninjas, sucios aprendices de mierda! Por ello mismo, deberéis recordarle constantemente al público que es una peli de ninjas, ¡DE NINJAS! ¿Cómo se hace esto? De una manera sutil y sencilla: metiendo la palabra ninja cada dos por tres en todos y cada uno de los diálogos; sin NINJA importar si aparecen ninjas o no. ¡El público debe NINJA estar constantemente alerta del acecho de los ninjas en cada uno de los fotogramas!, ¿os NINJA ha quedado claro?

"Ninja ninja ninja ninja ninjaaaaaaaaa ¿Ninja?" "Mmmm.... Ninja"

Además, todas las escasas y baratas secuencias que rodemos por nuestra cuenta deberán estar protagonizadas por Ninjas. Y en cuanto al hecho de que los ninjas han de pasar desapercibidos, ¡eso es una sucia mentira!, en una peli de ninjas, estos han de destacar por encima de todo, así que utilizarán trajes de apagados colores como violeta, rosa, verde fosforito; e incluso irán de negro a plena luz del día, se desplazarán en coches a la vista de todo dios, e incluso entrenarán y pelearán en los patios y jardines de sus casas.

¡El público ha de sentir que la amenaza ninja es real y cercana, de ahí que entrenen en jardines y parques públicos, eso aumenta el drama!

En el caso que nos ocupa hasta tenemos un "ninja de camuflaje" (yo ya he colado este mismo traje en hasta 20 pelis distintas, no veáis lo que da de sí) e incluso "perros ninja", en una maniobra inteligentísima de mi guionista, para arreglar el problema de que en el inframetraje asiático los personajes nunca son atacados por ninjas, pero sí por perros.

Hablando de canes, me gustaría comentar un pequeño detalle que fue decisivo para el éxito de esta película. El perro de la protagonista se llama Gadafi, con dos cojones; los críticos de cine sesudos agradecen este tipo de denuncias gratuitas, con un poco de suerte vuestra obra puede contar incluso con el beneplácito de los intelectuales.

-Tres títulos como mínimo

Como buenos ninjas que somos, hemos de confundir y engañar al público; para ello, bautizaremos a nuestra película con mil y un nombres distintos, para poder venderla cuantas veces sea necesario en todos los mercados posibles hasta que nos pillen. Lo recogido en el dibujo de la carátula JAMÁS deberá tener relación con el contenido del filme, así como la sinopsis (siempre salpicada de erratas), que JAMÁS debe contar nada mínimamente parecido al argumento de nuestra obra. De esta forma doblaremos las ventas, logrando que alguna de nuestras gilipollas víctimas compre varias veces la misma película.

En el caso que nos ocupa, a Ninja Tough The Shadow Warrior (en clásico homenaje al juego DE NINJAS de la Nes) también se la conoce por el título Ninja Squad, nombre que ya estaba cogido por una del Harrison, ¡pero eso a nosotros no debe importarnos! Joder, que estamos robando metraje, ¿qué importa que robemos un titulito de nada?

Pasatiempo: Encuentras las 700.000 diferencias (sí, os juro que ambas carátulas corresponden a la misma película)

-Palabrotas injustificadas a cascoporro y jerga callejera metida con calzador

Si hay algo que impone más que un ninja, es un ninja soltando tacos a diestro siniestro y diciendo cosas como "bofia" y "pasma", ¿os ha quedado claro, hijos de la grandísima puta? A más tacos, más diversión, dramatismo y ante todo, tensión. Vamos, que si un diálogo es una putísima mierda, le metes 4 tacos y asunto arreglado.

He aquí un buen ejemplos que os ayudará:

-¡Bigotes!

Los bigotes imponen y favorecen el camino al éxito y a la fama, que se lo pregunten a Walt Disney, Ed Wood, Hitler o Bigote Arrocet. Por ello mismo, a la hora de escoger la infrapelícula asiática que procederemos a violar, nos aseguraremos de que 4 de cada 3 actores lucen un mostacho prominente. En caso de no ser así, podéis salvar la papeleta con bigotes que valen por 3, como en nuestro ejemplo de hoy, donde incluso hay ninjas luciendo con orgullo sus amenazadores mostachos por el hueco de la capucha.

¡Si hay algo más aterrador que un ninja fosforito soltando tacos, es un ninja bigotudo!

-Sorapong Chatree, o en su defecto un Brus Li de esos.

No sólo Richard Harrison acrecentó su popularidad con nuestras películas; hay otra estrella que catapultamos a la fama internacional, el tailandés Sorapong Chatree, quien, sin comerlo ni beberlo y sin esfuerzo alguno ni permiso, vio triplicada su filmografía gracias a nosotros. Y es que sus películas, con sus 4 mostachos por fotograma y ese aspecto de "esta mierda no la ha visto ni el Tato", son ideales para nuestros pérfidos propósitos. Pero todo conlleva una de cal y una de arena, y aunque el rostro de Sorapong es conocido por miles de cinéfagos repartidos por la geografía terrestre, su nombre nunca aparece en los títulos de crédito de nuestros filmes (no sea que nos pille), lo que provocó que sea más conocido como "el chino moreno ese que parece Romario", que por su nombre auténtico. En cualquier caso, nosotros le hicimos famoso y eso es lo importante.

"Yo era un respetado actor en mi país, y de la noche a la mañana, mi cara se convirtió en sinónimo de cine de mierda con ninjas, ¡gracias IFD y Filmark por catapultar mi carrera!"

Pero si no podemos usar a Sorapong, no os alteréis, también vale utilizar el metraje de cualquier Brusploitation de esas, que se cuentan por millones en China. En Tough Ninja, cuando terminamos de montar la película, nos dimos cuenta de que sólo duraba una hora; así que, haciendo gala de nuestra indiscutible profesionalidad, cogimos dos peleíllas protagonizadas por un clon cualquiera de Bruce Lee y las insertamos ahí en medio sin venir a cuento, para asombro y goce del respetable, que Bruce Lee es muy del gusto de los occidentales y su presencia asegura el éxito.

-El actor de doblaje que ponía voz al Despedazador en Las Tortugas Ninja y a Toribio en Chicho Terremoto

¡IMPRESCINDIBLE EN LA VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA! Quien no respete esto, suspende mi asignatura.

-Efectos sonoros dobles y triples

Todas las ostias deben sonar 2 ó 3 veces, porque una ostia ninja vale el doble que una ostia normal.

-Llamadas telefónicas

Llegamos a un punto vital. ¿Qué sería de las pelis de Ninja sin los avances de la comunicación a distancia? Pensadlo por un momento. Por un lado, tenemos una infrapelícula asiática; y por el otro, unos 30 minutos de peleas de ninjas rodadas por nuestra cuenta. ¿Cómo podemos establecer una conexión entre ambas partes? Muy sencillo, para eso tenemos el teléfono. Buscaremos en el fragmento asiático alguna secuencia en la que hablen por teléfono, y rodaremos por nuestra cuenta a un ninja hablando también por teléfono, alternaremos ambas secuencias, doblaremos la voz del chino-filipino-camboyano y ¡voilá! Ambas películas ya quedan conectadas y de paso obtenemos una secuencia descojonante con un diálogo carente de sentido, pero que nos sirve para entender que ambos personajes están en el mismo universo.

En este sentido, la obra maestra Tough Ninja revolucionó el género, yendo un paso más allá. Y es que yo, como buen visionario, arriesgué mi reputación y mi carrera, al prescindir del "truco de la llamada" y probr algo nuevo que puso al límite la percepción y la inteligencia de los espectadores: ¡rodar las escenas de ninjas con actores que se parecieran a los de la peli asiática, siguiendo la clásica premisa "todos los chinos son iguales"!

¡Mirad qué increíble parecido! ¿Quién coño va a darse cuenta del truco? Eso sí, que no salga mucho, no sea que nos pillen.

De todas formas, yo amo a mi público, y por ello, para compensar a mis fans, que adoran las clásicas llamadas, decidí rodar una conversación telefónica con metraje totalmente nuevo, a la altura de las circunstancias.

En mis películas, gangsters, ladrones y ninjas son lo mismo, y en la Universidad se estudia a los ninjas. Jaja recuerdo que en esta escena nuestro actor estaba muy tenso porque se aguantaba un truño como un puño, pero creo que lo hizo bien y apenas se le nota.

-Tramas vinculadas al narcotráfico o las conspiraciones políticas

El narcotráfico y las conspiraciones políticas son temas que siempre están de candente actualidad y encienden al público. En nuestras películas, estos temas serán omnipresentes y detrás de ellos SIEMPRE habrá ninjas, ya que ellos son los causantes de todos los problemas del mundo.

En Ninja Tough yo toqué todos estos temas y nuevamente, decidí ir un paso más allá, añadiendo el peliagudo y difícil asunto de la prostitución y la trata de blancas, problema que sin duda, abordé con tacto, maestría y una sensibilidad envidiable, enterneciendo y ganándome al público, a través de la historia de una pobre aprendiz de ninja que escapa del atroz Campamento Ninja (al que se apuntó como el que se va de vacaciones a una casa de colonias), para meterse por voluntad propia a prostituta, gracias a los sabios consejos de su tía, que la ama con locura y por eso le recomienda probar suerte en ese respetado mundillo. Y es que ya se sabe, es mejor caer en la prostitución que en un campamento Ninja.

Y para ayudaros en la realización de vuestra peli de ninjas, veamos algunos ejemplos de cómo mi habilidoso guionista adapta el metraje robado para conectarlo con las escenas de nuevo cuño.

¿Inmigrantes vietnamitas llegando a la playa de otro país? ¡No! ¡Son aprendices de ninja escapando del campamento ninja! ¡Incluida la vieja de la foto de la derecha!

¿Una pelea de zorrupias en un parque? ¡No! ¡Es una pelea entre chicas ninja!

¿La madame del prostíbulo maltratada por un cliente o el dueño del negocio? ¡No! ¡Ha sido atacada por ninjas en la cocina de su casa y hay que vengarla!

¿Bruce Lee escapando salido de la nada y repartiendo ostias sin motivo? ¡No! Bueno... eh... esto, sí; ¿qué coño importa? Disfrutad la peli y no os lo cuestionéis todo, ¿acaso vais todo el día por ahí cuestionándoos el sentido de vuestra existencia? Pues eso.

Se me olvidaba, otro detalle a respetar es que, sea cual sea la cantidad de dinero, ésta cabe en el bolsillo o en un pequeño sobre, ya sean 30.000 dólares o 100 pesetas.

-Actores occidentales o en su defecto, Richard Harrison

Eso de que sólo salgan chinos de mierda no vende en Europa ni en EEUU, así que las escenas con Ninjas deberán estar protagonizadas por Richard Harrison u otros actores occidentales (con bigote), que siempre, SIEMPRE, darán vida al líder del grupo de ninjas de turno. ¿Cómo? ¿Qué no es realista que un blanco lidere una banda ninja? No tenéis ni puta idea, los chinos fueron creados para servir a los blancos, vamos, de toda la vida. En Tough Ninja no tenemos a Richard Harrison, pero da igual, tenemos a otro actor parecido luciendo mostacho.

Ahí ahí, luciendo barriguita cervecera; que se note lo bien que vive un ninja.

-Tetas

Esto no es imprescindible, pero os facilitará el éxito. Y es que no hay nada mejor para descansar la vista entre pelea y pelea que una buena ración tetil. En Tough Ninja os deleito con 10 minutos de sexo sin tregua y sin venir a cuento, con una lamida de tetas, de estética esquisita, sutil, muy sensual y nada cerda.

Floooooasrrrrrr Flurrrssss Chupssss Ñaammm Fluorsss A ver si le borro el pezón a esta jamelga...

-Combate final sin relación alguna con la trama

Las películas hay que acabarlas a lo grande, y un apoteósico combate entre líderes ninja es siempre la mejor y única opción posible, aunque el argumento no dé pie a ello. Una vez más, con Tough Ninja volví a revolucionar el género adelantándome a mi tiempo, con una increíble pelea final donde los personajes aparecen y desaparecen, saltan 3 veces en un mismo salto, juegan al corre que te pillo, y los árboles y mil cosas más explotan sin ton ni son, mostrando al mundo elementos que 20 años después serían los pilares de la reciente corriente neovanguardista conocida como "Youtube Poop"

¿Habéis visto cómo el malo huye con su maletín, desapareciendo y volviendo a aparecer, pero SIN AVANZAR DE POSICIÓN? Youtube Poop en estado puro, ¡yo lo inventé!

Y no olvidéis que el formato tele ha de comerse gran parte de la imagen, dificultando la visión de los combates; esto aporta realismo porque todos sabemos que es imposible seguir con la mirada una pelea ninja.

El cobrador del kimono ninja dando caza a un moroso

-DESENLACE ABRUPTO

Notas de Jesús Manuel sobre la peli:

-La película original usada para este delirio ninja fue The Unreal Dream dirigida por Patrick Kong en 1982.

-Años mas tarde, Kong estaría trabajando para la Filmark y usó su propia película, un drama sobre inmigrantes ilegales, en una aventura ninja contratando a varios de los actores que aparecian en la fuente original, cambiando los dialogos y alterando el montaje.

-El malvado y fondón lider ninja está protagonizado por Ken Boyle, el jefe de los monjes corruptos de LA ARMADURA DE DIOS de Jacky Chan. Según cuenta Boyle andaba por casualidad cerca de donde se rodaria esta peli ninja y consiguió su papel al acercarse al rodaje de forma casual.

jueves, 13 de mayo de 2010

Turning the impossible into possible

One of the cool sentences I still remember from Kage No Gundan, the ninja Tv series starred by Sonny Chiba was " Turn the impossible into possible". His character Hattori Hanzo used to say it when he or his ninja group were into an impossible mission. Now I make this sentence mine in other order of things.I have been collecting IFD / Filmark / Asso Asia movies for almost 23 years, I had a big bunch of them, even some rarities that Joseph Lai himself would feel surprised to see again but there were also many other IFD titles that I was truly convinced were never released in Europe...or if they were released I wasn't aware about it even after I have been searching everywhere.

But a month ago, my good friend Jack J. warned me a South African guy who owns cinemas & dvd distribution companies had got distribution rights of many IFD movies & he was offering ORIGINAL & PRESSED copies of them throught the marketplace at Kung Fu Cinema Forums.
As soon as I read Jack's mail I contact this guy & he was kindly enough to explain to me the technical details of the movies I was interested in. He told me they were in fullscreen & not the best quality. At the begining I felt a little bit dissapointed but he told he he holds the rights from IFD & they were original copies, no dvd-r or bootleg rubbish. So I took the risk & I loan some cash from a friend & I ordered 13 titles at once.

Finally, yesterday the package, direct from the Republic of South Africa arrived home... I was so nervous that I took a photo of the package before I opened it.

The package is at home at last!

Woooowww, They are Jonathan Isgart & Wayne Archer!

When I started to see the art covers I became more anxious, I had seen those covers on IFD official website, but seeing them into dvd cases was a different feeling. I didn't know which movie I wanted to see first.

A fancy table for fancy movies

Some of the titles I ordered had video editions in France or Greece but I haven't been able to get them and also this dvds at least would not included burned subtitles in strange languages for me. Other titles, for my knowledge, hadn't been edited before. There are companies that buy the distribution rights but later for some marketable reasons they don't release the movies & they jst re-sell the rights.

The War city saga on its uncut version, the german dvds were cut into 75 minutes

After I checked all the discs, it came the most important thing: Checking the video/ audio quality. I was really worry to find scratchy & unwatchable stuff but I was totally wrong. These editions are not remastered & ultra-bit editions but the transfers from 35mm to dvd is pretty decent & much much much better than many editions I have purchased from other serious companies. The image & sound quality can be compared to Vengeance video dvds, better than many rarescope titles.


My treasurrrreeeeeeeee! It is my treasuuuuureeeeeee

After this experience, I can tell the Kung Fu cinema user named GLOBE is a real trader who is offering legal & good movies at very nice price. Of course, I also have to thank Jack J for the tip!
This is how Impossible turns possible. I thought I would never could complete my IFD movie collection & suddenly the dream has became into true!

domingo, 9 de mayo de 2010

US Catman : Lethal track review

Another IFD movie review from this wonderful website www.badmovierealm.com, you fellows may check the full review plus a video of Catman at http://www.badmovierealm.com/reviews/catmanlt/catmanlethaltrack.html

U.S. Catman in: Lethal Track

1990 Color 90min.
Starring: Jonathan James (Isgar), Kenneth Goodman, Blue Moroney, Johanna Brownstein, Tas Lehoczky, Danny Lau, and Sorapong Chatri.
Directed By: Alton Cheung (most likely an alias of the legendary shlockmeister Godfrey Ho)

U.S. Catman in Lethal Track title card

I remember hearing Mike Nelson say in an interview once that back in his Mystery Science Theater 3000 days, he and his colleagues eventually became so skilled at weeding out the absolute worst movies — the movies that were to bad even for MST3K! — that while screening potential films for the show, all it would take was one name to appear in the opening credits for the gang to immediately reject a film. In his usual diplomatic way, he didn't reveal whose names were on the instant rejection list, but I am almost certain one of those names had to be Joseph Lai.

Joseph Lai's films are thoroughly awful by every objective measure imaginable. The standard operating procedure for Lai's IFD Films, was to purchase an obscure Asian film on the cheap, film a half hour or so of scenes featuring Caucasian actors, splice the new scenes into the original film, and then cobble together an extremely loose storyline in a half-assed attempt to tie the two together. As you can probably assume, the resulting film was typically, shall we say, less than stellar.

Following this formula to the letter, Catman in Lethal Track is an absolute mess from start to finish. After our hero Sam is inadvertently scratched by a radioactive cat (I hate when people don't keep their radioactive cats inside), he finds himself blessed with superpowers. Now seeing as he was scratched by a radioactive cat, one would naturally assume his powers would be at least vaguely catlike, like the power to regurgitate enormous gooey wads of undigested hair, the ability to ignore even the most obvious of commands, or perhaps the need to scoot his furry, pampered ass across your living room carpet at lightening speeds.

U.S. Catman in Lethal Track screenshot
Catman scowl activate!!!

Instead Sam is imbued with the decidedly un-catlike powers of laser vision, super-strength, and the ability to turn televisions on and off with his mind. Curiously, despite his new cat powers, Catman never feels the need to utilize them. Not once during any of his battles does his laser vision or super strength ever come into play. He could have at least screwed with the bad guys by flipping their TV on and off while they were trying to watch Baywatch or something.

Alongside his best friend and covert CIA operative Gus (aka Pussy Boy?), Catman must track down the leader of The Holy Cheever Church, the evil Rev. Cheever (I know he's evil, because he's Russian...) and stop his twisted plans to unite all of Asia under the the communist shadow of the United Nations of Asia. Catman's actions are somewhat less heroic when you realize that most of the actual fighting against Cheever's “forces” is done by a bunch of people in Thailand, in what appears to be a decade or so earlier than Catman's exploits.

U.S. Catman in Lethal Track screenshot
“What the hell do I have to do with this movie?”

The frustrating thing about U.S. Catman in Lethal Track, and most of Godfrey Ho and Joseph Lai's output, is that taken separately, both films are pretty entertaining. The Thai footage has several interesting characters and an occasional sense of humor. The newer Catman footage is just delightfully insane and would have made an absolutely hilarious film by itself. Together they are somehow much less than the sum of their parts, with the Catman scenes interfering with the flow of the higher budget Thai footage, and the Thai storyline coming across as very boring and subdued in comparison to the hilariously demented Catman segments. What you are left with is thirty minutes or so of hilarity, spread out over an hour and a half of boredom. If you can find a way to muscle through, your patience will be well rewarded, yet I'm sure that will be too big of an “if” for all but the most hardened of b-movie fan. As is usually the case with IFD Films releases, fast forward is definitely your friend.


Reviewed by Derek Miller
Posted 3/19/2010

American Force 2: The Untouchable Glory Review

Here you can enjoy another review of an IFD war movie. The original review can be read at:
http://www.badmovierealm.com/reviews/american_force_2/americanforce2.html

American Force 2: The Untouchable Glory

Aka: Untouchable Glory, Untouchable Ninja, Ninja Untouchables, Ninja Unwatchables...Okay, I made that last one up.

1988 Color 85min
Starring: Pierre Kirby, Patrick Frbezar, Rafael Martinee, Timothy MacDonell, Renato Sala, John Whitney, Robert Zwanziger, Bruce Smith, Robert Weber, Nello Nayo, Bella Flores, Teddy Benavidez, Jose Garcia, Divina Valencia, Ronnel Galvez, and Martin Marfil.
Directed By: Philip Ko

American Force 2 title card

Most people assume they have a pretty good handle on what a bad movie really is. Sure, they've most likely seen movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space and Robot Monster. They probably own a few Mystery Science Theater 3000 box sets. Hell, they might have even made it through an entire Adam Sandler movie once. Still, most people have no idea of how truly awful a movie can be. You see, most people have never seen a Joseph Lai production.

Joseph Lai, along with his former partner in crime, Godfrey Ho, are responsible for some of the most egregious cinematic crimes ever perpetrated. Using obscure Asian films as a base, they would add scenes featuring Caucasian actors (usually in ninja get-up), concoct a very loose storyline, and then re-dub the entire mess into English. As you would expect, the resulting film would generally be an incoherent, disjointed, and thoroughly confusing affair.

American Force 2 screenshot
Uh-oh…

American Force 2 is certainly no exception. The main portion of the film seems to have been taken from an old Filipino action film. To this film they spliced in new footage and a Russian invasion storyline. The end result is the rather unconvincing tale of The Untouchables, an elite underground resistance force who are fighting the Russians and their plans to build a missile base on their land. My description of an “elite fighting force” is somewhat undermined by the fact that The Untouchables seem to consist largely of teenage girls and overweight men. To aid this motley crew in their fight, the United States has sent an elite fighting force of their own. In fact, the force is so elite that in consists entirely of one man, Brain O'Reily.

Brian, accompanied by his trusted friend, The White Tiger (I'm not making this up), quickly starts taking out the Russians' top operatives. The Russians don't take this lying down, however. The brilliant General Karpov has plans for Mr. O'Reily. The following exchange between General Karpov and his best man, Hugo, should give you some idea of the General's amazing military prowess.

Gen. Karpov: (Speaking about Brian O'Reily) “That one man can do more damage alone than twenty men together. Simply put, he's the best!”

Hugo: “We have to get rid of him then.”

Gen. Karpov: “Good idea. Of course we have to get rid of him, idiot! Hugo.”

Hugo: “Yes sir?”

Gen. Karpov: “Arrange it.”

Hugo: “No problem.”
Allow me to rephrase this scene the way I hear it:
Gen. Karpov: “Brain O'Reily is an unstoppable killing machine. He could bench press a Mac truck while walking through a minefield on stilts. He could kill you like a small dog and I heard that he counted to infinity...twice! Hugo, go kill him.”

Hugo: “Can do!”
American Force 2 screenshot
“Yes, this is Russia. How may I help you?”

You probably won't be terribly surprised to discover that our friend Hugo doesn't survive his encounter with Mr. O'Reily. After the, as in turns out, less than “untouchable” Untouchables are killed off by the suspiciously Filipino-looking Russians, Brian and White Tiger catch up with General Karpov and his men. O'Reily makes short work of them and thus the Russian invasion is thwarted. No doubt the most embarrassing defeat for the Russians since Red Dawn. Still, in that film they were up against the likes of Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen. In this movie they were only up against some dude named Brian, a fact which just makes this particular loss all the more embarrassing.

As far as Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho movies go, American Force 2 is a fairly dull affair. The added scenes featuring the Caucasian actors are by far the most entertaining. Truth be told, a fully fleshed out film featuring Brian O'Reily going against General Karpov and his men would likely have been a very entertaining, albeit completely goofy, movie. Sadly the older footage that makes up the majority of the film is very slow and drags to the point of being mind-numbingly boring.

American Force 2 screenshot
The um, Untouchables.

If you consider yourself a fan of bad movies but have never seen a Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho film, I highly recommend that you do so as soon as possible. If nothing else, it'll be good for your “bad movie street cred.” That being said, I would recommend that you skip this particular film and instead seek out one of the twenty or so “ninja” movies featuring (without his consent, I might add) poor Richard Harrison. Just grab one of those giant 50 kung fu/martial arts movie packs and you are bound to land yourself a bunch of 'em.

American Force 2 screenshot
Brian O'Reily: Professional Exterminator

Reviewed by Derek Miller
Posted 5/5/08