New JAKQ Citytag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-937322005-04-18T23:47:53-07:00TypePadUncut Kekko Kamen reviewtag:typepad.com,2003:post-43573142005-04-18T23:47:53-07:002005-04-18T23:47:53-07:00This is an uncut version of the Kekko Kamen review that appeared in a recent issue of Animerica. Keep in mind that the printed version edited out "bare crotch" and the part about rolling around in broken glass. But "...wes black
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This is an uncut version of the Kekko Kamen review that appeared in a recent issue of Animerica. Keep in mind that the printed version edited out "bare crotch" and the part about rolling around in broken glass. But " five sex-bombs flashin' the gash in the name of justice." was left untouched. Gotta love it. </p>
<p><strong>
Kekko Kamen
</strong><br />"It's titacular!"
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<p>Some people just look the part. Right off the bat. Charlie Manson. He couldn't be anything other than a crazy motherfucker. Iggy Pop, no surprises there. He's a rocker, a roller, and not much in-between. Then there's Go Nagai. Here's this guy that looks like your uncle. Smiling, calm, cheerful. But then you look at him some more. The calm becomes calculated insanity, the smile sadistic. He then transforms into your pantie-sniffing, touch-you-in-a-bad-place uncle. For those of you savage enough to get down and dirty over cartoon knockers he's your best friend. The dirty-minded devilman of the anime world. Delivering a wild and woolly mix of gratuitous nudity, low-brow gags, and gore till it creates a world where pantie shots and decapitations live together in harmony. Kekko Kamen is no exception. It's an early, stripped-down-to-the-basics example of the things that make Nagai a living legend.
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<p>Originally created in 1974 (it ran in Shonen Jump) as a parody of the popular hero show Gekko Kamen (Moonlight Mask). The decadence and debauchery takes place at the Sparta Academy. A shameless school of holy beasts that would make Norifumi Suzuki blush. Run by a hellish Harlequin named Satan Tochize (aka Satan's Big Toenail) who believes that the students should be pushed just short of death. By “pushed” he means strapped to spinning swastikas and whipped till their clothes burst off their bosom. Also, by “students” he only means the girlies. But we didn't want to see some guy get whipped until his dong is flapping around anyways. Assisting him in his psycho-sexual quest for discipline is a Gestapo gear clad S/M queen brought in from the Auschwitz Academy (in case you haven’t caught on yet, this stuff is anything but tasteful). An Austrian gym teacher names Taro Shcwarzenegger, and a surgical masked sadist who’s a wiz with a bamboo pole. They all take part in the plentiful pinky violence, until Kekko Kamen comes around that is. A half naked (hey, she’s wearing a mask and cape) avenger who acts as a guardian angel for the much abused babes at the academy. She comes in wielding a mean set of nunchuks before flashing her blazing bare crotch. Blinding her foes before snatching them up for the kill.
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<p>If RE: Cutey Honey is high-energy power pop, then Kekko Kamen is dirty, sock-in-the-crotch rock n' roll. The kind of jacked-up trash that makes you want to get naked and roll around in whip cream and broken glass while howling like a hellcat in heat. All playing out like an animated, never ending, best-of reel of Japanese sexploitation and tokusatsu films. And popularity is still going strong with two recent live-action adaptations. Including one featuring not one but five sex-bombs flashin' the gash in the name of justice. But do yourself some good and pick up this up to bide the time before you can get your sticky hands on that slice of heaven. Sickos.
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Quick thoughts on Thai action flick Born to Fighttag:typepad.com,2003:post-43572352005-04-18T23:31:04-07:002005-04-18T23:31:04-07:00Just got done watching Born to Fight, basically it's a killer stunt and fight reel packed into a Cannon film on roids. Opens hot, but then there's lots of padding, and I mean lots. Endless shots of old people smiling,...wes black
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Just got done watching Born to Fight, basically it's a killer stunt and fight reel packed into a Cannon film on roids. Opens hot, but then there's lots of padding, and I mean lots. Endless shots of old people smiling, kids holding stuffed animals, people crying, and anything else to get this baby to last 90 minutes. Luckily it does get spiced up by a bloody massacre, a brief flaming stick fight, and a gut busting CG shot, so you wont go too deep into a coma.</p>
<p> Once the movie hits the 45 minute mark it really picks up and turns into No Retreat, No Surrender 3 as done by a gang of bat shit crazy Thai gymnasts and stuntmen. Everyone gets in on the action, the kids, the old timers, and even the village cripple (one leg-fu!). It has pretty much everything a low-budget, high-impact action flick fan can ask for. Gun fights, stick fights, instant replay stunts, bitch fights, an exploding body, and the kind of on-screen child endangerment that I thought died along with the rest of the Hong Kong film industry. Overall it's on level with a solid early 90's B offering from Hong Kong. A Kickboxer’s Tears for a new age if you will. So, while it's no "modern classic", it's still enough fun for a greasy pizza night on the couch.
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<p>Ordered the original 1987 Born to Fight (which stars the director of this one), I'll chime in once I watch it.</p></div>
tag:typepad.com,2003:post-31880502005-01-09T03:31:58-08:002005-01-09T03:31:58-08:00Film school is the most fun I'll ever have busting my ass for 12-14 hours a day. More later.wes black
Film school is the most fun I'll ever have busting my ass for 12-14 hours a day. More later.
New Year, New Blogtag:typepad.com,2003:post-31000562004-12-31T17:41:08-08:002004-12-31T17:41:08-08:00Haven't been able to access my old blog since moving out to LA, so I decided to rebuild New JAKQ City in a new city (oh goodness me!). Still writing for Animerica (december issue has a feature on Viz's new...wes black
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Haven't been able to access my old blog since moving out to LA, so I decided to rebuild New JAKQ City in a new city (oh goodness me!). Still writing for Animerica (december issue has a feature on Viz's new martial arts manga Tough written by me). Starting up at the Los Angeles Film School on Jan. 3rd. As of now it looks like I'll be going for my major in directing and my minor in screenwriting (rather than editing like I originally planned). Also getting ready for the hellish schedule that should come with it (6am-12am anyone?). But for now I'm bringing in the New Year with a movie marathon. Sonny Chiba fighting a bear, Michael and Sam Hui getting down with some games that gamblers play, and Bunta n' the gang having their final episode. </p></div>