Pluto TV: "Arena" Missteps to the Best Mono-Y-Mono Flick of 1989?

I do not like to listen to "How Did This Get Made" unless I have gotten around to seeing the movie. It is audio only, so despite the hilarity of the discussions, it feels like I am missing out. There are obviously some exceptions thanks to Jason Mantzoukas's enthusiasm making "Geostorm" and "Den of Thieves" part of the other show's vernacular, but otherwise, you have to want to see these movies on your own before you download an episode.

If your taste allows you to give "Hurricane Heist" a chance, are you likely to comeback for "Adore", a Robin Wright/Naomi Watts son/lover swapping drama, the odds of wanting to watch the latter to keep of with the feed is unlikely. Why would you want to go from ridiculous and bad to serious and bad?

One misstep, and my mind was not concerned with keeping track of the feed. Thanks for me accidently setting up notifications to the feed on my Samsung Galaxy S8.

I really appreciate my girlfriend's parents making her first smartphone a Galaxy A10E because surely I have mastered the most overrated brand. From a parenting standpoint, not giving her a choice (which she never wanted, especially now that it will not fit in her pocket) is a fair practice, so you do not have to use her tech-savvy boyfriend to justify it.

As a guy who went to "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live" and has a Tom Servo tattoo, I was definitely familiar with "Starcrash", so HDTGM had me for at least a couple of weeks. It should have been three when they announced "Friday the 13th: Part 6 - Jason Lives", since Paul Scheer said it was on Amazon Prime. They must have watched it on that before October because Bezos knows you can sell anything horror related in October. At least to everyone but me.

A Voorhees romp is something I presumed my girl would not want to watch, so I was waiting for her to go to bed (12:00 am). I had forgotten to check out iTunes deals for the week, so I did not make it to check out Prime Video until 12:30. The time was not too late since the flick would fit this website's time restraints, so everything seemed to be going well. Six hours of sleep would be enough.

Then I found out the lack of free Jason flicks. Being stubborn, I was going to check out every subscription service to see if it was available for free. It was not, but I need content, and Pluto TV was the last place I landed on. Surely a cult flick would come through to me, and I have yet to watch a "Man versus Monster" tourney flick. I know, ironic because my first completed script is a zombie versus pro-wrestling comedy, "Main Event of the Dead". (If you want a treatment of the story, email me russthebus07@gmail.com).

www.pinterest.com/KaleKikuchi/

Empire Pictures's "Arena" from 1989 would take that experience would leave me the wiser B-Movie maker. As for the film as a narrative, would it be a classic like "Re-Animator" or unbearable like "Trancers"? There is no middle when it comes to a Charles Band production.

As I look at this distributor's Wikipedia page, "Robot Jox" was the last film in their filmography. If their Lovecraft adaptations was not enough to warrant respect, pioneering replacing "ck" with "x", a 90's to early 00' standard, should.

Out in deep space, a space station serves as the center of entertainment for the entire universe. This satellite holds The Arena, the greatest combat sports venue ever devised. Or at least it was that before the gangster/promoter Rogor took over. He holds more power than the leagues commissioner and using his illicit ties can determine nearly every outcome. This has lead to no humanoid being able to climb the ranks for the past 50 years and dashing the dreams of any earthling, like Steve Armstrong.

Armstrong has been barely surviving on the station. He arrived there with asperations on becoming a champion, but he soon realized that the sport is just a business. His goal is now to just scrape up enough cash to get a ticket home. Sadly, his temper does not allow him to be a great short order cook, and as a result, he ends up injuring a fighter, Vang, from the Quinn Camp, the only stable fighting the uphill battle against Rogor.

This ends up being a blessing in disguise for Quinn since she needs a new fighter, and the fans have been yearning to see a non-monster in the ring. With debts to pay, Armstrong really has no choice but to return to the ring, but it is not long before he is ready to embrace his destiny. But will destiny be enough to top Rogor's influence?

"Arena" is definitely a movie that should not be watched in a clean or sober state. That is a good place to start because that means it is watchable, and I may be encouraging you to watch. And the influences that should be applied are not because of a bad story, but because it completely comprised of knock or "Star Wars" masks and poor make up that dare not interfere with actors hairlines.

The acting for the late 80's is passable. If anything hinders the dialogue, it is the ridiculous alien jibberish they use or horrid ADR altering. As for the characters themselves, they are all ridiculous, but the premise of man goes into a hand-to-hand fight with a bug similarly structured to Heimlich the caterpillar allows for this. You know from the box art this is going to be cinema, so you can forgive a lot.

The story follows a very easy to follow narrative, and, contrary to other 1989 flicks of more realistic combat, does not involve rape and murder to push the story forward. It has every other cliché in the book and given the film's premise it does not try to reinvent them. "Arena" could have tried to figure out a way to build this world, but if it was over ninety seven minutes, you would need to start mixing substances to continue having fun watching it.

All the budgetary shortcomings to try and execute a sci-fi action flick is an experiment worth viewing. "Arena" is a rare low budget alien flick that does not try to shock its audience which is quite a refreshing change from most extra terrestrial flicks of the late 80's. It does not take the time to insult your intelligence so it is fun trip that is even more jocular the less seriously you take it.

There are times when fun can triumph fine art. "Arena" is one of those times.

Tenchi the Movie 2: The First Take on Midsommar

Tenchi the Movie 2: Daughter of Darkness

© 1998 AIC • Tenchi Muyo Committee • Pioneer LDC, Inc.

Genre: comedy/sci-fi fantasy
Length: 60 minutes (Theatrical Film)
Audience Age: 16+

Opinion: It is a let down unless  you are looking for a Christmas themed Japanese-animated cartoon.

This is a review of the dubbed VHS version (close captioned).

Also known as Tenchi Muyo! Midsummer's Eve.

Check out the rest of this critique at AnimeRuss.blogspot.com - For those curious about anime but hate the geeks

RG Veda - Did the Graphic Novels Have Exposition?

As is the norm, everything has settled down in my life. It has settled to the point that I got to have what use to be my normal evening. Wait till girlfriend goes to bed and watch stuff she does not approve of. I was even able to get a few rum drinks in (Kraken Black Roast Coffee Rum is sippable to the point that it is a shame to dilute to make it last).

Best of all, I was able to get to bed before midnight. Worst of all, it is balanced by 19 consecutive days of work. Managers are just boomers when it comes to internal email.

The more pressing downside is that it was a reminder of how little the two of us actually have in common. Her debate of whether or not she should go to bed in the nine o'clock hour came as I was watching "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" because there is nothing to watch on a Thursday.

The best time on the basketball floor are when the mats are down door to door. That sums up my opinion of Thursday's cable TV offerings.

She also does not dig immediate action sequences. Thus, we did not get past "John Wick: Chapter 2's" car reclamation. And this seems to be the case with anime as well because she was very quick to tell me to grab the Netflix DVD after a few minutes of "RG Veda."

Another key difference between us is her embrace of religion. Hence, it takes a little more work to try selling her a feminism agenda via the history of the Clamp Studio than my other female friends. This turned out to be a poor assessment of her judgement. It has nothing to do with having an open mind and everything to do with intuition.

RG Veda

Check out the rest of this critique at AnimeRuss.blogspot.com - For those curious about anime but hate the geeks

90 min. DVD dot Com - "Firepower: For Those Who Wanted Heel Ultimate Warrior"

I think I have gotten use to the standard 9-to-5 lifestyle. Throwing in a sixth day at the retailer makes a social life difficult. Inadvertent sobriety is a thing as well. If only Riot Fest was not cash only bars.

Come on Reggies. I may have had too much fun the couple of times I had been there to remember if I ever ran a tab, but when you sell food and rock tees, somebody there has to have a Square reader. You only lose 28 cents per $10 transaction. Those losses would only come to a free drink by the end of the night.

I am just now learning how to relax again, and that I may not brown like I use to. Sunburn flakes from the forehead can be quite distracting as you handle transactions. Was the punishment worth being a predominately cis-white male two rows back from Bikini Kill headlining a major festival? Fuck yeah! I was sure there was space along the rail in case "girls to the front" was invoked.

Perhaps it was not really punishment. Perhaps no professional wrestler tans well ("The Boondock Saints' 7-11 Rule" still allows me to claim that as a profession, and I still have two weekends of full gear in my Altima's trunk.). This may explain the smudgy appearance of the stock used to shoot "Firepower," an early Gary Daniels film that promises us a kayfabe heel Ultimate Warrior versus Chad McQueen, Johnny Lawrence's number two henchman from "The Karate Kid".

After the 1992 riots, it was probably not a stretch of the imagination for Los Angelinos to imagine that the city would eventually resort to just letting the slums fend for themselves and quit risking peace officers lives. Ten years later (You may need to watch "Wresting with Wregret's Warrior versus Sting" video to get an even more accurate synopsis. This film has no Wikipedia page.), you have the Personal Freedom Zone. Crime rates decreased initially, but with a lack of resources as the exchange for lawlessness, the criminal element needs to expand beyond their borders. The criminal element's primary money maker is distributing a counterfeit AIDS vaccine. LAPD sergeants Darren Braniff and Nick Sledge do not want to return to the practice of safe sex, so whenever the thugs come out to steal pharmaceutical supplies, they are ready to pounce.

One night, a failed robbery results in two of the top villains being captured. One of them is the presumed leader of the conspiracy, the rage and testosterone-filled Swordsman. The Swordsman's gang immediately breaks him out of prison and almost equaled the T-800's 1984 body count in the process. Braniff and Sledge crave their pound of flesh, and ignore the rules of the freedom zone to attempt to recapture the too buff for 1994's WWE monster. They are able to track him to the "Death Ring", a nightly death match competition, that seem to where all the plans and schemes are based out of.

Since the Swordsman is champion, Braniff determine that there is only one way to reach them. They must go undercover and fight their way to him. If they offer to spare his life, maybe he will let them in on the drug ring. The police chief and Braniff's wife are opposed to it, but with Sledge's headstrong nature, they reluctantly allow the boys to proceed. It is an all or nothing proposition and that may be the only attitude that will allow you succeed in the Kill Zone (per the movie poster).

"Firepower" has a dystopian made for DVD action movie premise that I love, but the direction and production fail everyone who actually puts an effort into the project. The three actors worth billing on the box, including James "Warrior" Hellwig give their best, but director Rich Pepin fails to lets us truly appreciate acting near the Keanu Reeves's level. With that said, Gary Daniels needs to be in "John Wick: Chapter 4."

Outside the most interesting characters, the rest of the cast is there for a pay day. And perhaps they got it. That would at least explain why there is only one fight scene that is shot with any cinematic intention, there are virtually no shots from inside the cage fights, and the constant reuse of the same special effects and driving shots in drawn the overly drawn out car chases.

You may ignore those elements because the film stock looks worse than a parody of a Barbara Walters interview. Warrior was out of the pro-wrestling game at the time, so feeling the need to tan was not there. It may not have been the stock. Perhaps if the director would have taken the time to light the scenes properly, the film would not look like it was used by Warrior as a means to blow his nose. If you can afford a couple of explosions, you should be able to afford lights. Because you only needed one explosion due to the tendency to reuse shots, there is no excuse for the lack of lights.

"Firepower" is deserving of a shot-by-shot made for YouTube remake, but if you are not going to devote that time, it otherwise deserves no attention. It is sad because Warrior could have avoided becoming a motivational dick/speaker and the fight scenes could have given us a good Jean-Claude Van Damme knock off. Instead, we have to wait another three years for Gary Daniels to be Britain's Joe Pantoliano of action. Unless you are Spielberg, Tarantino, or an Anderson not married to Milla Jovovich, do not tease the audience with greatness.

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Schrodinger's Cat and The Pawshank Redemption

*** I have using the neither dead/live cat as a metaphor since 2014. There will be few mentions of actual cats in this blog. ***

I imagine with the holiday season, things will pick up at the current, non-retail job. If it has not been obvious, providing details about the current use of my customer service expertise is something that has been avoided in this blog. But, the type of business that is about to take place may shock me. By no means am I supporting lay away, but it has got to be better than anything involving interest rates that are not from Visa, Amex, Mastercard or Discovery.

Which Freudian concept am I to curse? Do not comment to correct me. I now know the concepts all revolve around the psychic apparatus that forms the psyche. And yes, thanks Wikipedia.

It is obvious that it is the id since the downturn in my emotional state started with a dream(s) about my wrestling career (or lack there of). The reason I questioned it was just to make sure that I got it right.

My girlfriend was telling me that the meanings of dreams are whatever you make them to be. And then she said she could direct me to resources that would help me interpret them for me. There must be issues with my super-ego and ego because I do not know how those two statements can coincide with each other. Sadly, this may sum up my relationship status.

Of course, Christmas gifts have been bought and I believe she has earned them, but my yearning to chase paths she cannot follow will probably make for a tough festive season. Wanting to laze about until I have to go and deal with late night Thanksgivings sales followed up by an opening shift at the day job instead of attending an extended family meal may exasperate things. If not tough merry months than the purely winter ones.

Read the rest of this blog and other stories at Main Event of the Dead.com and determine if this thought process can be translated into a B-movie comedy about pro-wrestling zombies

Techi Muyo! In Love - Before Streaming Services Made Sequels

Techi Muyo! In Love - Tenchi the Motion Picture

Genre: comedy/sci-fi fantasy Length: 95 minutes (Theatrical Film) 

Audience Age: 13+

Opinion: A great video to view and to introduce those who are unfamiliar with the series.

This is a review of the dubbed VHS version (close captioned).

© 1996 AIC • Tenchi Muyo Committee • Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P.

Tenchi and company are watching an eight-millimeter film of Tenchi's mother, Achika, on her high school field trip to Tokyo (it is 8mm film because that was what they used in the 70's for home movies. The film has nothing that would have anything Nicolas Cage would need to investigate). Suddenly, our protagonist starts to disappear and the entire house starts to fall apart. Luckily, the self-proclaimed, most brilliant mind in the galaxy, Washu, is able to prevent our hero from vanishing and explain what is going on. By looking at each individual frame of the film, the group sees that Achika is slowly disappearing from the reel, so something must have happened in the past to cause this.

At the same time Tenchi and company are learning about this wrinkle in time, the Galaxy Police Headquarters is destroyed. The final transmission:

Class A Criminal Kain...

Who is Kain? Does this have something to do with the time trouble? No matter what this villain's involvement in this dilemma is; Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, and Kione must go back in time to 1970 to prevent anything from happening to Achika. This is the only way to save their future, and to buy some cool souvenirs from the past.

The plot of Tenchi Muyo! In Love seems to put too many responsibilities on the Tenchi cast since they have enough problems handling normal situations in the "Tenchi Muyo! OVA series", but you know some how they will pull it out. I think the only other flaw with the film's screenplay is that like all other anime motion pictures ("Sailor Moon S: The Movie" as an example), it just comes across as overly dark and dreary. 

Beside for that script weaknesses, everything else about this film is great except for the hit and miss soundtrack by "Babylon 5's" Christopher Franke. I figure if you are going to get a Sci-fi, Western Society composer, get one with "Star Trek" experience or John Williams (for any of those nerds who feel I'm insulting Bab 5, e-mail me at bitemeotakus@animeflow.cubs). All of the technical aspects of this film have really been stepped up from the prior series, "Tenchi Muyo!" and "Tenchi Universe", which is a real treat for those established fans of the Tenchi series.

The numerous qualities of Tenchi the Movie make this a great video to view and to introduce those who are unfamiliar with the series since all the characters' quirks overcome the need for exposition about them. Personally, this may be the strongest Tenchi title since I was willing to buy a new copy after a anime tape-viewing marathon/fumbling incident destroyed my first copy. If that is not a great testimonial, I do not know what is.