MFK: Movies, Wrestling, Sleep

*Post started on January 6, 2020.

Thus far, there is still nothing new to complain about in 2020. Well, teaching children to play bad fundamental football (You knee in the end zone or signal for a fair catch. Play until the whistle.) at the Buffalo Bills' expense and the team I abandoned the Ditka-less Bears for being ruined despite a rule that was suppose to allow them to stay in the playoffs two years running, but I need to shake of my fandom for a sport that we should not encourage children to play.

My better quarter (Eva the Cat gets half) did not want (I prefer she did not.) to drive 30 miles just to get the rent money, so I am barely liquid, hence I could not get into too much trouble. It was nice when she was not around when I got off work so that I can get comfortable and tell her to enjoy the video game or pro-wrestling, but that has been the way it has been for the past four months. There is no reason to blame it on the new year...unless you want to add my third method of using the alone time, developing new Buffalo sauce recipes to stock my kitchen for the annual resolution of eating something Buffalo-related everyday of the year.

Manager's Husband: I was going to cut out bleu cheese for lent.

It sucks when the most obvious time to call someone a pussy during poker night is also the most inappropriate time.

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

AnimeFlow's Conclusion: El Hazard 2: Tape 2 and Tenchi Forever

VHS and DVD reviews were not the only thing offered by AnimeFlow: Here are some fun ways to screw up a Windows XP computer.

Icons for Programs and Shortcuts http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/animeflow/desktop/default.html

Grand Theft Auto Anime Skins for the PC Version of the Video Game

http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/animeflow/gta3/default.html

El Hazard 2: Promise for Reunion

Genre: comedy/fantasy

Length: 60 minutes (2 episodes)

Audience Age: 13+

Opinion: No El Hazard fan should be let down by this bonus story to the anime universe.

This is a review of the subtitled VHS version.

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

Techi Muyo! In Love 2

Techi Muyo! In Love 2

Tenchi Forever: The Movie

Genre: dramedy/sci-fi fantasy
Length: 95 minutes (Theatrical Film)
Audience Age: 16+

Opinion: The only addition to the series that can make any anime fan respect "Tenchi Muyo!".

This is a review of the dubbed VHS version.

Die Hard Game Fan's critic's favorite anime of 2000.

Like every other "Tenchi Muyo!" theatrical addition, the film starts with a seemingly normal day for Tenchi that is until an argument between Ryoko and Ayeka forces him to flee into the forest near their house. Looking for some peace and quiet, to his surprise he sees a bud of a camellia tree, but it is out of season. He searches for and finds this beautiful plant which seems to draw him into it. 

Six months later, Tenchi has yet to return from his trek into the woods. Ayeka and Ryoko have gone to Tokyo to find him while the other girls have gone to Planet Jurai and the Space Science Academy to find out where he could have gone. Could Tenchi have gone to another world or, as Washu has hypothesized, another dimension? What does Yosho know about the tree he planted? If you recall why Tenchi ran off, does he even want to comeback? Despite no one's life maybe on the line, this could be one of the gravest scenarios.

No matter how tedious Tenchi Muyo! is, I never mind seeing new stories about the series' hero. Tenchi never seems to disappoint its fans, so when "Tenchi Forever" came out, I had to pick it up. Surprisingly, I did not expect it to be so great and that it also earned the 16 Up rating by being the most mature and sophisticated Tenchi installment ever.

What a brilliant film for a TV/OVA (Original Video Animation) series. Tenchi Forever's colors are bland (possibly for dramatic effect), there are not many technical advances over the other series, and by no means is it as funny as the lamest Tenchi episodes. But its ability of finding how to use the main characters to their full dramatic potential puts it above the rest of the series.

This film nearly being a total drama justifies its Japanese theatrical release by having the essential dark and dreary plot, but it makes it work which is a rarity for spin offs to the big screen. Perhaps some characters are under utilized and I found the ending somewhat disappointing (an issue of personal taste/ideals), nothing else from the film can bring it down from being the top release of all Tenchi series.

"He Never Died" - The Henry Rollins Show The Movie

The lack of appreciation may get to us all. You start to develop a chip on your shoulder, and eventually it becomes a boulder that you need to chuck. It is better than constantly lashing out because throwing pebbles is just annoying to a perceived adversary. A genuine stone will finish them off. A possible mess to clean up is why we keep letting it snowball.

You cannot cut yourself off from people. If you do, you will be the considered the asshole. Imagine an eternity of that and you get the Henry Rollins starring classic "He Never Died."

I do not know what it is, but I have always been hoping for a good Henry Rollins movie. He is a cult of personality (Rollins and Bernie 2020) that you want associated with any flick and I have yet to find a supporting role that I have not enjoyed. The thing is, with the exception of "Feast," he may be the only reason to sit though some bad films.

There are some redeeming qualities to "Johnny Mnemonic" and "Lost Highway", but definitely not "The Chase." Since there is not any range to his performances, one can be trepidatious about the idea of him in a leading role. Especially when the film is from a production company with an intro reel suitable only for PS2 games.

As I stated, Rollin's is a cult of personality. If you can let him be him, it should work. He would be the perfect "Highlander: The Series" immortal, so his immortal flesh eater character in "He Never Died" may be perfection on a streaming service.

Well, that is hyperbole. You need a Scottish accent somewhere with this premise to be perfect...or whatever Christopher Lambert can bring to the table.

Jack seems to be burnt out. He just has to live, but nothing seems to motivate him. Even thugs mistakenly attacking him does not get his pulse rate up. A little tape and Visine, the man is ready to be an hour early for Bingo.

Finding out that a daughter he never knew he had has tracked him down is a bit of hiccup to his existence, but he might be to dull to keep her attention. Worrying about her finding out that he may survive on human blood and viscera might be a waste of time. She would be so bored, her efforts to get him out on the dating scene would be moot.

Perhaps kidnapping his daughter will get him to bring out some fight from him. What could be his secrets that make someone want to waste small-time crooks to find out? Is it wise to give a guy who may predate the Bible a reason to get out of bed.

"He Never Died" is an excellent allegory for those who seem to just be existing because the alternative is frowned upon. My experience with this is being cynical and feeling life is wasted on the young. To imagine 5,000 years of that serves as a wake-up call that your life could be worse. The real challenge is realizing you have new things to try and little time to use.

Henry Rollins is ideally cast in this feature. He has been a cultural mainstay for 30-plus years and his fans feel that he needs to be constantly relevant. Jack shows us that concept may be more trouble than it is worth, and the writing and performance allows the viewer to appreciate his struggles. This results in a strong black comedy that benefits from the lack of directorial resources.

"He Never Died" almost suffers because of Netflix's previews imagery sells it as a straight horror movie. If you are not in the mood for gore, you will pass by it. If you do not have the attention span for what is essentially a play on film, you will be surprised in the wrong way.

This film may solely be for the fans of Rollins. "He Never Died" shows that an appreciation of "Black Flag" indicates wisdom. It is a film for the wise, so it might not be a Thanksgiving recommendation because there is at least one uncle who will not get it. Try to tell that guy that Rollins is Cash 2.0 or just two since he does not understand smartphone updates.

Film Affinity - Espana

https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film417154.html

90 min Netflix: "Skin Trade" As Good as the Duran Duran Song

I know I have seen some incredibly sloppy Thai films while flipping through the Starz Encore networks, but if you make it a point to find a flick from this country, it is tough to be disappointed. That is my experience with the food as well. The spice is the action. Yeah, there are a lot of vegetables that I despise, but it is worth digging through them for the hot noodles and meat. It can be a long process (finding the film), but definitely worth a look.

With that said, I have to overlook the critics and give Tony Jaa's sequels a chance. After "Skin Trade", he is batting three-for-three with me (the other two being "The Protector" and "Ong-bak") in terms of potential IP. The latest experience is at least an extra base hit driving Dolph Lundgren, Michael Jai White, and Ron Perlman in. Peter Weller is the sacrifice to bring Jaa home.

Viktor Dragovic's (Perlman) sex trafficking trade has taken a major hit. Not only did his last shipment to Newark end up being just a pile of corpses, but maverick cop Nick Cassidy (Lundgren) ended up killing his youngest son. But with diplomatic ties with Russia and his two remaining capable sons, he is able to claim sanctuary in Cambodia and gain two-times the vengeance by killing Cassidy's wife and teenage daughter.

It is reasonable to think that an RPG to the face would prevent Cassidy from making their grudge match a best of three, but this guy is not Ivan Drago. Waking to a scarred face only motivates him to kill any diplomat and attorney who let Dragovic flee. Shooting up a restaurant is regarded as taking the law into one's own hands, so FBI Agent Reed (White) heads to Thailand to stop Cassidy from creating an international incident that can destroy Detective Tony Vitayakul's (Jaa) efforst to shut down Dragovic's operation at the source. Unbeknownst to Reed, Tony's own experience with the Dracovics may make Cassidy an ideal ally. Viktor is guaranteed to come face-to-face with his karma.

I know sci-fi/horror fans complain about the lack of practical effects with the emergence of CG. Personally, my loathing of computers comes from straight-to-video action movies (see "The Girl from the Naked Eye"). If "Skin Trade" had a few real explosions, this film would have necessitated the US theatrical distribution Jaa versus White deserves.

The story is everything you wanted in a pre-peaked Seagal action film. Lundgren, Gabriel Dowrick and Steven Elder's script has holes  and a heavy-handed message to drive the film (like "On Deadly Ground" with the environment), but it delivers two uncompromising heroes that do not think twice about executing pure evil and its idiot henchmen. I mean, the ads for that job must imply evil, so you cannot be innocent after that "welcome aboard" meeting.

By simplifying the skin trade to saving girls (do not think about the intricacies and the sex in trafficking's), you get a pretty straight forward action flick. The post effects suck and the Ekachai Vekrongtham's direction is frantic with the cuts during some brilliant fight scenes. As long a you dig the choreography, this flick is a winner.

If you had "Punisher" level gore and a Nathan Jones cameo (just to make this bonified Thai gem), any action aficionado would run to Red Box to watch "Skin Trade". If only the Champaign COOP theater was still in operation and the name was not "The Art", this would be worth a six-dollar admission and some cheap drinks.

Equating this Lundgren-penned script to post "Arena" Duran Duran nails how to describe "Skin Trade". It is not his best, but if you are a fan and need to forget "4 Got 10" (like Power Station for you DD fans), this flick fills you 80's nostalgia needs.

filmcombatsyndicate.com

https://filmcombatsyndicate.com/watch-kick-ass-new-thai-trailer-for/

"Wild Cardz" Because Licensing Rights...and "The Twilight Zone" Marathon

*Originally written January 2, 2020.

No complaints from me to start the year.

"You changed the channel?"

I do not know if that reaction from my better quarter (Eva the Cat gets half) would count. It was not the reaction I expected when switching from hour 38 or Syfy's annual "Twilight Zone" marathon to watch AEW. That and her thinking that "Hurt" was a Johnny Cash song, inspirations for resolutions are developing.

So that is one complaint, the lack of Nine Inch Nail knowledge was established before the end of the last decade. But I am now complaining, may as well throw in the weed crowds. After revisiting "The Rise of Skywalker", herbal assistance in writing my proper ending to what should have been a quadrilogy would have been nice (If you want to judge whether or not I could handle that task, ask for a treatment of my zombie-pro-wrestling, B-movie comedy, "Main Event of the Dead". Drop me an email at russthebus07@gmail.com).

Talking about the unsatisfying conclusion to the sequels is redundant. It is "Star Wars". I can watch these over and over again and keep discovering new things to keep my interest and, for the most part, forgive the creative short comings.

My most recent observation about the "Skywalker Saga" is that "Return of the Jedi" was all it could be, hence satisfying. Yoda with a lightsaber is all you could have asked for. Ewoks are not that bad.

The most important observation though is that it has been confirmed that Mace Windu is dead. Motherfucker was featured in the Jedi pep talk, and all of his friends were dead. Save him for my pair of sequels. I did have a fun tweet about it (@mainteventzombie).

Too bad #RiseofSkywalker pretty much confirms @SamuelLJackson's Mace Windu death. I though he survived the fall and his arm landed in @JurassicWorld.

And I came up with that one sober. Imagine what I would say high. My biggest problem with the weed lines was, if you are waiting hour(s) for the legal stuff, you probably kept up on the illegal stuff despite the announced change in law. Did you burn through it before 11:59 pm, December 31? Leave some for those who do not have hook ups.

*Originally written January 3, 2020

The new year has started off busy. I have yet to try catching up on The Ringer or AV Club stories. Between paying bills and Donald Trump acting like a Young Bosnian (or a stereotypical American), my time at a physical keyboard to type is scarse. With "Wild Cardz (a.k.a. Jaja-uma Quartet)" being so brief, it may be easy for me to forget this anime if the ramblings of Bill Simmons, Shea Serrano, and Binge Mode will need to take a backseat.

"Wild Cardz" Worth $5.00

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