"Somebody Once Wrote That Revenge Is A Dish That Has To Be Eaten Cold."

Quentin Tarantino must have seen every movie ever made. I can't watch a Kung Fu flick or a Spaghetti Western without feeling like I've seen it all before in Kill Bill. Case in point: Death Rides A Horse. If you've been reading this blog at all (and who might you be by the way?), you would know that I'm a big Lee Van Cleef fan. So, I'm watching Death Rides A Horse and it's all there: the music, the revenge line, the close up on the eyes with visions of betrayal flashing in the background. So much Kill Bill. But then again, I can't really blame Tarantino for lifting so many great parts from so many great movies because if I was in his shoes I'd do the same thing. Seriously though, if you check out the movie connections link on IMDB for Kill Bill Vol. 1, there are over one hundred movies referenced, I've seen maybe twenty of them.

All in all though, Death Rides A Horse was awesome. It had a good revenge theme going, not unlike The Grand Duel. Also it had great music from Ennio Morricone and of course a great performance from our man Lee Van Cleef. I picked up this movie on a cheap Lee Van Cleef doublesided DVD, the other side featuring Beyond The Law.

Just like the wave of cheap Kung Fu DVDs that sprang up after the Kill Bill movies, it's good to see a lot of cheap Western DVDs have begun surfacing as well. There are certainly some good and obscure titles available right now, mind you there is a lot of crap out there too. The print quality on these movies isn't always the best and I'm not a big fan of the full screen format, but I just can't argue with great (and cheap) Spaghetti Western DVDs.

Abbott & Costello Meet Chuck Norris

I think I was born predisposed to be a fan of the old school Universal Studios Monster movies. I can remember being obsessed with The Creature From The Black Lagoon for years before I even saw it. I love those new DVD boxsets they have out now. I bought the Black Lagoon collection (the second movie has Clint Eastwood's first screen appearance) and will probably pick up more of them in the future.

I mention the old Universal movies because I just watched Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein the other night. I first hear about this movie after reading an interview with Fred Dekker. He mentioned this movie as being an influence on his 1987 movie The Monster Squad. Now, I have to say that Monster Squad is one of my all-time favorite movies. As cheesy and totally 80s as it is, it still ranks near the top of my favorite movies list. So after I read the interview, I decided that I had to see the Abbott & Costello movie. Hence the recent purchase on an Abbott & Costello boxset.

The movie was pretty funny, all very classic old-timey humor (it was 1948 after all). The movie had Abbott & Costello meeting up with not just Frankenstein but Dracula and the Wolf Man as well (played by Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney respectively.) There were a lot of similarities between this movie and Monster Squad which made me enjoy it all the more. Even Dracula's cartoony transformation from bat to vampire was awesome. Lon Chaney seemed underused, but was still at the top of his game. No Mummy or Gillman like in Monster Squad but an enjoyable horror comedy all the same.

Also, I recently watched Good Guys Wear Black. Ever since I saw The Octagon a few months ago, I've been watching a lot of old Chuck Norris movies. Now, The Octagon kicked ass, but Good Guys was a little dull. I will say that Norris does do a really cool jump kick through the windshield of a speeding car. But this movie is short one Lee Van Cleef and a buttload of ninjas. Every action movie should have some ninjas in it somewhere, am I wrong?

"My Name Is Quammy. I Have A Problem..."

I buy too many DVDs. It's scary. I went out yesterday with a shopping agenda. But, by the time I got home it had all gone to hell. I planned on looking for Silverado and The Searchers. I picked up The Searchers but Silverado was nowhere to be found. I ended up buying seven other DVDs, SEVEN. A Sonny Chiba flick, a Wes Anderson flick, a Lee Marvin flick, an Abbott & Costello boxset, another western (with Robert Duvall I think), the first Naked Gun and the first Beverly Hills Cop. And I almost bought that new He-Man collection that's out. Damn.

Out of those purchases, I decided to watch Beverly Hills Cop first. I've seen all the Beverly Hills Cop movies before, in fact I still have all of them of VHS, but fuck it. This movie always makes me laugh. There's a heck of a cast in it: prime era Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, etc. I'd say it almost has a John Landis feeling to it, not to discredit the actual director though. I wish Eddie Murphy was still this funny. On a side note, there is great gag where Murphy's character is walking down the streets of Beverly Hills. He sees this couple in crazy-80s leather outfits (a la Michael Jackson) and he doubles over with laughter. What's really funny is that Murphy wore a similar get up in his classic stand up video Delirious. What was with all that 80s leather anyway?

Even Shatner Had A Bug Problem

Quammy's Top 5 Killer Bug Movies

1. Them
2. Tarantula
3. The Deadly Mantis
4. Kingdom Of The Spiders
5. Empire Of The Ants

"If You Want A Guarantee, Buy A Toaster."

Just finished watching The Last American Virgin again. I'm a sucker for 80s teensploitation flicks and I was first drawn to this one because of its connection to Devo (spot the guy wearing the trademark red Energy Dome and a New Traditionalists-era t-shirt). For the most part this flick is pretty generic: the house party, loads of T&A, the comedic quest to lose one's virginity, etc. But at about the 60 minute mark this movie takes a hard right turn into seriousness city. I won't spoil anything, but the first time I saw it I remember being totally thrown for a loop. A recommended flick for fans of 80s movies, for sure. As far as star power, there was the guy who played Troy in Goonies, Diane Franklin (who whould later star in one of my favorite John Cusack movies Better Off Dead), and the chick who did the voice of Samantha Stanky on the Simpsons.

I also recently watched some Clint Eastwood flicks. Being the obsessive movie enthusaist I am, I feel it's my duty to see as many Eastwood flicks as I can. So I rented The Rookie the other night. Sadly, not one of Eastwood's better pictures. Some quality moments and explosions but not all gold. I mean Raul Julia as a German, what were they thinking? I also caught the last half of Joe Kidd on TV, looked like a decent western. It had John Saxon, Robert Duvall, and Eastwood with his full-on 70s asskicking swagger.

And since I've already ragged about this on IMDB, I should mention I saw the latest Bruce Willis flick Hostage. This movie was alright for the most part, but it has an unforgivably crappy ending. Serious suck.

God Bless The Discount Bin

I had some gift certificates for Wal-Mart, so against all my better judgement I found myself at the mall the other day. Within a stone's throw of the doors there were some large, brightly colored and boldly marked bins of cheap DVDs. God bless these discount bins. I might hate Wal-Mart but I can't argue with cheap DVDs. So I went about scouring the bins. I picked up a requisite Clint Eastwood flick, yet another Police Academy DVD, and the '80s remake of The Blob.

I like both versions of The Blob. The original is great. Steve McQueen is the quintessential cool '50s guy with a hot car and his best girl. The effects hold up well considering how old the movie is. And I just love old school Horror/Sci-Fi movies from the fifties. So many great movies about giant bugs, flying saucers, and fantastic robots. The remake was gorier than I remembered. But considering I've only seen it on TV before I can understand why I didn't remember the nastier parts. Lots and lots of melted bodies.

On a different note, I just finished watching Play Misty For Me, Clint Eastwood's first directorial effort. A decent seventies thriller. It's a very transitional movie for Eastwood, he's moving away from his western image of the sixties and into his tough/cool guy image of the seventies. Not my favorite Eastwood picture but not a dud by any means.

"Son Of A Bitch, I'm Sick Of Those Dolphins."

I read this article on slate.com today about The Life Aquatic and I couldn't get over how negative it was. Then I checked out the movie's page on IMDB. The discussion boards were a veritable battleground. Harsh critics against the defenders of the faith. So much hostility. Personally I love the movie, but I had to see it more than once. I've probably seen it five times now and I find it gets better every time I see it. It just has so much going for it: Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Wes Anderson's brilliantly subtle style, Mark Mothersbaugh's music, Seu Jorge doing Bowie songs in Portugese, and cool stop motion animation. For me it's right up there with The Royal Tenenbaums, people need to stop crapping on Wes Anderson.

But speaking of Bill Murray, I watched Caddyshack again the other day. Picked up a VHS copy for $3 last week from the good folks at Digital World, the best pawn shop in Fredericton. I buy so much stuff there I get a 20% discount. They call me "Obscure Movie Guy."

Finally for all the Kung Fu movie fans out there I would recommend watching Fists of Bruce Lee if you get the chance. While it does not have the real Bruce Lee it does have Bruce Li, who was in other good flicks like Blind Fist of Bruce. Fists has some kick ass seventies music, including Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die." Other highlights include: Lo Lieh with a killer metal hand, Ping-Ao Wei the effeminate gangster, and a crazy honkey with nunchucks.

Is It Wrong To Like The Police Academy Movies?

I must have been eight or nine years old when I saw my first Police Academy movie. In the years since I have seen all of the movies numerous times (except for Mission To Moscow, once was enough). Now, I'm not trying to praise or defend the series in any way. If you're going to watch a Police Academy movie, you know exactly what your in for. These movies can get pretty lowbrow and just plain dumb at times. And yet, I always get a laugh out of them. I love how the '80s had this entire genre of academy/school movies. Though out of the bulk of those movies the Police Academy series had to be the most successful and dear to me. They had so many great '80s comedic actors: Bob Goldthwait, Tim Kazurinsky, G.W. Bailey, Michael Winslow, etc. Heck, Steve Guttenberg was the A-List guy for most of the series, that guy was everywhere in the '80s. I particulary love the first four movies. In my opinion, once Bob Goldthwait left the series the movies started to tank. Until recently I found it kinda hard to find copies of these movies. But now, thanks to the endless supply of DVDs out there, you can pick up most of the movies for around $7 a pop. Truth be told though, I'll still hang on to my VHS copies of the first two movies. Those two big plastic clamshell cases are displayed with pride on a shelf somewhere right now.

"Can You Spare A Smoke, Stranger?"

Quammy's Top 5 Lee Van Cleef Movies

1. For a Few Dollars More
2. The Stranger and the Gunfighter
3. The Grand Duel
4. The Bravados
5. High Noon

Subtitles & Matte Paintings

I kinda went el-cheapo when I got my Kurosawa DVDs and only now am I regretting it. I watched Seven Samurai the other day. The film print was fine but the subtitles nearly drove me mad. Periodic spelling mistakes, cryptic translations and a crippling lag between the spoken dialog and its appropriate subtitle. If the Criterion DVDs weren't $50 a pop I would have picked them up. But instead I picked up cheap copies off Ebay. In fairness though, Seven Samurai's subtitles weren't nearly as bad as those on the Lord of the Wu Tang DVD I got at Wal-Mart for $4.

I watched The Thing again recently. Picked up the newest DVD version which had an interesting documentary about the flick. Some amazing stuff about the Albert Whitlock matte paintings used in the movie. One of the things I hate about the new digital era of film making is that great stuff like Whitlock's work gets lost. I hate CGI for the most part. Film techniques peaked for me with Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

"NPH Wouldn't Do That."

Something got me thinking about C.H.U.D. today. I don't know what brought it to my attention, but before I knew it I was on IMDB defending the director's cut of the movie. C.H.U.D. has been one of my all time favorite movies for a few years now. One of my guiltiest secrets is that I own at least six copies of it. I won't bother explaining why I have six copies of the movie because its really not that interesting. Needless to say, I really like the movie.

I watched Harold & Kumar again. For a stoner-buddy-comedy its damn funny and smart. It has all the right gags, hilarious guest stars (a few choice Canadians actors among them), and excellent replay value. The movie is all over the place and yet it follows and incredibly simple linear path. Plus, NPH tripping balls.

I've been trying to cut down my movie collection lately. I had earmarked a stack of old VHS tapes, when I noticed I hadn't even watched a few of them. So, last night after work I toss in Mannequin. I was sure I was going to be praying for death within fifteen minutes. But when the movie kicked in and I recognized all the choice '80s actors I was hooked. Besides Andrew McCarthy, there was G.W. Bailey, James Spader, and Estelle Getty. It was so '80s it hurt. I honestly put the tape back in the keep pile after I watched it. I love 80's movies.

My Faith in Zombie movies has been Resurrected

I've been bummed out by zombie movies lately, but my love of the genre has just risen from the grave. And while I know that that was a lame thing to say, I couldn't think of any better way to begin a zombie movie related rant. I just watched Shaun of the Dead again. I cannot say enough good things about this movie, it's fan-freakin'-tastic. Though, I remember when it first came out it was acclaimed as being the first horror/zombie/romantic comedy film. I even heard the horrible buzz term "Zom-Rom-Com" being tossed around. I would prefer to call movies in this genre "Hor-mance" films, as opposed to "Zom-rom-coms." They're like date movies where everybody dies. But, I have to say that the distinction of being the very first horror/zombie/romantic comedy would have to belong to Peter Jackson's flick Dead Alive. Possibly the most disgusting movie ever made. My favorite part is the lawnmower sequence.

So, thanks to Shaun of the Dead, I'm actually excited about zombie movies again. I think I might even watch Land of the Dead when it comes out. I had pretty much decided to bail on the movie when I heard that John Leguizamo was in it. I figure Romero might have one good one left in him, who knows. It couldn't possibly be any worse than Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Not to suggest that Romero had anything to do with the RE flick, but merely to emphasize how unbelievably bad that movie was.

"I Second The Nomination."

I'm about 45 minutes into The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance when I'm thinking to myself, "this is a damn fine western." And then sure enough, as if to seal the deal, the man himself appears. Lee Van Cleef, a veteran of some of the greatest westerns ever made. Like his role in High Noon, Van Cleef plays the strong, menacing, silent type. A hard nosed, squinty tough guy. He might have only had a few lines in Liberty Valance, but they were damn fine lines. It wasn't great just because of him though, the rest of the cast was superb, at least by more traditional standards. I especially enjoyed watching a drunken John Wayne stumbling about, trashing a saloon and burning his own house down. And while I haven't seen too many films by John Ford as of yet, his name is always up there with the great American directors and this film certainly lives up to such a reputation. Liberty Valance is a classic western, filled with great themes of honor, liberty (no pun intended), justice, compassion, civility and (dare I say it....) friendship. And now that I've just read that last sentence I know that I am too tired to type rationally anymore.

Beloved Remakes & The Perils Of Full Screen

Just finished watching Karate Warriors, a remake of Yojimbo, featuring '70s martial arts film god Sonny Chiba. I've made it my mission as of late to watch as many Yojimbo remakes as I can get my hands on. As for Karate Warriors, overall it was a decent flick with some kick ass fight sequences and great slow-mo camera tricks. Though, the whole time I was watching the movie I was getting pissed off with my DVD. I've gotten used to the usual quality of the post-Kill Bill wave of cheapo Kung Fu DVDs floating around all the discount bins. Said quality is often poor at best, but I would kill for a better quality copy of this movie. The DVD I watched was a craptacular full screen transfer, which made some of the fighting difficult to follow. It also had some of the worst audio I've ever heard, the quiet parts were too quiet and the loud parts were too loud. Though, despite my obsessive nitpicking of the DVD I would definitely suggest that fans of Sonny Chiba check this flick out. Good story, good fighting, and classic seventies kung fu music.