November 28, 2012 Recommendation: Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Movie
A movie about kung fu movies.
Netflix has this weird thing where they recommend things to me that I’ve already seen. Seen and rated on Netflix, even. Right now it’s four out of the ten it’s currently recommending, but it’s been as high as nine of ten. I guess the system needs some work? I know it’s complicated stuff, so I won’t pretend to have an answer for them, other than “maybe don’t include stuff that I’ve already seen and rated on Netflix.”
It’s not a complete loss, though. Every once in a while the system comes through for me.
I had just finished watch Jet Li’s Fearless (Does that mean the Fearless belongs to Jet Li? Or is Jet Li fearless? It works either way, really), and Netflix suggested three other movie I might like. One of them was Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Movie. I think I was drawn to give it a try based on the title alone.
It’s a documentary of sorts about the history of kung fu movies. What I mean by “of sorts” is that it doesn’t really have many “behind the scenes” info, and it doesn’t have any interviews with anybody – it just goes through the history of kung fu movies, touching on major stars and major films by those stars. That’s pretty much it. And I loved it.
If you’ve read the About page on the site, you’ve seen that I describe myself as a “low-level geek.” In my mind, that means I have a working knowledge of a lot of topics that are generally described as “geeky,” but I don’t know a huge amount about any one particular topic. I know enough about most topics to converse briefly about them, but I can always learn something new in the conversation. And that’s where I am with kung fu films. I know the big names, of course, and have seen a lot of the major movies in the genre, but I don’t have detailed knowledge of the complete history.
This film won’t completely fill anyone in on everything that’s ever happened in kung fu movies, but for anyone looking to fill in some blanks in their viewing, this is a great bibliography to peruse. I immediately added a couple more movies to my queue because of it.
I’m surprised there isn’t much info about this movie online in the usual places (IMDb and Wikipedia). There is a trailer, and the movie is apparently based on book by Ric Meyers. It would be nice to have a list of the actors and films mentioned in the movie so a person could make a checklist if they so desire. I have to say, I enjoyed the movie enough that I’m considering creating the Wikipedia article myself and doing just that.
Your results may vary, of course, depending on how much you like kung fu movies.
Tags: kung fu
November 27, 2012 Tuesday 10: Movie Recap Raps
Will Smith demands that you dance to his grooves, no matter where you’re from
Today’s list is rap songs that play over the ending credits of movies and sum up the movie that just ended, at least to some degree. This list is inspired by the release of Men in Black 3 today, even though that movie doesn’t really qualify.
I went back and forth on what to do with today’s list. I want it to be a full ten, but I also want to maintain some sort of integrity and only use things I’ve experienced firsthand. I could have looked up other ones and just listened to them, but I feel I wouldn’t be doing the songs justice without hearing them in the context of the movies they were attached to. In the end I felt like having only five that I knew was better than having ten with five fillers. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
And, yes, 60% of this list is Will Smith. Can I help it if The Fresh Prince is particularly gifted at this? No, I cannot.
5. Wild Wild West– This song gets special mention because it ends up being better than the movie it’s attached to. Best lyrics: “You don’t wanna see my hand where my hip be at” and “Now who ya gonna call? / Not the G.B.’s”
4. Monster Squad – I only just saw this movie for the first time a few weeks ago. I liked it, and I liked the recap rap. Best lyrics: “This ain’t no Halloween or some phony deal / They be playin’ for keeps, they be playin’ for real!”
3. Men in Black – This is probably the first song people think of when this topic comes up (as I’m sure it often does!). Best lyrics: “If you ever get near us, don’t jeer us, we’re the fearless / M.I.B.’s, freezin up all the flack / (What’s that stand for?) Men In Black ”
2. Men in Black 2 – The first movie’s song is probably more iconic, but I like this one better. Best lyrics: “Black suit, the black shades, the black shoes / Black tie with the black attitude”
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Even though this song contains an error (Raphael is not the leader of the group!), I don’t think any movie recap rap will ever top this one for me. Not only does it sum up the movie, it also encourages the listener to rely on his or her own Turtle Power, and it also lays some new information on the listener: The Lone Ranger and Tonto also relied on their Turtle Power. Who knew? Best Lyrics: Man, the whole thing. But if I have to choose… “Heroes on the half shell, they’re on a mission. / When there’s a battle got the enemy wishin’. / That they stayed at home, instead of fightin’. / These ninja masters with moves like lightnin’.”
Bonus Songs: These don’t technically fit the bill, since they aren’t really recaps, but they are connected to movies and they have the feel of the movie in them.
– Ninja Rap from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 – Come on, you were waiting for this one.
– Ghostbusters by Run-DMC – This is probably the most legitimate rap song on the page here, and I am not ashamed to say I actually like this song better than the original Ghostbusters song. My absolutely favorite part is “‘We are your friendly neighborhood Ghostbusters,’ / That’s what they said to me / ‘We are the busters of any G-H-O-S-T’.”
Tags: TMNT, Will Smith
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November 26, 2012 GTiBS: Batman & Robin Liveblog
Listen, I love Batman and you should, too. But no matter how much you love Batman, you have to admit that 1997’s Batman & Robin was really, really bad. Like, so bad. But, still, we want to love Batman, so what do we do?
Well, here at Zwolanerd, we’ve set out to look at pop culture positively. So today, starting in about 15 minutes, I’ll be watching Batman & Robin and liveblogging the good parts. I’m home sick today, so why not?
Warning: this may be the shortest post ever.
See you back here at 11:30a ET!
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11:30. Here we go!
11:31. One minute in, and I’m already seeing how difficult it will be to stay positive.
11:32. “This is why Superman works alone.” This is the best line in the whole movie, and I’m not even kidding. I know the character of Robin was brought in to “lighten up” Batman, but I’m of the opinion that Batman works best on his own.
11:33. Michael Gough was a fantastic Alfred in all four movies from this series, regardless of what was going on around him.
11:38. NHL fans might want to give this movie a shot right now – might be the only hockey they get for a while.
11:41. I know his lines are terrible, but you really have to give Arnold some credit for saying his lines with such conviction.
11:42. I want to believe that the “Cowabunga!” Robin just shouted was a TMNT shout-out.
11:45. Uma shows up. It really had to be a nutso kind of fun to play a villain in this series, right?
11:48. Bane’s luchador mask looks about right, I guess?
11:50. John Glover is his own brand of crazy in a movie filled with excellent examples of the pinnacle of crazy.
11:52. Batman just did “The Clooney,” the “put your head down and then look up with your eyes” thing.
11:57. Mr. Freeze’s henchman are eating still-frozen frozen dinners. Trying to, at least. That’s attention to detail, folks!
12:00. Alicia Silverstone shows up. She always was a likable sort.
12:05. George Clooney certainly looks like Bruce Wayne ought to look.
12:11. You almost have to admire Joel Schumacher’s devotion to making Gotham and anything that happens in Gotham look like a Las Vegas show.
12:15. The Bat credit card. Good heavens, the Batcard. I so want to say something good about it. I just… Bear with me. I’ll find something.
12:23. If you don’t like one storyline in this movie, just be patient – another will be along in a moment. Something for everyone!
12:25. Jesse “The Body” Ventura! I had forgotten he was in this movie. It’s a Predator reunion!
12:32. Hey, we’re halfway through!
12:33. Okay, that really was Coolio I just saw. This movie has everyone!
12:39. Poison Ivy has a Mae West vocal thing going on here. Never noticed that before.
12:40. The storage locker at Arkham has both the Riddler’s and Two-Face’s outfits from the previous movie. One of my favorite things from that movie was Dr. Burton, an obvious spoof/homage of Tim Burton. Turns out he was played by Rene Auberjonois.
12:43. That was a very sweet scene between Bruce and Alfred just now.
12:46. I’m kind of in awe of this movie at this point. A background character literally just said the line, “My lungs are freezing!”
12:53. I’m pretty sure Rodney Dangerfield made that “Adam & Evil” joke 11 years before this.
12:58. It’s becoming more difficult to find good things. In lieu, here’s one of my favorite bits of trivia about the movie (from IMDB): “Hulk Hogan was Joel Schumacher’s third choice to play Mr. Freeze.” Can you even imagine? That would have been awesome!
1:01. We love you, too, Alfred :( Michael Gough once again comes through.
1:06. Alfred as Max Headroom is terrible and awesome at the same time. That counts as positive, right?
1:11. “Bruce, it’s me! Barbara!” That line just tickles me. World’s Greatest Detective, can you figure out the identity of the blonde woman in Batgear? Difficulty: she’s wearing an eye mask!
1:20. The explosions are nice.
1:24. I’ve always like Freeze as a villain – he’s a bit more dimensional than some. His desire to cure his wife is certainly understandable.
1:29. Alicia Silverstone’s lips sometimes remind me of Alyson Hannigan’s.
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Well, folks, that’s a wrap. That was… more difficult than I expected. I leave you with this jewel from the IMDB trivia page:
“Due to the difficulty, and large amount of time, it took to remove the Batman suit, George Clooney reportedly urinated in his suit on at least one occasion. ”
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November 23, 2012 As God Is My Witness…
Most of us here in The States are still in Thanksgiving mode, whether it’s being out and shopping or in and still digesting. I was reminded of one of the funniest Thanksgiving things ever: the WKRP in Cincinnati Thanksgiving episode. Chances are good you’ve already seen it, but if you haven’t, today’s your day! You can watch it on Hulu here.
Tags: Thanksgiving, WKRP in Cincinnati
November 22, 2012 Happy Thanksgiving
Maybe take some time today to watch a good Thanksgiving movie
Here in The States it’s Thanksgiving. We here at Zwolanerd wish you and yours a very happy one!
Tags: Thanksgiving
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- Posted under Movies