Guardians of the Tomb (2018) starring Kelsey Grammer, Kellan Lutz, Shane Jacobson, Bingbig Li

This Chinese/Australian co-productions is also known as The Nest, Tomb of the Mummy and 7 Guardians of the Tomb. My copy is Guardians of the Tomb so I'm going to run with that.

I saw the trailer for this a couple of years back and thought that looks like a fun romp.

I kept an eye out for it but never found it.  Then I tune into FBI:Most Wanted and see Kellan Lutz and remembered he was in this.  So I bit the bullet and bought a copy.

The beginning is a little middled with flashbacks and references that don't quite make sense but most thing things were explained/resolved by the end of the film.

The movie opens with a shadow puppet story of a Chinese delegation meeting with Australian Aborgines.

Then we jump to the present day when two researchers discover a tunnel in China. They had been sent on the mission by Mason (Grammer),, a wealthy industrialist. 

Mason then seeks out Jai (Li) who is the sister of one of the researchers.  We dscover that there is history with Mason and the researchers are now missing. The pair set out to the last known location where they meet the rest of the team including Jack Ridley (Lutz) and Gary (Shane Jacobson). Ridley is a first responder with a tragic history that he won't talk about.

The team heads towards the GPS signal from the missing team but have to take cover from a sandstorm in a deserted house.  All the occupants are dead except for a teenage girl and a heap of spiders.  The team heads into the basement which is an access point to the tunnels.

The team loses members to spider bites, one of whom takes a swan dive into a lava pool covered in spiders. 

We discover that the spiders are funnel web spiders that had been imported to China by the delegation at the start of the movie at the behest of the Emperor.  These spiders had been bred to be more aggressive and poisonous - because that's what you do for poisonous spiders - to have them produce a enzyme that prolongs the life of the Emperor. 

The spider's eventually escaped and killed the Emperor in his tomb which is in the tunnels that the expedition is in now.

This is a solid B movie, with no real surprises.  Mason is the bad guy (because the wealthy industrialist is always the villian) .  Ridley reveals his tragic backstory to bolster the troops when all seems lost. 


In enjoyed the hell out of this movie it really put me in mind of Congo (another movie/novel I'll have to revisit soon) with a lashing of Arachnaphobia and a pinch of Indiana Jones/The Mummy. 

For me Shane Jacobson's Gary stole the movie with his Aussie attiude and comebacks "these are 2017 spiders they follow each other on instagram"  were a highlight,  I don't know if his lines were scripted or if he improvised them but he stole every scene.

If there was one downside it was the last few seconds -  it seemed like they tried introduce a twist/sequel hook in that wasn't needed and really just raised more questions and detracted from the movie.

Overall, I'd say watch this.

If looks Could Kill (Aka Teen Agent) 1992 starring Richard Grieco and Gabrielle Anwar

Back in the day 21 Jump St was one of the coolest shows and Richard Grieco was one of the coolest actors.  He was soon spun off onto his own show Booker. I'm not sure if this was his first movie but it's a cracker of a movie.  Like Austin Powers and Kingsman that followed this movie takes many, many queues from the James Bond films with several nods to other spy and action films.



The basic plot is high school student Michael Corbin has failed French and he must go on the French Club trip to Paris if he is to graduate.

At the same time British Secret Agent Blade is killed investigating the deaths of several European finance ministers.  As the British are concerned that they have been comprised so they asked the CIA to send a replacement agent.  They send Michael Corbin.

Not the same Michael Corbin as the high school student but there is much confusion as the agent is killed and the high school student gets the first class flight and the James Bond set up with gadgets and a cool car.

There is some fun with the French Teacher escorting the class which also happens to the code name of a cold war double agent.  The French club is on a bus and every stop they get a new driver as competing factions try to stop The French Teacher and a gang of mercenaries.

Corbin muddles through often accidentally surviving assassination attempts, setting off  missiles while trying to wind down his windows. By the time he realises what is going on, he becomes competent enough to save the day.

I remember watching this movie with my uncle and he called it "Jimmy Bond gone wrong"

It was a blast to watch this again it's a fun pulpish spy romp with a Bondian villain and henchmen.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) starring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Salanda, voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel

There's not a lot I can say about this movie that hasn't been said already by Derrick Ferguson Jack Badelaire and  Mark Bousquet (who is also writing a series of character specific reactions) and a lot of others.

I thought Guardians was a clever move by Marvel Studios - it builds on elements introduced in The Avengers (Thanos and The Other) and Thor 2 (The Collector), and does so in a way that takes us beyond what we've seen previously and explores a whole new direction.  The movie opens with the abduction of young Peter Quill from Earth and he's our point of view character in the story.  That opening takes us from the familiar (Earth) and lets us explore the galaxy.

Chris Pratt in a lot of ways reminds me of Harrison Ford's Han Solo (and this probably makes Disney's Han Solo film that much harder). But Pratt's Quill is not the only character who we meet and develop a bond with.  There is one scene that had both my daughters in tears, so much did they come to care about the characters.

Rocket Racoon and Groot are the Jay and Silent Bob of this movie and I would cheerfully plonk down my cash for a movie starring them.

Gamora is an interesting character, in spite of her messed up upbringing by Thanos, she is willing to betray him to do what is right.  The movie offers her in direct contrast with her sister, Nebula.

Drax the Destroyer is a focused character and is literalism is played for laughs, but his partnership with the Guardians causes him to grow.  Actually, that holds for all the characters, alone they couldn't achieve their individual goals but together they move beyond their limitations and become better and more effective in achieving their goals.

The Guardians are getting a major push by Marvel in the comics and appearances in Hulk and The Agents of SMASH and Ultimate Spider-Man animated cartoons.

I loved this movie. 

The Phantom 1996 starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams & Catherine Zeta-Jones

There are certain movies that pulp fans will mention in any discussion as being underrated and should have done better, The Rocketeer, Sky Captain, John Carter, and The Phantom.

 

The 1996 movie was filmed in Thailand and in Australia (some of it was filmed in Brisbane City Hall) and there is a lot to like, the 1930s setting is pretty good, I really like the Phantom outfit that Billy Zane wore with what looked like tribal markings that looked like a skull on his chest.  Kristy Swanson makes a feisty Diana Palmer and Catherine Zeta-Jones is great as Sala, the leader of the Sky Pirates in her first movie role.  Treat Williams' Xander Drax is wonderfully over the top.

 

The action moves from the Bengalla jungle to New York to a rousing finale in The Devil's Triangle base of the Singh brotherhood. 

 

As a fan of the comics, I thought the supernatural aspects - Kit being visited by the ghost of his father and the three mystical powerful skulls - were a mistake.  Also there were some interesting story choices, during the New York section The Phantom discovers that the jade skull is in the New York Museum and has been there since Jimmy Wells 12th birthday, Jimmy looks about 30 so it's been there for at least 18 years.  The Phantom and Diana rush there and are met by Drax and his men who have decided to acquire the skull at the same time.  Drax therefore obviously knew that it was there and would have been smarter to acquire it quietly through the Museum board.

 

But aside from those things I love this movie, nearly everyone is perfectly cast Hero and Devil look incredible.   There is a scene where one of Drax's henchmen tells the Singh Brotherhood he has killed The Phantom, the response is laughter and  that everyone there had killed The Phantom.

 

Well worth watching.

The Three Musketeers (1948) Gene Kelly, Lana Turner

When you say Gene Kelly most people think of him as a dancer - dancing with Jerry Mouse in Anchor's Away or singing and dancing in the rain from Singin' in the Rain - which is accurate but there is much more to him.  In Singin' in the Rain he plays Don Lockwood, a Hollywood star who started as a stuntman.  So I was surprised at how swashbuckling he was.

So I decided to rewatch The Three Musketeers.  I'd watched it many, many years ago as a young lad but didn't remember much.  I remembered enough to get my youngest to watch it with me.  His fight with Rochefort at the start of the movie was a joy to behold, Kelly displays a great athleticism as does everyone involved but Kelly is clearly having the time of his life.  He leaps around, whacks his opponent on the bum with his sword.  Both my daughter and I were laughing at this, and I said to the wife "this is how they should do fights. None of this jerky cam business we see today."

I felt the movie lost some momentum after D'Artagnan recovers the Queen's jewels, It may be that I felt that was the conclusion of the story (crisis averted) or it might have been that the daughter was getting restless.  (Looking at the summaries on IMDB that seems to be the dividing mark for 1974 The Three Musketeers/ The Four Musketeers ) 

At 38, Gene Kelly was probably too old to play D'Artagnan but that didn't worry me too much, I was constantly reminded of Mandy Potempkin in The Princess Bride (although the inspiration would be the other way around) watching him.

I really enjoyed this movie, seeing a very young Angela Landsbury as Queen Anne was a pleasant surprise.  I now have a hankering to rewatch the 1993 version (Don't judge me) and check out the 2011 version to compare the versions.

My Favorite Year (1982) Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker

I first heard about this movie reading a review over at The Ferguson Theatre. From the title alone I would have passed this over but after reading Derrick's review I had to watch this.

I'd seen Mark Linn-Baker as Cousin Larry in Perfect Strangers back in the day and his role here is kinda similar.  Larry is the straight man to the wacky Balki in Perfect Strangers and in this movie he's Benjy Stone, the straight man to O'Toole's Alan Swann. 

Benjy is the junior writer on The King Kaiser Comedy Cavalcade Show and he suggest getting Alan Swann, a washed up movie star who closely resembles Errol Flynn in many ways.   Benjy is trying to start a relationship with K.C., the producer's assistant.  Derrick points out that Benjy treats the relationship like a comedy skit - to me that makes perfect sense Benjy is living and breathing skits as he tries to prove himself as a comedy writer. 

In many ways the arrival of Swann into Benjy's life is pivotal.  At the start of the movie Benjy tells us that Swann is his personal hero.  When King Kaiser tries to ditch a very drunk Swann, it is Benjy who stands up for his idol.  Kaiser tells Benjy that he has balls (after checking first) and I wonder if that was the first time Benjy had fought for anything on the show. 

But it's Alan Swann we want to see.  Our first looks at Swann are from his glory days, a cardboard cut out and a greatest hits package from his movies.  He's dashing and heroic.  When we see him for the first time in the now he's drunk and in bed with a gorgeous young woman, and promptly tries to cough up his lungs.

He arrives at the studio and reacts to the footage on the screen which was hilarious. There's a close up the villain from the Robin Hood-esque  film.  Swann says "There's Reggie, I thought he was dead."'

Reggie is stabbed in the movie and falls down dead.  "There he goes." deadpans Swann.

Swann is a likable rogue.  He goes for dinner and ends up stealing away the most beautiful woman in the room.  (In a brilliant gag, the jilted boyfriend yells "Somebody stole my girl." which the band immediately starts playing.)  He points out that he gets away with murder in many parts of his life, which is understandable as he is charming and funny.  The scene in the ladies room is another case.

(If Selma Diamond who played Lil in that scene wasn't the inspiration for Roz in Monsters Inc I'd be very surprised)

I watched this with my wife and daughters and they were all laughing throughout the movie. But behind the humour there is a human story.  On filming night, Swann finds out that the show is aired live and he freaks out. The speech between Swann and Benji is so raw and human, just thinking of it makes my eyes misty.  A lot of what is said is foreshadowed earlier in the movie.  I won't spoil the speech and invite you to check out the movie.  (the speech is in the Quotes page of  the IMDB page.  )

The movie doesn't tell us what came of Benjy after this, but I'd like to think that he was better for his time with Swann.  Certainly thanks to Swann and his advice, Benjy is able to start a real relationship with K.C.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Of all the current batch of Marvel studios movies Captain America: The First Avenger was my favourite.  It was a great pulp era adventure.   So I was really looking forward to the sequel (even more than the Avengers)

The Winter Soldier was a great movie it brought Cap firmly into the 21st century and teamed him with Black Widow (who had previously appeared in Iron Man 2 & The Avengers) and The Falcon.

Each of Cap's allies gives us a nice contrast with Cap.  Steve Rogers is a super soldier thanks to the serum he received in the first movie. Black Widow is a spy and their methods are nicely contrasted in the first mission.  Captain America uses non lethal force to knock out enemy agents, The Black Widow shoots and presumably kills.

When Black Widow and Cap go on the run it is Black Widow who takes the lead teaching Steve spy craft, such as "when on the run don't run".  The Black Widow is very very good at what she does.

Sam Wilson is a former soldier, Steve literally runs rings around him (as Sam points out "I do what he does only slower")  The Falcon exo suit is awesome to watch in action and I couldn't help but to be reminded of The Rocketeer (the wings taking the place of the finned helmet) *

The Russo brothers have wisely kept CGI to a minimum and it pays off in the fight scenes.

I'm really curious to see how the fallout from this impacts the other Marvel movies (Guardians of the Galaxy won't be impacted being set in space) and The Agents of SHIELD TV series.

Marvel seems to be really leading the race in the cinemas with trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy, The Amazing Spider-man 2 and X Men Days of Future Past all showing before the movie.  Lego Batman told us to turn off our phones. (Having said that I prefer Arrow to SHIELD so maybe they should focus on TV more.)






*Actually if you replace Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer with Howard Stark it makes perfect sense.

Legend of the Fist; The Return of Chen Zhen (2010) starring Donnie Yen

I have a confession to make I haven't seen Fist of Fury (1972) starring Bruce Lee.  I know, I know it's surprising and it is something I'll have to rectify in the near future.

I had somehow gotten into my head that Lee's Chen Zhen was a real historical figure who fought against the Japanese imperialists but a quick check shows me that I was wrong.  Chen Zhen was a fictional character who has been played my many actors after that including Jet Li and Donny Yen.
Yen first played Chen Zhen in the TV series Fist of Fury.

I saw an ad for Legend of The Fist during SBS Kung Fu Festival and  said I have to watch this.

The movie opens in World War I, where ill equipped  Chinese labourers are caught in the fighting and Chen Zhen is kicking Hun ass in several different ways using a pakour-like style that reminded me of Oliver Queen in Arrow.  When one of Zhen's friends dies, Zhen swaps identities and returns to China.

The film then skips to Shanghai in 1925 whiuch has been divided amongst the other allied nations including Britain and Japan.  Tensions are high and the Japanese are starting their imperial designs.  Chen Zhen ingratiates himself into the Casablanca Club where everyone comes.

When Zhen comes across an attack by the Japanese on a Chinese General, he steals the outfit advertising the movie The Masked Warrior.  The fact that Masked Warrior's outfit looks like Kato's from the Green Hornet probably isn't a coincidence.

 

 

Suddenly, The Masked Warrior is facing the Japanese and being a symbol of the resistance.  Kids are wearing masks and mask graffiti appears around the city. Curiously nothing much is made of this where a movie hero seemingly comes to life (The Cape had a similar conceit did a little of this)

 

The Japanese have a Chinese Patriot Kill List. Interestingly, Zhen is unable to save everyone on the list but and there are some brutal deaths. At the end Chen Zhen faces down the Japanese army brigade as himself with a pair of nunchukas.

 

This is a great film that homages Bruce Lee and well worth seeing.  It is a Chinese film and I saw the subtitled version.

 

 

 

 

 

Double Feature: Deadlier Than the Male (1967) & Some Girls Do (1969) starring Richard Johnson

Originally posted Saturday, October 15, 2011 11:01:12 AM

These two movies are a contemporary update to the Bulldog Drummond movies, similar to Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale or The Saint starring Val Kilmer. 

Hugh Drummond (gone is the Bulldog nickname) is an insurance investigator and his investigations uncover the work of criminal mastermind Carl Peterson and his beautiful female assistants. This updated Carl Peterson might be a criminal mastermind but he certainly surrounds himself with some beautiful women including Elke Summers and Daliah Lavi.

The films wear their Bond influence proudly and were an influence on the Austin Powers films.*

The movies are good campy fun and well worth watching on their own but the Madman double disk set is a beautiful package with special features that made the purchase of this set a no brainer. Deadlier Than the Male features interviews with the cast during filming and on set reports, image galleries, film trailer and PDF files of the Press Kit. Some Girls Do has the trailer and image gallery.

It was a pleasant surprise to see footage of Gerald Fairlie on set. Fairlie served as a partial model for the character of Bulldog Drummond and continued writing the series after the death of Sapper.
If you can get hold of this double disk set grab it

*The robot girls in Some Girls Do, don’t have machine guns in their jubblies though.

K-20: The Legend of the Mask (2008) dir: Shimako Sato Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro

Inspired by the works of Edogawa Ranpo.

Set in an alternate 1948 where Japan didn’t enter into World War II and class system is strictly enforced, the kaijin or mystery man known as K-20 The Fiend with 20 Faces has been stealing from the wealthy elite. 

When K-20 discovers that Nikola Tesla’s wireless electricity device has been built in Japan he tries to steal it.  The device is rumoured have been responsible for the Tunguska explosion in 1908.  As part of his plot K-20 frames a circus acrobat Heikichi Endo for his crimes.

Endo is a poor and idealistic circus acrobat/illusionist who is hired by K-20 to be at the scene of a crime to take photos of the engagement party of Yoko Hashiba a wealthy heiress and Kogoro Akechi an upper class police detective for the pulp magazine The True Story.

Endo is arrested but is rescued by the honourable thieves of Thieves Alley when they steal the bridge that the prison transport is traveling on.  Endo trains in the ways of the thief so that he can fight K-20 and clear his name.

This is a fun and pulpy romp through a Japan where the police patrol in blimps and fly autogyros – in many ways this film would make an ideal companion piece to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.  I was also reminded of The Cape – the idealist is framed for crimes he didn’t commit, trained by thieves who helped him escape death to become a hero.

There were several twists throughout the film and I have to admit that one of them caught me by surprize.   There were several parts that had me giggling with glee like when the thieves stole the bridge as well as the final confrontation between Endo and K-20. 

This an enjoyable film and well worth tracking down.  Whilst it appears that there was no sequel made to this, it has whetted my appetite to try the works of Edogawa Rampo and see how he uses K-20. 

Welcome to my new blog

Hello and welcome to the latest version of my blog.  It was formerly hosted over at Opera Blogs but with the decision to close those down I decided to move the blog over to Blogger.

As you can see I've changed the name of the blog from The Serial Vigilante Blog to Brad's pulpy blog.  Recently, I've felt that the scope of the Serial Vigilante Blog was somewhat too limited focusing as it was on the characters who appeared in the paperback racks of the 70s and 80s.  I'd been reading and thinking about those characters for nearly a decade and was starting to feel a little burnt out.  I found that my interests and tastes had expanded somewhat beyond that framework.

Serial Vigilantes will always be part of this blog but I want to expand beyond that especially with my involvement in the New Pulp Movement.  I was always able to justify that there was some tangential connection when I posted about New Pulp, Classic Pulp,or even Pulp Precursors (the amount of justification I felt the need to make for Don Pendleton's introduction to a Sherlock Holmes story).  With the change to Brad's Pulpy Blog if I want to post about something pulpy I can.  Something I may not have posted about on the old blog such as Katy Perry's jungle girl as seen in the videoclip for Roar is fair game here.

Hopefully for you the reader this means a more interesting blogging experience with a greater variety of material and more frequent blogging from me.

What becomes of the material on the old opera blogs?  Well I've tried to import them across but for whatever reason it hasn't worked so I'll be grabbing some of the posts off there and reposting here. Some will be posted as is (the two interviews being the first to come to mind)  others may be rewritten and new photos added but I'll make it obvious what is being reposted and what is new.