The Walking Dead: Volume 23 Whispers into Screams

This was an exciting issue. One of the best in recent memory. A lot of shit is going on. The cliffhanger from last TPB is resolved, and it's turned into a whooooole new thing. I'm not saying anything else. Stoked on this one.

Dawg Fight

I saw this pop up on Netflix so I added it to ye olde queue. Just watched it. Pretty decent. I really liked the main guy it profiles; DaDa 5000.

You've probably heard of Kimbo Slice. The dude is a UFC fighter and he went pro after being discovered in the backyard fighting scene of Florida. Evidently there are at least five fighters from a small backyard fight club in Miami who have made it to the pro level after being discovered on YouTube and whatnot.

This is the story of DaDa 5000, the guy who organizes the fights. He's one hell of a fighter himself, weighing in at a 260lbs. These dudes see fighting in the backyard as a way out of the ghetto. And sometimes...it works. But more importantly it bring the community together and it gives people something to strive for. And in many cases it settles beefs with fists instead of knives or guns.

It's a somewhat low budget doc, but it's not exactly a glamorous environment so it's alright. It doesn't need to be fancy. There are a lot of likable characters, some sadness, some loss, some triumph, and a whole lot of resilience...it's all there.

If you like MMA I'd suggest you watch this. No doubt.

Project A Part 2

I hadn't seen Project A Part 2 since I was probably 10 years old. I had recently watched Project A so I wanted to see the sequel. It's on Netflix and I had time to kill so I did just that. It ruled so hard, man. Great Jackie Chan flick. Golden era Golden Harvest production.

Jackie is an up and coming cop in Shanghai in what appears to be...the 20's? Earlier? In Project A he defeats some pirates. Kills their leader. In Part 2 they come back to seek revenge. On top of that there's a whole lot of police corruption going on, double-crossing, and a hefty dose of political radicals causing trouble. It makes for a relatively complicated plot. It's a bit tricky keeping track of all the subplots. But it's not rocket science either. Anyway, the movie is about action and comedy. That's what you're here for. And Project A Part 2 delivers both in spades.

If you like Jackie Chan, this is a must-see. Some classic stunts. But if you're not into 80's kung-fu then I guess you can live without it. Although I wouldn't recommend it.

Long live Jackie Chan.

Total Recall

I bought this for Pickle*, but the dude had already read it. So I figured fuck it, I'll read it myself. I was on an Ahhnold kick so what the hell.

I'm really glad I purchased it. It's an excellent read. Top class bio. Arnie charts his life growing up, through his body building career, then movie career and finally his political career. It's all there. Every rep.

The awesome part about his story is his mental fortitude. The dude is so god damn disciplined. It's a very inspiring read. You understand that Arnie wasn't a body builder who got into this or that...whether he was a body builder or not is irrelevant. The guy just had immense drive. He was going to succeed at multiple things in his life no matter what, and body building just happened to be one of the first major accomplishments. He's a scholar, an athlete, an actor and much, much more.

Arnold talks about his follies, too. It's not all glamour. He makes mistakes and he pulls back the curtain on a couple of them.

This book is highly enjoyable. But I found the final quarter less interesting because it focused on his political career...and that's obviously not as interesting to me. I prefer stories about lifting on Venice Beach or shooting Conan with John Milius. But if I'm gonna read about politics it might as well be about Arnold. So it's really a win/win. This is great.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story of grit, determination, and personal drive. Or anyone who just wants to know about Schwarzenegger. I mean, who wouldn't want to know about the Austrian Oak?

Winnebago Man

I'd seen the 'winnebago man' / 'angriest man on the planet' video outtakes years ago. My friend Andrea introduced me to the clips. I thought it was incredibly funny. One of the all time great viral videos.

I wasn't alone.

Winnebago Man is a documentary all about tracking down Jack (the guy from the outtakes), to catch up with him now and see what he was all about. Where was he? What's he been doing? What'd he think about the popularity of the video he unwittingly starred in? All these questions and more.

The doc takes a surprising turn (I won't mention the details) upon meeting Jack. It's pretty interesting stuff. Light viewing. I wouldn't suggest anyone rushes out to watch this on Netflix. But if you're eating dinner and want to plop something on...you could go a lot worse.

If you haven't seen the original video for some reason...here it is. Fucking amazing stuff.

Bigger Stronger Faster

This started off really well but didn't quite hold the momentum. It's a pretty low budget, but well-done documentary about steroids, America, and family.

What pushes one brother to use steroids for years, while his other brother shuns the idea? What do their parents think of it all? WHY do steroids? Are they fair? Are they safe? Should they be allowed in pro sports? This doc touches on all of these questions and comes away with some surprising insights into steroid use.

If you're interested in sports or body-building, I definitely recommend you watch this doc. It'll give insight on a topic often discussed in half-truths, rumors, lies, and misconceptions.

Milius

Seeing as I just watched Conan and I've been reading Arnie's bio, John Milius has been on my radar. He was the director of said movie and an all round bad ass dude.

Milius was part of the USC directors in the 70's who really changed cinema forever. A book like "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" will go into great detail on that era of cinema if you're interested. But guys like Coppola, Spielberg, Milius, and Lucas were really making waves in the 70's and turning the studio system upside down.

This documentary tracks Milius's career as a script writer, director and producer. Part Hunter S. Thompson, part Teddy Roosevelt, Milius was a visionary artist and bone fide raconteur. He's written more famous screenplays than you realize. Dirty Harry? Apocalypse Now? Yeah.

If you're interested in film history, watch this documentary on Netflix. It's a compelling portrait of a great artist with a singular vision and unwavering drive.

What is good in life? To crush your enemies, seen them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women. 

Conan the Barbarian

I put this on at midnight last night. I've been reading Arnold's 2012 bio, "Total Recall," and I'm fascinated. It's a fucking phenomenal read. I'm about halfway through when he's talking about shooting Conan and I just had to watch it. The background info was just too much. I had to see it again.

Last time I watched Conan was probably 25 years ago. I tried watching it a few months ago and turned it off after 10 minutes. I just wasn't in the mood. But for whatever reason, last night I was ready to roll.

Here's the thing, I fucking love all things Conan, and I grew up a Schwarzenegger fan (how can you not when you came of age in the 80's). But at 35...I just wasn't into the campiness of Ahnold's shitty 'acting' in this flick. When you hold a character close to your heart it's almost impossible for the film version to hold up. However, we know it can be done b/c Sin City is quite literally a PERFECT cinematic version of the comic. So that's the bar. It's way high. Like, WAY UP THERE.

So I let my guard down and watched Conan. It was okay. I was surprised by how few speaking parts Arnie actually had. He rarely puts more than two sentences together at any given time. But I liked all his references to Crom.

It was cool to figure out which stories they had cobbled the plot from. It's neat to understand some of the back story re: Milius's directing. It's cool to see William Smith and Franco Columbu. There's a lot of history involved in the flick. But it's not a movie I'm going to keep coming back to. The tension isn't really there. It's a pale shadow of the comics or the original stories. Meh.

It was better than I thought it was gonna be. But it wasn't as good as it could have been by a long shot.

Barlowe's Inferno

Eric let me borrow Barlow's Inferno. It's awesome.

Wayne Barlowe paints a series of images depicting a voyeuristic trip through Hell. It's truly epic in scale. Very immersive. He paints with great sense of scale and imagination. He narrates the canvases through the book, discussing inspiration and content behind the depictions of anguish and torture. Bricks made out of human souls. Stuff like that...

It's the kind of book and voyage you can keep coming back to relive. Cool shit...

Slum Village

Daaaamnnnn

Frenzy

I saw this at the local classic used book store for a few bucks. As an avid Hitchcock nerd I was pretty stoked to pick this up.

I read the book in a few days and dug it. The novel is inevitably different from the film, but it's been a few years since my last viewing so I can't comment on the differences in too much detail. However, it did seem to be markedly different if my recollection is accurate. Some of the key scenes and characters are present in the movie, but Hitchcock definitely wove his own distinct yarn from the source material.

Anyway, the book was good. Slow pacing. Relatable characters. Typically English. Publisher's Weekly says it has "a shocker of an ending" and that's the truth, brotha! I found the denouement rather quickly pieced together, but still...it was good.

This is a short novel and worth the read. It's obvious why Hitchcock gravitated to it. "The Wrong Man" is a quintessential Hitchcockian theme that he visited time and time again. It's classic. Dig it.