Trip with the Teacher

Watched Trip with the Teacher at the last Motorcycle Movie Night. We knew it wasn't a true biker flick, but pickings are getting slim. We've seen almost every single biker movie ever made by now. Especially from the 60's. So we're branching out into flicks that are marketed as biker flicks even though they're not really....

Having said that...we had a blast. This was a fun movie. At some point someone had to say, "you do realize you're cheering for a rape scene, right?" So things were getting a little out of hand. Maybe it was all the pizza we consumed.

Anyway, this is about some hot young girls who are going on a camping trip. Their bus breaks down and a couple sketchy dudes on bikes offer to help them. Well, they weren't being very honest. They had other ideas for the young girls in booty shorts. It involved an abandoned shack, some alcohol and an old mattress.

Surprisingly I recommend this flick if you like shitty pseudo-exploitation films. It promises TnA but doesn't really deliver. :(

Hell's Bloody Devils

We watched Hell's Bloody Devils again. I was too hard on it in the first review.  It's actually pretty freakin bad ass. I think I was just so pissed because it's not really a biker flick, it just has some bikers in it. The thing that really impressed me this time around was the cinematography. It was shot by none other than László Kovács. He did everything from Easy Rider to Ghostbusters. The guy is really talented. So while the acting isn't good and the plot is ridiculous...it's a great film to look at. And the women are untouchable.

Definitely recommended.

High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way

Mike Mentzer is one of my favorite classic-era bodybuilders. Given I think they had the best physiques, I'm interested in their training methods. Not so interested in the 'roids, though. Funnily enough that's not covered in the book. Go figure.

Anyway, Mike has a very scientific approach to lifting and he was famous for the method he dubbed HEAVY DUTY. He got to a point where he was advocating lifting just once a week! One working set per body part! But the intensity was through the roof. Every workout was supposed to take you beyond your limits. Total pukers. A lot of people claimed bullshit on his method, but he had a lot of devotees including the mass-monster Dorian Yates. Now, these guys got huge by the normal methods; high volume and steroids. But once they were there some of the incorporated or totally switched to the HEAVY DUTY method.

Whether it works as a total method or not is besides the point to me. I was able to read it and take aspects of his theory and apply them how I saw fit. Last week was my first week lifting and applying his methods and I really dug it. It's great to mix things up. I'll be re-reading and referencing this book for a while to come. For sure.

He had such a great mustache, too.

Batman: Noël

My boss loaned me this. He's a huge Batman fan and this book really blew him away. I just checked it out, and man is it gorgeous. The coloring is incredible! I'm super impressed with the penciling and the coloring. It's just so detailed and so full of life. It's a very cinematic book.

The story is based on A Christmas Carol, but with Batman and co. replacing Scrooge etc. It's a unique spin on both stories. A fine mash-up indeed.

Catwoman is insanely sexy in this book. It has to be said.

I really enjoyed this. I would have enjoyed it even if it was written in Latin. It's just killer to look at.

It's a tremendous work of art. Definitely recommended for Batman fans.

Savage Abduction

When you've seen as many motorcycle flicks as we have, you start trolling the depths at a certain point. And you dredge up things like Savage Abduction.

I knew going into it that the motorcycle pedigree was going to be dubious. It's really more of a crap slasher/exploitation film that has a hint of motorcycle madness to it. The main characters are in a motorcycle gang, but the film doesn't revolve around gang activity with glorious shots of bikers on their hogs in the Arizona desert. No.

What this film lacks in biker activity it makes up for in...well, it doesn't make up for it. But it does have a good actor in it, which is a rarity. There's a serial killer who blackmails a rich client into procuring two young girls for him to kill. Whoever played the serial killer is pretty legit. He was creepy. The bikers were not legit. Their prez wore what appeared to be a bedazzled jacket and pants. Looks like he time-travelled to the present day and bought them at Buckle. Not cool.

Also, there's nary a boob to be seen. Disappointing.

The poster is cool, but the film...meh.

Black Road: Issues 1 through 5

I went to my local comic book shop and asked them about any new Viking books that were out. The young lass pointed me towards a new series called BLACK ROAD. I subsequently picked up the first five issues. Why not. Brian Wood from Northlanders is part of the creative team. It's gotta be good.

IT IS!

Black Road is the emerging story of Magnus the Black. He's a Viking. He's big and bald. And he kicks ass. So far it's the age old story of pagans versus Christians. Blood is shed. The Christian oppressors wield their weapons in the name of conversion to their faith. 'Twas a rough time for all.

If you lament the demise of the incredible but short-lived Northlanders, then definitely get this! I just wish it was further along so I could buy a collection in a TPB. You rip through the first five issues faster than a longsword through enemy flesh!

Hard-Core: Life of My Own

How could I not buy this? You kidding me? Even if it was half as good as John Joseph's it'd be worth the read. My only concern was that he'd write the whole thing in ALL CAPS and punctuate every sentence with random "HAHAHA"s. If you've read some of his facebook rants you know what I mean.

Anyway, shit was off the hook. Immediate comparison to JJ's book...well, they're very different. JJ's is longer and thus has more detail, and his tone is far more cinematic and dare I say...high-brow. It feels like JJ had a really strong Editor on his book and it's really well done. Harley's is definitely more gritty. Definitely more street. He doesn't hold back. It's not as "high-brow." It feels really conversational and less like a story or a movie. This book reads as if you were just hanging with Harley and he was spinning some yarns and tellin' some old tyme tales from the LES. He's not afraid to talk some shit. Shocker. It's awesome.

It doesn't matter which one is better. They're both gripping and insightful.

If you like hardcore then this is a must-read. No doubt.

Cro-Mag. Skinhead. Buy This. Nooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

Best of 2016

The last three years in a row have seen me watch about 50 movies per year and read about 25 books. The high was in 2012 when I watched 100 movies. I actually thought I'd slowed down since last year, but I'm right where I was. 51 movies and 23 books. I think the bigger swing was the percentage of documentaries. I watched 34 this year.

Here's my run down of my favorites. I'd say that The Hateful Eight was in a whole other league as far as fiction goes. Hands down the best movie all year. And Oasis: Supersonic was one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long, long time. So those two are huge stand-outs for me. And yes, I think the Complete Chronicles of Conan is better than the Lord of the Rings. Sorry, but I know which one I'd bring on a desert island with me, and there are no Hobbits in it.

It was a really good year for music, imo. The first seven albums I listed are fucking awesome!!!




Top 5 Movies:

The Hateful Eight
Cool Hand Luke
Le Mans
Oasis: Supersonic
Bury Me an Angel


Top 5 Motorcycle Movies:

The Wild Angels
Bury Me an Angel
Satan's Sadists
Northville Cemetery Massacre
Road


Top 5 Documentary Movies:

Oasis: Supersonic
Generation Iron
Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery
Top Spin
The Class of '92


Top 10 Books:

The Complete Chronicles of Conan
The Lord of the Rings
Papillon
Only Death is Real
Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult
The Girl on the Train
Icons of Men's Style
Swedish Death Metal
Out of Sight
Murder in the Front Row


Top 10 Albums that came out in 2016:

Vanhelgd "temple of phobos"
Krypts "remnants of expansion"
Wretch s/t
40 Watt Sun “wider than the sky”
Blood Incantation "starspawn"
Sumerlands s/t
Eternal Champion “The Armor of Ire”
Asphyx "incoming death"
Escarnium “interitus”
Alcest "kodama"

Tampopo

It's Marie's birthday today so we went to the DFT for a movie and Woodbridge Pub for a delicious dinner last night. Tampopo is a Japanese film from 1985 that's been long out-of-print. It's gotten a 4k restoration and theatrical rerelease on the art house circuit.

Tampopo is a weird Ramen Western. It's a Western film set in Japan in the 80's. It's about a ramen shop, love, loss, redemption. There's a girl, there are thugs, and there's a cowboy. And there's a lot of noodles.

I don't like Westerns and I don't watch a lot of comedies, and this film is both. I thought it was quirky and original, but I was really put off by a couple of the food scenes because they weren't very vegetarian friendly, to say the least. For that reason alone I couldn't really like or recommend the film.

It's definitely a film for cinephiles and film historians. It's gotta be one of the first "foodie" movies, so to speak.

That's about all I can say on it. It's a good, unique, important film. But the meat scenes really turned me off.

Werewolves on Wheels

Watched this for a second time at Motorcycle Movie Night. You can see original review here. I rated it more harshly than I remember. I actually really dig it now. I've a lot more experience with motorcycle exploitation flicks so I know what a REAL shitty film looks like. And Werewolves on Wheels is significantly better than a  lot of the other ones I've seen. I totally back it.

Bikes. Boobs. Satan. Snakes. Werewolves. It's pretty bad ass.