Friday, March 27, 2009

MARK DACASCOS IS A BADASS


Perhaps you've seen him on "The Crow" television series.
Maybe not.
But he is a world class martial artist, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the late, great Brandon Lee, so he was excellent casting.

Most people don't realize he's a better than average actor for the b-grade fair he's generally involved with. "Brotherhood of the Wolf" is a masterpiece of some kind released out of France several years back and his combination of steely eyed intensity and whiplike martial arts skills gave him one of the most underrated roles of that 2001. And God, those fight scenes were visually beautiful.

He also was involved in "Double Dragon", "Kickboxer 5", and the respected under the radar flick, "China Strike Force". He has some recent fairly high profile fare, "The Nomad" and Sony's "Hunt for Eagle One".

According to his website, he has purchased the rights to produce and star in author Tess Uriza Holthe's "When the Elephants Dance", a film about Filipinos thrown together to survive Japanese occupation in WWII. That could be interesting to say the least.

MIKE WRITES

If you do Itunes, Michale Graves' track "Blackbird" is available now. I advise you part with the $.99 and give it a shot. Beautiful track. As good in my humble opinion, although stylistically different, than anything the Misfits pre or post Mike did. Great track.

IN MEMORIAM


Celebrities pass all the time. Some hurt more to some individuals than others.

In recent years, two have killed me.

Mitch Hedberg, abstract comedian extraordiaire passed about 3 years ago. This was a man from Minnesota that had a style of comedy slightly off-kilter and an inflection to go with it. He found humor in the world without taking cultural heroes and anti-heroes and putting them in the crosshairs. He proved it was possible to be funny without drawing blood. God rest his soul.




Steve Irwin brough nonstop smiles to my face. He truly, and often to the point of tears, loved his subjects. The Crocodile Hunter was an entertainer that truly fit the bill of conservationist at the same time. The world indeed lost something when he died too soon, doing what he loved, exploring the animal kingdom. His is a void that really won't be filled. His movie may have been somewhat silly, but in my opinion Steve's overabundant joy made it work. Thanks, Mr. Irwin for what you shared, and what I learned. You will be missed. God bless.

If only those who rode as high in the cultural roadway could be as positive a light to show the way down it.

We could all learn valuable lessons from both of them.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

STICKS & STONES

We've all gone places and either said to a friend, or thought to ourselves, some nondescript, asinine insult about a poor defenseless schlub walking by. Have you ever thought of what the literal image of said insult would look like?
Here it is:

Saturday, March 14, 2009

SKULL THE CONQUEROR

When Michale Graves was the lead singer of the second incarnation of the misfits, he had probably the strongest voice in punk rock. Now, he's an excellent songwriter and performer in his own right. Some people dog on him because he's a conservative thinker in a typically left-thinking musical world. Even Dave Navarro of Jane's addiction appearing on "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher" on a panel discussing "christian rock" stated, and i'm paraphrasing, that if you believe in your message, who cares about the method? Here's Mike a couple years ago being interviewed by Ed Helms from the Daily Show. Check out his music on his website Michalegraves.net. He's a talented guy. And an individual.


Monday, March 9, 2009

UNHAND HER, DAN BACKSLIDE




Chuck Jones was, and in my humble opinion, still is the greatest animated filmmaker of all time.

There is no arguing the awesomely awesomeness of his work in the Warner Bros. camp, nor his MGM Tom & Jerry cartoons, which were in my eyes, the best of the series.

But take a peek at this little gem from 1942, a AAP Merry Melodies piece, "The Dover Boys of Pimento University". This may contain one of the silliest villains in cartoon history, the notorious Dan Backslide, voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc. 60 years later, you still cannot touch this.