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Pop Offensive returns!

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Once again, my dear friend Jeff Heyman and I will be taking over the studios of Peralta College's 9th Floor Radio to flood the internet with a wide assortment of foot stomping tunes from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Hell, we might even play some of that new bullshit. You can stream the whole noisome affair directly from the 9th Floor site starting at 7 pm Pacific, this coming Wednesday, May the 28th.

If you live in the future, good news! You, too, can listen to the 5/28/14 edition of Pop Offensive by streaming it from the Pop Offensive page of the 9th Floor archives, where it shall live forever in digital infamy. And I'll be gol-durned if you residents of the present day can't also listen to last month's debut episode by going there right now!

Those of you who want to provide any feedback, blowback, or pushback during the course of the show can reach out to us via my Twitter account @FOURDK. Use the hashtag #popoffensive if you're nasty.

Friday's best pop song ever

The offense lingers on

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The Pussycats

Wednesday's Pop Offensive was another rousing success. For two glorious hours, the digital air rang with jaunty J-Pop, garrulous girl groups, percolating power poppers, yodeling ye ye girls and more, all combining to send the listeners at home into a collective St. Vitus dance. Can you prove it didn't happen? Answer: No, you cannot! Because now the whole joyous affair has been immortalized for your streaming enjoyment at the 9th Floor Radio archives. Come on in and join the party!

Bringing the funk in '014

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Hey, do you remember books? They're those things you read that you have to pay for and which take up physical space in your domicile that could otherwise be used to display your Danzig nodder doll or super deformed Boba Fett plushy.  Bloggers write them because, despite the much wider audience that can be reached online, we feel that it is only by having something in print that we can have true legitimacy. Others of us are just old and have an irrational attachment to the things.

In any case, what you see above is my dear and talented friend Andrew Nahem's cover design for my upcoming book Funky Bollywood, which I have been toiling over in secret for many a moon. It's a guide to Indian action movies of the 1970s, which, alongside the stunt films of the 60s, comprise my favorite avenue of Bollywood cinema. All of our good friends -- Amitabh, Feroz, Dharmendra, Jyothi, Shetty, Pran, Zeenat, Hema -- are there, represented in detailed reviews and synopses of 70 films, capsule bios, special sections on spy and western films, and a handy visual guide to common tropes.

Now, if you are one of those hardened souls who looks sideways at Bollywood, I humbly ask that you find it within you to give Funky Bollywood a chance. I am confident that, in addition to appealing to my Bollywood-loving readers who've enjoyed my writings on the topic in the past, it will also provide a welcoming entryway into Indian cinema for cult and genre film enthusiasts of a more general nature. Not to mention that I have worked very hard to make it a fun and lively read.

Funky Bollywood is now in the process of being made print ready, with my conservative estimate of its release date being sometime in September. At that time, you will be able to purchase it via this blog, as well as from a number of other places online. Those of you who live in the Bay Area, or who plan to be here around that time, might also look out for any launch events we cook up. Until then, I'd just appreciate you spreading the word.

Yours in funkitude,
Todd

Next Tuesday: The 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down returns with THE STABILIZER!

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I may be on the cusp of becoming a published author, but that doesn't mean I've gotten too big for the Monthly Movie Shout Down -- especially when the fate of the free world is at stake! Because when that happens, there's only one man who can even the odds: THE STABILIZER!

Yes, it's Indonesia's answer to Cobra, 1986's The Stabilizer, with its jaw dropping combo kick of nonstop, hair raising stunts, sublimely risible dialog, and carbonized acting. For a taste of what we have in store, check out this only mildly tampered-with trailer:



Come next Tuesday, June 10th,  at 6pm PDT, all you need do is log into Twitter, start up the movie via the YouTube link provided on this blog, and, using the hashtag #4DKMSD, tweet along with us as we, aghast, lay into this uproarious turkey with all our earthly might, in the process correcting the balance between right-mindedness and stupidity in the world. More details can be found at the official Shout Down site.

Now, in the interest of keeping the Monthly Movie Shout Down a woman-friendly zone, I must point out that The Stabilizer does contain some incidents of rapey-ness and violence against women. I, personally, feel that these incidents are leavened somewhat by all of the ridiculousness and incompetence that surrounds -- and, indeed, engulfs -- them, but I also realize that that judgment is up to the individual viewer. You have been warned.

Check out my Teleport City review of The Stabilizer here.

Friday's best pop song ever

Tonight! The 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down levels THE STABILIZER!

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Shout Downers, has there ever been a greater night than tonight? It is the night that will see an end to our days of longing. A night when we will see a man who looks like a more muscled version of Brian May from Queen riding a motorcycle up  some stairs. We will also see him react to having a shipping container filled with narcotics bounced off his noggin with the look of a stunned water buffalo. Yes, it's The Stabilizer, a movie made by Indonesians to spirit money away from near sighted Sylvester Stallone fans -- and the esteemed subject of this month's Monthly Movie Shout Down!

Simply join us on Twitter tonight -- that's Tuesday, June 10th -- at 6:00 pm PDT and, using the hashtag #4DKMSD, join in the conversation as we take measure of this stunning action oddity. A link to the complete feature is below. Please note that there is an ad at the beginning; you'll want to run through that prior to "go" time in the interest of us all staying synched up and stabilized.



Also do take note that this is the first Shout Down to come with a trigger warning. The Stabilizer, being the loutish 80s action movie that it is, does feature some scenes of rape and violence against women. Consider this your neighborly warning.

"Oh, the stability!"

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It's safe to say that last night's 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down of The Stabilizer was a barrel of fun. A big industrial barrel of fun filled with toxic chemicals and usually on fire. A big, mulleted man-shake of the hand to all who participated. A link to the Storified transcript of the proceedings is below.

The 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down: The Stabilizer on Storify

And now, with that event a matter of record, here's a preview of July's main event:



Shout at you later!

Friday's best pop song ever

Friday's best pop song ever

Podcast on Fire's Taiwan Noir Episode 13: The Devil Returns and Kill for Love

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Let's be honest: The Devil Returns and Kill for Love are shitty movies. Nonetheless, Kenny B. and myself had a lot of fun talking about them. So much fun, in fact, that I think you will actually enjoy listening to this latest episode of Taiwan Noir, what with all of our audible nose holding and carrying on and such. Also, it's pretty short.

Sold? You can either stream the episode or get details on how to download it here. Enjoy!

The Ghost Hill (Taiwan, 1971)

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If I made a Wuxia film, this would be the plot: A much coveted weapon of great supernatural power -- a magic sword, let’s say -- is stolen from a righteous sifu by an evil king and his grotesque minions. The old master is killed in the course of the theft and, in order to retrieve the sword and deal out vengeance, the surviving members of his clan, skilled martial artists all, must brave the evil king’s labyrinthine, booby trap filled fortress. One of them is a cute girl.

What’s that? Yes… yes, you’re right. This also describes the plot of roughly 80% of all existing wuxia films. Now let me tell you why: If, like director/writer Ting Shan-Hsi’s The Ghost Hill, you have an abundance of style, a charismatic cast, and nonstop violent action, that’s all the plot you need.

In the case of The Ghost Hill, the coveted super weapon is something called the Purple Light Sword and, until certain sticky fingers see otherwise, it is in the custody of a blind kung fu master named Yen (Chan Bo Leung). The culprits are a band of murderous weirdies (bearing awkwardly translated handles like “Cow Head”) commanded by one King Gold (Sit Hon), whose royal badness extends to him taking baths in boiling oil and eliminating unmotivated underlings with a spear launching metal prosthetic.



King Gold spirits the Sword away to his digs on the faraway Gold Mountain, requiring that Master Yen’s surviving family members make a long trek across much picturesque-yet-inhospitable terrain in order to retrieve it. Along the way, they pick up allies, such as blade-for-hire Shadow Tsai (A Touch of Zen’s Tien Peng), and a mangy bunch called the Beggars Gang. All the while, they fend off attacks from the King’s forces, including his also evil daughter, Princess Gia (Hon Seung Kam).

This motley lot eventually succeeds in capturing Yen’s adult son and daughter and imprisoning them in the King’s lair. Thus does our heroes’ mission of vengeance become also one of rescue, requiring them to withstand the many Dante’s Inferno-like travails of the King’s “Hell Castle”. This, as one might expect, does not prove easy, involving lots of acrobatic sword fighting, vigorous one-against-all hand to hand combat, and every manner of exotic weapon the Martial World has to offer. Fortunately, just as all seems lost, Yen’s daughter, Swallow, a formidable swordswoman, is freed to play a decisive role in the final confrontation.



Swallow is played by 4DK favorite Polly Shang Kwan. Kwan, still a contract player with Union Pictures, had become a literal overnight sensation with her debut in King Hu’s Dragon Gate Inn just a few years earlier, and still had the star power to carry an obvious prestige production like The Ghost Hill on her diminutive, but no doubt powerful, shoulders. Mind you, in keeping with the persona she established with that earlier film, this is a much steelier version of Polly than the one we would see emerge a couple years later, clowning around in goofball oddities like Little Hero and Zodiac Fighters. As likeable as she is in those roles, there’s something to be said for seeing her in a part that relies more on her considerable skill, athleticism and grace as a fighter. In keeping with that, Polly is never pitted against just one opponent when she can instead face off against several, or even a dozen. The result is that her fight scenes here make up most of the high points in a film that in no way lacks for well-staged and breathtakingly paced brawls.

The Ghost Hill offsets its gritty physical action with a woozy dose of dreamy, haunted atmosphere. This and its employment of fog enshrouded, hyper-real sets give it a striking resemblance to the many adaptation of Ku Long’s Wuxia novels that director Chor Yuen would film for Shaw Brothers over the course of the 70s. It also shares with Chor a pronounced debt to Sergio Leone, especially in the restless, sweeping camera work of cinematographer Chiu Yao Hu. However, Chiu also marks a departure from Chor in that, where Chor would increasingly rely on indoor sets for his exterior shots, Chiu uses the widescreen frame to capture yawning natural vistas, often dwarfing the film’s protagonists as they proceed toward their destiny across the wastelands.



Complimenting this epic air are those fanciful touches and tricks of art that we’ve come to depend upon from old Taiwanese fantasy wuxia movies. The first level of King Gold’s devilish lair is a psychedelic netherworld of brightly colored giant fauna that has all the gaudy artificiality of a roadside dinosaur park, within which the King sits upon his equally verdant throne like a malevolent bloom. Beyond that, there is the Palace of Ice, with its frozen sentries and prison cells carved from snow. And then there is the spiked chamber to end all spiked chambers, in which one imagines even the men’s room offers no relief from stabby appurtenances.

I know very little about director Ting Shan-Hsi, other than that he was one of those hard working and prolific directors of popular Taiwanese movies whose filmography by necessity includes silly sounding and amusingly translated titles like The Talenty Girl. An obituary for him over at Kung Fu Cinema -- he died in 1999 at the age of 74 – states that he is best known for the patriotic war films The Everlasting Glory and The Battle for the Republic of China, and that he directed at least 69 features over the course of almost 30 years. All I know is that, with The Ghost Hill, he demonstrates how a well-made martial arts programmer can be endowed with a kind of lurid pop poetry, thrilling in both its lyricism and trashy vitality. Sometimes, sifting through the dross of Asian action cinema as I do, I lose sight of that. Needless to say, I’m always grateful for the reminder.

Friday's best pop song ever

Pop Offensive returns this Wednesday!

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This Wednesday, July 2nd, at 7 pm PT, Jeff Heyman and I will be returning to the studios of Oakland's 9th Floor Radio to flood the netwaves with retro pop, dance and movie music from around the world. Yes, it's Pop Offensive, the essential soundtrack to the 4DK lifestyle, and it is not to be missed! Though, of course, if you do miss it, the episode will be available indefinitely for streaming from the show archives, where you can now check out episodes one and two.

Want to heckle us while we're on air? Simply give me a shout on Twitter, using the hashtag #PopOffensive. Maybe we'll dedicate a Thai surf instrumental to your mom!

Ago Go 67 (Singapore, 1967)

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Produced by Shaw Brothers’ Malay language division under the direction of Nordin Arshad, Ago Go 67 hews very closely to the template set by the “pop review” type of films -- think Pop Gear, or Live It Up -- that were issuing from Britain during the 1960s. We have two nice kids with dreams of stardom, disapproving parents, slick music biz types, rapturously frugging teens, and just enough of a plot to serve as the connective tissue between numerous musical vignettes showcasing the hitmakers of the day. Along the way, those of us at a historical remove from the proceedings are given an alluring snapshot of the Beatles-influenced “Pop Yeh Yeh” movement that was exploding throughout Malaysia at the time.

A pair of popular young actor/singers, Aziz Jaafar and Noor Azizah, respectively play Johari (“Joe”) and Fauziah. Fauziah works days as a shop girl while Joe labors at a stable with the film’s designated comic relief (S. Shamsuddin). Nights, however, are dedicated to practicing with their beat band, Dendang Perindu, which, as far as I can tell is played by the real beat band Dendang Perindu. This is an activity that Fauziah must keep secret from her father (Ahmad Nisfu), a blustering martinet who loudly objects to the youth music of today with all of its “yeah yeah yeah”-ing and such.


While visiting a recording studio at the behest of a slick music biz type played by Kuswadinata, the kids in Dendang Perindu see a poster for a record company sponsored talent showcase that just may provide them with their big break. It just may also provide Ago Go 67 with the opportunity to present us with a string of musical performance clips by groups with names like Wan Intan & The Mods, M. Ishak & The Young Lovers, The Terwellos, and Orchid Abdullah & Les Coasters.

One thing I learned from Ago Go 67 and my subsequent research into same is that the associations between Malay singers of the era and the bands who backed them up were somewhat transient, with the bands allying themselves with whichever performer opportunity -- or, perhaps, commerce -- smiled upon at that moment. For example, The Rythmn Boys (sic), who here perform behind singer S. Mariam, became one of the most in-demand backing bands on the scene after winning a Dave Clark 5-themed talent contest, and resultantly played with a number of different artists. On the other hand, singer Siti Zaitan, who here beams through an energetic, spy-themed number called “Alam Seni” to the accompaniment of The Hornets, was more often seen fronting a group called The Firebirds.


Despite defying the prevailing naming conventions, Denang Perindu ultimately win the big break we all knew they would. Unfortunately, as fate and the necessities of three act structure would have it, it is at this time that Fauziah’s father chooses to bring the hammer down on her musical activities. Providing further complications is Salvia, the singer for a rival band played by Malay sexpot Norma Zainal, who has unwelcome romantic designs on young Joe. It will take all of the moxie these teens can muster to make sure everything is set right before the producers of Ago Go 67 see fit to cram in another uninterrupted block of musical performances.

While Fausiah’s dad getting all het up about it provides the required note of generational tension, there really isn’t much on display in Ago Go 67 that one could imagine presenting much of a threat to the status quo. The music is undeniably fun, but lightweight, perfectly suited to the wholesome prancing of the clean cut -- shirts and ties for the boys, knee-length jumpers for the girls -- dancers who shimmy along to it.


This is not to say that there are not standouts among the performances, the aforementioned Siti Zaitan & The Hornets’ being one of them. On top of that, there is the striking androgyny and haunting vocal of D4-Ever singer, D. Hatta, who came into this world as one Mohamed Hatta Abdul Wahab (like some Jewish American singers, Malaysian singers of the era appear to have had a tendency to deracinate their stage names -- perhaps understandably, given the racial strife that was gripping the country at the time). Elsewhere, Blind singer S. Jibeng -- rather than presenting himself as an inspirational figure like so many other disabled artists before him -- seems to be milking his condition for pathos with the song “Nasib si Butah” (“Blind Luck”). He starts by dropping his cane onto the set from off-screen, as if by accident, and then scrambles for it pathetically on the ground before launching into his mournful tune.

Also bearing mention is the level of musicianship on display in Ago Go 67, which is exceptional. The guitar instrumentals of groups like The Ventures and, especially, The Shadows had an enormous influence on Southeast Asian beat groups at the time, which is given ample testament here. The resulting prominence of busy and interweaving, melodic guitar lines requires a lot of lightning-fingered picking on the part of the axemen in these groups. This, of course, does not cancel out the need for showmanship, as equal prominence is given to lots of choreographed guitar moves -- a tradition that I wish would return, along with the practice, abundantly in evidence here, of conveniently labeling the kick drum head with the band’s name.



A movie like Ago Go 67 was likely seen as a quick money maker for Shaw, unworthy of the vibrant color lavished on its Hong Kong productions. Still, one can’t help wishing it could have been otherwise, especially when considering the delightfully campy designs of the individualized sets on which each group performs. All of the staple elements of 1960s variety show mise-en-scène are on view: the giant musical notes, the ascending rampways to nowhere, the stylized street scenes populated by bizarre, human-like effigies. Singer S. Mariam is even provided with an on-stage vanity table and mirror, into which she stares with delicious melancholy, like a Malay Francoise Hardy, brushing her hair absently as the intro plays. What M. Ishak & The Young Lovers did to have their song, “Menari Go-Go”, simply performed in someone’s backyard, I’ll never know.



I think it goes without saying that Ago Go 67, which is currently available in its entirety on YouTube, is a real treat for fans of world pop, be it of the musical or cinematic variety. If, like me, you are a fan of both, it is a little slice of heaven. As an added bonus, the steadfastly formulaic nature of its plot renders subtitles completely unnecessary. For example, I don’t need to speak Malay to know what Fauziah’s father, predictably humbled and chagrined at the film’s end, is saying. Darn those crazy kids!

Repeat offenders

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Why "Pop Offensive", you ask? Simply put, the experience of listening to Pop Offensive reaches such extremes of sublimity that it can only be expressed in the language of warfare and violence. To wit: Last night, Jeff Heyman and I once again strafed our unsuspecting listeners with a merciless barrage of head wrecking pop, dance and movie music from around the world, leaving them with sucking chest wounds of pure pleasure. Sound like your idea of a good time? Well, the good news is that you can now either stream the episode from the 9th Floor Radio archives or download it, podcast style, here.

Friday's best pop song ever

This Tuesday: The 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down returns with ZODIAC FIGHTERS!

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That's right, comrades. Once again comes the time for us to assemble and press ourselves to the hard work of nattering along to silly movies on the internet. The night is Tuesday, July 8th, at 6pm PDT and the film is the hallucinatory Taiwanese fantasy martial arts romp ZODIAC FIGHTERS, in which the adorable Polly Shang Kwan leads an army of animal themed kung fu warriors against Lo Lieh and his medieval shark-mobile. As the trailer below demonstrates, it contains more than your annual allowance of crazy, and continues on from there:



As always, all you must do, come the alloted time, is sign in to Twitter, fire up the movie via the link that I'll provide here, and, using the hastag #4DKMSD, join me and a host of other wits, wags and scoundrels in what will undoubtedly be a very lively conversation. Believe me, this is the one not to miss. Did I mention the flying sharks?

For more details, see the official Shout Down site.

Tonight! The 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down zeroes in on ZODIAC FIGHTERS!

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The debut of distinguished fightress Polly Shang Kwan as a subject of the 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down is as auspicious as Santo's was back in May. And tonight is the night! The stars are favorable, the planets are aligned, and all signs point to ZODIAC FIGHTERS, a full version of which is linked below (be sure to forward through any pesky ads at the beginning).



All you need to do is log on to Twitter tonight -- that's Tuesday, July 8th -- at 6pm PDT, fire up the movie and, using the hashtag #4DKMSD, join in what will no doubt be a pretty freewheeling conversation. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Hot Plate Girl in the Land of Simper Fist

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Last night's tweet-along by the 4DK Monthly Movie Shout Down crew to Zodiac Fighters was a concatenation of sharp wit and dull-eyed confusion. We could see what was happening, but we weren't always sure why it was happening, or, more importantly, why it was happening to us. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, you can now  follow our addled thought processes step by step in the Storified transcript linked below:


A hardy thanks to all who participated. And now, a preview of next month's feature. Hold onto your balloons!


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