Blu-ray Review: Braddock: Missing In Action III

Braddock: Missing In Action III is the final film in the Missing In Action series, starring Chuck Norris as Colonel James Braddock, a man who was once held as a POW, then returned to rescue other prisoners of war. This third film opens with the fall of Saigon in April of 1975. The city is in chaos, as people are looting and bombs are exploding. There is chaos in the U.S. embassy as well, where James Braddock goes looking for his wife, Lin (Miki Kim). He learns that she went home to get her papers.

Meanwhile Lin is packing for America, leaving behind most of her possessions to a friend, who apparently isn’t satisfied with the nice dresses and decides to steal Lin’s bracelet. The building is destroyed and Braddock arrives to see a charred corpse being carried out. The face is burned beyond recognition, but the bracelet he gave his wife is on the arm, so he assumes it’s his wife. Lin is on her way to the embassy, but her purse containing her papers is stolen, so she has trouble gaining access.

The scene at the embassy has some nice little details, like shots of the army blowing up its own trucks, and the flag and embassy sign being removed while the crowd surges. But then as Braddock is flown out on a helicopter, he looks up at the blades, and that shot is followed by a shot of a ceiling fan (making me think of Apocalypse Now).

The film then takes us to Washington D.C. in present day (well, present day as of the release of the film – 1988), when Reverend Polanski (Yehuda Efroni), a priest from a children’s mission in Vietnam, tells Braddock that his wife is alive and that he has a twelve-year-old son. Braddock doesn’t believe him, but a man named Littlejohn at the CIA inadvertently confirms the information. Littlejohn warns Braddock, “Don’t step on any toes.” Braddock replies: “I don’t step on toes, Littlejohn. I step on necks.” It’s such a silly line, and it’s accompanied by an imposing musical cue, which makes it all the more delightfully goofy. But that’s part of the enjoyment of watching this film now. After all, this is a 1980s action movie. Anyway, off Braddock goes to rescue his wife and son.

And we get fights and stunts and car chases. It’s not long before he finds Lin and the boy living in a shack. But things can’t be that easy for James Braddock. The boy resents him and is frightened. And soon they’re surrounded by soldiers, including General Quoc (Aki Aleong), who seems to hold a personal grudge against Braddock. And things get pretty serious pretty quickly.

There are some good moments in the film. I love the way Quoc seems to become impatient with his own torturous game. And there is a fairly intense scene later on involving one of the female children and a soldier. But of course there is some heavy-handed filmmaking as well, like when we get not one, but two shots of a child’s doll being left behind. This film was directed by Aaron Norris, a stunt coordinator whose directorial efforts have been almost entirely made up of projects starring his brother Chuck. And Chuck Norris was one of the writers on this particular film. Still, the movie is enjoyable in just the way you expect it to be. I used to own it on videocassette, and I had a good time revisiting it on Blu-ray.

By the way, the song that takes us into the closing credits is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard in my life, with lyrics like “When I look into your eyes, what do I see/It is the love of freedom staring back at me/I can almost see the eagle take the sky, see her fly/It is our love of freedom that has always kept us strong.” Yikes!

Braddock: Missing In Action III is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on March 15, 2016 through Shout! Factory. The disc contains no special features.

DVD Review: How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It)

How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It) is documentary about Melvin Van Peebles, probably still best known for his 1971 film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, but who in addition to being a film director and actor is a published author, musician and even trader on the stock exchange. Near the beginning of the film Melvin says: “What happened with me is: If I don’t see it then I do it myself. That’s what happened with the film, that’s what happened with the music, that’s what happened with writing. I didn’t see the types of things I wanted to see, so I did it myself.” That seems to be the key to his career, to his art.

The film provides a short biography of his early years, done in the style of an old film strip. He worked driving a cable car in San Francisco, and wrote The Big Heart based on some of his experiences. But his goal at the time was to direct films. When his short films were being shown in Paris, he moved there. And that’s where the documentary really starts to pick up and focus. There is some interesting stuff about him writing for Hara Kiri in France, and becoming a French writer. There is footage from a French television program in 1964, where he is interviewed about his autobiographical novel, A Bear For The F.B.I.  Interestingly, he wrote several novels in France with the aim of getting into film because of a rule at the time giving French writers temporary director’s cards so they could bring their own work to the screen. And that’s how Peebles came to make his first film, La Permission.

One thing about Melvin Van Peebles is that he comes across as extremely and immediately likeable. It’s a joy to watch and listen to him talk about his films, his music and his experiences. And he has a whole lot of great stories. I particularly like how he handled Watermelon Man. He talks about agreeing to shoot that film with his desired ending and with the studio’s desired ending, and then “forgetting” to shoot their ending. And of course there is plenty of material on Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and its impact – both positive and negative – on the film industry and on his own career. Mario Van Peebles tells us: “My dad said to me later on he learned from that process of doing Sweetback that it was very important that the big boys win when you win. If they don’t win when you win, they have no interest in you winning. In fact, they have an interest in you not winning.” I also love what Melvin has to say about the MPAA (an organization that I believe is no longer needed or wanted).

The film also treats us to some tracks from his records, stuff I’d actually never heard before, as well as information about his theatrical productions. But it’s his story about becoming a trader on the stock exchange that I find particularly hilarious as well as inspiring. Also, his solution to the homeless problem is funny. But I don’t know quite what to say about seeing him sing “Achy Breaky Heart.” By the way, the documentary’s title comes from the title of an article Melvin Van Peebles wrote, but which wasn’t published.

Special Features

The DVD contains some good bonus features. Gotta Eat: Breakfast With Melvin Van Peebles is a conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, director Joe Angio and producer Michael Solomon, filmed on December 1, 2015. They talk about the documentary project, and also about the January 2015 terrorist attack in France that claimed the lives of some of Melvin’s fellow writers at Hara Kiri.

The special features also include a few of Melvin Van Peebles Channel 5 NYC TV commentaries (including the one where he talks about hookers and the homeless), and a couple of live concert performances – “You’ve Cut Up The Clothes In The Closet Of My Dreams” and “Lilly Done The Zampouchi Every Time I Pulled Her Coattail.” The film’s trailer is also included.

How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It) was directed by Joe Angio, and was released on DVD on February 2, 2016 through Music Box Films.

DVD Review: Welcome To Leith

Welcome To Leith is an engaging, fascinating and frightening documentary about a very small community in North Dakota that suddenly becomes the home to white supremacists. The film opens with shots of a desolate town and the sounds of frantic calls to the police. We are given a bit of background on the area by the town’s mayor, Ryan Schock, who tells us he was on the town council since the age of sixteen, and that the town is three square miles with only twenty-four residents. “There’s only one business left here,” he says. And yes, it’s a bar.

The film introduces us to some of the town’s residents before we meet Craig Cobb, a leader in the white supremacist movement who bought several plots of land in Leith with the intention of turning the town into a haven for racists. He posted notices online urging white supremacists to move there, telling them it was a place they could quickly control politically. And already being aware of how small the population is, we know that Cobb is right, and that is frightening. The film is able to get close to Cobb as well as to the town’s other residents, which is what makes the film so fascinating. When asked where his hatred comes from, Cobb answers, “We hate that which threatens that which we love.”

Cobb donated one of the buildings he purchased to the National Socialist Movement, one of the largest neo-Nazi groups in the country. The film interviews Jeff Schoep, one of the leaders of that group (there is a shot of him and Cobb giving the Nazi salute). It’s amazing to me that there are still people who proudly call themselves Nazis. They seem like lonely, sad children who want to play dress-up, and decide specifically to play the villains. Just watch that town meeting scene, with the three NSM members standing in the front of the room. They look like ostracized, weak children posing as stronger people. It would all be laughable if these sad little losers weren’t also violent.

Kynan Dutton seems to be the most pathetic of all. Look at his sad attempt to replicate the Hitler mustache. You can tell he was a guy who was picked on in school and probably had no friends. So of course he’s going to latch onto any group that will embrace him. He and his wife and children are racists who move to Leith and live on Cobb’s property, which has no running water. Cobb encourages newly released white inmates to come to Leith, posting messages like “Come now, skins and federal prison grads!” and “The streets will run deep in the blood of our enemies, some whites among them.” And that is even scarier, because he’s deliberately reaching out to a violent segment of the population, and encouraging violence from them. So when the town’s people react in fear, you can hardly blame them.

What is also interesting is that because these days everyone has cameras, both sides of this battle are constantly filming everything. And this documentary actually includes footage shot by the racists. Particularly frightening is the footage shot by Dutton’s wife, which shows Dutton and Cobb walking down the town’s streets carrying rifles, engaging in shouting matches with other people.

Special Features

The DVD contains some bonus material, including Separatist, a short film by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker, presented by the New York Times Op-Docs. This focuses on Kynan Dutton, and includes some footage that made it into the feature film. He and his wife talk about why they want whites to be separate from those with other skin tones.

The special features also include an interview with Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He talks about that organization, and about hate groups. There is one deleted scene which features an interview with Jeremy Kelly, who organized opposition to the white supremacists, and also an extended scene of the burning of Cobb’s wooden signs. There are also short biographies of the filmmakers.

Welcome To Leith was directed by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker, and was released on DVD today (February 9, 2016) through First Run Features.

DVD Review: I Can Be President: A Kid’s Eye View

I Can Be President: A Kid’s Eye View is a delightful, humorous and at times touching short film in which children give us their thoughts on what it means to be president of the United States. It opens with various kids reciting (or doing their best to recite) the pledge of allegiance. It’s definitely cute (though I am not in favor of making children memorize that). And then the kids talk about wanting to be president. One girls says: “Well, maybe I would want to be president, but if I would want to be president, I would want weird hair. Because George Washington had weird hair.” Adorable.

They talk about being inspired by President Obama. The kids list all the presidents, with one kid taking inspiration from FDR, a touching moment. One boy says “Peace Corpse” when talking about Kennedy. But the children often speak with such passion that is refreshing, especially these days with the lunacy of the new election.  One girl tell us: “Presidents know a lot, like teachers. Like a lot of math, and you have to know all your ABCs.” She’s too young to remember George W. Bush, clearly.

There are some wonderful animated segments, illustrating the children’s dreams and hopes. In another segment, the children speculate about what it would be like if a child were president. “Everybody would have free ice cream,” one kid says. Hey, not bad! You have my vote. Also adorable is the moment when two young girls speak highly of a boy in their class, saying he’d be a good president. I just hope that one other girl doesn’t get elected because she promises to outlaw spinach, and I love spinach.

Special Feature

The DVD includes Tribute To Michael Sporn. Michael Sporn was the director of animation for I Can Be President, and also one of the producers. This begins with some interviews with Heidi Stallings, Emily Hubley and John Canemaker, all of this footage actually functioning as an introduction to the documentary film Remembering Michael Sporn. If you’re a fan of animation, you will love this documentary. It includes interviews with Eric Goldberg, Gregory Perler, Maxine Fisher, among others, and provides information on Michael Sporn’s career and personality. This feature is approximately 54 minutes.

I Can Be President: A Kid’s Eye View is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 9, 2016 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Mythica: The Darkspore

The Mythica series seems to be custom-made for people like me who played Dungeons & Dragons when growing up (and I’m talking about the real roleplaying game, not the video games). This is a series that understands the difference between clerics and wizards, a series that understands adventuring party dynamics, a series that is fun without making fun. It is about a group led by a young runaway slave named Marek, who has some magical training and some inherent abilities, and perhaps a much darker element to her powers. The first movie, Mythica: A Quest For Heroes, was really about gathering the party together and going on its initial, somewhat simple, adventure, rescuing Teela’s sister from an ogre. At the end of that movie, the sister was to take a powerful stone to a paladin.

But as the second film, Mythica: The Darkspore, opens, we learn that the sister was killed, the stone stolen. Marek (Melanie Stone) is having nightmares about a dark figure. Her magic teacher, Gojun (Kevin Sorbo), returns to tell her she’s a necromancer, and that the man in her dreams is a powerful and evil necromancer named Szorlok who is searching for the four pieces of the darkspore, the heart of a lich king, which will give him unstoppable power. Szorlok must be kept from gaining all four pieces.  For Marek, it is a journey of self-discovery as well as a quest to help save the world. Gojun tells her: “You have potential, Marek, for real good and for real evil. But you need to learn to control your power, or that choice will be made for you.”

Marek, Thane (Adam Johnson) and Dagen (Jake Stormoen) find a map which will lead to one of the four pieces of the darkspore. Teela (Nicola Posener), still grieving for the death of her sister, agrees to accompany them, but mainly to keep an eye on Marek and to make sure she doesn’t use the darkspore for evil herself. Teela senses an evil power within Marek. And the scene where she agrees to go is really good. When Teela tells her the dark power within her will eventually claim her, Marek doesn’t deny it. It’s exciting, because you sense that Marek herself is excited by this power and isn’t ready to say unequivocally that she will work for the forces of good. She’s not sure if she can control the power, a power which both frightens and thrills her.

Along the way, they encounter a dark elf named Qole (Rocky Myers) and of course a number of dangerous adversaries. There are plenty of action and fight sequences, but the film doesn’t rely on those scenes to hold your interest. There are also some nice humorous moments, like when Qole doesn’t vote for his own suggested course of action. Marek says, “This was your idea.” Qole reponds, “Yes, but it’s not a good idea.”

The only thing I was wondering at the end was how Dagen’s fingers were healed. At one point his fingers turn black, and Teela says she doesn’t have the power to heal him. Did the healing potion do the trick? Because at the end we can see in one shot that his fingers are fine. It’s a minor point, but I am curious about it. There are three more Mythica films in the works, and I am looking forward to enjoying those as well. If you’re a fan of fantasy films and of roleplaying games, you should check out this series.

Special Features

The DVD includes a behind-the-scenes featurette, which is divided into several segments. These segments feature interviews with producer/writer Jason Faller, director/writer Anne Black and producer/writer Kynan Griffin. Interestingly, the story for this second movie was written first. They talk about changes in the script. There is also material about shooting on location in Utah, and there is a section on the special effects, with interviews with a few of the special effects crew. There is also a section on the music, with an interview with composer Nathaniel Drew.

Also, the special features include a music video, as well as trailers for the first four Mythica films.

Mythica: The Darkspore was directed by Anne Black, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 9, 2016 through SunWorld Pictures.

DVD Review: Forbidden Zone: Special Edition

Forbidden Zone is a wild movie starring the Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo, and directed by Richard Elfman. It features original music by Danny Elfman, and features Hervé Villechaize as the King and Susan Tyrrell as the Queen. The special edition DVD is a two-disc set which contains both the original black and white version and the color version, along with a lot of bonus material.

The first disc contains the black and white version. A title card at the beginning tells us that Huckleberry P. Jones, “local pimp, narcotics peddler, and slum lord,” finds a mysterious door in a vacant house he owns. What he finds beyond that door leads him to sell the place. And soon a strange family moves in, and it isn’t long before these good people discover the special door, which leads to the Forbidden Zone. “And Flash, be sure you tie your grandfather up, and check the knots real good. While he was sniffing around for food yesterday, he nearly wandered into the Forbidden Zone.” That conversation leads to the movie’s first musical number, and it’s wonderful. This film is like a twisted children’s program with decidedly fake-looking sets, animation, a dancing frog, a talking chicken and a nice dose of classroom violence. And for the adults, there is a tranny, some nudity, and intestinal travels. There are also some excellent songs (like the Queen’s song, “Because I was hatched out of a witch’s egg…”), and every once in a while a helpful title card. And there is some wonderful dialogue, like this line: “The Queen said she was gonna ream us with twenty-inch cattle prods, and I’m still waiting.”

The second disc contains the color version, which in a way makes it seem even more like a bizarre children’s program, but perhaps takes a little of its twisted edge off. It’s cool to have both versions, but I think I prefer the black and white. By the way, a door on the set says “Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo,” and it leads to Satan leading that group in a music number.

Special Features

Each disc has its own special features. The first disc contains an introduction by Richard Elfman, with some silliness and some animation. There is also a documentary about the film, featuring Richard Elfman interviewing key players, such as Danny Elfman, Marie-Pascale Elfman, Matthew Bright, John Muto and Susan Tyrrell. Richard talks about the reasons for making the film, and about casting the film, most of the cast coming from the Mystic Knights shows. Danny talks about the music. John Muto talks about the animation, and yes, he does mention Terry Gilliam’s animation, an influence that is clear when watching the movie. Susan Tyrrell is completely fucking hilarious in her segment. Seriously, you should check it out. This documentary also includes some cool footage of the Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo stage shows. This disc includes a commentary track by Richard Elfman and Matthew Bright, and there is also the option of watching the film with just the music, which is cool.

The second disc includes five minutes of deleted scenes, including a great scene where two of the Hercules family members pretend to join the King’s army and are told they’re not allowed to molest the female prisoners. The deleted scenes are in black and white. There are also eleven minutes of outtakes, including the Queen biting Frenchy’s breasts, and another six minutes of footage titled, “Scenes From The Hercules Family” (which is mostly silent footage of Satan, including an alternate take of the beheading scene). There is a promotional spot with Richard Elfman, as well as a little musical segment, and the film’s trailer.

This two-disc special edition of Forbidden Zone was released on November 10, 2015 through MVD Visual.

Blu-ray Review: Comin’ At Ya!

In the early and mid-1980s, we suddenly got a bunch of 3D movies – Friday The 13th Part 3, Jaws 3D, Amityville 3D (basically the third entry in any horror series had to be in 3D – that was the law), plus crap like Treasure Of The Four Crowns. Most of this stuff was awful. But the movie that really kicked off that 3D craze was actually pretty good. It was a strange western titled Comin’ At Ya! And now it has been released on Blu-ray. The case and the disc itself say that there is the option of watching it in either 3D or 2D, but there are no 3D glasses included, and the menu doesn’t provide any option on viewing. When I hit “Play,” it was the 2D version that I got to watch. So the deal is you need to have a 3D Blu-ray player and a 3D compatible television in order to watch it in 3D; from what I understand, if you have those items, then it will automatically play in 3D and you don’t have the option to watch it in 2D.

Comin’ At Ya! has a very simple story, but is an interesting film. At a small wedding ceremony, two gunmen come in and shoot the minister and groom, and kidnap the bride. The scene is in slow motion, and is set to music, without any dialogue, and is kind of beautiful. The groom survives and goes looking for his wife. That’s basically the entire plot. But the movie has an unusual vibe, which is set up right from the beginning with a creative opening title sequence and odd mix of color and black and white elements. Plus, the movie is surprisingly gritty and brutal.

Hart (Tony Anthony) learns that the group is led by two brothers, and that they kidnap women and then auction them off. He finds one of the brothers, who has paid for the time of a not-quite-willing young woman. And even after finding his wife, our hero’s troubles are far from over (mainly because at first he tried to save her without shedding too much blood). There are so many great shots and moments in this film, such as when the bad guys round up the women like cattle, and end up dragging the bride through shallow water behind a horse. There are also some wonderful landscapes, and good use of music.

Really, the weakest thing about this movie is the 3D stuff. It’s one of those movies where objects (like a wedding ring and a naked baby) are passed out toward the audience for no purpose other than to utilize the 3D effect. And things are deliberately dropped on us, like coins and bits of food and playing cards. And of course there are bats on strings flying at us. The movie is much better than this gimmick. And, perhaps because what I saw is a 2D version of a 3D film, often the things at the edges of the frame are blurry. And at times, especially near the beginning, it looks like the filmmakers neglected to clean the camera lens.

Special Features

The Blu-ray includes a five-minute promo reel of various shots from the film, as well as the movie’s trailer.

Comin’ At Ya! was directed by Ferdinando Baldi, and was released on Blu-ray on January 26, 2016 through MVD Visual.