Wonder Woman

All woman, all superhero!

When we talk about superheroes on TV we're most likely to think about Marvel Comics The Incredible Hulk  series & of course DC Comics' campy Batman from the 60's but, the relationship between superheroes and the Idiot box goes back a long, long time. Flash Gordon, Shazam, Batman, Superman & Captain America were some of the earliest characters to hit the TV screen between the 1940's & 1960's decades. By the time the sassy 70's began, no one had a thing for superheroes. They were thought to be a product strictly designed for children, so filming a series for kids wasn't the greatest of the ideas, at least in those days, the days before Superman The Movie. 

So, why bother with a new series inspired by a superhero? Well, the 70's were definitely the decade that exploited the most, women beauty. And with all the revolutions going on, there was only one female character that could represent what being a strong self-sufficient woman felt like and look like in the 70's: Wonder Woman!

The super-heroine was created by American psychologist William Moulton Marston, AKA Charles Moulton, it is said the character was based upon his wife and lover (!) Even though Wonder Woman is a 1940's creation which would put women next to the male superheroes capable of nearly everything, it wasn't until 1977 with the release of the first episode of the live action Wonder Woman take, that the heroin would become a cultural phenomenon and an icon on feminism.

Secret Identity.

Steve Trevor, AKA WW's Sidekick.

One of the great things about "Wonder Woman" is that it feels like a real-life, live-action comic book. In fact, shots from each episode closely resemble panels from a comic book. The other thing about "Wonder Woman" is that it doesn't fall into the full-blown camp territory of its obvious predecessor, the 1966 "Batman" TV series that starred Adam West and was responsible for nearly ruining the Dark Knight's reputation bringing back popularity to the comic book world or actually taking to the masses and bringing Batmania into your homes. However, the series it's partially based in the Wonder Woman comic book. Many of the comic book original elements were made to fit a more "believable" series and to reach a wider audience. Examples of this are that WW bracelets are made of "feminum" instead of "Amazonium". Her super powers are not weakened by taking off her bracelets (in the comic book it was by taking off her lasso)  The list goes on BUT it's not that important, since the signature characteristics of Wonder Woman were kept intact.

In case you don't know, the entire "Wonder Woman" series takes place from World War II (1942-1945) all the way up to the modern day (the mid 1970s). During a spectacular aerial battle over the Bermuda Triangle, dashing Air Force pilot Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) is shot down and lands on Paradise Island, which also happens to be home to the Amazons, beautiful, ageless women of great strength, agility, and intelligence. Princess Diana (former Miss World USA 1972 Lynda Carter) wins the right to return him to "Man's World" (the rest of human society). And thus, Wonder Woman's career as a super-heroine begins as she and Steve take on the Nazis and their various attempts to sabotage the U.S. war effort.

Wonder Girl is also in the series!

With that body, you don't the lasso of truth.

The second season onward moves events up to the present, the mid-1970s, as Diana once again returns to Man's World to battle all manner of evil - terrorists, evil geniuses, your typical crooks, and even Nazi war criminals hiding out in South America. She once again teams up with Steve Trevor, or rather, Steve Trevor, Jr., the son of the lead male protagonist from the first season (who is still portrayed by Lyle Waggoner).

As the lead, the dashing and beautiful Lynda Carter IS Wonder Woman. In her civilian identity, she's bookish Diana Prince. Astute viewers will also recognize that "Diana Prince" is the secret identity, whereas Wonder Woman is the true personality (much like DC Comics' other flagship superhero, Superman/Clark Kent). Carter is an actress of amazing beauty and physicality; she reportedly performed a number of her own stunts including dangling from a flying helicopter in the second episode of the second season. It's a role that she would be forever closely linked to and it remains her most famous role to date.

Yeah! her invisible airplane!

...And the Wonder Camel Toe swimsuit.

Another aspect of the series that I found quite amazing was that it retains the feminist appeal of the original comic book character (Wonder Woman has been accused by social critics since the beginning of encouraging misandry, promoting bondage fantasies, and encouraging lesbianism). Because of the strong feminist appeal of the character, it was often Steve Trevor who was in distress and needed to be rescued, and not the other way around. It's a great role reversal from what is normally seen in most superhero comic book/TV series.

For the third season the show had a few changes in order to keep its audience interested. First, the original theme song was replaced by a more 70's disco funk oriented theme. Secondly, they updated IADC's resources with an AI super computer conveniently placed in Steve Trevor's office. This super smart computer would aid Trevor & Prince(and eventually Wonder Woman) solve mysteries quicker than in the past seasons. The third change, and perhaps the biggest of them all, was that the topics of the episodes were made to  relate to teenagers, as they were the expected new audience the show wanted to reach. This season lasted for 24 episodes and after that the show was canceled due to low ratings and the producers decision to move on to something else (That something else was the premiere of The Dukes Of Hazard)  As for what happened to Lynda Carter, she pursued a singing career and starred in several B-movies.

Are you talking to me?

Wonder Boobs.

Lastly, I'm not ashamed to say that I became a fan of Wonder Woman largely because of Lynda Carter, who is not only striking and beautiful, but also closely resembles her comic book counterpart; I have no doubt in my mind that she might have been cast because of her uncanny resemblance to the character that she plays.

"Wonder Woman" is a classic superhero series in every sense of the word. The first season is the best, in my overall opinion of the series. It is also highly likely that this incarnation of the DC Comics super-heroine will remain the best portrayal of the character anywhere, whether it be on television or in the movies.

My oh my!

Here's the Season 1 opening featuring the signature song we all remember:



Here's the Season 2 opening:



Here's Season 3 opening (the final season) Notice the different song they used:



And as a bonus "Wonder Woman, The Ultimate Feminist Icon" 

Supaida-man or The Amazing Japanese Spiderman

Your friendly Asian neighbor.

There is no denying that Spiderman is the number one superhero of Marvel Comics. Comic books, animated series, films, videogames, remakes and collectibles are out there for a reason. To this date, I declare I'm a profund fan of the 70's live action impersonation of The Amazing Spiderman over everything that came after (well, the Spiderman & Friends cartoon is also a favourite) You see, to your humble servant, Nicholas Hamond was the ultimate Spiderman and as a matter of fact, hundreds of people agree with my liking. Unfortunately, we still haven't had word of an official DVD or Blu Ray release of the two seasons the series lasted. Stan Lee sure didn't like it, he thought of it as a campy rendition but hey! he approved it in the first place. 

Anyways, today's entry is not about that series (already deeply reviewed here) today's entry is about the freaky Supaidaman, AKA Japanese Spiderman. 

In 1970, a SPIDER-MAN manga appeared in Shounen Magazine, illustrated by famed manga artist Ryouichi Ikegami. It was pretty good, and very faithful to the original story by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, but that ends with the Mysterio story arc (previously, Electro, the Lizard and a wrestling villain called "Kangaroo" appeared). After that, it becomes an artsy-fartsy mess that focuses less on Spidey and more on crime, violence, romance, rape, lust and stuff like that. One gets the feeling that Ikegami lost interest in the comic, and used it as his own personal scribble-pad. The manga was a failure in Japan, even with Spidey-fans there. Marvel brought an edited, translated version to the US in 1999 or so (Marvel Imports, or something like that), but few people actually cared. Neither did I.

it's Morphin' time!

Say hello to my little friend.

And in 1978, Marvel struck a deal with Toei: For four years, they could use their characters in any way they saw fit. Toei producer Tooru Hirayama, who was responsible for bringing many great superhero shows to TV throughout the 70s, decided to do a Spider-Man series, and wanted the story to remain as faithful to the Marvel comic as possible, but Toei's sponsor Bandai wanted to sell more toys, so there was a major story rewrite, and they had to push a giant robot into the story! Toei's producers thought Bandai was crazy! Nonetheless, this was to be the first time in a Japanese superhero series in which a costumed superhero (as opposed to a regular pilot, such as in MAZINGER Z) rode a giant robot.

The next Toei/Marvel project was BATTLE FEVER J (the 3rd Sentai Series and 1st "Super Sentai"), a Japanization of Captain America (the project was going to be called CAPTAIN JAPAN), but Bandai got more control than Hirayama, for whom this show was the last straw. When he left superhero shows (and worked on kiddie/family shows at Toei), it was completely Toei and Bandai's show from there on (except for Ishinomori's Masked Rider shows). The next Sentai Series, DENJIMAN (1980) and SUNVULCAN (1981) had Marvel Comics Group in the opening credits, but no Marvel characters were ever used in either series! Go figure.

Crazy foes!

Before Power Rangers...

Here we have Toei's SPIDERMAN, which, despite its shortcomings, should definitely be a treat for Spidey/Marvel fans! Before the excellent new SPIDER-MAN film starring Tobey Maguire, this is definitely the most visually faithful Spider-Man ever portrayed on film!(visually faithful) The costume was right, the poses and stunts were incredible, he can even do whatever a spider can; Spin webs from his wristband (but he only has one wristband; More on that later), scale buildings and even has his trusty Spider-Sense! But the faithfulness ends with Spidey himself.

The STORY is what bugs me! The Japanization is much more extreme than the aformementioned manga from 1970, and here, Spidey's foes are nowhere to be seen. Also, his origins have been changed completely! He's from outer space, he has a racing car (Spider-Machine GP-7) and rides a giant ship called the Marveller (hmmmm . . . Where DID they get that name . . . ), which transforms into the giant robot Leopardon! OK, now this is TOTALLY out of place for ol' Spidey, even more absurd than any of Ralph Bakshi's "drug-trip" Spidey adventures (from the last two seasons of the classic animated series)! But that's not all! Toei ran out of money to do the FX by Episode 5, and after Episode 10, no more footage of Leopardon could be done, as it was rumored that some nasty fanatic stole the robot costume! So its appearance was limited to stock footage of the robot, with new footage of the monster-of-the-week (reacting to and being destroyed by Leopardon's "Swordvicker" attack) spliced in!

Check my super wristband.

A hero needs super vehicles (Isn't spidey poor?)

But let's look on the show's plusses: At least we get to see more Spidey action! In fact, the show is VERY violent! Spider-Man rarely kills his enemies, so he doesn't have any Masked Rider-like attacks (unless he yanks his enemy by the neck with his webbing, like he did to one in the final episode; He usually resorts to using Spider-Machine GP-7 and Marveller/Leopardon, as his enemy is the monster of the week that grows to giant size), but he DOES get to use cool martial arts to waste a bunch of cannon-fodder henchmen (yep, every Japanese superhero show must have 'em) in each episode! Hirosuke Kayama, who plays Spidey's alter-ego Takuya Yamashiro, is very good and makes a nice dead-ringer for Peter Parker's later incarnations in the 70s! It's too bad that Kayama usually played villain roles (he later played General Hedrer in DENJIMAN), but this is one of his best non-villain roles! Veteran Hiroshi Miyauchi (MASKED RIDER V3, GORANGER, ZUBAT, etc.) is on hand as a semi-regular character, Interpol Agent Tachibana, who dresses like a cowboy, plays guitar and sings (exactly like his Ken Hayakawa/Zubat character!), as well as occasionally helping Spidey fight the baddies! It's still very refreshing to see our web-slinging hero fighting Henshin-style monsters (as opposed to his regular foes like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus), and the ones in this show are pretty good! And also of note is the main villain, Professor Monster, played by the late Mitsuo Andou (Professor Gill in KIKAIDER, Fuehrer Geisel in INAZUMAN FLASH and Black Cross Fuehrer in the first Sentai Series, GORANGER)! Prof. Monster is obviously designed after Marvel's Doctor Doom (except that only half his face is covered)!

I'll be as brief on the plot as I can: In space, Professor Monster, leader of the Iron Cross Army (his cronies include right hand woman Amazones, a similar two Caucasian women, and crow-like henchmen) are in pursuit of the space craft Marveller, which comes to Earth and crashes on a mountain in Japan, freeing an old hermit named Galia, who was from the planet Spider (which the big Prof. plundered and destroyed long ago). After a race show, motorcycle stuntman Takuya Yamashiro (who lives with his sister and little brother, and has a photographer girlfriend, who's unaware that her boss is actually Amazones in disguise! Wow, and you thought J. Jonah Jameson was evil!) is fatally wounded by Amazones and the crow-henchmen, but is saved by Galia, who injects "Spider Extract" into Takuya before turning back into a spider! He also recieves a metallic bracelet, which stores his Spidey suit (PLUS!!!), shoots webs, and is also a communicator for the Spider-Machine GP-7 and Marveller, which he can ride and transform into Leopardon, which kills Professor Monster's monsters with its "Swordvicker" attack (it hurls its huge sword at the monster, as opposed to slashing it)! That's pretty much the formula with the whole series.

An emissary from hell!

I will say that the final episode (Episode 41), though incredibly rushed (especially after its slow first half), has its own cheesy, campy charm, mostly in the climax! After Spidey kills all of the other villains (right after Amazones meets her fate), he finally comes face to face with Professor Monster, who, after a little scuffle with our web-slinger, grows to giant size (Yes, just like all the other monsters!), pounds his chest like King Kong, and shouts "The Iron Cross Army is immortal!!!" Spidey does the usual Marveller/Leopardon thing and kills the evil Professor the same way he usually kills the other monsters, but this time, with a bit of ray-firing thrown in between for dramatic effect (remember, there was no Leopardon costume after Episode 10).

My final take: Toei's SPIDERMAN is a fun series, and a must-see for Marvel fans, just to see ol' Web-Head himself in breathtaking action! I say, don't let the minuses get to you, and just sit back and enjoy the plusses!

Here's the opening:

And here is the first episode of this unexpected rendition of Spiderman:

Reipu Zonbi, Lust For The Dead

Zombies are sick o' brains.

Think of three words: Nudity, Gore & Violence. Do they get along? sure they do! Do people get sick and tired of films based on those three words? Nope, Not yet, never! Japanese film maker Naoyuki Tomomatsu is a well known character who has spent most of his career directing films under the "Pink movie" category. A Pink film, for the Japanese is the equivalent for us non Asians, of the exploitation, sexploitation & softcore films. Tomomatsu's career goes back a long way (the early 90's) but his most important films were made in the 21st century (Chikan Densha, Female Prisoner Ayaka and Maid-Droid) Nevertheless his name became important once he filmed Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies in 2001. The film was considered as a comeback to the classic gory zombie  genre.

Reipu Zonbi, AKA Rape Zombie is a 2012 film that depicts the aftermath of a nuclear explosion that contaminated Tokyo. The film had its name changed for international releases as Lust Of The Dead(maybe due to "rape" being a highly censorable word)

Due to some weird phenomenon, males everywhere are turning "toxic". They start bleeding from their eyes and start raping every female they see. The females have to band together to fight off ravenous hordes of "rape zombies", who have highly poisonous semen to boot, and can only be killed by castration or a gun blast to the genitals. The funniest scenes involve female soldiers forming firing squads to execute "toxic males", who are bound and dressed in bulls-eye underwear so they know exactly where to shoot. The castration and genital blasting jokes wouldn't offend anyone in America, but many people would take the rape scenes way too seriously. Hordes of male "rape zombies" penetrate females who all conveniently have their silicone-enhanced breasts exposed and bouncing around, and of course they eventually end up enjoying the experience, at least before the poison semen does them in. But if you don't let your PC panties get in a bunch, you'll realize these "rape scenes" are every bit as ridiculous and funny as the firing-squad scenes.

The news are spreading and girls are too!

Schoolgirls and machine guns.

The main characters meanwhile are four female "survivors" who are holed up in a shrine. The main character, the badass, is played by Asami(Rina Aikawa), who is often called a "porn star", but seems to mostly appear in low-budget sexploitation fare like this as opposed to out-and-out "AV" (adult videos). There are also a pair of lesbians, who have a long scene together--it's NOT true all the nudity in this involves rape. Then there's a very sexy and mature-looking "schoolgirl" (who's even less believable as a genuine schoolgirl then is anything else in this movie). She's so horny for a (non-toxic) man she decides to seduce the young priest of the Shinto shrine, who is seemingly immune to the virus since he has taken a vow chastity. The result of this schoolgirl seduction is pretty predictable, but also very sexy.

Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead is more or less a Japanese remake of the Troma film 'The Taint' but with more rape and guns and Japanese girls. I think it is needless to say but this film is not for everyone its an erotic exploitation horror film about rapist zombies full of sexual violence and nudity, only for those who can handle seeing a lot of messed up stuff. The girls in this film are very attractive sadly the only time you see them nude is when they are being raped which isn't the best way to see them. The acting is decent along with the writing and effects some of the effects are pretty good then at other times there is super fake CGI blood and visual effects. The effects are still pretty good its kinda like the effects in 'Ichi the Killer' good and bad but still cool. The camera-work and lighting are kinda OK you know shaky cam at times and a bit of lens flair here and there. The film has a very Vampire girl vs Frankenstein girl look and vibe to it, violence, gore, nudity, sex, schoolgirls. And apparently this film was so popular in japan that it had a sequel and another sequel that came out last year another that came out this year and another that is planed to come out this year. so yea watching at least one sequel.

I'm gonna cut your dick you zombie perv!

Double decapitation IYKWIM.

On the gore meter from one to ten one being something like 'The Corpse Grinders' and ten being something like 'Braindead' this film is a 5/10 lots of gun violence, sexual violence, a beheading, zombie violence and blood. Compared to his previous films (specially with Stacy) the amount of graphic violence has been heavily toned down perhaps to appeal to wider audiences (as a matter of act this film is very popular outside of Japan)  

Rape Zombie did so well that the next year (2013) Tomomatsu not only released the sequel but also the sequel of the sequel (!) and guess what? last year there were two more sequels! So we're talking about five movies about zombies who rape! boy that escalated quickly. However, the original 2012 film being reviewed today is by far the best out of the franchise. Despite not being a very original idea, the plot delivers and people like it the way it is. Maybe you wouldn't watch it with the wrong people though (but you're connoisseurs so you already know that) Those who have a sense of appeal for the nude japanese woman body may be interested too. 

These make a pink movie.

Japanese Nudity.

Generally though, this movie goes for entertainment value first with the masturbation appeal only secondary. I wouldn't call it a "pink" film exactly , but it's much closer to that than it is to actual porn (It's what in other countries used to be known as "sexploitation"--films that definitely USE sex, but aren't NOTHING BUT sex). I don't know if I'll watch the rest of the franchise, but this one was pretty fun. 

Here's the movie trailer:

Cicciolina Amore Mio: Cicciolina, My Love.

This was a VHS top seller in the 80's.

Today's entry will spice things up not just a bit but a whole chunk because we're revisiting one of the hottest Italian stars of the 70's & 80's: Cicciolina! 

Cicciolina for the Unaware:

Ilona Staller (born 26 November 1951), widely known by her stage name, Cicciolina, is a Hungarian-born Italian porn star, politician, and singer.

Ilona was born in Budapest, Hungary. In 1964, she began working as a model for the Hungarian news agency, M.T.I. In her memoirs and in a 1999 TV interview, she claimed that she had provided the Hungarian authorities with information on American diplomats staying at a Budapest luxury hotel where she worked as a maid the 1960s. By the age of 25, and during her hotel work, she met an older Italian national named Salvatore Martini whom she later married.

 

Naturalized by marriage and settled in Italy, Staller met pornographer Riccardo Schicchi in the early 1970s, and, beginning in 1973, achieved fame with a radio show called Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? (Do you wanna go to bed with me?)  on Radio Luna. Is in that program, where she adopts her legendary nickname Cicciolina. She referred to her male fanbase, and later the male members of the Italian parliament, as "cicciolini", translating loosely as "little tubby boys". Although she appeared in several films from 1970, she made her debut under her own name in 1975 with La liceale (aka The Teasers) playing a lesbian classmate of Gloria Guida.

A woman to be taken seriously.

An original photo of her radio show.

Now, what does the extended intro have to do with today's film in review? Well, it just so happens that Ilona Staller didn't quite make an interesting acting career during the early 70's, Her roles were mostly  minor supporting cast appearances and at that time, being a beautiful Italian girl wasn't enough for making it into the big screen. Perhaps, overshadowed by the immense talents of Ornella Muti, Laura Antonelli & Gloria Guida, Staller just couldn't make it because she wasn't that much of an actress. However, her future was set and 1979 was the year that would mark her big debut on screen. 

Cicciolina Amore Mio, AKA Cicciolina My Love is somehow an autobiographic film that introduces the world to the many talents of Cicciolina, an Italian starlet who runs a popular radio show (just like the actress real life) where she listens to troubled couples, offering counseling and sharing some love secrets while we get a glimpse of her singing skills (she's also a singer in real life. Her single "Moscolo Rosso" (Red Muscle) was very popular in the late 80's. After all, not many singers directly sing about dicks) Unfortunately for her, another blonde singer(Raffaella Carra) overshadowed her singing career too but thard working was Staller's motto so after the release of her debut lead role, stardom doors opened forever.

Ride her hairy bike.

Cum with me listeners.

The film itself, it's a celebration of the new raising starlet. Everything revolves around her radio show, and somehow every character on screen is listening to her radio show. However, there's one character that will be way more obsessed with Cicciolina. Riccardo (played by Giancarlo Marinangeli) is a young boy blooming into the world of sex. His problem? his girlfriend. The solution? Meeting Cicciolina in person. 

Cicciolina Amore Mio must be one of the very softcore sex few films that having a thin plot, are not only fun to watch but also come with a statement. This movie looks, sounds and feels like the 70's in all their glory. Post hippie freedom, political statements, no strings attached, sexual revolution/liberation, psychedelic visual effects, funky/disco music and a huge load of innocence with a touch of "believe in changing the world with love" that make it a rare historical piece.  

Roses &Pink.

Grand finale.

I know some may find it hard to believe that a softcore erotic film can be more than meets the eye but believe you me, this film is an exceptional exception (no pun intended) Cicciolina's character is the ultimate representation of a freed woman who's empowered by her beauty & confidence. Nevertheless, she's neither an egotistical character nor a  sex machine (watching the film tells the difference) Her goal is to help others be set free. Her liberating tool is her radio show. The message she sends to her listeners is simple: Get naked, touch yourself, see the real you. Only through that ritual, you'll be able of fully loving your significant other ,and you know what? that doesn't sound crazy at all! Psychology & neuroscience keep on telling us to start the day by accepting our true selves in order to achieve significant happiness & success, so yeah, the blonde bombshell is not fooling around with her message.

Cicciolina Amore Mio, works perfectly as a "welcome to the world of Ilona Staller" film. Every scene was carefully shot to make her natural beauty look astonishing. As a matter of fact, I don't think she would ever look this good again. She rides a horse naked, she rides her bike flashing her boobs & pink to every citizen in town and she doesn't look dirty or slutty at all. Every nude scene is there for a reason: Listeners begin to "imagine" Cicciolina teasing herself as she speaks and yet she never masturbates or fucks, it's just a clean illusion.

The most beatiful Italian blonde ever.

Listen to yourself and let go with me.

The film was highly popular in Italy, spreading the word to the rest of Europe and eventually America. However, it didn't grant Staller an acting career (unlike what happened with other Italian starlets who filmed similar movies) but being a sought after erotic film, it led her to become a porn star debuting in 1983 with "Telefono Rosso" (Red Telephone) Her porn films were known for their hardcore rawness and shocking feature scenes (multiple orgies, zoophilia, sex with HIV actors and so on) Unfortunately, none of the films she did after Cicciolina Amore Mio became cult classics, but that didn't stop her from becoming a renowned and respected porn star with a decent singing career which ultimately led her to become a serious Italian politician (who still did porn while serving her government)

Once the film got its home release (VHS) the cult spread like melting butter and every good video rental store had several copies of it. Even though it wasn't a porno movie people would rent it over other films Cicciolina did later. The DVD release came twenty some years later in 2009 as a part of the "Il Cinema Segreto Italiano" series. Finding a copy of it today can cost you up to $200 dollars, but first, make sure you have a DVD player that can play Region 2 discs, as it was only released in Europe. The soundtrack of the film was also very popular. The music was composed by Gianni Marchetti and the songs were sung by Cicciolina herself. The album was released on CD in 2013 and you can have it for $35 dollars (expensive, I know) but hey! you can listen  to "I Was Made For Dancing" in top sounding quality!

Sweet dreams Cicciolinos!

Overall, a unique oddity film that fostered the career of perhaps the number one female porn star of the 80's. Recommended not only for masturbators and/or erotica enthusiasts but also to anyone interested in seeing a film that takes sex seriously and embellishes it with class while portraying a strong list o liberal statements like "just because you're a beautiful girl, it doesn't mean you're an object", "being nude doesn't mean I'm horny", "Beauty isn't a reason for rape" and so on. Actually, this film would be an excellent companion for the Free The Nipple Campaign which is actually saying "Female nipples aren't an object of dirty perv sex, they're just nature, and nature is beautiful" I'm not biased or anything, trust me, Cicciolina Amore Mio is not your regular softcore B movie, there's a lot more than meets the eye content here.


Here's the "I Was Made For Dancing" song:



Here's the teaser trailer:



Here's a fan made edition of the film (with almost 20 minutes of footage missing due to censorship)

Foxy Brown

The meanest chick in town!

As promised in last year's entry, The SPAM Alternative team of reviewers has decided to pay homage to the Blaxploitation genre by checking the films that represent the genre at its best. Jim Kelly, Pam Grier, Tamara Dobson and Richard Roundtree are perhaps the names that come to mind when we think of the many faces the genre had in its heyday but, there were also some less popular blaxploitation stars that gave their best to a genre that showed the world how tough being black in the 70's was.

Pam Grier is perhaps the number one bombshell of the genre but, don't let her perfect anatomy distract you from her acting skills (unlike many other actresses who got the job only because of their stunning beauty)

In 1973, the film "Coffy"(our previous blog entry) made Pam Grier a star, a permanent icon of the blaxploitation films of the era, and a symbol of female empowerment in the face of racial tension. She also kicked a whole lot of tail. Writer and director of "Coffy", Jack Hill, had finished a script for a sequel when the studio decided at the last minute that it didn't want to film a sequel to "Coffy." Re-working his script, Hill gave birth to what could arguably the seminal female blaxploitation film: "Foxy Brown."

Foxy Brown won't stop at nothing for her revenge!

Boobs that kill.

Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) is a strong woman striving for a better world. While she attempts to help her drug-dealing brother Link (Antonio Fargas) change his ways, she waits for her federal cop boyfriend Dalton (Terry Carter) to recover from plastic surgery designed to hide him from the drug lords he informed on. Renaming himself Michael, he plans to run away with Foxy to a new life. All of his plans crumble, however, when Link discovers Michael's true identity, and informs on him for a hefty sum to the devious Miss Katherine (Katheryn Loder) and the suave Stve Elias (Peter Brown). When Katherine's goons kill Michael in Foxy's house, Foxy swears revenge. She infiltrates a call girl ring run by Katherine in an attempt to bring the crime lord down in the name of vengeance.

Hill has created an iconic character in Foxy Brown, a character who has been copied and referenced to varying degrees of success since her inception (most shamefully in Beyonce Knowles' character of Foxy Cleopatra in "Austin Powers in Goldmember"). It's not difficult to see why. As embodied by Grier, Foxy is the ultimate female: beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and undeniably fierce. Grier is such a pleasure to watch on screen that you sometimes forget about the lack of support she has around her or the simplistic morals of the story.

Loder's Miss Katherine Wall is a villainess of operatic proportions, filled with delightful malice and sadistic impulse. Brown's Steve is just as good, every inch the handsome mid-70s man. Fargas is also memorable as the weasely and cowardly Link, but outside of these three, the supporting players are only adequate. While Junita Brown's doomed call girl has her moments, the rest of the supporting cast is fairly flat, with line readings not having the right amount of emotion (either too much or too little) and often hitting just off-key of the psychological and emotional core that they need to strike. 

Drugs & family do not get along.

Watcha lookin' at?

While Hill's script taps deep into the racial biases of the 70s, and is filled with the appropriate amount of slang and tension, his characters are often moral absolutes with little in shades of grey or complex motivations. Often, this exists on a similar plane to race: with the exception of Dalton/Michael's fellow agents, every white person in the film is shown as uncaring at best, evil of the highest order at worst. By the same token, with the exception of Link and a fellow dope dealer, the black characters are heroic and upright. In the context of the film, the conceit is appropriate, but it can lead to some viewers being upset or failing to take into account the politics of the time that would lead to such a depiction and dismissing the film out of hand.

Despite these flaws, "Foxy Brown" is definitely a film to watch not just for historical value, but for the remarkable performance of Pam Grier, an actress just as strong and beautiful today as she was in 1974. Whenever she's on the screen, you immediately forget about any imperfections in the movie. As the theme song says, she is "superbad."  

Give that man a hand!

This movie is not only about violent revenge.

Overall, Foxy Brown is one of Pam Grier's best blaxploitation movies (topped only by Coffy). From the James Bondish opening sequence of Pam dancing to the "Foxy Brown" theme song, to Antonio Fargas ("That's my sister...and she's a whole lotta woman!") to the spectacular ending which I will not spoil, this is a must see for any a) Pam Grier fan b)blaxploitation fan c)anybody who wants to see a strong female character beat the crap out of her opponents. That being said, it does feature the standard "Grier sleeps her way to the top of crime syndicate", a plot ripped off of Coffy. With scenes like the famous "Afro as holster" sequence and the inclusion of a Black Panther-esque anti-drug group this movie is fun from start to finish. See Foxy Brown tonite and you'll find ouy why Quentin Tarantino filmed his own blaxploitation film with Grier herself.

Here's the movie trailer: