Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980): 40th Anniversary Limited Edition [Blu-Ray]

Full Disclosure: Film Detective were kind enough to allow us viewing of the digital elements of “Fist of Fear…” for the purposes of this review, since the release of the Limited Edition Blu-Ray and DVD have been delayed indefinitely due to the ensuing worldwide pandemic. Pre-orders are still open and Film Detective are ensuring copies to consumers when they’re given the green light to continue manufacturing.

There’s a hilarious segment in “The Simpsons” episode “Homer Badman” where Homer is interviewed by tabloid reporter Godfry Jones who promises to redeem his image after he’s accused of groping a young girl. Jones expectedly exploits Homer for the sake of ratings, editing the interview to make Homer look bad. But the editing is so awful that it’s an obvious hack job, and you can’t help but laugh at the sheer shamelessness of it all. The same can be said for “Fist of Fear, Touch of Death” the sheer height of Brucesploitation that takes scraps from Bruce Lee’s career and repurposes, re-edits, and splices footage in to just a god awful faux-documentary/sports drama.

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Five Great Wrestling Movies

While wrestling waned in popularity in the past decade, it’s experienced a slow comeback with the introduction of new wrestlers, new angles, and new federations like the AEW. The new Wrestlemania show premiered last weekend to mixed reaction from fans, meanwhile WWE has been making its mark on Netflix. They premiered the family sitcom “The Big Show” about the life of the former wrestler, and today released “The Main Event,” a kids’ sports comedy about a kid who enters a wrestling competition in the WWE to become the next superstar.

As an on again, off again fan of the sport since I was old enough to walk, I thought I’d list five great wrestling movies. These are of course fictional Wrestling films, as we have enough exploitative documentaries about the rise and fall of various superstars.

What are your favorites?

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Five Weird Dinosaur Movies You Have to See

Every few years a movie comes along that manages to quickly catches fire as a cult classic and Brendan Steere’s “The Velocipastor” has done just that since its introduction in 2017. The bizarre horror action flick is still being talked about online and on social media, and it promises to be buzzed about for years along with “Birdemic” and “The Room.” If you have an appetite for “The Velocipastor” here are five other weird Dinosaur movies you have to see.

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Clark & McCullough: The Forgotten Kings of Comedy

From the late 1920s to the mid-1930s, Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough turned out a series of wild, bawdy and often surreal short comedies. Today, the team is mostly unknown to the average movie lover because many of their films are lost and the surviving films are rarely revived. Film historian and podcaster Geno Cuddy considers the Clark & McCullough legacy and advocates for a new appreciation of their surviving work in this episode of “The Online Movie Show.”

The episode can be heard here.

Munster, Go Home! (1966) [Blu-Ray]

Earl Bellamy’s “Munster Go Home!” has become one of the most incidentally influential horror comedies of all time. One of the banner pop cult movies of the decade, “Munster, Go Home!” is the extension of the cult TV show that takes them out of their giant mansion, and brings them in to the wide open world. As we’ve seen with the series, the world isn’t too keen on their way of life, either. But they make it work with charm, and a classic sixties drag race.  Continue reading →

Impractical Jokers: The Movie (2020)

The problem with big screen adaptations of big television shows is that the commercials can sometimes save a tanking episode. Commercials can break the monotony and sometimes give the audience a chance to regroup. While “Impractical Jokers: The Movie” can benefit from an ad break or two, struggling to keep the energy well in to the hour mark, it’s a very good extension of the hit TV show.

Even if it’s niche cinematic affair for the fans like me that watch the series religiously.

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Vivarium (2019)

A couple looking to get their first house walks into a real estate office with an over-eager agent who wants to bring them to the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, at the perfect price, to raise the perfect family. Getting to the house is only the start of something bizarre and surreal where they learn a lot and go a little mad.

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