movies | Cavalcade of Awesome

Archive for movies

Vintage ads for official movie magazines from the 80s

Posted in advertising, Fangoria, magazine, movies, nostalgia, pop culture with tags Fangoria, magazine, magazines, movies, nostalgia, pop culture on August 16, 2013 by Paxton

I’ve talked about movie magazines before. As a matter of fact, back in 2010 I took a look at the Back to the Future souvenir magazine. I love official movie magazines and I have a bunch of them. These magazines were the original movie supplemental material. We didn’t have DVDs and VHS tapes didn’t normally add anything extra (some did, but it was rare). I remember seeing ads for these magazines all over my favorite magazines. I’d fill out the form and select the ones I wanted as a wish list. Just hoping that someday I’d be allowed to order a Rambo or Star Trek movie magazine through the mail.

So, I was perusing through my old Fangoria magazines recently and found a couple of these movie magazine ads. They show a ton of the magazines and it’s great to see some of the covers. So on this lazy Friday, I thought I’d show you this 80s vintage goodness.

This first ad is from 1986.

I love how the magazines are spread out like you took the pile and threw them on the table. Amazing layout. There’s that amazing Rambo magazine. They also have Rocky II, Rocky III and Rocky IV magazines. As a matter of fact there are THREE Rocky IV magazines. AND, Stallone gets a “Best Of” magazine. Damn, he was at the height of his popularity here. As for all the Rocky IV magazines, when a movie was popular enough, it would not only get an official movie magazine, it would also get an official poster magazine and an official “movie book”. I put that last one in quotes because even though it’s called a book it was still a magazine, just with more content and glossier, color pages.

You can see some of the covers on this ad are for the poster magazines (Star Trek III, Rocky II for example). Some of the other ones pictured that I think look cool include the A View to a Kill as well as The Explorers. Take a look at the list in the yellow box at the bottom and there are listed several magazines that aren’t pictured. Annie, Superman III, High Road to China, SF Superheroes, TV Superheroes, Joanie Loves Chachi and Conan the Destroyer. I would buy every single one of these magazines today.

If I were to have ordered every magazine in this ad back in the day it would have set me back $75.35. Plus $24.90 for shipping. That’s $100.25 (incl shipping) for 26 different magazines. Which is about $3.85 each. NOT BAD. It would cost well over that now to track this mess down on eBay and trader sites.

Continue reading →

3 Comments »

Movie Manathon: Kaiju, Wing Chun and Tai Chi

Posted in Genres, martial arts, movies with tags martial arts, Movie Manathon, movies on August 9, 2013 by Paxton

The wife took the kids to visit her parents this past week, so I took the opportunity to watch a few things that she had no desire to watch. AND IT WAS GLORIOUS.

Let’s take a look at what I watched.

Pacific Rim (2013) – I was able to get out to see one movie in the theater this week. I chose Pacific Rim. And I was not disappointed. This robots vs monsters actioneer was amazing in its scale. Huge, epic battles with huge, epic monsters. And the SFX for the giant robots are AMAZING. These things look so awesome. The actual story is a little thin, but that matters little because HOLY SH*T GIANT ROBOTS ARE BATTLING GIANT MONSTERS!!!!

The Legend Is Born: Ip Man (2010) – This is the third movie in the Ip Man series with Donnie Yen. Back in 2011 I watched the first two Ip Man movies. The first one remains one of my favorite martial arts movies of all time. The second is good, but not as good as the original. Even with the addition of Sammo Hung. This third movie is Donnie Yen-free, unfortunately, as it’s a prequel to the first two movies. It features Ip Man as he’s growing up and first learning Wing Chun Kung Fu. This movie, as martial arts movies love to do, contains several actors in the previous movies but not in their original roles. Sammo Hung, for instance, returns in essentially a cameo, but playing a completely different character. As does Siu-Wong Fan, who originally played Jin in the first two movies. The movie certainly feels like a part of the franchise started by Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip. It helped that the fight director and choreographers were mostly the same across the board. I really enjoyed it. Yu-Hang To, who plays a younger Ip Man, really does feel like a younger Donnie Yen. Lots of good stuff in this movie. If you liked the first two, give it a shot. Just go in knowing it’s not as good as that first, classic Ip Man movie.

Tai Chi Zero (2012) – I had several people recommend this movie to me. I really knew nothing about it going in so I’m not sure what my expectations were. This was definitely different than I was thinking (whatever that was). It’s quirky and weird, but in a fun way. The action scenes are off the charts cool, but that doesn’t surprise me as Sammo Hung was involved (he also did the Ip Man movies above). The story is a bit wacky, but endearingly so. I enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing the sequel, Tai Chi Hero, someday.

Hell On Wheels – The Complete First Season – I’m a pretty big fan of westerns. I read Wild West fiction and watch western movies and I love Deadwood (I’m in the middle of Season 1). So I’ve been curious to check this AMC show out for quite some time. I finally watched the Pilot and was mostly disappointed. The main character, Cullen, as played by Anson Mount is an uninteresting imitation of Clint Eastwood’s Josey Wales. You also have the obligatory creepy looking preacher and rotted teeth prostitute and a-hole railroad tycoon. And actually, the saving grace of the show is the a-hole railroad tycoon as played by Colm Meany. He chews up scenery like a Quick and the Dead-era Gene Hackman. He’s truly awesome in this. Everyone else is bland and boring. I’m not even sure where the story is going. There seems to be no coherent overarching story. At least in the first episode. And Mount’s Cullen character is, I think, supposed to be a bad ass but he does nothing to show that to us. I just can’t help to compare this to the first episode of Deadwood (which can’t help matters). What Deadwood did in 1 hour hooked me in to watching more and more. I literally was ready to turn off this show about 40 minutes in. I just didn’t care. Except when Colm Meany was tearing up the goddam scenery. Maybe I should watch a few more episodes, but I know that I’m not.

Continuum: Season One – I’ve been interested in this Syfy series for a bit, but Christian from the Atomic Geeks has talked favorably about it on a few of their shows so I decided to give it a chance. And it’s pretty good. I’m surprised. Cool premise and I like Rachel Nichols and Erik Knudsen. Cool sci-fi cop show involving time travel. It’s not perfect, there are a few characters I don’t like, but the stories are interesting and I want to see where it leads. So I plan on continuing to watch.

I also watched one more movie, but I’m not putting it here because I’ll be talking about that on episode 10 of the Cult Film Club Podcast.

2 Comments »

Cult Film Club vs Classic Film Jerks podcasts in the TAG Summer Crossover series

Posted in movies, podcast with tags Classic Film Jerks, Cult Film Club, movies, podcast on July 31, 2013 by Paxton

To finish out the TAG Podcasting Network Summer Crossover Series, the Cult Film Club and Classic Film Jerks podcasts teamed up like the Justice League of Podcasting to discuss some classic-y, cult-y films.

First, Jaime, Shawn and I traveled over to those Jerks’ house to discuss the Humphrey Bogart noir classic, The Maltese Falcon (1941).

None of us had seen it so we discuss the actors, the settings, the great character names and of course, we determine if we think this movie deserves it’s “classic film” status. Listen to the show on iTunes, Stitcher or grab it right here.

Next up, the Classic Film Jerk crew came over to the Clubhouse with us for Cult Film Club Episode 9 where we discuss the cult detective comedy, Zero Effect (1998).

Starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller, this quirky comedy is a modern indie take on the Sherlock Holmes dynamic and considered neo-noir which would allow us to bookend this nice discussion of noir films. We have a lot of fun and I think you’re going to like these shows.

Check out Episode 9 of The Cult Film Club podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or listen to it online right here.

1 Comment »

A tour of the Golf ‘n Stuff arcade from the 1984 Karate Kid movie

Posted in movies, pop culture with tags arcades, Cavalcade Arcade, movies, pop culture, video games on July 24, 2013 by Paxton

Late last year I took a look at the Pinball City arcade from the 1980 movie Midnight Madness. It featured lots of good, awesome vintage arcade games for us to take a look at. It was a pretty popular article so I thought I’d take a look at another movie arcade. This time, I’m looking at the famous Golf n’ Stuff arcade from The Karate Kid.

Here is that spinning red sign.

Until grabbing screenshots for this article, I never noticed the sign has a hole in it right by the ‘S’ in Stuff. Interestingly, the director, John Avildsen, has been posting film he took in 1983 when they were rehearsing for shooting The Karate Kid. Some of the Golf n’ Stuff rehearsals are out there. The spinning sign has that same hole in it. I love that continuity.

So, Daniel and Alli go to this mythical Golf n’ Stuff amusement center for a first date. The first part of the date is quickly spent in the Arcade. Here they are walking into the entrance.

Inside during this adorable music montage (Can You Feel the Night by Baxter Robertson) we get a glimpse of a few vintage video games. Click any of the below screenshots to see them BIGGER. It makes it easier to see the games in some instances.

Super Chexx Hockey

Up first is this awesome Super Chexx Hockey by ICE. Manufactured in 1983. There was also a regular Chexx Hockey released the same year, but I think the Super version was what was used in this scene.

Daniel appears to score a goal on Alli and he sort of overreacts to his victory. During this douchey hockey celebration, right behind Mr Larusso, is a Stern Flight 2000 pinball machine from 1980.

Nope, no video games here. I just think Elizabeth Shue is achingly adorable in this movie. I thought we should all just take a moment and drink it in.

Okay, let’s move on.

Continue reading →

21 Comments »

Spending my kid’s college tuition on Hake’s Auction #209

Posted in Batman, comic books, movies, nostalgia, pop culture, Superman, TV shows with tags Batman, comic books, LEB, movies, pop culture, Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, Wizard of Oz on July 12, 2013 by Paxton

This week’s assignment for The League is to browse Hake’s Auction #209 and find all the cool stuff we’d buy if we were rolling in dough like P-Diddy. So I spent my fair share of time at work this week perusing the enormous auction catalog and came up with some stuff that I would like to buy. Assuming, of course, that money is no object.

There were several awesome Star Wars items I found interesting. Firstly, the C3POs cereal lot featuring a full size C3PO standee and three box flats. I have always had a fascination with this particular cereal and the ephemera it created. These are particularly good examples of that. The seven Star Wars Coca-Cola promotional posters are also pretty awesome. Four of them are from Burger Chef/Burger King giveaways in 1977 and feature Del Nichols artwork. Three of them feature Boris Vallejo artwork and were to promote the release of Empire Strikes Back. Finally, I am in wet, sloppy love with the full size Return of the Jedi Burger King glasses Darth Vader standee (1983).

There were lots of comic book and super hero related items that I want. Tops on that list would probably be The Great Comic Book Heroes book from 1965. It’s signed by several comic luminaries like Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, Shelly Moldoff and Will Eisner. Yes, the creators of both Superman AND Batman signed this thing. Plus, I’ve looked at this book before and it’s pretty awesome.

Speaking of Superman and Batman, I found several items featuring those heroes that rock my Casbah. The boxed Mego Superman doll from 1977 is particularly awesome because I’m kind of in love with the packaging art. And the art on the 1954 Superman metal lunchbox is pretty close to melting my eyeballs out of my head and that’s only the picture. And these Mego Comic Action Heroes figures from 1975 (in package!) are also incredible. And speaking of incredible, check out the awesomely weird and bizarre cover to issue #33 of the comic World’s Finest. Why the hell is Superman spinning Batman and Robin in the air WITH HIS FEET?! I love the Golden Age. I also would buy Flash #147 featuring the second appearance of Reverse Flash with a great cover homage to Flash #123. I actually already own Reverse Flash’s first appearance in Flash #139. And what will I put all of these comics in when I own them? That’s right, my very own g***amn comic spinner rack from the late 70s. I’ve wanted one of those retail spinner racks ever since I started collecting comics in the early 80s. Continue reading →

4 Comments »