Weekly Witch Hunt: Johnny Yuma & Game of Death

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

I continued my sojourn into both the spaghetti western and martial arts worlds this past week and so we have an entry from each genre.

The Scorcher

I had the displeasure the other week of watching a really bad spaghetti western; this week I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Johnny Yuma.  A lot of spaghetti's follow similar themes without much difference so it is nice to occasionally come across one that plays with the formula a little bit.  While not rewriting the rulebook this film does have enough of a departure from the regular format to make it more appealing than many others from this genre.
The story is a simple one about someone profiteering from committing a murder so they can gain a goldmine.  The difference is the antagonist is a western femme fatale played with much gusto by the beautiful Rosalba Neri who is no stranger to the spaghetti western, having appeared in plenty during her career; as well as Jess Franco's infamous 99 Women.
Our hero of the piece is played with tongue in cheek relish by Mark Damon who looks like he is having a ball.  I certainly enjoyed his portrayal and he had good chemistry with Lawrence Dobkin whose Linus Carradine is hired by Neri's scheming Samantha Felton to kill Yuma.
There is double crossing, bar fighting, cheating at cards and high noon shoot outs; all the things you come to expect from this sort of fare.  But they are done with a smile and a slight nod and a wink at how ridiculous all this macho bravado actually is.  They are definitely trying to capture the feel of For A Few Dollars More and surprisingly I think they more or less achieve it.
It is none more evident than the final set piece where Yuma and Carradine have a running battle with the Felton gang members.  The Felton gang must have gone to the Stormtrooper school of shooting as none of them can hit a target but you don't expect them too.  Some might consider this scene a complete rip off of For A Few Dollars More, but it was a common occurrence for spaghetti westerns to lift whole chunks from a previous film and rework parts into their own story.
While it is not amongst the best from the era; this one certainly captured my attention and contained enough surprises to keep me amused and entertained.

The Torture
 

I feel it is almost sacrilege to include the great Bruce Lee amongst the Torture category; but Game of Death warrants inclusion.  It was only last week that I was wailing on a martial arts icon after abusing Jackie Chan's Skiptrace.  This week I am going to pick on probably the most iconic of all; albeit the one person who is not responsible for the final outcome of his last work.
For those who do not know the history of the events surrounding this picture, let me give you a concise version.  Lee had started work on this production and stopped to appear in his biggest hit, the Warner Bros. produced Enter the Dragon.  This was the first big budget martial arts film from a major studio.  Tragically Lee died not long after filming wrapped and so was unable to come back and complete work on Game of Death.
That wasn't the end of the film though, as Lee's director from Enter the Dragon was drafted in to complete Game of Death using two stand-in actors for scenes that should have had Lee appear.  Whilst there was plenty of footage originally filmed by Lee, most of it was lost by Golden Harvest; the production company responsible for all of Lee's Asian filmed movies.  The finished product only has just over eleven minutes of the original footage; everything else was filmed after Lee's death!
As you can imagine the final film leaves a lot to be desired.  The stand-in actors may resemble Lee physically but facially are nothing like him.  They try to copy his fighting stance and moves and also throw in the distinctive noises he would make during his fights.  Even using different camera angles to disguise that it isn't Lee doesn't help.
The film stock is completely different and very noticeable when it switches from the earlier filmed footage to the later material.  This is especially true during some of the fight sequences; which forms the bulk of Lee's actual appearances.
There is the sense of Deja vu in what seems to be foreshadowing what will become of Lee's son Brandon Lee.  Bruce's character is shot by a prop gun during the making of a film within the film.  The prop gun contains a real bullet which mimics what caused the death of Brandon while filming The Crow.
What was most disturbing of all though was the inclusion of recordings taken from Lee's funeral; which tied back in to the story taking place during the film.  To say this was in poor taste does not really do justice to just how disturbing this actually is.  How did they ever get permission from the family to include this?
It is both uncomfortable and inappropriate to watch.  It makes you feel like a voyeur looking at something that you shouldn't be witness too; this should have been left as a deeply personal thing for the family.  As soon as this came on screen my opinion of the film soured dramatically.
The story itself is a solid one and if it was filmed on its own without the Lee factor it would have made a decent entry for the Golden Harvest archives.  But because of the baggage involved with Lee's death and the sickening inclusion of the film from his funeral; it just left me feeling cold.
It has to be said the fight scenes in the pagoda; which forms the big set piece finale; and does include the majority of Lee's eleven minutes are probably the strongest part of the film.  It is just such a shame that this martial arts legend was tragically not able to come back to conclude what would have been a fine addition to his legacy.

Weekly Witch Hunt: The Avalanches 'Wildflower' & Skiptrace

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

I seriously considered including one of the Now You See Me films for this week's torture after giving them back to back viewing.  I had seen the first one before and gave it a flogging; but I thought it deserved a revisit prior to seeing the sequel.  My opinion didn't change.  The second one, while being sillier unbelievable hokum, was actually more entertaining.  However neither one is worth my ire as I decided to hang another terrible, terrible film instead...

The Scorcher

The old adage of 'good things come to those who wait' should be fully applied to The Avalanches album Wildflower.  Sixteen, yes sixteen, years in development since their debut album Since I Left You.  There are some albums that have a profound effect on a person and that debut was one such record for me.  It opened up a whole new avenue of music and possibly changed my perceptions and definitely broadened my musical horizons.
To say that I had given up all hope of ever hearing any new material from The Avalanches would be an understatement.  There had been so many rumours for years about possible releases; that I thought it was just record companies trying to maintain some interest in a band that had given up after one huge hit album.
All of a sudden from out of nowhere comes this new record with only two original band members still on board; all the others having left in less than good circumstances over the years.
I haven't rushed this record; I have taken a bit of time to get into it.  I normally put a new album on repeat for a few days to really familiarise myself with it; but after waiting for this one for so long I wanted to savour the experience.  So it was only over the weekend that I finally gave it a few repeat listens to immerse myself in the experience.
Wildflower does not disappoint.  Let's get one thing clear, it was going to be impossible to hit those lofty heights of Since I Left You again; so I had already tempered my expectations.  I was hoping for something in a similar vein, with some subtle differences.  On the whole Wildflower delivered on these hopes.
The first half of the album is definitely the strongest part with songs like Because I'm Me and Subways; both of which would not be out of place on Since I Left You.  There are psychedelic influences peppered throughout; especially songs like The Noisy Eater.  Frankie Sinatra has more of a European flavour which makes me want to drink Sangria and dance the Zorba!
The theme of the record and overall effect that it has is one of happiness and joy.  Since I Left You invoked the same euphoric feelings.  This is one record you can put on for a summer party and just watch as people start to tap along as the playful mood infects them.
It is a glorious return from obscurity and I only hope we don't have to wait so long for another injection of pure musical pleasure from these artists.

The Torture

 Let me start off by saying that I am a big fan of Jackie Chan and his particular style of Action/Comedy movies.  Being someone who particularly enjoys Asian cinema, it would be hard not to like one of its greatest exports.  That is why it was such a big disappointment to see just how low Jackie Chan's star has fallen after viewing Skiptrace.
This film is awful on so many levels, in fact nearly every level it is hard to know where to begin.
Johnny Knoxville is passable in his role and Chan's acting is still mostly enjoyable but on the whole the acting is diabolical with so many caricatures, especially the villains of the piece.  Eve Torres does a terrible mock accent which is a mix of evil Russian and evil German; but never settles on either.  Incidentally she is playing a Russian but obviously the East Berlin kind from before the wall came down.  All the Asian bad guys are from the Fu Manchu school of villainy.
It is left to the audience to guess who the mysterious 'Matador' kingpin is leading this gang of hoodlums.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out who this is either for anyone who has seen a misdirection trope in any action film.
The comedy has all the common racial stereotypes you can imagine; it abuses the customs, diet, dress and economy of the region.  There is also a smattering of misogynistic and homophobic jokes throughout.  These might have been mildly amusing thirty years ago from a film set and made in the 80's but none of them hit the mark in this day and age.
Guess what though?  The film will let you know when you are supposed to laugh by playing some cute little ditty in the background that sounds like it was lifted straight from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  This happens from the first minute to the last; there is hardly a scene where there isn't some music playing.  And don't get me started on the Adele singalong; cringe worthy is an understatement.
Regardless of all this criticism; the one thing above all others that annoyed me was how much the action seemed staged.  There were scenes where you could see the combatants waiting for their cue to throw a punch or swing into the fight.  This to me is the worst offence one of his movies can commit.  Unfortunately it is probably a result of our main action star being in his early sixties but still wanting to put on a show of someone at least twenty years younger.
Jackie Chan was The Man when it came to doing his own stunts and performing fighting feats that would leave you breathless.  Age has caught up with him and he looks like an old man trying to recapture his glory days.  It would be such a shame if he continues along The Expendables route.  Please Jackie don't ruin your legacy by continuing to appear in more appalling movies of this nature, let us remember you from films like The Young Master, Project A or Armour of God instead.