This month’s movie pick is probably in bad timing. But, “f*ck all that feelings sh*t”. This movie is probably not to some of yous taste or interest. You will probably be entertained or annoyed or you just might be like me and be on that timing. No, I’m not gonna give a whole Big Boss monologue. This is the Retro Movie of October 2025.

The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a 1973 action crime–drama film based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Sam Greenlee. It is both a satire of the civil rights struggle in the United States of the late 1960s and a serious attempt to focus on the issue of Black militancy. Dan Freeman, the titular protagonist, is enlisted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in its elitist espionage program, becoming its token Black person. After mastering agency tactics, however, he becomes disillusioned and drops out to train young Black people in Chicago to become “Freedom Fighters”.

Directed by Ivan Dixon, co-produced by Dixon and Greenlee, from a screenplay written by Greenlee with Mel Clay, the film starred Lawrence Cook, Paula Kelly, Janet League, J. A. Preston, and David Lemieux.

Sometime in the 1970’s in Chicago. After the approval rating in the African American community takes a nose dive for a U.S. Senator, the Agency decides it would be good optics for the government as well for itself to go out and publicly recruit African American males to join the CIA. With no intention of passing any of them they begin scouting in the inner city. To their surprise one recruit actually makes it through the training. Dan Freeman who unbeknownst to the Agency (Nowadays this would be impossible with social media and digital footprints), Freeman happens to be a Black Nationalist.

The idea of the Agency recruiting from the population isn’t hard to believe. There have been numerous occasions of people being covertly recruited or claim to have been recruited since the beginning of the Cold War. Especially with all the projects such as MK ULTRA.

Back to the plot – Freeman is a Black Nationalist and the Feds don’t know it. After passing his training, Freeman impresses his handlers. However, he is placed in the basement as file clerk and routine tour guide for visitors to project the image of inclusivity. This doesn’t last long before Freeman comes to the reality that he is a Token. (To be honest he most likely was aware this would happen from the start). Freeman keeps a low profile as he completes the Guerilla Warfare training in weapons, subversion, communications and you get the point. When he learns what he needs to learn he quietly resigns and returns to social work in Chicago.

Freeman has the intention of using what the government has taught him and turning it back on them. This is called BLOWBACK. He starts training local youths the same techniques he learned from the government and begins his insurgency for Black Liberation.

After its release the film was pulled from theaters and banned for a time by the FBI for its political tones and themes. Especially since the Civil Rights movement was still fresh in the minds of the inner cities and there were a lot of African American veterans returning home to a country they fought for and  experience the same racism and poverty that existed before the war; a lot of veterans with military training in guerilla warfare and weapons. The idea that this film might spark the idea for revolt and self-determination was just too scary for the powers that be that happen to be Ofay. Shame because, I wish this flew below their radar and more people were able to watch it.

“Tim Reid, whose company helped to release Spook on DVD, said to the Los Angeles Times in 2004: “When you look back at the times…Martin Luther King was assassinated, Malcolm X, Bobby Kennedy. Black people were really angry and frustrated; we were tired of seeing our leaders killed. What do we do? Do we have a revolution? There is nothing that comes close to this movie in terms of black radicalism.””

I mean if you remember how the proto-dudebros were all charged up after watching 300 for the first time enough they adopted it’s imagery, themes and masculinity(?) like cosplay, tribal tattoos and fake muscles shirts. It would’ve been interesting if THIS film had a longer life in the theaters – Could’ve been interesting.

Regardless of their attempts, enough people did watch it and it gained Cult status over the years before the original film reels were found and restored for the public.  

“Nina Metz wrote in the Chicago Tribune: “For years it was only available on bootleg video. In 2004, the actor Tim Reid tracked down a remaining negative stored in a vault under a different name (‘When they want to lose something, they lose it,’ Reid told the Tribune at the time) and released it on DVD.”  In a 2004 feature for NPR, Karen Bates reported that the director of the film, Ivan Dixon, admitted that United Artists would not show the film in a way that would allow its political message to come through when clips were viewed prior to the film’s public release. “Dixon says when United Artists screened the finished product and saw a Panavision version of political Armageddon, they were stunned.””

So f**k all that interference and here is for your pleasure or discomfort is the controversial, thought provoking and inspiring – 1970’S The Spook Who Sat by the Door, directed by Ivan Dixon.

Stay free, Stay Strapped, Read more, Learn Real History, Build your bodies and Minds, Question authority, Buy physical media, practice your aim, sharpen your punches and conceal your knives, know the law and the law won’t trick you. Stay fresh, smart and always keep your finger on that damn REWIND button.

Movie link: https://youtu.be/HG-56GKbPtk?si=C53B1Pwf0122h5IU

• How is this not a Troma film?

Flesh Eating Moms directed by: James Martin. Starring: Robert Lee Oliver, Donatella Hecht, Neal Rosen, Valorie Hubbard and Marie Michaels.
Year of release: 1988
Runtime : 88 min / 1.85:1

Pardon my French but “these b*tches is crazy”. What the hell did I just watch? 90 minutes of lucid insanity and I needed it. Please just take me back to the eighties and the nineties, please. Take me back to the BMX ramps in the cul-de-sac, the yellow school bus with the nicotine stenched driver. The Pizzeria run by a guy named Sal next door the breakfast diner that served beer after 7pm. The shitty box television set with the knobs and the furniture with the plastic coverings. The Late, Late Movie on channel 7, frozen orange juice in the freezer, the leaves of autumn, the imaginary Leave It To Beaver music that played in your head on the way to school, the rotary phone with the two foot cord, walkie-talkies, lazer-tag, Saturday mornings, 25cent juices, the girl next door, the creepy van that was always parked down by the river, the haunted house on the corner, the sketchy guy at the park, the Ice Cream man with the sailor tattoos, stranger danger, DARE, the danger of razors in the candy, the rocks that addicts smoked, “No-that wasn’t candy”, MSG, the OTB, phone phreakers, NYNEX, book reports, BOOKS, Nintendo, VHS, A Current Affair, Unsolved Mysteries, the Cold War and the threat of impending doom with every slice of pizza & fruit punch. I was lucky enough to find this on youtube while researching conspiracy threads and documentaries online; there I was taking a break from learning about the Sabbateans and I noticed this title pop-up in my feed (no connection).

• PLOT
  Somewhere in some corner of New Jersey, the mothers have come down with a sickness and have turned into savage cannibalistic fiends. Nothing is off the menu when these hotwives go feral and start ripping into their neighbors and loved ones. The kids are stoned and freaked out trying to get to the bottom of the madness. The chief of police knows more than he says. The local medical examiner is barely over five feet tall and even he smells something is fishy going on.
  

This film was shot on a shoe string budget and enough imagination, humor and not-a-care in the world attitude to make this something special. I’ve already watched this film twice and still laugh my balls off. All shot on location in west bumblef*k.

• “It’s so damn bad it’s great. How is this not a Troma film.”

The limited budget was obviously focused on what special fx they could put together and “YES” the gore is here; almost reminiscent of early Peter Jackson type body horror courtesy of special effects artist Carl Sorensen (Child’s Play, Tremors). There is so much red stuff dripping here you could stock a Nathan’s Hot Dog stand and film an entire MaxiPad marketing campaign. The script is witty, tongue-in-cheek and crass. The cannibal virus itself has a nice original plot twist to it.
The acting? The acting is pure public-access meets Loyd Kaufman shot on film and smeared together inside the frame of an episodes of MONSTERS. I can’t say I recognize any of these actors aside from Marie Micheals who was one of the mob wives in Goodfellas and Donatella Hecht (The Manhattan Project 1986). I LOVE THIS. This is why I review these forgotten gems of analog entertainment when life was simpler, less sanitized and fun. Gen X wasn’t just an era it was a friggin attitude and I was fortunate enough to slide down the tail-end of that generation into the birth of the millennial before everything just became cookie cutter and redundant.

Flesh Eating Mothers is also available in Blu-ray format from Vinegar Syndrome presents, freshly restored in 2K and featuring a new batch of exclusive extra features.

You been fluffed enough now. So click the link below and watch with some friends and some pizza rolls, soda pop, whatever the hell you smoke and your significant others Hot Pockets. Just remember to take it easy, be dangerous, be cool, keep your finger on that Rewind Button and Yippee-ki-yay and F the Law.

• DECODER (1984) directed by Muscha & starring: FM Einhert a.k.a. Mufti (Einstürzende Neubauten), Bill Rice (The Offenders (1980), The Big Blue (1988), Manhattan Love Suicides 1985, Coffee&Cigarettes), Christiane F., Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic-TV) and featuring William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch, Junkie, Queer, Drugstore Cowboy, Dead City Radio) whose writing was an inspiration for the film.
  * The film featured this month is very avant-garde, subversive and punk-af. It is not meant for children under the age of 18 years of age and contains images of nudity, drug use, chaos magick, surgical footage, sexual situations and ideas of delinquency and anti-authoritarian themes.
  Language: German with Spanish subtitles.
  
  

In 1970 the collection of essays by Beatnik and Underground art icon William Burrough was published. In it Burroughs meditates on the written word and its evolution into the spoken. That language is something unique to the Human experience as it can exist both in image and sound. That the written language can enable the writer to cheat time and space and project thoughts, ideas, emotions, through time and affect readers in the future. Language regardless if it’s written on a medium or spoken has power; it is magick; no different from the sigils in a magician’s grimoire or the crystal ball, energized and imbued with power. How with the write configuration of words, images, sounds and their meaning can influence, control, infect and gestate inside the psyche very much like a virus.  

Decoder is a 1984 West German cyberpunk film that you’ve probably never heard of. I was fortunate to find it one late night while in one of my insomnia periods.

The story follows FM as he works for a fast food chain to make ends meet but, spends his evenings making compositions of abrasive industrial music. When FM starts noticing how passive and docile the customers at his Burger joint are when the Muzak playlist is cycling over the speakers. He figures that perhaps there might be something in the Muzak that’s making people compliant. That it’s the muzak that’s lulling people into submission in a world where visceral reality is almost a cheap thrill (a kink), something you tuck under your mattress when the relatives come home; a world where we just accept subjugation into an authoritarian corpo system where fascism bridges the gap between military and corporate corruption. FM also spends his free time with his girlfriend (Christiane) a peep show girl that works in the red-light district.

One night while working on music, FM starts to manipulate one of Christiane’s frogs and records the screams. FM realizes that he can use abrasive sound to instigate destructive impulses in people that listen to his music and cancel out the corporate muzak. He strategically places tape recorders, like sonic I.E.D.’s, at different well-known fast food establishments armed with his music. These subversive recordings cause riots, destruction of property, violence and social upheaval. After sometime these terrorist incidents earn the attention of the corporate overlords who hire an assassin (Bill Rice) to find who is creating these tapes and execute him. Bill Rice’s character a weary hitman more preoccupied with haunting the red light district and infatuated with a peep show girl who just happens to be FM’s girlfriend.

DECODER is low-budget, analog, cyberpunk with a Cold War edge to it. Lush lighting and a noir dread drip heavily here. The soundtrack features SoftCell, Psychic-TV, THE THE and Einstürzende Neubauten. The basic plot of the film is summarized here in this review so all you have to do is follow the visuals and vibe. Not suitable viewing for anyone under-the-age of 18.

Stay dangerous, stay underground, stay out of sight, stay away from bootlickers, magahats, democrats and anyone that tows the company line, puts blinders on, shuts up and takes it right up in there deeply (and without even a kiss or dinner to eat), drinking the government kool-aid. Stay aware, stay armed and get angry and keep your G*ddamn finger on the REWIND button.

Movie:

https://youtu.be/vdCXssmZLdw?si=PDidB4yL53XRVpXv

Bonus: Soft Cell – Seedy Films (Official Video Release HD)

Fishscale/V/: New.Entry-Transmission.Whatever.Wetnightmares.
Screamscapes.and.corporal.malfunctions//The movie theater has gone dim. The Kodak camera has lost its reel. The Mall is shuttered. The video store is closed. The soundtrack plays on the tape deck, scrambled. The Pyrex takes a nap for the evening. The national anthem plays after dusk behind a scrambled pornographic transmission. The ICE is out tonight and the night is on fire. The sky looks like a dead screen. No stars in the sky. No whistling wind. No connection. No firmware in a pushup brazier to tune into the right nocturnal frequency. Just dead space and a static filter, not even the air could be trusted with authenticity. Media never sleeps. The television stays on. It’s always on and watching us, omnipresent and instigating, a rabble rouser and a shit talker galvanizing the masses into herds and stampedes at the press of a button. A planned reaction to the insurgency of law. What have I walked into? They say revolution is out in the streets but, it’s all a mixer, a munch, a social fellatio, what have I walked into, a gaggle of geeks, gooners, meat pacifiers and skin socks – repeating what the TV eye and the cardboard says. All in step and out of order. For sincere reasons and free will – although dictated in silent vibration from the overseers Morse code. Engineered resistance to a problem that will be solved and locked down with dystopia and monitored by A.I. screws. Then. Here come the star fuckers and the vampires the celebrities and leeches. Lead by the pimps. The publicists. Celebrity cameo appearances in the back rows of protest. Kissing babies. Shakin’ hands. Only there for the photo-op and never joining rank at the frontline. Pretenders; actors; slaves to corporate rations and privilege; no gunplay, no backbone, just a game in the end. A hologram of a leg-wit-ammo, a box of blanks, rambling his gums into the void for a star on the avenue. Not here. It’s just another dead night and about this same dead time every night. They reenact and replay the same playlist and cosplay their childhood dreams. A boulevard of vapid dreamers, chipping away at the surfaces and hurling the city like feces at pigs, drones, naysayers and the npc. Nothing more but performance art against the machine. Showroom Dancers. With color commentary by your favorite content creators; jesters and critics feeding off the algorithm. Crossing their palms with silver traded in from your attention and likes; bunch of Svengalis and pied pipers in the new preachers clothes not like them but living a karaoke life in sheeple skin. A generation nursed on instant gratification through an umbilical usb cord detached from the contaminated coarse weather of reality and living one TikTok moment after another in some perverse REM sleepwalk. All copyrighted and sponsored by your elitist fascist overlords full-throttling their plans into a doomsday reset scenario and the birth of the new religion. Sponsored by oligarchs. You are all sleeping. Make it a better dreaming. Get into your phalanx formations. Red Dawn. Bravehearts. Look to your brother-in-arms. And behold leading the ranks. Not random protagonists. Imagine, just imagine under those hoods in the front. A fantasy.  – unveiled is the avengers or at least those that play them. Imagine yourselves rejuvenated with angst and righteous rage as those performers now possessed by the spirits of the IP that propelled their public image holding the line. As Christ Evans with trash lid in one hand and the stars & stripes in the other raised high; RDJrD2 in his aluminum foil iron armor inspiring courage in you. As descending from the rooftops with karambit gloves and fury in his teeth screaming to the heavens that “this is our ENDGAME!” is Hugh Jackalman too. Tears in your eyes and love swelling up in your frail chest and throats, “They’re here!” “The Avengers are here”. ”This is it!” A moment of our lifetimes when all men can lock shields and crush the oppressors under the tidal wave of change. freedom. and a better tomorrow. Something Aragonidus would say. What a dream that could be, Teen Wolves. Fleeting. Transitioning. Remixing. Getting carried away on a channel surf. The sequence again scrambled. The channel switched on everyone. All because the common man has lost his remote control. It’s been in the hand of the bad men this whole time. The bloody bag men. The usurpers. The adversary. The ones who remake, mutilate and remaster our memories and script our futures. The sky is a dead screen. The stars are blacked out. It’s just us in here and the movie rolls on. The show goes on. The empire strikes back. As everyone plays Sophie’s Choice every week on which Hot Topic to rally behind next. From the killing fields to local inconvenience. These aren’t freedom fighters this is the mob. And Rome knows its mob. How to fatten them up and keep them occupied with spectacle and gossip. The enemy knows the system. And the only responsible response is too crash the system. Crash N’ Burn. Hack the dream and make it yours.
Then. Then, I woke up. And the theaters were screening, the video store was open, the soundtrack restarted and the sky was in high resolution. What a beautiful sunset. The TV dinner smells amazing. That’s when I woke up. And forgot what I was dreaming about. //////….then WW3 began.
SamHaiNe

• Bonus: Chinatown (visual video) HaiNesVille:

I am breaking night again. Sleepless and restless yet bored and tired of the hamster wheel of square living; lost in the ether of the surface web again. I’m just here vegetated and binging on information and entertainment to numb the nerves and relax me as I float and drift with spontaneity. It looks like there’s an abundance of skullduggery and cloak & dagger schemes occurring in the world – more than the average citizen or loiterer could fathom. There is just so much information to process, to extrapolate, to synthesis and to summarize with such short time left. Information is more important than necessity; without information you have no access and avenues to proceed in society. You cannot arm yourself mentally and physically without information and the access to it.

That is what compelled me to present 1992’s Sneakers and luckily someone on YouTube was cool enough to have it uploaded.

Sneakers directed by Phil Alden Robinson, screenplay co-written with Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker. Starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn.

A successful movie from the creators of the 80’s classic WARGAMES, and the 20^th highest grossing film of that 1992, Sneakers is a crime thriller that if made nowadays would be considered cyber-noir. It’s another film that Roger Ebert didn’t get and gave a low review when released but, he had a knack for disliking movies before they found their audience.

The films plot revolves around a group of security penetration testers or “Pen Testers” that are recruited by men claiming to be NSA agents to retrieve a Russian black box that they are looking for. After successfully retrieving the item, the team learns that they have walked into something bigger than any of them could have imagined.

Filmed in multiple locations with a really good script and a stacked ensemble cast of heavy hitters, Sneakers has just enough humor and intrigue to keep your attention for the whole journey. A moment in time capsule for real-life cyberpunks of an analog time when things were more hands on. I definitely recommend this film for you the viewer.

Interesting sidenote:

• Leonard Adleman was the mathematical consultant on this movie. The character of “Bernard Abbott” was named after Robert Abbott, the so-called “Father of Information Security,” who was also a consultant for the film. The character “Whistler” was based on Josef “Joybubbles” Engressia and John “Cap’n Crunch” Draper, well-known figures in the phone phreaks and hacking communities.  “Donald Crease” was based on John Strauchs, a former CIA officer who founded the security consulting firm Systech Group.  Dan Ackroyd’s brother Peter supplied conspiracy material on “UFOS, cattle mutilations, the Tri-Lateral Commission, the staged moon landing, JFK, [and] Marilyn Monroe” that was used to “spice up” his character.

• The film’s press kit was accompanied by a floppy disk containing a custom program explaining the movie. Parts of the program were quasi-encrypted, requiring the user to enter an easily guessable password to proceed. It was one of the first electronic press kits by a film studio.

I know you’re probably out there in the wastelands feeling it right now: living check to check, angry, scared, dejected, detached, and trying to find some kind of escapism from reality. I hope my retro movie choice can give you some form of escapism from the madness and noise. Movies are an escape. Movies have a beginning and a definitive conclusion with all the drama and conflict playing out made digestible by the dialogue, characters and exposition, unlike reality. Reality sucks for everyone. But just know that you’re not alone out there in the storm. Stay safe, live reckless, question everything, dress smart and always keep one finger on that Rewind button. Til’ Next time.

How’s everyone doing out there? Are you doing well or just getting by during yet another disastrous presidential term. Seems like the whole western world is dragging everyone else down in a flaming shopping cart full of fireworks down a thumbtack water slide of energy drink into oblivion and the third-world. It’s not even 2077 and life is just cyberpunk (af) or at least a Temu version of it. What does this have to do with this months movie- absoultely nothing. Nothing except the mood of dispair in the air.

Spoiler Alert: This is Violence Jack and the sequel to Devilman; both created by Go Nagai.

This the final OVA in the series. The other entries are unedited and thus I can’t share with you here. However, fortunately or not, this version is the VHS edited version.

The Plot:
Sleepy town in the wastelands of Japan where a village is determined to pick up and rebuild their way of lives in the afterbirth of the apocalypse. A young hopeful teacher is kidnapped by the Hell’s Wind biker gang. Strapped to a ticking time bomb her only hope is the mysterious and freakishly gigantic antihero known as Violence Jack and his superhuman strength and size.

More backstory:

The series takes place in the ruins of the Kantō region, after a massive earthquake (which in the OVAs was triggered by a Comet strike) dubbed ‘The Great Kanto Hellquake’. Cut off from the rest of the world, the survivors of the disaster are divided between the strong and the weak, and the land becomes a haven for criminals and renegades from around the world. Violence Jack is uncovered among the rubble and demolished granite by the inhabitants of a ruined city, asking him to help the weak people and helping them destroy what, in most cases, are the strong groups commanded by killers and rapists (this is the story line of “Violence Jack: Evil Town”). In the three OVAs, Jack is requested to help different groups, such as the Zone A (later he ends up helping Zone C women) or a small town, as shown in “Hell’s Wind”. As for the manga, the stories change drastically, the first being the story of Violence Jack helping a group of female models in a tropical forest in Kanto by possessing a boy living in said forest in order to fight off a roving tribe of bandits. Although Jack maintains a ruthless facade, he often helps the weak, and expects nothing in return. However, Jack’s unpredictable nature means that bystanders get injured or even killed on occasion as a consequence of his vicious fighting style.

It’s not the longest but it’ll do the trick. I know she said that but, I meant this movie. If you are interested in the further adventures of Violence Jack I recommend finding (if you can stomach it) the other unedited OVA’s in the trilogy as well the mangas. Or you can go and revisit the Devilman animes including the Devilman Crybaby anime that is still on NETFLIX.

sO in ThE meantIme, stay vigilante, stay angry, learn h0w the shoot, con, build networks, put money away, don’t be a dumb maga or dumb blue maga, be yourselves, persevere and keep your damn finger on that ReWind Button.

#1 DUNE part 2:

#2 Shogun (FX series)
Based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell, previously adapted into a 1980 miniseries. the ensemble cast includes Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira, Tommy Bastow, and Fumi Nikaido. Featuring a mostly Japanese cast with majority of the dialogue in the Japanese language, Shogun is different. When I say “different”, I mean Different. The writing on this series was out-of-this-world. The production, the cinematography – oh my.

#3 X-MEN 97’
The return of the X family! I was already withdrawn from any hope or confidence in Disney. The aches and pains of super-hero fatigue was set into the muscles like knots and Charlie horses. Marvel or the MCU had abused my fandom with endless insults to character I’d grown up reading from the Mandarin, to Black Panther even the Midnight Sons before you even saw the Midnight Sons. It was all just an endless reel after reel of jokes, flashing lights and 2-dimensional storylines. However, my depression was thrashed against a cliff when X-MEN 97 premiered. It was everything I didn’t know I needed and improved upon. The Summers Family fractured and reunited, Magneto proved right by the season finale, Storm cementing her position as an Omega level goddess and humanity always destined to betray themselves and be prey to their own prejudices. 10 out of 10.

#4 Longlegs
The highest grossing independent film of 2024, directed by Osgood Perkins and starring Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt. A police procedural horror film set during the nineteen-nineties that follows an FBI investigation into a serial killer that is behind a series of murders involving fathers that murder their entire family before themselves. Osgood’s last feature film Blackcoats Daughter already established him as a new voice in the horror genre with moody tones, color pallets and storytelling. Recommended for fans of X-Files, Kolchak, Millennium and Angel Heart.

#5 MAXXXINE
The heavily anticipated direct sequel to X and Pearl came like a peeper in an x-rated booth. This final entry in the trilogy is full-blown 80s degeneracy: pastels, dayglow, hairspray, porn, vhs, sex cults and cocaine. I have one disagreement with anyone that has reviewed or critiqued this film – this is not just a slasher film, this is Giallo. Giallo (Italian: [ˈdʒallo]; pl.: gialli; from giallo, lit. ’yellow’) is a genre of murder mystery fiction that often contains slasher, thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural horror elements. Mia Goth is front and center once-again delivering a knockout performance.

#6 Late Night with the Devil
The new Halloween cult classic. If I had seen this film on youtube, I would have sworn that this was a lost episode of Tales from the Darkside. It’s always good to see David Dastmalchian (Suicide Squad, Dark Knight, Animals) in a leading role. He is a very talented actor and always brings a worth-watching performance to his characters. The film is as analog and minimum as you can get up until the film act, prior to that this is a great paced chamber play about the foils of success and the price of one’s soul. Watch it.

#7 Terminator Zero
Let me tell you. Let me tell you. This is the only anime on my list and I loved it. Let us be real and honest, Terminator movies haven’t been good since T2. All of them suck. The Sara Connor chronicles and Dark Fate gets a light pass but, it’s been a dead franchise for decades. That is until now. Terminator Zero has a fresh setting, new characters, new possibilities, and a more philosophical examination of Judgement Day. I loved it. Loved it. If they do make a new season I’ll be there (for better or worse) but, if this is a one and done – I am okay with that. Animation services were provided by Production I.G under the direction of Masashi Kudō. The eight-episode series premiered on August 29, 2024.

#8 Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Finally a movie that respects Michael Keaton enough to revisit one of his more iconic roles unlike the recent Flash movie that wasted the return of 89’ Batman to a throwaway character.  Beetlejuice 2x is a fun sequel to a beloved Halloween film from our childhoods. Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara anchor this Psycho-comedic romp with refreshing performances by Jenny Ortega and Justin Theroux. A definite rental.

#9 Alien Romulus
Claustrophobic, sci-fi horror is back. A good mixture of practical effects, digital effects, mood, setting and performances certifies this as worthy Alien film. Romulus isn’t a perfect movie or a great movie. It is simply a good entry in the franchise that tries to bridge the mythos of the Alien and Prometheus timelines together once and for all. Biggest criticism might be the final boss but, most definitely the shoehorning of Ian Holms android model from the original alien film. Overall a 7 out of 10. Biggest question yet to be answered – Where the hell is David?

#10 Love Lies Bleeding
A tumultuous, lurid, gritty, unwashed yet absurdly abstract crime film and queer romance. This is the eighties that people don’t talk about. The rural out of town trailer park eighties, when the furniture had plastic on the cushions with cigarette burns to match the stench in the air and stains on the wall in the family room. Pickup truck heaven and lunch always came fresh from a can of frank n beans. Kristin Stewart stars in this glittery backdoor love story as a young adult dealing with a dysfunctional and criminal family and working at the local gym, mopping floors, cleaning toilets and hustling juice to her clientele. Her options seem dire until she meets Jackie (Katy O’Brian) a transient body builder with her own past and demons. Both fall in love and try to break out of the cycle of violence that plagues them both. Also starring Ed Harris, Dave Franco and Jenna Malone.

Dominion has been adapted into three original video animation series: the first, Dominion Tank Police, was released in 1988, the second, New Dominion Tank Police (特捜戦車隊ドミニオン, Tokusō Sensha Tai Dominion) in 1993, and the third, Tank Police Team TANK S.W.A.T. 01 (警察戦車隊ＴＡＮＫＳ．Ｗ．Ａ．Ｔ．０１, Keisatsu Sensha Tai TANK S.W.A.T. 01) in 2006. The 1988 OVA is four episodes long and animated by Agent 21, the 1993 OVA is six episodes long and animated by J.C.Staff, while TANK S.W.A.T. is one episode long and was animated by DOGA Productions. The manga was published by Hakusensha, Kodansha and later by Seishinsha. It has been published in English by Dark Horse Comics. The anime has been released in English translation in the United Kingdom and Australia by Manga Entertainment and in the United States by Central Park Media, under their U.S. Manga Corps division.

Cyberpunk from the land of the rising sun. Masamune Shirow’s precursor to his magnum opus Ghost in the Shell. Tank Police is retro-futuristic camp, as cheesy as you would imagine a love child of the Kerberos Panzer Cops and the Police Academy films.

First aired in the States on the Sci-fi Channel in it’s first years during Saturday Anime in the 90’s.
Get connected. Enjoy the ride and tune into a channel under a dead sky and get jacked into my nostalgic drip.

Stay off the drugs, stay strapped, stay dangerous, don’t forget your burner, wetware and ballistic hardware and always keep your finger on the REWIND button.

-HaiNe

This will be a list of both television/streaming series and full length films that premiered in the year 2023.

1. PLUTO : A Netflix original mini-series based on the acclaimed manga by Naoki Urasawa. Pluto is a retelling of a story arc from the pages of Astroboy by Ozama Tezuka. A riveting story that should be talked about a lot more. Don’t expect the Saturday Morning cartoon formula. This is a masterpiece with brilliant and poignant references to our current geopolitical climate, debates on A.I., Civil Rights, life & death, PTSD and the costs of war on the spirit. Anime of the year.
   
2. Dungeons & Dragons (Honour Among Thieves) : A quick and straight to the point adventure starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Sofia Lillis and Rege-Jean Page as your typical D&D table-top party archetypes. Not too dark and not too comedic with wonderful landscapes and action set-pieces. Worth the viewing.
   
3. Super Mario Bros the Movie: What a wonderful and beautiful film. The textures and amazing animation painted with the most beautiful colors I’ve seen since Children of the Sea. The story is what you’d expect and that’s fine. The voice actors did their thing here and performed nicely according to the script. A must watch on psychedelic stimulants.
   
4. Barbie: I heard it was good. I interviewed over a dozen people about it with 19 out of 20 giving positive responses. It has to be good to earn $1.4 billion dollars. Good job. Keeps that momentum going.
   
5. Town Called Malice (series): Created by Nick Love (Football Factory, The Business, The Firm) for Sky Max. The series premiered on 16 March 2023, with the full set of episodes being made available on Now. Jason Flemygn and Martha Plimpton star with an ensemble cast as a family living the life in the 1980s on the coast of Spain only to be entangled with the criminal underworld of their new home. Stylized Neon Crime.
   
6. TMNT Mutant Mayhem : The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. A reboot of the Turtles film series, it was directed by Jeff Rowe and co-directed by Kyler Spears, from a screenplay and story written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Rowe, with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit co-writing the former and Brendan O’Brien the latter. Acid dripped animation not too different from the Spiderverse films featuring Miles Morales. The turtles battle in and under the streets of New York City against the schemes of villains like Baxter Stockman and henchmen including Bebop & Rocksteady.
   
7. Scott Pilgrim Takes OFF: A collaboration between Netflix and Japanese animators, Takes Off is a retelling of the original graphic novel as well the live-action film. The entire cast returns to lend their voices to the story. Still streaming on Netflix.
   
8. Yu Yu Hakusho : Like it or not Netflix is determined to bring a lot of your favorite Toonami series to life. The beloved Yu Yu Hakusho has been adapted in live-action. However, there is one drawback. This is a very short season with a lot of character development from the anime crammed, if not rushed, into these episodes. I am no uber-fan of live-action animes but, it’s been hit and miss with Netflix with the Death Note adaptation being its worse while the live-action One Piece had a good launch with some if not most fans. Hopefully, Netflix can continue to improve with the upcoming Avatar: the Last Airbender series soon to premiere on the streaming app.
   
9. Totally Killer : The Retro Slasher Comedy from Blumhouse came like a whisper and tickled every remember-berry I could have. First off, Kiernan Shipka is always going to give you a good performance and she doesn’t disappoint. The film will seem like just a slasher back to the future rehash but, at the halfway point it does start to pick up the pace and plays out into being a pretty entertaining film. Still streaming on Amazon Prime, worth a watch.
   
10. Jewel Thief (Documentary) : Now this is a film that I started watching out of boredom and boy is it a helluva documentary. Gerald Blanchard the infamous international jewel thief and con-artist is a tale that spans three decades and is documented in this brilliant documentary on HULU with testimonies from associates, victims and law enforcement local, federal and international. This is an absolutely recommendation for true crime fans and those looking to remember a simpler time in their yesteryears. Too good to miss.

And there it is your list of (in my opinion) the best in retro for the year 2023. Stay cool, Stay Classy, Stay Chill and remember never take your finger off that REWIND button.  

“Look forward to more reviews and Fish Scale in the 2024.”

2023’s DRAGON COP is, in the words of it’s creators, “A love letter to 80’s/90’s Hong Kong and U.S. martial arts movies”. And it succeeds in doing so.
I can’t tell you how good and refreshing it was to see this movie after months of enduring bad and worse made films on my Prime account.

Dragon Cop’s eye for cinematography surpasses and triumphs over other independently made action films. A really well lit and good looking movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously and doesn’t handicap itself on puns and humor. Did I mention already that the action scenes are good too. Yes, there are actors in this film that can really execute choreography with precision. For being a short campy film, this is entertaining. Mixing elements of Martial Arts, Buddy-Cop films, Action films with straight to VHS levels of dialogue – It rocks. 

To summarize it in laymens terms, imagine your favorite Hong Kong Cynthia Rothrock film mixed with equal parts Lethal Weapon, Loaded Weapon 1, Replacement Killers, Showdown in Little Tokyo, Triple Impact (1992) and good splashes of Albert Pyun. 

The only negative I can take away from this film is that it is too short. Yes, Dragon Cop is actually the best possible trailer you could have for a full blown feature film/follow-up sequel. As you read this, the Mase Brothers are hard at work on Dragon Cop 2: Dragon’s Revenge. Absolutely something I am looking forward to seeing once it is completed.

I was blessed to be able to speak with the Mase Brothers about this project via social media and ask them a few questions.

I wanted a powerful theme for Dragon Cop like it was done in the movies of the 80s, and its title « Rise Of The Dragon » takes up all the codes of the genre! He really has an amazing voice. There is also talk of developing other songs in Dragon’s Revenge, the sequel to Dragon Cop, where the Colombian composer and longtime friend Meteor (already present on Cyborg Deadly Machine) will also be invited. I like being able to work with several artists from different countries, it’s really great and it would be impossible without the internet. In any case, I recommend that you go and discover its fabulous artists who are absolutely talented and quite unknown in the end.

Starring Matthew Modine (Dark Knight Rises, Full Metal Jacket, Stranger Things), Frank Jasper, Daphne Zuniga, Linda Florentino (Gotcha, Last Seduction), Michael Schoeffling (Sixteen Candles), Ronny Cox (Total Recall, Robocop). Directed by Harold Becker and released on February 15, 1985 earning a modest Box Office of just $13 million dollars.

There are plenty of films that become Cult Classics, for better or worse; with only some of them actually being worth a damn to watch and re-watch over again. But, a select number of those few actually capture not only a time and setting but also a culture. Vision Quest is one of those films.

The story of Louden Swain, an eighteen year old high school wrestler, who in attempt to end his senior year with a bang decides to drop weight and take on the defending state Champion “Shute”, played by Frank Jasper. Based on the novel by Terry Davis the film is a character study of a young man coming of age into adulthood. Along the journey his father takes in a young artist on her way from New Jersey to California and develops feelings for her. This movie is the Rocky of wrestling films and will probably be the best and only true depiction of what it takes to be a wrestler.  I’m going on a limb but, I guarantee every High School coach has given this film as an assignment to aspiring wrestlers every year for a book report.  Yes, a generic coming-of –age story. But thanks to the pacing and writing by the filmmakers, Vision Quest showcases well developed and authentic characters; making it a stand-out entry in the genre worthy of multiple revisits.

It’s as good as it gets.

So keep your cool. Stay healthy and always keep that finger on the REWIND button.

Movie Link:  

Here is my honest list. If you wonder why something isn’t here- well I probably didn’t want to watch it.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: So much fun; so entertaining. The humor and special effects really carry this movie. Idris Elba as Knuckles was a pleasant surprise and just proves that Mr. Elba can do no wrong in any role he does. Jim Carrey once again steals every scene he’s in.  All of the action is fabulous and the Mf’er goes Super Saiyan. Bravo.

Stranger Things (season 4/Netflix): You knew this was going to be high on my list. This recent season of Stranger Things was an absolute monster. It was a recurring topic in every conversation. You can’t name one person that didn’t say or think, “Man, I want to kick Vecna’s ass”. The season was trending for months after the last episode aired and even spiked Kat Bush’s songs back up on the TOP of the charts again. I can’t wait for the next and final season.

Cyberpunk: EdgeRunners (Netflix): The video game that yous casuals all thought was dead in the water. A year after  possibly the worst video game launch ever, based on the innovative and influential table-top role playing gam, the long awaited anime prequel premiered on NETFLIX and immediately became a hit while miraculously rejuvenating the video game and attracting over a million new players and redeeming CDprojekt Red.

Sandman (Netflix series): Based on the classic dark fantasy comic book that saved the comic industry during the infamous implosion of the 90’s and making DC/Vertigo the go-to publisher for mature and adult oriented comic books, THE SANDMAN finally has a live-action adaptation. Anyone that’s in the known of comic books and adaptations doomed to never be filmed – knows how long it took for something like this to be done. Netflix spent the right money and allowed Neil Gaiman to oversee the production of this updated interpretation of his most famous work. Morpheus lives. The casting is stellar. The writing and direction is spot on with this journey into the fantastic, horrific and reality bending wonder of this project. With a much deserved second season already greenlit, The Sandman isn’t going anywhere and here to stay.

Chainsaw Man (2022): The manga that sold millions of copies and was on the top of most Top 10 lists including Barnes & Noble’s being adapted by the uber-talented anime studio that is MAPPA (Jujutsu Kaisen, Banana Fish, Dorohedoro, Attack on Titan); Say no more.
After waiting over a year for this, I can say nothing negative about it. It excels in every category. The animation is beautiful with seemless transitions of 3D elements. The pacing and beats of the story with music is out of this world. This is a throwback to the gory days of Japanese anime. Body Horror and Infernal terror. Tetsuo the Iron Man had an orgy baby with Hellraiser and Guyver; Best anime of the year. There is only one episode left of the season and it’s bittersweet that I’ll have to wait maybe another year for more. However, I know Hell’s Paradise is just around the corner.

Wednesday (Netflix series): If you took the GOTHAM ACADEMY comic book from DC Comics and blended that with Harry Potter, called it the Addams Family,  gave Time Burton himself the reins to make into a series on Netflix well, you have yourself everything you’d expect from the teasers and trailers you saw months ago… an absolute joy to binge on. Fantastic viewing.

Tokyo Vice (HBO series): I love MIAMI VICE. I love Miami Vice. I was waiting and waiting for this series. I even picked up HBO MAX for it. Tokyo Vice is a Michael Mann produced series based on the memoir of an American journalist that moved to Japan to investigate and report on illicit activities and organized crime. Mann even directed the first episode. All set in the 1990s and filmed entirely in Japan. Much like KATE starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead filmed a nocturnal Japan with all its cityscapes, back alleys, underworlds and night life, Tokyo Vice is that stylized, slick, neon drenched neo-noir that bubbles with the energy of its performances, gritty storylines and direction. Tokyo Vice Stars Ken Watanabe (Last Samurai, Godzilla) and Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver).  As of June 2022, HBO has renewed the series for a second season.

Hellraiser (2022): You didn’t think this movie would happen and you didn’t think it would be good. Well it happened and it’s good. I actually liked it. Best Hellraiser sequel since Hellbound. Jaime Clayton is a superb Pinhead and equally mixes beauty with the grotesque into the sublime and erotic; yeah I said it. Hellraiser (2022) was directed by David Bruckner (The Ritual , Night House) and produced by franchise creator Clive Barker. Available on HULU and I need more.

Vox Machina (Prime series): The second best thing on Prime after THE BOYS. Vox Machina is like watching Dungeons & Dragons written like Porkies. With top notch animation and the best voice over work since the GHOST STORIES anime. Season 2 is set to premiere in 2023.

Maverick: Top Gun 2: This is probably the only compromised I’ll make with you because; I didn’t want to nor care to watch this movie. The only reason it’s on this list is because, everyone hyped this movie and praised it all the way up Jesus’ skirt in heaven. Tom Cruise returns to TOP GUN and is actually flying the planes; not just him, the whole cast got to fly jets. I can’t tell you who dies, who lives, who’s/who and I’ll never know if the homoerotic undertones carry over into this from the original film. I can absolutely give the production points for filming the film and not relying on computer generated effects. The movie made a lot of TOP 10 lists and was even one of Obamas best films of the year. That’s great. Good for them. But, I’ll leave the douchefest to the douchenozzles.

That’s it. Another year in the rear view but, 2023 is around the corner with some interesting things coming down the pipe. The good times aren’t over but, never, never take your friggin finger off that REWIND button.