-By  Will, on February 13, 2017, 7:00 am 
Episode 20!!! Wow, time flies when you’re ramblin’! This episode I’m talkin’ about Sammo Hung’s second film, 1978’s Enter the Fat Dragon!
Also on the show:
- Hiroshi Matsuno’s Shochiku horror film The Living Skeleton
- Jimmy Huston’s Final Exam
Music Notes
Intro:
- John Lee Hooker – You Talk Too Much
Outro:
- The Pointer Sisters – Pinball Number Count
- As featured on the television program Sesame Street (iTunes, Amazon)
If you’ve got feedback, throw it into the comments below or email it to me via the contact page! I’ll include it in a future show!
The podcast is embedded directly below this, or you can go directly to Podbean (or use their app) to listen. If you want to subscribe, paste http://silveremulsion.podbean.com/feed/ into whatever reader you’re using, such as iTunes.
-By Will, on February 9, 2017, 7:00 am  Shanghai Noon (2000)
AKA Shanghai Kid, Shaolin Cowboy
Starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Lucy Liu, Brandon Merrill, Roger Yuan, Xander Berkeley, Yu Rong-Guang, Jason Connery, Walton Goggins, Adrien Dorval, Rafael Báez, Stacy Grant, Kate Luyben
Directed by Tom Dey
Expectations: Moderate.
From where I’m sitting, the years have not been kind to Shanghai Noon. I initially saw it upon its original home video release, and I remember liking well enough to carry a positive memory around with me in the intervening years. Seeing it in relative close proximity to some truly great Jackie films, though, Shanghai Noon feels neutered and missing so much of the “it factor” that makes Jackie unique. The action is minimal and not satisfying at all, though to be fair Shanghai Noon is trying its best to be a comedy more than anything else. This becomes a problem when you’re not laughing along with the movie, because there’s literally nothing else to carry the film (other than every western genre cliche you can imagine).
Jackie plays Chon Wang, an Imperial Guard who is friendly with Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu) and feels responsible when she is kidnapped and taken to America. So along with a trio of uptight guards, Jackie makes his way to the land of cowboys and golden dreams to begin his search. Initially he finds it a bit hard, running into a bumbling gang of train thieves led by Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson). But to be honest, the plot of Shanghai Noon isn’t of much concern; it’s more about the comedy of the two lead characters coming together and dealing with situation after situation of bad luck.
Continue reading Shanghai Noon (2000) →
-By Will, on February 6, 2017, 7:00 am
Episode 19! This time I’m talkin’ about Sammo Hung’s 1993 film Blade of Fury, one of the seven Hong Kong films currently released through the Warner Archive. Get it here! (and tell ’em you want more!)
Also on the show:
- Jim Wynorski’s Deathstalker II
- Clark Worswick’s Family Honor
Music Notes
Intro:
- Speedometer – Up the Down
- It’s My Thing / Up The Down 45 RPM Single [Timmion Records, 2001] (iTunes, Amazon)
Outro:
- Leonard Cohen – Everybody Knows
If you’ve got feedback, throw it into the comments below or email it to me via the contact page! I’ll include it in a future show!
The podcast is embedded directly below this, or you can go directly to Podbean (or use their app) to listen. If you want to subscribe, paste http://silveremulsion.podbean.com/feed/ into whatever reader you’re using, such as iTunes.
-By Will, on February 3, 2017, 7:00 am  The Flying Guillotine [血滴子] (1975)
Starring Chen Kuan-Tai, Ku Feng, Wai Wang, Kong Yeung, Liu Wu-Chi, Ai Ti, Wong Yu, Lam Wai-Tiu, Norman Chu Siu-Keung, Ricky Hui Koon-Ying, Liu Wai, Lee Sau-Kei, Lee Pang-Fei, Man Man, Wu Chi-Chin, Lei Lung, Lin Wen-Wei, Wai Pak
Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Expectations: High. Flying Guillotines!
Every one is familiar with the Jimmy Wang Yu classic Master of the Flying Guillotine, but before that film cemented itself into kung fu history, there was Ho Meng-Hua’s The Flying Guillotine. It was Ho’s film that introduced the weapon to the modern martial arts film, and by nature of its story, it also serves as an origin story for the weapon. The flying guillotine was a real weapon used during the Qing Dynasty under the rule of the Yongzheng Emperor (1722–1735). This is roughly the same timeframe that Chang Cheh’s Shaolin Cycle films inhabit, although no one knows exactly when the burning of the Shaolin Temple occurred (and there are multiple conflicting stories of various Shaolin temples burning, too!). Anyway, the flying guillotine was apparently a real thing, as crazy as that sounds.
The Flying Guillotine begins in the chamber of the emperor (Kong Yeung), who finds himself desiring a pair of advisors killed off without a lot of hullabaloo. He gives this task to Chief Xin Kang (Ku Feng), who sets about devising a way to assassinate the men quickly and accurately from such a range that no one can identify the killer. While walking down the street and contemplating the job, Xin Kang takes special interest in a man performing with a Diabolo (a Chinese Yo-Yo consisting of a wooden object spun and thrown with a rope). Inspiration strikes and the flying guillotine is born! The emperor loves the weapon so much that he then asks Xin Kang to form a 12-person strike team proficient in the usage of the flying guillotine.
Continue reading The Flying Guillotine (1975) →
-By Will, on February 1, 2017, 7:01 am  Starring Donnie Biggs, Tanya Garrett, Cristian Irimia, Ruxandra Sireteanu, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Keith, Jason Dohring, Shanie Calahan, Luminita Erga
Directed by Jeffrey Porter
Expectations: Moderate. I like trains.
On the general scale:
On the B-movie scale:
Full Moon doesn’t list Train Quest as an official Full Moon production, but I’m inclined to think this is more of an oversight than anything else. Perhaps it’s a legal issue. In any case, IMDB lists Charles Band as an uncredited Executive Producer and gives Full Moon production credit. If that’s not enough proof, when the young couple are deciding on what movie to see for their first date, the girl suggests Retro Puppet Master! Hahahaha, only in a Full Moon movie would something like this occur, so the jig is up Full Moon! No matter what the situation is, Train Quest is classic Moonbeam, and it’s easily one of their most entertaining films.
August (Donnie Biggs) is a teenager obsessed with model trains and a girl who’s out of his league, Ellen (Tanya Garrett). He works in the local train shop and Ellen’s little brother, Billy (Tyler Hoechlin, who recently played Superman on the Supergirl TV show!), is a frequent visitor. August figures if he can make friends with Billy, he can parlay that into a foot in the door for realizing his dream of dating Ellen. Fate does bring them together, and after their first date August brings Ellen to the train shop to show her the owner’s huge train layout in the back room. What August doesn’t know is that this particular train set is part of a magical ritual, and before they know what’s going on, both August and Ellen find themselves shrunk down to O scale, riding the model train to their possible doom.
Continue reading Train Quest (2001) →
-By Will, on January 30, 2017, 7:00 am
Episode 18! I set up my real mic so things should sound a little better and it didn’t cut out on me! Yay! I didn’t pick a feature beforehand so I’m just arbitrarily deciding that it’ll be Sammo Hung’s 1992 film The Moon Warriors. Why? Why not?
Also on the show:
- Brandy Yuen & Arthur Wong’s In the Line of Duty III
- Larry Cohen’s It’s Alive
- Domonic Paris’s Splitz
Music Notes
Intro:
- Dialogue from the 1975 film Dolemite, directed by D’Urville Martin
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold – Captain Blood: Main Title
- Previn Conducts Korngold (iTunes, Amazon)
- Originally from the 1935 film Captain Blood, directed by Michael Curtiz
Incidentals:
- Ennio Morricone – Secondo Intermezzino Pop
- More Mondo Morricone Revisited (iTunes, Amazon)
- Originally from the 1970 film Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, directed by Luciano Ercoli
Outro:
- Ennio Morricone – Svolta Definitiva
- More Mondo Morricone Revisited (iTunes, Amazon)
- Originally from the 1970 film Violent City, directed by Sergio Sollima
If you’ve got feedback, throw it into the comments below or email it to me via the contact page! I’ll include it in a future show!
The podcast is embedded directly below this, or you can go directly to Podbean (or use their app) to listen. If you want to subscribe, paste http://silveremulsion.podbean.com/feed/ into whatever reader you’re using, such as iTunes.
-By Will, on January 23, 2017, 7:00 am
Episode 17! Relentless technical difficulties and some disjointed talk on Wong Kar-Wai’s debut feature: As Tears Go By!
Also on the show:
- Sammo Hung’s Pedicab Driver
- Budd Boetticher’s Buchanan Rides Alone
- Shochiku horror film Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell
Music Notes
Intro:
- The Wild Magnolias – Soul, Soul, Soul
Outro:
- Catalyst – Ain’t It the Truth
If you’ve got feedback, throw it into the comments below or email it to me via the contact page! I’ll include it in a future show!
The podcast is embedded directly below this, or you can go directly to Podbean (or use their app) to listen. If you want to subscribe, paste http://silveremulsion.podbean.com/feed/ into whatever reader you’re using, such as iTunes.
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