TV Talk - Iron Fist Season 2

Well, at least the mask made it in one scene.

Well, this month went by quick! I guess that happens when you find yourself on another shift. There were a couple of more things I wanted to touch upon, but Into the Badlands and a possibly crappy Bruce Lee video game will have to wait.  Last for the month is a return to Netflix’s Iron Fist. I have to admit that I wasn’t a fond fan of that first season. It had some good moments, but it and even the series that followed it (The Defenders) left much to be desired. I guess after finishing this season, I won’t have anything to look forward to, and I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not for this show. It probably is for Daredevil and Luke Cage, though. More on my opinion of those cancellations later.

Season 2 of Iron Fist takes place a couple of months later Defenders. With Matt… not in the picture anymore, Danny Rand has taken it upon himself to fight crime as a vigilante. He’s also moved in with Colleen Wing’s dojo to live with her. As for Colleen, she’s given up the fighting for a normal life. Meanwhile, Ward Meachum is trying to get help for himself. What none of them know is that Davos, Danny’s friend from K’un L’un, and Joy Meachum have made an alliance with one another. They both have it out for Danny and plan on making his life hell. Add a Triad gang war, a weird redhead with serious mental issues, and you get a season that is much better than its predecessor.

Movie Talk - Michael Jai White

Next up for the month is a more modern martial arts actor: Michael Jai White. There ain’t too many of us brothers out there doing these things, so Michael Jai White is kind of a rarity. He was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1967. The dude really knows his stuff.  He first started training martial arts at age 7. He’s trained in styles like Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Wushu, and Jujitsu over the years. He’s been in action movies with guys like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Scott Adkins, and a few others. He even played Mike Tyson in the HBO biopic, Tyson, in the 90’s.

He’s been in all sorts of movies over the years, so martial arts isn’t his only thing. He’s been in some Tyler Perry movies and TV shows. In the geek realm, he was the voice for Doomsday on Justice League, he was in The Dark Knight, he was Jax in Mortal Kombat Legacy, and he was Bronze Tiger on Arrow. Unfortunately, he was Spawn in 1997’s Spawn, a movie I was going to talk about today, but decided not to for obvious reasons. Besides, I’m not a Spawn fan anyway. He kind of hit it big with Black Dynamite, one movie I’ll be talking about today. I’ll also be talking about Blood and Bone and Falcon Rising. I was going to add Skin Trade to this, but I’ll skip that for now. Besides, I can only take so much on the subject of human trafficking.

Movie Talk - More Jackie Chan Movies

Next up is a return to Jackie Chan, the martial arts actor who by the grace of God is still alive. Seriously, look up some of the stunts that didn’t go well! The guy’s broken almost every bone in his body. I don’t know how he's still here!

Last year, I looked at a few movies from his career. This time, I’m going to do the same, but three of them are a part of a series. First up is the 1973 movie, Police Woman. Then, I got the Police Story movies. These movies were basically done in the same vein as 1985’s The Protector, one of the movies I talked about last year. Chan wasn’t happy with that movie and I can’t blame him because I wasn’t happy with it either. So, he decided to redo the concept with Police Story in 1985. It spawned a few sequels, but I’m only looking at Police Story 2 (1988) and Police Story 3: Supercop (1991/1996). He also directed the first two Police Story movies.

Movie Talk - Bolo Yeung

Next up for the month is a look at movies that featured a man by the name of Yang Sze. You would probably know him by another title: BOLO. That’s right, folks! The guy who I said was my favorite henchman years ago gets his own post. I thought why not devote a post to the guy since I’ve probably mentioned him a lot during these months.

While you can wiki this info, here’s a little information on him. Yang Sze, aka Bolo Yeung, was born in China in 1946. He began to train in martial arts at 10 years old. Later, he decided to  take up body-building and even had the Mr. Hong Kong championship title for a few years. Because of his muscle-bound stature, he went into the movie business and was the stereotypical henchman for years. The dude was in a lot of kung fu movies from the 70’s to the 90’s. He’s most remembered for the role of Bolo (that’s where the stage name came from) from Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. He’s also known for being in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport.

I got five movies for today. Most of them range from decent to “what in the heck was that.” While Bolo (I’ll just call him by that) is usually a bright point in movies, the movies aren’t always the best. First up is Chinese Hercules from 1974. Next, we have Bloodspo--, I mean, Bloodfight from 1989. Then, there’s the all time “classic”, Ironheart, from 1992. Finally, I finish it off with the Shootfighter movies from 1993 and 1996. With all that said, I’ll get to it.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - The Master of Kung Fu #100

Next up for the month is a return to the Marvel Universe’s Master of Kung Fu. I’ve already looked at a few things involving Shang-Chi. I thought I’d come back to the guy since I got a random issue from his first series. Word on the street is that there may be a Shang-Chi movie coming one of these days. I don’t know how that’ll pan out, but hopefully that does get some traction. It’d be nice to see some more Marvel kung-fu action since The Immortal Iron Fist Netflix show is gone. More on that next week.

Today’s issue is The Master of Kung Fu #100.  I don’t remember where I found it at. This double-sized issue was written by Doug Moench. I probably remember Moench more for his Batman work, but he’s done some Marvel stuff as well. The artwork is handled by Gene Day and Mike Zeck. Jim Novak handles the letters and Bob Sharen does the colors. So, what happens in the 100^th issue of Shang-Chi’s book? Flashback time!!! (echoes)

Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers #10

Next up for the month is a quick look at the Boom Comics' version of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Who knew this series would catch fire the way it did? If someone told me that there would have been a pretty good Power Rangers comic series out there, I would have looked at them a little weird, and then go check it out. Right now, the series (and its spinoff) are doing their own thing after their major crossover, “Shattered Grid.” Which reminds me… How does “Comic Crossover Central” sound? It might be the name for my new blog.

Anyway, I’m not talking about a new blog today. I decided to look at the run and find something to talk about. Since the series is mostly full of story-arcs, I’ll be talking about Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers #10, a standalone issue. Kyle Higgins wrote the issue. Johnathan Lam handles the pencils and inks. There is a 2-page mini story at the end that’s done written by Steve Orlando and illustrated by Corin Howell. All I can really say about it is that it was pretty funny. It’s just a mini that has Bulk and Skull get tempted by Rita in being heroes. With all that said, how does one of my favorite Power Rangers deal actually deal with being a Ranger?

Movie Talk - Bruceploitation Part 6: Return to the Gauntlet of Imitation Movies!

This whole cover is a lie. There are no ninjas, no real Bruce Lee, and no AK-47's!

Well, it’s time for my favorite segment of this month: Bruceploitation! Heck, it was pretty much Bruceploitation week after work. I needed something to watch while exercising since these movies don’t require a lot of attention most of the times. For those who don’t know, Bruceploitation was a phenomenon that occurred after the death of martial arts star, Bruce Lee. Studios were trying to churn out kung-fu movies that had lookalikes in the place of Lee. You had stage names being thrown around like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Leong, Dragon Lee, and others. Heck, even Jackie Chan was in one of these movies… and it actually wasn’t bad either.

While it is tacky and sometimes shameless, I kinda like this subgenre. You never know what you’ll find since these movies vary in terms of quality. You got some decent ones out there, and you have ones that make you wonder who got drunk that day. I found one last year (Bruce’s Fist of Vengeance) that took the cake in how laughably bad it was. This time, I got another variety of films. While I don’t have anything as weird as “Bruce Lee Fights Dracula and the Godfather along with Popeye,” I do have one with kung-fu little people, bronze Shaolin monks, and some crappy comedy…. I’m doing that one first, ain’t I?

TV Talk - Batman: TAS "Night of the Ninja" and "Day of the Samurai"

Well, it’s January, so that means I get to look at a lot of guys posing in stances and yelling. No, it’s not the WWF. This month is Martial Arts Month, the time where I look at any media (movies, TV, comics, books, etc.) that features martial arts. This time, I think it’s time to throw a little Batman into the mix. While the Caped Crusader is considered to be one of the best fighters in the DCU, I haven’t mentioned him yet during this month. It’s probably because I really don’t have many comics that center on him fighting ninjas or something like that. Also, Batman gets enough love as it is (too much, honestly).

I then remembered that Batman did go up against a ninja named Kyodai Ken on Batman: The Animated Series. Kyodai was a ninja Bruce met when he was in training to become Batman. Ken first appeared in “Night of the Ninja,” the 28th episode aired on FOX. He later appeared in “Day of the Samurai,” the 55th episode aired. This was a character that was only created for the show, so I don’t think he’s appeared anywhere else. Besides, Batman’s got enough wannabe ninjas to deal with. I was able to re-watch them on the DCU app. Today, I’ll be talking about both episodes.