PM ENTERTAINMENT's 'T!TS ON FIRE' 1996 TWO-FER! 001.- RIOT (DVD). Streaming on ROKU CHANNEL, FAWESOME.
Remember the opening minute of 1993's "Demolition Man," when the future Los Angeles of 1996 had the Hollywood sign on fire and the entire city was a warzone? "Riot" is the urban disaster movie taking place at the beginning of Stallone's future flick. L.A. is burning from yet another racial unrest-fueled civilian riot on Christmas Eve. Amidst the burning buildings and brutal assaults, the daughter of the British ambassador (Paige Rowland) is carjacked and kidnapped by black thugs who demand $2 million in ransom. So the FBI man in charge (Charles Napier) sends for Major Shane Alcott (Gary Daniels) and his helicopter pilot pal Major Williams (Sugar Ray Leonard) to fly Alcott into the heart of the riot area, drop him and the money, then pick Alcott and the ambassador's daughter (who just happens to be Shane's ex) after the ransom's paid. Everything goes wrong (naturally), and the couple must survive a night of constant life-threatening assaults on their lives.
Directed by the 'M' in 'PM Entertainment' (Joseph Mehri), "Riot" has some of the most insane and explosion/fire-filled stunt work ever seen in a DTV flick. While it isn't the best-written screnplay (characters are introduced and then dropped without resolution, we switch villains at the halfway mark, there are action gags that border on "Naked Gun"-style silliness, etc.) and some of the small budget constraints show (that toy helicopter on fire! 😯🙄), Gary Daniels is a beast as a British military guy that kicks/punches all the asses while dodging exploding cars and RPG missiles. And even though he's only in the flick briefly, we do get to see boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard beat the crap out of a MAGA-like softball team of racist dads at a bar open during the riots. 😨 It helps that the racial subtext surrounds the action/story, but most of the thugs Daniels fights are like themed gangs from "The Warriors": hockey gang, motorcycle gang, IRA gang (led by a beret-wearing Patrick Kilpatrick), etc. Other than some boring downtime between the action set-pieces, "Riot" is so good it goes next to "Die Hard" in my personal Christmas action short list. 5 STUNT BIKE DRIVERS SET ON FIRE CHASING GARY DANIELS (out of five).
002.- SKYSCRAPER (DVD). Streaming on TUBI, FAWESOME.
No, not the Dwayne Johnson blockbuster action vehicle. The one where Anna Nicole Smith pilots an L.A. charter helicopter, has three nude scenes (one where she's r@ped by a thug! 😰) showing off her ginormous b@@bs and is forced by circumstances to become a John McClain badass, complete with jumping-off-top-of-building-with-strapped-around-her-waist-falling-thingie stunt and some shootouts. Everyone in the cast is such a bad actor you almost wonder if it's done on purpose to make ANS's horrendous acting ('I want a baby!') look normal by comparison. The terrorist leader (Charles Huber's Fairfax) is such an unlikable a-hole (non-stop Shakespeare quotes), you're glad when ANS judo kicks him off the building. One glorious exception to the bad acting is Daron McBee (Malibu on the 1980's "American Gladiators" TV show), who loves to show off his mane in slow-mo as he shamelessly mugs while being a bloodthirsty terrorist. Some great stunts/explosions (an opening limousine assault in an alley, RPG missiles fired at firefighters, etc.), but the bad comes close to outweighing the good. It's a shit show, but it's my kind of PM Entertainment shit show. 3 PANTS' HOLES IN DETECTIVE WINK'S CROTCH AREA (out of five).
Hitting the PM Entertainment options already, I see. That is one category I still have not decided on yet. I was leaning toward Cyber Tracker, but Riot sounds like a good time.
PM Entertainmebt! Day is not until the 28th, couldn't wait that long. 🥵 And "Riot" sure rocked my world. Best hidden-in-plan-sight gem of an action movie l've stumbled to star June 'en fuego.' 💣💥
'I MISS BRUCE WILLIS GIVING A S***' DOUBLE FEATURE! 003.- STRIKING DISTANCE (1993, ROKU CHANNEL). Also streaming on NETFLIX.
I had vague memories of TV ads promoting this as an action movie set on boats in the rivers around Pittsburgh. To my surprise, this turned out to be more of a police/serial killer procedural drama, one that starts with a hell of a car chase that shows off the locations and director Rowdy Herrington's "Road House" action bona fides. Bruce Willis plays Tom Hardy, an honest-to-a-fault cop (who ratted on his dirty cop bestie), convinced a serial killer is not only at large, but that he's also a police officer who knows his department's MO. Demoted to river patrol, Hardy and new partner Sarah Jessica Parker (cue the 'women in the police force' early 90's clichés) must work together when bodies being dumped in the river appear to be women from Hardy's past. A great supporting cast (Dennis Farina, Brion James, John Mahoney, Andre Braugher, Robert Pastorelli, Tom Atkins, etc.) sells the narrative that Hardy is an outcast even among his family of cops. A third act reveal threatens to derail the entire narrative, but the boat/river stunts are so good (and Willis seems so invested in his role) I'll let it slide. 3.5 TOM SIZEMORES STRUGGLING TO LOOK SOBER (out of five).
Director Harold Becker gave Alec Baldwin one of his best acting roles in 1993's "Malice" ('You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God.'). So naturally, when Becker got to direct Bruce Willis in "Mercury Rising," he brought Alec on board as the leader of a shadowy government organization trying to keep secret codes that hide government undercover agents' identities (or something to that effect) from coming to light... even if it means murdering the autistic little kid (Miko Hughes' Simon) that cracked the code by reading it in a puzzle book. Convoluted story notwithstanding, before 2016's "The Accountant," this was considered one of the best portrayals of autism in a Hollywood movie. Miko Hughes is so good that his outbursts and temper tantrums actually make already tense scenes even more harrowing to watch. Though the action is infrequent (a bridge shootout here, an ambulance chase there, etc.) and some of the special effects wanting (green screen on a train, a helicopter on a rooftop... YIKES!), Bruce Willis sells the determination his FBI character has to not let the mistakes from his past (an opening scene where innocent young people died while he was undercover) repeat with Simon. Even mediocre stories come across so much stronger when Willis' characters are engaged, something we took for granted back in the 90's. 3.25 CHI McBRIDE CARS REPORTED STOLEN (out of five).
BONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 1! 005.- THE PINK PANTHER (1963, KINO LORBER 4K UHD). Also streaming on PRIME, TUBI, PLUTO, ROKU TV, YOUTUBE.
My turn to pull a Mac McEntire. 😉🤨
The most successful comedy movie series of all time (11 theatrical features, hundreds of animated shorts, an enduring IP, and a Henry Mancini-composed theme song that rivals the Monty Norman-composed 007 theme in pop culture mindshare) started life as a humble European-bound, jet set, comedic heist flick. David Niven plays Sir Charles Lyton, notorious high society womanizer that moonlights as a jewel thief ('The Phantom') inching his way toward stealing 'The Pink Panther' diamond from can't-hold-her-liquor 'Princess' (Claudia Cardinale, whose 'Meglio Stasera' music/dance number is a showstopper) while both stay at the same Italian sky resort. And Lyton would have gotten away with it with the help of his secret helper/lover Simone (Capucine) had it not been for (a) Charles' nephew George (Robert Wagner) showing up unannounced to meddle in his uncle's thievery/womanizing business, and (b) Simone's husband Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) bumbling his way as a clueless French inspector trying to nab The Phantom.
It's no secret that second-billed Peter Sellers steals this movie and most of the "Pink Panther" series, but here that's mostly a byproduct of everyone else in the cast playing a type/stock character (the aging Lothario, the rich ingénue, etc.). Only Capucine comes close to having her own identity, but she'd still be a massive Bechdel Test failure. Sellers and co-writer/director Blake Edwards infuse Clouseau with so much personality and wacky antics it overshadows everything/everyone else, even though by the slapstick standards of latter installments this first "Pink Panther" is not that funny and has pacing/length problems. Every scene without Clouseau in it (Lyton pretend rescuing the Princess' dog, Wagner putting the moves on Capucine, etc.) seems interminable. The bedroom/bathroom farce scenes are still a riot, though, and despite not having his sidekicks in place yet (Colin Gordon's Tucker is the closest) Clouseau's self-assured attitude and confidence are already firmly established. The ending feels like a cop-out, and most of these cast members wouldn't appear on a "PP" movie again until after Peter Sellers' passing... but that's fodder for a future review. 🤓
ANIMATED INTRO OPENING: 4 'ELAB SDRAWED' ANAGRAMS (out of five). The Panther has claws that would be removed for future intros/cartoons, but the smoking pose is so striking it made it into all the 60's and 70's animated shorts' opening curtains. David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng's animated opening credits kick-started a popular theatrical/TV cartoon franchise, it's that good. The title song's an all-time banger from the first note to the last for a reason: Henry Mancini rules. 😎
MOVIE RATING: 3.35 TIGER RUGS WITH DRUNK PRINCESSES ON TOP (out of five).
And the chase is afooot. Try to keep up, you dirty mother effers! 🤗
A fun start to Junesploitation! It is obvious that the budget for this was not large, but a professional like Lester, with classics like Class of 1984 and Commando on his resume, knew how to make the dollars stretch. In order to deal with lawless areas where gangs are running rampant, a new program is instituted in Seattle to test teaching robots in high schools with the skills to fight unruly students. Unfortunately for the students, the teachers start to go too far in punishing them. It is up to the gangs to challenge these formidable foes. The action gets charmingly stupid at certain moments, and the quick pacing seldom lets up. With a cast that includes Pam Grier, Malcolm McDowell, and Stacy Keach, I knew this would be film worth checking out. Overall, Class of 1999 is a slick, action-packed production that I would have loved to rent or see on cable back in the early 1990s.
You can also file Class of 1999 under Teenagers! and Exploitation Auteurs! this month.
I love that, by the end (when Patrick Kilpatrick sheds his human skin), the movie's climax goes full-on "Terminator" with the hydraulics and robot splatter/gore. Ironically the school building that explodes at the end is now... an active school with good standing in its Seattle community. 😳🤔
Joe Huff (Brian Bosworth), a tough cop who plays by his own rules but gets results (exemplified by the opening scene where he foils a supermarket robbery and trashes the whole place while doing it), is tasked with infiltrating a biker gang led by Chains Cooper (Lance Henriksen) and suspected of drug trafficking and several murders. Adopting the name John Stone, Huff proceeds to play by his own rules and get results.
Set in an alternate dimension where any vehicle will immediately explode on contact (or more accurately half a second before contact), this movie delights with car chases, motorcycle chases, shootouts, fistfights, toxic masculinity, weird mullets, and more explosions than you can shake a stick at, culminating in a ridiculous finale where Stone sends a motorcycle out of a window and into a helicopter, which promptly explodes just before the bike touches it.
Henriksen give a great performance as the menacing, subtly unhinged gang leader, and Sam McMurray is fun as Stone's neurotic handler. Meanwhile Brian Bosworth looks like he's gonna hurt himself trying to convey emotion.
San Francisco cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) is on the tail of elusive drug kingpin "Ice Man", who most people don't even think exists. When he finds a clue the Ice Man is after newly released ex-con Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), who helped Cates years earlier (you know, in the first 48 Hrs. movie), they have to once again team up and solve the case together.
It's a perfectly cromulent buddy cop movie in and of itself, but feels like they're desperately trying to recreate the chemistry from eight years earlier (Murphy even sings Roxanne just like he did in the first movie), and it's only partially succesful. Andrew Divoff is good at playing a scary villain.
I don’t know if I started this well or horribly with the 166 minute International Gorillay. All I know is I’m already off my original plan with questionable results. Cut 90 minutes out of this and you have a banger, but you kind of have a banger anyway. The Islamic world is under threat from a devious plot to build casinos and discos masterminded by real life author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie. Rushdie is played by some guy named Afzaal Ahmad who is better at looking evil than he is at looking like Salman Rushdie, not that anyone who values their life would want to look like Salman Rushdie. This becomes a man on a mission film of sorts to take out the evil Rushdie before he corrupts Pakistan forever. 2 hours and change later, a dozen flying Qurans surround Rushdie and shoot him with laser beams. Where’s the Vinegar Syndrome 4K? I’d buy it day 1 and probably never watch it.
- Brad Fiedel's score is unique and interesting. Is there anything else like it? - At one point in the motorcycle/horse chase Arnold yells: "Get to the car!" Doesn't quite have the same ring as "Get to the Choppa!"
Under Siege (1992) I've been slowly working my way through the early Seagals (my Steven Seagal consciousness turned on when he starred in that "reality" show about his time working as a deputy sheriff), and I was under the impression that Under Siege was the film from that era (era) of his career that was undeniably good. I...guess that's true? Seems like standard silly Seagal to me, complete with a goofy accent. Is it because it has fun villain performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey? Maybe. It can't be because of Seagal, he's barely in it! It's really just guys sitting around and talking! Off to read the Under Siege chapter in Outlaw Vern's Seagalogy...
I went in with low expectations and had them exceeded! The practical stunt work in this Dukes of Hazard style robbers on the run flick is as good as the acting by Cynthia Rothrock and Corey Haim is hokey. Well worth your time. Er, maybe just: worth your time.
Spiro Razatos was the stunt coordinator for "Riot" (first name in the post-credit scroll, above even the actors). The man's a legend in the stunt community. 😎🤠
Also known as Deadlock when released on VHS, this made-for-HBO movie stars Rutger Hauer as Frank Warren. He’s an electronics wizard and a master jewel thief who thinks he’s got it made after orchestrating a massive diamond heist. His crew consists of his gorgeous fiancée, Noelle (Joan Chen), and his long-time buddy, Sam (James Remar). But there is no honor among thieves. The moment the diamonds are safely stashed away, Sam and Noelle turn on Frank and leave him for the cops. Frank gets pinched, but he keeps his mouth shut about where the diamonds are hidden.
Cut to Camp Holliday, an experimental future prison that makes your standard maximum-security joint look like a country club. Run by the deliciously sadistic Warden Holliday (Stephen Tobolowsky, who seems to be having the time of his life), there are no iron bars or barbed wire fences here. Instead, the facility relies on the Wedlock system: every inmate is fitted with a bulky, electronic collar containing a proximity-fused explosive charge. Every collar is secretly linked to another random prisoner. If you move more than 100 yards away from your unknown partner, or if anyone tries to tamper with the hardware, BOOM—both of your heads get blown clean off your shoulders.
Naturally, Warden Holliday tries to torture the location of the diamonds out of Frank (using a sensory deprivation tank, which is for relaxation, not interrogation) but Frank isn’t talking. Things get complicated in the yard when Frank’s collar starts chirping, leading him to discover that his explosive soulmate is Tracy Riggs (Mimi Rogers), a woman claiming she was completely framed. One afternoon, when Frank fights a fellow inmate named Emerald (Basil Wallace) to the death, Tracy takes the ambulance he’s in and makes a run for it.
No other movie has Rutger Hauer and Mimi Rogers wearing traditional African clothing.
Glad to have you back, B&S About Movie. 🥰 You should visit our FTM site more often, especially on weekends when our Weekend Thread discusses all kinds of movies (new releases, classics, exploitation, foreign, etc.). You shouldn't limit your visits here to just the month of June. 🙃🙂
FIGHTING SPIRIT aka King of the Kickboxers 2 (1992, John Lloyd aka Teddy Page aka Teddy Chiu akaTed Johnson aka Irvin Johnson aka…)
Kicking Junesploitation! 2026 off… literally!! If GHOST were a martial arts movie with Sean Donahue in the Patrick Swayze role, FIGHTING SPIRIT is what you’d get! Loren Avedon is inspired by the spirit realm to take revenge for his friend’s death. Over-the-top macho mayhem, scenery –chewing baddies, weird locations and sets, and a surreal soundtrack add up to ninety minutes of non-stop action nonsense! Plus a deliriously drunken Mike Monty cameo! I watched the Donahue/Page (aka Chiu aka...) effort BLOOD HANDS last year for 90’s Action Day, so I went back to the well and was rewarded with an awesome opening for this year Junesploitation!
Also… I was waiting for the Junesploitation! primer to publish my 2026 slate, but I’ll do it here:
1 – ‘90s Action! – Fighting Spirit (1992) 2 – Cartoons! – The Wolf House (2018, Chile) 3 – Linda Blair! – Red Heat (1985, WIP) 4 – Blaxploitation! – Black Mama White Mama (1973, WIP, Filiipinosploitation) 5 – Teenagers! – Kenny and Company (1976) 6 – South Korea! – Save the Green Planet! (2003) 7 – Free Space! TBD 8 – Zombies! – Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974, Spain) 9 – Thrillers! – Gone With the Pope (1976/2010) 10 – Private Eyes! – Faceless (1988, Jess Franco) 11 – Disasters! – Day of the Animals (1977) 12 – Kung Fu! – The Bod Squad (1974, HK/Germany) 13 – ‘90s Horror! – Body Melt (1993, Ozsploitation) 14 – Cannon! – Lifeforce (1985) 15 – George Romero! – Night of the Living Dead (1990) 16 – Free Space! – TBD 17 – Hong Kong Action! – The Cat (1992) 18 – Franco Nero! – Keoma (1972, Italy) 19 – Black Filmmakers! – Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984) 20 – ‘80s Sci-Fi! – Turkey Shoot (1982, Ozploitation) 21 – Free Space! – Cannibal Holocaust (1980, Italy) – in person @ HOLLYWOOD THEATER! 22 – Revenge! – Rolling Vengeance (1987 Canucksploitation) 23 – Exploitation Auteurs! – Double Agent 73 (1974, Doris Wishman) 24 – Slashers! – The Love Butcher (1975) 25 – Jackie Chan! – Police Story (1985, HK) 26 – Heroes & Villains – Dynamite Johnson aka Return of the Bionic Boy (1979, Filipinosploitation) 27 – Italian Cinema! – The Face With Two Left Feet (1979, Italy, Discosploitation) 28 – PM Entertainment! – The Art of Dying (1991, Wings Hauser) 29 – Free Space! - TBD 30 – ‘80s Comedy! – Blood Diner (1987)
Happy Junesploitation! Excited to read about your exploitation adventures, everybody!
THE WARLORD: BATTLE FOR THE GALAXY (1998) In the distant future, the galaxy has become a lawless land. One low-level tough guy (a scoundrel, you might say) must rescue a precocious child genius from kidnappers. John Corbett must have been in a career wilderness at this time, but he gives it his best cowboy antihero swagger. I’m assuming this was a TV pilot, as a good chunk of the runtime is spent on getting a ship and assembling a crew. Not much action, and the technobabble is a lot of same-old, same-old. But I have fondness for cheap-yet-tryhard ‘90s TV sci-fi, so this hits the sweet spot, derivative though it might be.
30 days of fan films, day 1: BATMAN DEAD END (2003) Might as well begin with one of the biggies that helped put fan films on the map. Ol’ Batty boy tracks down the Joker and then confronts some surprise enemies. It’s only eight minutes long, but there are multiple YouTube documentaries about its history, so it’s a big deal. It’s very shadowy and stylish, somewhere between Burton and Nolan. Writer-director Sandy Collora has made a bunch of these, so maybe he’ll show up again later this month. If you have eight minutes to spare, you could do a lot worse.
Batman Dead End wad awesome. It was a pretty big deal back then. Along with Troops (Star Wars spoof of Cops, i'm assuming it's coming later this month) helped the fan made movie in early i ternet age. I think some of these were even before youtube.
Screened at the Cine 42 the week of May 29, 1990, on a double bill w The Guardian. (I decided to really put the ‘sploitation back in Junesploitation and pick movies that actually screened on 42nd street during the grindhouse era - tho PM Entertainment is gonna throw a wrench in the plan a little)
Fairly violent Zatoichi (!!!) inspired action comedy starring Rutger Hauer, penned by the writer of Gymkata, directed by Phillip Noyce (his last stop before Patriot Games), and shot by the future cinematographer of Forest Gump (and a bunch of other late period Zemeckis). Pretty fun! Bauer is the thing to show up for, he really commits to it and balances out some of the lumpier bits you’d expect from the above premise. Reccomend!!
By BAUER, you mean HAUER? I hate auto-correct. 🙄 Great flick, tempted to buy the Kino Blu-ray when it goes on sale but never have the nerve to pull the trigger. 😓
Haha yep - the perils of typing about trash while I should be doing my job lol. It was tons of fun- if there’s good supplementary stuff I feel like it’d be worth it just for more background- I’m a sucker for this kind of last gasp era of medium budget high concept action… I feel like this would have been relegated to DTV just a few years later, and would have been a totally (ok maybe moderately) different kind of beast.
{note: im going to do my best to watch mostly new-to-me movies this month!}
Drop Zone (1994)
Drop Zone Writers Room Day 1 Pitch Meeting: "Ok everybody! Time to write an exciting action flick for Wesley Snipes! Sooooo you know how cool Point Break is? And how it features a cop going undercover in the surfing community with a little bit of skydiving? Great. Heres what we are going to do...write a movie that is the EXACT same thing! But just focus on the skydiving community! Oh, and i suppose we'll throw in a bunch of stuff lifted from Die Hard at the end. Start writing those Oscar acceptance speeches!"
Bonus review as i have seen it but recently revisited: hrmm. It holds up well but somehow doesnt rise to the levels of films i group with it like Face Off or The Rock. I enjoy Travolta's over the top cocky bad guy a lot. I guess the story just needs a bit more meat on the bone and/or action to push it to "rewatch all the time" levels for me?
To me the supporting cast around cool mofo Snipes elevates "Drop Zone." Michael Jeter plays weasel scumbags so good, Yancy Butler is the wild card, Theo Huxtable drives Wesley's revenge crusade, Corey Nemec just can't lose (😉😝) and Gary Busey is just... being Gary Busey. 😁
The original release of Drop Zone 4k by Vinegar Syndrome came with a parachuter toy. And i live on the 3rd floor. I had a bit of fun with my friend when i got it 🤣
Hey it looks like I can finally comment here again! Yay Google for getting their shit together!
The Next Karate Kid
An inauspicious beginning to a new year of Junesploitation. Future two-time Academy Award winner Hillary Swank stars as Julie, a troubled teenager who lost her parents (a fact we learn when she loudly announces it in her introductory scene, because that’s how unsubtle this whole movie is) and finds herself under the tutelage of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), the world’s most unassuming secret badass.
Easily the weakest movie in the franchise, this one is stuffed to the gills with bad expository dialogue, poorly blocked fights (the coup de grâce in the final fight is shown in slow motion so we can get a nice clear look at Swank’s foot missing its target by a solid 6 inches), and characters so cartoonish that the casting director might have turned down Foghorn Leghorn for being too naturalistic. I like most of the movies in the series, but this one just doesn’t work on any level. Wax off, indeed.
P.S. If you do choose to sit through it, keep an eye out for baby Walton Goggins
I saw this last year and loved it, primarily because we spend the most time with Mr. Miyagi (and his comic relief monk friends 😁) than any other entry in the series. I see all the flaws too (main fighting sequences are a letdown and production cheats like crazy to make Julie seem like a good fighter), but appreciate that since the main character's a young girl the dynamics can't be the same as when Miyagi trained Daniel-son. Morita and Swank dancing so the latter can go to the dance moved me to tears, as did the scene of Julie dancing with the monks set to The Cranberries' 'Dreams.' 🥰 There's cheese to enjoy (the bungie cord army, Michael Ironside chewing scenery) but you're mostly right, "Next Katate Kid" isn't meant for everyone. 🥺😢
No primer this year ? Anyways I managed to do almost a full list. Im just missing something for Heroes and Villains day, not sure about that one. Ill put the Letterboxd link to the list below.
Tonight Ill be watching The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991). Very much looking forward to it. I've never seen it before, and same goes for the rest of the list.
I think you will appreciate Ken Wahl's mullet. The Taking of Beverly Hills was a watch for me last year, and I had fun with it.
My own interpretation of the category is a story about a hero (or heroes) fighting against villains. You could choose either heroes or villains to focus on, too.
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane(1990 Dir Renny Harlin)
Yes I started my Junesploitation watching a rock fable about the worlds only Rock and Roll detective. Upon rewatch I noticed something I somehow missed upon all my past viewings. Ford Fairlane does not buy his own shit. He does not think he's as cool as everyone else does. We hear it in his inner monologues when he tells his jokes and then immediately follows it up with a Jerry Lewis-esque noise. We see it in his dealings where he refuses to stand up to the famous people over payments. How he abrasively pushes people away to keep from getting rejected. We can see it in his relationship with JAzz where he obviously cares about her but does the most repulsive things to her to keep her at a distance. He plays tough and talks tough but he is still the loser from Queens looking for acceptance from the industry that rejected him. Clay does not get enough credit for this movie.
Or maybe I stayed up too late last night and he really is just that cocky and conceited
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, and they both die in the first five minutes before the opening credits? Okay, you have my attention. Wait... Hang on. There might be a lot more going on here. Yep, Zombies (known as Unisols). And Jerry Orbach. And lots of naked Van Damme ass. This movie is awesome (although I would have cast the two leads the other way around). Let's go, Junesploitation!
Dolph Lundgren is a world-weary sniper assassin working for a shadowy "Agency". As he and his feisty spotter prepare to do a big job, their complicated past slowly unfolds in flashback form. The central action is confined to an empty skyscraper under construction, which makes for a cool setting, all stark concrete walls and flickering lights and elevator shafts. Russell Mulcahy directs with swagger and a good feel for suspense. 90s Action is a great way to kick off the month.
This was released the same year as the original China O'Brien and it kind of shows. I wrote about the OG as a Heavy Action and was pleasantly surprised by it; the sequel is...not as good. Cynthia Rothrock is fun to watch as always but it almost feels like she has a supporting role in this one. There's one hilarious strippergram scene that alone makes the movie worth watch (for the reactions from the guy, not the dancer). This came as a double feature from VinSyn so I'll consider it a bonus feature. Happy to have finally seen it, of course.
Wing Commander (1999): Who remember this? One of those crappy videogame adaptations where the original work was a mere suggestion for the movie. The kind of Hollywood Blockbuster B-movie that Arrow will probably release at some point. It's not giod, but I enjoy it.
I do. So many talented thesps (David Suchet, Jürgen Prochnow, David Warner, Tchéky Karyo) and the leads are Stu from "Scream," Buffy's hubby and the a-hole scientist lady from "Deep Blue Sea." 🙄🫣
Drive (Steve Wang, 1997) There has to be a German word for this specific phenomenon: saving a movie for a Junesploitation theme, and then quickly realizing while you're finally watching it that it's the PERFECT pick for the day. Drive is insanely entertaining. Inventive and playful choreography, fun colorful sets, fantastic stunt work, Brittany Murphy as delightful as ever, two charming leads (Mark Dacascos & Kadeem Hardison) who seem to know exactly what movie they're in, bad guys riding BMX bikes, Walter the Einstein Frog (?), and much more. Loved it! I might try and throw in another Steve Wang this month.
Watching the Jet Li movie High Risk (or I guess Meltdown as we call it here in the U.S.) and holy fuck is there some tonal whiplash between the opening and the rest of the movie. Like, blow up Jet Li's wife and a school bus full of kids and then go all in on a drunken Jackie Chan parody character kinda whiplash.
And I am back for Junesploitation 2026! You folks are amazing. Love reading about everyone's watches and the comments.
I went with On Deadly Ground (1994, dir. S. Seagal himself). I have seem very few Steven Segal movies despite being the prime age and target for these 1990's shenanigans.
The environmental message. All the jackets with fringe! Michael Caine with some dyed hair. Amazing.
We paid homage to the king of 90’s action, John Woo, with Hard Target. It does not get any better than Jean-Claude Van Damme standing atop a speeding motorcycle and Wilford Brimley shooting arrows on horseback. Fun was had by all.
Eric Roberts is a JACKED (like this man has never had a carb in his life jack ) former assassin in the witness protection now going by one, John Dugan! I believe this is the director of Commando, one of my all time favorites and it certainly delivers in the car chase and explosion departments. Roberts has a few good one-liners, an insane fantasy-murder vision, and the SICKEST karate hairdo. Plus, a henchmen uses a forklift as a weapon which is always fun. Happy Junesploitation, everyone!
Die Hard at a beauty pageant. This a film that intrigued me from descriptions from past Junesploitations. Watching it, though, I was a little underwhelmed. The energy level of the action scenes was more sluggish than I expected. No Contest is entertaining enough to at least not leave me disappointed. Roddy Piper was not given much to do, and Andrew Dice Clay did not seem inspired by his villain role. One more film off of my Junesploitation watch list in any case.
On a humorous note, the pack of cards shown in the film is for the game of pinochle (I play it every week), which does not have cards that go lower than 9. How the ladies were drawing 2s and 4s from that kind deck mystified me.
Van Damme has to save his pregnant wife from Mickey Rourke, the CIA, a Guardian of The Colony (?), a tiger, and a Colosseum full of landmines. But don't fret, he's got gadget-master Dennis Rodman, a bunch of monks, a Guardian of the Colony (?), and a Coke Machine on his side. The credits say Double Team was written by Don Jakoby and Paul Mones, who I'm guessing are fifth graders who stayed up all night drinking soda and snorting Pixy Stix.
It makes no sense, but it isn't confusing. It's not good, but it's never boring. I was entertained.
Buddy cop duo Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee take on some yakuza drug ring bad guys. There's barely a whiff of plot, but Lundgren and especially Lee are likable enough that "just root for the good guys" suffices. At just 78 minutes, Showdown efficiently packs in enough gunfights, fist/foot-fights, and naked ladies to scratch your action itch.
Brandon Lee steals the movie from the sidekick spot. Dolph's a little stiff, but game enough. Not all the humor works, but some does. Tia Carrere delivers a pretty great bad post-coital joke. The final kill is awesome.
Ha! I was aware of this line somehow without ever having seen the movie (probably included in some kind of wacky movie lines reel), so when it happened, it was a fun, "Oh, THAT'S what that's from" moment. Bonkers.
Batman Returns (1992) Perverse, dark, twisted comic book movie that is far more interested in its villains than the titular superhero. Art direction, costumes, score, and makeup are top notch, but the film seems to have no real interest in its own narrative. I know one thing: this movie is not Happy Meal friendly. FULL DISCLOSURE: I originally watched Batman for 90’s Action Day, and then realized it was released in 1989: I am old.
IT HAS BEGUN!
ReplyDeletePM ENTERTAINMENT's 'T!TS ON FIRE' 1996 TWO-FER!
001.- RIOT (DVD). Streaming on ROKU CHANNEL, FAWESOME.
Remember the opening minute of 1993's "Demolition Man," when the future Los Angeles of 1996 had the Hollywood sign on fire and the entire city was a warzone? "Riot" is the urban disaster movie taking place at the beginning of Stallone's future flick. L.A. is burning from yet another racial unrest-fueled civilian riot on Christmas Eve. Amidst the burning buildings and brutal assaults, the daughter of the British ambassador (Paige Rowland) is carjacked and kidnapped by black thugs who demand $2 million in ransom. So the FBI man in charge (Charles Napier) sends for Major Shane Alcott (Gary Daniels) and his helicopter pilot pal Major Williams (Sugar Ray Leonard) to fly Alcott into the heart of the riot area, drop him and the money, then pick Alcott and the ambassador's daughter (who just happens to be Shane's ex) after the ransom's paid. Everything goes wrong (naturally), and the couple must survive a night of constant life-threatening assaults on their lives.
Directed by the 'M' in 'PM Entertainment' (Joseph Mehri), "Riot" has some of the most insane and explosion/fire-filled stunt work ever seen in a DTV flick. While it isn't the best-written screnplay (characters are introduced and then dropped without resolution, we switch villains at the halfway mark, there are action gags that border on "Naked Gun"-style silliness, etc.) and some of the small budget constraints show (that toy helicopter on fire! 😯🙄), Gary Daniels is a beast as a British military guy that kicks/punches all the asses while dodging exploding cars and RPG missiles. And even though he's only in the flick briefly, we do get to see boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard beat the crap out of a MAGA-like softball team of racist dads at a bar open during the riots. 😨 It helps that the racial subtext surrounds the action/story, but most of the thugs Daniels fights are like themed gangs from "The Warriors": hockey gang, motorcycle gang, IRA gang (led by a beret-wearing Patrick Kilpatrick), etc. Other than some boring downtime between the action set-pieces, "Riot" is so good it goes next to "Die Hard" in my personal Christmas action short list. 5 STUNT BIKE DRIVERS SET ON FIRE CHASING GARY DANIELS (out of five).
002.- SKYSCRAPER (DVD). Streaming on TUBI, FAWESOME.
ReplyDeleteNo, not the Dwayne Johnson blockbuster action vehicle. The one where Anna Nicole Smith pilots an L.A. charter helicopter, has three nude scenes (one where she's r@ped by a thug! 😰) showing off her ginormous b@@bs and is forced by circumstances to become a John McClain badass, complete with jumping-off-top-of-building-with-strapped-around-her-waist-falling-thingie stunt and some shootouts. Everyone in the cast is such a bad actor you almost wonder if it's done on purpose to make ANS's horrendous acting ('I want a baby!') look normal by comparison. The terrorist leader (Charles Huber's Fairfax) is such an unlikable a-hole (non-stop Shakespeare quotes), you're glad when ANS judo kicks him off the building. One glorious exception to the bad acting is Daron McBee (Malibu on the 1980's "American Gladiators" TV show), who loves to show off his mane in slow-mo as he shamelessly mugs while being a bloodthirsty terrorist. Some great stunts/explosions (an opening limousine assault in an alley, RPG missiles fired at firefighters, etc.), but the bad comes close to outweighing the good. It's a shit show, but it's my kind of PM Entertainment shit show. 3 PANTS' HOLES IN DETECTIVE WINK'S CROTCH AREA (out of five).
Hitting the PM Entertainment options already, I see. That is one category I still have not decided on yet. I was leaning toward Cyber Tracker, but Riot sounds like a good time.
DeletePM Entertainmebt! Day is not until the 28th, couldn't wait that long. 🥵 And "Riot" sure rocked my world. Best hidden-in-plan-sight gem of an action movie l've stumbled to star June 'en fuego.' 💣💥
DeleteHold on. What? I have never heard of this. And it's on Tubi?
DeleteYep. It's just like "Die Hard," if John McLaine went barechested instead of barefoot. 😳🤣
Delete'I MISS BRUCE WILLIS GIVING A S***' DOUBLE FEATURE!
ReplyDelete003.- STRIKING DISTANCE (1993, ROKU CHANNEL). Also streaming on NETFLIX.
I had vague memories of TV ads promoting this as an action movie set on boats in the rivers around Pittsburgh. To my surprise, this turned out to be more of a police/serial killer procedural drama, one that starts with a hell of a car chase that shows off the locations and director Rowdy Herrington's "Road House" action bona fides. Bruce Willis plays Tom Hardy, an honest-to-a-fault cop (who ratted on his dirty cop bestie), convinced a serial killer is not only at large, but that he's also a police officer who knows his department's MO. Demoted to river patrol, Hardy and new partner Sarah Jessica Parker (cue the 'women in the police force' early 90's clichés) must work together when bodies being dumped in the river appear to be women from Hardy's past. A great supporting cast (Dennis Farina, Brion James, John Mahoney, Andre Braugher, Robert Pastorelli, Tom Atkins, etc.) sells the narrative that Hardy is an outcast even among his family of cops. A third act reveal threatens to derail the entire narrative, but the boat/river stunts are so good (and Willis seems so invested in his role) I'll let it slide. 3.5 TOM SIZEMORES STRUGGLING TO LOOK SOBER (out of five).
004.- MERCURY RISING (1998, AMAZON PRIME)
ReplyDeleteDirector Harold Becker gave Alec Baldwin one of his best acting roles in 1993's "Malice" ('You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God.'). So naturally, when Becker got to direct Bruce Willis in "Mercury Rising," he brought Alec on board as the leader of a shadowy government organization trying to keep secret codes that hide government undercover agents' identities (or something to that effect) from coming to light... even if it means murdering the autistic little kid (Miko Hughes' Simon) that cracked the code by reading it in a puzzle book. Convoluted story notwithstanding, before 2016's "The Accountant," this was considered one of the best portrayals of autism in a Hollywood movie. Miko Hughes is so good that his outbursts and temper tantrums actually make already tense scenes even more harrowing to watch. Though the action is infrequent (a bridge shootout here, an ambulance chase there, etc.) and some of the special effects wanting (green screen on a train, a helicopter on a rooftop... YIKES!), Bruce Willis sells the determination his FBI character has to not let the mistakes from his past (an opening scene where innocent young people died while he was undercover) repeat with Simon. Even mediocre stories come across so much stronger when Willis' characters are engaged, something we took for granted back in the 90's. 3.25 CHI McBRIDE CARS REPORTED STOLEN (out of five).
BONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 1!
ReplyDelete005.- THE PINK PANTHER (1963, KINO LORBER 4K UHD). Also streaming on PRIME, TUBI, PLUTO, ROKU TV, YOUTUBE.
My turn to pull a Mac McEntire. 😉🤨
The most successful comedy movie series of all time (11 theatrical features, hundreds of animated shorts, an enduring IP, and a Henry Mancini-composed theme song that rivals the Monty Norman-composed 007 theme in pop culture mindshare) started life as a humble European-bound, jet set, comedic heist flick. David Niven plays Sir Charles Lyton, notorious high society womanizer that moonlights as a jewel thief ('The Phantom') inching his way toward stealing 'The Pink Panther' diamond from can't-hold-her-liquor 'Princess' (Claudia Cardinale, whose 'Meglio Stasera' music/dance number is a showstopper) while both stay at the same Italian sky resort. And Lyton would have gotten away with it with the help of his secret helper/lover Simone (Capucine) had it not been for (a) Charles' nephew George (Robert Wagner) showing up unannounced to meddle in his uncle's thievery/womanizing business, and (b) Simone's husband Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) bumbling his way as a clueless French inspector trying to nab The Phantom.
It's no secret that second-billed Peter Sellers steals this movie and most of the "Pink Panther" series, but here that's mostly a byproduct of everyone else in the cast playing a type/stock character (the aging Lothario, the rich ingénue, etc.). Only Capucine comes close to having her own identity, but she'd still be a massive Bechdel Test failure. Sellers and co-writer/director Blake Edwards infuse Clouseau with so much personality and wacky antics it overshadows everything/everyone else, even though by the slapstick standards of latter installments this first "Pink Panther" is not that funny and has pacing/length problems. Every scene without Clouseau in it (Lyton pretend rescuing the Princess' dog, Wagner putting the moves on Capucine, etc.) seems interminable. The bedroom/bathroom farce scenes are still a riot, though, and despite not having his sidekicks in place yet (Colin Gordon's Tucker is the closest) Clouseau's self-assured attitude and confidence are already firmly established. The ending feels like a cop-out, and most of these cast members wouldn't appear on a "PP" movie again until after Peter Sellers' passing... but that's fodder for a future review. 🤓
ANIMATED INTRO OPENING: 4 'ELAB SDRAWED' ANAGRAMS (out of five). The Panther has claws that would be removed for future intros/cartoons, but the smoking pose is so striking it made it into all the 60's and 70's animated shorts' opening curtains. David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng's animated opening credits kick-started a popular theatrical/TV cartoon franchise, it's that good. The title song's an all-time banger from the first note to the last for a reason: Henry Mancini rules. 😎
MOVIE RATING: 3.35 TIGER RUGS WITH DRUNK PRINCESSES ON TOP (out of five).
And the chase is afooot. Try to keep up, you dirty mother effers! 🤗
CLASS OF 1999 (1990, Mark L. Lester)
ReplyDeleteA fun start to Junesploitation! It is obvious that the budget for this was not large, but a professional like Lester, with classics like Class of 1984 and Commando on his resume, knew how to make the dollars stretch. In order to deal with lawless areas where gangs are running rampant, a new program is instituted in Seattle to test teaching robots in high schools with the skills to fight unruly students. Unfortunately for the students, the teachers start to go too far in punishing them. It is up to the gangs to challenge these formidable foes. The action gets charmingly stupid at certain moments, and the quick pacing seldom lets up. With a cast that includes Pam Grier, Malcolm McDowell, and Stacy Keach, I knew this would be film worth checking out. Overall, Class of 1999 is a slick, action-packed production that I would have loved to rent or see on cable back in the early 1990s.
You can also file Class of 1999 under Teenagers! and Exploitation Auteurs! this month.
I love that, by the end (when Patrick Kilpatrick sheds his human skin), the movie's climax goes full-on "Terminator" with the hydraulics and robot splatter/gore. Ironically the school building that explodes at the end is now... an active school with good standing in its Seattle community. 😳🤔
DeleteI wondered if the film would to go "Terminator" at that point. When it actually did, I could not suppress a laugh.
DeleteThe best month of the year is here!
ReplyDeleteStone Cold (1991, dir. Craig R. Baxley)
Joe Huff (Brian Bosworth), a tough cop who plays by his own rules but gets results (exemplified by the opening scene where he foils a supermarket robbery and trashes the whole place while doing it), is tasked with infiltrating a biker gang led by Chains Cooper (Lance Henriksen) and suspected of drug trafficking and several murders. Adopting the name John Stone, Huff proceeds to play by his own rules and get results.
Set in an alternate dimension where any vehicle will immediately explode on contact (or more accurately half a second before contact), this movie delights with car chases, motorcycle chases, shootouts, fistfights, toxic masculinity, weird mullets, and more explosions than you can shake a stick at, culminating in a ridiculous finale where Stone sends a motorcycle out of a window and into a helicopter, which promptly explodes just before the bike touches it.
Henriksen give a great performance as the menacing, subtly unhinged gang leader, and Sam McMurray is fun as Stone's neurotic handler. Meanwhile Brian Bosworth looks like he's gonna hurt himself trying to convey emotion.
Another 48 Hrs. (1990, dir. Walter Hill)
DeleteSan Francisco cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) is on the tail of elusive drug kingpin "Ice Man", who most people don't even think exists. When he finds a clue the Ice Man is after newly released ex-con Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), who helped Cates years earlier (you know, in the first 48 Hrs. movie), they have to once again team up and solve the case together.
It's a perfectly cromulent buddy cop movie in and of itself, but feels like they're desperately trying to recreate the chemistry from eight years earlier (Murphy even sings Roxanne just like he did in the first movie), and it's only partially succesful. Andrew Divoff is good at playing a scary villain.
Dude! This was my #2 pick for the day....might have to watch on a free space.
DeleteMashke, you mean "Stone Cold" or "Another 48 Hrs."? 🫥
DeleteStone Cold! A silly cult 90s fav that ive not yet seen.
DeleteI don’t know if I started this well or horribly with the 166 minute International Gorillay. All I know is I’m already off my original plan with questionable results. Cut 90 minutes out of this and you have a banger, but you kind of have a banger anyway. The Islamic world is under threat from a devious plot to build casinos and discos masterminded by real life author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie. Rushdie is played by some guy named Afzaal Ahmad who is better at looking evil than he is at looking like Salman Rushdie, not that anyone who values their life would want to look like Salman Rushdie. This becomes a man on a mission film of sorts to take out the evil Rushdie before he corrupts Pakistan forever. 2 hours and change later, a dozen flying Qurans surround Rushdie and shoot him with laser beams. Where’s the Vinegar Syndrome 4K? I’d buy it day 1 and probably never watch it.
ReplyDeleteTrue Lies (1994, dir. James Cameron)
ReplyDelete- Brad Fiedel's score is unique and interesting. Is there anything else like it?
- At one point in the motorcycle/horse chase Arnold yells: "Get to the car!" Doesn't quite have the same ring as "Get to the Choppa!"
Under Siege (1992)
ReplyDeleteI've been slowly working my way through the early Seagals (my Steven Seagal consciousness turned on when he starred in that "reality" show about his time working as a deputy sheriff), and I was under the impression that Under Siege was the film from that era (era) of his career that was undeniably good. I...guess that's true? Seems like standard silly Seagal to me, complete with a goofy accent. Is it because it has fun villain performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey? Maybe. It can't be because of Seagal, he's barely in it! It's really just guys sitting around and talking! Off to read the Under Siege chapter in Outlaw Vern's Seagalogy...
I almsot went with Under Siege 2.
DeleteFAST GETAWAY (1991) dir. Spiro Razatos
ReplyDeleteI went in with low expectations and had them exceeded! The practical stunt work in this Dukes of Hazard style robbers on the run flick is as good as the acting by Cynthia Rothrock and Corey Haim is hokey. Well worth your time. Er, maybe just: worth your time.
Spiro Razatos was the stunt coordinator for "Riot" (first name in the post-credit scroll, above even the actors). The man's a legend in the stunt community. 😎🤠
DeleteI was gonna watch the sequel tonight because the stunts were so good, but then I saw he didn’t direct the sequel so I think I’m going to shift gears.
DeleteWedlock (1991)
ReplyDeleteAlso known as Deadlock when released on VHS, this made-for-HBO movie stars Rutger Hauer as Frank Warren. He’s an electronics wizard and a master jewel thief who thinks he’s got it made after orchestrating a massive diamond heist. His crew consists of his gorgeous fiancée, Noelle (Joan Chen), and his long-time buddy, Sam (James Remar). But there is no honor among thieves. The moment the diamonds are safely stashed away, Sam and Noelle turn on Frank and leave him for the cops. Frank gets pinched, but he keeps his mouth shut about where the diamonds are hidden.
Cut to Camp Holliday, an experimental future prison that makes your standard maximum-security joint look like a country club. Run by the deliciously sadistic Warden Holliday (Stephen Tobolowsky, who seems to be having the time of his life), there are no iron bars or barbed wire fences here. Instead, the facility relies on the Wedlock system: every inmate is fitted with a bulky, electronic collar containing a proximity-fused explosive charge. Every collar is secretly linked to another random prisoner. If you move more than 100 yards away from your unknown partner, or if anyone tries to tamper with the hardware, BOOM—both of your heads get blown clean off your shoulders.
Naturally, Warden Holliday tries to torture the location of the diamonds out of Frank (using a sensory deprivation tank, which is for relaxation, not interrogation) but Frank isn’t talking. Things get complicated in the yard when Frank’s collar starts chirping, leading him to discover that his explosive soulmate is Tracy Riggs (Mimi Rogers), a woman claiming she was completely framed. One afternoon, when Frank fights a fellow inmate named Emerald (Basil Wallace) to the death, Tracy takes the ambulance he’s in and makes a run for it.
No other movie has Rutger Hauer and Mimi Rogers wearing traditional African clothing.
Glad to have you back, B&S About Movie. 🥰 You should visit our FTM site more often, especially on weekends when our Weekend Thread discusses all kinds of movies (new releases, classics, exploitation, foreign, etc.). You shouldn't limit your visits here to just the month of June. 🙃🙂
DeleteYou got it!
Delete🥰🥳
DeleteIt’s on Tubi as Deadlock!
DeleteDid I miss the primer somewhere?
ReplyDeleteI could use some inspiration for some of the days
I thought the same thing! I am happy to provide a spark if you'd like! Which days are challenging for you?
DeleteBecause of when June 1 falls I didn't have room for a Primer this year but promise to bring it back next year!! Sorry about that.
DeleteIt's cool, Patrick! I imagine we'll figure it out!
DeleteFIGHTING SPIRIT aka King of the Kickboxers 2 (1992, John Lloyd aka Teddy Page aka Teddy Chiu akaTed Johnson aka Irvin Johnson aka…)
ReplyDeleteKicking Junesploitation! 2026 off… literally!! If GHOST were a martial arts movie with Sean Donahue in the Patrick Swayze role, FIGHTING SPIRIT is what you’d get! Loren Avedon is inspired by the spirit realm to take revenge for his friend’s death. Over-the-top macho mayhem, scenery –chewing baddies, weird locations and sets, and a surreal soundtrack add up to ninety minutes of non-stop action nonsense! Plus a deliriously drunken Mike Monty cameo! I watched the Donahue/Page (aka Chiu aka...) effort BLOOD HANDS last year for 90’s Action Day, so I went back to the well and was rewarded with an awesome opening for this year Junesploitation!
Also… I was waiting for the Junesploitation! primer to publish my 2026 slate, but I’ll do it here:
1 – ‘90s Action! – Fighting Spirit (1992)
2 – Cartoons! – The Wolf House (2018, Chile)
3 – Linda Blair! – Red Heat (1985, WIP)
4 – Blaxploitation! – Black Mama White Mama (1973, WIP, Filiipinosploitation)
5 – Teenagers! – Kenny and Company (1976)
6 – South Korea! – Save the Green Planet! (2003)
7 – Free Space! TBD
8 – Zombies! – Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974, Spain)
9 – Thrillers! – Gone With the Pope (1976/2010)
10 – Private Eyes! – Faceless (1988, Jess Franco)
11 – Disasters! – Day of the Animals (1977)
12 – Kung Fu! – The Bod Squad (1974, HK/Germany)
13 – ‘90s Horror! – Body Melt (1993, Ozsploitation)
14 – Cannon! – Lifeforce (1985)
15 – George Romero! – Night of the Living Dead (1990)
16 – Free Space! – TBD
17 – Hong Kong Action! – The Cat (1992)
18 – Franco Nero! – Keoma (1972, Italy)
19 – Black Filmmakers! – Black Devil Doll from Hell (1984)
20 – ‘80s Sci-Fi! – Turkey Shoot (1982, Ozploitation)
21 – Free Space! – Cannibal Holocaust (1980, Italy) – in person @ HOLLYWOOD THEATER!
22 – Revenge! – Rolling Vengeance (1987 Canucksploitation)
23 – Exploitation Auteurs! – Double Agent 73 (1974, Doris Wishman)
24 – Slashers! – The Love Butcher (1975)
25 – Jackie Chan! – Police Story (1985, HK)
26 – Heroes & Villains – Dynamite Johnson aka Return of the Bionic Boy (1979, Filipinosploitation)
27 – Italian Cinema! – The Face With Two Left Feet (1979, Italy, Discosploitation)
28 – PM Entertainment! – The Art of Dying (1991, Wings Hauser)
29 – Free Space! - TBD
30 – ‘80s Comedy! – Blood Diner (1987)
Happy Junesploitation! Excited to read about your exploitation adventures, everybody!
MORTAL KOMBAT ANNIHILATION (1997):
ReplyDeleteOne of my earliest disappointing theatrical experiences back in ‘97. Still sucks butt!
But now it sucks butt (😳😱) in glorious Arrow 4K. 😁
DeleteJune 30 can't come soon enough (MK 4k release date 😁)
DeleteTHE WARLORD: BATTLE FOR THE GALAXY (1998)
ReplyDeleteIn the distant future, the galaxy has become a lawless land. One low-level tough guy (a scoundrel, you might say) must rescue a precocious child genius from kidnappers. John Corbett must have been in a career wilderness at this time, but he gives it his best cowboy antihero swagger. I’m assuming this was a TV pilot, as a good chunk of the runtime is spent on getting a ship and assembling a crew. Not much action, and the technobabble is a lot of same-old, same-old. But I have fondness for cheap-yet-tryhard ‘90s TV sci-fi, so this hits the sweet spot, derivative though it might be.
30 days of fan films, day 1: BATMAN DEAD END (2003)
Might as well begin with one of the biggies that helped put fan films on the map. Ol’ Batty boy tracks down the Joker and then confronts some surprise enemies. It’s only eight minutes long, but there are multiple YouTube documentaries about its history, so it’s a big deal. It’s very shadowy and stylish, somewhere between Burton and Nolan. Writer-director Sandy Collora has made a bunch of these, so maybe he’ll show up again later this month. If you have eight minutes to spare, you could do a lot worse.
So, "Batman" fan-made films throughout June? Cool, can't wait for "Batman vs. Alien." 😄
DeleteBatman Dead End wad awesome. It was a pretty big deal back then. Along with Troops (Star Wars spoof of Cops, i'm assuming it's coming later this month) helped the fan made movie in early i ternet age. I think some of these were even before youtube.
DeleteBlind Fury - Dir. Philip Noyce (1990 US release)
ReplyDeleteScreened at the Cine 42 the week of May 29, 1990, on a double bill w The Guardian. (I decided to really put the ‘sploitation back in Junesploitation and pick movies that actually screened on 42nd street during the grindhouse era - tho PM Entertainment is gonna throw a wrench in the plan a little)
Fairly violent Zatoichi (!!!) inspired action comedy starring Rutger Hauer, penned by the writer of Gymkata, directed by Phillip Noyce (his last stop before Patriot Games), and shot by the future cinematographer of Forest Gump (and a bunch of other late period Zemeckis). Pretty fun! Bauer is the thing to show up for, he really commits to it and balances out some of the lumpier bits you’d expect from the above premise. Reccomend!!
By BAUER, you mean HAUER? I hate auto-correct. 🙄 Great flick, tempted to buy the Kino Blu-ray when it goes on sale but never have the nerve to pull the trigger. 😓
DeleteHaha yep - the perils of typing about trash while I should be doing my job lol. It was tons of fun- if there’s good supplementary stuff I feel like it’d be worth it just for more background- I’m a sucker for this kind of last gasp era of medium budget high concept action… I feel like this would have been relegated to DTV just a few years later, and would have been a totally (ok maybe moderately) different kind of beast.
DeleteLETS F@#$ING GO!
ReplyDelete{note: im going to do my best to watch mostly new-to-me movies this month!}
Drop Zone (1994)
Drop Zone Writers Room Day 1 Pitch Meeting: "Ok everybody! Time to write an exciting action flick for Wesley Snipes! Sooooo you know how cool Point Break is? And how it features a cop going undercover in the surfing community with a little bit of skydiving? Great. Heres what we are going to do...write a movie that is the EXACT same thing! But just focus on the skydiving community! Oh, and i suppose we'll throw in a bunch of stuff lifted from Die Hard at the end. Start writing those Oscar acceptance speeches!"
Broken Arrow (1996)
DeleteBonus review as i have seen it but recently revisited: hrmm. It holds up well but somehow doesnt rise to the levels of films i group with it like Face Off or The Rock. I enjoy Travolta's over the top cocky bad guy a lot. I guess the story just needs a bit more meat on the bone and/or action to push it to "rewatch all the time" levels for me?
To me the supporting cast around cool mofo Snipes elevates "Drop Zone." Michael Jeter plays weasel scumbags so good, Yancy Butler is the wild card, Theo Huxtable drives Wesley's revenge crusade, Corey Nemec just can't lose (😉😝) and Gary Busey is just... being Gary Busey. 😁
DeleteGreat points JM! I would have liked more Busey being Busey. Also, GREAT pull with a Parker Cant Loose reference! Used to LOVE that show. "eeeek!"
DeleteThe original release of Drop Zone 4k by Vinegar Syndrome came with a parachuter toy. And i live on the 3rd floor. I had a bit of fun with my friend when i got it 🤣
DeleteHey it looks like I can finally comment here again! Yay Google for getting their shit together!
ReplyDeleteThe Next Karate Kid
An inauspicious beginning to a new year of Junesploitation. Future two-time Academy Award winner Hillary Swank stars as Julie, a troubled teenager who lost her parents (a fact we learn when she loudly announces it in her introductory scene, because that’s how unsubtle this whole movie is) and finds herself under the tutelage of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), the world’s most unassuming secret badass.
Easily the weakest movie in the franchise, this one is stuffed to the gills with bad expository dialogue, poorly blocked fights (the coup de grâce in the final fight is shown in slow motion so we can get a nice clear look at Swank’s foot missing its target by a solid 6 inches), and characters so cartoonish that the casting director might have turned down Foghorn Leghorn for being too naturalistic. I like most of the movies in the series, but this one just doesn’t work on any level. Wax off, indeed.
P.S. If you do choose to sit through it, keep an eye out for baby Walton Goggins
I saw this last year and loved it, primarily because we spend the most time with Mr. Miyagi (and his comic relief monk friends 😁) than any other entry in the series. I see all the flaws too (main fighting sequences are a letdown and production cheats like crazy to make Julie seem like a good fighter), but appreciate that since the main character's a young girl the dynamics can't be the same as when Miyagi trained Daniel-son. Morita and Swank dancing so the latter can go to the dance moved me to tears, as did the scene of Julie dancing with the monks set to The Cranberries' 'Dreams.' 🥰 There's cheese to enjoy (the bungie cord army, Michael Ironside chewing scenery) but you're mostly right, "Next Katate Kid" isn't meant for everyone. 🥺😢
DeleteNo primer this year ? Anyways I managed to do almost a full list. Im just missing something for Heroes and Villains day, not sure about that one. Ill put the Letterboxd link to the list below.
ReplyDeleteTonight Ill be watching The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991). Very much looking forward to it. I've never seen it before, and same goes for the rest of the list.
https://boxd.it/UKsl4$xJOTsrn1EL9ou9J6
I think you will appreciate Ken Wahl's mullet. The Taking of Beverly Hills was a watch for me last year, and I had fun with it.
DeleteMy own interpretation of the category is a story about a hero (or heroes) fighting against villains. You could choose either heroes or villains to focus on, too.
I love a good mullet !
DeleteIn that case, Ill put The Phantom for that day. Ive been meaning to watch that for a while.
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane(1990 Dir Renny Harlin)
ReplyDeleteYes I started my Junesploitation watching a rock fable about the worlds only Rock and Roll detective. Upon rewatch I noticed something I somehow missed upon all my past viewings. Ford Fairlane does not buy his own shit. He does not think he's as cool as everyone else does. We hear it in his inner monologues when he tells his jokes and then immediately follows it up with a Jerry Lewis-esque noise. We see it in his dealings where he refuses to stand up to the famous people over payments. How he abrasively pushes people away to keep from getting rejected. We can see it in his relationship with JAzz where he obviously cares about her but does the most repulsive things to her to keep her at a distance. He plays tough and talks tough but he is still the loser from Queens looking for acceptance from the industry that rejected him. Clay does not get enough credit for this movie.
Or maybe I stayed up too late last night and he really is just that cocky and conceited
Universal Soldier (1992)
ReplyDeleteJean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, and they both die in the first five minutes before the opening credits? Okay, you have my attention. Wait... Hang on. There might be a lot more going on here. Yep, Zombies (known as Unisols). And Jerry Orbach. And lots of naked Van Damme ass. This movie is awesome (although I would have cast the two leads the other way around). Let's go, Junesploitation!
Huzzah, it's June again! It's good to be back.
ReplyDeleteSilent Trigger (1996)
Dolph Lundgren is a world-weary sniper assassin working for a shadowy "Agency". As he and his feisty spotter prepare to do a big job, their complicated past slowly unfolds in flashback form. The central action is confined to an empty skyscraper under construction, which makes for a cool setting, all stark concrete walls and flickering lights and elevator shafts. Russell Mulcahy directs with swagger and a good feel for suspense. 90s Action is a great way to kick off the month.
China O'Brien II (1990, dir. Richard Clouse)
ReplyDeleteThis was released the same year as the original China O'Brien and it kind of shows. I wrote about the OG as a Heavy Action and was pleasantly surprised by it; the sequel is...not as good. Cynthia Rothrock is fun to watch as always but it almost feels like she has a supporting role in this one. There's one hilarious strippergram scene that alone makes the movie worth watch (for the reactions from the guy, not the dancer). This came as a double feature from VinSyn so I'll consider it a bonus feature. Happy to have finally seen it, of course.
I was most excited to see my first watch today because Cynthia Rothrock is in it. But she was criminally underused. Kinda the story of her career.
DeleteWing Commander (1999): Who remember this? One of those crappy videogame adaptations where the original work was a mere suggestion for the movie. The kind of Hollywood Blockbuster B-movie that Arrow will probably release at some point. It's not giod, but I enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI do. So many talented thesps (David Suchet, Jürgen Prochnow, David Warner, Tchéky Karyo) and the leads are Stu from "Scream," Buffy's hubby and the a-hole scientist lady from "Deep Blue Sea." 🙄🫣
DeleteI saw it in the theater. Now I regret giving Chris Roberts money.
DeleteAnd half of the Scooby Doo gang 🤣
DeleteRoss, did you see it just to see the Star Wars trailer? 😜
DeleteI wish I had an excuse like that other than just being an easy mark for sci-fi movies.
DeleteI'm not ashamed to say I'll jump on the 4k the minute somebody release it. 😎
Delete"WC" could sure use a 4K remaster. Every version streaming and on home video looks soft and 10,000 years old. 🫤
DeleteHappy Junesploitation everybody!
ReplyDeleteDrive (Steve Wang, 1997)
There has to be a German word for this specific phenomenon: saving a movie for a Junesploitation theme, and then quickly realizing while you're finally watching it that it's the PERFECT pick for the day. Drive is insanely entertaining. Inventive and playful choreography, fun colorful sets, fantastic stunt work, Brittany Murphy as delightful as ever, two charming leads (Mark Dacascos & Kadeem Hardison) who seem to know exactly what movie they're in, bad guys riding BMX bikes, Walter the Einstein Frog (?), and much more. Loved it! I might try and throw in another Steve Wang this month.
discovered this movie on a junesploitation several years ago. So F@#$ing good.
DeleteAlmost watched Drive tonight. Sounds like I should keep it on my Free Space list.
DeleteNavy Seals (1990, dir. Lewis Teague)
ReplyDeleteCan't hear or read the title of this movie without thinking of CLERKS. Every single time.
Oooo! Navy Seals!
DeleteRandal: "they never rent quality flicks, they always pick the most intellectually devoid movie on the racks".
DeleteThe Substitute {1996) dir. Robert Mandel
ReplyDeleteTom Berenger has a particular set of skills surrounded by a who’s who 90s tough guys and character actors.
Watching the Jet Li movie High Risk (or I guess Meltdown as we call it here in the U.S.) and holy fuck is there some tonal whiplash between the opening and the rest of the movie. Like, blow up Jet Li's wife and a school bus full of kids and then go all in on a drunken Jackie Chan parody character kinda whiplash.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am back for Junesploitation 2026! You folks are amazing. Love reading about everyone's watches and the comments.
ReplyDeleteI went with On Deadly Ground (1994, dir. S. Seagal himself). I have seem very few Steven Segal movies despite being the prime age and target for these 1990's shenanigans.
The environmental message. All the jackets with fringe! Michael Caine with some dyed hair. Amazing.
We paid homage to the king of 90’s action, John Woo, with Hard Target. It does not get any better than Jean-Claude Van Damme standing atop a speeding motorcycle and Wilford Brimley shooting arrows on horseback. Fun was had by all.
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ReplyDeleteHitman’s Run (1999)
ReplyDeleteEric Roberts is a JACKED (like this man has never had a carb in his life jack ) former assassin in the witness protection now going by one, John Dugan! I believe this is the director of Commando, one of my all time favorites and it certainly delivers in the car chase and explosion departments. Roberts has a few good one-liners, an insane fantasy-murder vision, and the SICKEST karate hairdo. Plus, a henchmen uses a forklift as a weapon which is always fun. Happy Junesploitation, everyone!
NO CONTEST (1995, dir. Paul Lynch)
ReplyDeleteDie Hard at a beauty pageant. This a film that intrigued me from descriptions from past Junesploitations. Watching it, though, I was a little underwhelmed. The energy level of the action scenes was more sluggish than I expected. No Contest is entertaining enough to at least not leave me disappointed. Roddy Piper was not given much to do, and Andrew Dice Clay did not seem inspired by his villain role. One more film off of my Junesploitation watch list in any case.
On a humorous note, the pack of cards shown in the film is for the game of pinochle (I play it every week), which does not have cards that go lower than 9. How the ladies were drawing 2s and 4s from that kind deck mystified me.
Double Team (1997)
ReplyDeleteVan Damme has to save his pregnant wife from Mickey Rourke, the CIA, a Guardian of The Colony (?), a tiger, and a Colosseum full of landmines. But don't fret, he's got gadget-master Dennis Rodman, a bunch of monks, a Guardian of the Colony (?), and a Coke Machine on his side. The credits say Double Team was written by Don Jakoby and Paul Mones, who I'm guessing are fifth graders who stayed up all night drinking soda and snorting Pixy Stix.
It makes no sense, but it isn't confusing. It's not good, but it's never boring. I was entertained.
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
ReplyDeleteBuddy cop duo Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee take on some yakuza drug ring bad guys. There's barely a whiff of plot, but Lundgren and especially Lee are likable enough that "just root for the good guys" suffices. At just 78 minutes, Showdown efficiently packs in enough gunfights, fist/foot-fights, and naked ladies to scratch your action itch.
Brandon Lee steals the movie from the sidekick spot. Dolph's a little stiff, but game enough. Not all the humor works, but some does. Tia Carrere delivers a pretty great bad post-coital joke. The final kill is awesome.
'I just wanted to say... you have the biggest d*** I've ever seen in a man.' 😳🤯WHAT??!! 😂🤣
DeleteHa! I was aware of this line somehow without ever having seen the movie (probably included in some kind of wacky movie lines reel), so when it happened, it was a fun, "Oh, THAT'S what that's from" moment. Bonkers.
DeleteSurviving the Game (1994)
ReplyDeleteCharles S. Dutton’ middle name is “Sinister relationship with Rutger Hauer”.
Batman Returns (1992) Perverse, dark, twisted comic book movie that is far more interested in its villains than the titular superhero. Art direction, costumes, score, and makeup are top notch, but the film seems to have no real interest in its own narrative. I know one thing: this movie is not Happy Meal friendly. FULL DISCLOSURE: I originally watched Batman for 90’s Action Day, and then realized it was released in 1989: I am old.
ReplyDeleteMOBSTERS (1991) dir. Michael Karbelnikoff
ReplyDeleteDid Tarantino steal the gunning down of Hitler in IB from Slater’s gunning down of Mad Dog???
Even if QT did, he'd never tell anyone. Would you admit to stealing anything from freaking "Mobsters"? 🙄
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