Shock Cinema #7
The new Shock Cinema is out and it doesn't really matter how long I take to review it because it'll sure as hell get to it before another issue comes out—and that's okay! I've had this issue for over a month and I'm still working on it! It's packed full of movie reviews and pretty much just that. Steve Puchalski takes about a year between issues. In that time he works, of course, drinks beer, watches videos, and writes killer reviews for them which he puts all together with some groovy ads from the films' original theatrical runs and releases it under the name Shock Cinema. You've got a year's worth of videos in here to read about and, lucky for us, Steve is as eclectic of a viewer as he is skilled as a writer. You've got a little bit of everything in here—Blaxploitation, Porn, Spaghetti Westerns, Drive-In Classics, et cetera.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of a handful of publications coming out every few months that review all of the movies because they've just been re-released by Rhino or they're all on the same mailing list from Something Weird, Video Search of Miami, or Sinister Cinema.
Luckily, Steve avoids those titles that are reviewed by everyone else (this coming from a guy whose zine includes a review of Mallrats!) and spends his own dough on the movies. I would think this guy would at least get a discount by volume alone. But no! He makes back the money he spends on all of these videos by putting out a zine. When the dust settles he breaks even and then starts again.
Now, that's ingenuity! He gets his shoes out of hock and we get a well-written, informative, and funny zine. You gotta love him! The more you buy the faster the next one comes out! Send $4/issue to Steve Puchalski at P.O. Box 518, Peter Stuyvesant Station, NYC, 10009.
Stewie #4—The Junior High Issue
"To those of you who had happy Jr. High experiences, I say: Be grateful. To those who didn't, I dedicate this book..." opens the latest Stewie opus.
You've seen "The Bus" and "The Kiss" in CdC #3 as well as "Three Bitch Pie: The Best of (if there is such a thing) CdC" issue but see the rest of Leon Chase's bittersweet and completely hilarious portraits of life before High School. That time in your life when the girls are through puberty, the guys are on the tail end of it, and both are still dealing with it. That time of life when you're dropped out of your safe Elementary schooling into a world where you only know a third of the people and only get along with one percent of them.
Stewie #4 is a collection of one and two-page strips that cover a lot of ground—from the guy who put the "pal" in principal to the fun things that happen in class. No one goes unaccounted for and no one is held unaccountable for the atrocities that occur in the time that might euphemistically be called "the awkward years" by some or "Hell" by Leon. He tells it like it was. This merited at least two dozen hearty laugh-out-louds with a few observations so poignant that I got a little wistful.
Leon has just moved out to San Francisco to seek his fame and fortune as a professional tour guide so it might be a little while before the next Stewie comes out and it would be a really nice idea to drop him a line and say, "Howdy!" Everyone here at CdC heartily recommends this publication.
Send a stamp (or more—it'll really help him out) to Leon's new address: 760 Geary, Apt. #608, San Francisco, CA 94109. The hilarious Stewie Band Trilogy is still available for $2. You won't regret it!
Also, stay tuned to CdC #6 for Leon's "Counter Creeps" strip!
VAMOS #9
This is a double sized issue of this fabulous music and movie zine created by the Kansas City Madman, Patricio Vamos. Three band interviews, Quasimodo comics, record reviews, and fun things to do with a Red Dog label are found within; all written with such style and wit that I feel like a dork even trying to sum them up with my paltry turn of phrase. Pat and his writers make me double-over with laughter while they keep me informed. I even laugh at jokes a few days later. Days, hell! Months! I'm still trying to get over the Trent Reznor comic from Issue #7 or the Mr. T video review from issue #5! And there is an equally funny review of a Gary Coleman Safety Video that has been running through my brain since my first reading, making me giggle like a lunatic whenever it crosses my mind.
Not only is Pat a really cool, hip dude, but he really is one fine writer. It takes a lot of skill to even crack a smile on my sullen visage but VAMOS does it in spades. It's well worth your time and energy to send $1 plus a few stamps to P.O. Box 5871, Kansas City, MO 64171.
Asian Eye #2
Like Shock Cinema, I've been waiting a long damn time for this zine to come out. You might remember the ads back in CdC #2 (where Asian Eye came out the only zine unscathed in Clifton Howard's controversial "Asian movies and the Guys Who Jack Off to Them" article). You might also remember the story I told about going to Toronto and meeting the man who put out this wonderful zine as he was managing the newly reopened Golden Classics Theater.
That man is Colin Geddes.
He took us road-weary travellers out on the town and filled us in on some of Toronto's finer features. He's one hell of a guy and it's all reflected right here in his fine publication.
Close to one hundred pages, it's all meat and no gristle or fat, baby (insert Chow Yun-fat groaner here). This time out the focus is on those unique Chinese vampire films that, if you're not familiar with, I suggest you pick this up and do so promptly.
Chinese vampires, in HK films, are totally unlike their Western counterparts. These things hop around and are only thwarted by a few techniques that wouldn't pop immediately into one's head unless you're a taoist priest. So, it actually might save your neck (ugh) to pick up this in-depth analysis which includes a profile of one of my favorite under-appreciated HK stars, Lam Ching Ying.
Of course, it's not all fun and fangs (ugh again!), there's also a bevy of two-fisted reviews, updates on directors covered in Asian Eye #1, news of the Toronto scene, and exclusive interviews with Stanley Tong and the one and only Jackie Chan!!!
I really can't recommend this enough. This is another one of the few zines that compels me to not just recommend it but to buy extra copies to give away to friends because they have to see what I'm talking about. This explains the Chinese vampire films only about a thousand times better than I ever could and has so much more to offer. Colin puts his all into this publication.
Since the Golden Classics closed down, Colin is in-between jobs so I'd think it'd be a nice gesture to send a few dollars more than the $7 (US) he asks. Send your dough to Colin at 253 College St #108, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R5, CANADA.
Bad Lit. #6
As I walk down the streets of Riverview I often get wiseacres rolling down their car windows and yelling, "Hey, Mike, a movie zine—how fucking original, a movie can you get!," before they pelt me with water balloons or rotting vegetables and squeal off.
I guess I should have tried harder and came up with something no one's ever done before.
Maybe that's what happened to Mike Everleth. I don't mean the vegetables part, but coming up with an original zine concept and pulling it off.
When I first read about this ultimate screenwriting zine I thought that it'd be a really snooty/academic tract. But no! This is very down to earth and Mike is a really cool cat.
Every issue features a short script of about 15-20 pages, zine reviews, and various articles. I hear Mike is looking for submissions of either scenes or articles so drop him a line and ask him for more details. Maybe include $2 and ask him for a copy while you're at it. P.O. Box 32, Abington, PA 19001.
femme flick #4
Like Bad Lit., this is a zine that was needed. As Bad Lit. might be a support and inspiration to screenwriters, femme flick might be the same to women film makers/aficionados.
Like CdC, femme flick tries to cover a good amount of movie-related ground: book reviews, zine reviews, and a lot of funny, poignant, and/or off-the-cuff articles. The differences between Tina Spangler's zine and ours are many, though, with the biggest being that everything in femme flick relates to women and femme flick is a much better looking zine (but we're trying!). Very entertaining and informative. Send your $2 to 99 Hancock St. #4, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Psychoholics Unanimous #26
This zine's editor must feel as out of place being a psychotronic film fan as a pretty girl at a Star Trek convention. Because both Star Trek and "cult" movies tend to attract the same kind of people—nerdy guys who tend to be cruising for boobs and blood. Out of the misogynistic dung heap crawls Joni Lee, PU's editrix, to show that it's cool to be a girl and enjoy drive-in dreck. This cool sixteen page zine comes to us out of the uptight Dutch Christian populated, right-wing Grand Rapids, Michigan—another set of odds overcome.
PU boasts an eclectic collection of movie reviews, tv high-lights, drive-in theater tales, zine reviews, and articles. Just a buck will get you your monthly fix. 309 Quimby NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505.
Kung Fu Girl
Readers of CdC will remember that our writer, Clifton Howard, has been waging a one man battle against sexist Asian zines. When he got this thick package out of our P.O. Box I expected a five page tirade on my desk before the afternoon was over. I was amazed to talk to him a few days later and hear him say that KFG was "pretty good." I feel it was only his semi-bruised pride that kept him from saying how good KFG really is, withholding praise to keep his ego in check.
KFG is a big ole xeroxed zine with over eighty pages per issue! It concentrates mostly on kick-ass women in kung fu movies (hence the title) but keeps the T&A to a minimum, praising these literal femme fatales for their talent and ability and not for their knack for causing one's penis to harden. Bravo.
Sure, there are a lot of cheese-cakeish photos but in the case of Asian starlets, the press offers little else. But, again, in the second issue there is not one bikini clad babe!
Our hero, Keith Allison, covers a lot more than just Asian women, however. There are also articles about Steven Chow, Jackie Chan, Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun Fat, Godzilla, and Tomisaburo Wakayama, star of the ever-popular "Lone Wolf & Cub" movies. Allison also highlights Asian pop stars, Japanese tv shows, and Anime. Submissions are wanted but pick up an issue first before you start writing about Rapeman or other "Asian Trash Cinema" fare. Four dollars will seem incredibly reasonable once this huge, fun, and informative zine darkens your doorstep. 718-201 SW 16th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601.
When writing to zines it is best to send cash. A lot of editors do not use their real names or have accounts in the name of their zines so you can imagine what a pain it's got to be having a pile of uncashable checks laying around the house while your wallet gets a work out at the post office. I know, I know, Mom always told you not to send cash through the mail, some postman somewhere might take a shine to an envelope with an outline of a greenback in there as clear as day. And it's not a good idea to go into your local post office and start pointing fingers at disgruntled workers. It's a better idea to use a secure envelope or maybe a few extra sheets of paper to hide the cash inside. All the zines we've reviewed seem to have their business in order, for the most part, and are pretty speedy when requesting a copy. If a month goes by, write them again, and if another month passes without hide nor hair of their zine in sight; worry.