Stranger Than Paradise

Sister Sue Kicks Ass



Physical State: achey
Mental State: whippy
Music: Caribou - Milk of Human Kindness
Fashion sense: blue t-shirt, sweats

Been a very long time I know. But here I am again back with more fun and frivolity. I was working at a studio for the first few months of this year and it was quite a steady thing. But as these freelance gigs sometimes go, new people come into a company and want to change things up (and change people around). So I might or might not be back in there, who's to say. So kind of a bummer but it does give me a chance to get back to writing this blog. Also with more free time I can once again rekindle my love affair with my dvd player.

Case in point. A friend of mine lent me a 3 movie dvd collection called Classic Sonny Chiba Movies recently. Sonny Chiba was a martial arts master who also worked on Kill Bill as a fight choreographer (and is often derisively referred to as the "poor man's Bruce Lee"). One of the films in this dvd collection is the 1974 martial arts classic Sister Street Fighter that showcased 18 year old Chiba protege Etsuko "Sue" Shiomi as Tina Long (pictured above). To quote M. Emmet Walsh's character in Blade Runner "You want beauty and the beast, she's both." Sister Street Fighter (which ranks in at a very amusing 5.7 at imdb.com) is briefly a movie about an undercover police officer Lee Long who gets abducted by drug dealing gangsters and the police turn to his ass-kicking sister Tina to infiltrate the gang and free her brother. Generally the film is both funny and action-packed with a superb soundtrack (especially if you love 70's action flicks). The best thing about this movie for me was the beautiful Sue Shiomi with a smile on her face kicking the crap out these idiotic henchmen (I didn't say this film was a Shakespeare play). Why are those goons always wasted so easily? Sue Shiomi no doubt paved the way for characters like Uma Thurman's Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill and it's very obvious that Tarantino was a huge student of Chiba's films (among others like The Shaw Bros).

One of the taglines for this film sums it up neatly "She's a one woman death squad". Rent it for a fun introduction to martial arts films for those who like a little exploitation in the mix. The other two movies in this collection are quite forgettable with the third one "The Bodyguard" being incredibly bad with it's English voice dubbing (including a pin-striped Japanese lowlife who sounds kind of like Steven Wright). Also the camera work on "The Bodyguard" is hand-held and often underexposed. There's something so 70s in the aesthetic of these flicks. But still it made me laugh and that's worth something. Oscar winners these ain't but they sure are a lot of fun. So do yourself a favour and rent one for an alternative to more cerebral fare.

Also I would like to extend a special "gonna miss you, kid" to my friend Claire Kember who visited me while in Toronto and we had a great time hanging out. I do apologize for making her late for The Futureheads concert (maybe next time, eh?...ugh...yeah). This seems to be the month of Totally Radio connections coming to Toronto as reviewer and personal friend Brent Bonet will be here later this week to catch Gang of Four here in Toronto.

Oh and happy belated birthday there John. You're so money and you don't even know it.