Remco VHS art – 1986
The much-missed masters of cheap toy lines Remco released a He-Man-sized line of martial arts action figures from 1984-86 called Secret of the Ninja. Three sets were done in ’86 that included VHS tapes to ‘play along to’ – and … Continued
Another look: AKAI KAGEBOSHI
I think these still from the other Red Shadow, Akai Kageboshi, almost look better in B&W. The details of these astounding costumes are brought out better in higher contrast than they were in their decaying sepia-toned originals, which made up … Continued
Another look: KAIKETSU KUROZUKIN
The cambara Lone Ranger looks pretty damn cool in B&W, too, like something off a Saturday matinee serial reel. Although the color originals of these images, first seen here in August of 2009, are absolutely stunning. Kurotokagi has a great … Continued
Another look: CASTLE OF OWLS
In looking at repurposing color images for B&W print ads, I tried to look for zones of photos that weren’t necessarily the original focus. Blowing up some of these areas produced a lot more grain, which when thrown into B&W … Continued
Another look: SENGOKU YARO
Couple weeks ago I was poking around with some B&W print ads using imagery from my Thai press kit collection – converting the decaying colors into more contrasty greyscale, exploring new crops, bringing out the grain and textures of the … Continued
Five Days of FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS: Day 5
So Five Element Ninjas… is this martial arts alchemy experiment the nexus of one craze on the outs and another on the rise, or is it just an embarrassing oddity shunned like a red-headed stepchild by snobs of two different … Continued
Five Days of FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS: Day 4
BACK IN BLACK! Gold, brown, blue, red and beige schemes aside, FEN also has a damn nifty commando raid where a platoon of black-clad ninja adeptly bypass the kung-fu compound’s ample defenses and lay waste to the remaining students. It … Continued
Five Days of FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS: Day 3
By day three, most of you should be rushing out to some store to buy FEN, and won’t be reading this. However, for you stalwarts still clinging to obsolete concepts like credibility and logic in your movies, let me assault … Continued
Five Days of FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS: Day 2
Okay, so our noble defenders of traditional kung-fu (and kung-fu box office) have accepted the challenge of the invading Japanese genre- uh, army, and away we go – down the yellow brick path of vengeance to… THE GOLD NINJA! FEN … Continued
Five Days of FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS: Day 1
1982 – Hey, you… Kung-Fu Genre. Yeah you, the dominant force in martial arts exploitation in the 70’s. Y’know that flesh wound you got last year from that Golan-Globus ninja flick? Yeah, the one next the scar you got in … Continued