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Ninja III = Free on Prime Video (w/subscripton) 4 Glaring Omissions: 1. Billy’s line: “Listen, there’s an officer in the the Asiatic Division. He said there’s this guy downtown that the local Japanese swear by.” Cause we all know how small, suburban Arizona towns in the 80s had police departments with African, “Asiatic,” Balkan, Indosesian, etc. divisions...I died! 2. The Doctor: “Physically, you’re great. I see no problem. You are under severe stress, of course. But otherwise, Dr. Bowen the psychiatrist you saw, said there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Aside from your exceptional extrasensory perception and your preoccupation with Japanese culture.” What stress aside from being stalked by Billy? What exceptional powers of extrasensory perception? What cultural obsession (a sword she found)? 3. Police Response Time @ Golf Course: Since the ninja is still at the golf course and how fast he is, we must assume this small town has been able to deploy roughly 50 cops and a helicopter within 2 minutes. Uh, not possible.  4. Police Batons: there’s a moment when a cop spins the baton for a sec at the cemetery fight and has the sound effect of an elaborate nunchucks display. But, more to the point, these cops know this ninja survived point blank shot gun blasts and machine gun fire and they’re trying to fight “him” with a stick? PS - Anyone else wonder why the cops were guarding the morgue inside and out like a Scarface mansion scene? Had they showed heightened alert due to the golf course events, it’d make sense. But as J,J&P said, they were casual & relaxed just hours after dozens of fellow officers were brutally slain.

Paul, June, and Jason discuss the 1984 martial arts action horror film Ninja III: The Domination. They talk about the V8 sex scene, aerobics, ninja possessions, and more. Plus, Paul sharess his childhood V8 recipe. Please visit these links Justice for Breonna Taylor Black Lives Matter Campaign Zero EJI Vote

I appreciate what was said at the top about BLM and such. I am sure Reddit will hate it. One thing I would like to ask that the podcast do is try to have more people of color as guests. I know the guests are often friends and I get that, but sometimes that kind of insular community stands in the way of introducing new voices. I discount Nicole Byer through this podcast (and Girl Code gifs on Tumblr) and I couldn't be happier to have her in my life. I don't mean never have white people but make a concerted effort for more diversity?

Oh, I also wanted to share this video cause before I found it on Amazon Prime for free, I looked on YouTube and caught this scene. I thought this music was from the movie and thought “damn! this movie has got a killer sound track!” That song (especially starting at the one minute mark) makes the scene so much more compelling to me.

The modern depiction of ninjas is from the Kabuki tradition. The audience knew to ignore the stagehands, dressed in all black, as not part of the action of the play. But sometimes, an "invisible" stagehand would kill someone in the play, and that was regarded as a ninja secretly assassinating someone. Historical ninjas would never dress like that, even at night, as they are trying to blend in and such an outfit would be incredibly suspicious. As spies, they would want to avoid the kind of confrontation that would ensue from dressing like that. As much as anything, movies use that trope so the heroes can wholesale slaughter any numbers of faceless enemies without it being alarming.

Urban dictionary has quite a few sex definitions for "V8" https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=V8

I had to give up on Unspooled early on. I know it's good to take a second look at sacred cows, but Scorsese one of my favorite filmmakers and it felt like Amy Nicholson just relished in taking a dump on him at every opportunity because he was over-represented on the AFI list. I didn't even get the sense that she liked movies, just that she liked having opinions about them. There were three or four episodes in a row where she accused male characters of being incels just because they weren't getting laid on screen and at that point, I was out. It felt like the attacks she was making were very personal, on the people who liked those movies, so it was very unpleasant to listen to. ANYWAY, I think the strongest sequence in Beats, Rhymes, and Life was when Q-Tip and Phife were recounting the same events that led to A Tribe Called Quest's breakup, but from their own perspective. When Q-Tip said in an interview "I don't have beef with Phife, Phife has beef with me," he felt all he was saying was that he had no beef with Phife. Phife, on the other hand, thought Q-Tip was saying, "it's that CRAZY Phife who's wrecking the group, not me!" I think they were both coloring events to make their own side look better and both being a bit unreasonable.... but both also kind of right. It was a great illustration of how two old friends who had made great art together could let their egos get in the way of forgiving each other over minor (or even imagined) slights. I just wish the documentary had more of that insight. Seeing how the band reformed to make another album and Phife's tragic death, I would love to see a film documenting their reformation and their reaction to Phife dying. There's got to be a great story there. Did it take the shadow of a best friend's impending demise allow the group to bury the hatchet, or was it something simpler? Did they just... start talking again one day? If not, who put them in touch again?

Oof, yes. You are correct. I don't mind people disagreeing with the hosts. I disagreed with Amy on parts of her Goodfellas criticisms. But when someone comes on, first post complaining, I immediately get red flags due to the sheer number of first time posters who have to disagree with a woman.

Haha! I THINK you mean so long as I DONT log on solely to complain about her (seems like you accidentally dropped a word there)? Thanks. I have commented on a few Unspooled episodes here and there and have avoided commenting on episodes—like Goodfellas—where I figured she was getting a ton of shit flung at her anyways. There are areas that I do agree with her (like how there are too many Marvel movies—and I do like some of them, but it does seem like having a handful of them per year is kinda excessive) and I like how she champions independent movies. I like their -best-of-the-year eps. She does an amazing job at research (as does Paul), which is often the most entertaining part of the shows. I admire the fact that they are forcing themselves to sit through some of the films on the AFI list with an open mind (there are a lot of films on the list that I either have seen so many times I don’t want to see them again or are just not my bag). So—to make a long story long—my reaction to the podcast is of two extremes: agreeing /accepting her POV as interesting 2/3rds of the time, and 1/3rd wondering if she set out to pick apart a film inch-by-inch. RE: Cameron’s point, I also would rather watch The Mummy (or Big Trouble in Little China, or The Guest, or Tango & Cash, or other fun pulp) than A Clockwork Orange—I’m no big celebrator of “the classics” as being timeless or a fan of blanket-labeling directors as “geniuses” (for example, as a writing major forced to read a lot of Shakespeare and have open-mindedly tried to watch a lot of Shakespeare plays—and was even in one in middle school—I’ll freely admit that I find a lot of Shakespeare to be boring. I also think Kubrick stopped being a genius filmmaker after his 60s period and that the sequel to The Shining is a much more well-written movie than The Shining.The Shining is iconic and entertaining...but emotionally hollow. What can I say, I’m a heretic). I’m in no way looking for Amy to validate my point of view and she’s absolutely entitled to rip on as many celebrated films as she wants. I just sometimes think her complaints are superficial to her detriment.

I welcome anyone coming to the Unspooled boards even if they disagree with Amy. I generally agree with her but I've found nitpicking a bit much sometimes as well. So long as you log on (or create an account) just to complain about Amy and then never post again which happened with Goodfellas (and had happened here with several women guests).

I was thinking - perhaps this documentary should have just been about Phife's life. That may have tempered some of our missed expectations and maybe have made it even more emotional. One thing that always surprises me about their last call reunion record was how great Jarobi sounded on it. He was never a huge part of the music, but his voice was strong on the last one. And yea, a bunch of us have been in on Unspooled since episode one and it has its own forum here if you scroll down a little bit on this here website. Come over and join us! We're pretty pro-Amy over there, though. No, it's common critique, I think. She doesn't bother me though. I want her nitpicks and value them. I do find I agree with her a lot, but if not, that's how I strengthen my opinions/arguments too. I do to some extent come at these movies with a "we need reevaluate a lot of these sacred cows" angle like she does, and that, I think, is true.

All fair points. I think when you have a group that iconic, it’s pretty much impossible to cover what everyone wants in a feature-length doc that’s not a filmed performance (ala Stop Making Sense). There should really be a Netflix/Hulu/Hbo/whatever season-length documentary about them. Something like what Wu-Tang got (my phone keeps wanting to call them “Will-Tang” for some reason, which makes them sound like a Will Smith backing band). COMPLETELY unrelated tangent: are any of you fans of Unspooled? Sometimes I like it—and I’ve liked their YouTube shows—but sometimes I find Amy’s opinions so nit-picky as to be cringe-inducing and damn near unlistenable (thinking specifically of the Goodfellas episode, where she seemed to take issue with what the movie WASN’T as to what it actually was. Don’t get me wrong—we don’t have to universally value something as a classic, but comparing the actual version of a film to an imaginary version in your head just reeks of BS to me. I couldn’t finish that episode because she did that so frequently that it undercut any valid points she had and it drove me nuts). Just curious.

I’m on the side of “it was good, but could have given me more.” It was great to have that kind of access, but the film itself felt pretty dry to me. I feel like a group as innovative as ATCQ deserves a documentary that doesn’t feel so prosaic.

So since I am a super fan, I will post a shitload of other video links here. First, the deleted scenes: Now, the unplugged show with De La Soul on MTV in 1991: Now, some of the music videos: Those were videos from their first three albums, the next were from their 2016 album (after the doc, which came out in 2011). That album featured Elton John, Jack White, Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar and a ton of other guests who were happy to help pay tribute. But the main draw is that the original band was reunited (although I believe their DJ, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, was largely busy doing the music for Luke Cage). Finally, a good interview with Q-Tip about Prince, Phife Dawg and much more. ok, I’ll stop now.

Haven't had a chance to watch the doc yet but I do recall that ATCQ was famously ensared in an early case about sampling because the used the famous bass hook from Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. They were allowed to release the song "Can I Kick It" (and arguably, launch their career) but only if they agreed to give Lou all the royalties from that song. Seems pretty harsh now but apparently that was the precedent at the time.

There are so many documentaries and books written about this subject, it’s hard to boil it down to a concise explanation, but I think this short video does an excellent job of doing that.

I have to give kudos to Michael Rapaport for taking this on as his first directed movie. He’s obviously a superfan but his questions are not slavishly adoring. As Graham S. said the doc pulls no punches. Good job, goofy guy in Deep Blue Sea!

I admit to not being overly impressed. I stopped it the first time. When I revisited it I watched the whole thing from the start. As a non-fan I would have liked to see more music, just to see what made these guys so successful. I would have liked more focus on the other two members. I think Q-tip at one point says Jabori (sp?) is the soul of the group but I never find out why. The other thing I would have liked to learn is why the hip hop generation was the first to “scratch” and sample music. There is a comment along the lines of “You use what tools you have, and we had records.” Lots of other people only had records but didn’t take them in this direction. Thoughts?

I started this thread early because—as a fan of this group—I fucking love this movie. After watching it tonight I feel like it has only gotten better—and more emotional—with age. Before I watched it, I read some of the reviews that came out at the time. They were largely positive but some complained that there wasn’t enough of the band performing. I agree—I would happily take a two and a half or three hour version of this movie with more performances. But what I think what the film has is extraordinarily candid access to all the members of the group. What it captures through this access is a portrait of the group’s rise to success, their eventual tumultuous breakup, the strong sense of a fan’s longing for the band to get back together, the sense of their gradually rebuilding their relationship, and a heartbreaking portrait of a lost hip-hop icon (and more than one if you include a brief interview with Adam Yauch). That’s a lot of fucking stuff packed into a 97-minute documentary. And perhaps it doesn’t work as well if you’re not a fan. But for me, there are a number of things that make this movie special: 1. Priceless moments, like Q-Tip talking about creating beats on a school desk and being a computer geek in high school, the inspiration for Phife’s “Seaman’s furniture” lyric, their outfits in 1990, etc. 2. The fact that it does not always paint everyone in the most flattering light (in fact, Q-Tip refused to promote this movie because he didn’t like how he was portrayed). Some critics wrote this off as a toothless fan-made “authorized” doc, but I disagree. I think one of the strengths is how the film shows the group’s arguments. It could easily have just coasted on nostalgia. The fact that Michael Rapaport captures the dismay of the group’s seemingly irreconcilable differences pays off in the possibly hopeful ending and ... 3.The fact they reunited for 2016’s awesome We got it from here...Thank You 4 Your Service. An amazing gift of an album. It’s great that Q-Tip dedicated the album to Phife Dawg. Finally, 4. The interviews with Phife (who died at 46 from his battle with diabetes) now have an aura of melancholy. In the final third, the scenes where he gets a kidney from his wife made me choke up. Maybe I’m just a sap. R.I.P., Phife Dawg. So those are just a few of the reasons why I think the film is an important part of the band’s legacy. It was a film that definitely made me emotional, perhaps partly because of the horrific week we’ve just had. But I’m definitely glad that I rewatched it.

Back to favorite song, my ultimate is Voulez Vous, with Does Your Mother Know? a close second. Voulez Vous is the song that taught me how bands know when to stop repeating a chorus. At some point I noticed a guitar playing a short beat and the repeats ended. Since then I have listened to songs differently, listening for the “signal”. Since everyone knows my favorites I will share the song that strikes me the most, Like an Angel Passing Through My Room, the last song on the album The Vistors. (The album is ABBA’s last studio album so the song is almost the last of their career.) The song itself is spare and unsettles me, but the ending breaks me up. The clock ticking just seems to go on and when it stops, whew. I don’t know whether to be glad or scared.

1) F—Baranski; M—Streep; K—Walters (sorry) 2) F—Brosnan; M—Firth; K—Skateboard These answers are the only correct answers.

F, marry, kill: Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skateboard

On a formal level, probably Dr. Strangelove is the one on the list that most meets the standards of "great filmmaking" while also being funny.

I think this is why I voted “no” as well. It’s also why I feel like comedies are so hard to pin down in terms of greatness. From a cinematic perspective, they rarely push the envelope. It’s not like you can point to the camera work or something more tangible. It honestly comes down to “Is this funny?” It has to essentially live and die on that question alone, and as we’ve discussed before, that’s a highly subjective thing. Did I think Bringing Up Baby was funny? Sure. Are there other movies that I find funnier? Absolutely. Honestly, one of the reasons I keep pushing for Groundhog Day for inclusion, even though it’s not necessarily my favorite comedy, is because it’s not only funny, but it’s well-crafted, innovative in subject matter (Groundhog Day has become an adjective to describe similar time looping stories), and it has a point of view. There’s a philosophical reason for it to exist, even if the viewer doesn’t personally subscribe to that philosophy. With movies like Bringing Up Baby it’s all just “aren’t dizzy dames and leopards zany?”

imdb Just watched this movie, and holy shit, is it bonkers... It has everything: Aliens, shadowy government organizations, Evangelical priests, white punks, black musicians, repo men, supernatural cars, Emilio Estevez... I can't even begin to describe the plot. It's absolutely worth a HDTGM episode, IMO.