Showing posts with label Lucinda Dickey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucinda Dickey. Show all posts

9/14/14

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: Final Screening!




Set your most determined scowl, tie your headband tightly and remember the oath you swore to your ninja master to see Lucinda Dickey interviewed about her movies. There's one more chance to see Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films today!

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Final Screening:
 Sun., Sept. 14th, 12:45 PM, SCOTIABANK 11

9/8/14

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: Some of the Stars of Cannon Films!



With Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films premiering in a couple of hours, we thought it might be a good time to look at a few of Cannon's stars. We've already covered Lucinda Dickey, so if there's any Lucinda Dickey in this post, it's probably some kind of ninja illusion.

Charles Bronson's sequels to Death Wish (1974) powered Cannon for years. You'd think that all we needed was the first film. You'd be wrong. Menahem Golan and Yoraum Globus knew the world needed Death Wish II (1982) ; Death Wish 3 (1985); Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987); and Death Wish 5: Face of Death (1994). At the end of Death Wish 5: Face of Death, protagonist Paul Kersey tears off his mask and reveals to the meddling criminals, rapists and drug dealers of the world that he is not a mild-mannered architect/lethal vigilante at all, but rather Death himself. [Correction: This is not what happens in Death Wish 5: Face of Death at all].

Among the many films Bronson did for Cannon was Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989). I love the trailer for that because it comprises all of the obsessions of the 1980s in one place.
Death always brings a gun to a chess match.

Chuck Norris was the other piston in the two stroke engine that powered Cannon Films. Engines have more than 2 pistons, you say? Not engines powered by Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson. Norris starred in a variety of action movies where kicked ass and brought virtue and honor back to the U.S.A. Or roundhouse kicked it back into the U.S.A. Movies like: Missing In Action (1984); Invasion U.S.A. (1985); Delta Force (1986); Delta Force 2: The Columbian Connection (1990); Missing In Action 2: The Beginning (1985); Braddock: Missing In Action 3 (1988).  And when his Cannon days were done, Norris went on to do a little show called Walker, Texas Ranger.

Shooting liberty and justice for all.

MM Alumnus Jean-Claude Van Damme was a Menahem Golan discovery, in the sense that JCVD worked hard to be discovered by Golan. He got a role as an extra in Breakin' (1984) before going on to star in Bloodsport (1988), which has some rare footage of the now destroyed Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. In Cyborg (1989) he plays Gibson Rickenbacker, a man who destroys hooligans of the future post-apocalyptic wasteland with only the power of his name. He also helps save humanity by protecting a woman with the secret to curing a future plague.




Poor Michael Dudikoff. He was supposed to be the next big thing in martial arts action, but he never really got there . He was Cannon's American Ninja, starring in three sequels to the first American Ninja (1985): American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987); American Ninja III: Blood Hunt (1989); and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990).  In 1986, he used his ninja skills to replace Chuck Norris in the Invasion U.S.A. franchise, playing the hero, Matt Hunter in Avenging Force (1986).

Master of All Forms of Freedom-jitsu.


Sho Kosugi was in a whole passel of Cannon ninja movies, playing the evil ninja or, sometimes, the mentor ninja. He faced off against Ninja Franco Nero in Enter The Ninja (1981). But he was the hero of Revenge of the Ninja (1983). In Ninja III: The Domination (1984) he fights with Lucinda Dickey (who plays an aerobic instructor possessed by the restless spirit of a dead ninja). According to wikipedia, he heads the Sho Kosugi Institute. I'm sure it's not an center for Advanced Ninja Studies.



And a special, personal shout-out to director Albert Pyun. His film Cyborg will always hold a special place in my heart.



ELECTRIC BOOGALOO screening times:
Mon., Sept. 8th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 10th, 9:00 AM, BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Sun., Sept. 14th, 12:45 PM, SCOTIABANK 11


9/6/14

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: An Ode to Lucinda Dickey



Goddess, yes. Also possessed by the angry spirit of a ninja this one time. No bigs. 

Lucinda Dickey is a goddess among mere mortals. She stars in three Cannon films: Breakin', Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, and Ninja III: The Domination. She dances, she kicks ass, she can climb a telephone pole, and she doesn't take crap from anyone. In honour of Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films we present to you, o lucky readers of the Midnight Madness blog, an Ode To Lucinda Dickey! *trumpet sounds* 

"My street name is Special K. What's yours? Thought so."

We first meet Lucinda Dickey as Kelly in Breakin'. This movie is all sorts of bad ass because there's dancing, popping, locking, Ice-T rapping (seriously), even more dancing, the flyest clothes you'll ever lay eyes on, and Christopher MacDonald conducting business. DID WE MENTION THE DANCING?! The low-down: Kelly isn't satisfied with her boring ol' jazz dance class. She meets Turbo and Ozone, discovers her own street name (Special K) and her love of popping and locking. With her new dance crew, nothing can stop them! Not the evil dance crew, Electro Rock, not her old dance instructor, not even those square judges.


Who Lucinda Dickey doesn't take crap from in Breakin': her gross dance instructor, appropriately named Franco, when he gets handsy with her, Ozone and Turbo when they think she might be too square, her agent James for not immediately falling in love with street dancing, that dastardly evil street dancing team, Electro Rock, and those pansy-ass judges for not believing in the gospel of street dancing. WE ARE NOT WORTHY, LUCINDA DICKEY. 

"Hey, it says right here you wish you were as cool as me." 

And because we didn't get enough in Breakin', Special K, Ozone, and Turbo are back in Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo! We have no idea how much time has past since we last left our intrepid street dancers. A week? Months? Either way, we imagine this is how it went down in that first pre-production meeting:

"We need more dancing in this one. How can we do that?"
"Well, the problem is there's a plot and we can only have so many dance numbers within the plot."
"Eh, but do we need a plot?"
"Um..."
"Get rid of the plot! Less plot! More dancing!"
"Yessir."
"Also, get me some bulldozers! And dancing pregnant ladies!"
"Okay?"
"And make sure Ice-T shouts more in this one!"
"On it!"

And so it was done and Breakin' 2 was born. Amen. Sometimes sequels aren't as good, but this one increases the number of amazing Lucinda Dickey outfits by at least 300%, and also has at least once dance sequence every ten minutes, and introduces a much crazier plot line involving a community centre being shut down by The Evil Man (Oh no!) and the crew must dance to save it (Yeah!). And don't forget the dancing pregnant ladies we mentioned. 





Who Lucinda Dickey doesn't take crap from in Breakin' 2: her stupid chorus dancing gig because blah, the lame-o chicks who try to tell her she doesn't belong with Ozone (say what?!), The Man, the bulldozers that The Man brings to the community centre, her parents for not believing in her, the guy her parents want her to marry but he is such a square (gross, mom!), and every hater who didn't think the crew could raise enough money to save the community centre. Take that, jabrones. WE BOW DOWN TO YOU, LUCINDA DICKEY. 

"Hey, Ozone? Yeah, sorry, I'm being a ninja right now. BBL!"

Lucinda took a break from dancing and started ninja fighting instead. Maybe you're all, "What?!" but it's your skepticism that would've prevented us from the gem known as Ninja III: The Domination. Lucinda plays Christie, a mild mannered telephone maintenance working slash aerobics instructor (we knew she couldn't totally stay away from the spandex) who gets obsessed by the spirit of an angry ninja who takes over her body and goes on a killing spree to avenge his death. Also, she pours a can of V8 on herself at one point which we admit kind of confused us at first but she's Lucinda Dickey and she can do whatever she wants. You know, like sweating it out at the gym followed by a quick murder sesh in the hot tub. Just your typical Wednesday night. 






Who Lucinda Dickey doesn't take crap from in Ninja III: that cop who was hitting on her and being a skeeze but then she changed her mind and made him lick V8 off her chest but it was her decision so that's cool, the ninja-murdering cop that she struck down in the hot tub, the ninja-murdering cop she struck down in his home, all the rest of those ninja-murdering cops, that tree she climbed like it was nobody's business, the Black Ninja for putting his spirit inside of her because nobody puts their ninja spirit inside of Lucinda Dickey without asking permission, and mystic James Hong for trying to take the spirit out of her because nobody takes a spirit out of Lucinda Dickey unless she's good and ready. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF OUR LIVES, LUCINDA DICKEY. 


Uh, the best way to get your daily intake of vegetables might be to ingest it. 

If you love Lucinda Dickey as much as we do, you've probably already marked your calendar for the midnight screening of Electric Boogaloo. If not, what are you waiting for?! Do it for Special K, Ozone, and Turbo. Do it for dancing. Do it for that can of V8. But most importantly, do it for yourself.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is screening at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Midnight Madness Programme. Check out more Midnight Madness films on the official Festival Website.

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO screening times:
Monday, Sept 8th 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Wednesday, Sept 10th 9:00 AM, THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Sunday, Sept 14th 12:45 PM, SCOTIABANK 14