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Top Obscura
21 Amazing Bangalore Breakfast Dishes 
The Creepiest Amusement Park of All Time? 
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: Sanmao 
Classic Chinese Torture Methods (and their cute names) 
Amazing Old Bollywood Poster Shops 
Beijing’s incredible (and completely fake) Disneyland 
Why Chinese People Eat Sea Horse 
The 38th Reich: Korean Nazi Cosplay 
India’s Incredibly Cool Hand-Drawn Movie Posters 
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese Films 
Why Chinese People Eat Ants 
This Hindu God has 1,000 Vaginas! 
Castration Classes at the Beijing Eunuch Culture Exhibition Hall 
Nazi Fashion in China 
What the Fortune Teller Told Me (Hong Kong) 
Why Chinese People Eat Deer Penis 
One Ghostly Cambodian Ruin 
About Andy Deemer & AsiaObscura 
The Insane Monkey Bar in Tokyo 
Beijing’s Single Most Horrific Meal 
The Sick Collector and His 1000 Pairs of Shoes 
A Huge Pile of Gorgeous Old Thai Movie Posters 
Learn How to Speak North Korean 
Whoring in Chiang Mai 
Why Chinese People Eat Snake as Medicine 
Those Creepy Japanese Videos, Finally Explained 
Philadelphia CheeseSteak Ice Cream 
The Best Place to Eat and Poop, Together! - Awesomely Steampunk Portable Corn Roaster
A Huge New Horde of Hand-drawn Indian Movie Posters 
Pyongyang Too: A Tribute to Guy Delisle 
The New iOS Game From the Creators of AsiaObscura 
18 Terrible Moments from a Taoist Hell 
Red Onion-Flavored Red Wine 
Gorgeously Gory Paintings in a Burmese Temple 
Beijing’s Dongyue Temple and Their 19 Incredible Taoist Gods 
American Imperialist Bastards in a North Korean Comic Book 
Sweet gruesome statue asking for donations 
On Horse Meat Sashimi 
The Taj Mahal… Murder, Incest, and Fratricide 
Small Children Feeding Live Animals to Tigers in a Chinese Zoo 
Outrageously Cute Korean Cosplay: The 21 Favorites - Why Chinese People Eat Fried Worms
A Postcard from Erenhot 
A Sweet New Batch of Indian Movie Posters 
Antilia: The Most Gratuitous House in Mumbai 
Another Diana Pose at the Taj Mahal 
The Eko Nugroho Flower Suit Lives On 
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic Cinemas 
Plants vs Zombies, The Chinese Knockoff Toys
Category Archives: Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
From Rags to Antilia: Guru
On the subject of Antilia, have you seen Guru, Mani Ratnam's fantastic biopic about Mukesh Ambani's dad? If not, it's worth picking up. Here's a trailer...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Amazing Old Bollywood Poster Shops
Somewhere on Mutton Street, in Bombay's Chor Bazaar, sits a cave of musty sweetness. It's filled with old movie posters, piled almost six feet high. "You know V. Shataram, yes?" says the pint-sized operator, Khalim, who looks to be about twelve years old. "He's fantastic, amazing," he says, flailing his arms. "You ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
India’s First ZomCom
Now this looks absolutely fantastic. LOVE Saif Ali Khan as a Russian badass. My only question is, does he take out any blackbucks?
Shameless Promotion, Sweet Movies and Wild Books, The Zombie Files
On Making Trash Movies
Sorry that I've been so lousy about updating the blog... work in India has gone from regular to quite mad. However, expect a couple of good updates coming soon! In the meantime, I did have time for my first PechaKucha talk, on a lifetime dream that turned out to be more of a nightmare. ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Elvises, Genies, and Sandalwood Beach Madness
If you know me, you know I like things big and overdone. I care less about the society of the spectacle than I do the spectacle of the spectacular. And Shangrila fills that fetish. It’s this month’s hit song from next month’s hit Sandalwood movie, Topiwaala, starring the legendary Upendra (Uppi to his fans). And you ...
Shameless Promotion, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Japanese Release of Poultrygeist
Five years later, Japan is finally releasing my film Poultrygeist. Very exciting news... but I'd kill for a copy of the poster! Are you in Japan? Can you help me get it? Will gladly provide excellent Indian posters or art (or just hard cold cash) in return! March 23 at ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Great New Indian Sidewalk Movie Posters
First, does anyone know where in Bangalore, or perhaps India, I can get cardboard mailing tubes for posters? They just don't seem to be available. What is this nonsense!!! Second, if you missed these posts about the grand outsider Ramachandraiah sidewalk posters, see them now! Batch 1: Original sidewalk posters for Harry Potter, Tintin and more Batch 2: More real ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
The Five Indie Docs You Need to See
My cousin Otis and I were talking documentaries this morning. It got me thinking about the best I'd seen. Films that warmed my heart, then chilled my soul, then demanded big cups of coffee, hefty scoops of Cheese-Steak ice cream, and long dark conversations after. And these were the ones I'd seen recently. ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
A Lovely Moment from Ghungroo
Standing alone, so desperately alone, she waits outside the Odeon. Will he come? Oh, will he ever come? This lobby card for Rajendra Jain's Ghungroo, which I pulled ripped and bent from a stack at Balaji's Rare Antiques, reminds me of college. Although I didn't wear a sari.
Lost in Translation, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Metropolis finally finds the right marketing campaign…
As currently promoted and sold, of course, in India.
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
The Great Poster Contest
So yesterday I got up to some dark nonsense... I ordered 600 more Bangalore sidewalk posters. You know, like these.... But not any of those. Chronologically, the movie's leads were Buster, Louise, Glenn, Lloyd, Hayao, Johnny. Hint: might be directors. Hint: four are Americans. Hint: If you know my taste in film, ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
A Huge Pile of Gorgeous Old Thai Movie Posters
It was the Singapore Agent who told me about the poster guy on Rambuttri. "Rambuttri like Rambutan," he said. "But with a tree at the end. Look for the restaurant with the good pad thai, next to the massage place. That's where you'll find the poster guy." The pad thai restaurant next to a massage parlor? ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Amitabh Bachchan: Comic Superhero
I'm a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan. But then again, who isn't? He's the king of Bollywood. BBC readers chose him as the greatest star of stage or screen of the last thousand years. I'm sure you've seen him as the angry young man in Sholay, or the angry old man in Kabhi Khushi ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
A Huge New Horde of Hand-drawn Indian Movie Posters
I hadn't seen Ramachandraiah for far too long. He's the movie poster artist. Some locals curse him as a ruin on this garden city. I hail him as an urban beautifying legend. - See his first batch of posters here. - His posters for my favorite movies: Suspiria, Wild at Heart, M, The Third Man, and ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
The Most Amazing Breakdancing Midget Sequence
It's 12/12/12, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAJINI! I posted this before, but I think only my nephew watched it (about 47 times, my count so far says)... so here it is again. The most amazing Rajini scene of all time: Now that's awesome. (As seen 10 minutes into Adhisaya Piravi, available on MoserBaer.)
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Rajnikanth the Superstar
I couldn't resist adding a second clip from Adhisaya Piravi, Rajnikanth's 1990 epic. "Whatever you hear," says the gangster to his bodyguards, "screams, punches, cries for help... I don't want you to turn around." Then Rajini the Superstar just happens to drive by. Such bizarre new wave editing. And what a hero.
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
The Amazing Indian Amazing Spider-Man Poster
My Bangalore pal Hannah just came across this new Ramachandraiah movie poster... Absolutely gorgeous -- I love it!
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
American Imperialist Bastards in a North Korean Comic Book
I don't speak a word of Korean. I wish I did, if only so I could read this North Korean comic that's been sitting on my bookshelf for years. I'm only assuming these chaps are Meejay Nom, or American Imperialist Bastards. (Okay, I guess I know one word in Korean.) What do you ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Another Indian Film Still
Also found in a crate in Mumbai. Something about her was so desperate, filled me with angst and longing. Is that a wedding poster in her hand? Is she Vijay's bride, or is she his one true love, and she's just discovered he's getting an arranged marriage this afternoon??? I'd love to know who she ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
A Brief Aside on Dr Rajkumar, the James Bond of Southern India
Alone in the hotel, drinking Kingfisher and watching old Karanataka films. In 1981's Keralida Simha, an honest cop has to break up a party of riotous and drugged out delinquents. And it's something akin to poetry. I don't know much about Kannada cinema -- it's called Sandalwood -- but the cop with the sweet mustache ...
Extraordinary Eats, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Philadelphia CheeseSteak Ice Cream
"That's possibly the worst idea I've ever heard." Michelle didn't use these words lightly. She didn't say this when I'd suggested we fly across the country to a park staffed by 108 dwarfs, or we hand-feed live animals to hungry tigers, or we train to become professional taxidermists. But evidently Michelle has her limits, too. ...
Our Weird Projects, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
A Sweet New Batch of Indian Movie Posters
I just got some lo-res photos of the new batch of 20" by 30" hand-drawn litho-printed Sandalwood/Kannada movie posters, and they're fantastic! (If you missed reading about Raju, who draws a new movie poster every three hours, and the 1901 litho machine they're printed on, go now!) I have 100 of each of these, ...
Our Weird Projects, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
India’s Incredibly Cool Hand-Drawn Movie Posters
Ramachandraiah prints movie posters for a living. He's done it ever since 1971, when he bought an ancient lithograph press. He keeps it in a factory north of Bangalore, far from the English town where it was built 111 years ago. Most movie posters here are lavish. They're digitally-printed, full-color, and reach up to 30 ...
Strange Tourism, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Porn, Rats, and Antique Projectors at Sri Lanka’s Classic Cinemas
We heard there were rats in The Liberty. That it smelled like urine. That the sound was awful. But it's the most famous cinema in Sri Lanka's capital, a 1955 Art Moderne beauty, and how could we turn that down? So we wore socks. Rats don't like socks. It's been modified, ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
The Disastrous Fall of Sanmao
Remember the last time we visited that wretched and bruised little street urchin, Sanmao? Oh, what dark laughs we shared. Well, the other day I found two new Sanmao books. From 1980 and 1985, they were full of strips I'd never seen. I leapt with joy and overpaid for them -- they were antiques, the ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
The Goriest, Raunchiest Chinese Classic of All Time
"Have you ever heard of Leonard Cohen?" Sidney shouts. He's trying to be heard over the album that's blasting through his hutong apartment. "Someone gave me this CD. It's great for doing taichi!" Sidney Shapiro's 90-something years old. He moved to Shanghai looking for a job in 1947. And he's lived in ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Prosthetic Noses, Red Wigs, and Whiteface… American Characters in Chinese Films
Hollywood's never been too subtle when it comes to Asia. Mickey Rooney, yellow-skinned, buck-toothed and slanty-eyed, howling "Horry Gorightry!!!" down the staircase yet again. Warner Oland, carefully quoting his ancient proverbs before smacking Number Two Son yet again. And what was that Long Duck Dong quote? Oh yes, of course, "No more yankie my ...
Historical Wonders, Lost in Translation, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Cute Little Cultural Revolution “Learn Chinese” Booklet
The cultural revolution-era "Learning English" book blew my mind, but when I stumbled on this little "Learn Chinese" booklet the other day, I was touched. It represented such a different side of the Cultural Revolution. Instead of war/hate/fear of the "Learn English" book, this one radiates with the hope, promise, and togetherness that ...
Historical Wonders, Lost in Translation, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Pages from an Amazing English Textbook
Back in the cultural revolution, China was in turmoil. Almost anything could get you in trouble. Han Xin, a blacklisted artist, told me that painting the sun the wrong shade of red would mean jail time. Absolutely everything had to be in unquestionable service to Mao and a Maoist China. The only plays were ...
Historical Wonders, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Inspector Black Cat: China’s Gore-Soaked Answer to Tom & Jerry
Cute baby bunnies, frolicking in a field. Identical twin monkeys, playing hide and seek. A sweet baby panda, serving soup to his sickly mother. This is how the 1986 mainland cartoon for kids, Inspector Black Cat (黑猫警长), always starts. But then... well, let's just say it's Tarantino time. Plenty of cartoons are violent, but in Inspector ...
Offbeat Museums, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Fascinating Old Handbook for Chinese Heading Overseas
In Chinese, hello is 你好。 What? Can't read characters? Just say knee-how (or nǐhǎo1, nixao2 or niihao3). What about the reverse, though? How do Chinese learn English if they can't read Latin alphabets? Can you use characters, instead? Can "Hello" be written as 河罗 （héluō4). Can "Who is he?" be spelled out as "夫，衣寺，希" (fu ...
Historical Wonders, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
China’s all-time favorite (and all-time darkest?) comic book: Sanmao
Not many foreigners know about Sanmao. Here in China, though, he’s bigger than Disney. He's as prone to mischief as Bart Simpson. As endlessly honest as Richie Rich. And as dark as Charlie Brown. Darker. Even though Sanmao comics are as much for kids as they are adults, they're filled with death, ...
Historical Wonders, Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Red Detachment of Awesome
This Wednesday thru Friday, if you're in Beijing, you shouldn't miss the best of the "model operas," The Red Detachment of Women (红色娘子军). Playing for three nights only at Poly Plaza. It's called a model opera, but it's actually a ballet. The eight model operas were, during the height of the cultural ...
May 23, 2011 / Comments Off
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
Film 101, with Guest Professor Kim Jong Il
(Happy Kim Il Sung's eternal birthday!)Sergei Eisenstein wrote extensively on film theory. As did Lloyd Kaufman. So, knowing what a film buff Kim Jong Il is, I was proud to see he'd already hopped on that bandwagon. I recently picked up his fascinating 1987 treatise on filmmaking techniques, "The Cinema and Directing." It's short at ...
Sweet Movies and Wild Books
China’s first sci-fi movie: Death Ray on Coral Island (1980)
Sci-fi books? China's got tons of those. But when it comes to sci-fi movies, China's really falling behind. One that really did impress me, though, was the very first to be produced in China: 1980's gorgeous, fun, and campy "Death Ray on Coral Island" (珊瑚岛上的死光). In "Death Ray," a good-hearted team of Chinese scientists, based in what ...