Modern Pulp May 23 2013
A TOUCH OF VELVET
The name’s Bondage, Kinky Bondage.


Last week we shared a few images from a new bondage collection called Strictly Bondage created by Berlin-based publishers Goliath, and mentioned that the book we received was one of two. Above you see the cover of the second collection—Kinky Bondage Obsession. How different can two bondage books be? You’d be surprised. Shot by Jim Weathers, Kinky Bondage Obsession is of course about the restraints, but more so than Strictly Bondage, it’s about color and texture. Weathers’ models are beautifully garbed—clad in metallic purples and shimmering crimsons, sheathed in skin hugging vinyl and nylon. Rubber, faux fur, PVC, and patent leather abound. The action takes place in opulent, suede-walled salons appointed with wooden accessories. In fact, the book could double as a catalog for expensive bondage outfits and shabby chic home decorations.

The press material references David Lynch and that’s easy to see. Weathers has made Blue Velvet with the lights turned up a notch, before Dennis Hopper barged in, screamed amyl nitrate-fueled filth and ruined the party. An all female party, by the way, which is another contrast to Strictly Bondage. The lack of men in this thick book may seem to bring the threat level down, but on the other hand, since most of the four-hundred-plus shots are solo—that is, they feature only a bound woman—you have to wonder who exactly is doing the restraining. Possibly it's you, you kinky devil. But some scenes do feature a dominator, always another woman, and the implicit question presented in those deals with gender expectations. Beyond the technicolor outfits and opulent interiors, do you see pure domination, mutual consent, or mere artifice?  The answer may reveal your attitudes about women and power. You can read more about Kinky Bondage Obsession at the Goliath website.

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Modern Pulp May 15 2013
BOUND FOR GLORY
Publishers provocateur Goliath release a collection of Japanese-bondage-inspired art photos.


A long while back we mentioned the Japanese art of kinbaku-bi or shibari (we won’t get into the debate over which term is more correct) and said we’d discuss it again, but of course never did. Well, we were reminded of that promise when Berlin-based rebel publishers Goliath sent us a couple of their books. Ostensibly, they’re coffee table volumes, but of a rather provocative type, dealing with bondage as art. Today we’re looking only at Strictly Bondage, and we’ll get to the other book Kinky Bondage Obsession later this week.
 
Strictly Bondage, a compact volume of black and white images derived directly from the Japanese bondage arts, was shot by longtime bdsm photographer Victor Lightworship. Like the master or kinbakushi who restrains women in kinbaku-bi, Lightworship uses ropes in some of his photos to suspend his models. He appears in many of the shots, and while he goes through the motions of dominating his models, the content doesn’t overpower the compositional beauty of the tableaux. Or put another way, while the book generates some raised eyebrows when visitors pick it up from the coffee table, they quickly become aware that they’re looking at the output of someone with talent and a finely honed aesthetic.
 
Lightworship has been at this for thirty years, even studying kinbaku-bi under a rope master, so the sharpness and cohesion of this collection is no surprise, nor is the fact that he can walk a tightrope between the disturbing and erotic so deftly. Some of his non-Strictly Bondage work goes farther, so the effect achieved here is deliberate and is partly due, we think, to the array of expressions his models wear—sometimes a sort of overacted b-movie terror, but other times a resigned serenity comically juxtaposed against the most elaborate of subjugation.
 
The book’s foreword asks: “What is art? What is erotic? What is porn? What is interesting?” Strictly Bondage is a little of all those, and it’ll be living on our coffee table for some time, or at least until our friends bring their kids by. We have several of the tamer images from the book’s interior below, and you can learn more about Victor Lightworship and Strictly Bondage at www.goliathbooks.com, and at the photographer’s site here.


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Modern Pulp Apr 9 2013
AMA BOUT READY
Usually she wears a wetsuit to work but today the dress code is business casual.


Above is a poster for Isao Hayashi’s 1978 roman porno Inzetsu ama: Uzuku, which if you run across in English will be called… well, we don’t really know. Most websites that use English call it “Lewdness Woman Diver,” which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It isn’t a direct translation either, because we know that the big red characters staring you in the face say “tingling.” We also know that an ama is a female diver who traditionally foraged in the water for delicacies like sea urchins and lobsters, but these days is more famous for pearl diving.

So you have a tingling female diver here. And we’re tingling too, just a little. Anyway, we looked around for a review and all we were able to find out is that it’s about an ama in a fishing village. The movie falls into Nikkatsu’s misleadingly named roman porno genre, misleading because “roman” is actually short for “romantic” and these aren’t porn movies, but rather softcores. We mention that every time, don’t we? Well, our parents read the site. Understood, parentals? Not porno.
 
In any case, the poster is a real eyecatcher. We did an extensive search online and we’re sure this is the only place you can see it without Natsuko Yashiro’s boobs obscured, because apparently breasts are absolutely corrupting and you’ll start foaming at the mouth if you see even one. Although maybe we shouldn’t joke. We are still tingling. Okay, that’s enough rambling for today. Except to say that Yashiro, who you also see below, did at least one more of these ama movies and we’ll show you the even nicer art for that on its premier date in July.

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Modern Pulp Dec 13 2012
MOTHRA TO THE FLAME
Love him or hate him, there’s only one Godzilla.

Above is a colorful Japanese poster for the monster epic Mosura tai Gojira, aka Mothra vs. Godzilla. It was originally released in 1964, but we’re guessing from the big “93” at the bottom of the art that this piece was made for a nineties re-release, though we can’t find any info on that. For many Godzilla fans this is their favorite entry in the series. We tend to agree. But is it even appropriate to talk about best when referring to Godzilla movies? No matter what, it’s still just a guy in a rubber suit. Like satire, you either enjoy it or you don’t. It isn’t a matter of intelligence, but of temperament (which in this case can definitely be made more amenable to rubber suit chaos by psychoactive compounds, if you’re inclined). Anyway, maybe give this one a try. 

Update: We recived an email from Dekk, who informs us that this is a poster for a competely separate Godzilla/Mothra movie that was made in the 1990s, which helps clear up our confusion about the 93 on the art. It was actually entitled Gojira vs. Mosura, aka Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. Thanks Dekk for straightening us out on that.

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Modern Pulp Nov 29 2012
INFORMATION GATHERING
You can never have too much information.

Every time we see a cover of the Japanese celeb/cinema magazine Movie Information/Movie Pictorial we find ourselves thinking how cool they look. It’s a publication that goes all the way back to the early 1950s, and it had a few different periods, graphically speaking, but for some reason we always preferred these clean, colorful late-1960s early-1970s covers. So we thought we’d upload a few fronts and backs we’ve found over the years and see if you agree. As far as the name goes, we usually see the magazine referred to in English as Movie Pictorial, and in fact the back cover does say that, obviously. But the front cover writing definitely says “Movie Information.” So there you go. But we’ve actually turned screwing up these translations into a fine art, so we won’t be heartbroken if we’re wrong. Anyway, see below. And FYI, the girl in the scuba tank is Barbara Bouchet, so she’s on three covers. The scuba image is a promo shot from Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea. You can see two more front covers here and here.

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Modern Pulp Oct 31 2012
BITEY APHRODITE
She’s a vampire and so much more.

It’s Halloween in the U.S., so we thought we’d feature something macabre today by doing another post on the sexiest vampire ever created—Sukia Dragomic. In the comic, she’s born in Transylviania, dies in the 13th century, is accidentally revived in 1724, moves to America, dies again in 1801, and finally ends up residing in the Big Apple. The keen-eyed may notice she is modeled after Italian actress Ornella Muti (check here for comparison). If you’re interested in Sukia, you can download issue one, in English, at comixland.blogspot.com. 

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Modern Pulp Oct 30 2012
NEW SENSATIONS
Um, you’ve got something on your... just there on your... Well, never mind.

We mentioned a while back that we had found a stack of Japanese x-rated movie posters, so here’s another one today, a poster for Lasse Braun’s 1976 romp Sensations, starring Brigitte Maier. The art is by William Stok, and if the central figure’s meandering tongue isn’t enough to tell you this is a porn movie, the white substance on her breast and shoulder gives it away. That ain't supposed to be Béchamel sauce, folks. Sensations was made in Germany in 1975, had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival that May, and played in mainstream movie houses in the U.S. throughout the autumn and into the next year. Basically, it’s about an uptight American girl who travels to Amsterdam and gets her groove on. She’s reluctant at first, but as the movie churns along she begins to show more enthusiasm. This kind of sexual awakening plot was a staple of adult film back then, but the exotic setting was something new for American filmgoers, and they made the movie a major hit. Sensations premiered in Japan today in 1976, and you can see more Japanese x-rated posters here and here.

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Modern Pulp Sep 17 2012
BUSTIN' LOOSE
Who you gonna call? Yakuza busters.

And speaking of amazing posters, check out this masterwork for the neo-pinku actioner Sukeban hantâzu: Sôkatsu nagurikomi sakusen. It was released internationally as Yakuza Busting Girls: Final Death Ride Battle, is known in the U.S. as Yakuza Hunters Final Death Ride Battle, and was released on DVD as Yakuza Hunters 1: The Ultimate Battle Royale. That last title implies more films are to come, and in fact we understand there’s already a sequel, but we haven’t seen the first one yet. However, the poster, painted by the genius Japanese graphic artist who calls himself Rockin’ Jellybean, has convinced us to seek the movie out. We’ll get back to you.

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Modern Pulp Sep 14 2012
CULTURAL REVOLUTION
French artist Jacques Puiseux shares a few of his pulp influenced crate paintings.

We don’t usually feature contemporary art on Pulp Intl., but when French painter Jacques Puiseux pointed out to us that there were some pulp elements in his work, we thought he was right. He described them as Marxist pulp, which is interesting, however we did not discuss his meaning or intent beyond that short description, which means you’ll have to interpret them however you want. The one above is called “La Veuve Mao,” which translates as “Mao’s Widow,” and the two below are “Lady Gargarine” and “Playmate Stalingrad.” All were painted on pieces of wooden crates, and there are more at the artist’s website here, and Tumblr page here.
 

 
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Modern Pulp Sep 11 2012
QUI ELEMENT
Qui? Police is modern pulp with a very vintage look.

It’s amazing how fertile France is for vintage pulp. It’s by far the best hunting ground after the U.S., and that’s true even in smaller cities like Bayonne. For example, Bayonne is a town that we made time to go to for one reason—because we knew of a restaurant that specialized in duck hearts. Afterward, feeling strong like a duck, we strolled the cobbled side streets and stumbled into two vintage bookshops straightaway. Actually, one was a bookshop. The other was an African handicrafts store with two big shelves of printed matter. See what we mean? Even a handicrafts store might have something great. Qui? Police has a vintage feel, but this issue actually dates from 1979, so that makes it modern pulp, the way we categorize things. So what do we know about this mag? Not much. We saw an issue published in February 1947 that was numbered 33, so on a weekly schedule that gives an inception year of 1946, with the first issue hitting newsstands in June. And that’s pretty much the extent of our knowledge. But we’ll find out more. In the meantime check out the inside of this thing. It’s a black, white, and red amalgam of true crime reportage, grainy photography, excellent courtroom art, cartoon humor, and cheesecake. Paging through it conjures all our favorite French words—crime, vengeance, rage, menace, lurid, voyeur. Did you know those were all French words? Well, there you go. You’re well on way to having the tools you need to survive a trip to France. Eighteen scans below.

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Next Page
Featured Pulp
FEBRUARY 1933 BEAUTE MAGAZINE
JULY 1937 BEAUTES MAGAZINE
JANUARY 1935 PARIS MAGAZINE
JANUARY 1935 POUR LIRE A DEUX
OCTOBER 1929 PARIS PLAISIRS
NOVEMBER 1933 PARIS MAGAZINE
MAY 1935 PARIS MAGAZINE
History Rewind
The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
May 23
1934—Bonnie and Clyde Are Shot To Death
Outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression robbing banks, stores and gas stations, are ambushed and shot to death in Louisiana by a posse of six law officers. Officially, the autopsy report lists seventeen separate entrance wounds on Barrow and twenty-six on Parker, including several head shots on each. So numerous are the bullet holes that an undertaker claims to have difficulty embalming the bodies because they won't hold the embalming fluid.
May 22
1942—Ted Williams Enlists
Baseball player Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps, where he undergoes flight training and eventually serves as a flight instructor in Pensacola, Florida. The years he lost to World War II (and later another year to the Korean War) considerably diminished his career baseball statistics, but even so, he is indisputably one of greatest players in the history of the sport.
May 21
1924—Leopold and Loeb Murder Bobby Franks
Two wealthy University of Chicago students named Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks, motivated by no other reason than to prove their intellectual superiority by committing a perfect crime. But the duo are caught and sentenced to life in prison. Their crime becomes known as a "thrill killing", and their story later inspires various works of art, including the 1929 play Rope by Patrick Hamilton, and Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film of the same name.

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