Unlikely Stuff I've Found At The Local Car Boot Sale #2: Kill Bill 1 & 2 Japanese Releases

Those who have seen both the International and Japanese versions of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 will no doubt have noticed the glaring differences between the two releases, the most obvious being the Crazy 88s fight scene which, in the cut destined for Western audiences, was presented in black and white. The Japanese DVD, however, was in full colour, making it the obvious choice for discerning fans of extreme cinematic violence, the blood from the numerous severed limbs and fatal wounds splashing across the screen in glorious fountains of crimson.

The fact that the UK got the watered down version stopped me from purchasing the film and its sequel on DVD (well, that and the prohibitive price of the Asian alternative), so imagine my joy when, at the local car-boot sale, I found the Japanese versions of both Kill Bill 1 and 2 for just a pound each. The menus are in Japanese, which makes it tricky to select the English soundtrack, but the effort is worth it, Tarantino's work looking so much better in vivid colour throughout.

Brett's Comic Collectables #2: 2000AD Prog 265 — with free gift!

Prog 265 of Britain's greatest ever comic came with a free pack of Bubblicious bubble gum. While most kids would have happily chewed and blown bubbles while reading the comic, I left my gum untouched. 32 years later and I still have the packet of gum with the comic; can't imagine I'd get very good bubbles from it now though, so there it stays...

Brett's Comic Collectables #1: Warrior Issue No. 1 — Signed by artists and writers.

I've had this copy of Warrior Issue No.1 bagged up and boxed ever since I bought it in the mid-'80s when I also got it signed by a good handful of its creators, including the legendary Alan Moore of Watchmen and V for Vendetta fame. It's in great nick and actually might be worth a bob or two (if anyone has an idea how much, please leave a comment—I'm no good at valuing my comics).

Brett's Movie Magazines #1: Film Weekly, March 10th 1933

I came by this issue of Film Weekly as part of a pile of vintage magazines given to me by my mother-in-law, Christmas 2012. I found all of them extremely fascinating (especially the old adverts), but for a lifelong fan of monster movies such as I, this particular magazine was easily the cream of the crop.

Why? The clue is in the date and the headline on the cover—'New "Shudder" from Hollywood'. What was the biggest and scariest thing to come out of Tinseltown that year? King Kong, of course!

Unlikely Stuff I've Found In The Local Charity Shops #1: Cool DVDs and Decent Music.

With little chance of getting to the car boot this weekend, I thought I'd hit the local charity shops instead, and was over the moon to find some real treasures going for a song...

Brett's Worthless Tat #2/Unlikely Stuff I've Found At The Local Car Boot Sale #2: Amy from Congo

Check out this adorable cuddly toy based on the loveable 'talking' gorilla Amy from the 1995 action adventure film Congo—surely one of the bestselling toys of the year.

Not quite….

Brett's Horror Movie Books #4: The Official Splatter Movie Guide Volumes I and II by John McCarty

Here we have two volumes from John McCarty celebrating precisely the kind of lowbrow trash I specialise in: splatter movies i.e. films in which the blood doesn't so much flow as gush uncontrollably. The covers say it all: Volume One (1989) shows a hand holding a bloody butchers knife while the copy exclaims 'more than 400 of the goriest, grossest, most outrageous movies ever made, and Volume Two (1992) depicts a gore spattered electric drill and promises hundreds more movies.