I started watching this from about the half way point and got hooked. This is your basic kids stranded in a lonely cabin with no way to get past or rid of the nasty, howling bigfoot creature which wants to avenge itself on them. Fairly effective “found footage” approach is used throughout. One of the humans in peril is video recording the whole adventure. The scene with the guy on the mountain bike and the GoPro trying to find a cell phone signal and, then, trying to outpace a hotly pursuing sasquatch is pretty nerve wracking. Exists brings to mind [More]
Another bass playing giant has left us. John Wetton enters the ranks of those beloved bass players who have recently passed away. Chris Squire, Lemmy, and Greg Lake preceded Wetton into the afterlife and all were unique and irreplaceable. John Wetton always impressed me with his passionate, powerful vocals and his strong, at times, brutal bass chops. He ripped it up with King Crimson for years and had stints in Roxy Music, Family, UK and Asia. An utterly immense talent. I saw this tour of the three piece dynamo known as UK. They opened for Jethro Tull in Oakland, CA. Their [More]
Wunderkind drummer for The Who, Keith Moon, left this mortal coil 40 years ago. What a loss. The legendary madman lead an alcohol and drug fueled existence that bolstered his outgoing personality and flashy, unorthodox, drum style. Alas, this very fast lifestyle also accelerated an early end to his explosive drumming style and life. As the years wore on and the intoxicants flowed, so to did his strength and lifeforce get tapped. Moon died at the age of 32 on September 7, 1978. Please examine YouTube videos of his earlier days when he was in his prime. You will be [More]
I recommend this Top Ten List of Strange Space Noise recorded over the years by scientists and researchers. Marvel at the mutterings of an actual Black Hole! Hear the astonishing sonic wash of space telemetry (Brief Interruption Here. Here is an explanation of Space Telemetry: Data Transmission Space telemetry transmits information in the form of a radio signal. Sensors on the spacecraft collect analog data–a photograph of Mars for example–and send it back to Earth. Early space telemetry systems used Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to transmit data.) in all its glory! You get the idea. [More]
Spend this Labor Day weekend absorbing this 7 plus hour combination of Frances Ford Coppola’s two finest “Godfather” entries. There is a lot of footage included that didn’t appear in “GF I or GF II” that fills in some of the storyline and weaves these two productions together. Beautiful cinematography, outstanding acting and eminently watchable storytelling all combine to make this a 7 hour viewing experience well worth the effort put in. Coppola’s directorial masterpiece, in my opinion, and magnificent acting from Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. You’ve got three days. Watch it more than once!
We visit Forrest J. Ackerman, the creator of “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine, and take an abbreviated tour of the “Ackermansion” memorabilia collection Ackerman amassed in Southern California. Plenty of pad puns and dusty monster/horror/science fiction movie artifacts await. How did Ackerman remember where everything was stored?
After spending a couple of days at Disneyland during the Christmas holiday season, I was reminded of this ecological disaster movie from the 1970’s. Witness people packed in to a space like sardines, witness the repeated equipment breakdowns and infrastructure collapse. And the air ain’t that great to breathe. I don’t think I ate anything remotely resembling the type of swill the people in “Soylent Green” are reduced to consuming though. Check it out. Another fine Charlton Heston performance is in store for you. 2024 UPDATE: What I should have commented on back in time, when this post was first [More]
I always liked this song from the band Hawkwind. It is an uplifting pop song with synthesizer sound wash and varied instrumentation thrown on top. Hawkwind has a long history. You might be interested in learning more about these “cosmic warriors” who constituted part of a music genre labeled “Space Rock”. Try checking out the book “Space Daze”. This video is a little weird, though, as is the lead singer’s getup.
The first total solar eclipse viewable in North America since 1918 is rapidly approaching. It ought to be quite the event. Social media will explode with every conceivable view, angle and personal reflection of those who view it. So, don’t worry if you are unable to participate. You’re covered! But are there any other astral events lurking in deep space that may influence our planet and its very existence? Speculation always abounds: The Good , The Bad, The Ugly. Check out this video which references concerns about the rogue Planet X or Nibiru. Is there anything to this concern? We’ll soon [More]
A 1960’s attempt to bring Wonder Woman to the small screen. After the huge success of the campy Batman series starring Adam West, a small effort was made to test out if the same serio-comic approach could be applied to the comic book character Wonder Woman. Here is the result of that effort. Best that it was passed over. Maybe more promising would be to screen the Batgirl pilot which never made it to network TV created during the TV Batman series’ period of popularity and bedlam.
A more muscular, 4 and 6 string driven rendition of this early 1980’s gem from Gary Numan: “Cars”. Numan these days has ventured from his Bowie like posturing and has taken on more of a resemblance to actor Robert Carradine with a bit of Klaus Kinski thrown in. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (I have no shame), age will have its rage. With us all. Like this fresh take on the song, though.
Night of the Living Dead. One of the all time great horror movies! Zombies surface from the grave after some nebulous explanation involving a a solar flare or a mishap involving a returning spacecraft. Take your pick. Whatever causes the dead to resurface among the living, this movie yields some terrific shocks and scares. In this scene, Johnny and Barbara come to pay their respects to the dearly departed and end up getting disrespected BIG TIME by the dead! Johnny and Barbara: one stays at the graveyard and one moves on to remain among the living.
Sadly, multi instrumentalist Peter Tork of The Monkees fame has passed at 77. Pete contributed bass, guitar, banjo, keyboards and vocals to The Monkees’ recordings and live shows. Depicted in the show as the simple minded one, in actuality Tork was quite the opinionated “thinker”. Pete passed an audition to become one of the four members of a prefabricated band to appear in a weekly television show copying the Beatles massive cultural appeal in the late 1960’s. Tork did have the ability to play an actual musical instrument which is more then can be said of half of the other [More]
Another Horror great has left us. Director George A. Romero has died at age 77. Romero and screenwriter John Russo made zombies fashionable again and truly terrifying with the release of their independent feature “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). This movie was gutsy, gripping and gruesome and it has frightened viewers for nearly 50 years. The living dead in this picture have shambled through the nightmares of millions of viewers and, to this very day, “Night of the Living Dead” will more than likely cap off the horror movies played on Halloween night. The vivid memories of watching [More]