On the eve of the grandest viewer spectacle there is, namely, Super Bowl LIII, I would like to share this collection of dubious player performances in football that lead to the player being ejected from the game. I know these athletes are very highly paid and are thought to be role models to youthful fans, and all, but these are very competitive games and in football there is a lot of contact. Let’s face it. Tempers flare, bad manners surface and sportsmanship can go out the window. There is always next week to show people what you’ve got. Anyway, enjoy [More]
Climate disaster strikes in this gritty, black and white science fiction picture from Britain. The US and Russia are independently testing nuclear weapons at opposing poles in the same time frame. The resultant detonations have calamitous effects on the rotation of our planet setting it on a course a bit too close to the Sun for our own good. London experiences drastic temperature rises. The Thames dries up, looting and riots break out and panic sets in. The authorities decide on a desperate course of action: fire off a couple more nuclear devices in an effort to get the Earth [More]
This alien on the loose in a small community film caper has the great advantage of having two acting legends as part of the cast: Jack Palance and Martin Landau. Add in their over the top characterizations, manic is a kind word, and this makes for a moderately memorable viewing experience. There are some nasty attack sequences by some flying nasties that clamp on and zombify their victims. The main alien actor is a towering apparition that appears closer to the end of the film to maintain some dread and mystery as to his purpose and appearance. Landau’s bug eyed [More]
I want to like “Rose Red” but it is just not a very scary or suspenseful movie. I don’t really like any of the characters so that impacts my interest toward this two-night Stephen King television movie. It used to be a regular event for network television to buy one of King’s properties and then create a TV movie. Some were good, others not so good. I think this is one lesser quality King works. A team of ghost hunters head off to a notorious haunted property to see if they can find any evidence of activity. Their search will [More]
Fairly lively horror whodunit which follows a familiar refrain: a talented artist is victimized by his shady business partner who sets their waxwork museum on fire. The artist miraculously survives albeit horribly scarred and then plots his murderous revenge in the shadows of society. “Phantom of the Opera” used a similar story line but had a musical composer who covertly got even with his enemies. Vincent Price is fine as the unfortunate sculptor who opens a new waxworks emporium that now concentrates on sensationalism and horror to draw in the crowds. To get the enterprise up and running in a [More]
With the sad passing of Monkees member Davy Jones, I wanted memories of better times and found this freak out from The Monkees LP, “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” Early use of the Moog Synthesizer and Monkee hijinks amid all the pretty flashing lights highlight this promo piece.
A camera set to take photographs at select time intervals catches a strange shape rising out of a lake near Loch Ness. Is it a log, a large fish, a camera aberration? You be the judge. The Internet is just full of such mysterious photos/videos that allegedly show proof of mythic beasts. One day solid proof of such unusual phenomenon may materialize.
Here’s some good background chatter to play during your groovy Halloween party or in your haunted playhouse. A veritable assemblage of white and pink noise layers and ambient pads build to a cacophony of dread induced drones. Lovely! Inspired by themes and nightmares explored by H.P. Lovecraft and his multifarious ghastly denizens of the very Deep and Dark.
Great World War 2 set action adventure movie starring the unlikely combo of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Burton was a movie star at the time and Eastwood was suddenly hot after his run of spaghetti Westerns. Why not toss them together and pour them into this macho, adrenaline-fueled blockbuster? This picture clocks in at around 3 and a half hours but it certainly won’t seem so! In the days before Star Wars and Indiana Jones, this movie was the shit. Completely absorbing espionage caper where a team of Allied agents attempt to go deep behind German lines to recover [More]
Michael gets some guitar time in before returning to his favorite vocation. Happy Halloween!
Very bizarre movie about an alien visitor to Scotland who assumes the form of actress Scarlett Johansson and proceeds to lure unwary men she picks up in her vehicle to their ultimate doom. Johansson lures them to her flat where they both disrobe with the promise of a sexual encounter but end up sinking into some unseen pool “holding tank” to be “consumed” later by the alien. These are some of the many arresting visuals which occur throughout this picture. I was reminded of Bowie’s “The Man Who Fell To Earth” with its tale of an alien who tries to [More]
Actor David Soul passed away at 80. Soul had a couple of notable turns in the fantastic movie genre. Soul had the lead in one of my favorite, depressing movies, “World War III” (1982). The only bleaker end to a movie can probably be found in “The Thing” (1982). Hmmm. Both released in 1982. Obviously, a very good year! I think I posted about “WW3”, years past. Look it up and catch the flick. The clip included below is from the TV mini-series of Stephen King’s “‘Salem’s Lot” (1979). Soul gives a credible performance as a writer who stumbles upon [More]
Legendary drummer/percussionist, Jamie Muir, has died. Muir performed on one album, “Lark’s Tongue in Aspic” (1972) with King Crimson and accompanied them on the road before pulling up his stakes and heading for a more spiritual existence. After joining a monastery, he would retire from music but reappear to play and perform again in the 1980’s. It was while supporting Crimson that Muir created his unique image as a prowling, stage stalking percussionist and drummer alongside Bill Bruford. Muir utilized bird whistles, gongs, slabs of metal and bells to accentuate King Crimson’s sound. Muir would climb up amp stacks and [More]
This was a cool scene from ” Aliens: The Director’s Cut”. The Colonial Marines stranded on the Alien planet set up robot sentries in the hallways of the complex where they are trying to survive. The sentries detect motion and are programmed to fire upon any intruders tripping the sensors. Needless to say, the ammunition runs out fast as the Marines figure out that they are overrun with deadly Aliens trying every means possible to get to the Marines. Very effective editing and use of sound effects. We don’t ever clearly see the Aliens being blasted into smithereens by [More]