I love this documentary! This is a very cool mixture of documentary filmmaking styles examining the Bigfoot legend which are then combined with dramatic recreations of encounters with the mysterious hairy giants discussed by the witnesses. The hybrid style works! This thing will keep you engaged all the way through. Actor Peter Graves hosts and looks very serious and, well, grave, throughout. His demeanor expresses the Gravity of the situation of our subject. His reaction shots to the scientific fellows examining and discussing evidence are priceless. Actual recordings of Bigfoot vocalizations, footprint photos, eyewitness stories and the inclusion of the [More]
Polyerius perform at the first annual Quarantinefest in San Jose on Halloween night, 2020. There should be another edition of this event this year. COVID and its handlers may have finally shit themselves out. We can only hope.
Very fine, very abridged visual retelling of the F. Marion Crawford classic ghost story, “The Upper Berth”. I first read this story in one of the old “Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories to Keep You Awake At Night” or some such gaudy title. It was an excellent story and is well worth seeking out and getting the chills from. An adventurer finds that his cabinmate aboard a freighter may not be all he appears to be. He may not even be among the living. And there the fun really begins. Read the original story too! This video takes a very cool, [More]
Miners uncover a piece of preserved dinosaur tail that ends up thawing in a scientific research facility. That ends up being an awful turn of events. The small bit of flesh soon grows and regenerates a complete dinosaur! The resilient reptile. Very soon, a full-fledged rampaging beast is on the loose and begins laying waste to the Denmark countryside where the tale takes place. There are bits of this fantasy film that I find actually enjoyable. There is a travelogue of sorts that appears near the middle of the film that highlights some of the festive night spots and activities [More]
Another blast from the past. The amazing, original line up of The Stranglers in their music video for “Duchess”. Ah, they just don’t make them like this anymore and you may say that’s a good thing. But it does have a nice and gritty cinematic quality using those old ’70’s film stocks. Directed by old school music video maestro, Russell Mulcahy. Whatever happened to him? Time relentlessly passes.
So trying to find some inspiration to make a post, I came up with possibly my weakest entry yet. But, let me say, that I spared you a review of “The Killer Shrews”, “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes”, “No Country For Old Men”. Take your pick. It ain’t going to be any of those. I’ll save those for Halloween time. What I came up with was in response to a conversation I had with my wife. We are going to a Labor Day weekend wedding and she volunteered me to take pictures to produce a photo album to [More]
James Caan was an energetic actor who had a great run of movie appearances from the 1970’s to the early 1980’s. Caan started showing up in Westerns like “El Dorado” and oddball psychological pics like “Lady in a Cage” and “Games” in the 1960’s. His acting fortunes took a turn for the epic when he was cast in “The Godfather” (1971). Playing loose cannon Sonny Corleone, son of Mafia Don, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) showcased Caan’s ability to go from a (relatively) tranquil state to kinetic maniac in the wink of an eye. Such explosive acting pyrotechnics would continue to [More]
Another collection of strange stories submitted to Rusty West by his listeners that West combines into a creepy compilation of bizarre and spooky audio narratives. These vignettes can be absolutely terrifying. A couple of stories from his prior collections have freaked me out and stuck with me. Plus, I am a sucker for the howling wind sound effect backgrounds that Rusty has used many times in these videos. Wonderful!
If money is no object with regards to gasoline prices and you need to satisfy your wanderlust, then consider taking a road trip across Highway 50 in Nevada AKA “The Loneliest road in America”. I have been on this highway a couple of times and I must say that there are some cool small towns and many historical sites along the way but there are also miles and miles of twisting, winding roads travelling through a barren desert locale. All in all, though, a very rewarding drive. Just don’t expect to see too many other vehicles along the route. Or [More]
Punk rock progenitor, Chris Bailey, who sang and wrote for the Australian band, The Saints, has died. Chris definitely had a strong presence in my life way back when. We had a couple of Saints’ audio cassettes in the rotation for road trips: “I’m Stranded” and “Know Your Product”. The songs were some of our favorites, right alongside “Metallic KO”, The Stranglers, Motorhead, etc. Good music, good times. The Saints’ raw, guitar dominated sound was an influence on the punk purge to come in the music industry. Check out this music video which is introduced by artist commentary. Cool video!
H.G. Wells wrote the science fiction classic “The War of the Worlds” back in the 19th century and the setting was England. It seems that a civilization had evolved on the planet Mars and the inhabitants of that planet hatched a plot to conquer our planet. Falling stars land on Earth and reveal encased cylinders that house slimy Martian creatures and Martian war machines that proceed to decimate our world. Along comes this picture to update the story to the United States in the 1950’s. The screen is filled with dazzling color film work and a different continent to disrupt [More]
Ian McDonald may be best remembered for his amazing work with the early progressive rock group King Crimson. McDonald played woodwinds, mellotron and keyboards for the group and wrote the music for “In the Court of the Crimson King”, a progressive music masterpiece, as well as being involved in the writing of many of the other classic tracks on the collection. McDonald was a self-taught saxophone and flute player. He learned them well. Witness his aggressive saxophone attack on “21st Century Schizoid Man”. Fantastic. McDonald departed the Crimson band after the first album but would rejoin on their “Red” album [More]
I started watching this western and began thinking that it was playing out as another dated take on The Old West that we have seen in countless TV shows and repetitive movies. There was a soundtrack featuring a harmonica, a jailbreak out of a Federal prison, gunplay galore and even some Gatling Gun action. It struck me as being old fashioned in an age where the Western had been electrified and shaken up by a work like Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch”. How could filmmakers fall back on all the old, reliable cliches of The Western genre and expect the audience [More]
Michael Nesmith was a very influential presence in his time on this planet. He was a memorable songwriter, produced films, pushed the boundaries of music promotional videos, and was a pioneer in pursuing the emerging trend that morphed into country rock. He will probably best be remembered as the guitar playing member on The Monkees TV show from the 1960’s. I loved his songwriting contributions to the Monkees and his acerbic personality. Mike was a forward thinking individual and envisioned many technological trends before they became mainstream. We take our wool caps off to you brother in salute to your [More]