Grab Bag Week Returns: Arrow

Hello and how do my readers.  Day 3 of Grab Bag Week starts us off with a current CW program and stop frowning everyone.   I am not reviewing the Vampire Diaries, mostly due to no requests for it but also I am not an adolesent girl that thinks moody, pasty boys are the end all.  No, instead we will shed a bit of light on a complicated character for DC Comics created by Silver Age writer Mort Weisinger (comic book editor for Superman and co-creator of Aquaman, Green Arrow and Johnny Quick) and was also main story editor for the Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves.  Created in More Fun Comics #73 November 1941 our hero was devised from Robin Hood and the movie serial The Green Archer based on the Edgar Wallace novel of same title.  Retooled and given the vigilante theme by comic artist George Papp (Legion of Super-Heroes,Showcase Presents: Green Arrow, Superboy, Superman vs. Lex Luthor and The Seven Soldiers of Victory) our hero was born.    But what if his origin story of saving a total stranger whilst trapped on a deserted island wasn't grabbing enough for you?   What if this spoiled silver spoon was trapped in wave after wave of insanity and the fight to survive would mean even taking another's life?   This is Arrow.

Beats taking up golf, I guess.

Oliver Queen: My name is Oliver Queen.  For five years I was stranded on an island with only one goal. - survive,  Now I will fulfill my father's dying spoiler-  to use the list of names he left me and bring down those who are poisoning my city.  To do this, I must become someone else. I must become something else.

As the second foray into live action for Green Arrow after added to the roster of Smallville and portrayed by actor Justin Hartley (Passions, Aquaman, Red Canyon, MegaFault, Smallville and Revenge), writers Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Jack & Bobby and No Ordinary Family), comic book writer/colorist Marc Guggenheim (Aquaman, Wolverine, The Punisher and Blade) as well as TV writer Andrew Kreisberg (Justice League, The Simpsons, Hope & Faith, Boston Legal and Warehouse 13) decided Ollie needed a makeover with a new face and a darker premise.  Our young Oliver (Stephen Amell of Beautiful People, Closing the Ring, NCIS: Los Angeles, Private Practice and Injustice: Gods Among Us) is sailing on his father's yahyt when a freak typhoon crashes the boot whisking Ollie's girlfriend's sister Sarah away (Caity Lotz of Mad Men, Death Valley, The Pact and The Machine) and crashing his rescue boat where he is marooned on a desert island for 5 years of his life.

This just in: Billionaire Bruce Wayne says COPYCAT!!!

Rescued by a ship and brought back to his hometown his mother and sister meet a different man than the one they knew before.  A quiet, methodical and driven man that seems almost at ill ease seeing these loved ones again.    In his possession is a strength compound bow, a hood, rare herbs and a book that tells him a list- a list of men and women doing harm to his Starling City and getting fat off of the misery they have caused others.  No more will this be allowed.

Okay, let's get down to the nit and grit of the show now.  From the pyrotechnics, wire work, body doubles, rigging and car scenes, this show has to be as action packed as a superhero movie and makes the grade all the way across.  With a complex story arc taking us back and forth with flashbacks from the island and how they relate to each episode, our impressive dialogue and clever signatures on each character; this show can feel a bit too much like a soap opera.   Often you will find with the dying and resurrecting characters making their way to and fro from either medium, there really is little difference.    What this show does is take all that over the top comic book standing and slow it down to a television pace, providing heroes, villains and the people in the middle and elevates what most viewers deem a lesser DC Comics character to a new light.

Well, at least Ryan Reynolds isn't my partner.

Grab Bag Week Returns: Deadpool

Hiyas reader fans and welcome back to Day 2 of Grab Bag Week and this time around we are tackling a video game.  Shock and gasp you say?   Well... that's weird but I merely shrug it off.   Now getting into the origins of this video game we have to look at the lead character's humble beginnings.  Crafted by comic book writer Fabian Nicieza (X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, Cable and Deadpool and Thunderbolts) and half witted, self-taught monkey boy artist Rob Liefield (Avengers, Hawk and Dove, X-Force, Deadpool and Youngblood).  In 1990, Wade Wilson/Deadpool was devised as a wise cracking, heartless mercenary who was a constant thorn in Cable's (Leader of The New Mutants and later X-Force) paw and/or side.  The progression of the character was found dull and it was decided to give him more of an anti-hero story line instead and the sales went crackers.   With his Spidey knockoff spandex, to totting SMGs, katanas and various nasty toys, the popularity went through the roof.    This is Deadpool.

Hey true believers, rope burns hurt yer groin!

Deadpool: What? He said no? That was our chance to be in our own video game!
Deadpool's voice in his head: Maybe we shouldn't have spoiled the proposal in crayon.




From his first appearance in New Mutants issue 98, Deadpool has had a solid following of devoted fans that found out that big bad mercenary Wade Wilson was dying of cancer, he volunteered to the Weapon X program (makers of The Wolverine) to an experimental healing factor compromised of genetic stock of Wolvie's own DNA.   The process cured him of cancer but the side effects scarred his face, body and drove him completely off his nut.  Coupled with the fact that Wilson is a superb marksman and swords-master he can only regenerate newer damage so he is constantly in costume to keep the neighbors from projectile vomiting.  Could be worse though, I mean look at Wolvie's hair, right?
Wade spends most of his time in search of love, romance, big guns and chimichangas, when he is not slicing, dicing or blowing people up for money.   Our game starts with a cut-scene of a deary apartment that has not seen a decorator since 1971 and Wilson is checking his Cobra answering machine.  Wolverine tells him to stop calling about borrowing the Blackbird Jet, Domino shoots his sexual advances down and creative director of High Moon Studios doesn't want to produce his video game.  After a substantial amount of explosions, a script is on its way for Deadpool's game.

That's for Wolverine: Origins!  PIMP SLAP!!!

Okay, with all this in mind comes the annoying warning part for the parents.  The following is found in this video game:  graphic violence, booze and smoking references, sexual innuendos and a fair amount of swearing.  Yes folks, this is probably not one of the kids but the kids inside of us all.  Bushido style sword mastery harnessed by beer and fart jokes, Wilson has the emotional maturity of a 14 year old hopped up on energy drinks and a love for Chop Socky films.  He also has an unusual love for Death (Marvel's personification of the Grim Reaper is in the form of a dishy super model build and a skull face) and frankly it is unhealthy.   Course so is a steady diet of beer, chimichangas and pizza but healing factor handles that noise.  LOOK KIDS!!! NO LOVE HANDLES!!!

With the insane fighting styles, guest star characters such as Rogue, Wolverine, Psylocke, Cable and Domino, our conglomerate has no idea who Wilson is talking to half of the time as this character is notorious for breaking the fourth wall (the imaginary wall that separates theater from the audience) which is not to be confused with an aside (a dramatic device specifically for addressing the audience to plot, person or device) or a soliloquy (a technique that allows a character to speak his or her's thoughts and feelings under the guise that they are alone projecting these thoughts aloud).  Ah, English lessons.

The gun play is a bit static, the sword-fighting combos give a fairly wide range of mayhem and the endless amount of clones courtesy of Mr. Sinister does pile up from the slaughters.   The gags and puns are worthy of the character and once again Nolan North (voice actor of Guild Wars2, Wolverine and the X-Men, Uncharted 1,2,3, Young Justice and Marvel Heroes) brings the gab gold.  

Deadpool: A cut above the rest!

Grab Bag Week: MST3K: The Mole People

Greetings all and welcome to Grab Bag Week.  I randomly pluck a TV episode, TV series, Movie, Made-For-TV Movie and/ or video game PC or console and bore you to tears or make you belly laugh.   Today I thought I would rummage through my childhood memories to a delightful source of mirth, enjoyment and snark.   This round of movie mockery is brought to us by the fine folks of Mystery Science Theater 3000.   When a zany mad scientist felt the need to shoot a man into space and force him through some of the cheesiest films even compiled to stock.  The concept was to find the end all "bad movie" that would ensure him world domination.  Our story hails from the 8th Season of MST3K when they had just been transported from Comedy Central to the then named Sci-Fi Channel.  I think the current Syfy icon and name is just rubbish but hey that might be due to the lack of interest in watching paranormal pants piddling and wrassling.  This is The Mole People.

Too much coffee on the Satellite of Love.

John Agar: There's gotta be a scientific spoiler for all of this.
Crow T. Robot: I believe the Elf Princess put them there.






Keeping the steam still going after 7 years, Pearl Forrester (writer/actor Mary Jo Pehl of Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Adventures of Edward the Less, Darkstar: The Interactive Movie and Cinematic Titanic: War of the Insects), Dr. Forrester's beloved mother vows to carry on the experiments her son failed to accomplish and torments Mike Nelson (writer/actor Michael Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Adventures of Edward the Less, Mr. B's Lost Shorts, Cheap Seats: Without Ron Parker, Max the Hero and Rifftrax), poor schlep temp worker and bane of Forrester's existence in that he has yet to completely crack under the strain of bad movies.  With him his valiant robot sidekicks Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot are forced into the theater to stomach the bile that is The Mole People.   Deep in the Earth resides an ancient civilization under the Mesopotamian mountains, three archaeologists embark on a quest to discover a 5000 settlement of descendants derived from the earliest Sumerian culture (shot primarily on sound stages and the bloody Vasquez Rocks).

Oops, cinched that rope too tight. Well, I didn't want kids anyway.

Careful to not stumble on a Gunsmoke or Star Trek episode, our heroes led by Dr. Roger Bentley (John Agar of Sands of Iwo Jima, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Tarantula, The Brain from Planet Arous and Attack of the Puppet People) Ward Cleaver ..er... I mean Dr. Jud Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont of The Blue Dahlia, Money Madness, The Loretta Young Show, Leave it To Beaver and Night Passage) Dr. Paul Stuart (Phil Chambers of The Gray Ghost, Backlash, Bonanza and Father Murphy) and lastly the load known as Professor LarFarge (Nestor Paiva of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Creature from the Black Lagoonm Tarantula and Can- Can).   Seriously the Professor is about 50 lbs overweight and is forced to climb steep mountain ranges, spelunking in vast caverns all the while not having a heart attack every 12 seconds.

Mike and the bots foray into this little stinkburger with the usual wise cracks, a host segment of what is going on continuity wise in their show and introduces a few new characters.

And now the funny part of the film.   The continuity errors are a plenty from hands swapping from hidden treasure maps, a matte painting spun in the wrong direction and more than a few lighting and sound errors cropped up.  Best flub thus far was a writing error establishing Agar's love interest was named Adel but referred as Adad in the credits.   Our film takes at least a half hour just to get to the rest of the cast on a slow, tedious rope climb where I had to view John Agar, Hugh Beaumont and the load's butt for over 15 minutes.  Yup lot of man ass in the camera and lord it was not good.   The lengthy walking sequences leaves no stone unturned as our crew slogs through the caverns with dirt that looks like a combination of peet and coffee grounds.   Spoiler, our mole people are BARELY IN THE FILM!!!

So vast and majestic!! 

Grab Bag Week Returns!!!

Okay folks bear with me.  My brain is behaving and I came back from a photo shoot last weekend for a Fallout cosplay so I think we can conclude that I am back in action, kids!  The biggest issue I am hurdling over is the stagnancy of my writing.  I have been sticking with particular themes as movie and occasionally TV and less and less video game reviews so I bring back the time honored tradition of the grab bag.

Fool around in the sheriff's car?

With this element in mind, I am able to break the shackles of a safe conformity week and make come across a bit frantic but the research aspect is always fun and I seem to get a lot more feedback from a write up of this nature.  I will be bouncing back to and from TV, Movies and Video Games for the simple factor is changing things up should provide a bit more fun and info for all to read.  I of course, am open to suggestions, comments and complaints about the blog so feel free to shoot me a message.

Care Package!!!

I apologize again for last week but when Cluster migraines come a-calling, I simply cannot ignore it so this is my meager attempt to get back in your good graces, have a few laughs and give you the readers something fun to enjoy.

Here's looking at you, ki... wait that's the other flick.

Clusters Return!

Folks, I am going to be out of commission for the next few days.  My cluster migraines are making a grand return but I do have an appointment on Wednesday to tend to it.  I apologize for the lack of professionalism to soldier through and bring you a zany or informing topic of the week but my eyes hurt just looking at this screen through my prescription sunglasses so you can imagine doing this for the next few days would be...problematic at best.

Again I am sorry for the delay but it is not going to happen thus far and I will keep you all in the loop when I am back on my feet and my head isn't trying to melt my brain.

Happy Easter Folks!!!

Hiya readers!  I just wanted to wish a Happy Easter for Year 2 of RottenReelzReviews.  My girlfriend has been loaded up with Easter gifts and candies but she is unaware of this at the time, so keep it under your hat.

That's no ordinary rabbit!

Your loyalty to my writing convinces me to continue and to stretch myself with not only the blog but further into novels and books.  I finished my first draft book Also Known As.  I am in the process of proofreading and getting it ready for the world to view.  If any of you can think of a decent proofreader rather than just a program, please feel free to drop me a line, comment or just a message.

Thanks again for the faith and love for the blog and its material.  If you have some suggestions on the blog's direction, fire them at me!


With that I say Happy Easter and have a good Sunday!

Their droppings will be enormous!

Indiana Jones Week: The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Day 5 of Indiana Jones Week and yes we still are NOT reviewing Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. YAY!!!!   For reasons following that, how about another Young Indy adventure?  This time around I thought I would bring us stateside with Indy surviving the horrors of High School, being a soda jerk and dating Nancy Stratemeyer (daughter of Edward Stratemeyer, creator of the Bobsy Twins, Tom Swift and Nancy Drew).  Not too interesting, you say?  How about a Spring Break that ends with a Mexican Revolution?   This is The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure.

Father drones on after a few sherries. 

Pancho Villa:  I thought I was riding with men, not killers.  Soldiers and heroes not looking for more spoilers to be spilled.




In February 1916 with Spring Break on the rise, Indy (Sean Patrick Flanery of The Storyteller, Into the Fire, Masters of Horror, The Insatiable, Stephen King's Dead Zone and Dexter) is itching to take his gal Nancy (Robin Lively of Wildcats, Teen Witch, The Karate Kid, Part III, A Deadly Obsession and The Wrong Woman) to the prom.  But Mr. Stratemeyer is busy with the latest Tom Swift and hasn't the time to have the car repaired before the dance.  Thomas Edison's assistant Professor Thompson (Mark L. Taylor of Innerspace, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Arachnophobia) assures Indy he can fix the generator to the car when thugs steals Edison's new battery design plus the prototype.  With the break-in, the theft of both plans and battery swiped and word of German spies; Nancy and Indy try to unravel the mystery.

Gee whiz, bicycles don't get you girls!

The adventure doesn't end there when Indy travels with his father to visit family in Albuquerque New Mexico where Indy goes "camping" with his cousin Frank (Stephen Graf of No Job for a Lady, Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal and 6:41) to Columbus New Mexico for a taste of a good ole brothel.  Unbeknownst to the boys, Pancho Villa (Mike Moroff of La Bamba, Robocop, Cage, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) and his revolutionaries had raided the town for goods and supplies.  Indy chases the bandito Francois (Francesco Quinn of Platoon, Casablanca Express, Murder Blues, Top Dog, Nowhere Land and The Young and the Restless) jumps the guy and the two start grappling.  Indy is taken at gun point thinking this is the end when Villa is less than pleased with this petty behavior, chastises the men and they fall in line.
Stirred by the General's passion and words, Indy joins the revolution and carries on the fight to free Mexico as the US forces seethe their way into Mexico waging war against the revolutionaries at the request of the Mexican government.

A few comments to make about the film now.   During the riding sequence, Flanery got to ride Tornado, the horse Harrison Ford rode in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  This episode is later referenced in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as Indy talks with Mutt.

 Mike Moroff's grandfather actually rode alongside the actual Pancho Villa and his aunt received love letters from the revolutionary himself which Moroff inherited.  A true piece of history in Moroff's eyes.

One more Frito Bandito joke and you are off the picture!

Indiana Jones Week: Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen

Well folks it is Day 4 of Indiana Jones Week and I bet you are all expecting the most talked about, sneered at and ridiculed Indy film: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull... Well... I hate to disappoint you I thought I would tackle a few of my favorite Young Indiana Jones TV films.
Yeah I know it sounds like I am cheating and avoiding reviewing said movie, but what can I say that has not already been covered?   Journey with me during World War I, where Indy takes the false name of Henri Defense and is enlisted in the Belgian Army.   This is Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen.

Sacre bleu!! Who beefed??!!

Indiana Jones: It's from Richthofen
Hobie: How do you know?
Indiana Jones: I had spoils with him.




After his unit almost completely died from Malaria in Uganda Africa, Indy and his men had the Gods smile upon them saved by Dr. Albert Schweitzer.  Giving Indy a completely different perspective of the war, Jones (Sean Patrick Flannery of Kingdom Come, Raging Angels, Powder, Suicide Kings, The Boondock Saints and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father) and his buddy Remy (Ronny Coutteure of Hiver 60, Bachou, Carnaval, Blueberry Hill and Arlette) are whisked to Belgian Intelligence work... for the next few months it is immensely boring.

Take that, Snoopy!

Indy gets the brilliant idea to fake papers to get them into the thick of the war with French Intelligence.  As luck would have it, both men are accepted.  Remy is owner of a cafe allowing for contact information to gather to and fro while Indy joins reconnaissance photography, a position with a fairly high death toll.   While taking pictures he and his pilot are shot down by German flying ace Baron Von Richthofen (Marc Warren of Agatha Christie's Marple, Green Street Hooligans, Land of the Blind, Doctor Who, Hogfather and Dracula) The Red Baron! Get Snoopy!  Has Indy's luck ran completely out and will he be tortured by the Kaiser??   Will he be forced to eat Blood sausage and everything will be boiled??!!!

I had just a few comments to make on this film at this time.   As with many of the Lucas and Speilberg projects the famous Foley sound effect the Wilhelm Scream (originated stock sound from Sheb Wooley for Distant Drums)  at least 3 different variants of it was used in this picture.  This was Jon Pertwee's last picture done before his untimely demise in 1996 as a German general for the unveiling of the Zeppelin.   Sean Patrick Flannery is found for saying his time as Indy was unusual.  He auditioned, got called back for another read and then proceeded to not go home for 6 years.

Ve have vays of making you reverse ze polarity of ze neutron flow!

Indiana Jones Week: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Howdy all and greetings to Day 3 of Indiana Jones Week.  Today we tackle what has been exclaimed as the best of the series and so on.  With Spielberg at the director's chair again we will see what this archaeologist got mixed up in this time.  You can bet it involves Nazis, a femme fatale and maybe a holy relic.  He's got a thing for history as you may have noticed.  This is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

When I grow up I am gonna pummel guys in a fedora hat.

Elsa: What's this?
Indiana Jones: Spoiler of the Covenant.
Elsa: Are you sure?
Indiana Jones: Pretty sure.



Our story opens with a flashback in 1912 of 13 to maybe 14 year old Indiana Jones (River Phoenix of Explorers, Stand by Me, The Mosquito Coast and Sneakers) out in Utah on a boy scout outing.  He finds a few men digging in a cave that found the gold cross of Coronado (the Spanish Conquistador that was reputed to found the mythic Seven Cities of Gold), Indy steals it from the tomb raiders in order to donate it to a museum.   The men give chase, Indy gets punched and gives punches, meets up with the Sheriff who demands that Indy turns the cross over to rightful owner.  One of the men tells Indy he doesn't have to lump it and maybe there will be a next time then he plops a fedora on Indy's head.

Cut to 1938 as Indy is getting punched for stealing the same cross again, the owner is most annoyed and tries to have him pitched overboard in the sea but the waves cause some serious chop, giving Indy a fighting chance.  Pummeling the bad guys, stealing the cross back and the boat blew up, Jones makes his way back to Marshall College, to tell and show off the cross to Marcus Brody.  

So you drag all men down to see coffins or am I the first?

Later that day getting mail from Venice, Indy attends an prestigious party with a wealthy collector Walter Donovan (Julian Glover of The Fourth Protocol, Cry Freedom, Hearts of Fire, The House of Angelo and Game of Thrones) who asks Jones to assist them in a new expedition to finding the Holy Grail.  The Cup of Christ that caused the Crusades.  Jones tells Donovan that his father Professor Henry Jones (Sean Connery of Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, The Anderson Tapes, Highlander, The Rock and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) is the foremost expert on Christian theology and he is Donovan's man.  Donovan states they did contract Professor Jones and have not heard from him for some time.
 Brody and Indy check Henry's home to find the place torn apart looking at mail.  Indy looks at the small parcel in his pocket to discover it is his father's Grail diary.  40 years of research has lead this man to uncovering the location of the Grail.   As Brody and Jones head to Venice it is all too painfully obvious that the Nazis are searching for the Grail on behalf of Hitler.  Can Indy find his father and the Grail before the Nazis plunge the known world into darkness?

And now some fun facts and trivia about the flick.  This is Spielberg's favorite of the three Indy movies.  Writer Tom Stoppard (Brazil, Empire in the Sun, Shakespeare in Love and Anna Karenina) was paid $120,000 for the dialogue between Henry and Indy on the Zeppelin, in the castle and on the road.  His job was to make it emotional but no sentiment, a disconnection between father and son but at the same time the conversation should have a humorous attachment to it.  Based on its success, Stoppard was paid an additional $1 million.
After working with him on The Mosquito Coast, Ford nominated River Phoenix for the role of Young Indy based on his professionalism, preparation and honing of the craft.
Character actor/stuntman Pat Roach has been in three Indy movies as the German Mechanic Indy fights in Raiders of the Lost Ark, The behemoth Thuggee in the Temple of Doom and finally a member of the Gestapo in the Last Crusade.  At 6'5", shoulders as wide as a doorway and barrel chested, he is quite difficult to miss.   Also tangled with Connery in Never Say Never Again.

Rameirez??!!  But you died in 1541!

Indiana Jones Week: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Welcome back readers to Day 2 of Indiana Jones Week and we will catch up with Dr. Jones in just a moment.  There are many how feel this next installment is goofy, racist and in general a waste of cinema.  Point of fact it is fairly racist, there are some quite silly moments but all in all, it is not a bad film.  Zombie Lake was a bad film.  With this in mind there are a few aspects to this movie that I found...distasteful but we shall soldier on.  This is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

DOWN IN FRONT, LADY!!!

Indiana Jones: Mola Ram! Prepare to meet Spoiler... in Hell!






Our story takes place a year before Raiders in 1935.  Why is that?  No clue at all but we are in Shanghai listening to a rendition of Cole Porter's Anything Goes on an elaborate sound stage and after witnessing its scope and depth it magically shrinks down to a center stage in a small night club.  PHYSICS!!!!   So Dr. Jones is at a table with Lao Che (Roy Chiao of Game of Death II, The Protector, Heart of a Dragon, Bloodsport and Dragons Forever) a mobster of ill repute wanting the remains of the Emperor Nurhachi when Lo Che pulls a double cross on Indy getting him to drink a poison, Indy takes Lao Che's singer/girlfriend Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw of Private Affairs, Internal Affairs, Black Rain, Love at Large, Space Camp and Due East) hostage and demands the antidote.

A big fight ensues, guns blazing, people panicking and Indy escapes with Willie out a window and they whisk themselves into a car chase gun battle with a 12 year old boy at the wheel, name of Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan of The Goonies, Together We Stand, Breathing Fire, Head of the Class and Encino Man).  Boarding a cargo plane out of Shanghai our trio have been left in a plane with no more fuel and it barreling down at the Himalayan Mountains.   Diving out of the plane in an inflatable raft clearly some 500 feet above, they all manage to stay in the boat, only to dive over a 600 foot high cliff, splash down some rapids and no one is worse for wear.  Screw you Physics!!!

Hi, we're collecting for the Red Cross.

Sloshing to shore in a small Indian Village, the local holy man explains to Indy that raiders from the long abandoned Pankot Palace has been stealing their children and claimed their sacred Sivalinga stone (stone given to by Shiva as example of the universe and comprised of diamond), the villagers believe to ward off evil and cease droughts.

Indy goes to investigate the palace, having Short Round and Willie tag along; which can only lead to more fight sequences, chases, gun battles and some sword choreographing.  Indy must battle an ancient and evil cult in order to save those enslaved to the cult's will.

Here are some facts about the film now.  This film was made a prequel so Nazis were not the villain every time around.   Kate Capshaw was cast as Indy's love interest because Lucas felt Indy needed a different  girl every film.  Health guru and fitness expert Jake Steinfeld ran Ford through a strict dietary and physical exercise program for him to bulk up for the role.  The irony is Ford had herniated his back during the fight scene with the Thuggee assassin in the bedroom, production was shut down until his operation was a success and a lot of the later fight scenes were handled by stuntman Vic Armstrong.

To give the Kali worshipers a greater terrifying presence, the writers added Aztec human sacrifice, European devil worship and Satanic themes to the film to pep it up.  Even with its level of blood, death scenes and gory effects this somehow stayed at a PG rating rather than a R.

North India refused to let Spielberg film in their region because they felt the script was racist and offensive,  the government demanded a rewrite and that they would oversee all changes.  Spielberg moved the production to Sri Lanka and used an fair amount of matte paintings and 1/16 scale models to create the mountain range.

The club in Shanghai was called Club Obi Wan.  Yes Lucas and Spielberg are nerds.

The Tropicana is proud to present: Legions of Hell!!!

Indiana Jones Week: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Well greetings one and all to Day 1 of Indiana Jones Week.   Let's kick this week into high gear start it off right with the first encounter of our archeologist right.  We will see the cut of his jib as he must race across the world in order to defeat the Nazi party to one of the most revered and holy of relics.  The Ark of the Covenant.  This is Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Look fanboy, I don't care who shot first. It was 37 years ago!

Indiana Jones:  I hate spoilers Jock! I HATE 'EM!







The year is 1936 and Professor Jones is on location to an ancient temple to acquire a golden idol in Peru.  With his two less than trustworthy guides, Indy (Harrison Ford of American Graffiti, Star Wars, Force 10 to Navarone, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Witness, Frantic, Regarding Henry and Patriot Games) manages to transverse through an insane amount of traps, snares, spikes and even a shaped boulder with the prize only to have it taken from him by a rival competition name of Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman of Baa Baa Black Sheep, Whose Child Am I?, The Dogs of War, Falcon Crest and Without a Clue) surrounding him with the indigenous and superstitious tribe of Hovito.   Giving him an inch, Indy narrowly escapes with his life and flies back to the states to teach at Marshall College.

Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world...sorry that's Bogie's line.

The head of the museum, Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot of Robin and Marian, To the Devil a Daughter, Voyage of the Damned, Trading Places, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Bourne Identity TV Movie) tells him Army Intelligence needs to speak to him.  They reveal that Hitler is obsessed with the occult and is searching  for Indy's former teacher Abner Ravenwood,  the expert on the Egyptian city of Tanis and he has the headpiece of Ra.  Jones immediately knows that the Nazis are looking for the Ark of the Covenant, the golden refuge that holds the Ten Commandments.  Indy gets travel expenses in order to find Abner's daughter and Indy's former lover Marian (Karen Allen of Animal House, Cruising, Shoot the Moon, Starman and Scrooged) in Nepal of all places, to persuade her to sell the headpiece to him, opening old wounds and in general making the visit pleasant.

A run-in with some Nazis tells Indy he needs to hustle or the game is already lost and darkness would rain on humanity.  In Cairo both Marian and Indy are working to find the Ark quickly but time is running short

Just a few tidbits about the film now.  The scene where Indy dispatches the German soldiers, that whole truck chase took eight weeks to film due to all the stunts involved.  Harrison Ford apparently bruised some ribs in the dragging scene but the film was shot at 20 frames a second rather than the traditional 24 frames.  Under cranking the camera gives the illusion vehicles travelling faster than they are to cut down on risks to the stuntmen and actors.  Indy never seems to lose his fedora as a nod to the heroes of the classic serials in the 1940's and this becomes a running gag throughout the sequels.  the punch Foley sound effect was created by smacking a pile of leather jackets with a ball bat.  I thought they went more traditional and hit the ball bat against a punching bag

Ah! The scruffy devil burns our city!! Run!

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Indiana Jones Week!

Afternoon/evening fans of mine and welcome to the beginning of the new week.  This week I have been putting off for more than a few months now, I felt it was about time that I pay a bit of respect to a childhood hero of mine that was a blatant rip off of Alan Quartermain and Julian Sorel with a dash of Philip Marlowe.  I speak of none other than the archaeologist, Professor Indiana Jones.  That's right kiddies, this week is devoted to explosions, faces melting, Wilhelm screams and one man bucking the odds and still coming out on top of it all.

Yeah I need a shave, so what?

This fellow has fallen under hero/anti-hero so many times in the eyes of different gatherings of people.  Some call him a tomb robber, grave digger and despoiler of the dead.  Others call him a brilliant scientist.  From the humble beginnings of Lucas and Spielberg, this iconic character has had books, video games on various platforms, action figures, lunch boxes, Halloween costumes for both children and adults and even a bobble head.  Harrison Ford may actually receive more mail about this character than any other including Han Solo of Star Wars, so yeah Indy is kind of a big deal.   You have all week to figure that out of course so enjoy the write-ups, feel free to drop me a line or comment on either the fb page rottenreelz or directly on the blog.

Mickey Rooney Week: Girl Crazy

Welcome back kiddies to Day 4 of Mickey Rooney Week.  As you already know. Mr. Rooney could do physical comedy, deep seeded drama and had a rather impressive pace of dialogue but, did you know he could sing and dance too?  NOoOoOOo???   Well, shame on the load of you.  Ahem, this particular flick is a musical that showcases both Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland's comedy, song and dance numbers featured by none other than Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.  This is Girl Crazy.

HelloooOoOoO Debutante!!

Ginger Gray: Were you always out of your spoiler?
Danny Churchill, Jr. : No, no just lately.





Our story begins with disappointed father Danny Churchill, Sr. (Henry O' Neill of The Life of Emile Zola, Jezebel, Santa Fe Train and Anchors Aweigh) reading the latest headlines about his scandalous playboy son Danny Churchill, Jr. (Mickey Rooney of Mickey's Big Broadcast, The Big Chance, Broadway to Hollywood, Beloved, I Like It That Way, Hide-Out and Reckless) gadding it up on Broadway and how it makes him look.  With the lad's head filled with fun and girls, Senior decides to ship Danny off to a college away from the hustle and bustle distractions of New York and to a remote mining town in the desert called Cody. This way there are no girls to distract him and he can knuckle down on his studies.  Careful Dad, he could be a liberal arts major just to spite you.

Silly hobo!  Never get in front of Judy's ride!

His bus drops him out in the desert and Danny is forced to walk no less than 8 miles to his impeding doom and/or college.  He bumps into a dish with car trouble by the name of Ginger (Judy Garland of Everybody Sing, The Wizard of Oz, Babes in Arms, Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, Strike Up the Band, Meet Me in St. Louis and A Star is Born) who is aware of Danny's reputation via newspaper and brushes him off after he tends to her engine.  Danny thoroughly exhausted makes his way to the dorm and meets his roommate Bud (Gil Stratton of Dangerous Years, Tuscon, Hot Rod, Army Bound, Waldo, Stalag 17 and Dismembered) who explains the rigorous scholastic Danny is to endure.

After some horseback riding all day to a wilderness camp, Danny is probably cursing God, his father and all that is mouth breathers when he runs into a former NYC hack driver Rags (Rags Ragland of Born to Sing, Sunday Punch, Whistling in Dixie, 3 Men in White and Meet the People) who tries to assist our poor tenderfoot East Coaster.

Tempted to leave, Danny preps to go home when he realizes that Ginger is the girl to end all girls.  The one if you will and decides he will buckle down, pass his classes and woo this dame with all his might can muster.   Ginger seemingly impressed will see if Danny can be true to his boasts and gives him the benefit of the doubt.

I had just a bit of trivia about the flick now.  Being this is an MGM musical, composer  George Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and Porgy and Bess) wrote I Got Rhythm for the play Crazy For You which has had covers by Ethel Waters, Charlie Parker's saxophone and even Ella Fitzgerald's pipes has made its way into cinema and the small screen for decades to come.
The play Girl Crazy was performed by Ginger Rogers and Allen Kearns and included Ethel Merman singing "I Got Rhythm" as her very first Broadway production.

Little lady, my dog seems to have wandered to that cheap hotel across the way. Accompany me?

Mickey Rooney Week: Quicksand

Hey there all and greetings to Day 3 of Mickey Rooney Week.  Y'know for a change I think we will review a Mickey Rooney movie where he has lead role and would be his first time challenging his goody two shoes persona he had been known for.   Hows-about a story where a lad gets in over his head with debt, criminals and the law and all for a shallow girl?   Sounds like quite the caper I agree, but I think I can sweeten the pot with a Peter Lorre sighting as well.  Did I mention it is film noir?   This is Quicksand.

Jeepers, boobies!

Daniel 'Dan' Brady: I feel like I'm bein' shoved into a spoiler, and if I don't get out soon, it'll be too late. Maybe it's too late already!



How much trouble can one guy get into? Oh brother you got no clue at all.    A struggling auto mechanic Dan Brady (Mickey Rooney of The Black Stallion, Donovan's Kid, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Arabian Adventure and One of the Boys) just bragged to his co-worker about dropping his squeaky clean girlfriend as he goes ga ga for an obvious femme fatale Vera Novak (Jeanne Cagney of Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Time of Your Life, Don't Bother to Knock,  A Lion Is in the Streets and Town Tamer) who wants to be adored and fawned after.  Dan strapped for cash boosts 20 clams from the till because he can just get the money back from his buddy who he hasn't ran into yet.

Whudda mean no Laser Tag??!!! Gyp!

That night on the Santa Monica pier Vera and Dan have a swell time in spite of her old boss of the penny arcade Nick (Peter Lorre of M, The Maltese Falcon, My Favorite Brunette and Arsenic and Old Lace) but sorry fellas no action shown in this 50's film so fade to black.   Dan never runs into Chuck to get his funds and finds out the shop's book keeper arrived two days earlier than expected so Dan hatches a brillant scheme that he will buy an expensive watch and pawn it for the money he could get from it then sneaks the scratch into the till.  That is a minor felony but hey no worries, he is bound to get into crazier circumstances.

 A day later Dan forgot he put the auto shop down as his work address and an investigator for the store tells Dan he has 24 hours to pay the money to avoid grand larceny charges.  Dan also seem to space the concept of serial numbers.    On a binder at the local bar, Dan spots the local bingo caller Shorty, clearly tanked and a wallet full of cash.   Dan gets Shorty (heh) and swipes the cash.  He runs into Vera and Nick squabbling and Dan gives him a licking but leaves his handkerchief behind.  The same one he used in the robbery.
Nick meets with Dan about the robbery and demands a car for himself or this goes to the cops, see?  Without no choice in sight, Dan swipes a car off the lot only to be spotted by his sleazebag boss who in turn blackmails the lad for the marked up price of the car or this goes to the cops.   Anyone seeing a pattern with the people Dan interacts with?

I had just a few comments about the film.  This role was meat and potatoes for Rooney allowing him to step out of the goody goody image and gives an amazing performance.  Sadly the ladies Cagney and Barbara Bates don't have anything new to the table and didn't grant the same moral quagmire that Rooney and Lorre's executions on screen.  The dolls of the flick got the typical good girl and bad girl bird cage with no wiggle room in between.   I have to say while there was a fair amount of product placement in the film, for the most part it was low key and most of this film was shot on Santa Monica with almost all exterior scenes on the old pier.  Low cost, great pace and spectacular showmanship is all these ingredients found in Quicksand.  Well at least the film that is.

Don't forget tomorrow, yer givin' me a sponge bath.

Mickey Rooney Week: Captain Courageous

Hiya kids and welcome back for Day 2 of Mickey Rooney Week.  I thought I would bring us back a bit yet again.  Very few actors have a career spanning more than 7 decades worth.  From child star of the silent films to voice work for The Fox and the Hound, Rooney has been in this racket for more years than few could survive.  How about a sea faring adventure?  Let's take a spoiled near-do-well and see if he can stay afloat. from the pages of acclaimed novelist Ruyard Kipling (The Jungle Book, The Man Who Would Be King, Baa Baa Black Shep and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi) This is Captain Courageous.

The good news boy, is we aren't cannibals.

Manuel Fidello: Wake up, Little Spoiler. Hey, wake up, wake up!  Somebody think you dead, they have celebrations.



This is the story of Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew of Anna Karenina, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Lloyd's of London and The Town Went Wild), a spoiled brat that only wants his absent father's attention and approval so clearly one should misbehave and get thrown out of private boarding school.  Yeah that trick always works.  Burton Cheyne(Melvyn Douglas of The Vampire Bat, Woman in the Dark, Ninotchka, This Thing Called Love, Hud, Being There and The Changeling) takes the lad on one of his business trips via steam ship.   In a fit of arrogance and misbehavior, Harvey falls overboard in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Saved and brought aboard the fishing vessel "We're Here" by Portuguese fisherman Manuel Fidello (Spencer Tracy of Dante's Inferno, Adam's Rib,  Judgment at Nuremberg, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)  and takes him before Captain Disko (Lionel Barrymore of Brooding Eyes, The Temptress, Body and Soul, The Thirteenth Hour, You Can't Take It with You and Key Largo) who Harvey fails to convince has wealth and needs to get back to land.  Disko offers him a job to earn his wages back to mainland in 3 months.  Harvey quickly learns that his whining, conniving and temper tantrums will not get him his way and sets out to work for a living.

Not sure I like the title "Salty Dog".

He finds mentor ship in Manuel and a father figure that he never saw in his own father. Thankfully the Captain's son, Dan (Mickey Rooney of Killing Midnight, Boys Will Be Boys, The First of May, Chicken Soup for the Soul and Phantom of the Megaplex) is roughly his age and the two do have fun after work.
Will Harvey ever find his way back to his father and if so, would that life mean anything to him after the sweating and toiling of his new one?

Directed by Victor Fleming (Reckless, Test Pilot, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde and Joan of Arc) this story does a bit of is now the cliche' backdrop at sea, rocking boat via rear projection shots and the Schufftan process (lens shot through plate glass at a 45 degree angle to provide depth) with floor and seat movement followed up with matte paintings of the area the imagination is captured well enough that the cast is at high sea.

You see son, big money is in oil, steel and land.  Look at these figures.

Mickey Rooney Week : A Midsummer Night's Dream

Hello there readers and welcome to Day 1 of Mickey Rooney Week.  Due to some oral surgery of which I shan't get into on I was delayed yesterday but today it is all steam ahead.  I thought we would tackle something we could all be fascinated with.  William Shakespeare and his amazing plays.  They have been beloved down the centuries from live performances to radio plays and even the silver screen.  This time is no exception as we will be looking at one of the earliest cinema productions.  This is A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Yes?! I am wooing over here!

Puck: Lord, what spoilers these mortals be!








Left in the very capable hands of directors Max Reinhardt (Die Insel der Seligen, A Venetian Night) and William Dieterle (The Life of Emile Zola, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Devil and Daniel Webster and Portrait of Jennie) our two maestros gently bring us to the events of star crossed lovers and forbidden temptations worthy of Shakespeare's tale of unrequited love in all its variants.  Young Hermia (Olivia de Havilland of The Adventures of Robin Hood, Gone with the Wind, The Heiress, The Snake Pit, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte and Airport '77) is head over heels for Lysander (Dick Powell of Hollywood Hotel, Going Places, Christmas in July, In the Navy, Murder, My Sweet, Pitfall and Right Cross) who in turn loves Hermia but her father Egeus forbids that union and has chosen her another suitor Demetrius (Ross Alexander of Captain Blood, Here Comes Carter, Flirtation Walk and Ready, Willing and Able).  When she refuses, Egeus points to the law stating a daughter will  adhere to her father's demands or be put to death.  And you thought you had a strict upbringing.  Duke Theseus of Athens offers Hermia another choice of which she will live a life of celibacy as a nun to the goddess Diana.  

MY PRECIOUS!!!!

Meanwhile the Duke is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta (Verree Teasdale of The Firebird, The Milky Way, 5th Ave Girl, I Take This Woman, Turnabout and Come Live with Me) so he is swamped enough as it is when the fairy court makes an appearance.  Lord Oberon (Victor Jory of Cat-Women of the Moon, Gone with the Wind, Manhunt, The Miracle Worker and Papillon) and Queen Titania (Anita Louise of The Story of Louis Pasteur, Marie Antoinette, The Little Princess,  Retreat, Hell!, My Friend Flicka and Ethel Barrymore Theater) are at odds with one another and seek to put each other in one's place with love potions and wicked deeds and poor Puck (Mickey Rooney of National Velvet, Pinocchio, Baby Face Nelson, The Last Mile, The Big Operator, Requiem for a Heavyweight and Pete's Dragon) is stuck in the middle of this insanity just following orders.  Pulling pranks on Bottom (James Cagney of Angels with Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Blood on the Sun, White Heat, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye and These Wilder Years) not withstanding of course.

Just a few notes on the film itself at this time.  Shot on 35 mm Spherical and recorded in Mono, this film's musical score hails from composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Captain Blood,  The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, Between Two Worlds and Of Human Bondage) which truly breathes life into this production and sets the tone every time.   The dance choreography alone is astounding and Mickey took it seriously at age 15, providing an eternal child beholden to his king and queen.

NO, I AM NOT ANDY DICK!!!