1950s Moon Movies: Destination Moon

At the suggestion of my lady fair, I am tackling some 1950s Moon Movies. Yeah I know it is out of my element without mass levels of jiggly girls, nudity and plot holes the size of Kansas but it should be fun. With the space race in full swing 11 years after this film, building the necessary foundation of space exploration, a small group of scientists have to convince US companies to foot the bill when the government says it's too much. This is Destination Moon.

Smoooth Criminal!!!  Ow!

With Dr. Charles Cargraves (Warner Anderson of The Lineup, The Caine Mutiny, Peyton Place and The Rockford Files) and retired General Thayer (Tom Powers of Double Indemnity, Angel and the Badman, Julius Caesar, Double Jeopardy and The Go-Getter) desperate to be the first men to make it to the moon, their prototype satellite rocket fails on the ground. The government isn't likely to keep backing financially for more failures in their eyes so the fellas must make their way to the private sector. Aviation constructor and CEO Jim Barnes (John Archer of White Heat, Destination Moon, The Big Trees, Blue Hawaii and The Little Sister) might just be what the guys were looking for.

Establishing the heat from McCarthy spotting reds in every direction to the threat of the USSR gaining an orbital death platform, the general is convinced they simply must gather nothing but the best engineers, scientists and aviators and try again. It is imperative. Jim pushes the fellow captains of industry have to be sold on a Woody Woodpecker cartoon explaining the fundamentals of space travel. Poppycock! The stuff of fantasy! Is it really so impossible that it could not be done?

Dr. Cargraves is home with the wife Emily (Erin O' Brien-Moore of Little Men, Two in the Dark, Ring Around the Moon, The Plough and the Stars, Black Legion, Green Light and The Family Secret) has been given the call that private enterprise is on board, creating airlocks that are pressurized, blue prints created for the original rocket basis for the Apollo, using the Air Force poopie suits (An Air Force survival suit allowing body heat to be contained in the even of an emergency bailout over waters) or immersion suits.

Swingin' mad pad you got here, Daddy-O

Just want to take this time to tell you what impressed me with this movie. The accurate portrayal of weightlessness before the Apollo missions. The usage of jet packs with oxygen tanks maneuvering the astronauts in space and them surviving with bananas and coffee prior to the tang and baby food. All these concepts were based on simple theoretical physics of the time and it was frickin' awesome how true to life they were.

A gross miscalculation means not enough fuel to turn it and burn it back to Earth. Stripping non-essential parts and lighting the load still leaves them a hundred pounds too heavy. One of the four will have to stay behind. Who will it be?

Remember that none of this was factual as this is a decade before anyone made it into space. Admittedly the light-bulbs via starfield were a bit bright but dammit it worked for Roddenberry 14 years later so quit grumping. Also the fact of having a four man flight crew, meaning 4 times the possibility of getting home is no joke. Accidents could happen and no we did not watch a few minutes of them peeing into a hose. That is all Tom Hanks.

Stop farting up there!  God, it's like a stinky jungle.

Marvel's Iron Man: The Animated Series

Howdydoodleedoo!!! And for those of you that got that reference, yer aces, baby. With that in mind, hello and welcome back to Rotten Reelz Reviews. I am plucking series, movies and even games at random this week so it should be fun for all to read... but it is less than what you were hoping for, again rottenreelzreviews@gmail.com and of course I can be reached at the Facebook page as well at https://www.facebook.com/RottenReelzReviews/ so please reach out, make a suggestion or even a comment on the general flow of the reviews. Well this time around we are back to the land of the rising sun for another Marvel anime. Yup when you get contracted to make Marvel characters look awesome, you better bring your "A" game and that is exactly what Madhouse Productions (Hunter x Hunter, Death Paradise, "My Love Story", Overlord and Prince of Stride) brought and did. So how do you represent an egotistical billionaire playboy with about a million dollars of tech in his battle armor? With style of course. This is Iron Man: Anime.

Oh Stark, beside yourself again?

No stranger to acting or voice acting, Adrian Pasdar (Judging Amy, Desperate Housewives, Heroes, The Lying Game, Burn Notice, Avengers Assemble and Agents of SHIELD) has been tasked to put a voice to the brilliant yet reckless avenger Iron Man as he is in Japan bringing an arc reactor to power the nation. The concept to world peace it to provide clean and efficient energy without relying heavily on fossil fuels. Guess he better get started on arc reactors in cars, trucks and bikes as well. Well demonstrating his latest armor for Japan, Tony announces he will be stepping down as Iron Man and devoting his time to research...so no more Avengers picnics? Say it ain't so, Tony!

Damn import jobs never hold up.

But the demonstration goes a bit wonky which Tony took as a glitch in the new suit so off to run diagnostics and find out what all the hubbub is bub, when the armor with pilot takes off on its own, blasting any obstacle in its way. Stark must don his armor once more and find out what is going on. A young reporter Nanami (Eden Riegel of Prince of Egypt, American Pie, Young and the Restless and All My Children) has to chase Stark down for an interview and doesn't really think much of him. As she has adventures and near misses with death around him, she sees there is actually depth to Stark and his agendas. Circulated rumors about Stark bringing weapons construction follow adamantly and Stark attempts to defuse this with charm and grace... well as graceful as Stark can be. Is someone out to smear his company's name? Are there really WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) being smuggled into Japan?

As I mentioned in the Blade Anime review, this process was a 12 episode story arc with some fair and clever conclusion. It's actual sad that there was not a renewal of contract because the art work is very impressive, the CG spliced with the hand drawn looks natural together and both Japanese and English voice cast bust their collective humps to bring life into the characters. It makes total sense to use existing storylines from the source material as Stark did set up a branch in Japan in the comics.

Award-winning graphic novelist Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Fell, Minstry of Space, RED and Planetary) wrote outlines for each of the 12 episodes and given his mind, you already know it to be odd, clever and entertaining. Hey if you saw the flick RED, you are in good hands here.

Yeah, I know Thor.  Man why does everyone ask me that?

Serial Week

Hey folks. Sorry for starting the week on a Tuesday but apparently it was Migraine Monday. Yeah really hope that is not going to be a thing but weather patterns are screwy that way. Well last week got to glimpse some interesting Free-to-Play games on Steam which a handful of them were actually fun... well a few... okay I really only enjoyed one. This time around I thought I would give acknowledgement to a time honored concept that hailed back when going to the movies meant spending a dime and popcorn was also cheap as could be.

Now put on your mittens, Robin. You have to shovel the walk.

During the 1930s and the 1940s short cartoons or even programming of live-action capers and thrillers would shown before the feature length movie. These shows would have a continuing plot that furthers the story from anything from undersea voyages, cowboys and even a few comic book heroes.

These short films were called serials. As one chapter of thrills and spills ended, next week a new one would happen. Giving the term cliffhanger (a plot device in fiction where a main character is in a difficult scenario or confronted with shocking news that will change their life forever) originated in Movie and Radio bringing as much as excitement to their customers and listeners at home and always ending with To Be Continued or The End? The following serial would most commonly begin with a recap of the events in the previous episode to lend it weight to the audience or justify the outcome.

Created by 5 major studios in competition with one another, each trying to bring their own spin of things and persons, Columbia Pictures brought you such titles as: (The Secret of Treasure Island, The Spider's Web, Flying G-Men and Mandrake the Magician) while Universal Pictures had (The Spell of the Circus, The Airmail Mystery, The Lost Special and Clancy of the Mounted) Mascot Pictures and Pathe Exchange were fading out due to the introduction to the age of sound, Pathe stopped production in the latter 20s while Mascot merged with the most known picture racket of the serials Republic Pictures producing shows like : (Dick Tracy, Zorro Rides Again, The Lone Ranger, Captain America and Batman)

So this week we take a look at some of these serials that brought joy, terror and a bit of exhilaration to audiences during the Depression and WWII, because they sure needed it.

We might have some laughs, some elation and possibly be diverted to joy. Let's find out, shall we?

Hello police?  Yeah my sidekick took my bike and shield again.

Rotten Ramblin' On 4! We almost sound professional!

Shut Up Wesley was put on hold today for a brand new Rotten Ramblin' On podcast # 4.   Our valiant heroes tackle the standing of sci-fi games of both video games and this archaic concept known as tabletop games! Once again, this is NSFW and Adult language.

This armor chafes a bit.

https://soundcloud.com/jake-peck-2/rotten-ramblin-on-4


Again I do apologize as I am going to get indigogo up and running again for some fundage to properly host the podcast and maybe even give it a snappy intro music!!!

Yeah doll, the orcs smell like drek but they soak up bullets, see?

Sir Christopher Lee Week

Hello folks. As many of you are aware, the last of the Hammer Film men, Sir Christopher Lee is no longer among us. From his humble days as an office clear in shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in Royal Air Force during World War II. Lee began training as an actor receiving an assortment of bit parts in Corridor of Mirrors in 1948 and Laurence Olivier's Hamlet in which he starred along side his future friend and soon-to-be partner in Hammer Films Peter Cushing. Both of them also appeared in Moulin Rogue.

Keith Richards...today.

With parts in TV and Film, Lee's greatest challenge was being much taller than most of the leading men in the business and looking too "foreign". Yeah apparently predominant cheekbones and standing 6 foot 5 can make for a few hurdles. His breakaway role playing the monster in The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957.

Hammer Films Productions allowed to experience success with Peter Cushing, commonly Cushing as the protagonist to Lee's villain. Dracula is one of the roles commonly associated with Lee as he made sequels of 7 appearances throughout the Hammer Films and technically 8 in the Jesus Franco film Count Dracula, that time around the story is an older man growing young be feasting on the blood of young maidens.

Whether he was in space, in a fantasy realm, dealing with werewolves or gremlins you have seen Christopher Lee for generations. Playing pivotal roles to the like of Dracula, Scaramonga of The Man with The Golden Gun,, Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels and Saurman the White in Lord of the Rings. Either the hero, mentor or villain, Lee managed to eke out a career spanning no less than 60 years. Often the monster but ever the gentleman as many co-stars verify.

So this week we tip our hat to a loss to the cinema, TV and the world as the Prince of Darkness is no more.

Am I menacing??

Director Week: Stanley Kubrick- 2001: A Space Odyssey

A hearty greetings for Day 4 of Director Week starring Stanley Kubrick. Well we have had some Film Noir, some satire and even a risque tale of tawdry. Clearly it is time for some science fiction and no greater in Kubrick's collection that the combined efforts of Kubrick's story telling and acclaimed Science Fiction author Arthur C. Clarke (Against the Fall of Night, The Sands of Mars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010 and The Hammer of the God) writing styles. Working in junction with one another after being inspired by Clarke's "The Sentinel" short story, both men worked on the screenplay and Clarke later adapted it into his novel. This is 2001: A Space Odyssey.

TAKE UP THE WHOLE OF SPACE, WHY DON'T YA??!!!

The African desert, a gathering of early hominids (Australopithecus, an early primate) are roused and driven from their water hole by another tribe. The next morning a huge, black monolith appears before them. A man-ape discovers to use a bone as both a tool and weapon. Armed with this knowledge (and several bones) they proceed back to the water hole and bump off the leader of the other tribe, thus reclaiming it for themselves. That doesn't sound very Sci-fi, Jake. Hold on, it get better.

Millions of years later a Pan Am (hey, this film was made in 1968) space plane carrying Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester of Gorgo, Devil Doll. Devils of Darkness and Quincy M.E.) who explains to the US lunar outpost that Floyd and a team of scientists have discovered an artifact dating back as far as four million years ago. Floyd and company jet over in a Moonbus to the artifact to discover it is a monolith based on the previous one in Africa. 18 months later the spacecraft Discovery One is off to Jupiter. Aboard this massive ship is Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea of Madame X, The Fox, Devil in the Brain, The Starlost. Black Christmas and 2010) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood of Splendor in the Grass, They Came to Rob Las Vegas, Star Trek, Barnaby Jones and Night of the Scarecrow). Both men are scientists as well as pilots navigating to the regions of space with three colleagues in cryogenic sleep chambers. The better portion of operations is handled by the ship's computer the HAL 9000.

Hey Walt, this candy bar's got knowledge!

HAL reports a failure of an antenna control device and the guys head outside to check it out when they cannot find anything wrong with it, HAL insists it be re-attached so he can assess what is the error. Contacting Mission control, HAL's twin computer finds nothing wrong with the component either but HAL continually believes human error has occurred. HAL's behavior is steadily more erratic, Bowman and Poole need to hatch a plan on what to do. How can they disable an AI that runs the better functions of the ship? Would a machine using cold logic simply do away with them to save the mission?

And now some fun facts on the flick. The original idea for the alien monolith was to be a huge device with a translucent screen showing the apes how to use tools and weapons but Arthur C. Clarke dismissed the idea thinking it too naive' and better it seem as the ideas were transmitted electronically to the lobes. Also HAL was slated to be a mobile robot but Clarke thought it would look primitive in decades to come so better the massive computer with the all seeing red eye.

US Air Force Mission Controller Frank Miller was hired to give the most authentic depiction the producers could find. Unfortunately he was nervous to read his part and ended up tapping his foot through recording sessions and the tapping was recorded as well. Kubrick finally ended up folding a large towel and placing it under Miller's feet and said tap to your heart's content now.

Hurry up with docking procedures... I gotta pee.

Misleading Titles Week: Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg

We are back with Day 3 of Misleading Titles Week and boy this one was a doozy. Initially the story goes this film was made after a failed attempt at a Spider-Man movie and then a continuation of Golan-Globus' Masters of the Universe. The production company of Golan-Globus (New Year's Evil, Death Wish II, Missing in Action, Lifeforce, King Solomon's Mines, Under Cover and Speedway Junky) bringing us a misleading title of Masters of the Universe 2. If you have satelite or digital cable and this particular movie comes on the working title or USA TV title if you will. This is Cyborg a.k.a. Slinger a.k.a. Masters of the Universe 2 a.k.a. Cyborg 009 and Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg.

I can take Sly!  

Our director Albert Pyun (The Sword and the Sorcerer, Alien from L.A., Journey to the Center of the Earth, Captain America [1991 version], Nemesis, Brain Smasher... A Love Story, Spitfire and Omega Doom) has a hit or miss with a modest budget from films brings us a tale of post-apocalypse due to a virus cripples the planet. A gathering of scientists and doctors in Atlanta have to journey to New York City to acquire the remaining piece of the research creating a cure to this plague. Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon of Paperback Hero, The Last Romantic Lover, North Dallas Forty, Bedroom Eyes, Unbecoming Age and Fiesta) volunteers to be augmented into a cyborg to hold the information.

The Jets conquered the Sharks!!

Her bodyguard Marshall Strat (Alex Daniels of T.J. Hooker, Starman, Werewolf, Batman & Robin, Star Kid and Holes) does his level best but is jumped by a gang of marauders led by Fender (Vincent Klyn of Cyborg, Point Break, Bloodmatch, Nemesis, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Double Dragon, Ballistic, Night Hunter, Prey of the Jaguar and Baywatch), a terrifyingly built man of 6 foot 2 and roughly about 250 lbs of muscle turns Marshall into a pretzel, manages to fight the thugs off and escape with Pearl. Dying off, Marshall tells Pearl to hire a slinger (mercenary) to finish her mission back to Atlanta. Encountering Gibson Rickenbacker (Jean Claude Van Damme of Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Time Cop and Street Fighter), gruff merc with a heart of gold he joins with Pearl to Atlanta. So anyone else getting the writer had a thing for musical instruments and brands?? Fender? Gibson? Marshall? Yeah maybe he was a failed guitarist. Can Gibson safely bring Pearl back to Atlanta while avoiding the raiders and gangs?? Will they save humanity or will it just be dust in the wind?

A little trivia on the film now. This theatrical and VHS release was heavily edited to avoid an X rating due to the gore. At one point in the warehouse fight fight Van Damme is fighting a guy and he just seems to teleport or blip away in the next second, which would be a great effect if exploited but no. Lazy editing and continuity is confusing. Cannon Films snagged Van Damme instead of Chuck Norris because his costs would not be as high as Van Damme was relatively unknown at the time. This was the last official theater release film from Cannon Films after they went bankrupt in 1987 and lots of direct to video afterwards.

Several of the costumes are recycled from Masters of the Universe. Most of Fender's outfit is from Blade in Masters of the Universe. Hope they cleaned the chainmail. The original script was to be a sequel of Masters of the Universe in which He-Man returns to Earth to see the Earth has been left a wasteland destroyed and conquered by Skeletor. WHY THE HELL DIDN'T WE GET THAT FLICK??!!!! Not a bad set of action scenes but the story drags... a lot...

Do you have soap in Atlanta?

Sci-fi Gems Week

Well hello there readers that somehow haven't found anything better to gaze upon yet I am glad to have kept your interest! Well we have managed our way through Italian horror fairly well and I thought... Hey, perhaps these devoted folks might want to see some decent sci-fi that doesn't hail from a channel rhyming with squiffy. So this week I am digging into my own archives of yesteryear, maybe a few years back and those that simply got missed.

My nose itches.. I don't mind tellin' ya.

Yes as often I have covered this particular genre, I am now going to be rummaging through the various sub-genres and excavating a fairly competent lot of science fiction that will be fascinating for some, boring and long-winded for others and lacking enough explosions for the 12 year old boys inside most menchildren. This of course can range from time travel to straight up hostile environment to the Last Man on Earth scenario that is far too coveted by Americans. Seriously, check with your friends of foreign lands and see how predominant or ruling that is stateside.

Keep in mind that I will be hitting the way back machine without Mr. Peabody's expertise and/or permission but his boy Sherman assures me everything will be nominal. So from the 1960s to Now I am hoping for find more than a few gems to share with you lot in the hopes to prove there is good Sci-fi out there you just have to look... sometimes for a very long time. Might help if a Hollywood Video or Blockbuster still existed in my immediate area but thank God there's a Redbox handy... for all my dated Sci-fi needs. I f&*king hate Redbox. Without further adieu, This is Sci-fi Gems Week!

My hair remains fabulous.

Timothy Dalton Week

How do all and welcome to the week. You may know this next fellow as Heathcliff via Wuthering Heights, perhaps as Edward Fairfax Rochester, James Bond, Lord President or Alexei Volkoff of Chuck but I first saw the man in question as Prince Barin in Dino De Laurentiis Company's Flash Gordon.

Cannot wait to shave of this mustache.

This man at the age of 16 was a member of Air Training Corps saw a production of Macbeth and decided to become an actor from there on. Leaving school in 1964 he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and while he had not completed his studies in RADA he left to join the troupe of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Working through BBC in TV his first appearance in film was as Phillip II of France in The Lion in Winter, followed by Wuthering Heights giving him an income allowing him to return to the theater with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Offered the icon secret agent role of James Bond in 1968 for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, our man declined stated Connery was too good to follow after, coupled with the fact he was 25 and felt he was too young for the role.

Told you I was shaving it off.

In 1986, while performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company with Vanessa Redgrave and Sylvester McCoy, Roger Moore retires from James Bond and again this man was approached due to Pierce Brosnan could not escape his ironclad agreement for Remington Steele so our chap is none other than Timothy Dalton put on the tux, wooed the ladies and dealt the beatings to the baddies.

Following his career to Penny Dreadful, this fellow has managed a career spanning 6 decades ranging from drama, action, comedy and even dabbling in science fiction. Hell about the only thing he really hasn't done is horror but don't count him out yet.

This week we shall sojourn into the TV and film works of Timothy Dalton and we will see why he is considered the apex of a proper gentleman of cinema and small screen.   

May keep the beard though.

Linnea Quigley Week

Welcome and hello to the week. I would like to apologize for George A. Romero Week cut short by two movies. I had some sort of flu bug and well it was difficult to stay at the computer due to it and we shall leave it at that. This week I am cooking with gas and all is well so I do not anticipate any hiccups on the horizon.

Ow, you are on my toe.

This week is devoted to horror films of various degree and grade. Yes, we could have some foul odor that may never go away and perhaps some forgotten gems of the genre. Anything is possible in this write-up. I could be accosted by naked clowns wielding crossbows in the next couple of minutes, for example but again highly unlikely. This week focuses on an unusual career path that stuck within the Horror and Sci-fi dopples of film and never moved on.

Our subject has been called the Mama of the Macbre, the Harlot of the Horror Cons and America's Scream Queen. Interviewed for the book "Invasion of the B-Girls" by Jewel Shepard, our 5'2" titan of terror has been a good girl, bad girl, tart, bad ass and victim of circumstance and ranked #9 on Maxim's "Hottest Women of Horror Movies". She adheres to a strict vegan diet, does animal rights charities our lady of the week has written two books about her life in the B-movie industry, "Bio & Chainsaw" and "I'm Screaming as Fast as I Can". I speak of Linnea Quigley. Chances are, ladies if you are reading this and you are over the age of 30, your man has seen this girl nude more than a few times. It is with the Halloween season in full swing I bring you Linnea Quigley Week.

Enjoy.

Fer sure!

Sean Connery Week: Meteor

Howdy all and welcome to Day 3 of Sean Connery Week.  Clearly we have not had any Sci-fi and that needs to be corrected.  It would have been at this time I would have introduced you to Outland and how it follows the book rather well but...  I have already reviewed it so egg is all over my face figuratively.  So how about a nice Sci-fi themed disaster film instead?  It will be in Technicolor so a hint of nostagia for those of us that grew up on such.  With a cast consisting of Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Brian Keith as a Russian and Henry Fonda as the President of the United States, how can we lose?   This is Meteor.

Sail Awaaaaay...!

Dr. Paul Bradley: Why don't you stick a broom up my spoiler?  I can sweep the carpet on the way out.





A comet of unknown origin has passed through Orion's belt and impacted Orpheus, the largest of asteroids in the belt causing a five-mile chunk of it to a collision course hurdling towards our humble planet.  Make no mistake, people this one is a planet cooker and Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck are not available to assist in its destruction.  With the U.S. government playing Operation: Cover Thine Ass as smaller fragments have hit the planet,  NASA contacts Dr. Paul Bradley (Sean Connery of You Only Live Twice, The Name of the Rose, Memories of Me, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Rock and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) a former NASA engineer and weapons platform designer to deal with the problem.  Director of NASA Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden of A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, Patton and The Streets of San Francisco) yanks Bradley from an ongoing yacht race and to Washington toot sweet to apprise him of the threat looming over the world.

Jeez, pretty boy at the controls again.  I WANT A TURN TOO!

Project: HERCULES is a nuclear missile platform in space poised specifically to contend with impeding asteroid strikes gets demoted from planet saver to hovering over the U.S.S.R. as a deterrent for nuclear war, one of the reasons Bradley left, may not be enough firepower to eliminate the asteroid.  Through the typical digging around Russian couriers, messages and codes the U.S. discovers that the Soviets also have a weapons satellite in orbit.

The President (Henry Fonda of The Tin Star, The Deputy, How the West Was Won, Once Upon a Time in the West and On Golden Pond) reveals to the world the existence of Hercules and how the collective eggheads at NASA says our armament may not be enough and pleads to Russia to offer whatever aid they can in this time of need.  Bradley suggests Dr. Dubov  (Brian Keith of The Yakuza, The Wild and the Lion, Centennial, Hooper and Sharky's Machine) a noted physicist in Russia to combat the problem at hand.  Dubov arrives with his interpreter Tatiana (Natalie Wood of Rebel Without a Cause, The Searchers, West Side Story and Splendor in the Grass) to offer aid and hypothesize about an existing platform Russia "may" have built.
With the collective efforts be enough?  Can Earth be saved?  Will humanity be spared The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

Just a few interesting notes about the film at this time.  Both Brian Keith and Natalie Wood could speak fluent Russian in real life.  Wood's parents were Russian immigrants and Keith was stationed overseas.
Given the language and violence of the film it would now fall under R Rating, prior to MPAA's stringent restructuring it was still deemed PG and would remain so until Christian Moralition influenced the MPAA in 1985.
Brian Keith was cast in the role at the last minute when Donald Pleasence dropped out of the role.  The spaceship Traveler II was actually modeled after NASA's first manned space station "Skylab".

Say, you guys aren't whispering about me, are you?

Post Apocalypse Week

It's in our literature of books, comics and magazines. Our anime, movies and TV series.  This particular theme has scored from Science Fiction, Horror, Action to Drama Television.  Ranging as far back as Mary Shelly's Last Man in 1826, this genre normally establishes a virulent disease, a nuclear war or zombies roaming the Earth and those of us that remain are left to pick up the pieces and fight for our very lives.  Why is this concept so appealing is probably to that morbid wonder if you or I could survive without a government environment.  To live in a land where might makes right or whether or not we as a people could rise from the ashes of the old and start anew.   What sort of person would you become? What morals and convictions will you sacrifice to live another day?

H.G. Wells Time Machine and War of the Worlds is another example of this given the Science Fiction angle that humanity would be self-destructive in bloodier wars or an alien invasion that would bring civilization to a grinding halt.

No, we are not here to sing show tunes!

My era of this fascination hails to The Day After.  A made for TV movie giving the effect that NATO has failed, all treaties are out the window and all our SAC (Strategic Air Command) are on high alert.
Mad Max to my opinion gives the darker effect of the world attempting to make sense again and failing miserably at that.

This week we see different depictions of the end of the world, sharpen our blades and clean our guns for the dark days ahead... in fiction.

80s Larson TV Week: Manimal

Welcome back folk to another slathering heap of Larson 80’s TV Week.  Now we have covered two very successful creations providing entertainment and probably more topless man chest than I ever needed to see.   Now I thought we would take a gander at one of the bombs of the 80s that held promise but not enough interest.  Bear in mind this is also these are the audiences that needed Friday the 13^th sequels left and right so this could be part of the problem.  A professor of criminology (thank you Jay for looking that up) who prowls the night in search of criminals and show them the error of their wicked ways all the while being a vigilante?  This is Manimal.

Thought we were gonna watch the game, not Spring clean!

Dr. Jonathan Chase…wealthy, young, handsome.   A man with the brightest of spoilers.  A man with the darkest of pasts.

Dr Chase (Simon MacCorkindale of Hammer House of Horror, Macbeth, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Falcon Crest, Counterstrike, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Casualty and Night Wolf) apparently glob trotted from Cambridge England, to Africa to the far reaches of Tibet…stuff happened??   Okay the skinny is thus, Chase found through an accidental transmogrification he could shape shift into multiple animals.  Why wouldn’t he want to use that new found ability to FIGHT CRIME??!!!   Of course he would.  That is perfectly logical from all the angles I have examined it at.  

Frosted Flakes won't save you, criminal scum.

Other than the audience only two other people knew his secret.  One being a lovely lady cop Detective Brook McKenzie (Melody Anderson of Flash Gordon, Dead & Buried, St. Elsewhere, Policewoman Centerfold, Phillip Marlowe, Private Eye and Firewalker) and his buddy Ty Earl (Michael D. Roberts of Heartbreaker, The Ice Pirates, Earthlings, Double Trouble, Manhunter, Rain Man and Sleepstalker) in the atypical buddy cop/crime fighter story arcs of the day, this series lasted all of 8 episodes due to poor Neilsen ratings.   The audience did not get to delve into Chase’s back story at all and were in fact robbed at a potentially clever series.

I had a few comments about the show now.   The creature transformations were brought to us by Stan Winston’s Creature Shop and while they were amazing manifestations from man to panther.  Most of us had issues with his clothes somehow never tearing or morphing with his flesh into these various creatures.  I guess Simon MacCorkindale in his tighty whiteys might have been a problem but personally as well built as the guy was you would thought it would improve the ratings overall.  For crying out loud, Magnum didn’t have a shirt on half of the time and I heard no complaints from straight women and gay men so who can guess.

Due to the costs of Stan Winston’s SFX team, co-coordinators and various animal wranglers the executives felt the cost was too great for the low ratings and ultimately pulled the plug on a superhero vigilante that could have really gone places.  Located in New York you already got the vibe of the Avengers, Fantastic Four or Spiderman but even great locale, special effects and decent writing cannot always survive the first year as this was rated one of the worst of the 50 TV shows of all time in 2002 by TV Guide.   Somehow nonsense like Jackass and The Jersey Shore got more love.

Special guest star: Michael Corvin of Underworld!

British Fest in June!

Do you enjoy all things that hail from Great Britain??!!!  Do you marvel at British Television, movies, games and books?  Tea, steamed vegetables, lumpy gravy and possibly Yorkshire pudding??? 

Psst... avoid the pudding.

Well this June in Omaha Nebraska marks the first convention of British Fest!!!   A convention that praises Science Fiction, Scifi-Fantasy, adventure and classical fiction for all to savor.  From Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings to more obscure shows such as: Sapphire and Steel and Blake 7.  Enjoy panels on topics and subject ranging from 007 to Steampunk enthusiasm!

Ticket sales are available at Paypal even as I type this!  The entire weekend per person is only $30 buckaroos.  $15 for Friday, $20 for Saturday and lastly $10 for Sunday.  Bring the kids!

Americans could do with some culture and refinement.

Cosplayers will be gallivanting about in various costumes for your photo taking pleasure.   You may see multiple Doctors, a Dwarfer, Steampunks and heck maybe a hobbit or three.

.http://britishfest.weebly.com/index.html

PC Games I am Playing Week: Wolfenstein

Welcome back sports fans to Day 3 of PC Games I am Playing Week.  This next video game has history to it dating as far back as 1981.  Castle Wolfenstein was created by Muse Software for the Apple II then last was developed for MS-DOS, Atari and even the Commodore 64.  Starting the trend of side scrolling shooter games and paved the way for a sequel Beyond Castle Wolfenstein you were required to use stealth and think about your objectives.  Moving   in 1992 Wolfenstein 3D, the FPS was truly given life as you play a WW2 Allied spy attempting a jail break from the Nazi prison under Castle Wolfenstein.  After 10 levels of so so graphics we could even through down with a Nazi power armored Hitler.  Of course he has about 4 chain guns strapped to the armor.  Wolfenstein 3D easily dominates the scene causing a stir in even consoles games of Super NES, 3DO and Atari Jaguar.  Now as exciting as that all sounds I was actually enjoying the 2009 version where our hero, William “B.J.” Blazkowicz is back, kicking Ratzi butt and obverting yet another plot by the Reich to take over zee world.   This is Wolfenstein.

Ho boy did I get on the wrong boat.

Blazkowicz: OSA Headquarters.  This is Agent B.J. Blazkowicz.  Wake up the spoiler. Tell him we have to meet as soon as I land.

In this incarnation we see a battleship getting ready to deploy missiles to hit London and BJ is right in the middle of fleeing when a medallion he lifted starts glowing, the goosesteppers open up on him when the medallion projects a shield blocking the gunfire then channels this incalculable power that vaporizes the gunmen.   Snazzy accessory for any globe hopping hero, I wonder if Dr. Jones would have used that one.   Stealing a Mezzerschmitt and high flying away before the ship explodes Blazkowicz is left to ponder what origins this miraculous medallion came from.   Investigations conclude that the SS is busy researching the people of Thule where the first civilization to contact another dimension known as the Black Sun.  Blazkowicz’s mission is to prevent the Nazis of crossing over to this dimension to build a super weapon that would ensure their victory in the war.

Handy freedom fighter this fellow.

Now we can discuss the game play itself.  The game play is pretty straight forward standard WASD as movement controls, R getting the reload program and I personally liked G for grenade rather than a cycle through search like Jedi Knight II.  The mouse sensitivity needs to be calibrated by you in order to do a bit better with long range sniping, the typical FPS POV is standard but with some impressive graphics thanks to an upgraded version of Tech 4 game engine.  with depth in shadow, post-processed effects offering a unique look at the physics of the supernatural realm called the Veil, you can stop time, move around objects in the real world or defeat enemies that had an almost impervious shield.

With the classification of science fiction-horror FPS this version was co-developed by Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios and Endrant Studios.   Lot of cooks in the kitchen didn’t spoil the soup this time around.  This single-player game is also fitted to be a Multiplayer option for those interested but there were more than a few patches needed to get it on track.  Methinks a few folks got sacked because of it.  With its bloody gore, violence levels and a bit of harsh language it is really the parents’ call on whether little Johnny or Suzie can play it.  My nephew has a blast with it and he is all of 12.   Think on that. 

Oh great, Hydra joined as well.

Sci-fi of the 1950's Week: Robot Monster

Hello everyone and yes I know this week has been an odd one but my sinuses are playing merry merry hell with me and it has been a bit difficult to focus.  That in mind I reviewed a brilliant film that captured the mind and soul…two days ago.  This movie however is no cinematic opus but rather it was rated, reviewed and reviled as one of the subject matter for the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (And How They Got That Way).  Granted most of their reasons of such were due to poor film quality, lack of restoration, poor audio and well yes it is also a stinkburger.   Those in mind, take on some emergency rations, prep the charcoal filters for the water and don’t pick a fight with a gorilla like being.  This is Robot Monster.

Dear God, I can barely breathe in this helmet!

Great One: Earth Ro-man, you violate the laws of plans.  To think for yourself is to be like the hu-man.

Ro-man: Yes! To be like the spoiler! To laugh! Feel! Want! Why are these things not in the plan?

Our vivid visual opens with the alien known as Ro-man Extension XJ-2 looking down Bronson Canyon via Griffith Park as he observes he has wiped out all humanity with his Calcinator Death Ray to his Supreme commander known as Great One.  Yeah typical B-movie with no budget response is to give greater description to your nonsensical.   It would appear his calculations were off as 8 humans are alive and well. 

An overtly complicated exposition about developing an immunity to the ray, a scientist, his wife, two daughters, his 8 year old son and 2 pilots are kept safe by this energy curtain developed by  The Professor…I kid you not that is the character’s name in credits but is played by none other than character actor John Mylong (The Devil Pays Off, For Whom the Bell Tolls, His Kind of Woman, Magnificent Obsession and Never Say Goodbye) and this is also Roy (George Nader’s first exposure to film to  later TV and Film gems like: Nowhere to Go, The Man and the Challenge, The Loretta Young Show, Shannon, A Walk by the Sea, The Human Duplicators and Espionage in Lisbon) shows some decent chops versus Ro-Man, slayer of the world.  

Post Apocalyptic Family Robinson.

Okay a quick few comments on this momentous movie.  Once again, projects large and small, Bronson Canyon is made to suffer.  As a spot for caverns and quarries for TV and Film for decades from anything of Bert I. Gordon’s The Magic Sword, Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and Star Trek episodes to the crazy bunch of the Tremors creators of Stampede Entertainment, this entire movie was filmed in this rather large expanse of geography. 

Now while they were saving money on locations, maybe a continuity director would have been nice.  The wee lad Johnny clearly seen wearing jeans and he enters the cave gets knocked out and over only to awake wearing a pair of shorts.   The Professor is proud to perform a marriage ceremony for Roy and his daughter Alice holding onto a book in his hand one shot and then the next, poof it is gone.

The amusing thing about this terribly done film is that it is beloved by many a bad movie lover and has actually made over a million dollars for the span of its existence.  Given it had only $1000 on the books for production that even a flop can get some love.

Another Craigslist hookup begins with shame.