Overlooked Movies: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

We wrote the screenplay in six weeks flat, laughing maniacally from time to time, and then the movie was made. Whatever its faults or virtues, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is an original -- a satire of Hollywood conventions, genres, situations, dialogue, characters and success formulas, heavily overlaid with such shocking violence that some critics didn't know whether the movie "knew" it was a comedy. ~Roger Ebert on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

This film is a sequel in name only to Valley of the Dolls (1967). An all-girl rock band goes to Hollywood to make it big. There they find success, but luckily for us, they sink into a cesspool of decadence. This film has a sleeping woman performing on a gun which is in her mouth. It has women posing as men. It has lesbian sex scenes. It is also written by Roger Ebert, who had become friends with Russ Meyer after writing favorable reviews of several of his films.

Click here to read The Onion's AV Club review.

Click here to watch a trailer for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls:


Remember to carefully choose your doctors and maybe a doll or two will get you through the rough spots.


Taglines:
This time... they've really gone
The first of the shock rock!
This Is Not A Sequel. There Has Never Been Anything Like It!
The world is full of them, the super-octane girls who are old at twenty. If they get to be twenty.

 Fun Trivia:
Originally intended as a sequel to Valley of the Dolls (1967) but written instead as a pastiche of it, the studio insisted on the disclaimer at the beginning distancing it from the earlier movie.

The ending was not in the script. Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer came up with the idea on the day of shooting.

In 2001, the Village Voice named the film #87 on its list of the 100 Greatest Films of the Century.

The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell was based loosely on legendary record producer Phil Spector. While neither Meyer nor Ebert had ever met Spector, they were told by acquaintances of his that they'd caught his essence very well.

During a party scene Cynthia Meyer is dressed as Robin the Boy Wonder. It is the actual costume Burt Ward wore on the Batman TV show. Cynthia Myers fit in Burt Ward's costume?

Director Meyer once said he considers this film to be his "most important".

Fun Quotes:
Ronnie (Z-Man) Barzell: This is my happening and it freaks me out!

Ashley St. Ives: You're a groovy boy. I'd like to strap you on sometime

Partygoer #1: You're a moonchild.
Partygoer #2: And you're a bitch! .

Ronnie (Z-Man) Barzell: You will drink the black sperm of my vengence.

Erica Gavin on Russ Meyer:

Russ always took whatever was timely. In Vixen it was the Communists and with Dolls it was definitely a knock off of the Manson murders. He always sort of went for whatever was current. If he had been doing a movie around the time of OJ he would have had that whole scenario too. You know the Arthur Lee song I think it’s Seven and Seven goes "The News today will be the movies of tomorrow" and it’s so true.


Russ Meyer on Filmaking:
"The way I make films, I never had the patience to wait for the men with moneybags in Hollywood to come around. I want to make films when the inspiration hits me, and I want to put my fantasies and ideas up there on the screen the way I want to."

Russ meyer on being accused of ruining John Lazar's career:
 Oh shit! Ruining? It's the greatest role he's ever had! He just called me last week and said, "you got any more work for me?" For some reason, I think he did one film, and nothing ever since..."

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was recently released on DVD with a number of extra features including:
Commentary by screenwriter and film critic Roger Ebert
Commentary by cast members Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page, John La Zar and Erica Gavin
Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley: The Making of a Musical-Horror-Sex-Comedy" documentary
Look on up at the Bottom: The Music of Dolls" featurette
The Best of Beyond" featurette
Sex, Drugs, Music and Murder: Signs of the Times, Baby!" featurette
Casey and Roxanne: The Love Scene" featurette
Actor screen tests
6 photo galleries

Click here to buy one of the movie.

Click here to buy one of the soundtrack.

Sample a few songs from the movie:
Find It


Come with the Gentle People

Girls with Guns #5 Misty Mundae

Girls with Guns #5 Misty Mundae
  

Go Team Venture!

Hank and Dean Venture
  

New on Video: The Venture Bros.

Cartoons were a huge part of my childhood and imagine most people my age would agree. I have fond memeories of waking up at 6:00am on Saturdays to watch the big network cartoons like Dungeons and Dragons and The Smurfs but I have even fonder memories of waking up even earlier on Sundays to watch Hannah Barbara classics like Thundar the Barbarian, Space Ghost, Scooby Doo and Johnny Quest. Maybe that's why I loved Cartoon Network's The Venture Bros. from the very first moment of watching.

Chris McCulloch one of the shows creators on Ventore Bros.-
"It's called "The Venture Bros." and at it's core it's kind of a parody of the old Jonny Quest cartoons from the mid-sixties, as well as The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift boys' adventure novels of the past. So it's got elements of adventure, spy, science fiction and even some comic book genre stuff. The Venture brothers, Hank and Dean, are fraternal twins; teenaged idiots who think, act and talk like it's the sixties (though it takes place in the present). They're the sons of Dr. Venture, a world renowned scientist (mostly world renowned due to the reputation of his late father, who though we don't see him in the pilot was about as cool as Doc Savage in his day) who can't really stand them. Doc pops "diet pills" like candy and reeks of failure and unrealized potential. Their family bodyguard, Brock Samson, is a former secret agent who responds to any and all crises with relentless, remorseless brutality. He's kind of a white trash James Bond/Steve McQueen."



Similar to other science fiction series, the Venture family has various recurring, antagonistic villains; they are or were members of The Guild of Calamitous Intent, the fictional guild that bears resemblance to the Legion of Doom. The pernicious but ineffective Monarch (voiced by Christopher McCulloch), his manly-voiced girlfriend, Dr. Girlfriend (voiced by Doc Hammer, and modeled after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) and their numerous henchmen are one of the Venture family's main villains, although Dr. Venture does not reciprocate the Monarch's obsessive antagonism. Another villain, Baron Werner Ünderbheit (voiced by T. Ryder Smith), is the dictator of the duchy of Ünderland and specifically opposes Dr. Venture due to unresolved differences between them in college. The Phantom Limb (voiced by James Urbaniak) is a high-ranking member of The Guild of Calamitous Intent and possible former lover of Dr. Girlfriend.

The Ventures also have acquaintances that are used to progress stories and add to the atmosphere of the show. The expert necromancer, Dr. Byron Orpheus (voiced by Steven Rattazzi), and his goth daughter, Triana (voiced by Lisa Hammer), rent out a portion of the Venture Compound. The flamboyant, albino, 80's-ish scientist Peter White (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) is a former college friend of Dr. Venture's who usually appears in the company of hydrocephalic "boy genius," Master Billy Quizboy (voiced by Doc Hammer). Surviving members of the original Team Venture, a group of extraordinary people assembled by Dr. Jonas Venture, also figure into an episode of the show.

 

For Fans Only: Fun Trivia From the Show-
In episode 12, "The Trial of the Monarch", the jury is made up of the cast and crew.

In the episode "Past Tense", the character of Mike Sorayama is extremely similar in personality and characteristics to the character Mike Yanagita in the 1996 film Fargo. Both characters speak with a distinct Minnesotan accent (including the phrase "son of a gun") and share an unhealthy obsession with former classmates. In fact, Mike Sorayama and Mike Yanagita are both portrayed by actor Steve Park. The character's name also refers to that of artist Hajime Sorayama, whose illustrations of "Sexy Robots" have appeared in Heavy Metal magazine. Mike Sorayama constructs female robots with a similar design, and when Dr. Venture sees them he comments, "Yeah, I read that issue of Heavy Metal too."

 

The dialogue between characters Major Tom and The Action Man at the beginning of "Ghosts of the Sargasso" refers to the famous David Bowie songs "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes." Major Tom's spacecraft is named TVC 15, the title of another Bowie song. David Bowie also plays a role in the plot of episode 4, "The Incredible Mr. Brisby" and is mentioned passingly in the Venture Bros. Movie mockumentary included on the DVD set.

Click here to watch the Bowie opening:


The first season of The Venture Bros. came out earlier this month on DVD. Some of the special features include:
The 2003 pilot "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay" and the 11-minute holiday episode "A Very Venture Christmas"
Deleted scenes
Behind-the-scenes mockumentary with cast and crew
Commentary Tracks on selected episodes

Season 2 premiered last Sunday on Cartoon Network, here's the teaser:

Girls with Guns #4 Milla Jovovich

Girls with Guns: Milla Jovovich
  

Overlooked Movies: Chopper

"I didn't really surmise anything. I never felt pressured to come up with some kind of definitive explanation, or judgement of him. It's like someone you might hate in the media, but then you hear they're a really nice person but you actually don't want to know about it. It's the same with Chopper. People who read his books might like him because of the image he put forward, but the more politically correct might think him an idiot because he's a criminal. Somewhere in between all that, there's a judgement for those who want to judge." -Eric Bana on Mark Read

Eric Bana is Mark "Chopper" Read, real-life convict and bestselling author of "How to Shoot Friends and Influence People." His story is frightening, savagely funny and twisted. The son of a devoutly religious mother and a one-time soldier with a fondness for sleeping alongside a loaded gun, Chopper dreams of making a name for himself as a legendary crime figure. His journey starts out as a wisecracking criminal failure, inside a maximum-security prison, but he manages to twist his life into a fascinating and wickedly funny take that the press and the public can't get enough of.

Click here to watch a scene from Chopper:


Taglines: Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn.
The truth, the half-truth, and nothing like the truth.

Fun Trivia:
Eric Bana spent 2 days living with Mark "Chopper" Read so he could get a better understanding of how to play his character in the film.

Mark "Chopper" Read suggested that Eric Bana play Chopper, after seeing him in the sketch comedy series "Full Frontal".

Read wrote his first book Chopper: From the Inside while incarcerated in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison. It contains tales and anecdotes of his criminal and prison exploits in 1991. Attempts were made to ban a children's book written by Read titled Hooky the Cripple. The story is set in the sixteenth century. It is about a hunchbacked son of a prostitute who stabs a bullying butcher in the head 21 times, and eventually goes to trial for murder.



Chopper getting his ears sliced off with a razor blade (not for the faint of heart):


Fun Quotes:
Chopper: Why would I shoot a bloke BANG, then drive him to the bloody car and wizz him off to the hospital at a hundred miles an hour? It defeats the purpose of having shot him in the first place.

Chopper: I'm just a bloody normal bloke. A normal bloke who likes a bit of torture.

Chopper: Jimmy, if you keep stabbing me, you're going to kill me.

Chopper: Look, you're not still angry at me about the leg, are you?
Neville Bartos: Nah, forget about it.
Chopper: Because I don't know if you remember, Neville, but I had that bloody shotgun pointed at your head. I reconsidered and dropped it down to your kneecap. Remember?
Neville Bartos: Forget about it. All right?
Chopper: I mean, what the bloody hell were you doing getting lippy at me with a bloody shotgun? I had a bloody loaded shotgun.
Neville Bartos: The leg is okay, all right?

Interviewer: You've written a best-seller...
Chopper: Yeah, I know - and I can't even bloody spell. What about those poor bloody academics, those college graduates, battling their guts out to write some airy-fairy piece of exaggerated artwork? And here's a bloke, sitting in a cell, who can't spell, and he's written a best-seller. It's sold two hundred and fifty thousand copies. And it's still selling. And he's writing another one. And I can't even spell. I'm semi-bloody-illiterate.

Chopper: Even Beethoven had his critics. See if you can name three of them.

Here is a list of Chopper Read's criminal convictions:
At the age of 17, Read was sentenced to one month's imprisonment on assault related charges.

In 1974, at the age of 19, he was again imprisoned for one month on charges of carrying an offensive weapon.

He later received a good behaviour bond for charges of assaulting police.
In May 1975 he was convicted of robbery and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
In December 1975 he was convicted of armed robbery and received a further one-year sentence.

In 1978, at the age of 23, he was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

Five weeks later Read was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment on abduction-related charges for the attempted abduction of a County Court judge while on parole.

In 1978 Read was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for a parole breach.

In 1981, while imprisoned, he stabbed a fellow prisoner in the neck using a pair of scissors and was sentenced to a further three months' imprisonment.

In October 1989 he was convicted on two charges of being in possession of an unregistered pistol.

In November 1989 he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for malicious injury and wilful damage. He was also convicted of recklessly endangering life for shooting a man in the stomach and setting fire to the house of a known drug dealer.

Chopper Read describes how he robbed drug dealers:

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue

 Does anyone else remember this piece of nostalgia? Yes they are all here Alf, Garfield, The Muppet Babies, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Teenage Mutant Turtle Michaelangelo, Pooh, Tigger, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Huey, Duey, Louie and Papa Smurf who has my single favorite moment when he tells Michael to lay off the drugs!

The plot chronicles the story of a teenage boy named Michael who is pressured into doing drugs, specifically marijuana. His concerned sister Corey worries about him, and her cries cause many of her toys, which depict several popular cartoon "all-stars", to come to life. The various cartoon characters proceed to take Michael on a fantasy journey that teaches him the health risks and other downsides a life of drug use can bring.

Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue orginally aired in 1990 but thanks to the magic of You Tube I can bring you the entire just say no to drugs special in four parts. Enjoy!

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


A little bit of trivia the special was able to get so many characters from various franchises because the licensors gave producers royalty-free access due to the importance of the special. Apparently however the character of Garfield was used without the permission of creator Jim Davis and so consequently the cartoon has never re-aired.

Tiger Love

This is one of the cutest and most hypnotic videos I've ever seen. Click here to watch this passionate little tiger puppet sing Debra by Beck:

Futurama is go!

Just read a news story that Comedy Central will be resurecting Futurama for a 13 episode run!

From Yahoo News:
"We are thrilled that Matt Groening and 20th Century Fox Television have decided to produce new episodes of Futurama and that Comedy Central will be the first to air them," said David Bernath, the cable net's senior VP.

The new episode order is part of a larger deal Comedy Central made with the production company last year, when they bought the syndicated rights to Futurama's 72-episode library.

"There is a deep and passionate fan base for this intelligent and very funny show that matches perfectly with our audience, and it is great that we can offer them not just the existing library but something they've never seen as well," Bernath toldthe Hollywood Reporter.

The cable net has already re-signed voice stars Billy West,Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio to reprise their animated roles.

So I suppose these new episodes will take the place of the Futurama movies that were rumored to be in production earlier this year. Boy first Farscape comes back now Futurama, if only we could work on getting Desmond Pfeiffer on video my life would be complete.

As a bonus watch Zap Brannigan sing karaoke:

Cartoon Fun: He-Man and She-Ra

Remember He-Man?
In a distant and mystical land, wimpy Prince Adam leads the life of royalty. Unknown to all but a few close friends/allies, Prince Adam is actually a hero, the mighty He-Man. Together with his friends, (such as Teela; her father, a man-at-arms; mysterious Orko and his mighty friend/horse substitute Battle Cat), He-Man battles the evil Skeletor and his minions for control of the world, and, more importantly, for the control, power and "honor of Greyskull," the mysterious castle from which He-Man derives his powers.

Watch the intro to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe:


He-Man intro in Spanish


After watching He-Man again I have a few questions:
It was called He-Man and The Masters of the Universe, so where was all that "universe" stuff. I mean he never left the planet...that I can remember.

Was the animation really this crappy?

Was the show really that gay? I mean He-Man is basically wearing fur bikini shorts and a giant sword. The whole show is giant half clothed muscle men fighting giant half-clothed, muscled monsters. Except for Man at Arms but lets face it with that mustache he's obviously a Tom of Finlandesque leather queen.

See gay:


He-Man Man-E-Faces commercial:


He-Man meets The Big lebowski (awesome you must watch this):


and speaking of He-Man remember his sister She-Ra the Princess of Power
The kidnapped daughter of Queen Marlena and King Randor of Eternia (characters from He-man and the Masters of the Universe), Princess Adora grew up in Etheria. There, she lead an evil army until the day her long lost twin brother, Prince Adam (He-man), came to tell her who she really was. As her alter ego, She-ra, the princess protects Etheria by fighting the forces she once worked for.

She-Ra intro:


A commercial for the She-Ra toys. See how many rhimes of power you can catch...


Another She-Ra commercial:


There was a Christmas episode?
In this special Christmas episode of the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons, their sidekick Orko accidentally gets beamed to Earth during a test of a new spy satellite. Orko manages to get back Planet Eternia, but brings along two Earth children, Alisha and Manuel, with him. Since it's Christmastime on Earth, the kids are naturally filled with the holiday spirit, but this overflowing goodwill attracts the unwelcome attention of the Horde Prime and Skeletor. Will the combined power of He-Man, She-Ra and the spirit of Christmas be enough to stop them?

Watch a scene here:


and as a bonus the trailer for Secret of the Sword:

Girls with Guns #3: Sheri Moon Zombie

Sheri Moon Zombie
  

Girls with Guns #2: Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda from Cat Ballou
  

Finally we get to see Spaced!

Tim: She's shallow, Brian. She's like Cordelia out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and latterly Angel, the spin off series which is set in LA.
Brian: Don't know what you're talking about.
Tim: Brian, you're such a square!

What do you get when you mix one part Jessica Stevenson, two parts Simon Pegg, one part Star Wars, three parts comic book, and twelve parts Ed....



Yes thanks to BBC America us Americans who don't have region free DVD players will finally get to see what I hear is one of the funniest shows to come along in a great while.

From the people who gave us Shaun of the Dead (after they did Spaced actually) Spaced chronicles the agony and ecstasy of two disillusioned Gen X-ers adrift in a world where reality is as subjective as their taste in shoes. Defeated by the horrors of apartment hunting, Tim (Simon Pegg), a love-sick skateboarder, and Daisy (Jessica Stevenson), a wannabe journalist, pose as a professional couple to score themselves a cheap place to live. However, with their landlady’s large capacity for cigarettes and alcohol and the increase in sexual tension, Tim and Kate’s new place is far from ordinary.

Spaced premieres Friday, June 23, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.

To wet your appetite here's a scene from Spaced:


For those of you who don't have BBC America here's the premiere episode:

Girls With Guns #1: Asia Argento

  

Overlooked Movies: Scarlet Diva

"It was always meant to be a celebrity odyssey fuelled by sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. There was no real message as such - it was just about all the trappings and highs of fame and fortune. It's all there; producers wanting to eat my pussy in return for a film role, photographer monsters who give me the Special K amphetamine to ensure I'll provide great tabloid pictures and all that horrible shit. I'm not saying everything happened to me personally, but it's stuff I knew all about. My life is much more interesting than anything I describe in Scarlet Diva. I can't say the script was based on everything I've done or I'd ruin my life and destroy my reputation. All I'll say is that it's a personal voyage through the world of cinema because that's what I know about. I grew up in film and this film is about movies, moviemaking and life behind the camera. The film enabled me to get rid of a lot of bullshit in my life and I will admit to it exorcising many demons. But I don't want people for one second to think Anna's story was my own disguised". ~Asia Argento

This semi-autobiographical film is a darkly dramatic and surreal descent into the shockingly intimate world of rising actress Anna Battista. Anna's harrowing and graphic journey plunges her into the dark heart of the film industry, where she experiences despair, loneliness and degradation while trying to recapture her innocence. Filmed in a bold, experimental style, Scarlet Diva is an intense, sexually charged and unforgettable cinema experience.

Read the A.V. Club Review Here.

Watch the Trailer Here:


Fun Trivia:
Vincent Gallo was asked to play the roll of Kirk but Gallo wanted too much money (Is  anyone really suprised that the groos man who wanted to sell his sperm on ebay for a million wanted more money than was offered?).

Most video releases cut out the scene of Asia Argento shaving her pubic hair.

Asia Argento and Daria Nicolodi are mother and daughter in real life as well as in the movie.

The film won a 2001 Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival Award for Best New Director, which actually tied with two other films.

Fun Quotes:
Anna Battista: I am the loneliest girl in the world.
Kirk: How sad.
Anna Battista: It's not sad, it's just how it is.

Anna Battista: I'm sorry. It's the first time I've ever made love.
Kirk: Don't tell me you're a virgin.
Anna Battista: No. I'm a whore.

Asia on her father director Dario Argento:
"I found an old diary recently from when I was 13 and one angry entry said, why isn't my father hiring me for any of his movies? I think he deliberately let me forge my career away from his so I would find my own identity and sense of self-expression. The day he offered me the role of Aura Petrescu in Trauma was one of the happiest days of my life. I do think Dario is very courageous in what he does and I do admire him more than any other director I've worked with. And I'm not saying that just because he's my father. He acknowledges his fears and is brave enough to show them to the world. I never thought it was weird that my father would have me naked and raped in his movies until a friend pointed it out to me. I was just making movies and never even thought about the possible subtext going on. Nor do I have the psychological tools to decode his latent feelings. Perhaps I haven't wanted to either because it might reveal something I have no desire to discover. Is Dario reliving his relationship with Daria through me? I did think at one time I was only born so my father had an actress in the family he could work with in the future."

Asia Argento on Directing:
"I became a real totalitarian on set. I even surprised myself over how in control I felt. It was great - I screamed 'Silence' and everyone stopped. It was fabulous. No  one ever took any notice of me as an actress when I did that! I was clearly meant to do this in my life and I suppose it's in my blood. It's one thing to work with my father or Abel, but otherwise acting is a stupid profession. I've seen my father work for years on a project and sweat blood over it. And that's how it should be". Unfortunately, the reviews for Scarlet Diva were hardly noteworthy and the box-office take disappointing in Italy but Asia expected the bad reviews. "Critics were waiting for me to fail. I've led a charmed life and people seem jealous of my success. They couldn't wait for it to be shit. I believed in what I was doing and if they didn't understand that it was a work of truth, then there's nothing I can do about it".



Click here for a really great Asia Argento interview by Drive in Critic Joe Bob Briggs.

Click here to read Asia's "I love you Kirk" passages from her book.

 

and as a bonus, watch Asia DJ for Villiage Radio NYC:

Asia Argento Pin-ups

To go along with the Scarlet Diva post here are a few pin-ups of Asia Argento.
 
  

Ever Played Dungeons & Dragons?

...Even if you haven't I'm sure you've known people like this. So listen up and prepare to laugh your ass off!

The Dead Ale Wives- Dungeons and Dragons: Part 1


The Dead Ale Wives- Dungeons and Dragons: Part 2 (sorry no video but still funny!)


And as a bonus Stephen Colbert on Dungeons & Dragons


And as an ultra-bonus, Family Guy Dungeons & Dragons fun

Overlooked Movie: The Long Riders

 

"I tend not to look back. It’s confusing, you as an audience can look at these things as films, but I remember them as social experiences. Some we’re great experiences, some we’rent. I guess I never had a better experience than working on “The Long Riders" -Long Riders Director, Walter Hill

This terrific Walter Hill Western follows the careers of the James and Younger brothers--and uses the nifty idea of casting actual clans of acting siblings in the roles. Thus, the James brothers are played by James and Stacy Keach; the Youngers by David, Keith, and Robert Carradine; the Millers by Randy and Dennis Quaid; and the Fords by Christopher and Nicholas Guest. Hill, working with an evocative Ry Cooder score, creates a film that is at once breathtakingly exciting and elegiac in its treatment of these post-Civil War outlaws. The Keaches in particular bring a  surprising dignity to the roles of Frank and Jesse James, while David Carradine is a hoot as Cole Younger--and the Quaids mimic real life (as it was for them then) in their battles as the Miller brothers. Bloody, to be sure, but also bloody good.

Click here to view the trailer.

Tagline:
"All the world likes an outlaw. For some damn reason they remember 'em." - Jesse James

Fun Trivia:
The film stars four sets of actual brothers: the Carradines, the Keachs, the Quaids and the Guests.

Ry Cooder has a cameo as the saloon singer he also composed the soundtrack.

Originally Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges were going to play the Ford brothers but they could not fit it in their schedules.

The revolver Frank James threatens Rixley with and carries throughout the movie is a Smith-Wesson Schofield. In reality, Jesse carried a pair of Schofields while Frank preferred the heavier Remington New Army (the type of pistol shown carried by Cole Younger). After leaving prison, Frank James did a print testimonial for Remington referring to the Remington as 'the finest hand gun I ever carried'.

Modern day power lines visible in the scenes shot in Georgia.

Horses were galloped and tripped in the making of this movie causing pain and suffering to the animals, because of this some scenes were cut from the British release.

 

Fun Quotes:
Frank James: Mr. Rixley?
Jacob Rixley: That's right.
Frank James: My name is Frank James. I came here to turn myself in. Here's my gun. I want something in return. I want to be able to bury my brother.
Jacob Rixley: Suppose I don't agree to your terms?
Frank James: I'll kill you.

 Cole Younger: When this is all over, I'm goin' to write a book; make myself more famous than I already am.
Frank James: I trust you'll give me a copy.
Cole Younger: Nope. You gotta pay, Frank; you gotta pay.

Belle Starr: Coleman Younger! Seems like you folks are havin' a real nice party in there. Why didn't you invite me?
Cole Younger: 'Cause you're a whore, Belle.
Belle Starr: I might be; but at least I ain't a cheap one.

Frank James: [gazing at Wilhelmina across a crowded dance floor] I got a question for you.
Clell Miller: Fire away, Frank. Fire away and fall back.
Frank James: You ever been in love?
Clell Miller: Oh God, yes. It was terrible. An affliction. Really miserable. Nothing but trouble. Drove me crazy.
Frank James: That bad? Really?
Clell Miller: Yes. She was wonderful.

Jacob Rixley: What do you and your brothers think about a life sentence? I mean, you're lucky they don't allow hanging in this state. Come on, Cole, tell me what you think about this?
Cole Younger: Ah, hell. We played a rough game... and we lost.

A really enjoyable western with one heck of a novelty. Great movie! ~Becca

and as a bonus enjoy some singing David Carradine.

80's Cartoon Mania! with commercials

Isn't You Tube Great! Found bunches of 80's cartoon segments on You Tube, so hop in the time machine and check them out.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe
The introduction to Japanese Mecha anime for most of us. Need i say more?
Voltron intro:


Defenders of the Earth
When Ming the Merciless returns to wreak havoc, he immediately hunts down the man who caused him to lose his throne in the first place, Flash Gordon. In the process, Ming captures and kills Dale Arden Gordon, but not before she transfers her esscence into a special crystal. Flash then gathers together a force made up of The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and his assistant Lothar. Also joining the heroes are Flash's son Rick, The Phantom's daughter Jedda, Lothar's son L.J. and Madrake's adopted son Kshin. Rick then invents a super computer using the crystal with his mother's esscence. Joining Ming is his son Crotan.
Defenders of the Earth intro


Happy Meal Guys Commercial


Jem
Jerrica Benton is the owner of Starlight Music and the Starlight Foundation, which is a foster home for young girls. But by using her earrings to project a holographic image over herself, she is transformed into her alter ego Jem, the lead singer for the successful music group, Jem and the Holograms. Other members of the group are Jerrica's sensitive little sister Kimber, the strong-willed Aja, and the creative Shana. The group's rivals are The Misfits, made up of the cold-hearted Pizzazz, the tough-acting Roxy, and the humble Stormer. Jem and her friends are always involved in glamorous and exciting adventures around the world, while touching people's hearts with their hit songs.
Jem intro (She's truely outrageous you know):


Disney's Gummi Bears
Long ago, there was a thriving civilization of small humanoid bears called Gummi Bears. Possessing powerful magic and advanced technology, this race coexisted with humans until the growing rivalry forced the Gummis to flee across the sea, leaving only a small caretaker colony to prepare for a possible return. However, generations passed and the colony forgot their purpose even as human knowledge of the race faded into mere legend. All that changes when the colony meets a boy with a Gummi Bear medallion which unlocks the Great Book of Gummi which reveals lost knowledge of their past. Now the colony has dedicated themselves to the new goal to rediscover their heritage with the help of a few trusted humans while preventing new enemies like Duke Igthorn from exploiting that heritage to their own ends.
Gummi Bears intro:


Michael J. Fox Pepsi commercial


G.I. Joe
Based on the successful toy series by Hasbro, GI Joe is the code name for an elite strike force comprising of personnel from all branches of the United States military. Their primary purpose is be a counterforce to the huge terrorist organization called Cobra which is gunning for world domination.
G.I. Joe intro:


Dungeons & Dragons
Six kids enter the Dungeons & Dragons ride at a local amusement park and are transported into the world of swords and sorcery, where, with the help of the Dungeonmaster and the unicorn Uni, try to find their way back home.
Dungeons & Dragons intro:


Return of the Jedi Toy Commercial


Jim Henson's Muppet Babies
The animated adventures of Jim Henson's Muppets as babies. Baby Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Animal, Fozzie, Rowlf, Scooter, Skeeter (and later Beans Bunny), under the care of their green striped socks-wearing Nanny, get into mischief using their imaginations.
Muppet Babies intro:


Ducktales
When Donald Duck decides to join the Navy, he leaves his nephews, Hewey, Dewey and Louie, in the care of his cantankerous Uncle Scrooge. He is an eccentric and miserly billionare who loves to literally swim in his money that is held in his corporate headquarters/vault known as the Money Bin. While the initial meeting was less than pleasant, events soon have them, along with a newly hired nanny, her daughter and Scrooge's stupid but skilled pilot, on countless adventures as the group goes around the world looking for treasure, or defending Scrooge's current assets from enemies like the Beagle Boys or Magica De Spell.
Ducktales intro:


Thundercats
The inhabitants of the planet Thundera evacuate just before it is destroyed. They were pursued by a band of mutants. All but one of their escape ships was destroyed. Only a small group of Thunderans (Thundercats) remained. With only half engine power, the group, which was led by Jaga, had to set a course for the nearest planet. Jaga commanded their ship while the other 7 were in their stasis tubes. Jaga died on their journey to Third Earth and their ship crashed there. Soon they made friends with various groups in the area and they designed a fortress. Mumm-Ra the centuries-old embodiment of evil, along with the mutants that destroyed the rest of the Thunderans are a constant threat. But Lion-O, the new leader of the Thundercats, with his weapon the "Sword of Omens" will help the Thundercats to have a standing chance.
Thundercats intro:


And as a bonus Thundercats uncensored outtakes Not for kids, kids.


Ultra-bonus: There was a Chuck Norris cartoon?

Coraline

Here's the rough draft poster for the new movie based on Neil Gaiman's Coraline and directed by the awesome Henry Selick. Looks neato!
  

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I Will Survive: A Tribute to B-Movies

Found this on You Tube and fell in love, enjoy!

Movie of the Week: Phantasm

 
"...the happy ending is The Tall Man prevails! He's our hero. It's a weird thing. It'd be sad if The Tall Man lost."~ Don Coscarelli

A young man named Jody attends the funeral of his friend, the victim of a bizarre murder. Jody's younger brother, Mike, watches the funeral from a hillside through high-powered binoculars. After the guests have departed, Mike watches a funeral attendant put the unburied casket into a waiting hearse. Looking to expose the strange ongoings at the mortuary, Mike breaks in at night. There he discovers spectral creatures in habiting the embalming cellar. He also finds a silver sphere with razor-sharp protruding daggers that flies through the air and drains the blood from its victim's heads. Mike tells Jody what he found, and they join forces to discover the truth about Morningside Mortuary.

Here's the trailer:



Taglines:
If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead!
Beware the ball, beware the tall man, beware the never dead.
Where the dead are no longer that way...

Fun Trivia:
The mansion used for the exterior shots of the mausoleum was also seen in the James Bond Film A View to a Kill (1985).

Several references to Frank Herbert's Dune, including a bar named "Dune" and a scene where Mike is forced to insert his hand into a black box that inflicts pain as part of a test.

The "ball" scenes were simple special effects. The sphere was being guided around a   corner by a fishing line. The sphere was thrown from behind the camera by a baseball pitcher and then the shot was printed in reverse. The ball attaching itself to the man's head was filmed by sticking it on his head, then pulling it off, and printing the shot in reverse.

The impressive, stone-looking interior of the mausoleum was actually constructed of plywood and marble colored plastic contact paper.


Title was changed to "The Never Dead" for Australian audiences as not to confuse it with the popular Aussie sex comedy Fantasm(1976).

Don Coscarelli rented all of the filming equipment used to make this movie, always on Fridays so he could use it all weekend and return it on Mondays, all the while only actually having to pay one days rental on the equipment.

Fun Quotes:
Jody: Now, remember: you don't aim a gun at a man unless you intend to shoot him. And, you don't shoot a man unless you intend to kill him. No warning shots. Hey, you listening to me? No warning shots. Warning shots are bullshit. You shoot to kill, or you don't shoot at all.

The Tall Man: You play a good game boy, but the game is finished, now you die.

Reggie:The ice cream is gonna be flyin' fast and furious.

The Tall Man:[shouts] Boooy!

Visit the official Phantasm website here.
Visit Reggie Bannister's official website here.

One of the scarriest horror movies I've ever seen, great movie! ~Becca

A fun paradoy of Phantasm called Bratz-tasm