Classic Horror Trailer #31

Well, here we are. Today's the big day, and of course we've saved a special trailer for last. From 1978, it's the John Carpenter original, the movie named for the day, it's Halloween



And we've got a special bonus for you today. One of the all-time great horror stars performs a work by one of the all-time great horror writers: here's Vincent Price performing Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven



Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Classic Horror Trailer #30

The movie set frightened theater-goers out of their skins upon its original releases, yet they lined up around the block to see it. It's first trailer (the one below) was pulled from theaters. It spawned any number of sequels and imitators. It was even re-released years later with additional footage as "The Version You've Never Seen". We're talking of course about today's feature, The Exorcist



And really, if we're talking Exorcist, could there be any other bonus?



Yeah, it's unfortunately incomplete. Why? Ask NBC. Apparently even with the advertising they're afraid actually giving viewers what they want will somehow take away some opportunity to "monetize" their 30 odd year old product. But really, that's a rant for another day. Instead, how's about we just take the opportunity to sit back and enjoy another SNL clip (this time in it's entirety) starring Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase...

Classic Horror Trailer #29

Shirley Jackson's classic story The Haunting of Hill House has inspired a number of movies, but the Robert Wise original remains the best of the lot...



Our bonus takes us from the sublime to the ridiculous... From 2001, Dumpsterpiece Theater brings you 1967's Hilbillies In a Haunted House starring Ferlin Husky, Joi Lansing, John Carradine, and Lon Chaney Jr.

Everbody has those days...

even him..

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

"I'll analyze it... with science."

Classic Horror Trailer #28

Yeah, I know, it was followed up by an outrageous number of incredibly inane and disconnected sequels (marsupial werewolves in Australia? really?) But the original definitely qualifies as a classic...



And let's face it, if we're talking werewolves, there's really only one bonus to goo with 'em...

You ladies can use the extra hour to thank me for this...

Here's one way to remember the fall time change (which actually occurred last week in the UK)

Just call it a Rush Job

Y'know, there's really nothing more satisfying than seeing the self-righteous get hoist by their own petard...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

After seeing all I can think is "Let's hope Rush doesn't see the clip below... or else he'll have all new 'true' material for his show"...

Classic Horror trailer #27

More Val Lewton today, with a description taken from the youtube poster who says it as well as I could...

RKO producer Val Lewton seemed to thrive upon taking the most lurid film titles and coming up with pocket-edition works of art. Saddled with the studio-dictated title I Walked With a Zombie, Lewton, together with scripters Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, concocted a West Indies variation on Jane Eyre. Trained nurse (Frances Dee) travels to the tropics to care for Christine Gordon, the wife of seemingly abusive Tom Conway. At first, Dee merely believes her patient to be comatose. But as the drums throb and the natives behave restlessly, Dee tries to bring her patient back to life by jungle magic. Conway is racked with guilt, believing himself responsible for his wife's condition; his guilt is stoked by Conway's drunken brother James Ellison, who has always loved Gordon. Utilizing very limited sets and only a handful of extras, director Jacques Tourneur manages to evoke an impression of an expansive tropical island populated at every turn by voodoo worshippers. Many of the sequences, notably Frances Dee's first languid stroll into the midst of the native ceremonies, have an eerie dream-like quality that pervades even the most worn-out, badly processed TV prints of I Walked With Zombie.

For our bonus tie-in today we go back into the archives a bit... when the economy wasn't in such dire srtaits and health care was not the main issue of the day. Instead, then-president Bush seemed to have other things in his mind:

Classic Horror Trailer #26

As we're running through these horror trailers, it occurs to me that the name Val Lewton has been terribly underrepresented. a fixture of 30's horror and suspense, Lewton had a rather unique deal with his studio. They would give him a title and start the marketing campaign, and he was expected to make a movie to fit. Of course, quite often what he turned in wasn't exactly what they were expecting, but his movies were also rarely short of imaginative and suspenseful. Take, for instance, today's offering: The Cat People:



And today's bonus? Well, in 1982, a remake of the movie was made starring Nastassia Kinski in the Simone Simon role. And from the soundtrack of the movie came this great David bowie song - which you may also remember from a different recent remake...

Classic Horror Trailer #25

Is it a classic? Yehah, I think it fits. Certainly if we can include the Friday the 13th movies, we have to include this one, too. True, it may not be 50 60 or 70 years old, but in a lot of ways, this movie was a classic as soon as it came out. Which one are we talking about? Check out the trailer...



Whew... gives me chills even now... But here's a little mashup to make things a bit brighter. Honestly, I'd hoped to give you the original video, but apparenty at the moment it's nowhere to be found...

Classic Horror Trailer #24

Who likes a good haunted house story? We do, of course. So here's one of the most interesting, especially since it's supposedly based on a true story. From 1979, here's The Amityville Horror:



Ok, today's bonus is an investigation into that whole "based on a true story" bit... Produced by the BBC, exploring and explaining not only the events of the haunting, but the killings that took place before, here's The Real Amityville Horror:

There's short, and then there's these...

Taking a cue from Ernest Hemingway who famously wrote a short story in only six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), Wired Magazine challenged some of their favorite writers to do the same. The full results can be found at the above link, but here are some favorites:

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn

Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore

With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
- Frank Miller

Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.
- Richard Powers

Easy. Just touch the match to
- Ursula K. Le Guin

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
- William Gibson

Three to Iraq. One came back.
- Graeme Gibson

Commas, see, add, like, nada, okay?
- Gregory Maguire

Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here."
- Steven Meretzky

...and perhaps my favorite of the bunch:

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

I'm Dwarfed By The Size of Your Bohemian...

This one's for David... because... well, just because...

Quote of the Week

"Some people sing in the shower, in the shower half an hour. No kids, three minutes is more than enough. I've counted, three minutes, and I don't stink."

- Venezuelan premier Hugo Chavez, speaking during a televised Cabinet meeting about the need to conserve water.

How about a little pie with that soup?

Barry Mitchell wrote this ditty for Soupy Sales'birthday and perfomed it live for him at an appearance at the Friars club. It seems a fitting tribute to a man known for taking over 20,000 pies in the face. Come Pie with Me:



By the way, here's a link to the LA Times Obituary for Mr. Sales...

Classic Horror Trailer #23

It's Friday, so what better way to celebrate than with the character who made Friday not only a day to celebrate, but a day to fear... But today, instead of one or two trailers, we've got something really special - a compilation of all 11 of the original Friday the 13th trailers (let's not even mention last year's remake/reimagining/really cocking things up, shall we?)



What? After all that you still want a bonus? Ok, well, since we all know that the Friday movies aren't really about high art or charater development or anything like that, but really they're all about the kills, how about a video that throws together all of the kill scenes from numbers one through ten? How many are there? Well, since there's a running tally at the bottom, just watch and see...

R.I.P. Soupy

Also today came word of the passing of Soupy Sales last night at a hospital in the Bronx. Mr Sales had been in declining health for a number of years. Best known as a television comedian, Soupy was one of the greatest comedians of the early television years and one of the first to truly make television his own.

A bit of biography courtesy of Wikipedia:

Sales was born as Milton Supman in Franklinton in Franklin County in north central North Carolina to Irving and Sadie Supman. The Jewish Irving Supman, a dry goods merchant, had emigrated to America from Hungary in 1894. Soupy Sales had two siblings, Leonard Supman (deceased) and Jack Supman (b. 1921). Sales got his nickname from his family. His older brothers had been nicknamed "Hambone" and "Chicken Bone"; Milton was dubbed "Soup Bone," which was later shortened to "Soupy". When he became a disc jockey, he began using the stage name Soupy Hines. After he became established, it was decided that "Hines" was too close to the Heinz soup company, so he chose the surname Sales, after comedian Chic Sale...

Sales is best known for his daily children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales. The show was originally called 12 O'Clock Comics, and was later known as The Soupy Sales Show. Improvised and slapstick in nature, Lunch with Soupy Sales was a rapid-fire stream of comedy sketches, gags, and puns, almost all of which resulted in Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark. Sales developed pie-throwing into an art form: straight to the face, on top of the head, a pie to both ears from behind, moving into a stationary pie, and countless other variations. He claimed to have been hit by more than 25,000 pies during his career...

In 1964, Sales found a new weekday home at WNEW-TV in New York City. This version was seen locally until September 1966, and 260 episodes were syndicated by Screen Gems to local stations outside the New York market during the 1965-1966 season. This show marked the height of Sales' popularity. It featured guest appearances by stars such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., as well as musical groups like the Shangri-Las and The Supremes.

As with his earlier shows, Sales performed musical numbers on the show and his extensive jazz record collection was used in his TV work. "Mumbles" by Oscar Peterson with Clark Terry was Pookie's theme. "Comin' Home Baby" by Herbie Mann was the theme for Sales' "Gunninger the Mentalist" character (a parody of Dunninger the Mentalist).

This was also the period when Sales starred in the movie comedy Birds Do It. During the run of the New York show, actor Frank Nastasi played White Fang, Black Tooth, Pookie, and all the "guy at the door" characters...

One incident from the TV show caused Sales quite a bit of trouble... but lets hear the story from the man himself:



And also for your viewing pleasure, here's a complete show of Soupy's from 1965:



Thanks for the laughs, Soupy... You will be missed...

(for those interested in reading more about Mr. Sales, here's an excellent remembrance by Mark Evanier...)

R.I.P. Vic Mizzy

Time to catch up on a couple of things other than Horror Trailers. Unfortunately our first two updates today relate to the passing of a couple of legendary Television figures. first, composer vic Mizzy. Now Mizzy is not a household name, but his tunes certainly are. Besides composing songs for Doris Day, the Andrews Sisters, and many others, besides composing the scores for various films, including a couple for the recently mentioned William Castle, besides composing various TV themes and scores, there are really three things that I personally (and probably most people) will remember Vic Mizzy for. First, he wrote (and recorded, overdubbing his own voice multiple times) the theme song for The Addams Family:



Second, he also wrote the theme song for Green Acres:



Finally, Mizzy also composed music for a number of Don Knotts films, including The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, which contained the following iconic organ theme:



Rest in peace, Mr. Mizzy, and I'll say a small prayer for you tomorrow when the wee one and I are watching Mr. Chicken...

(for those in Nashville, there is a free showing of the movie at the downtown public library tomorrow afternoon which is going to be hosted by local horror host Dr. Gangrene.)

Classic Horror Trailer #22

Keeping with the silent theme, we take a look at an early German import, going all the way back to 1919 for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.



And for our bonus? Yep, once again, here's the full film... enjoy!

Classic Horror Trailer #21

Today our classic trailers go silent. Well, not really, but today we celebrate one of the masters of the silent film era, Mr. Lon Chaney Sr. and perhaps his most famous silent horror, The Phantom of the Opera.



Our bonus? Well, we've got a two-fer for ya again today. First up, once again for those who may never have seen the full original, well, here ya go...



Secondly, perhaps the most horrific tie-in we could think of (with the exception of the 2005 Gerard Butler musical adaptation, that is):

Classic Horror Trailer #20

More William Castle showmanship today as Vincent Price fights the menace of The Tingler:



Today's bonus comes to you live from Wonderfest 2006 where Nasville's own horror host Dr Gangrene had his own encounter with the Tingler...



and then, once the movie was over...

Classic Horror Trailers #18 and 19

William Castle was in a lot of ways a combination of Alfred Hitchcock and P.t. Barnum. He was not only a film maker, but a master showman who knew how to go the extra mile in selling a film in order to put butts in seats. From "Emergo" to "Ghost Viewers" to ensuring all of his audience members against death by fright, Castle was a master showman. So today in our Classic horror Trailer Double Feature we take a look at two of Castle's most popular flicks. The first starred Vincent Price as a man who lures seven unsuspecting visitors to his home for a most unusual birthday party:



Our second feature is another haunted house story. but this particular house has not one, not two, but a full baker's dozen of ghosts...



And finally, yes, we do have a bonus for you today. here's a three part documentary from the "fearmakers" series that will give you a good introduction to William Castle - both the man and his films:

Classic Horror Trailer #15, 16, and 17

what?! No updates since Wednesday? Nahh, that can't be right, can it? Ok, yeah, due to a number of circumstances, I've fallen a bit behind in posting... but, a triple feature now, a double feature later this afternoon, then back on schedule tomorrow, and we should be caught up, right? At least on the trailers... of course, then we've got a whole bunch of other stuff that's run across the desk here, but... well, let's get on with this part, at least...

So last time we looked at Hammer's entry into the horror field with The Curse of Frankenstein. No, it wasn't really the first horror film that Hammer studios made, but it's the first one that we really think of as a true "Hammer Horror". And it was merely the beginning of many more to come. Today we look at the three movies that rounded out Hammer's cseries of remakes (or reaeely, to use today's terminology, re-imaginings) of the 1930's Universal monster movies. First up, here's the trailer for Hammer's direct follow-up, The Horror of Daracula, or as it was known in the states, simply Dracula.



Then, the next year, Hammer followed on their success with Christopher Lee appearing this time as The Mummy.



Finally, in 1961, Hammer decided to reuse some already standing sets to send an unwary Oliver Reed to 18th Century Spain where he unfortunately contracted The Curse of the Werewolf...



Ok, no bonuses this time around, but check back later as we head into the castle...

Classic Horror Trailer #14

In the late 50's Britain's Hammer studios had the idea to remake the Universal classic monster movies, updated with more blood, and, more importantly, color. The Curse of Frankenstein, released in 1957 was the beginning of something big for the studio:



From there, the studio took off, not only maing many sequels, but opening their pantheon to include Dracula, the Mummy, and more. For our bonus today, how about a look at the studio that churned out some of the best monster movies ever made...

Return of the Revenge of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Junkyard Strikes Again Part 2

Yep, as promised, more recent links that may have fallen through the cracks...

ITEM! Paramount Pictures is trying to judge the amount of Paranormal Activity on the Internet. Of course, you know if this is a success, it's eventually going to lead to the movie dramatising the campaign behind the movie...

ITEM! BTW, that little movie we were just talking about? It actually doupled the cost of making it this past weekend. On each screen it was showing on...

ITEM! Never really been interested in following the ups and down and ins and outs of the stock market? After seeing this, you might be...

ITEM! Advice to parents: If you send your child to school with leftover KFC, be sure not to send along the spork, or they might wind up in detention...

ITEM! 4 month old "Chubby Monkey" is denied health insurance - apparently having a prehensile tail is considered a pre-existing condition...

ITEM! I can't help but wonder how the folks behind yesterday's conservative bible project are going to deal with the fact that apparently the bible doesn't say God created the earth after all...

ITEM! Since most beauty pageant contestants are considered plastic anyway, Hungary decides to make it official...

ITEM! Fortunately (at least for Liverpudlian men), it doesn't look like the women of Liverpool will be needing to enter the Miss Plastic competition anytime soon...

ITEM! Oh, and we understand that passengers at England's Manchester airport are being instantly qualified or disqualified for both of the above competitions...

ITEM! Attention people of Indianapolis: All those people in Crown Hill Cemetery are NOT the dead come back to life - they're just partiers celebrating "Family Fun Day"...

ITEM! While we're on alerts, Attention drivers in Boston: This from Devon England: "Deliberately splashing people by driving through a big puddle could mean that the motorist was driving without reasonable consideration for other road users. People involved in this practice could find themselves prosecuted and points put on their licence." You are all put on notice...

ITEM! Yes, the article actually says that the perpetrator "underwent a police grilling" before being charged with criminal damage to two hamburgers. Fortunately Officer Big Mac is on the case...

ITEM! Is your child still undecided about how to dress up this Halloween? How about as a soon to be eaten lobster, a roast turkey, or a chicken with an alien burstng from its chest? (and yes, there are pics)...

ITEM! Guess who's trying to Ram his way into the NFL?

ITEM! Finally, it's good to know that Amy Winehouse now has her priorities straight "Despite Winehouse’s fear that her breasts might explode, she stopped on her way to the hospital for some chicken."

Classic Horror Trailer #13

In 1968, George Romero broke away from the pack with an extremely low budget film about a diverse group of people trapped in a farmhouse while the rest of the world has been overrun by zombies. From that time, Romero has made his own sequels, remakes have been done, and his then-partners also made their own set of sequels, and "...of the Dead" (or, "...of the Living Dead") has been a part of the horror landscape and lexicon ever since. Here, then, is the trailer for that first ground-breaking flick, Night of the Living Dead:



Our bonus? Well, we've got a twofer today. First up, for those who might not have ever actually seen the original (or might just want to visit it again), here's the entire movie... just for you...



Secondly, as I mentioned above, Romero is still making sequels to the series. The newest one, scheduled for sometime later this year, is called Survival of the Dead. Here's a peek:

Return of the Revenge of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Junkyard

Yeah, it's been awhile since our last Junkyard, so this one's kinda supersized... Some folks call it "linkblogging", we just call it "The Junkyard"... What is it? Basically an every-once-in-a-while collection of those items I've run across that don't necessarily need a full write-up or maybe just little bits that I find amusing or quirky or.... Anyway, just follow the links in each item for more info... You get the idea... anyway, enough preamble, on with the show...

ITEM! Y'ever feel that the real problem with the Bible is that it's just too gosh-darn liberal? Well, worry no more, because the Conservapedia Bible Project is here to let you help fix it...

ITEM! Are ya a small farmer? Do you like buying locally produced foods? Perhaps bartering eggs for tomatoes? Well, you can forget about it if the Produce Traceability Initiative and the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 which just passed the house aren't severly modified by the senate...

ITEM! Now we know why Nero Wolfe was so paranoid and kept such meticulous records about his orchids... He didn't want SWAT teams invading his house or to spend years in a federal penitentiary...

ITEM! "We're not asking people to spy on their neighbors," [Los Angeles police Cmdr. Joan] McNamara said while exhorting the crowd. "If you see something, say something."

ITEM! What's that? You think the posting of bills online so the public can know what their representatives are actually voting on might be a good thing? Well, fortunately your representatives don't agree with you...

ITEM! Think that 2 can dine for 10.99 deal sounds good? You might want to think again...

ITEM! When you decide it might be fun to beat up on those two girly-men walking down the street, you might want to make sure they're not actually cage fighters on their way to a costume party...

ITEM! Frequent flyers: if you think taking your belt and shoes off before getting on a plane is for sh!t, wait'll you get a load of this: "All Nippon Airways (ANA) claims that empty bladders mean lighter passengers, a lighter aircraft and thus lower fuel use."

ITEM! Of course, some are saying that airport security is one of the reasons Chicago didn't get the olympics...

ITEM! Can you really oppose a bill that "would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR 'if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.'"? Apparently 30 Republican senators can...

ITEM! After having to be told "I have been in Jewish cemeteries. There is never a cross on a tombstone of a Jew.", the Supreme Court decides that maybe making no decision is sometimes the best thing they can do...

ITEM! I realise the economy is leading a lot of people to do things you might not expect of them, but does Marge Simpson need the money THAT much?!

ITEM! "HEY! What is that?!" "I think it's tear gas!" "Quick, take off your bra!" (Hey, at least with two cups you can share with your neighbor...)

ITEM! Obviously whoever pulled off this theft was just a concerned citizen scared by the terror threat levels and doing his best to be prepared in case if an imminent gas attack...

ITEM! At first described as resembling "a dignified old man", this parrot soon proved nothing but a horny teen...

ITEM! So if you're a police officer whose partner has just shot a homeowner in the back six times, dragged his bloodied body out of the house in front of his family, put him on the hood of your squad car and then driven down the street with it on top of the car, you might want to make sure the 911 center is not still recording what's going on in the house when you tell him "That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?"

ITEM! A school in Wales has come up with what appears to be an innovative solution to the problem of school children smoking: Hand out the cigarettes to them and build them a smoking shelter...

ITEM! Meanwhile, closer to home, New York city schools have banned bake sales... except, of course, for the one day a month when the PTA can sell dark fudge brownies and lemon bars... oh, and after 6pm on weekdays, anything goes...

ITEM! For those who are intersted in what you're not being told, Project Censored has released their list of the top 25 under- or non- reported stories for 2009/2010...

ITEM! The next minority group likely to be out in the streets demanding their civil rights? Protestants...

ITEM! Can you really improve a lead line like "A gay man tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat."? I don't think so...

ITEM! Speaking of lesbians, guess who's being more adversely affected by "Don't ask, don't tell"?

ITEM! And speaking of lead lines, how about "Boy drags flashy man of God to police for terrorising his buttocks with monster whopper"

LAST ITEM! Finally, is she sexy? Yes. Is she the sexiest woman alive? Hmm...

More tomorrow! (Yep, really... more!)

Classic Horror Trailers #11 and 12

Tep, we've got another trailer double feature for ya today since I was taking sort of an internet vacation yesterday... Two interconnected trailers, one from the 50's, and one from the 80's. First up, from 1951, The Thing from Another World.



And the Second part of our double feature is John Carpenter's remake, one of the few which many would say well surpasses the original. Here's Kurt Russell in 1982's The Thing.



Ok, I'll admit up front our bonus today doesn't really fit in with our classic horror trailers theme... but if you're as big a fan of those really bad 50's and 60's horror/scifi movies as I am, you'll find a lot to love in The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Below I've put together a number of trailers and clips both from the original and it's sequel The Lost Skeleton Returns Again...

Classic Horror Trailer #10

Hmmm... some might argue that today's choice is really more sci-fi than horror, but personally I think it's pretty fairly counted in both camps... and a fitting follow-up to yesterday's giant spider. Today we have even scarier radioactive creatures that, as the trailer says, threaten all of mankind. Yes, today we have... Them!



No time for a bonus today, but I'll try to include an extra special one tomorrow...

Quote of the week

You know, I have a pretty good idea of the Republican plan for the next three years - "Don't let Obama do anything". What kills me is, apparently that's the Democrats' plan, too. - Bill Maher, New Rules, 9/25/09

The Runner up, from the same diatribe:

30% interest on credit cards? Are you kidding me? It's a good thing for the banks the Supreme Court legalized sodomy.

You know it's bad when even NPR is reporting on Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize and they can't keep the "REALLY?!" out of their voices. I mean, seriously, I thought the prize was supposed to go to someone who had actually accomplished something. But after nine months in office, we still have prisoners in Gitmo (with Obama neither ruling out more torture nor doing away with the other secret prisons), soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan (with no real hope of them coming home anytime soon), "don't ask don't tell" still prevails in the military, the economy is still in the tank, and many of the more heinous policies of the Bush administration are still being carried on, in both the foreign and domestic arenas. And of course, there's the current health care debacle, which not only is not taking the shape that Obama campaigned on, but is proving an effective distraction from other just as pressing matters. And for those who say (as I've tried to up to this point) that 9 months isn't long enough to judge the president's long-term effectiveness, since it's apparently enough to judge his worthiness for the peace prize, it would seem it's also long enough to judge him on other matters.

Of course, as Maher points out in his above-quoted New Rules segment, it's not just the president and congress that's at fault here, but also "we the people". No, I'm not suggesting that the teabaggers are right in disrupting town hall meetings and showing their racist stripes and comparing Obama to Hitler, but I am suggesting that maybe it's time that we, as Americans, start speaking up again, start standing up for ourselves, and start demanding that a President who has a majority in both houses of congress stop trying to "reach across the aisle" to people who have NO interest in being reached out to, stop trying to build some kind of imaginary coalition with people whose only objective is to tear him down and regain power for themselves (actually, Rush Limbaugh, much as I hate to admit it, may be the most honest conservative out there when he says that he hopes that Obama does fail in his goals - it's obvious that he's far from the only one that feels that way, but he's one of the few who will actually admit it), and instead start using the power of his office and the power of his party's control of congress to actually DO SOMETHING and fulfill those lofty goals and dreams that we elected him on. As Maher also says, "What happened to change? And when did the fierce urgency of 'now' become 'Your call is important to us, please continue to hold'?"

Here's the full video:
(fair warning, this is definitely not family friendly, and not safe for work)

What it is, What it was, What it will be...

So while we've got the wayback machine set for the 50's, let's take a look in on 1953 when Andy Griffith gives us one of the best stand-up bits ever...

Classic Horror Trailers #8 and 9

Yeah, ok, so I missed posting a trailer for yesterday, so how about a double feature today? First up, let's move to 1956 when Dr. Miles Bennel started noticing something... different about the people around him:



And, for a different look at small town terrors from the 50's, how about this film showing a midwest desert town terrorized by a really big creep:



what's that? You want bonuses, too? Ok, first up, how about a look at the Invasion remake from 1978 starring Donald Sutherland?



And, to go with our Tarantula trailer, how about a look at a real version of the giant spider... taking on a snake!

Classic Horror Trailer #7

So yesterday's classic creature swam into theaters, but today's OOZES! Yep, that's right, it's the 1958 classic, and the movie that made Steve McQueen a star (ummm... well...) The Blob!



And for today's bonus feature, we have a special treat. In 1972, Larry hagman both starred in and directed a sequel to the Blob called Beware the Blob, and the good folk at Imgae Entertainment have made the entire movie available online. So, sit back, grab a bowl of red jello, and enjoy:

Classic Horror Trailers #6

Let's move our classic horror spotlight up a couple of decades this time to the year 1954. A time when atomic spawned monsters were beginning to invade our drive-ins, and when 3-D was all the rage. And into the midst of all this horror swam a creature who was actually a throw-back to a prehistoric age, a creature who lived hidden away in a lost lagoon...



Today's bonus takes a look at how the Creature was tied in with another fad. In the late 80's and early 90's there was a resurgence of interest in pinball machines, but this time around they were full of all the bells and whistles that the manufacturers could pack in. And there was ususally some attempt to tie the machines to some other concept, to give each one a "theme". Certainly Universal, who has never been shy about liscensing their monsters was not going to miss out on this windfall, so in 1992, the Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball machine hit the arcade floors, ready to terrorize everyone out of their quarters...

Let's hope this isn't a Sign...

One of the traditions of the Dr. Who universe, along with regenerating doctors and ever changing companions, is that as times and tastes change, so does the logo. as a matter of fact, there have been nearly as many logos over the years as there have been doctors. And today, the BBC unveiled the latest iteration of the logo, to accompany the new era of Matt Smith and Steven Moffat...



Ummm... ok, first impression time... can I just say "Yuck"? Seriously, I think this is one of the fugliest logos the series has had. I'm sure someone thought the "DW" tardis was innovative, but everything about it, from the font to the purple coloring just seems so garish. It may grow on me, but my serious first reaction is reflected above: Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come from the Grand Moff. Especially since we've also been promised a redesign of the TARDIS...

>shudder<

Of course, despite the new logo, there's definitely one good reason to be looking forward to the new series:



and just for good measure, here are a couple more pics from the recent 5th series filming...

Classic Horror Trailer #5

I douobt that many people will argue with me when I say that very rarely are sequals equal to the original movie. I also doubt that many will argue when I say that today's feature is one of the possible exceptions to that rule. In 1935, four years after the debut of the original, Director James Whale was turned loose to create a new story of the monster. Turning back to the original source, Whale took the B-plot of the story, in which the monster seeks a mate to end its loneliness, as the plot of his sequel. Despite numerous troubles during the production and numerous changes imposed by censors, the result is still nothing less than wonderfully entertaining. here you are then, the trailer for 1935's The Bride of Frankenstein:



And for today's bonus, why don't we take a bit of a left turn and feature one of the all-time prog-rock classics, The Edgar Winter Group performing, what else, "Frankenstein":

Say Uncle!

Today we're going to feature one of my favorite webcasts. Every week, Uncle Jay puts out a 5 minute or so video in which he attempts to make sense of the big issues of the past week in a segment called Uncle Jay Explains the News. Here's the description from his youtube page.

Since 1995, Uncle Jay's been helping small minds understand big news!
Uncle Jay explains the news to today's innocent, ignorant and immature minds.

Also to children.

Watch Uncle Jay so you can figure out whats going on, because grownups maybe you noticed havent.

And here's the man himself with his latest update:

Classic Horror Trailer #4

So I'm tempted to make some kind of "let's wrap things up" pun here, but the truth is, like the month of October, we're just getting started! Still, here's today's trailer, rounding out the classic universal monsters with that dessicated prince of Egypt, The Mummy:



Oh, and for today's bonus, let's take a look at what happened to the dry guy after his first starring role. Here's a mummyrific collection of trailers for Universal's four (yep, four) follow-ups:

There are dummies, and then there are dummies...

Those of you who are looking forward to Jeff Dunham's upcoming show on Comedy Central (and, yes, I count myself in that crowd) ought to enjoy these clips from a guy that I consider to be one of Dunham's direct predecessors: Ronn Lucas. First, here's an older clip of Lucas from the Smothers Brothers Show:



And here's a couple of clips featuring Lucas and his friend Scorchy from his own TV series which was produced and aired in the UK in 1990:





And finally here's a bit from Ronn's Vegas act where he works with a truly BIG dummy...

Ok, let's be honest...

...generally the movies made for the SyFy (previously Sci-Fi, but let's not even start to get into that today) channel... well, generally they pretty much stink.. and this one my prove to be no exception. But from the preview, at least, I'm actually holding out a little hope. Now some of you may remember the character from the 1996 theatrical feature starring Billy Zane, but he's actually been around much longer than that. Here's some excerpts from the character's wikipedia entry just to give a little historical context:

The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many forms of media, including television and film, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the African jungle. The series began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a color Sunday strip on May 28, 1939; both are still running as of 2009. At the peak of its popularity, the strip was read by over a hundred million people every day.

Lee Falk died in 1999. As of 2009, the comic strip is produced by writer Tony DePaul and artist Paul Ryan. Previous artists on the newspaper strip include Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy, Bill Lignante, Sy Barry, George Olesen, Keith Williams, Fred Fredericks and Graham Nolan.

New Phantom stories are also published in comic books in different parts of the world, among them by Moonstone Books in USA, Egmont in Sweden, Norway and Finland, Frew Publications in Australia, Eura Editoriale in Italy, and Indrajaal Comics in India.

While the Phantom is not the first fictional costumed crimefighter, he is the first to wear the skintight costume that has become a hallmark of comic book superheroes, and the first to wear a mask with no visible pupils, another superhero standard...

In the jungles of the fictional African country of Bangalla, there is a myth featuring The Ghost Who Walks, a powerful and indestructible guardian of the innocent and fighter of all types of injustice. Because he seems to have existed for generations, many believe him to be immortal. In reality, the Phantom is descended from 20 previous generations of crime-fighters who all adopt the same persona. When a new Phantom takes the task from his dying father, he swears the Oath of the Skull: "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms, and my sons and their sons shall follow me". (The comic sometimes runs flashback adventures of previous Phantoms.)

The Phantom of 2008 is the 21st in the line. Unlike most costumed heroes, he has no superhuman powers, relying only on his wits, physical strength, skill with his weapons, and fearsome reputation to fight crime. His real name is Kit Walker. References to "Mr. Walker" are in the strip often accompanied by a footnote saying "For 'The Ghost Who Walks'", although some versions of the Phantom's history suggest that Walker was actually the surname of the man who became the first Phantom.

A signature of the character is his two rings. One has a pattern formed like four crossing sabres, "The Good Mark", that he leaves on visitors whom he befriends, placing the person under his protection. The other, "The Evil Mark" or "Skull Mark" has a skull shape, which leaves a scar of the corresponding shape on the enemies he punches with it. He wears the Good mark on his left hand because it is closer to the heart, and the Evil Mark on his right hand. The Skull Ring's original owner was Emperor Nero of the Roman empire, and the Good Mark ring was made after the sixth Phantom founded the Jungle Patrol. It would later be revealed that the Skull Ring had been made from the nails that hung Jesus to the cross. [10]

His base is in the Deep Woods of Bengali (originally "Bengalla", or "Bangalla" and renamed Denkali in the Indian edition), a fictional country initially said to be set in Asia, near India, but depicted as in Africa during and after the 1960s. The Phantom's base is the fabled Skull Cave, where all previous Phantoms are buried. For a period of time, he also lived with his family in a tree house built by the Rope People — a tribe he had assisted. The Phantom has an Isle of Eden in which he has trained animals that are natural enemies to live in harmony, a Mesa in America called Walker's Table and a castle in the Old World.

The Phantom is a commander of Bangalla's world-famous Jungle Patrol, who never know his name but answer consistently to his orders. Due to a betrayal leading to the death of the 14th Phantom, the identity of the commander has been kept hidden from members of the patrol ever since. The Phantom use several ways to stay in contact. These include radio and a safe with a false bottom. At a few rare occasions the Phantom also visited the patrol wearing his patrol uniform. The sixth Phantom originally formed the Jungle Patrol with the help of former pirate Redbeard and his men back in 1664...

(click the link above to read the full entry)

Obviously, the character has great longevity and a large worldwide following, even though he has never really caught on in the states. Will the upcoming SyFy movie be the channel through which "the ghost who walks" finally breaks through into the larger national consciousness? Probably not, considering the network's record. But, then, there's always the chance that the 22nd time is the charm...

Here's the trailer...

Classic Horror Trailer #3

So our spotlight on classic horror trailers continues today with another in the great cycle of universal monsters. Today we bring you Lon Chaney Jr. as The Wolfman:



And today's bonus? Well, how about a peek at one of the great modern interpretations of this story?

Really, W?

Ya had to disqualify Ms. Rowling on the basis that her books "encouraged witchcraft"? Really?

from the Guardian:

A memoir by George W Bush's former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books "encouraged witchcraft".

According to the liberal American blog Think Progress, Matt Latimer's Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor reveals how politicised the medal, which is America's highest civilian honour, became during the Bush administration.

Latimer, whose memoir was published last week by Crown in the US, says that the "narrow thinking" of "people in the White House" led them "to actually object to giving the author JK Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft".

Ok, let's take a quick look at this, shall we? According to Wikipedia, "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a decoration bestowed by the President of the United States and is, along with the equivalent Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress, the highest civilian award in the U.S. It recognizes those individuals whom have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is not limited to U.S. citizens and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform."

Past winners of the Medal of Freedom include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Harper Lee, Pope John Paul II, Muhammahd Ali, Nelson Mandela, Simon Wiesenthal, Marian Wright Edelman, Colin Powell, Thurgood Marshall, and many many more.

And while I'll admit that Ms. Rowling's books are entertaining, wouldn't it be easier to dismiss her simply by saying "Look at that list. Does her name really belong among those others?"

But no, W. and his administration had to show not only their true colors but their true... ok, i'm not really sure WHAT word to use here, because while "idiocy" seems harsh it also seems fitting... by labelling her stories as "encouraging witchcraft"?!?!

Of course, since he'd already awarded the medal to Doris Day, perhaps his advisers felt the "One of these names is not like the others" defense was already kind of invalid...

When you first view these...

...you may think they're either from Chicago '68 or some science fiction movie (especially the second video) but no, they're from Pittsburgh, about a week ago...





Of course, the real question here once again is why we're having to watch these videos on youtube (and find out about them from blogs) instead of them being screamed on the nightly news and the 24 hour news channels...

Picture of the Week

from Smithsonian:

We've been looking at other planets through telescopes for four centuries. But if you really want to get to know a place, there's no substitute for being there. And in the past decade, more than 20 spacecraft have ventured into the deepest reaches of our solar system. These probes, unlike the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories that merely orbit Earth, have actually traveled to other planets and approached the Sun, sending back pictures that humble or awe, even as they advance astronomers' understanding of our corner of the universe.

In this image from the SOHO satellite, a "prominence" erupts from the Sun.

Talk about nature and all her powerful glory...

Pretty soon we're gonna need a czar czar (har har)

from Wired:

The “copyleft” and the “copyright” are both applauding the presidential appointment Friday of Victoria A. Espinel to become the nation’s first copyright czar.

Congress created the new czar position last year as part of intellectual property reform legislation...

In October, President George W. Bush signed into law legislation creating the new czar, a position on par with the nation’s drug czar Congress created in 1982 to wage the War on Drugs.

“We believe she will be fair in her approach to intellectual property enforcement issues,” said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a left-leaning digital-rights advocacy group.

The “Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act,” known as the Pro-IP Act, requires the new czar to “report directly to the president and Congress regarding domestic international intellectual property enforcement programs.”

“Today’s nomination is a positive development towards fully implementing and funding the Pro-IP Act, and we hope President Obama and Congress will continue this important work by ensuring Victoria has the resources and authority necessary to get the job done,” said Mark Esper, a vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Before Bush signed the legislation, the White House successfully lobbied the Senate to remove language tasking the Department of Justice with suing copyright and trademark infringers on behalf of Hollywood, the recording industry, manufacturers and software makers. But the Bush administration also said it didn’t want a copyright czar, either. Lawmakers sent him the package anyway, and Bush signed it...

The czar’s position is charged with overseeing government anti-piracy crackdowns and, among other things, training other countries about IP enforcement. The Pro-IP Act also called for the creation of an FBI piracy unit and allows for the forfeiture of equipment used in large pirating operations. The legislation was strongly backed by Hollywood, the recording industry, unions, manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce.

I'm sure you need to add the name Disney in that last group also. After all, they're all groups doing their best to block any new entries to the public domain and any truly sensible copyright reform, and if there's any one group that has done their best to make sure that creators have no access to our shared cultural heritage while at the same time benefitting greatly from that same heritage, it's the house of mouse...