I’ve discussed the Max Roseberg/Milton Subotsky Amicus horror anthologies before on this blog. All are good, if uneven, little entries in the genre, and FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE is no exception. This was the last of the Amicus tales of terror, a quartet of creepiness based on the work of British horror writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes. I’ll admit I’m not familiar with Mr. Cheywynd-Hayes’s work, so I couldn’t tell you if the movie’s faithful to it or not. I can tell you FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE is about 50/50 in the chills department.
An all-star British cast gives it a game try, though. The segments are linked by horror icon Peter Cushing , looking rather gaunter than usual as the proprietor of Temptations Ltd., an antique shop which serves to set the stories in motion. Unfortunately, the part is a waste of Cushing’s talent; I could see him in any of…
Today is not just Communist New Year. It’s also Law Day!
Now, I know that Law Day sounds like a made up holiday but, believe it or not, it is very much real. Dwight Eisenhower proclaimed the first Law Day on May 1st, 1958 and it has been observed every year since. In fact, Congress even made it one of those official holidays that no one has ever heard of.
Law Day, U.S.A., is a special day of celebration by the people of the United States—
(1) in appreciation of their liberties and the reaffirmation of their loyalty to the United States and of their rededication to the ideals of equality and justice under law in their relations with each other and with other countries; and
(2) for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life.
So, in honor of Law Day, here’s an Ace Attorney AMV!
If you haven’t ever heard of Loyalty Day before … well, then you’re probably a subversive or something. Loyalty Day has been a real holiday since 1955. That was when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed May 1st to be Loyalty Day. (I’m going to guess that this was done largely to provide an alternative to International Workers Day or Communist New Year or whatever May Day was known as back then.) The official statutory definition reads as follows:
(a) Designation.— May 1 is Loyalty Day.(b) Purpose.— Loyalty Day is a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.(c) Proclamation.— The President is requested to issue a proclamation—
(1) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Loyalty Day; and
(2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Loyalty Day with appropriate ceremonies in schools and other suitable places.
So, in honor of Loyalty Day, here’s a short film from 1972. It’s called Patriotism and it was apparently made to teach school children what it meant to be a patriot. Apparently, it means working as a crossing guard and wearing a vaguely fascist-looking vest while doing so. It also means keeping an eye out for weeds and trash in your neighborhood. My favorite part of this film is when the kid spots the turned over garbage can and gets a look of disgust on his face. You can just tell he’s thinking, “Those goddamn hippies.”
(For the record, that’s what I always think whenever I can’t find a pen at work.)
Personally, I agree that making a good neighborhood is the first step in making a good country so I definitely applaud the kids for taking the time to clean their neighborhood up. Still, I have to wonder: where are the adults? How many grown ups walked past the overturned trash can and just ignored it? Perhaps all the adults in the neighborhood were so disillusioned by George McGovern dumping Tom Eagleton as his running mate that they just gave up on life. Who knows? 1972 was apparently a pretty traumatic year for some people. Myself, I just find it amusing that there was a politician named McGovern. That’s like a seminarian named McClergy.
Speaking of adults, this short film was hosted by actor Bob Crane, who would be murdered six years later and whose life would serve as the basis for a rather depressing movie called Auto Focus.
Anyway, in the immortal words of Team America: World Police, “America! Fuck yeah!” Let’s make this the best Loyalty Day ever!
Since today is May Day, how about a little Marx for today’s scene of the day?
Believe it or not, when Duck Soup was initially released in 1933, it was considered to be something of a failure. Especially when compared to previous Marx Brothers films, it was seen as being a box office disappointment. The critics didn’t care much for it, either. They felt that the film’s political satire was preposterous and tasteless. Much as how today’s critics attacked the Death Wish remake for being released at a time when gun control was trending on twitter, critics in 1933 attacked Duck Soup for being a cynical, anti-government satire released during the Great Depression.
(To be honest, you would think that the Great Depression would have made people better appreciate anything that made fun of the incompetence of government but maybe people were in too bad of a mood to see the joke. Who knows? 1933 was a strange year.)
Of course, today, Duck Soup is justifiably viewed as being a classic comedy. It’s certainly my favorite Marx Brothers film. In the classic scene below, Harpo pretends to be Groucho’s reflection in a shattered mirror. It’s a marvelous piece of physical humor so enjoy it!
(And the next time you see a film bragging about their Rotten Tomatoes score, consider that if Rotten Tomatoes had existed in 1933, it would have gotten a “rotten” rating. The truth of the matter is that most critics are as clueless as Rufus T. Firefly looking into a broken mirror.)
Hi, everyone! Welcome to the merry old month of May!
So, today is May Day, which is apparently some sort of communist new year. (Actually, technically, the holiday is International Workers Day or something like that but May Day sounds prettier and little bit less grimy.) Anyway, with that in mind, it only seems appropriate (to me, at least) that today’s music video of the day should be about wanting money.
This song was originally recorded by Barrett Strong in 1959 and subsequently become heavily identified with the Beatles. There have been quite a few covers over the year but my favorite version is by The Flying Lizards, largely because this version achieves a perfect balance between sincerity and satire.
This video was recorded for a show called TopPop, which was apparently some sort of Danish music show. I have to admit that I have a weakness for bands that were willing to be openly eccentric. That’s something that the world is missing today. Everyone’s so tediously earnest.
The following is a piece (of what, I leave up to your determination) originally written for Daniel Elkin’s Your Chicken Enemy website, and I’m presenting it here in its original, unedited form so that, if you’re so inclined, you can compare the two versions and see what a significant difference a good editor — which Mr. Elkin most certainly is, and then some — can make in terms of whipping a review into fighting shape. Enjoy — and buy this book, it’s pretty damn incredible!
What do you do when you absolutely love a comic, but think it’s undercut by things entirely outside the parameters of the story and art itself?
Ho Che Anderson’s Godhead Volume One (a second is apparently on the way next year, fingers crossed) is a work of borderline-brilliant dystopian sci-fi, a logical extrapolation…
I don’t have much to say about this video. That’s actually one of the reasons why I picked it. My allergies and my asthma are teaming up to try to take me out before April ends so I figured this would be a good day to pick a video that can pretty much speak for itself.
I’ve liked this song ever since I first watched Boogie Nights. Apparently, in 2006, it was voted the “greatest guilty pleasure” of all time by the British music magazine, Q. I just find all the random shouts of “I’m taking a dive” to be fascinating.
Usually, I avoid discussing current events on this site but this has been such a chaotic week that I simply have to start out by mentioning everything that has happened since last Sunday. Bill Cosby was finally convicted. Tom Brokaw was finally exposed. Kanye West tweeted that he loved Donald Trump and the people on both sides of the political divide lost their damn minds. (And that was all just on Thursday!) Meanwhile, the Korean War might be over and, as usual, an excessive amount of coverage and discussion was devoted to the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. (If they had Nerd Prom in the 18th Century, the French Revolution would have stated a decade early.)
As for me, this week has been a mix of good and bad. The good part definitely included being interviewed on Ferguson Ink. It also included Wednesday, which was Administrative Professionals Day. The bad part has pretty much been this weekend, largely due to a combination of asthma and allergies. Again, I had to put off my plans to review 28 classic Italian horror films. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a start on that project next week.
Through the Shattered Lens 