Music Video of the Day: Dangerous Type by The Cars (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

On August 1st, 1981, MTV premiered. Over the course of 24 hours, 116 unique music videos were played on MTV. Yes, there was a time when the M actually did stand for music.

The 94th video to premiere on MTV was this performance clip for The Cars’s Dangerous Type. Dangerous Type was never officially released as a single but that didn’t keep it from becoming one of the band’s most popular song.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

Murder by Phone (1982, directed by Michael Anderson)

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

Here’s a movie that will make you thankful for the death of landline phones.

People across Toronto are answering phones and blowing up. Someone has created a device that can send a blast of electricity through the phone line. The blast is so powerful that it causes hemorrhaging before it blows its victim off of their feet and then melts their phone. The first victim is a woman who makes the mistake of answering a pay phone. (It was 1982. Pay phones were very popular with the youngsters.) Her college professor (Richard Chamberlain!) decides to investigate her death. Helping him, for at least a few scenes, is his mentor (John Houseman!!).

Chamberlain and Houseman were serious actors so who knows why they’re in this largely tepid thriller. But present they are and one of them eventually makes the mistake of answering his phone and seeing a legitimate actor have to pretend to die in such a stupid way almost makes the movie worth the trouble of watching.

Despite all of the killer phone stuff, Murder by Phone is pretty slow and the murderer turns out to be pretty boring. I only watched it because it was directed by Michael Anderson, who also directed The Martian Chronicles, which I’m planning on reviewing tomorrow. He also directed a legitimate Best Picture winner (Around the World in 80 Days) and Logan’s Run so he had it in him to do a better job with the promising material in Murder By Phone than he did. Instead of going all out with the science fiction elements, Anderson directed the movie like it was an episode of a cop show. It’s disappointing because the story really had potential to be something better. When it comes to movies about killer phone calls, the top prize still goes to Telefon.

The movie is also known as Bells, which sounds even worse than Murder By Phone.

Game Review: The Golden Heist (2021, George Lockett and Rob Thorman)

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

The Golden Heist is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition. Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

You are a thief, living in Rome during the time of Nero. You survived the Great Fire, just to see Nero work your architect father to death in his mad pursuit to turn the world’s greatest city into a monument to his own ego. Before your father died, he entrusted you with the plans to the Golden Palace. Now, it is Nero’s birthday and you are planning the heist of the century! You’re going to need to pick an accomplice (you get three choices). You’re going to need to make the right choices. You’re going to have to solve a few puzzles. And you’re going to have to make your father proud.

I really dug The Golden Heist, which rejuvenates its familiar heist plot through the use of the Roman setting. Not only does the game teach a little history (and the authors obviously know their stuff when it comes to the Roman Empire) but it also required a little thought. Which accomplice you pick does matter. How you treat that accomplice and all the other decision that you make matter. This is a game where your choices really do effect how things work out. The Golden Heist is clever, well-written, and, because every choice you make matters, it has a lot of replay value.

Play The Golden Heist.

Music Video of the Day: Rough Boys by Pete Townshend (1980, directed by ????)

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

On August 1st, 1981, MTV premiered. Over the course of 24 hours, 166 unique music videos were played on MTV. Yes, there was a time when the M actually did stand for music.

One of Pete Townshend’s first solo hits (though he often did perform the song with The Who), Rough Boys was controversial when it was first released. Townshend, at first, said that the video was about his own experiences. Later, he said that he was actually singing about a friend of his. He also, at various times, said that the song was actually a tribute to punk rock and he went as far as to dedicate the song to the Sex Pistols when it was first released as a single. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the cultural climate of the early 80s, the song was a hit in the UK but struggled to chart in the United States.

The video features Townshend at a pool hall. It was the 93rd video to premiere on MTV.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

Great Moments In Comic Book History: The First Appearance on Ghost Rider

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

Marvel Spotlight was a comic books that existed so Marvel could introduce new characters and showcase heroes who were being considered for a full time series. Think of it as being the Marvel equivalent of pilot season. In August, 1972, Marvel Spotlight #5 introduced the world to Johnny Blaze, the motorcyclist who once made a deal with the devil. Johnny Blaze was better known as Ghost Rider!

While riding through Manhattan on his motorcycle, Johnny spots two criminals committing a murder. He wants nothing to do with it and tries to drive away. The two criminals follow him and corner him in an alley. And then this happens:

The rest of the story is simple. Ghost Rider makes flames emerge from the ground. The criminals, who are named Clyde and Dingbat, run away. How does one criminal end up named Clyde while the the other has to settle for Dingbat? The rest of the issue is a flashback, telling how stuntman Johnny Blaze sold his soul to Satan (later revealed to be a disguise of frequent villain Mephisto) in order to save the life of his cancer-stricken stepfather Crash Simpson. Though Crash survives the cancer, he still dies when he attempts a dangerous stunt. Satan still wants Johnny’s soul but is vanquished by Roxanne, Crash’s daughter who is pure of soul and has been reading up on occult practices. However, every night, Johnny is transformed into Ghost Rider.

It’s nothing complicated but, from such humble beginnings, legends are born!

Marvel Spotlight Vol.1 Issue 5 (August, 1972)

Writer — Gary Friedrich
Penciler — Mike Ploog
Inker — Mike Ploog
Colorist— Mike Ploog
Letterer — Jon Costa
Editors — Stan Lee and Roy Thomas

Previous Great Moments In Comic Book History:

Sssssss (1973, directed by Bernard L. Kowalski)

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

Will that be seven S’s or only six?

College student David Blake (Dirk Benedict) gets a job working as an assistant to Dr. Carl Stoner (Strother Martin). Dr. Stoner is an expert on reptiles and he is very concerned that man will not be able to survive if the Earth suffers any sort of environmental change. When he hires David, he only has two requirements for the young man. David is not to date Stoner’s daughter, Kristina (Heather Menzies) and David has to take an injection every day of a serum that will protect him from snake venom, or so Carl says.

What David doesn’t know is that Carl is a damn liar and his plan for saving humanity is to turn people into Snakemen! Snakes can survive anything so why wouldn’t human want to be more like them? Soon, David’s face is getting scaly and Kristina is discovering what really happened to her father’s previous assistant.

Sssssss tries to take its story seriously and the snake makeup is cool and creepy but the movie itself moves too slowly. It makes the mistake of worrying about convincing us that the story is plausible when it should just be focusing on snake action. There are some good scenes, like when Kristina tracks down David’s predecessor and Strother Martin is convincing as the mad scientist. If you thought Strother Martin was just capable of playing outlaws and corrupt cops, this movie may surprise you. I also liked the ending, which only seems ambiguous. It’s easy to see what’s going to happen after the end credits roll.

Richard Zanuck and David Brown produced this film. It did well enough at the box office that they decided to produce another nature-gone-mad movie. That one was named Jaws.

Great Moments In Television History: Apaches Traumatizes The UK

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

From the end of World War II to 2007, the UK’s Central Office of Information used to produced Public Information Films (known as PIFs), which would often air on television during children’s programming. These were the British equivalent of the “More You Know” PSAs that appear on American television. A typical PIF would deal with a safety issue, warning children to be careful crossing the street or while visiting a farm or when thinking of sticking a fork into an electrical socket.

One of the most notorious PIFs was first broadcast in February of 1977 and aired for several years after that. Apaches traumatized an entire generation of British children while teaching them about what not to do while visiting a farm. Danny tells the story of how six young children played “Apaches” on a nearby farm and how things did not turn out well for any of them. What made this PIF more traumatic than similar PIFs was the nonchalant reactions of both the children and the adults. Each farm accident is followed by a clinical clearing away of that children’s possessions and then the child is forgotten about. It doesn’t occur to anyone to do anything to make the farms safer.

Still, this PIF probably kept a lot of children safe while also inspiring many nightmares. Director John MacKenzie went on to direct Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren in The Long Good Friday, which is considered to be one of the finest British crime films ever made.

Previous Great Moments In Television History:

Game Review: Plane Walker (2021, Jack Comfort)

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

Plane Walker is an entrant in 2021 Interactive Fiction competition. Browse and experience all of the games by clicking here.

You have just woken up on a plane. You have no idea how you got on the plane. You have no idea where the plane is going. You’re not even sure who you are. But you know that you need to figure out what’s going on and how to fly a plane!

I enjoyed playing this Inform game. The premise was interesting. The descriptions were vivid, well-written, and witty. The game was puzzle-heavy, as most Inform games are. As I’ve said before, the puzzles are usually my downfall when it comes to Interactive Fiction and some of the puzzles in Plane Walker are difficult to solve on your own. Fortunately, the game comes with a walk-through. Most importantly, the game pays off in the end. The mystery is worth solving.

Play Plane Walker.

Music Video of the Day: Time For Me To Fly by REO Speedwagon (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

On August 1st, 1981, MTV premiered. Over the course of 24 hours, 166 unique music videos were played on MTV. Yes, there was a time when the M actually did stand for music.

The 92nd video to premiere on MTV was yet another performance clip from REO Speedwagon. This time, it was the video Time For Me To Fly, one of the Speedwagon’s biggest hits.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974, directed by Jud Taylor)

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

Because of recent electrical surges aboard its aircrafts, the commander of the Whitney Air Force Base 458th Radar Test Group sends a four-man crew up in Flight 412 to try to figure out what’s happening. Colonel Pete Moore (Glenn Ford) and Major Mike Dunning (Bradford DIllman) assume that it will just be a routine flight. Instead, they find themselves at the center of a government cover-up when Captain Bishop (David Soul) and the other members of the crew spot what appears to be a UFO. When two jets are sent out to intercept the object, the jets vanish.

Suddenly, Flight 412 is ordered to land at a seemingly deserted military base in the desert. When they do, the airplane is impounded and the crew is forced to undergo an 18-hour debriefing led by government agents. The agents demand that the crew members sign a statement saying that they didn’t see anything strange in the air before the jets vanished. Until all four of the men sign the release, the crew of Flight 412 are officially considered to be missing and will not be released until they agree to deny what they saw.

Meanwhile, Col. Moore tries to learn what happened to his men but the government, led by Col. Trottman (Guy Stockwell), is not eager to tell him.

This movie was made-for-television, at a time when people claiming to have been abducted by aliens was still a relatively new phenomenon. It was also made during the Watergate hearing and in the wake of the release of the Pentagon Papers, so the film’s sinister government conspiracy probably felt relevant to viewers in a way that it wouldn’t have just a few years earlier. I appreciated that the movie took a semi-documentary approach to the story but that it tried to be serious and even-handed. The film shows how witnesses can be fooled or coerced into saying that they saw the opposite of what they actually did see. Unfortunately, The Disappearance of Fight 412 is ultimately done in by its own cheapness. The overreliance on familiar stock footage doesn’t help the film’s credibility and there’s too many familiar faces in the cast for the audience to forget that they’re just watching a TV movie. The Disappearance of Flight 412 doesn’t really succeed but it is still interesting as an early attempt to make a serious film about the possibility of alien abduction and the government covering up the existence of UFOs.. Three years after this film first aired, Steven Spielberg would introduce these ideas to an even bigger audience with Close Encounters of The Third Kind.