Tuesday's Forgotten Film: Mischief

Today I'm happy to be taking part in another cross-blog venture, this time dealing with forgotten/overlooked/underappreciated films, TV, books, and such. A full list of participating blogs is available at Todd Mason's Sweet Freedom blog here. Thanks Todd!

My entry is the 1985 film Mischief, set in 1950s small town America during the beginning of the rock'n'roll era.  The film stars Doug McKeon as Jonathan, a shy, somewhat nerdy high school student who dreams of being with the school's most popular girl, Marilyn McCauley, played by Kelly Preston (better known as Mrs. John Travolta to some).  Jonathan develops an unlikely friendship with the school's bad boy, Gene (Chris Nash), who gives him pointers as to how to get into Marilyn's good graces, with surprisingly successful results.

Meanwhile, Gene has a girl problem himself.  He's in love with local good girl Bunny (Catherine Mary Stuart), but their relationship is continually thwarted by Bunny's disapproving, widowed father, played by--wow, Terry O'Quinn!!  What an awesome surprise (I don't remember him playing the father when I last saw this film ages ago, and just learned of his participation while researching the film).

The film certainly didn't have huge box office success, but it's a funny, touching, and all around pleasantly enjoyable film with great music from the era.

Plus, it features Kelly Preston's bare breasts, so there's that.

The movie was last made available on DVD in 2005, but unfortunately has been out of print since.  If you are lucky enough to find it in your local library or see a used copy online for a reasonable price, I highly recommend Mischief.

Thanks!

When in Doubt, Blog La Linea Cartoons

That's my policy.  If I don't know what to blog, La Linea is always a good fallback for me.  If you don't care for these, don't worry; I'm sure a blast of creativity will overtake me, and I'll have an awe-inspiring post coming up.  I hope.

ABC Network Promos from 1983, "That Special Feeling"

Today I bring you promotional clips for the ABC network that aired in 1983. What makes these unique is that they are quite long, about a minute or so each, and are unusually sentimental, to the point of being overdramatic. I find these to be intesting archives of how TV used to do business, at least in how they market themselves, and how vastly different TV networks operated compared to today. You would never see promos like this today. Enjoy!

John Pinette, King of The Great Outdoors

I don't get to see many stand-up comics perform these days, but one that I always enjoy is John Pinette.  He's made a career telling of his hapless adventures that his, shall me say, stature gets him into.  Here, John tells of his exploits in camping, waterskiing, and parasailing.  Enjoy!

The Amazing Adventures of Little Batman

Since October 2010, I've been enjoying the Batman TV series from the 60s on digital cable network The Hub. It's one of my alltime favorite TV shows, (possibly no. 1!), and because it isn't available on DVD, I have to enjoy it where I can find it. One enterprising person, however, created his own Batman show.

With children.

It's been around for three years or so, but I learned of its existence only recently. Enjoy The Amazing Adventures of Little Batman!

Spider-Man, "The Trouble With Snow"

That's exactly what those on the east coast are dealing with today, so this installment of the original Spider-Man cartoon series is appropriate.  Just stay away from the giant snowman.  Otherwise, enjoy!

OK, so like one time Randy Beaman...

Animaniacs, one of my favorite TV series of the 90s, featured several short cartoons between larger features, one of which was a series featuring an unnamed little boy who would venture outside his house to tell a quick story involving his friend Randy Beaman and the unlikely situations that his family would incur.  Here are a good number of them.  Enjoy!

Mazinger Z Original Cartoon Series Translated into English

Almost a year ago, I posted an article mentioning the cartoon series Tranzor Z, which aired in the mid-80s on American television.  This was a translation of the original Japanese series Mazinger Z with the storyline and character names altered for American audiences.

However, back in the early 70s, an American translation of the series aired briefly with the original storyline and character names intact.  It is that earlier, more faithful translation I feature today; in fact, it's the very first episode.  I'm seeing this for the very first time, so I'm really excited.  Enjoy!

Masters of the Universe Artwork

I've only mentioned once before on the blog my love of the Masters of the Universe toy line and animated series, so it's high time I did it again.

I love the Masters of the Universe toy line and animated series.

There.  Done.

I also love scouring the Internet and finding cool artwork related to and inspired by the series.  Here are a few examples I have stored away.

This is an awesome painting by the legendary Earl Norem. I love how the sky is bright over the good guys and not-so-much over the bad guys. This image makes for great desktop wallpaper!

This is a photo of a battle display using recreations of the classic toys made by MattyCollector.com.  They look just like the original Mattel toys--only awesomer!

Here is another depiction of the characters in battle by great comic book artist Frank Quitely. I don't know what he did this for, but I'd love to see a Masters comic drawn by him!



Aww, look at the cute widdle He-Man defeating cute widdle Skeletor!  Think Robert E. Howard meets Xavier Roberts.

Ya know, even two evil masterminds need time to cuddle once in awhile, understand?

Well, I don't know what's more disturbing:  the obvious, or what's happened to poor Battle Cat?

Finally, here is a Bollywood film featuring a stage show putting on a He-Man spectacle.  Kinda weird, but also kinda cool!



I HAVE THE POWER!!

Trippy 7-Up Commercials

I've discussed before the old TV commercials for soft drink 7-Up featuring actor Geoffrey Holder. Even before they existed, 7-Up had a series of commercials that were very, shall we say, groovy. You know what I mean: trippy, far out, psychedelic, and later on, disco-ish. I love them! Here is a sampling of what I mean. Most of the animated ones were designed by legendary hippie artist Peter Max.  Enjoy!








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Goofy Gymnastics

Happy New Year!  I wish everyone a great 2011.  I hope it's a much better year for me than 2010 was, which sucked for several reasons.  But, last week was for looking back; this week is about looking ahead.

The most popular New Year's resolution is to get fit.  Heck, it's my resolution every day (because I'm a big fat fatty).  Even someone as lean and limber as Goofy wants to get in shape.  Take a look at his Heruclean efforts in "Goofy Gymnastics."  Enjoy!