This is the last weekend of the year before the holiday season. There's something significant about that, even if I'm not exactly sure what that is. Regardless, here are some fun links to amuse you as you wait for the The Most Wonderful Time of The Year to begin!
Add this to the collection of holiday music sites worth visiting regularly--My Festive Fizzy Pop, poster of cool new Christmas songs!
Finally, Shawn Robare of Branded in the 80s blows our minds with his Back to The Future theory. Behold: The Other Marty McFly Theorem! Great Scott! This is heavy!
Hey everybody! The first weekend of the Countdown is upon us, so let's all get out and get our Halloween on! One great way to do that--spend our time catching some of the alltime great horror films. Here are classic trailers from not grindhouse fare (as fun as those trailers are), but from some of the most classic horror films out there. Enjoy, and have a great first weekend of Halloween! My participation in the Countdown will resume Sunday night or Monday. Thanks!
I'm often a day late with Tuesday's Forgotten--or some weeks, I don't post one at all--but this week, I'm a day early! Personal reasons preclude me from posting on Tuesday, so I'm taking the bull by the horns and getting this out to you today. This week's subject is the 1985 adolescent fantasy Explorers.
Explorers stars Ethan Hawke as Ben Crandall, a typical suburban kid with an obsession with space in general and aliens in particular. One night he dreams of a special computer circuit that would be capable of allowing interstellar travel. He mentions his dream to his super smart friend (played by the late River Phoenix) who proceeds to create the circuit from Ben's dreamed-up blueprint. They create their spaceship from, of all things, a Tilt-A-Whirl chair, and off they go (along with a third friend) into the wild blue yonder and beyond, where they encounter an alien race--or do they?
As I mentioned in my previous Tuesday's Forgotten Film selection D.A.R.Y.L., this is one of a sizable number of films from the mid-80s that involved tween age youngsters, especially boys, getting into fantastic adventures, and which also involve, at least to a small degree, a sense of wish fulfillment for kids of that age. Who didn't dream of going into space or getting involved with such adventures at that age? I know I did. That's what makes movies such as Explorers engaging, especially if you were of that age when these films were released, as I was.
To see for yourself, here is the film's official trailer, followed by the entire film itself. Enjoy!
Only days away from Halloween! Time to squeeze in as many fun frightful flicks as possible. Perhaps these will tantalize your terror tendencies? Probably not. But the trailers sure are fun to look at. I always think the trailers are more entertaining than the actual movies; the trailer only gives you so much, and your imagination fills in the rest. The movie you imagine is probably better than the actual film!
De ax! De ax!
Don't go in the house! Don't ride your bike through the garden! Don't talk with your mouth full!
There are many great, classic horror films. There are also far more goofy, cheesy, weird, and flat-out bad horror films. But sometimes, they're more fun! Here is a sampling of several fine examples. Enjoy!
I have to admit something. Despite my love of Halloween and doing all this Halloween blogging, I'm not a horror guy. At all. I don't watch many horror movies, as I'm such a squemish person, and in most cases have made effort to avoid most of them. Even when I was a kid, I would hate when commercials for horror movies came on TV; I would often leave the room.
That doesn't mean, however, that such images didn't stay with me. Here are several trailers for 80s horror movies that I remember when I was growing up.
Funhouse (directed by Tobe Hooper):
The Boogens. What a name!
I didn't know Albert Finney and Gregory Hines were in Wolfen!
The 80s remake of Invaders From Mars. This is a movie I did see, and it was actually quite awesome!
The Beast Within. Ronny Cox is always welcome in a film.
Ghoulies. I just DVR'ed this the other night. If I'm lucky, I may actually get the chance to watch it. The "Trivial Pursuit" girl is Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order: SVU!
Terrorvision. I saw this on broadcast TV one Saturday afternoon in the late 80s/early 90s. Being on free TV plus the comedy made this a more palatable horror film for me.
Scanners.
The legendary Basket Case. My family rented this one night and my very young self foolishly hung around for some of it. Big mistake!
The last film I have is one that blends humor and horror equally well, which isn't easy to do without being a spoof. The Stuff. Smart, witty, with just the right amount of chills. Well done! Starring SNL's Garrett Morris and two more Law & Order alums, Michael Moriarty and Paul Sorvino. Two trailers, no less!
After a brief acknowledgment of that other October holiday, we're back to Halloween awesomeness. Today I present two film trailers, both for the same film--sort of. First, the trailer for one of my favorite alltime films--Ghostbusters!
Next, another trailer for the film, had it been made in the 1940s and starring comedy legends of the time. Can you imagine what an incredible movie this would have been?
And lastly, just for the hell of it, here is the music video for the theme song by Ray Parker Jr. Thanks!
I've been following comic books this year after a decade-long hiatus. I'm a lifelong fan of comic book superheroes, as well as their movie and TV adaptations. The following clip showcases the most popular heroes of the medium in one epic movie--that doesn't exist.
Some fan or fans out there with some decent desktop editing know-how put together this surprisingly good trailer for a movie based on DC Comics' Justice League, using clips from Superman Returns, Batman Begins, The Flash TV series, and other film and TV projects. Very well done and quite effective, as it inspired me to see the whole film--which again, doesn't exist.
See you this weekend!
P.S. If anyone can recommend some good comic book blogs for me, especially ones that will help me get caught up with Marvel and DC events of the last ten years, let me know in the comments section.
