Since my academic issues are starting to wind down, I've had a lot more free time (not that much, of course). YouTube has a new Movies channel, with free, high-quality ready to watch films. Many of them are laughably bad ones, but there are a few gems, like Robert Townsend's HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE. Townsend, at first, seemed like a visionary with this movie on the level of Cronenberg or Spike Lee, but alas, 20 years later he seems like the movie equivalent of a one-hit wonder. There's also INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS, one of Roger Ebert's favorite guilty pleasures, that was the screenwriting debut of Nicholas Meyer, a man known to me through two fandoms: he was the author of the Sherlock Holmes novel THE SEVEN PER-CENT SOLUTION and also wrote the screenplay of its movie adaptation, and he was also the screenwriter and director of the best of the Star Trek movies, WRATH OF KHAN.
There are also a ton of the Brucesploitation movies made after the Little Dragon's death, starring Bruce Lei, Bruce Le, and Bruce Li. The best of the lot has to be BRUCE LEE IN NEW GUINEA, which is more like a cross between a Bruce Lee film and Tintin comics.
One of the highlights is also the Steve Reeves camp-classic, the GIANT OF MARATHON. Even with Steve Reeves's physical perfection, it's hard to watch. But wait, what's that? It features a commentary track by Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy where they crack wise! It's like watching a movie with your funniest friends while drunk.
Like I said before, GIANT OF MARATHON is basically a Western set in Ancient Greece, with a clean-limbed hero that loves independence and the wilderness, with villains that are scheming plotters that try to marry the hero's girl as a part of their schemes, and there's even the Persians standing in for Indians, with Steve Reeves leading a cavalry charge that saves the day.
It's worth watching, not just for Steve Reeves but also Mike Nelson spoofing the entire proceedings. His bits on YouTube are a worthy successor to Mystery Science Theater.
Unfortunately, embedding is forbidden so just take the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n43UkxXcVLg
2 comments:
I'll have to check it out. MST3K ruled my childhood. Space Mutiny and Prince of Space are as iconic to me as Ren and Stimpy or American Gladiators.
Dirk Hardpec!
Wow, Space Mutiny, really?
I always liked Reb Brown, especially in "Yor: the Hunter From the Future." He always played the goodhearted football player type. I can just imagine him struggling to read some boring book to impress the pretty brainy girl. Of course, he can't, but he very quickly defends her honor against her archenemies, the mean football player and his catty bitch girlfriend.
For me, the best Mistie had to have been "The Final Sacrifice." For a while, no joke, I took up the gauntlet Mike and the bots left and wrote fanfic starring Troi and Rausdower's adventures in Canada.
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