Happy Halloween...Part BOO!

Click on the Count to get a Halloween greeting!

MAD MONSTER PARTY!

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!
Monsters...done by the same people who did Rudolph...Little Drummer Boy...and the rest of those great holiday classics!
This has been my all time number one Halloween movie since I can remember seeing it.
Just look at the puppetry, it's just so good. The 3-D stuff from Pixar is fine, I love "The Incredibles",
but that medium can't compare to an actual object existing in time and space, in my humble opinion.
As I watch this movie, I notice the little things. Stuff that was moved accidentally by the animator as the frame was shot.
This is just a lot of fun. And it has monster caricatures created by Jack Davis, master cartoonist!
So click on the title card above, and enjoy the movie trailer.
I guarantee that you will want to watch the rest of this movie.
Happy Halloween!

Halloween Fun

Animated monsters...now we're talking. I have included a few celsfrom my collection in this pre-Halloween post.
Above is a character color study of the" Groovie Goolies ". A great cartoon from my childhood.
Produced by Filmation, the same company that did " Archie ". I really loved this cartoon because of all the crazy creatures that were in each show. Although they alos shoe-horned some terrible songs in between bits.
In fact, I remember having the he little PVC toys when I was a kid.
Man I sure wish I still had them.

Here is a cel from one of my top 10 animated movies, " Heavy Metal ".
This is from the chapter called " B-17 " or " Gremlins " depending on what source you use.
One of the creepiest storylines...a pilot trapped in a heavily damaged bomber that's going down.
If that wasn't bad enough, throw in a possessed crew of corpses.
Very spooky.



This polished gentlemen is one of the reasons I love animation. Nelvana is the company that created this character, B.L. ZeBub, from " The Devil and Daniel Mouse ".
I love this short. I seem to remember that it was usually played on the local access channel at 6:30 pm on Fridays during Halloween.
What an odd thing to remember...
Anyhow, this suave fellow tricks a desperate- for- success singer, a mouse, to trade her soul for a year's super stardom.
It's up to her boyfriend, Daniel, to think of a loophole.
This satanic character has it all:
He's funny, charismatic, and positively frightening when he has to be.
He is one of those rare characters that appears to think, like Shere Khan from " The Jungle Book ".

Judge Rules on Addresses for Homeless Voters

Ohio appears to be in a race with Florida as to who can be kookier.
As always, here's the story:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-28-homeless-voters_N.htm

Scientists develop Artificial Heart that Beats!

I kid the scientific community.
Here's the story :
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5026788.ece

It Conquered the World!

Time once again to examine another movie that I just have to see during the Halloween season.
" It Conquered the World " is Roger Corman at his best...er, worst.
It featured a radish from Venus that came to Earth to , well, conquer it.
The alien was invited to our world by a pouty scientist on his "space radio".
This movie has everything you need to have fun:
1. A rubbery monster with big claws that bend and flop around as the actors pretend to be
pinched to death.
2. Gross looking bat-like robot things that sting you in the back, enabling the radish to control
you.
3. The pouty scientist is played by the master bad-guy, Lee Van Cleef. That's right, " The
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ", " Octagon ", " Escape From New York ", yeah... THAT Lee
Van Cleef.
4. It also has Peter Graves.

Did I mention that the hero has to pedal around on a crummy bike in order to save the world, because the Space Radish has stopped all electrical power on Earth?
( That's right, automobile ignitions work on electricity).
I know it sounds like a huge plot point lifted from a much better movie, " The Day the Earth Stood Still ", but that's a good movie which won't be discussed in this post.
I guess Corman saw that film in 1951, wrote that idea down, and sat on it til 1956 when he cranked out this gem.
Still, ICTW is a fun movie, and it is part of my Halloween traditional viewing.
Next posts, I will talk about some of my favorite GOOD Halloween movies.

The Giant Claw

Let's talk about guilty pleasures, and of course I mean " The Giant Claw ".
I love this movie. It is probably one of the worst movies ever made. There have been other films that have tried to copy the formula of TGC, but those pale in comparison to this spectacular gem.
This move is so bad, it defies description...but let me describe it to you.
Take one Giant Bird from outer space, which also uses an anti-matter shield, which comes to Earth to lay it eggs and eat people. Or eat the people first and lay the eggs....yeah, that's it. It started eating people and planes and stuff, and then started laying eggs.
Anyhow, our hero, a ruggedly good - looking electrical engineer, and his beautiful mathmetician have to save the day.
This film uses a slew of stock footage of all sorts of locations and characters, continuity be damned!
It also has science gadgets spitting out atoms like you wouldn't believe.
Apparently atoms leave a smokey trail when fired at a giant space-bird.
Add to that mix a cast of likable actors who are so sincere in their acting that you feel sorry for them and wish the monster lived up to the caliber of their talent.
What do I mean by that?
This movie has one of the worst, if not the worst monster that has ever been attached to strings and swung into a model of the Empire State building.
I happen to believe that it was the prototype for the Madame puppet. They were both probably made in the same pinata factory after a weekend bender.
Compare for yourself.

The Mole People

To paraphrase Ralph Parker's Old Man... " enough of this politic slop..."
It's Halloween time, and let's focus on creepy stuff. When I was a kid, there were only a few channels on the tv, and Saturday nights, at MIDNIGHT, there was Creature Feature!
It's easy to be jaded when there are countless channels out there pumping out content,
but when you were a kid in the 70's, and into monsters, you waited in excruciating anticipation for midnight to see some great monster movies.
I liked Godzilla, could put up with a zombie or a mummy, but give me some of those old Universal movies.
One of my favorites was " The Mole People ".
First off, the movie wasn't afraid to take its time. The film starts, for those who haven't seen it, with a "scientist host" giving a lecture on hollow Earth theories.
Second, it has a really good premise for a "lost civilization" plot. Third, monsters, the Mole People, who aren't really monsters but an underground race enslaved by the humans living there.
Plus, Alan Napier plays the Head Priest, ( you know who he is....Alfred from " The Batman " series).
And last but not least, Hugh Beaumont , (c'mon...this is an easy one...he was Ward Cleaver on
" Leave it to Beaver "), as one of the good guys.
I forgot to mention the neat effect of these Mole People diving into the ground to make their getaway.
Mystery Science Theater even mocked this film, which only proves what a classic it is.

( Although they also mocked one of my guilty pleasure monster movies, " Leech Woman ").

Thanks for all your hard work!

All in good fun....maybe.

Ask the magnificent McCain

A fun little Magic 8-Ball game featuring the Republican choice.
Click the picture and play the game.
Answers are 100% guaranteed politician.

Ask the Omniscient Obama

A little Magic 8-ball game featuring the Democratic choice.
Click on the picture, and play the game, answers are 100% guaranteed politician.

Elvis: 1994-2008

Today I had to take my cat, Elvis, to the vet to be put to sleep. The past few weeks had been really busy: getting packed to move to the new house, having prospective renters walk through the old house on the showings, tight deadlines with my job, plus family stuff.
When I work, Elvis will curl up under my desk at my feet. At night, he always curls up in the crook of my arm while I sleep.
This past weekend, I realized that he was so skinny I could feel all of his bones, and then he got weak.
Up until this week he had eaten all his food, had drunk his water, etc. There wasn't a clue that he was dying.
I took him to the vet and when the tests came back it was terrible.
Nothing could be done to cure him, or even help him for any meaningful length of time.
He has lived in three houses with me, knows all my friends, and had met my mom while she was alive.
His passing brings another chapter of my life to a close. I am fortunate that such a cat came into my life.
"He was the Cat that walked by Himself, and all places were alike to him ".
I hope there's a nice sunny spot waiting for you when you get there.