Foulard's holiday gift giving suggestions

You will be astonished at the looks on your loved ones' faces when they unwrap these little goodies on the holiday of your choosing.

It is jolly to go to the cinema!

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The lost season -- finally on DVD

For some reason, audiences never took to the new "Jeff"...

The Hidden Horrors of the Seattle Underground

Kolchak!

Last week, I managed to find a copy of the out-of-print DVD The Night Stalker/The Night Strangler, two early-70s TV movies starring Darrin McGavin as intrepid investigative reporter Carl Kolchak.  These were both ABC Movie(s) of the Week, and the first one was the highest-rated TV movie of its time (hence the sequel). Stalker has Kolchak on the trail of a vampire in Las Vegas, but the second one is more interesting to me, because he's after a sort of undead being that lives in the Seattle Underground and is killing young women in Pioneer Square!  It's pretty rare to get to see a horror movie set in the city where you live (though in Seattle we have another good one -- The Ring).

Here are some of the local details and mistakes I liked best about it:

J.Pflug!

• The first victim of the strangler is waiting at "St. James" street at 3 am for a bus to her home in the "Shoreline Park" neighborhood, after she finishes her gig at a strip club in Pioneer Square.  In reality, it would be James street (or 3rd Ave, really) and the Shoreline neighborhood.  Also, good luck catching a bus at 3 am in Seattle.  And I'm not sure why she would live so far from her job--why not get a place that isn't 12 miles away?
• Another dancer at the club, (played by Jo Ann Pflug), is a student at the UW (a scene is filmed in the Red Square!), and lives on a houseboat, like every fictional person who lives in Seattle.  She takes a motorboat to get to her classes--I guess walking or ride a bike along the Burke-Gilman trail is too mundane.
• There's a scene a bar where all the Seattle journalists are alleged to hang out.  This is a fictional device, but it was fun to speculate what this could be--the bar at Vito's, or Victor's 610, or (more dive-ily) Bernard's on Seneca, a place that seems to reek of 1972.
• The founder of the Seattle Underground tour, Bill Speidel, makes an appearance in a scene filmed in a Pioneer Square bar call the Blue Banjo, which was a real place (I had to google it during the movie to find out).  Later it was called Doc Maynard's (and now seems to be closed, except as a starting point for the Underground tour).
• There seems to be some filming in the real Seattle Underground....
• ...But the final scene takes place in an entirely fictional and huge fantasy version of the Undergound, with tall buildings and a working wrought-iron elevator.  I learned from Wikipedia that it's the interior of the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles.  It's kind of steam-punk (if you will), and it's the way you wish the Underground would be, if you've ever taken the tour.

I highly recommend The Night Strangler to anyone who likes goofy horror movies and has lived in Seattle.  Good luck finding it!

Starring Yaphet Kotto as Idi Amin

Over the weekend, I watched (via Netflix streaming) this well-made TV movie from 1977.  I remember hearing about it when it was originally on (5th grade), but didn't see it at the time.  And back then, you only got one chance!  I got interested because the hijacking and rescue was referenced in a circa 1980 British TV series I like, The Sandbaggers.  Raid on Entebbe does what I like a good political/action thriller to do--take its time to set up the story, keep the action grounded in real life, and have a high level of tension.*  Since I knew some details of the real-life story, I knew that it would have a fairly upbeat ending, so it wasn't really an unpleasant experience.  It's also got a great cast, with the great Martin Balsam, one of my favorite B-movie stars, John Saxon, and especially Yaphet Kotto in the choice role of General Idi Amin Dada, who he plays accurately as cuckoo, dangerous, and extremely annoying.  The film has great production values, and by virtue of being made contemporary to the actual event, is chock full of seventies verisimilitude.  It was much better than I expected it to be--highly recommended to those who like that kind of thing.

*The first two of these qualifications are largely lost today, due to the need to keep everything on a video game level of excitement and physical implausibility.  The third qualification (high level of tension) is often killed by movies failing to take some time to breathe and let the audience build up a feeling of dread.

Now in 1080P!

Glad to see that this will now be available in the best possible video and audio presentation!

See Beebo's post if you need clarification...

Stingray theme

This is the theme to my favorite Supermarionation show, with added lyrics. Beebo has often been subjected treated to seeing me do a dynamic lipsync performance of the middle part.

The weird death of Dick Shawn

Best known as 'L.S.D' from The Producers, and the Heat and Snow Misers from The Year Without a Santa Claus, oddball comedian Dick Shawn also went out in a strange way.

From Wikipedia:

On April 17, 1987, while performing on stage at UC San Diego's Mandeville Hall, Shawn began a comedy bit about himself and the audience surviving nuclear war. At one point in the act, Shawn portrayed a politician reciting campaign clichés, including: "If elected, I will not lay down on the job"; later, when he collapsed face down on the stage, the audience thought it was part of the act, unaware that he had actually suffered a massive heart attack.

After some time had gone by, there were catcalls. Finally, someone appeared on stage, kneeled down to examine Shawn, stood up and asked: "Is there a doctor in the house?" Another person came on stage, turned him over and began administering CPR. The audience was told to go home, but almost no one left since it appeared to be part of Shawn's act. When paramedics arrived, bewildered audience members began leaving, still unsure of what they had witnessed. A notice in the following day's San Diego Union newspaper clarified that Shawn had indeed died during the performance. Dick Shawn was only 63.

Happy Thursday!

I totally stole this from the Shadowplay blog, but it's too good not to share with those of you who don't read it...

Der Tiger von Eschnapur

Take a peek at this nifty poster I just got from Ebay! It's for an American release of two of the great director Fritz Lang's last films. They were released in Europe as two movies called The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb, or Der Tiger von Eschnapur und Das Indische Grabmal. Both of them star Debra Paget and a bunch of German or European actors. They're basically juvenile adventure stories, with things like cobras and maharajahs. The only thing that makes them 'adult' is Debra's hotsie-totsie dance, which you can see below. Other than that, they're basically like a Tintin comic. The films are a remake of a silent epic written by Lang and his then-wife Thea von Harbou, but not directed by him. Lang would direct one more film The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, and then retire to tell the same anecdotes over and over to interviewers and film students.

Hey, we hate you too!

From the LA Times:

Early on in the making of "Alice in Wonderland," director Tim Burton had very strong feelings about one of the characters -- and it wasn't what you would call a good feeling.

"The Cheshire Cat was a character I had a very specific image of and it's because I just have this thing about cats," Burton said. "The Cheshire Cat taps into what you might call my hatred of cats."

Ugly Director

Actor Stephen Fry ("V for Vendetta," "Bones") handles the character in the film and Burton praised him for capturing the unsettling mien of a feline.

Cute Cat

"Stephen Fry did a great job of getting that creepy quality. You know, this weird kind of floaty, too-focused, creepy -- he did it great. He has this thing of getting up close and just sitting there and staring at you, you know, like a cat. It just kind of sits there."

Burton made a noise, not unlike a tabby struggling with a hairball. "I have this thing with cats. And with Cheshire Cat it's a love-hate relationship. You can, uh, hear it in my voice can't you?"

****

Cats are complex! Get used to it, lame-o! I realize my 'cute cat' picture kinds of demonstrates his point, but that's part of their charm, hmm?

" And Starring Miss Susan Sarandon as Victoria Barkley"

I normally hate remakes, but I find this intriguing...

Susan Sarandon Eyeing "Big Valley"

Eyeing Barbara Stanwyck's role in film version of '60s series

By Jay A. Fernandez

Feb 10, 2010, 11:00 PM ET

Susan Sarandon is in talks to become the matriarch of the Barkley clan.

Kate Edelman Johnson is producing a feature film version of "The Big Valley," based on the TV show created by her late father, producer Louis F. Edelman, and writer A.I. Bezzerides. The Western series, which ran on ABC from 1965-69, starred Barbara Stanwyck as the matriarch of a ranching family in the 1870s San Joaquin Valley.

Sarandon would take on the part of Victoria Barkley, originated by Stanwyck.

Edelman Johnson's producing partner, Daniel Adams ("The Lightkeepers"), has written the feature screenplay and will direct. Johnson and Adams' Panther Entertainment will produce, with a May start date planned for principal photography in Michigan and New Mexico.

"I am so thrilled to be filming this project, not only to honor my father and Miss Stanwyck but to bring a great woman's part to the screen as head of this historical family saga," Edelman Johnson said.

Star Wars (with original lyrics)

"They've got us on the run, with guns..and knives! We're fighting for our lives!"

I really like the end titles to the original Casino Royale--the lyrics to the song are such an afterthought to the instrumental arrangements that's it's like a weird joke--like they're supposed to be terrible. So they're great!

TV Theme Shows! shouted Beebo

This is a version with lyrics of the popular theme to this 70s British cop show:


Can you think of more instrumental TV themes with vocals added later? Here's a hot one:

TV nostalgia

Remember coming home from school as a kid and sitting down in front of the TV with a croque-monsieur and glass of wine to enjoy the adventures of Thierry la Fronde?

Don Doolittle, Actor with Minimal CV

Beebo and I were watching Hawaii Five-O last night (as is our wont), and in the middle of one scene, I had to pause the DVD and say "Hey, it's that guy!". It was an episode titled "Highest Castle, Deepest Grave", ostensibly guest-starring Herbert Lom and Frances Nguyen, but the actor who caught my attention was Don G. Doolittle, playing a district attorney. I recognized him almost immediately as the scientist (the one with the beard in the photos) from one of our favorite movies, Creation of the Humanoids. You can watch it here, or read about it here.

I got curious about Don's career, since I'd seen him in two very different vehicles, so I looked him up in IMDB. It turns out, I've seen three of his four credited roles--the third was the movie Hawaii, which I watched on cable a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, I did not spot him there, and since the movie was three hours long, I'm not going to watch it again for his small cameo. He also appears (uncredited) in an Ernie Kovacs comedy called Wake Me When It's Over, from 1960.

It's easy to guess a little about him--he did a little acting and then moved to Hawaii, ending up in the small pool of available professional actors there. But what did he do for a living the rest of the time? Run a shop? Work in a hotel? Bum around on the beach?
Update: Gee, I think this might be him, too: "The narrator, Don Doolittle, was a 1940's radio announcer." Captain Bill is definitely played by D.D.! (I listened)
Update Two: What the hell??? He lives in western Washington State now. How weird! Hope you're doing well, Don!

Superbowl FEVER!

I know you're as excited about the upcoming Superbowl XVIIICMVIIV as I am--we're all looking forweird to the epic match between that really great team and that bunch of losers (how the hell did they get there?). So this week I'll be doing a special tribute to America's favorite 5-hour event. I've gotten special preview footage fo the halftime act, and they're as awesomely rocking as you remember them. Enjoy!

What's Foulard Watching Now?