Synopsis:
Captain Yellowbeard may well be the most feared pirate of all time, on his way to a career unmatched by any when he is captured by the British and convicted of tax evasion. He survives his 20 year sentence but escapes immediately upon being told that his sentence is being extended, all part of the plan to get Yellowbeard to reveal the location of the treasure he hid before his capture. The British government, former crew mates, the Spanish from which he pillaged the treasure, all chase after Yellowbeard and his team. Who will end up with the treasure in the end? Just remember, a Yellowbeard's never so dangerous as when he's dead!
Thoughts:
Over the years, I've read many opinions of this film, most of which express disappointment. This is understandable. The cast is a 'who's who' of comedy geniuses from the 60's and 70's: Graham Chapman, Cheech and Chong, Peter Cook, Eric Idle, Peter Boyle, Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Nigel Planer, Madeline Kahn, and Marty Feldman, who died just after finishing filming his role. It should be a laugh riot from beginning to end. It's not really. A lot of the humour expressed is subtle, leaving stretches of time for giggling rather than guffawing. I think people over the years have expected this to be a pirate version of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' and it's not.
I do feel it's funnier than people have reported it to be over the years. Yesterday was the second or third time I've seen the movie but it's been years since I watched my ropey, edited, pan and scan, taped from TV copy of the movie. Since that last viewing, I've gotten and read a book about the film. Last night I watched a crisp, colorful, letterboxed, DVD copy of the movie. I knew more what to expect going in to the film this time than I did before. It's better than I expected and not at the same time.
Graham Chapman's Yellowbeard character needs to motivate this film, to take charge of it, and he does. He's a crazed man of action that can be barely reasoned with when necessary. Everything revolves around Yellowbeard. The problem is that, when Yellowbeard is not on the screen, the energy immediately flags. This is necessary, to give us a break, but also makes things feel boring when it shouldn't. It's not unlike the boredom some feel when Captain Jack Sparrow isn't on screen in the 'Pirates of the Carribean' movies, if Jack was nigh-invulnerable and was threating to rape Keira Knightley every five minutes.
I have to compare pirate movies as they are all the same in a lot of ways, aren't they? There's a treasure, there's a trip by ship, there's a sword fight or three, ship fight, and a primary pirate. Everything else is bonus.
The story plays out like a parody of 'Treasure Island'. You get the pirate, a young man, a scientist/doctor type, and an older man as the main crew. The pirate's on the side of the 'goody guys' but isn't to be trusted. They go looking for a treasure. Others chase them. Lather, rinse, repeat. If Disney had made a Pirates movie in the 60s, this would be a parody of that as well.
Like 'The Holy Grail' certain historical details are more accurate than the average period film of the time. The jail that Yellowbeard is imprisoned in is an example of this as is the expectation that no one would survive 20 years in one.
The failing of the film is that there are so many comics in it. Not everyone gets to be funny, to build a strange comic character, as the film doesn't break the pirate movie format enough. It's too much parody and not enough original. Peter Cook stands out as the primary example of this problem. He plays the drunken Lord in the 'older man' role of the crew. While he stays in this mumbling, bumbling role very well over the course of the film, he doesn't get to do much of anything. He has one bright moment of Peter Cook like comedy about mid-way through the film and then burbles again. It's not that he does nothing, he just doesn't get to do enough.
On the plus side, a lot of the subtle comedy is fun once one stops being disappointed that Yellowbeard isn't headbutting someone into oblivion. Spike Milligan has the briefest of cameos but he spends the whole time being normal crazed Spike Milligan. It made me laugh.
I remember the movie feeling very uneven but I didn't get that feeling watching it this time. I also remember Yellowbeard disappearing for half the film but I didn't feel that this time either.
Is it perfect? A forgotten, neglected gem? Not quite. Is it better than it's been received in the past? Yes, I believe so.
Recommended.
07 March 2009
06 March 2009
A Phone Call Causes a Flashback of Sorts
I had an experience with the customer service department of a large company the other day that reminded me of a lot of my experiences in that general field. It made clear to me why so many companies are failing. Certainly the driving force behind those failures and the failures yet to come is whatever has motivated the economy to destabilize as a lack of positive cash flow will destroy even the best run company. Quite simply, I don't think most companies are set up to succeed. Once they reach a certain size, the structure becomes unwieldy. When the economy is soaring, it's a lot easier to survive with a faulty structure. If the company's product is a success and positioned correctly for an economic downturn, it has a better chance at surviving said downturn. If not, well, the collapse can be a tricky one.
The problems in this process are down to structure and people. In themselves, both are necessary, especially to run a large company, so they can't be avoided. When things are going well, it's easier for well-meaning, or even not-so-well-meaning, employees to fail, to not be good at the jobs, or just poorly positioned. Some are in the wrong role. Some are badly managed. Some are repeatedly badly managed. Some are just lazy bums, doing the least they can without getting fired. All of these situations tend to be treated more calmly in times of success. Everyone fails at some point or another. Everyone should be given a second chance to atone for previous failings. Sometimes people don't 'get' it and they remain in a position because it's easier than removing them, thereby creating a drag on the rest of the group in question.
Organization is a good thing. Clearly defined roles help people to succeed as they know what their boundaries are and therefore don't waste time on work that's beyond their role. A well defined set of boundaries are a good thing.
Something always sets itself between the boundaries, in a gray area that never truly gets defined until it arises. While on hold the other day, that's what I felt was occurring. The question we had raised was outside the normal list of questions that the individual on the phone could answer. She needed a supervisor or someone in another area to consult with and they are rarely available when needed. They are busy people too you know! They will usually tell you that, even if they have their feet up on their desk.
I didn't know the exact situation of the structure on the other end of the phone but I could imagine a generic situation from my past to fill in the gaps.
It's about a month after a reorganization that felt very clear and tidy, very enabling. A customer calls with a question that is clearly outside your realm of ability. Using your memories of previous similar situations, you retrieve as much detail from the customer as you can, documenting it carefully. You inform them of your need to transfer the problem to another group and try to give them an expected time to resolution, while not wanting to speak for the other group's availability. The problem isn't critical, not yet anyway, but is important and needs to be resolved quickly. You reassure that you will do everything you can, politely terminate the conversation, and find who's on call for the group in question.
Said individual answers the phone but is grumpy because your group is calling his group. Your group 'never' has documented the problem well enough because your group tends to hear a word or two, immediately theorizes it's his group, and transfers it over without investigating fully. The criticism is unfortunately accurate but poorly timed. You explain the situation as described and add any personal investigation you were able to do with the tools at hand. While you have investigated properly, the individual you called quickly checks something (you hear them typing away), indicates that the error is not with their group's equipment and to call a third group.
You call the third group but the entire group is in a meeting for the next hour and none of them will respond to your call because it's not critical. Yet. As the group is known for not responding to videomail in a timely manner, you email the group, noting the incident number in question as well as a few details. In the meantime, you have other work to do while you wait, including updating the original customer on the status of the problem, and you work on that.
Despite the fact that the third group doesn't like voicemail, after the meeting, one of them calls you after their meeting. As you are on the phone with someone else at the time, you cannot respond to them. They leave you a long voicemail, noting that they checked on their equipment, all is well, and ask if the second group had checked on a specific item as this has been an issue in the past. You don't get to the voicemail for another twenty minutes. You call the representive from the second group again, but now he's at lunch. He can't check on the specific item yet, but will once he returns from lunch.
When he calls back forty-five minutes later, he's not grumpy but confused. Clearly typing away, he's calling to update you on the situation. An error code didn't report properly. Why it didn't isn't clear at this time and can be determined later. It looks like he'll need to call a fourth group that's in another state and is probably at lunch now. He'll let you know when progress has been made. You contact the original customer with another update.
Twenty minutes later, the original customer calls you back. She just got out of a meeting, heard your voicemail, and is hoping for an update. You have none. She is frustrated but points out she's not frustrated with you. She can't understand why the problem is taking so long to resolve. As you have no good answer to that question, you do your best to relax and reassure her that it is being taken care of and that you'll contact her as soon as you know. The group that's impacted by the problem has other work that they've been doing today but it's not the best use of their time. After noting this, she notes that she'll have to explain this to her boss who will have to explain it to their manager who will have to explain it to their vice-president. You don't think she's name dropping at this point but realize it's possible. You also feel that the vice-president will only hear that your entire area failed this group, not that there was an issue and an issue determining what caused the issue. Once that call is done, you immediately call the second group for an update but their line is busy.
Another member of the second group calls you about a half-hour later. They put some heads together on the situation and the failure has been resolved, at least they're pretty sure it has been. The original individual you talked to is verifying it's fixed now and asked for this other person to call you with the update. While you talk, trying to understand what went wrong and what the long-term resolution will be to catch the error code next time, you are given the thumbs up that everything should be back to normal.
You contact the original caller with the update and the resolution as you can best describe it, trying to take the explanation you mostly understood and translate it into something that a layperson can grasp. She says she gets it, thanks you for your attention to the matter, but expressed dispare at the time it took to resolve as it's now well after three and most of her department will soon be going home. You apologize despite the fact that it's not really your fault in any way and try to say nothing that will sell out any of the groups involved while she vents a little more frustration your way. After you apologize again and she thanks you again, you terminate the call and do your best to document what happened so you can update your supervisor before they leave for the day.
That's how a day gets wasted. I'm sure it's not much better at a smaller company where more outside help might be required. Imagine being on the customer side, being on the phone for an hour and on hold for the bulk of it, rather than being updated occasionally during the day. It's frustrating. It's how my Wednesday got wasted.
The problems in this process are down to structure and people. In themselves, both are necessary, especially to run a large company, so they can't be avoided. When things are going well, it's easier for well-meaning, or even not-so-well-meaning, employees to fail, to not be good at the jobs, or just poorly positioned. Some are in the wrong role. Some are badly managed. Some are repeatedly badly managed. Some are just lazy bums, doing the least they can without getting fired. All of these situations tend to be treated more calmly in times of success. Everyone fails at some point or another. Everyone should be given a second chance to atone for previous failings. Sometimes people don't 'get' it and they remain in a position because it's easier than removing them, thereby creating a drag on the rest of the group in question.
Organization is a good thing. Clearly defined roles help people to succeed as they know what their boundaries are and therefore don't waste time on work that's beyond their role. A well defined set of boundaries are a good thing.
Something always sets itself between the boundaries, in a gray area that never truly gets defined until it arises. While on hold the other day, that's what I felt was occurring. The question we had raised was outside the normal list of questions that the individual on the phone could answer. She needed a supervisor or someone in another area to consult with and they are rarely available when needed. They are busy people too you know! They will usually tell you that, even if they have their feet up on their desk.
I didn't know the exact situation of the structure on the other end of the phone but I could imagine a generic situation from my past to fill in the gaps.
It's about a month after a reorganization that felt very clear and tidy, very enabling. A customer calls with a question that is clearly outside your realm of ability. Using your memories of previous similar situations, you retrieve as much detail from the customer as you can, documenting it carefully. You inform them of your need to transfer the problem to another group and try to give them an expected time to resolution, while not wanting to speak for the other group's availability. The problem isn't critical, not yet anyway, but is important and needs to be resolved quickly. You reassure that you will do everything you can, politely terminate the conversation, and find who's on call for the group in question.
Said individual answers the phone but is grumpy because your group is calling his group. Your group 'never' has documented the problem well enough because your group tends to hear a word or two, immediately theorizes it's his group, and transfers it over without investigating fully. The criticism is unfortunately accurate but poorly timed. You explain the situation as described and add any personal investigation you were able to do with the tools at hand. While you have investigated properly, the individual you called quickly checks something (you hear them typing away), indicates that the error is not with their group's equipment and to call a third group.
You call the third group but the entire group is in a meeting for the next hour and none of them will respond to your call because it's not critical. Yet. As the group is known for not responding to videomail in a timely manner, you email the group, noting the incident number in question as well as a few details. In the meantime, you have other work to do while you wait, including updating the original customer on the status of the problem, and you work on that.
Despite the fact that the third group doesn't like voicemail, after the meeting, one of them calls you after their meeting. As you are on the phone with someone else at the time, you cannot respond to them. They leave you a long voicemail, noting that they checked on their equipment, all is well, and ask if the second group had checked on a specific item as this has been an issue in the past. You don't get to the voicemail for another twenty minutes. You call the representive from the second group again, but now he's at lunch. He can't check on the specific item yet, but will once he returns from lunch.
When he calls back forty-five minutes later, he's not grumpy but confused. Clearly typing away, he's calling to update you on the situation. An error code didn't report properly. Why it didn't isn't clear at this time and can be determined later. It looks like he'll need to call a fourth group that's in another state and is probably at lunch now. He'll let you know when progress has been made. You contact the original customer with another update.
Twenty minutes later, the original customer calls you back. She just got out of a meeting, heard your voicemail, and is hoping for an update. You have none. She is frustrated but points out she's not frustrated with you. She can't understand why the problem is taking so long to resolve. As you have no good answer to that question, you do your best to relax and reassure her that it is being taken care of and that you'll contact her as soon as you know. The group that's impacted by the problem has other work that they've been doing today but it's not the best use of their time. After noting this, she notes that she'll have to explain this to her boss who will have to explain it to their manager who will have to explain it to their vice-president. You don't think she's name dropping at this point but realize it's possible. You also feel that the vice-president will only hear that your entire area failed this group, not that there was an issue and an issue determining what caused the issue. Once that call is done, you immediately call the second group for an update but their line is busy.
Another member of the second group calls you about a half-hour later. They put some heads together on the situation and the failure has been resolved, at least they're pretty sure it has been. The original individual you talked to is verifying it's fixed now and asked for this other person to call you with the update. While you talk, trying to understand what went wrong and what the long-term resolution will be to catch the error code next time, you are given the thumbs up that everything should be back to normal.
You contact the original caller with the update and the resolution as you can best describe it, trying to take the explanation you mostly understood and translate it into something that a layperson can grasp. She says she gets it, thanks you for your attention to the matter, but expressed dispare at the time it took to resolve as it's now well after three and most of her department will soon be going home. You apologize despite the fact that it's not really your fault in any way and try to say nothing that will sell out any of the groups involved while she vents a little more frustration your way. After you apologize again and she thanks you again, you terminate the call and do your best to document what happened so you can update your supervisor before they leave for the day.
That's how a day gets wasted. I'm sure it's not much better at a smaller company where more outside help might be required. Imagine being on the customer side, being on the phone for an hour and on hold for the bulk of it, rather than being updated occasionally during the day. It's frustrating. It's how my Wednesday got wasted.
05 March 2009
A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week
Slow week up at the lodge.
Secret Warriors #2 wisely provides us with more information after the shock ending of the first installment. Some mysteries need to be drawn out a bit. Some reach a tipping point and lose track of the story by waiting too long to resolve. 'Twin Peaks' springs immediately to mind as a fine example of this problem. 'Who murdered Laura Palmer' took too long to resolve, the audience started to waver, and there wasn't enough in place as a storyline for after the resolution. The 'Who is the Red Hulk?' mystery is shaping up to be one of those. Secret Warriors is NOT doing that, not on that level anyway. A myriad of questions raised by the ending of the first installment are resolved in a sentence or two from Nick Fury. I know that some disliked the revelation at the end of the first issue. I think this plot point works in the 'this is why to be more scared of the Daleks at the end of Series Four' sort of manner as opposed to it being a 'everything you know is wrong!' sort of thing. It reinvents Hydra as not being whipping boys. Their leader isn't crazy as often portrayed but a cunning plotter on the level of Nick Fury. This is a personal duel played out with organizations. Nick's just realizing he lost, and had always lost, even when he thought he won. All are welcome to their opinions. I'm finding it interesting so far.
Spider-Man and the Human Torch in Bahia de los Muertos! is a one-shot sequel to last year's story in Puerto Rico, the title of which escapes me at the moment. Like the original, this is fun and doesn't really need continuity beyond 'Spidey and Johnny Storm hang out occasionally'. Juan Doe's art is very stylized but I like it in small doses like this. The heroes all look like action figure versions of themselves but, in his style, it works rather than looking clumsy. It's a fun read.
Black Panther #2 continues the story of the (presumably) temporary replacement Panther. I didn't care for the book much the last time T'Challa wasn't in it and I'm growing increasingly neutral to this one as well. This story is being told better than that last time but I'm not sure why I should care about the replacement. I'm more impressed that I could spell T'Challa correctly without looking first.
Daredevil #116 brings back the Kingpin. Ed Brubaker humanizes the Kingpin in this issue in order to set up his return. It doesn't look like it will be business as usual for the Kingpin and that sounds like a good thing to me, at least for awhile. Bendis' run on Daredevil was good until Brubaker took over and has taken things to a whole new level of interesting. I like Ed Brubaker's writing a lot. If it weren't for him, I'd probably have dropped every X-Men related book I was getting. Brubaker is barely keeping me interested in the Uncanny title.
Madman #14 takes last issue's happy ending (who says #13 is bad luck?) and moves forward, telling another good naturedly weird story. I won't lie and say that I get everything 'Doc' Allred does with his characters but it's always worth seeing his art. Love. It.
Still reading the Video Watchdog I got this week and there's a couple trades I've yet to go through, including a story about a down on his luck Luchadore that used to fight crime. Hey! I know guys like that!
Secret Warriors #2 wisely provides us with more information after the shock ending of the first installment. Some mysteries need to be drawn out a bit. Some reach a tipping point and lose track of the story by waiting too long to resolve. 'Twin Peaks' springs immediately to mind as a fine example of this problem. 'Who murdered Laura Palmer' took too long to resolve, the audience started to waver, and there wasn't enough in place as a storyline for after the resolution. The 'Who is the Red Hulk?' mystery is shaping up to be one of those. Secret Warriors is NOT doing that, not on that level anyway. A myriad of questions raised by the ending of the first installment are resolved in a sentence or two from Nick Fury. I know that some disliked the revelation at the end of the first issue. I think this plot point works in the 'this is why to be more scared of the Daleks at the end of Series Four' sort of manner as opposed to it being a 'everything you know is wrong!' sort of thing. It reinvents Hydra as not being whipping boys. Their leader isn't crazy as often portrayed but a cunning plotter on the level of Nick Fury. This is a personal duel played out with organizations. Nick's just realizing he lost, and had always lost, even when he thought he won. All are welcome to their opinions. I'm finding it interesting so far.
Spider-Man and the Human Torch in Bahia de los Muertos! is a one-shot sequel to last year's story in Puerto Rico, the title of which escapes me at the moment. Like the original, this is fun and doesn't really need continuity beyond 'Spidey and Johnny Storm hang out occasionally'. Juan Doe's art is very stylized but I like it in small doses like this. The heroes all look like action figure versions of themselves but, in his style, it works rather than looking clumsy. It's a fun read.
Black Panther #2 continues the story of the (presumably) temporary replacement Panther. I didn't care for the book much the last time T'Challa wasn't in it and I'm growing increasingly neutral to this one as well. This story is being told better than that last time but I'm not sure why I should care about the replacement. I'm more impressed that I could spell T'Challa correctly without looking first.
Daredevil #116 brings back the Kingpin. Ed Brubaker humanizes the Kingpin in this issue in order to set up his return. It doesn't look like it will be business as usual for the Kingpin and that sounds like a good thing to me, at least for awhile. Bendis' run on Daredevil was good until Brubaker took over and has taken things to a whole new level of interesting. I like Ed Brubaker's writing a lot. If it weren't for him, I'd probably have dropped every X-Men related book I was getting. Brubaker is barely keeping me interested in the Uncanny title.
Madman #14 takes last issue's happy ending (who says #13 is bad luck?) and moves forward, telling another good naturedly weird story. I won't lie and say that I get everything 'Doc' Allred does with his characters but it's always worth seeing his art. Love. It.
Still reading the Video Watchdog I got this week and there's a couple trades I've yet to go through, including a story about a down on his luck Luchadore that used to fight crime. Hey! I know guys like that!
04 March 2009
Ads aren't what they used to be
I've been making some solid progress on my project to transfer my old tapes to DVD. Of late I've been prioritizing the stand-up shows on some of my oldest tapes, dating from 1990-1991. It's odd that some of the jokes would sound very valid now, or just recently at least, with talk of war in Iraq, economic downturns, and Bush as President.
Occasionally I taped the commercials during these shows. Most often I was watching them as I recorded them and I paused the recording during the commercials. Sometimes I was clearly gone or chose to sleep and the commercials are intact. Almost 20 years later, the commercials are interesting instead of just annoying. I've been letting them record onto the DVDs.
Sometimes it's worth it for fragments of forgotten shows. As these stand-up shows were on FOX, I'm seeing bits of 'True Colors', 'Babes', and 'Drexel's Class' in amongst more familiar shows like 'Married with Children' and 'The Simpsons'.
One question that occurred to me while watching the ads in general was 'What happened to the jingle?'
Even in the 1990s it seems that the concept was dying out. A little tune associated with a product's catchphrase can burn that product into your head, sometimes annoyingly so. Did they become too annoying? Was there a backlash? I'll bet there are people that were children in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s that can still sing jingles from certain products. Apart from the radio, where are they now?
Did advertising agencies get lazy? Was marketing invaded by frustrated movie directors that feel the need to tell a story rather than push a product? It seems that commercials are often too busy trying to be clever nowadays than sell something.
Maybe that works. Maybe I'm the one that's backwards. Maybe I've seen too many commercials where I didn't know what was being advertised until the end of the commercial and then immediately forgot what the product was in the ad.
Lets face it, most people skip commercials when they can. Why make them longer? Make them shorter. Do a 30 second song based on buying one brand of soup over another and move on. Better yet, a 10 second song, to hit someone's brain just before they raise the remote to hit fast-forward. Sneak it in there quickly.
It's obvious music gets people's attentions in a commercial. Look at the trend to promote bands via commercials. What gets over? The band or the brand? Hint: it isn't the brand.
The only place I can think of where this comes together for the brand is for a credit tracking company that has a band in each commercial, doing different songs in different styles. The first one was in a seafood restaurant. You know the one. They tend to be clever, they use music, and it's focused on the brand.
Maybe that doesn't work either. My folks love the songs but would never sign up for the service. Maybe it does work. Somebody must be signing up. They keep making new commercials in the series.
Occasionally I taped the commercials during these shows. Most often I was watching them as I recorded them and I paused the recording during the commercials. Sometimes I was clearly gone or chose to sleep and the commercials are intact. Almost 20 years later, the commercials are interesting instead of just annoying. I've been letting them record onto the DVDs.
Sometimes it's worth it for fragments of forgotten shows. As these stand-up shows were on FOX, I'm seeing bits of 'True Colors', 'Babes', and 'Drexel's Class' in amongst more familiar shows like 'Married with Children' and 'The Simpsons'.
One question that occurred to me while watching the ads in general was 'What happened to the jingle?'
Even in the 1990s it seems that the concept was dying out. A little tune associated with a product's catchphrase can burn that product into your head, sometimes annoyingly so. Did they become too annoying? Was there a backlash? I'll bet there are people that were children in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s that can still sing jingles from certain products. Apart from the radio, where are they now?
Did advertising agencies get lazy? Was marketing invaded by frustrated movie directors that feel the need to tell a story rather than push a product? It seems that commercials are often too busy trying to be clever nowadays than sell something.
Maybe that works. Maybe I'm the one that's backwards. Maybe I've seen too many commercials where I didn't know what was being advertised until the end of the commercial and then immediately forgot what the product was in the ad.
Lets face it, most people skip commercials when they can. Why make them longer? Make them shorter. Do a 30 second song based on buying one brand of soup over another and move on. Better yet, a 10 second song, to hit someone's brain just before they raise the remote to hit fast-forward. Sneak it in there quickly.
It's obvious music gets people's attentions in a commercial. Look at the trend to promote bands via commercials. What gets over? The band or the brand? Hint: it isn't the brand.
The only place I can think of where this comes together for the brand is for a credit tracking company that has a band in each commercial, doing different songs in different styles. The first one was in a seafood restaurant. You know the one. They tend to be clever, they use music, and it's focused on the brand.
Maybe that doesn't work either. My folks love the songs but would never sign up for the service. Maybe it does work. Somebody must be signing up. They keep making new commercials in the series.
03 March 2009
'Something Weird' review
Synopsis:
A serial murderer kills women in Jefferson, WI. An electrical accident leaves a man horribly scarred but with incredible psychic powers. An old crone approaches the scarred man, offering to fix his face, if he will become her lover. To everyone else, she appears to be beautiful but all he can see is the old crone. Once the psychic offers to help solve the serial murders in Wisconsin, a government agent is dispatched to test him. Love triangles, psychic powers, murders, assassination, karate, attacking bedsheets, LSD - truly this is Something Weird.
Thoughts:
With all the movies I own copies of that I haven't watched, I felt the need to watch this one again last night. This was not a bad choice as it's a fun ride. The movie keeps moving, quickly setting up what's going to happen, explaining it just enough to set the rules for the movie, and then getting to the next bit. It does not get boring. Ever. Well, maybe once, but not for long. There's a minute or two long explanation of psychic powers that's all narration over clouds. Coming out of nowhere as it does, it still manages to be weird and, therefore, fits in the movie.
As with any low budget film, the acting is not always what you'd expect or what is needed. Sometimes it is. The old crone is wonderfully over the top and she needs to be. Our psychic friend is solid, occasionally becoming theatrical when the role demands it, but also capable of looking realistically broken up as he stares at his burned face in the mirror. The government agent isn't horrible, has good moments, but often comes across a bit flat, like an anchorman. Some of the smaller, one or two line roles, come across as very natural. All in all, there's enough there to make it work.
The special effects, limited as they are, aren't bad either. The makeup is good. The levitation scene is a bit transparent but the lighting tries to cover that up. As silly as it sounds, the attacking bedsheet scene doesn't look bad at all. The lighting is just right so that no wires are clearly visible and the shadows created add a creepy tone. It works when it shouldn't.
Did they film in Jefferson, WI at all? I don't know for sure. It's possible. This is an H.G. Lewis directed film and he was headquartered in Chicago if I remember correctly. Jefferson would still be considered small enough to film something in, to get the local assistance one would need, and yet isn't so far away from Milwaukee, Madison, or even Chicago to make traveling back and forth improbable. The moment that made me believe it was Jefferson occurs early in the film, as the government agent arrives at police headquarters. Across the street is a bar with a large Blatz beer sign on it. That just screams Wisconsin to me.
The film has survived but not perfectly. The 2000 DVD release by Something Weird Video (the company is named after the movie) has a solid audio and video quality but the print is regularly flecked with damage. One reel seems to be a little soft in image quality. It's never horrible, not like watching a movie through a screen door, but this isn't one of those 'it looks like it was filmed yesterday' sorts of situations either.
It's not often that a film lives up to its title. This one does. For 80 minutes, this is truly Something Weird.
Recommended.
A serial murderer kills women in Jefferson, WI. An electrical accident leaves a man horribly scarred but with incredible psychic powers. An old crone approaches the scarred man, offering to fix his face, if he will become her lover. To everyone else, she appears to be beautiful but all he can see is the old crone. Once the psychic offers to help solve the serial murders in Wisconsin, a government agent is dispatched to test him. Love triangles, psychic powers, murders, assassination, karate, attacking bedsheets, LSD - truly this is Something Weird.
Thoughts:
With all the movies I own copies of that I haven't watched, I felt the need to watch this one again last night. This was not a bad choice as it's a fun ride. The movie keeps moving, quickly setting up what's going to happen, explaining it just enough to set the rules for the movie, and then getting to the next bit. It does not get boring. Ever. Well, maybe once, but not for long. There's a minute or two long explanation of psychic powers that's all narration over clouds. Coming out of nowhere as it does, it still manages to be weird and, therefore, fits in the movie.
As with any low budget film, the acting is not always what you'd expect or what is needed. Sometimes it is. The old crone is wonderfully over the top and she needs to be. Our psychic friend is solid, occasionally becoming theatrical when the role demands it, but also capable of looking realistically broken up as he stares at his burned face in the mirror. The government agent isn't horrible, has good moments, but often comes across a bit flat, like an anchorman. Some of the smaller, one or two line roles, come across as very natural. All in all, there's enough there to make it work.
The special effects, limited as they are, aren't bad either. The makeup is good. The levitation scene is a bit transparent but the lighting tries to cover that up. As silly as it sounds, the attacking bedsheet scene doesn't look bad at all. The lighting is just right so that no wires are clearly visible and the shadows created add a creepy tone. It works when it shouldn't.
Did they film in Jefferson, WI at all? I don't know for sure. It's possible. This is an H.G. Lewis directed film and he was headquartered in Chicago if I remember correctly. Jefferson would still be considered small enough to film something in, to get the local assistance one would need, and yet isn't so far away from Milwaukee, Madison, or even Chicago to make traveling back and forth improbable. The moment that made me believe it was Jefferson occurs early in the film, as the government agent arrives at police headquarters. Across the street is a bar with a large Blatz beer sign on it. That just screams Wisconsin to me.
The film has survived but not perfectly. The 2000 DVD release by Something Weird Video (the company is named after the movie) has a solid audio and video quality but the print is regularly flecked with damage. One reel seems to be a little soft in image quality. It's never horrible, not like watching a movie through a screen door, but this isn't one of those 'it looks like it was filmed yesterday' sorts of situations either.
It's not often that a film lives up to its title. This one does. For 80 minutes, this is truly Something Weird.
Recommended.
02 March 2009
The Books of U.N.C.L.E.
I have a habit of getting things when the opportunity arises. I have a great many interests, sometimes they connect to one another, and I had a habit of haunting second-hand shops to see what there is to see. Quite simply, this is why the Archive is as big as it is.
Much of the Archive is in a temporary status, not in it's proper home. It's in a staging area, set aside as the item in question has yet to be read or watched or what have you. Sometimes opportunity and interest do not connect at the same time. Some items happen to be on sale at the right time, or a hard-to-find book will pop up, or I'll stack up issues of a magazine for a year or so knowing that they'll get read over the course of a week at some point.
Some years ago I picked up about a dozen books in 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' line. They're not novelizations of episodes from the TV show, like my Doctor Who books are, these are just other stories featuring the characters from the show. When I saw them on the shelf at the second-hand store I knew that some of the later books in the run were rare, I had enjoyed the earlier books I'd gotten from the run, and they were priced at the princely sum of a dollar apiece. I bought all that I needed and have a nearly complete run thanks to that day. They came home and have sat on the 'read me' bookshelf since, waiting for their chance to be read and be moved to the shelf with their previously read brethren.
I started reading through them a week or two ago. They are fun. Some paragraphs have made me read them twice as I would have sworn I wrote them. Perhaps they are another influence on my style. A couple have been particularly entertaining.
90% of one book was set in Wisconsin. The details were enough to make me giggle on occasions; different but enough the same to know they were often right even 40 some years after the writing of it.
The one I'm working through now is set in England and the author is having fun with unnamed guest stars. One character was clearly meant to be Fu Manchu. I think another was the Saint. James Bond is referred to in a 'I hope we don't meet him on this trip' sort of way. There were a couple sets of people I didn't recognize as of yet and may have to look around to see who they were meant to be. Neddie Seagoon, Harry Secombe's character from the Goon Show, is named as working at New Scotland Yard.
The best so far is William Escott, an old man, long retired, who lives in Sussex and raises bees. Once he was a detective and has been amazing Napoleon and Illya with his abilities. He speaks of having dismantled a proto-THRUSH back in his working days.
I think the chap may have changed his name. Sounds a bit familiar, hmm?
Much of the Archive is in a temporary status, not in it's proper home. It's in a staging area, set aside as the item in question has yet to be read or watched or what have you. Sometimes opportunity and interest do not connect at the same time. Some items happen to be on sale at the right time, or a hard-to-find book will pop up, or I'll stack up issues of a magazine for a year or so knowing that they'll get read over the course of a week at some point.
Some years ago I picked up about a dozen books in 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' line. They're not novelizations of episodes from the TV show, like my Doctor Who books are, these are just other stories featuring the characters from the show. When I saw them on the shelf at the second-hand store I knew that some of the later books in the run were rare, I had enjoyed the earlier books I'd gotten from the run, and they were priced at the princely sum of a dollar apiece. I bought all that I needed and have a nearly complete run thanks to that day. They came home and have sat on the 'read me' bookshelf since, waiting for their chance to be read and be moved to the shelf with their previously read brethren.
I started reading through them a week or two ago. They are fun. Some paragraphs have made me read them twice as I would have sworn I wrote them. Perhaps they are another influence on my style. A couple have been particularly entertaining.
90% of one book was set in Wisconsin. The details were enough to make me giggle on occasions; different but enough the same to know they were often right even 40 some years after the writing of it.
The one I'm working through now is set in England and the author is having fun with unnamed guest stars. One character was clearly meant to be Fu Manchu. I think another was the Saint. James Bond is referred to in a 'I hope we don't meet him on this trip' sort of way. There were a couple sets of people I didn't recognize as of yet and may have to look around to see who they were meant to be. Neddie Seagoon, Harry Secombe's character from the Goon Show, is named as working at New Scotland Yard.
The best so far is William Escott, an old man, long retired, who lives in Sussex and raises bees. Once he was a detective and has been amazing Napoleon and Illya with his abilities. He speaks of having dismantled a proto-THRUSH back in his working days.
I think the chap may have changed his name. Sounds a bit familiar, hmm?
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