Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #80!

Cover Girl Models  (New World, 1975)

I haven't seen this exploitation drama shot in the Phillipines for the King of Pop Cinema, but it was recently released on DVD, so I hope to soon!




Eyeball  (Joseph Brenner Associates, 1978)

Umberto Lenzi directed this Argentoesque giallo in 1975, but it took three years to make it to American movie screens. I haven't seen it - but would given the chance.





Warrior Queen  (Seymour Borde & Associates, 1987)

I almost rented this so many times on VHS from the little video store next to the Varsity Theater in Carbondale Illinois in the 80's - but the names Harry Alan Towers and Chuck Vincent put me off. I'm a stronger man now - bring this baby on! Scads of nudity - check. Stock footage volcanic eruption - check. 79 minute running time unrated / 69 minute running time R rated - check. Bring it on for sure!





Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Saturday Night at the Movies 8/4/12!

Before we get down to business - I would like to take a moment to announce that this is:

The 450th Post for Let's Get Out of Here!

Huzzah!



Who cares what picture we see?


Well, we can always get a few shots of Raymond Burr saying he does and stick them in, so let's pick this one:

(Weirdly, this is from a TV airing - but it's the trailer I best remember.)

After the original Godzilla film series came to an end in the 70's, the biggest movie star of all languished in forced retirement. It took several years - but eventually in 1984 Toho Studios brought the Big G back in a serious followup to the original classic called The Return of Godzilla. A year after that New World Pictures brought that movie over for American release; retitled it Godzilla 1985; and in a wild case of deja vu - they decided to bring Raymond Burr back as the same reporter character for some new scenes that were dotted into the movie - just like the original Godzilla!

One funny side note - in the original movie Burr's character was named Steve Martin - in the 1950's a good American name with no other connotations - but in the mid 80's one that made you think he might be a "wild and crazy guy!" So in Godzilla 1985 they stick to calling him Mr. Martin for the most part - though there might be a Steven in there - but they never actually call him Steve Martin.

Let's throw in a couple of extras here too - one of the ways New World Pictures was able to finance the new sequences shot for their release was to get Toho to agree to license Godzilla to an American soft drink company for cross promotion.


Here's what aired on TV around the time of the movie's release:

And here's another one of those commercials:

I did say cross promotion - so here's how the deal worked in the other direction - here's a quick clip of one of the new scenes shot for Godzilla 1985:

(And that isn't the only screen time for the Dr. Pepper machine either - it pops up a few more times, and I think I remember Raymond Burr being brought a refreshing beverage from it at one point.)


I got to see this movie in the theater - my first Godzilla flick on the Big Screen - and it was awesome, especially with the goofy new footage sticking out like a sore thumb. I would love to have a big Blu-Ray special edition with the original Japanese version and the American one on the same disc - but until then I have my trusty old VHS ready to roll if you'd like to come take a look at it with me - even this evening!



Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Short Cuts: What They Say!

Based on the short story “What They Say” written by Heather Dorff

Screenplay by Kelsey Zukowski and Heather Dorff

Directed by Justin R. Romine of Fathead Films

Produced by Serenity Pictures, Heather Dorff, and Keith Romine of Fathead Films.

In association with Serenity Pictures and Blue in Black Entertainment

Evil lies within. How long will it stay there?

Troubled young women. They battle the world day in and day out - anger, loathing, despair - sometimes  they spill over into violence - against others - against themselves. But what if there's more inside than seething rage and dark thoughts. And what if the cutting is a desperate attempt to get it out?

This short film explores those notions across a sixteen minute running time filled with raw emotion, nightmare imagery, some shocking violence, and several chilling moments that had me uneasy for quite a while after the movie had ended. It is all anchored by a compelling lead performance from Heather Dorff as the unnamed lead. She brings a laser focus to the role, jittery with pent up energy and swathed in disdain for the mundane world that refuses to see just what is going on inside her. She's marvellous, and I look forward to seeing more from her as she has a bright future ahead of her if talent is any indication.

I don't want to say too much more as that would only lead to spoilers. The short is well produced; the acting from the supporting cast is pretty good across the board, with Kelsey Zukowski standing out; and director Justin Romine marshals it all to the screen with a fine visual style and solid editing.


The short has been garnering awards at festival screenings all over the place - and rightfully so - hopefully it will soon be available for everyone to see - as I highly recommend giving it a watch. My thanks to Heather Dorff for arranging a screening for me!



Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Boys in the Hood!

The Watch  (20th Century Fox, 2012)

Before the Camera:


Ben Stiller  (Empire of the Sun)
Vince Vaughn  (Domestic Disturbance)
Jonah Hill  (Accepted)
Richard Ayoade (TV's The IT Crowd)
Rosemary DeWitt  (Cinderella Man)
Will Forte  (Beerfest)
Erin Moriarty  (TV's One Life to Live)
Mel Rodriguez  (Little Miss Sunshine)
Doug Jones  (Hellboy)
Nicholas Braun  (Sky High)
and
R. Lee Ermey (Hexed!)
as
Manfred


Behind the Camera:

Directed by Akiva Schaffer


Produced by Blondel Aidoo, Monica Levinson, Shawn Levy, Tom McNulty, and Billy Rosenberg


Written by Jared Stern, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg


Evan Trautwig (Stiller) is your average suburban guy – he’s the manager at the local Costco; he heads up a “running club;” and he and his wife are working to start a family. When a Costco security guard is killed in the store, Trautwig seizes the moment to form a neighborhood watch group. At the recruiting meeting, only three men show up: Bob (Vaughn), who uses the watch to spy on his teenage daughter's dating; Franklin (Hill), a slightly unbalanced young man unable to join the police force due to various physical and mental issues; and Jamarcus (Ayoade), a recently divorced man. While Evan works diligently to make the watch effective; the others use it as an excuse to drink and party. But one night, while driving around, they accidentally hit something. When they investigate, they find weird pieces of tentacle clinging to Evan’s car and nearby, a strange metallic orb. After messing around with it, they discover that it fires a highly destructive particle beam weapon, and they deduce that it and the tentacle must be of alien origin. As evidence of the alien invasion mounts, will these four knuckleheads be able to convince anyone in authority in time - or will they have to man up and stop the aliens themselves?

Hill, Stiller, Ayoade, and Vaughn discover that "orbit" takes on a whole new meaning...

This movie locked in as a must see for me the minute I found out Richard Ayoade was in it. My wife and I discovered a British sitcom called The IT Crowd that he stars in – and we have become huge fans of his quirky character Moss. The initial previews didn’t highlight him at all – sticking to Stiller, Vaughn, and Hill as the stars. But finally they featured him – with the announcer having problems pronouncing his last name (it’s Eye-yo-ah-day, by the way). I also thought it was interesting that after a couple of spots set up the alien invasion angle – they completely shifted the advertising to the three (or four) stars – with no mention of anything otherwordly going on. Consequently, I think some audience members are being caught off guard by the movie – which is a full on sci-fi comedy in the vein of Evolution or Paul. It’s also pretty vulgar – another expected development when you see Seth Rogen’s name among the writers.

While it’s not breaking much in the way of new ground, I had a good time with the movie. The four leads play their usual characters – Stiller the befuddled reactor; Vaughn a motormouthed party animal; Hill the outsider with anger issues, and Ayoade the nerdish and socially awkward one. Within the framework of the rather routine script – it is obvious director Schaffer has let the four run wild with improv – resulting in some hilarious four way verbal give and takes – and even periodically showing a conversational tangent from one cracking up the others on screen. Vaughn takes off in a couple of directions that are fairly bewildering, but just the sheer weirdness of his thought process is funny. For me, this improvisational style, some surprisingly silly moments, and the R rated depths the movie sinks to made it work just fine. It’s also worth mentioning that despite the comedic tone there are moments of graphic violence in the movie – it’s not wall to wall gore – but kind of surprising nonetheless. All four stars have very funny moments, and there’s good support from the rest of the cast, with DeWitt as Stiller’s wife and Forte as a prissy town policeman standing out – as well as the always hilarious R. Lee Ermey in a small role.

If you’re a fan of any of the stars or like goofy sci fi comedies, and don’t mind salty language and body fluid jokes this is probably a safe bet for you. Others might want to steer clear of this one.




Let's Get Out of Here ?

I can't be sure of the time code - our screening was delayed for some minutes by a thunderstorm's power surge knocking the projector offline - but after Ben Stiller climbs up and lifts the orb, Vince Vaughn adds an F bomb to make sure everyone knows he wishes them all to be elsewhere.



Eye Candy ?

Both main ladies are cute and all - but neither is showcased in a way that gets them on the list.

Sorry, ladies.

Buddha Man's Capsule Review

Buddha Man says "Dripping with gooey humor,
The Watch is worth the watch."

Thank you, BM! Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #79!

Fire Maidens from Outer Space  (Saturn Films, 1956)

And because we should really SEE the things highlighted to SEE:

I did SEE this movie - taped from a local television broadcast about 20 years ago - it was either channel 32 or channel 50 when I was living outside Chicago Illinois. To the best of my recollection it's okay - some fun stuff, some slow spots. The poster is great though!





Buck Rogers  (Universal, 1979)

After ABC had some success recouping costs by releasing the pilot of Battlestar Galactica to theaters as a movie the previous year, NBC decided to do the same thing with their pilot for Buck Rogers. But they did two things differently - they released the movie version to theaters first - in March - before the series premiered - in September. This meant no kids clamoring to go see it because they liked the show - they were hinging the whole thing on people going to see anything space opera after Star Wars. They also cheaped out and did nothing to build up the movie release - like the Galactica movie being released in Sensurround. It still made money - and launched the show to a successful first season. I have a real affection for the show - Erin Gray was another crush from my youth - but it is awfully influenced by the disco trend and consequently much campier than Battlestar Galactica.









Lovely But Deadly  (Juniper Releasing, 1981)

I saw this one on VHS with my movie pal Richard one afternoon after school. We howled through this goofy cheesefest as star Lucinda Dooling (NOT Lucinda Dickey, sadly) kicks butt on the pushers working her high school. Familiar faces abound, and happily everything on the poster happens in the movie, though not all of it shines with the gleam of competent filmmaking...





Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

The Liebster Award Part Two!

Here's the second half of this Megapost -

RECAP:

An Award was Bestowed!

The Liebster Award was given to LGOOH by three wonderful folks:

Kaijinu from Sticky Red: A Bodycount Compendium

Harry from Maynard Morrissey's Horror Movie Diary

Michelle from The Girl Who Loves Horror

However, I have a (stolen) graphic that shows 4 Liebster awards, so I gave myself one too!

The first half presented the award rules and fulfilled the one that stated the recipient must post 11 things about themselves. As the award was given to me by 3 people - 33 things about myself it was!


You can read the first post by hitting THIS link.


Okay, next up - answering the 3 sets of eleven questions posed by my three blog buddies!

Kaijinu:

1. Had you ever daydream about something and what's the most memorable one you ever had?

• I used to remember my night time dreams very well - and could even continue them the next night if I concentrated hard enough. I've had sonme epic night time dreams. My daydreams tend to be quick little snatches of visuals as I'm usually distracted away pretty quickly. My most incredible dream was this HUGE night dream where I was being pursued by a serial killer, and it was really weird and scary and frustrating, because parts of the serial killer's actions I could see on TV screens, but I kept getting called away before his identity was revealed on the screen. Made me nuts for the (seemingly) three weeks that dream seemed to go on that night.

2. Who's the one Comic Book hero you NEVER want to see made to a movie out of respect and fear of flopping?

• I'm going to say Millie the Model, because Stan Lee used to refer to her all the time. All others are fair game. But don't mess them up, filmmakers!

3. Will you try to dance Jamie Lee Curtis' disco scene in Prom Night (1980) with a partner?

• Absolutely. Fire up the music.

4. Name one of the least likely movie franchise entry that suddenly became your number one fave?

• Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, which was a movie from the Ernest P. Worrell franchise.

This guy.

• Dr. Otto was a crazy comedy - and perfectly silly despite some slow spots.

5. What's the weirdest experience you had involving a movie? (theatres, DVD releases, etc.)

• Seeing I Know What You Did Last Summer in the theater with the kids from Dawson's Creek - but this was while we were shooting the first season - before Dawson's had aired any episodes. After the screening of IKWYDLS, we were interviewed by a local TV affiliate about the movie because it was written by Kevin Williamson, whose TV show Dawson's Creek was filming right here in town! The news show showed the clip - not realizing they had several stars-to-be on tape praising the writing of the movie (of course, since it was the writing of our boss!)

6. Did you ever had a crush on a fantasy character in your teen years? If yes, who?

• As I indicated in Part One - Wonder Woman as played by Lynda Carter!

Any excuse at all...

7. If a movie character out of your fave flicks suddenly appeared in front of your doorstep, who will it be and what'll you do?

• James Bond, and we'll go bombing around in his spy car!

8. WATCH OUT! EXTRA TERRESTRIALS! And you have a tool shed behind you! What'll you do?

• Go hide in the tool shed. Hope there's some clean underwear there.

9. With all these news on rocket launches, disease outbreaks and people killing each other, how close do you think we are before things go 28 Weeks Later?

• Not more than 27 Weeks Away...

10. If you had the power to change yer appearance, who's face yer gonna try first?

• Some hot guy the women all love - give that a try.

11. Worst tasting delicacy you ever encountered?

Octopus. It was the texture more than the taste - it was like eating a fish flavored chunk of automobile tire.


Second up - Harry!


Harry got hit with er, was awarded four of these babies, so after answering all his questions, he advised those to whom he bestowed the award to pick eleven from the questions he'd answered. So here goes...



1. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

• Getting to put all this crazy junk stored in my head out there a post at a time - and finding people don't entirely hate it!

2. Which game from your childhood do you wish you could play again?

• There was this Monopoly ripoff called Creature Features - and it involved the buying and selling of horror movies instead of real estate. It was awesome, and I wish I had it still.

The box.

The board.

3. What was the first thing you posted on your blog and why?

• A wordy introduction - and in hindsight, no good idea why. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Now it seems like a fairly stuffy first post.

4. What is your favorite beverage?

• Coke Zero with coffee a close second.

5. Do you like thunderstorms? Why or why not?

• I do enjoy them, but I fear for my electronics. They are like nature's fireworks, and can be very spectacular. Also, once in a while on a stormy day it's fun to put on a pot of chili and watch old movies all day.

6. Do you like Musicals? Do you find yourself breaking out into song for days on end after seeing one? (I know I do.)

• I don't watch them constantly, but I do enjoy musicals. I just saw the nationwide 60th anniversary screening of Singing in the Rain at my local theater a couple of weeks ago.

7.  What do you do in your spare time other than blog?

• Spare time? BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!
• No, seriously, I read and watch movies.

8.  What movie got you addicted to horror movies?

• Halloween (1978)

9. What's your favorite holiday and why?

• When I was a kid, it was of course Christmas. Now that I'm older, it's Halloween - because we decorate the house, and I watch nothing but horror the entire month of October. And it seems this past year we kicked off a new yearly tradition - the Crazy Movie Weekend: Halloween Horrorfest! Can't wait for this year's!

10. What is your greatest memory as a child?

• The summers. No school, playing outside, swimming, and staying up incredibly late to watch weird old movies on the late late show in those years before home video.

11. Favorite food? 

• I can tear up a steak, but I have to give the top position to pizza.

And last but certainly not least - Michelle's questions.


1. How did you come up with the name for your blog and are you still happy with it now?

• There was a question in the original Trivial Pursuit game that asked what was (I think) the most cliched (or used?) line of dialogue in movies - and the answer was "Let's get out of here!" As a lot of useless facts do - this factoid stuck in my head for decades. In the last few years I'd been thinking about doing a movie review site - before it was called blogging - and finally jumped in and commenced after it was called blogging. And I wanted to feature this most used line of dialogue as a centerpiece, so I decided to use the timecode in each movie where "Let's get out of here!" appeared as a feature in my reviews. And what else could the blog be called? Let's Get Out of Here! I am very happy with it - as I now have a great line for celebrities to say when they endorse my blog!

2. You decide on where you're going to go for a 3 week vacation by throwing a dart on a map. Where do you hope the dart doesn't land?

• Off the map on the blank wall. Which is a distinct possibility with my dart throwing "skills."

3. Can you trill, or "roll your r's"?

• Oh yes, and I can roll my tongue up into a circle too.

4. What is your favorite breakfast food?

• BACON!!!

5. What celebrity of the same sex do you think is totally hot?

• Ru Paul. (Heh heh heh).

6. Have you ever had a horror-movie related dream? If so (and if you can remember), describe!

• Sometime in the last year or so I had one of my epic dreams where I was being chased by Michael Myers. He kept popping up and almost getting me - and I remember I hid in a car that wasn't mine several streets away just to get some rest. That dream seemed to last days, too.

Next time...

7. I'm getting my new Poltergeist movie poster framed and I have limited wall space. Which poster should I take down to make room for the new one: Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Resident Evil, The Evil Dead, or Saw?

• Goodbye Pulp Fiction. The rest are all horror movies, or at least have the word Kill involved.

8. What was Robert DeNiro's best movie role?

• Fearless Leader in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
• (Actually, think I'll go with Rupert Pupkin from King of Comedy.)

9. Do you think children should be allowed to watch horror movies and why?

• It depends on the child, but yes, and it needs to be eased in - let them watch Goosebumps and the old Universal Monster movies when they're ready. Save the blood guts and gore for later.

10. What is the most visually stunning film you have ever seen?

• Star Trek - The Motion Picture was it for a long time - but I think I have to give it to Inception now.

11. What was the last thing you ate?

• Lays' Spicy Cayenne and Cheese Kettle Chips.

Okay - now to bestow the award - and because this thing has really been making the rounds - I'm going to get creative. The rules state you must bestow the award on 11 people. Well, I see that "11" as "1" and "1" side by side - so I'm giving the award to two great blogs.


Luana at Skating Buffalo


Maurice and Nigel at The Geek Twins


And here are the eleven questions for them to answer - (Maurice and Nigel can split them up any way they see fit.)

1. What is the very earliest movie memory you have?


2. Favorite moviegoing snack?

3. Do you enjoy "so bad they're good" movies?


4. What celebrity would you most like to meet?


5. Name a guilty pleasure in pop culture.


6. MST3K, Elvira, or Joe Bob Briggs?


7. Has a movie ever scared you so bad you had trouble sleeping; or made you nauseous?


8. Give me your dream cast for a remake of anything.


9. What is the perfect breakfast?


10. Police Academy - can't believe they made that many; or why did they stop?


11. What is your favorite post at Let's Get Out of Here?


(Yes, I'm that cheesy!)



I look forward to the award receipt posts from Luana and the Mitchells if they choose to participate!


Thanks again to the my blog buddies who gave me this award - this has been fun! (For me, anyway!)


Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Saturday Night at the Movies 7/28/12!

Who cares what picture we see?


What kind of world would it be if Olympic champion gymnast Kurt Thomas didn't? Not one I care to live in, so we'll go with his choice:

Let's celebrate the kickoff of the 30th Olympiad with this wonderfully silly martial arts flick - which put Olympic gold medal winner Kurt Thomas in the role of buttkicking superspy. His weapon? His body - and several conveniently placed pieces of gymnastics equipment  - like those parallel bars jammed into that alley - or that big rock shaped just like a pommel horse right in the town square.


This one is hilarious, and it looks good on DVD, sitting right over there in the video vault. I could have it spinning in seconds, if you wanted to come hang out and watch it with me - even tonight!



Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!