Blast Hardcheese

I joined up under the name Ghost Bag, and this channel is amazingly easy to navigate.

This has been spelled-out in many, many discussions of this film, but I feel that I have to put this in words just to get my head around the plot device for Governor Gabby: Did anyone else find it ironic that the plot of this film has a tenuous grasp (at best) on how the governor of California is elected given the fact that Gov. Gab. was filmed and takes place in the state’s capital, Sacramento? Some scenes seem to have been filmed in a community college or (benefit of the doubt) university class room, so the avoidance of general knowledge of the shooting subject available at hand from a higher learning institution as well as the city around them is absolutely egregious on the filmmaker’s part.

Um... And if you have not watched Year of the Rabbit yet, do so immediately!

As a child of the ‘80’s, I would have loved to play with these toys.

I did just that, and I have to say that movie is abysmally entertaining in that wearing-an-old-comfy-sneaker-from-the-1990's way.

Yes, please. Very much so!

I'm glad that Paul briefly mentioned the 2011 prequel to The Thing titled, imaginatively enough, The Thing (and not, Who Goes There?, which would have been a great throwback to the novella which started this whole shebang). While not a great movie by any means (it was ultimately and famously ruined by endless studio tinkering), one of the main plot points that got buried in all the awful CGI is that the crash-landed alien ship buried in the snow is a prison transport and The Thing its one of the prisoners. That would have provided a great back story and explain why a gooey, shape-shifting alien arrived on Earth in an inorganic metal disc. I also loved the shout-out in this episode to the brilliance (and sacrifice) of Rob Bottin. Besides masterminding the special FX on this movie and The Howling, Bottin is notable--in my heart, anyway--for creating RoboCop's suit. And any excuse to bring up RoboCop on this forum... well, there you go.

Yeah, I agree. It totally stuck with me, though. Loneliness and alienation as the "scary monster" of the piece is, to me, more frightening than Hannibal Lector or Norman Bates will ever be. For this list I'd pick The Terminator, which is nihilistic as all get out. Also, Zodiac. That film is chilling.

I realize it's too late to make a suggestion or two for this series (one of which, for me, would have been the deeply unsettling indie May from 2002), so I'd instead like to post two mixtapes I have on Mixcloud that feature the type of creepy, old-timey music Amy mentioned in the Frankenstein episode. It's interesting that the further our modern audio sensibilities get from the past, the creepier the limitations in recording quality of music from the past becomes. Your grandparents, however, might still really dig this shit. The first mixtape is a 20 minute compilation E.P. that features the haunting, big band/swing diegetic background music from The Shining (plus the two versions of "Goodnight Sweet Heart" for good, spooky measure): The second mixtape here features many songs by English musician Leyland Kirby, who, under the name The Caretaker, realized the inherent jeepers-creepers vibe of these vintage big band classics and decided to make them somehow even more jeepers-y-creepers-y; pretty much the soundtrack to urban exploring old, abandoned mental hospitals and such: Happy Halloween!

I'm surprised this one didn't make Tipper Gore's head explode:

The graffiti bridge of Graffiti Bridge looks like the production stole it from a high school musical and plopped it onto a brightly lit sound stage (akin to those early episodes of TNG when the crew beams down to a planet that is bright and flat and limited in range). So yes: buy this movie!

I’m sure this cinematic hairball is directly responsible for nixing any and all chances Idris Elba had to play James Bond.

Hmm... I dunno. After Patton Oswalt's appearance on Best of the Worst, I have a feeling that Paul, Jason and June would also get easily annoyed with Jay, Mike and Rich. Let's not forget that Danzig followed this cinematic outing with a less-than-stellar Elvis tribute album. Here's a taste (my apologies):

I'm positive that this is not an original observation on my part (but I'm too lazy to Google it, despite being on a computer at this very moment), but did Prince invent the emoji? In his song titles, Prince would often substitute words with letters and symbols (i.e., U for "you," 2 for "to" or "two," a drawing of an eye for "I," etc.) That carries over to this film, where the first note his character, Christoper Tracy, receives reads, "She wants U. Ask for the moon." The song "Love or Money" (the B-side for the song "Kiss" from the accompanying soundtrack for this movie, Parade) is billed in the credits as "♥ or $." Even the subtitles (on Amazon Prime, anyway) utilize this Prince alphabet, as well. I disagree that it was a mistake not to film this movie in color. This movie has a weird timelessness in black in white that, if it was filmed in color, would have dated this film horribly. Under the Cherry Moon feels like an issue of Interview magazine in movie form, so the black and white film choice seems in-line with that high-fashion aesthetic, as well. A couple of times during this film, we see a middle aged man in a hat with two beautiful women in tow. Were they supposed to be the Greek chorus of this film? Or is Nice just that small? The best part of this movie for me was Prince taking a bath, with a hat on, yelling "FASCIST!" while dive-bombing a rubber duck in rose pedal water. The rose pedal budget for this film, by the way, must have been insane. Paul, you and June MUST watch Purple Rain. It's a great, albeit slightly flawed film that also features Morris Day (who almost steals the show). However, if and when you guys watch this movie, it must be a double feature that also includes the sequel Graffiti Bridge, which I guarantee will floor you beyond anything you've witnessed in Under the Cherry Moon. Graffiti Bridge, Paul: I shit you not.

Because it’s currently “free” on Amazon Prime, I’m watching The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at this very moment, and it’s... whew! There are no words. It’s like The Avengers for those with severe head trauma.