One Million Years B.C. trailer

since it's Ray Harryhausen's birthday today, I figured I'd post a trailer from my favorite movie of his- the most excellent One Million Years, BC (1966). everything about this movie works. I first saw it at about age five or six and it blew me away. probably had some other effects on me at the time, but then it was ALL about the dinosaurs.

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

bought this DVD a while ago- when it was still cheap in stores, actually, and have never watched it.  it's paired with Moon Zero Two, a movie I have never seen (watching it today) but have read the novelization (and remember nothing about it).   the DVD is now rare because of the slight nude scene in When Dinos... caused some kind of stir or something, and it went OOP pretty quickly.  

good luck finding it for less than $40!  the prices collectors will pay for such things.

Peanuts Mothra Song

many people have been posting the famous Mothra song from the wonderful movie of the same name today. this used to be a "lost" song, since it was trimmed from the US cut for time constraints. now of course you can see it on DVD uncut, so it's no longer lost, but it's not as famous as the other song.

RIP Emi Ito

Emi Ito passed away on June 15, 2012.  she was 71 years old.  best known to fans in the west as one half the the twin fairies that sang to Mothra (aka the Shobijin) she and her twin sister Yumi sang for many years and appeared in this country on the Ed Sullivan Show.

think I'll watch Mothra today.

Bruce vs Chuck

this is one of those dream match ups that happened before anyone ever realized what it was. Chuck really didn't make a name for himself in the movies after this, and it took several years after Bruce passed away that he started making his own movies. from "Return of the Dragon".

Our Man Flint (1966)

in response to the hugely popular James Bond movies, every studio wanted to make a spy film.  some of them are serious, some of them are not.  most of the Bond films weren't that serious either.  those are the best ones, anyway, realizing that the whole genre was rather silly to begin with (much like superhero movies).  and there are tons of them, both serious and silly (and many that tried to be one and ended up the other, though bad comedy is never good).

I did that whole month on spy movie trailers, and I bet the trailers were better than most of the actual movies.

Superman (1948)

this is the first six minutes of the first Superman serial. it's the beginning of end of Krypton, which is kind of cool. looks very similar to the comics of the time. the effects are nicely done and the costumes are cool.

Maciste in King Solomon's Mines (1964)

DVD sure brought about a lot of changes.  when Sinister Cinema and Something Weird Video used to be the only source for weird and rare movies, they cost a LOT of money to buy.  then the digital age happened and suddenly all those PD movies were available for $5 or even $1 all over the place.

like this rare peplum movie. for quite a while it's existence was in doubt, but here it is in all it's faded glory.  it's a fun movie, and watching it this way is almost like seeing it on Channel 2 when I was a kid.  which I didn't, since it never aired.

Kyôryû sentai Koseidon

a forgotten "sentai" show, this is from Tsuburaya in 1978. the dinosaur suits are pretty well done, actually. there's evil aliens and a lot of great effects and action. I wish there was more to the clip than just the opening, since you miss seeing the superhero in action.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer (1949)

watched this movie yesterday.  it's hard to believe but I had never seen it before.  granted, it's not really in the "boys meet the monsters" series, but it does have Boris Karloff in it, so you would think I would have been at least interested in viewing it.  it must never have aired in my area, or it was on some time when I wasn't there.  that could have happened, I'll grant.

The Fratellis - Flathead

for all those people who think I don't like new music, here's a song I heard yesterday and really liked it. darn youtube for not letting me hear more of their music. what is this nonsense about not being available in my country? anyway, it's cool and I've liked the few songs I did get to hear.

FM 262 preview

Just got this in the mail. I think I like it even more than left year's version. there's more diversity to the articles, and more obscure stuff, which I really appreciate.  and it's written by people who know a vast amount of information on all the subjects.  it really lives up to the best issue ever blurb.

 I wonder what next year's issue will entail.  I can't wait to find out!

Adam Ant - Antmusic

since I posted "Desperate But Not Serious" I figured some more Adam and the Ants would be in order. here's one of their first videos, which of course was never aired in my part of the world. no one would ever play that "new music", you know, the British invasion at that time.

Spacium beam

I used to think this was a spectrum blast. I think it's a cool name, even if wrong.

Micronauts, the comics

I discovered the Micronauts in much the same way series creator and writer Bill MantloBill Mantlo's son did, at Christmas in 1977 or so.  and like his son, I was immediately enthralled with the wide variety of toys and figures, and all that you could change and create with them.

back then, we never knew that they were a Japanese import with their own backstories already.  they were just some cool toys that looked nothing like the new "action(less)" figures that were starting to flood the market due to the success of the Star Wars figures.  poor Mego should have jumped on that license!

Wonder Woman vs Leviathan

sometimes a comic book cover is more awesome than the story inside.

in fact, I'd say a LOT of covers are better than their respective stories.

I saw this cover the other day on a t-shirt. it's very intriguing, and I wonder just what the story is.  sure makes for a great cover.  Wonder Woman at the time was not the best written comic, if I remember correctly.  DC had no idea what to do with one of the Big 3 (and hadn't for years).

I haven't read this particular story, nor do I remember ever seeing it before.  it probably would have got my attention, at least, as any kind of monster on a cover would have gotten my attention.

Golden Bat opening

here's a really cool hero and cartoon that we sadly never got to see in the States. it was dubbed into English and shown in Australia, and possibly other places, but alas, none of those episodes have turned up yet.

The Magic Sword (1962)

I saw this movie in the theater as part of the summer kiddie matinee that ran for several years when I was a kid.  they showed an amazing amount of movies, including several Japanese monster movies as well as odd fantasies like this and the Italian "Beauty and the Beast" and comedies and lots of cartoons.  I saw so many of them I don't remember most of them.  and seeing the remake of "The Lost World" on the big screen just made the lizards even more disappointing than when I saw it on tv a year before that.  I wanted dinosaurs, dammit!

Adam Ant - Desperate But Not Serious

owned this album and now the CD. one of the best songs he's written, in fact, the entire record is quite good. he added the horns and kind of changed the signature Burundi drumming from the previous albums, but it all worked.

no really, Marine Boy update

starting to re-watch Marine Boy in order to get me inspired to finish the dang book.  I've been writing it on and off for ten years now, more or less.  it started as a simple episode guide, since that hadn't been done at the time.

The Plasmatics 'Black Leather Monster'

I saw this on it's original airing. it was amazing to see on the otherwise mostly tepid "Solid Gold" show. lip-synced performances were what all the stars did, except when the hosts "performed" a hit song. those were sometimes worthy viewing in and of itself.

Star Trek 2 pictures

after watching The Wrath of Khan the other day I was struck by all the model work, especially in the last battle between Kirk and Khan.  this is done in a nebula and the ships are superb, as is the effects work.  there may be some spoilers here, so don't look at the photos if you haven't seen the movie yet.

Road to Morocco (1942)

I have the four pack of "Road to …" movies, and have watched them one at a time, in order.  though the only one I had seen beforehand was the fourth one, Road to Utopia (1946).  and I saw that at age 11, which was a great age to see it.  especially in the middle of the night with my brother Eric and my cousin Todd. 

I was also losing a lot of games of "Crazy 8s" which is such a weird thing to remember as well, but it was a great night.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

this movie was released on June 4, 1982. here's the trailer for it. it, along with STIV are probably the two best Trek movies made. I saw it twice in the theaters and still love it. I can only hope the new "trek" movies don't include Khan. why would you want to try to top this? his story has been told, there's no need to tell it once again.

Famous Monsters of Filmland #262 CLASH OF THE KAIJU

it's that time of year again!  giant monsters invade Famous Monsters in a sequel to last years sell out.  and there's a bunch of great stuff in here again!  it's sure to sell out like the first one did.  don't miss a chance at getting this wonderful tribute to giant monsters and more!  there will be some great articles in this one, many subjects which have never been written about before in Famous Monsters.

no, I'm not gonna tell you, you should get a copy and find out for yourself!

this month's theme...

well, there is no set theme this month.  due to a wide variety of circumstances I have gotten a bit lazy with my writing and the videos were an easy way to keep posting without doing too much actual writing.

I'm tired of that so I will go back to not having a video a day and actually be writing reviews and other such fun things.