What I’m Listening to!
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Podcast of the Day
PODCAST OF THE DAY
Linux Outlaws 312 – Bullshit off the Starboard Bow
Linux Outlaws
I’m listening to this podcast at work, and generally I’ve tried this particular podcast show before, and previously it just didn’t engage me.
However this time, this particular episode they are discussing items I’m familiar with such as Linux Mint vs Ubuntu. Cinnamon vs Mate, and the general look at the Linux Desktop options /environment.
Based on their review I’m actually going to download and try Linux Mint after a hiatus of several years.
You can download Linux Mint 15 here. (Going along with my previous post, if you are sick of Windows, then here is another Linux Distro you have as an alternative to Microsoft)
I’m also loving their take on Youtube ‘Youtube is the sewer of the internet… should turn comments off.” as well as their view of Microsoft’s X-BOX “X-Box needs to die”. Viewpoints I entirely agree with, and the reason I don’t use or frequent YouTube or own an X-Box or Wii.:).
And on a funny note… “the house that looked like Hitler”?
Just found this podcast episode informative and even fun listening. Take a listen and see if you agree,
Three Best Werewolf Movies available on Archive.Org!
Three Best Werewolf Movies available on Archive.Org!
I like big WereWolf movies and I cannot lie!
That sounded much better as a rap song, 🙂 Anyhow, I do happen to have a fondness for Werewolf movies.
And this being the age of torture porn, and slasher flicks, and zombie movies (none of which I like)… good werewolf flicks are not that prevalent. Unlike many I did quite enjoy Joe Johnstone’s recent WOLF-MAN.
Unfortunately, at this rate it means one good werewolf movie every decade or so (sorry TWILIGHT and UNDERWORLD, not really interested).
Well for those who have seen all the classic wolf flicks (AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, HOWLING, WOLFEN) and are seeking something to tide them over try these obsure, little seen flicks available on Archive.org. While not exactly good, stick with em, they rise above their flaws :):
WEREWOLF IN A GIRL’S DORMITORY- A zero budget film, sprinkled with sizeable amounts of bad acting. That said there is one actor who gives a compelling performance, some interesting mad scientist elements, and some interesting makeup. Worth a look. Grade: Has its moments. View it here.
WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON- Dean Stockwell who spent his early career playing annoying, conflicted characters is true to type in this zero budget horror flick. Comes off as more the rushes of a film, rather than a finished film. At times laughably bad film. Horror drama as political farce. The Werewolf meets Dr. Strangelove. I know this is one movie Dean Stockwell wishes did not exist. The telephone booth scene being so ludicrous it’s laughable.
I cannot decide if this flick is going for brainless or brilliant, at times both. The licking the midget scene at the feet of Frankenstein was just too bloody much for me!! Add to that a cage-match on the White house lawn?!?
What possessed Stockwell to think this film was a good career choice is beyond me. And is it me or does that President remind you of Bush? A bad movie, that should be at least fast forwarded through. : ). ”Get back people! He may be the President but he’s still a Human Being!”
And yet….
I have never hated the beginning of a movie more, written it off, and been captivated by the last hour! I wrote most of this review before reaching the end of THE WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON. It really turns on a dime, and becomes a film that laughs at itself, and at you. That’s not quite right. It’s not comedy so much as satire, and by the end, very effective satire. Give it a look, I think it may grow on you.
Grade: It may take an effort, but if you can make it through the incomprehensible and pitiable first 40 minutes, the third act, may just salvage it for you as it did for me. I’ll go so far as to say that by the end of the film, I was quite entertained. View it here.
WEREWOLF WOMAN- Softcore exploitation flick, it actually transcends its meager budget, and suspect direction, to have some heart, and some care, and some tragedy. It’s more than you think. There’s a sinister thread to it, a broken morality, a fragmented picture of… abuse begetting abuse. Grade: This movie surprisingly transcends its limitations. And it has stayed with me long after seeing it. Which is more than I can say for most films today. Of the three, it’s the one I wouldn’t mind having a nice DVD version of (Well this and WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON). Your mileage may vary. View it on Archive.org and decide for yourself
[Quick Update: WEREWOLF WOMAN has been removed, like too many movies, from Archive.org. There is a Shriek Video DVD available here
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Free Movies of the Day: DRACULA’S GREAT LOVE
No one, and I mean no one is going to confuse any of today’s selections of movies with great movies. Let’s get that out of the way, these are not great movies. They are not even good movies.
That said, they are not exactly horrible. And they have their particular charms. 🙂
INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS- What to say about this movie… it’s like a porno movie without the porn. 🙂 It’s harmless enough, brain-dead fun, and who is not a fan of uncomfortable 70s acting, and bare bosoms. And hey… it’s free. 🙂
CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE- Despite its shortcomings, it’s an okay flick. Plus I’m always an easy audience for mad scientist and swamp movies. Also I like how it plays out the local population/voodoo storyline. And compared to other Buchanan films this one at 70 minutes moves relatively briskly… and more or less keeps you watching till the end. So nothing to jump up and down about, but satisfying enough. And this flick is yet another one you can view at Archive.org for the price of a click. 🙂
COUNT DRACULA’S GREAT LOVE- This is more watchable than most of Paul Nashy’s films. Nice bit of atmosphere and an intriguing if absurd story makes for good viewing. Well that and the women. Four pretty gorgeous lasses in various states of undress give suitably nice bosom heaving performances.
Infact the biggest drawback of the film is Paul Naschy himself who defines wooden, he makes a worse Vampire than he does a Wolfman. And the ending is so nonsensical that the entire last half of the movie is this incredibly moronic running voice over to try and make sense of the senselessness you’re seeing.
All those faults acknowledged it sports at times nice photography, a couple decent slow-mo and special effects scenes, and generally is not a bad way to while away 80 minutes or so.
But man that is really one incompetant performance by Naschy as Dracula. And a pretty lame death scene.
But actually there’s an intriguing germ of a script here, and if remade with decent actors, direction, and better dialog could actually be a good film.
You can view all the films here!
SONG OF THE DAY: DIXIE CHICKEN by FEAT and The Quintessential American writer
“And then he started to play. He felt his way slowly through the chords of the song once and listened to the deadened hush as it fell over the room. He used the slide to squeeze out the melody of the song that he had grown up hating, the song the whites had always pulled out to remind themselves and those other people just where they were. Daniel sang the song. He sang it slowly. He sang it feeling the lyrics, deciding that the lyrics were his, deciding that the song was his. Old times are not forgotten… He sang the song and listened to the silence around him. He resisted the urge to let satire ring through his voice. He meant what he sang. Look away, look away, look away, Dixieland.”
—from THE APPROPRIATION OF CULTURES, one of the many stories in Percival Everett’s essential short story collection DAMNED IF I DO-A Razor keen dissection of the part that symbols play in our lives, and about owning them or being owned. Endlessly re-readable. A+. And I realize now, after years of reading Percival Everett what he is, he is the frontier spirit, he is the soul of the open spaces, he is brother to Twain, and all those who would not be fenced in. He is the quintessential American writer.
Image Copyright Percival Everett
And a perfect lead in, to the following:
SONG OF THE DAY: DIXIE CHICKEN by FEAT
I’m not by any means a Dixieland fan, but this is a rollicking song.
Free Movie of the Day! THE HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND!
Occasionally I’ll bring you items, freely accessible online, that I think are worth a look.
HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND, available at Archive.org, is one such item. No one is going to confuse this German production from 1960 for a good film. A softcore exploitation-horror flick, originally titled ‘Toter hing im Netz’, by relatively unknown director Fritz Bottger, and sporting a largely German cast, it was first released in the states as a luke-warm Adult Flick in 1962 called IT’S HOT IN PARADISE, and sank like a stone. A few years later it was cut to try to appeal to the Drive In Crowd, and released as THE HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND and fared no better under that name.
All that said, it’s a harmless enough bit of pap, the dub/voice Actors do a good job, it’s well performed for an exploitation flick, it’s full of pleasant sights and plentiful female form (which happen to be the same thing :)), And the cheesy spiders and monster makeup, is kooky and endearing in a crazy way. Again I’m not arguing with its low IMDB rating, it’s completely brain-dead (One example: the male lead says ‘there’s nothing to worry about’ after they just find a dead body stuck in a huge spiderweb), that said I fast forwarded some of it, but mostly it was kooky, dumb fun and I enjoyed the time it took to watch.
A guy stranded on an Island, with a boatload of beautiful women. What is not to like? 🙂 Well maybe the man-killing spiders mutated by Uranium could be a worry. 🙂
The version on Archive.Org clocks in at only 74 minutes, a full 15 minutes less than its official time as listed on IMDB (more than likely for the original German version with nude scenes, etc, intact. It’s more than long enough at 74 minutes). And the picture quality is very dark, but is watchable, and again for a way to view the movie without having to buy or rent, you can’t argue with the quality.
So to sample it for yourself, View it here!
(And I always recommend downloading/supporting the OGG format which is a free/open format, unlike mpeg/mp4/mp3 and its derivatives… which one day, if I know greedy companies as well as I think I do, the MPEG rights holders are going to start charging people licensing fees to continue using their compression algorithm. They would be already but thankfully the alternative of OGG keeps them honest. So let’s keep supporting OGG.)
Thanks for looking!
Heroic Times 