Joe Strike's Recent Posts

Word on the London Street is that “Howard the Duck” and “The Plague Dogs” are due for a UK DVD release:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/howard-the-duck.html

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/the-plague-dogs.html

It just so happens I was in London during its original release there in December 86. The movie's posters in the tube stations showed him from the back with only the tip of his bill visible, with the slogan "Howard, A new kind of hero." I guess they didn't want people figuring out they’d paid to see a duck movie until it was too late.

At this moment TCM is blessing Saturday morning viewers who don't care for cartoons or warmed-over news, with Byron Haskin's From the Earth to the Moon (1958). Last time I'd seen this I was a kid on The Late Show (back when the Late Show meant local movies & not David Letterman cracking wise).

I'd forgotten what a turkey this sucker was, as Joe Cotten invents 'Power X' just after the Civil War and uses it to power a moon rocket. (Its design looks swiped from Melies). Haskin did far better work for George Pal (War of the Worlds, anyone? The Power?) not to mention a half dozen episodes of the 1960's Outer Limits, but it's stiff city here, with head-on camera set-ups, cheez-o-rama spfx & dialog that sounds like it was cut 'n pasted straight out of Jules Verne's century+ old novel.

Seems like someone outside the animation world finally picked up on Nala's "f*** me' look in "The Lion King:"

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/10/the_lion_king_the_only_walt_dis...

Even a friend of mine who's only a casual animation fan pointed the shot out to me long ago. I've been told that on the DVD (which I don't own myself) commentary track, one of the animators announces 'I can't believe they let us get away with that shot.'

The Guardian's columnist ends his piece with "I've got to check through Bambi for subliminal porn." He won't have to look very hard: the scene where Bambi, Flower and Thumper meet their girlfriends is pretty hot: Thumper starts thumpin' a mile a minute until he keels over in exhaustion (all she has to do is stroke his ear a bit to start him up again), Flower blushes bright red and stiffens like a board while Faline gives Bambi an unmistakable 'come hither' look of her own.
And let's not even go near the various Disney shorts that focus lovingly on punishment administered to various characters' backsides - like for instance the spanking machine put to liberal use in one of the 3 Little Pigs shorts...you're a naughty boy, Walt; naughty, naughty, naughty...

Boy, I haven't seen an on-air boner like this one in a loooong time. For some reason Nick tried to squeeze 3 11-minute SpongeBob episodes into a half hour time slot just now. (Just now being Friday 28 Sept, 9:30pm eastern time.) Interesting how the third episode's top credits started rolling the same exact time the show's closing credits began rolling - with  that third episode sitting inside that box where they usually run a promo next to the credits. Not squeezed into the box mind you, but cropped off by it, with just a peekaboo portion visible inside.

It gets better. The closing credits end with the full screen Nickelodeon splat logo/copyright page - which sat there for a verrrry long time while the episode's audio continued in the background. THEN the episode came back for a minute or so - THEN cut to another closing credits roll, this time with just silence and empty space where that promo usually runs.