SQUIRREL ! ! ! .....

Silly Silly Voters....

The Veteran's Administration Fiasco....ow my.  It appears that once again the media is reporting on the symptom and not reporting on the reasons that caused the problem (entrenched management and not enough doctors)

Have we already forgotten about:

• The IRS targeting conservatives fiasco?
• The AHCA (Obamacare) Rollout?
• The failure of Bernie Madoff and Goldman Sachs? (where were the regulators)
• FEMA and Hurricane Katrina?

Government does not fix or solve anything properly.  They only know how to tax and spend.

Eventually all government institutions become entrenched and self serving to the point where they can not produce any useful output.

What were the 'reasons' for these failures?  Lack of oversight and no long-term management that controlled or monitored their performance and competency.  With each new administration comes a new  Agency/Department head that may have questionable credentials and who knows they will only be there for 8 years tops.  All they have to do is lay low, hope they are lucky and nothing blows up in their faces.

Yet, the media does not focus on the system that perpetuates these problem, instead only reporting on the symptoms, the aftermath and possible scapegoats for the entertainment of the masses that have a very short attention span.

So the next time a government agency is found to be screwing things up royally.  Don't act so surprised and shocked.  If you are, then you apparently haven't been dealing with government very much lately.

Cinema Cycle - Bye Bye Birdie

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 06/24/2014

TITLE: Bye Bye Birdie

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 52 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 24.9 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 301 miles

SYNOPSIS: A songwriting team convinces Ed Sullivan to let a famous pop star sing a song and kiss one last girl before the pop star is drafted into the army.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The farther away we get from the 1950s, the stranger it is to look back and see where we came from.  Teenage love and angst never changes and there was probably no one sexier than Ann Margret in this film.

PROS AND CONS: This film is a bit of a mixture of the Elvis craze of the late 1950s and the Beatles invasion of America in the early 1960s.  It centers around how parents dealt with the irrational behavior of their children when confronted with new and unknown popular icons and also how young men reacted to their girlfriends swooning over the new pop stars.  

There are two stand out performances in the cast.  Obviously Ann Margret steals this film with her wholesome sexuality and dancing ability.  Surprisingly, Paul Lynde also shines here in his low key nerdish role as Ann’s father.  The rest of the cast, while talented, are not very engaging, and the sub-plot of adult romance and a songwriter with mother issues falls somewhat flat when compared to the youthful exuberance of the younger cast.

This is a musical and while some of the numbers are cute but forgettable, there are two that stood out and surprised me.  The song “Put On A Happy Face” comes from this film, when Dick Van Dyke sings it to Janet Leigh while trying to make up with her.  The most memorable song was “I’ve Got A Lot Of Livin To Do”.  This is a very long dance number that pulls out all the stops and has to rank up there with one of the most explosive and engaging dance sequences of this era.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Big Jake

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 06/20/2014

TITLE: Big Jake

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 50 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 26.7 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 276 miles

SYNOPSIS: A young boy is kidnapped by a band of desperadoes circa 1909.  The estranged ranch owner returns to track down his grandson and bring him back to his grandmother.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: John Wayne is larger than life, bad ass and he is always right.  Respect your elders and do what they tell you and you might not get killed.

PROS AND CONS: It has been a while since I have seen ‘The Duke’ in action. I had forgotten just how powerful a presence he was on screen, especially dressed in cowboy garb.  I have to say that his is not one of Wayne’s better films.  The cinematography, location shooting, soundtrack are all up there, but there isn't a lot of empathy between Wayne’s character, Jake Macandles, and his estranged sons which makes some of the dialog a bit stiff and awkward.  This is supposed to be a bonding film where the estranged father and his sons band together and learn to respect and support each other.  That is what they were shooting for, but they sort of missed the mark.

This is a film similar to Wayne’s “The Searchers”, which was a much better film in this genre. Some interesting points about the film, is that it appears that they were trying to make the western film genre a bit more ‘hip’ with the advent of the Steve McQueen / Clint Eastwood cop dramas that came out during the same period.  Since this is a turn of the century western, the new fangled technologies such as automobiles and semi-automatic weapons come into play along with the horses and rifles.  Another point of interest is the extreme graphic violence in this film. In most previous Wayne films, the violence was always implied but never shown.  That isn't the case here.  The scenes of a crazed outlaw hacking Mcandles’ trusted Indian scout and dog with a machete are particularly gruesome.

In the end, The Duke never really made a bad movie, this just wasn't one of his best. (ow, and of course, there is Maureen O’Hara acting spicy and Irish as ever)

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - The Immoral Mr. Teas / Mondo Topless

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 06/12/2014

TITLE: The Immoral Mr. Teas / Mondo Topless

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 123 minutes (double feature)

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 31 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 249 miles

SYNOPSIS: (The Immoral Mr. Teas) A simple dental appliance delivery man fantasizes about all of the women that he meets on his daily rounds.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Men think about sex all the time and mentally undress all of the attractive women that they come in contact with.

PROS AND CONS:  First off, I am a big fan of Russ Meyer.  I consider him the American Fellini and his film work is one of the treasures of late 20th Century cinema.  This is Meyer’s earliest work. It is a simple film that is meant to be a titillating farce on a very low budget.  This entire film was created by just 2 men.  Meyer did the cinematography, editing and the directing.  Edward J. Lakso did the narration and the music.  What makes the film so interesting is that Meyer was a craftsman. Working on a shoestring budget, Meyer uses effective edits, camera angles and pacing to create a cute enjoyable film.

This film was considered very risque in it day.  The average cover of a current Cosmopolitan Magazine is more revealing that the scenes in this film.  But back in the early 50s it was enough to get this film banned in many cities.  Meyer always pushed the envelope of American sexuality much like Hugh Hefner did in the magazine industry.  But Meyer always knew that it was better to imply sexuality with innuendo and a fleeting glimpse than with full frontal nudity.  This film is almost more entertaining for the sight gags and narration than the fleeting glimpses of alluring busty women.

========================================================

SYNOPSIS: (Mondo Topless) A promotional film / documentary showcasing the top burlesque-topless dancers of the mid-1960s

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Women dancing naked (that is to say topless) while giving voice over interviews about their work and their lives.  Young buxom women just can’t sit still for very long.

PROS AND CONS:  I found this film interesting for all the wrong reasons.  While the woman are young, attractive, curvy and usually half naked, there really isn't a plot to this film.  It is tongue in cheek promotion for most of the women whose livelihood is erotic dancing (which was much different in the 60s than it is in the present day)

The two odd themes that kept popping up were the inclusion of an audio recording device or a transistor radio in ‘every’ shot.  It makes the film sort of a homage to the beginning of the electronic age with dozens of different reel-to-reel tape recorders and AM-FM radios in every scene.  Talk about nostalgia.  The other thing that was entertaining was the soundtrack, which is mostly forgettable early rock and roll with a driving beat, indicative of the free wheeling and radical 60s.

Much like ‘The Immoral Mr. Teas’, this is a dated film that is more interesting from a cultural point of view which shows just how much society has changed in its morals and view of the female body.  Russ Meyer’s camerawork and editing are probably the only thing that saves this work from being a rather average boring film with lots of breasts.

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Short Short Story / Scene 1b

Short Short Story Fiction

Scene-1b

“....how did she escape?”, the Seeier inquired.

“Unknown Sir, she got passed the sentries and managed to launch one of the descent balloons.  She has probably been gone for several hours.”

“See that the sentries are put to death, immediately.”

“At once sir”, was Captain Yolin’s response.

“We must find her Captain.  If she plans to contact the Azlin she will upset the balance of power that has existed for centuries.  Take a Sky-Ship and find her.  Bring her back if you can, but if you can’t, end her life.”

“The King’s Daughter……???”, replied Yolin.

“She must not contact the Azlin Captain.  Everything we have achieved is at stake here.  Leave the King to me!”.....

An ongoing experiment in very short fiction based on a random image.  Other examples of this project can be found here.

Cinema Cycle - Fantasia

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 06/05/2014

TITLE: Fantasia

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 122 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 29.3 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED:  218 miles

SYNOPSIS: Avant Garde cartoon animation set to classical music played by Leopold Stowkowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:  What is art?, and how many ways can it be interpreted?  Pushing the envelope of new media and technology.

PROS AND CONS:  It took me a while to get through this because this laserdisc set is a special edition that breaks the film up into 3 separate disks with a total of 6 sides.  I have seen this film before, but it has been a long time.

While the film is interesting to watch, many viewers may find it somewhat dated with the advent of computer animation and more sophisticated film techniques.  However, viewed from the perspective of 1940, when this film was created, it is an impressive work.  Disney obviously wanted to show the world just what he could do with animation and this film was his attempt to take it into the mainstream and make it appeal to a more high-brow audience.  In that aspect he succeeded.  

This is a concert film at its core.  Showcasing six pieces of classical music set to various animation styles, from dancing fairies and centaurs to the evolution of life on earth up to the death of the dinosaurs and even to sheer abstract impressionism.  While some of the animation borders on Disney-Cute-Overload, other portions are very impressive in the adult vein.  

The film trailer that came with the LaserDisc presentation indicated that this film was the longest running film on Broadway when it premiered, having shown there for over a year.  It was also the first film to have a soundtrack that was recorded in stereophonic sound.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Short Short Story / Scene-4a

Short Short Story Fiction

Scene 4a

.....the neural-net helmets collectively joined the consciousness of the crew.  The increased brain power was essential in dealing with the Delosians, whose mental powers far outstripped our own. The helmets use became essential in negotiations and in times of peace and war. While the crew of the Persephious was mentally communicating with the Delosian leader Captain Ripper found it difficult to stay on task with the sudden realization that Commander Warren was wearing a lacy thong......

An ongoing experiment in very short fiction based on a random image.  Other examples of this project can be found here.