Evening Entertainment -- L.A. Connection's Mad Movies turns "The Little Princess" into "The Exorcist"

The L.A. Connection was a comedy trouble based in, obviously, Los Angeles, who produced the syndicated series "Mad Movies" in 1985, re-dubbing old films with new, comic dialogue.  The process was looked down upon by cult film fans for a while (check out the reviews in cult film mags for the L.A. Connection's REEFER MADNESS II: THE TRUE STORY and BLOBBERMOUTH) but they're really a lot of fun.  So fun, in fact, that "Cashiers du Cinemart" writer Mike White has recently written a book on the show, which you can read about here. 

In this episode, the Shirley Temple THE LITTLE PRINCESS gets re-worked as an EXORCIST rip-off.  (I could still do without the off-putting laugh track.)

Watch This Thing -- Music Video for Craig Wasson's "Have Me Arrested"

Wasson is best known as the actor who starred in the likes of BODY DOUBLE, GHOST STORY and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3, but in Mark Esposito's video, he tried to become a pop star. It didn't take, but it's something pretty memorable.

Watch This Thing - Coty Wild Musk "A Thousand Quivers" commercial from 1983

Long ago in the beforetime, when man and woman first interacted, there was a quivering.  And that quivering can only be reproduced by Coty Wild Musk.  Featuring Jill Schoelen, the star of THE STEPFATHER, POPCORN and the Robert Englund PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!

Watch This Thing - Paul Lynde does the Toledo weather

Don't know who Paul Lynde is?  Look him up, you're on the internet.  Here he is, in the most '70s outfit possible, giving the weather report on a Toledo television station in 1978.  Worth it alone for the moment when Lynde notices that one temperature is 69 degrees.

Watch This Thing - 1987 anime short "The Running Man"

Produced as part of the anthology film NEO-TOKYO, Yoshiaki Kawajiri's THE RUNNING MAN stands on its own just fine as the tale of a Death Race-style racing champion who continues the "game" long past the moment it ends.  A great short, and a fine intro to those new to anime history.

Watch This Thing - Stop-motion animated video for Herb Alpert's "Chattanooga Choo Choo"

Yes, seriously.  79-year-old Alpert, best known for his albums with the Tijuana Bass, recorded a version of 73-year-old song and issued an animated music video for it, and it's.. pretty great and full of shoe-tapping goodness?  

Watch This Thing - Extended "Dynasty" opening credits featuring many special guest stars

Sure, everyone who matters is going gaga over "Too Many Cooks," the... well, if you haven't seen it yet, I'm not going to spoil it.  And the faux TV show credit sequence has been around for a long time, but I wanted to point out one of my favorites, by Fatal Farm, who later contributed to OUR ROBOCOP REMAKE.

Watch This Thing - 1978 Student film mini-documentary on THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at the Biograph Theater in Chicago

If you lined up all of the ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW documentaries end to end, you'd have a, well, a very lengthy thing indeed.  But this particular 5-minute doc is one of the earliest, made by Columbia College student Jim Doherty in 1978, emphasizing the RHPS fandom at Chicago's Biograph theater, and is certainly a fascinating time piece of midnight movie fandom in the Chicago area.  The Biograph is notable as the theater in which Dillinger was shot in 1934, and is no longer showing films today.  (I do, however, have great memories of seeing the likes of Jack Hill, John Waters and Doris Wishman there for screenings.)

Watch This Thing - Morning Music Video: Strange Party's "Imitators"

A host of early NYC oddball regulars have a big ol' party in the Joey Arias-fronted band's music video for a groovy, hypnotic track.  You're not invited.

Evening Entertainment - The Kipper Kids and Joe Spinell in "K.O. Kippers"

Who are the heavily-chinned Kipper Kids?  Probably best known to cult audiences for their appearances in UHF and FORBIDDEN ZONE, the Kipper Kids are a pair of comic performance artists (Martin Rochus Sebastian von Haselberg and Brian Routh) who rose to prominence in the experimental art movement in the '70s and early '80s. The 1988 Cinemax special "K.O. Kippers" stars the pair as boxers trained by a low-rent con man played by MANIAC's Joe Spinell.  It's impressively offbeat stuff, and you wonder what the heck unsuspecting channel-flippers thought when they came across it.

Watch This Thing - Vintage VHS trailer for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

Utilizing some classic flicks and well-placed effects, Frank Ireland's "vintage" VHS trailer re-imagines CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER as a late '80s Cannon flick, and it looks just as entertaining as the actual film.  Who knows, the movie might have been improved with the addition of Jeff Fahey.  (What wouldn't?)  Albert Pyun couldn't have done better.

Watch This Thing - "Cracks," a rare 1975 animated short from "Sesame Street"

"Cracks" (or "Crack Master") is one of the most sought-out of "Sesame Street" shorts, and its notoriety became almost legendary over the years.  The tale of a youngster who images the cracks in his walls are creatures is still pretty great (especially if you can watch it unironically, though that may be tough with those who giggle at the thought of "crack" being every fifth word), and you can read about the history of this oddity here, and you can just watch it below:

Watch This Thing - Telly Savalas sings "If"

Telly Savalas sings a woeful ballad on a German TV program in an era when a middle-aged, bald, TV actor could hit the charts.

Watch This Thing - News feature for 1985's Halcyon Laserdisc Video Game system

Laserdisc games outside of the arcade never really happened, but it wasn't for RDI's lack of trying, as they released the Halcyon gaming system in 1985 at a perfectly reasonable $2500 price point.  This ad features the gameplay of their NFL Football game which seems, well, technically interactive, anyway.  Rick Dyer, the system's creator, was one of the men behind "Dragon's Lair."  He did not find repeated success here.

Watch This Thing - "The New Big Ball With Neil Hamburger" Unsold Adult Swim pilot

I really have no idea how the hell this game show hosted by noted anti-humor technician Hamburger (aka Amarillo Records founder Gregg Turkington) would have translated on a weekly basis, but I'm sure glad the pilot was picked up.  With special celebrity guest Corbin Bernsen!

(Seeing Hamburger open for Tenacious D, and the unsuspecting audience's response to his schtick, was a highlight of whatever year I did that in.)

Watch This Thing - "Mr. Belvedere"'s Christopher Hewitt for Sara Lee Pound cake

Brocktoon has a pound cake problem.  It rhymes.  And has lots of butter.

Watch This Thing - 1956 animated short "Mister Wister, The Time Twister"

Mr. Peabody and Sherman weren't the first man/dog team to travel around it time.  Robert Carl Cohen's dialogue-free animated short finds an egg-like man and his dog heading back to to prehistoric times for some rest and relaxation, only to discover that things aren't as great as they are in the present.

Watch This Thing - The Monks perform "Cuckoo" for the German TV show "Beat, Beat, Beat" in 1966

Waking up to an alarm clock?  Bad.  Waking up to a cuckoo clock?  Good.  Waking up to The Monks performing "Cuckoo?"  Much better.

Watch This Thing - Hey Kids, It's the Anarchies!

And now, a brand new dance to watch and learn!  In 1986, Todd Graham created APOCALYPSE POOH, a mash-up of "Winnie the Pooh" and APOCALYPSE NOW that took on a life of its own in the underground VHS trading circuit of the era.  (You can read all about him in my interview with him here!)  His immediate follow-up is a similarly-inspired mix of the clean-cut Archie Comics gang and the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen."  It is perfect.

Watch This Thing - Stephen Colbert explains Cobalt in a mock filmstrip from "Exit 57."

Colbert does double-duty in this sketch from the comedy series "Exit 57" (with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello) as both the silent filmstrip operator and the narrator himself in this great take on classroom filmstrips. Do they still make classroom filmstrips? No? Get off my lawn.

Watch this Thing - Julie Andrews explains the MPAA

Who better to explain how the MPAA works than Mary Poppins herself?  Andrews explains that the seal indicates that the film is "within the creative bounds of reason and good judgment."  A handy tip!

Watch This Thing - "Wanda," a 1990 short film about a cat

Cat shorts don't have to be goofy or cute or ironic.  Produced at Cal Arts, Ruth Hayes' beautiful 4-minute short film is a tale of ownership, desire and envy -- and a compelling use of mixed media. 

Watch This Thing - Rip Taylor on the Dating Game

This is just a hunch, but I think these ladies may be in for disappointment, depending on what they're expecting.

Watch This Thing - Vince Collins' 1976 psychedelic animated short FANTASY

Collins produced some of the most memorably wild animated shorts of the '70s, most notably the insane MALICE IN WONDERLAND.  His 1976 short is a three-minute spectacle of derangement, with enough colorfully bizarre imagery to make you think you're on a drug trip the length of a commercial break.

Watch This Thing - An electric car set based on William Friedkin's CRUISING

Sure, it's fake, but the makers of this faux commercial for a kid's playset based on the Pacino S&M classic really nailed the tone. Who wouldn't want this?

Watch This Thing - Picasso-inspired animated sequence from a 1969 film based on a Ray Bradbury story

Your morning cartoon today comes from PICASSO SUMMER, a 1969 film based on a Ray Bradbury short story.  While most of the film is live-action, it's punctuated by a great animated sequence inspired by Pablo Picasso.

Watch This Thing - Morning Music Video - Doctor and the Medics - "Spirit in the Sky"

"Spirit in the Sky" may rank among the top 25 most overplayed "classic rock" songs, so if you're going to do it, you'd better to something unique.  Like make it a psychedelic new wavey rock anthem with a suitably wide-eyed music video, as Doctor and the Medics did in 1986.

watch This Vote - Deee-Lite's Lady Miss Kier implores you to Vote, Baby, Vote!

Groove is in the voting booth.

Watch This Vote - 1957's "Behind the Freedom Curtain" shows off the latest in voting machines

If you're a good American, you'll be using a voting booth today (or will have in the past month or so), so why not take a look at the booth itself?  This short from the Prelinger Archives presented by the Automatic Voting Machine Corporation will give you the ins and outs of exactly how the democratic process works, at least at the time when there was a concerted effort to make sure everyone eligible had the opportunity and ability to vote. 

Watch This Vote - Linda Lovelace for President (1975)

Produced by choreographer-turned-exploitation mogul David Winters, this high-pitched political "satire" stars the titular adult film star in a presidential bid, with the likes of Micky Dolenz, Scatman Crothers, Chuck McGann and Joe E. Ross along for the ride.  It's not good!  The trailer is probably just offensive enough to suit your tastes, however.  (SFW)

Watch This Vote - Super President in "Day of the Locusts"

You think presidents have a rough time?  Imaging being both president AND a secret superhero.  In this adventure, our elected (presumably) leader faces off against locusts and a scientist of... er, questionable heritage.

Watch This Vote - Fred Karger's "Sexy Frisbee" Campaign Ad

I like Fred Karger, the would-be Republican presidential candidate who failed to make much headway into the 2012 election.  Mostly because he gives away frisbees, and his reign would involve a lot of beach parties.

Watch This Vote - Rappin' Ronnie

Released in 1983 as a reaction to President Reagan's "trickle-down" economics campaign that lower-income folk are still waiting to work, this is the sort of satire we had in the '80s. There are Mr. T references and a Bob Goodman shout-out.

Watch This Vote - "Ricardo Fratelli"'s great 2000 short MONDO FORD

Give this seven minute film a little bit to get interesting -- what starts out as a faux Italian "Mondo" film from 1965 about future president Gerald Ford becomes increasingly bizarre as the conspiracy begins to mount.

Watch This Vote - Why We Have Elections, or The Kings of Snark, a 1972 animated short about the electoral process

Ever wonder why we have to spend time determining whether we want to vote for some jerk, or some other jerk?  (Sorry, I live in Illinois.)  The Learning Corporation of America will teach you why, because nobody wants to give the town's control to Frankie the Fisherman.

Watch This Vote - Pat Paulsen, The Man Who Would be President

I'll try to be above the political fray today by only posting political content about older, joke candidates like Spuds McKenzie, Morris the Cat or Rick Santorum.  The best joke candidate of all, of course, was Pat Paulsen, who gave a satirical gag about politics in general from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour into a life all its own, continuing to run for president in any year they had an election, and even some they didn't.  Here's a compilation of his typically deadpan political monologues.

Watch This Thing - Banditas' "When He Comes Home"

A picture-perfect evening for a picture-perfect '50s family quickly becomes less than perfect thanks to the hubby's infidelity in Ben Phillippo's creepy, twisted video for Banditas' garagey , mean rumble of a track.

Watch This Thing - Inventive CGI in the pulp 1998 homage FUN FOR MEN

This bizarre 1998 short film about a portly, giggly man searching for female companionship in a crazed CGI world of ill repute would have fit right in on "Liquid Television," had it still been around at the time. Director Arn McConnell co-directed the woefully underseen SHOCK! SHOCK! SHOCK! 

Watch This Thing - Stacy Smith sings "Yipe Stripes!" in TEEN-AGE STRANGLER

Lovers of good music take note!  You won't worry about the stranger around while Smith sings about the latest fashion.  That fashion is "Yipe Stripes."  Or, as it was mentioned on MST3K, "White Flight."

Watch This Thing - Celebrate Charles Bronson's birthday by imitating his scent with MANDOM

Happy birthday, Charles Bronson!  We all dream of smelling like you, at least according to this 1978 commercial for the scent "Mandom."  Mmmmm.

Watch This Thing - 11 minute documentary on Steve Ditko's Randian antihero The Question

This past weekend marked the 87th birthday of Steve Ditko, the reclusive comic book writer and artist who co-created the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the Ted Kord Blue Beetle.  He also created the underrated The Question, the character who provided the basis for Watchmen's Rorschach.  Here's a brief documentary on The Question, featuring interviews with comic book artist Rick Burchett, writers Greg Rucka and Denny O'Neil and actor Jeffrey Combs, who voiced the character on the "Justice League" animated series.

Watch This Thing - Rhonda Shear talks to a young Paul Rudd in between introducing NAKED WARRIORS on USA's "Up All Night" in 1992

Plenty of us have fond memories of watching the USA Network's "Up All Night" featuring Rhonda Shear.  Here's a segment from  she is talking to a pre-HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS Paul Rudd in 1992, in between talking about NAKED WARRIORS.

Watch This Thing - The Baby Cage

Babies in the city!  How do they get their outdoor play with nothing but traffic and craziness everywhere?  Young Sally learns how -- with the Baby Cage!

Watch This Thing - Get funked up with a pilot for a Bootsy Collins animated series

Party with funk musician Bootsy Collins on the Funk Express this morning with this ten minute pilot to a proposed MTV animated series that would have found Collins in space with "all the powers of the universe." The show was never picked up, which is a shame, though I wish the animation were as stylized as the ideas.

Watch This Thing - Morning Music Video - Falco's "Titanic"

Sure, you might think it's a bad idea to craft a pop song around a tragic historical incident in which hundreds went to a fiery grave.  That sort of reasoning didn't stop Falco.