Evening Entertaiment: The first episode of "New Wave Theatre"

David Jove's "New Wave Theatre," "a consumer advocate program of the arts," brought punk and new wave music to the televisions of late-night audiophiles of the '80s, first in Los Angeles and later on the USA Network's "Night Flight."  The Peter Ivers-hosted show provided middle America the chance to be exposed to the likes of plenty of bands below the MTV radar.  This first episode's most notable act is probably X, but don't count out any of the bands you may be less aware of.

Television commercial announcing the debut of the Journey arcade game in 1983

Journey! The name alone means excitement, and the Journey arcade game will allow you to play as every member of the band, any way you want it. Completely different from the previous year's Atari 2600 version, the 1983 arcade game was completely ridiculous, featuring digitized photos of the group in the game and gameplay that seemed dated even by then.

Take a look at the history and science of holograms in 1972's "Introduction to Holography"

Do not look directly into the laser tube while viewing this genuinely interesting educational short film about how holograms are made and their uses.  Sure, it's a little slow (you can easily see sixth graders falling asleep) but what better use of a coffee break than to actually learn a little something?

Watch This Thing - Geto Boys - My Mind Playing Tricks On Me

Geto Boys' 1991 track was ranked by Rolling Stone as the fifth greatest hip hop song of all time.  I think it's just a great paranoid classic.

Animated short based on Peter Bagge's "Hate"

Writer and artist Bagge has mentioned numerous attempts to turn his cult favorite comic series "Hate," the story of Buddy Bradley, a relatively ambitionless New Jersey audiophile, but the closest it ever came was this animated short, seen in the grunge documentary HYPE!.  The animation is good, but man, Buddy's voice seems all wrong.

An art history class in two and a half minutes in 1965's "Dog is God Spelled Backwords"

The piece, also known as "3000 Years of Art" and just "Classical Gas Video," was created by UCLA film student Dan McLaughlin in 1963, but it wasn't until 1968, when "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" writer Mason Williams saw the film and added a new soundtrack, titled "Classical Gas," which ended up becoming a chart-topping instrumental hit. It's honestly just as neat as it was 46 years ago.



Classical Gas Video from Shutter the Thought Prods. on Vimeo.

Daily Trailer: Birthday buddies Robert Ginty and Sandahl Bergman in 1987's THE RETALIATOR

Today is the birthday of two '80s low-budget action icons -- Sandahl Bergman (RED SONJA) and the late Robert Ginty (THE EXTERMINATOR).  The duo were teamed in the 1987 sci-fi actioner PROGRAMMED TO KILL (aka THE RETALIATOR), in which Bergman is a "Barbie Rambo killing machine," and Ginty is the man who has to take her down.  It's.. not a good movie, but damn, does the trailer make it look pretty great.  (A ridiculously young Paul Walker is in this as well, but he doesn't make the trailer.)

HELP!, a 1996 short directed by ALLEGRO NON TROPPO's Bruno Bozzetto

The Cartoon Network's "What a Cartoon!" show was something of an anthology series for animators, and several of the shorts seen on the show were used to jumpstart long-running CN shows including "The Powerpuff Girls," "Johnny Bravo" and "Dexter's Laboratory."  Not all of the shorts had this kind of success, but that doesn't mean they're no good -- take this virtually wordless short directed by ALLEGRO NON TROPPO helmer Bruno Bozzetto about a cat seeking medical attention.

Morning Music Video: Model 500 - "The Flow"

Good morning!  Wouldn't it be great if you could wake up and be suddenly immersed in a dreamy techno video from Juan Atkins' "Model 500" moniker in 1995?  Well, you can't, so get to work, slacker.

Evening Entertainment: Tom Atkins plays a radio DJ who goes out with a bang in the short film ARRIVING AT NIGHT

Today marks the birthday of Tom Atkins, the great grizzled character actor who made the likes of NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, HALLOWEEN III and CREEPSHOW such memorable flicks.  ARRIVING AT NIGHT, a short film from director Andrew Ford, is a much more character-based film, as Atkins plays a Pittsburgh radio DJ on his final night on the air.  He's got a special guest in the form of his replacement, and the resulting conversation is an interesting discussion about nostalgia, sports and radio. 

Afternoon Music Video: Dan Black feat. Kelis - Hearts

Shot over a 24 hour period, shooting one frame every minute, the video for Dan Black's track (directed by Chic & Artistic) is such a cool technical achievement (even if they cheat a little) that I'm kind of surprised that it has so few views.  So here's my little attempt to give it a little more love.



Dan Black feat. Kelis "Hearts" from Chic & Artistic on Vimeo.

TOO MANY COOKS + kittens = TOO MANY KITS = A Thing That Should Not Be

Y'know, I think of myself as a "glass half-full" kinda guy.  I genuinely enjoy everything that I put up on Watch This Thing unironically - even the most ridiculous stuff, because they create their own little world with a distorted, glorious logic all their own.  I don't like pointing out things that are so genuinely bad that they have to be made an example of.

But then there's this.  I'd call it a "parody" of the hit online sensation TOO MANY COOKS, but that seems like it overshoots the film's ambitions.  It just takes the concept of TOO MANY COOKS, adds some cute cats, adds some "funny," "random" names and hopes for... what, exactly?  What is this for?  WHO is this for?  Surrealist kitten fanatics who really feel the need to have an online in-joke stripped to its most basic, dumbest core?  Is it, in itself, an experiment in meta-humor on how you can basically just slam two concepts together and hope for the best?  It's honestly horrible and awful and a terrible idea and I'm oddly fascinated by its mere existence. 

"The Pet collective" isn't some deranged cat lady who watches the hell out of Adult Swim in between changing her dozen litter boxes, by the way.  It's a megalith in the cute pet video market, sporting over 400,000 YouTube subscribers and over 250,000 Facebook fans.  They've also made half-assed versions of DIE HARD, GONE GIRL and SCREAM with pets, in which the idea isn't any more well-developed than "let's put cute pets into some scenes from a movie everyone knows."

It's a strange world.

German 8mm version of Mario Bava's PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES

PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, the beautifully-lensed science fiction film from Italian genre specialist Mario Bava, has recently been issued on a Blu-Ray that does an amazing job with its eye-popping color.  But the film, often mentioned as a forerunner to ALIEN, has taken on many forms over the years, including this 16-minute edit released to 8mm film collectors in Germany.  The color isn't as nice, the film is (obviously) severely truncated, and it's in German, but it's still an interesting look at how die-hard genre fans would have to watch movies at home before the VCR era.  (Also, see PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES.)

Richard Mulligan explains razors in this Western-themed Gillette ad

Today is the birthday of Richard Mulligan, the Emmy-winning star of "Soap" and "Empty Nest," but here he is in his pre-"Soap" days, explaining why Gillette's 2-trac blades work so well.

An experimental, minimalist version of a classic in "Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde"

Author Robert Louis Stevenson would have turned 164 today had he been a Highlander, so in his honor, I bring you this very odd take on his "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" featuring a female scientist, a bizarre transformation, a bike trip and sets that look like they were left over from FORBIDDEN ZONE.  The uncredited director is J. Kathleen White.

The Teen Titans battle alien robots in 1967's Filmation adventure

Sure, a new, live-action TV series based on the Teen Titans may be in the works, but could it possibly live up to the lofty heights set my the super-team's 1967 Filmation series?  You know, the one where they couldn't even get Robin because the rights to him were otherwise occupied, Kid Flash had a strange composite costume, the animation was poor and the plotting was... questionable, even to the eyes of eager 7-year-olds.  Did anyone associated with this even have a basic understanding of physics?

John Waters in a trailer for his 1981 film series "Shock Value"

What's on your agenda for today?  Whatever it is, it's probably not as great as staying home and watching the "Shock Value" film series promoted by the self-described puke king in 1981 around the time he released his book of the same name.  Coprophagia is promised.

Catherine Elia sings "Goldfinger" in French in this 1965 Scopitone

It'd be tough to argue that anyone but Shirley Bassey has the definitive version of the James Bond theme song "Goldfinger," but Catherine Elia takes an admirable stab at it, even though she looks kind of worried throughout this vintage Scopitone.  Maybe she's not too sure about who's driving the car she's posing in.

Evening Entertainment: Unsold pilot for "Galaxy Beat," a 1994 sci-fi comedy from "Sledge Hammer" writer with Gregory Harrison, Roddy McDowall and Tracy Scoggins

Broad science fiction comedy is a tough sell on television -- just look at the short run of "Quark."  "Galaxy Beat" is a perfectly entertaining pilot that probably could have been developed into a highly entertaining show if they'd allowed to develop it.  The pilot, written by "Sledge Hammer!"'s Alan Spancer, is filled with sight gags, many of which work quite well.  (There are also a lot of cultural references that date it quite a bit.)  But Harrison seems to be enjoying himself as the amazingly-named Dax Steelbrow, and the supporting cast (which also includes "The Flash"'s Alex Désert and the voice of Michael Dorn) is just as solid.  Much of it works at least as well as SPACEBALLS.

Afternoon Music Video: Aka the Junkies - "Konijntje Wiebelen"

Look, I don't know what's going on this music video.  It's got distorted bunnies dancing, and people in black bunny suits, and a weird fleshy pink thing, and a baseball bat, and some slapping, and I can't stop watching it.  Aka the Junkies is the alias of Willie Wartaal, a Dutch rapper who doesn't seem to be particularly big outside of Europe.  Perhaps because he is insane.

Movie host (and birthday girl) Rhonda Shear plays a mannequin in a strange early '80s short

Today is also the birthday of Rhonda Shear, whose presence made the questionable flicks shown on the USA Network's "Up All Night" all the more tolerable.  Here's Shear playing a mannequin come to life in a bizarre short film that clearly pre-dates her film hosting days.

Happy birthday, Ghoulardi! Watch the immensely talented Ernie Anderson on Letterman in 1983

Today marks the birthday of Ernie Anderson, the voice-over talent whose dulcet tones could be heard at the beginning of countless television shows throughout the '80s.  He was also an actor, and his character of Ghoulardi, the late-night personality that hosted the horror movie show "Shock Theater" in Cleveland in the '60s that became legendary as one of the most well-known horror hosts of all time.  Here he is on Late Night with David Letterman in 1983.

Peter Capaldi is lost in time... and drunk, with Alexei Sayle

Remember that time when Peter Capaldi played a time-traveller on a well-loved British TV series? No, before that. On the second season the the sketch-based comedy "The All New Alexei Sayle Show" aired in 1995, Capaldi played intoxicated sidekick to the similarly inebriated "Young Ones" star in a series of sketches satirizing the "Time Tunnel" TV series. In the first chapter, they stagger around Rasputin as scientist Jenny Agutter (WALKABOUT) looks on in horror.

Marisa Berenson sings Shel Silverstein's "You're Always Welcome at Our House" on The Muppet Show

"The Muppet Show" was always at its best when it was pleasantly dark, and there are few greater examples of this (save for the Vincent Price or Alice Cooper episodes) than actress Marisa Berenson's perky vocals on Shel Silverstein's song about capturing and torturing home visitors. 

THE WARRIORS get away, thanks to Mentos

Walter Hill's seminal New York City gang warfare flick THE WARRIORS.  A Mentos commercial.  So simple, so obvious, and yet so, so perfect.

Warren Clarke (1947-2014) is the voice of a pig farmer in the animated short SAVE OUR BACON

Warren Clarke, the versatile British actor known for his roles in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (as the droog Dim), O LUCKY MAN!, HAWK THE SLAYER and TOP SECRET! (as Colonel von Horst), passed away today at the age of 67, leaving behind a vast film and television legacy.  But here's the kinder, gentler side of Clarke, as the voice of a farmer attempting to keep his pig farm alive in Peter Baynton's charming animated short SAVE OUR BACON.  (Simon Callow provides the voice of the corporate buyer.)



Save Our Bacon from Radish Pictures on Vimeo.

Morning Music Video: Klaatu's "A Routine Day," the first animated music video

"A Happy New Year, Planet Earth" was supposed to be an animated television special to promote sci-fi influenced Canadian rock band Klaatu's work, but the special, to be animated by Al Guest and Jean Mathieson ("The Hilarious House of Frightenstein"), never materialized.  The first work for the special, this video for "A Routine Day," was produced, and it's anything but routine, using rotoscope animation to produce the first animated rock music video.

Evening Entertainment: 1974's Mad Magazine TV Special

"Mad TV" wasn't the first time the venerable comic book that mocked everything it could took a shot at the small screen.  In 1974, they took a shot at making a pilot for a potential animated series that feels completely like the magazine in animated form, featuring cartoon adaptations of the likes of Dave Berg, Al Jaffee, Mort Drucker, Don Martin and more.  The pilot, unfortunately, led to nothing, but at least you can see it for yourself.  (Dangerous Minds has a longer write-up about the project here.)

Jinkx Monsoon delivers a deranged kitty litter-themed kiddie party in a music video cover of Radiohead's "Creep"

Monsoon, the winner of season five of "RuPaul's Drag Race," delivers Tidy Cat Harley Quinn realness in a cover of Radiohead's song, delivering a version that's twisted in a way completely different from the multiple other covers of the song that have cropped up since its' first release.

Tripped-out 1991 animated short PICNIC, from the lead animator of ICE AGE

You won't find any wise-cracking sloths in James Bresnahan's 1991 short -- instead, you'll find three minutes of inspired lunacy, a barrage of wild imagery in which people vanish, black shapes take over and some excessively dark imagery is on display. Look, just watch the darn thing, though maybe wait until you get home, as it's mildly NSFW.

Lynda Carter does Tina Turner, Bette Midler and Kiss in her 1980 variety special

After the end of "Wonder Woman" in 1979, Lynda Carter tried her hand at variety shows, hosting several one-shot specials in the early '80s. This glorious musical number comes from her 1980 special, in which Carter indulges in a fantasy that involves covering the likes of noteworthy divas Turner, Midler and Gene Simmons. If Carter's outfit in the Kiss number looks familiar, it may be because Simmons wore essentially the same outfit as a hermaphrodite bent on world domination in NEVER TOO YOUNG TO DIE, surely one of the weirdest cases of costume kismet ever.

Siskel and Ebert look at Bill Cosby in LEONARD PART 6

HICKEY AND BOGGS star Bill Cosby has been getting a bit of a drubbing on Twitter over the past couple of days, so let's get back to what we can all agree on - that LEONARD PART 6 is a terrible, terrible film.  Even Cosby, who denounced the film, agrees.

Happy birthday, Vincent Schiavelli - a mini-documentary on the life and career of the great character actor

Vincent Schiavelli, the immensely talented and memorable character actor known for his roles in GHOST, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEXT, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, AMADEUS, LORD OF ILLUSIONS, BETTER OFF DEAD and about a hundred other films, would have turned 66 today had he not passed away in 2005. Here's a great look at Schiavelli's life and career courtesy Brandon Hardesty's No Small Parts, a great webseries concentrating on character actors.

Charles Nelson Reilly is a banana who teaches other bananas about pens

Do you need more than the title, really?

1975 animated short for kids explains the slang term "Oreo"

Are you hep?  Let's rap about words with this (barely) animated short about the lingo that has its origins in black American culture that aired as part of the PBS kids' show "Vegetable Soup" around 1975. Don't get all hung up, man, everything's groovy!

Morning Music Video - Phenomenal Handclap Band's psychedlic B&W video for "Let the Right One In"

The NYC-based band has been around since 2009 and has recently toured with Bryan Ferry, but I wish they were bigger than they are -- they've got a great sound, described as "psychedelic soul," which is as good as a description as any.  And the video for one of their best tracks shows that you don't need flashy colors to go all freaky.  (Despite the title, do not expect androgynous vampires.)

Evening Entertainment: Jonathan Heap's "12:01 PM" starring Kurtwood Smith

The concept of a person repeating the same time period over and over until they get it right is probably most associated with GROUNDHOG DAY, but Heap's Oscar-nominated short (based on a 1973 short story by Richard Lupoff) considers the idea in the guise of a character drama, with ROBOCOP's Kurtwood Smith as a mild-mannered man who finds himself stuck in a loop. It was remade as a made-for-TV thriller by FOX a few years later, but this is the sort of high-concept, low-budget science fiction short films are made for.

Barry Bostwick and '80s TV starlets jump for your love, aerobically

The ROCKY HORROR and "Spin City" star leads a band of '80s actresses (the shows they were on at he time are helpfully printed on their jackets, but they include cult icons Barbi Benton, Sandahl Bergman and Judy Landers) in an aerobic workout to the backing of the Pointer Sisters' hit, proving that MEGAFORCE was only the second-most embarrassing thing Bostwick did in the early '80s.

Birthday boy Michael Jai White in "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth"

Today marks the 47th birthday of Michael Jai White, a name in action films that should be much bigger than it is.  Perhaps best known to cult audiences as the star of BLACK DYNAMITE, White is both hugely entertaining to watch in action AND a fine actor -- not an easy combination to come by.  Here he is below as Jax in MORTAL KOMBAT: REBIRTH, Kevin Tancharoen's short fan film based on the "Mortal Kombat" video game that was used to sell the web series that became "Mortal Kombat: Legacy."  While the series that spawned it received solid reviews, the original short still shows so much promise that was never quite delivered.

Graffiti: Fun or Dumb? (1976)

I'd say it depends on the artwork produced and the property involved, but I know the law isn't much for aesthetic differences like that. This 1976 public education film talks about the pros and cons (and the history!) of paint-related vandalism -- though they're mostly cons.

The late Jan Hooks sings "I'm Commercial" to the tune of Helen Reddy

Jan Hooks had already had an extensive career in sketch comedy when she joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1986, from her early days as a member of The Groundlings to her roles on HBO's "Not Necessarily The News."  In between those outlets, however, she was a performer on "Tush," a sketch comedy show presented by journalist Bill Tush on the channel that would eventually become TBS.  Here's a rare clip from that show, featuring Hooks singing a scathingly funny song to the tune of Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman."

Batman and Robin shop at Zayre

Good thing the now-defunct department store Zayre is open 24 hours a day until Christmas! The most surprising thing here is that it's clearly a Dynamic Duo from the '60s live-action TV series, and they couldn't get Adam West OR Burt Ward.

Daily Trailer: 1993's "Desperate Remedies"

Stewart Main and Peter Wells' 1993 film DESPERATE REMEDIES is a film that should have a cult following and seems to have vanished off the face of the Earth.  A New Zealand-lensed tale of high camp bodice-ripping, the film is pitched somewhere between a particularly smutty epic TV romance and a Guy Maddin film, utilizing vivid colors and often ridiculous costume and set design to great effect.  While the reviews were good, the film was barely released in the U.S. and hasn't even managed to turn up on DVD. It's a shame, as it's a bit akin to Kenneth Anger doing an '80s Harry Alan Towers-produced erotic period potboiler.

Morning Cartoon: Night of the Living Doo, from the director of Too Many Cooks

Last week, the internet exploded with admiration for "Too Many Cooks," an impressively bizarre short film by Casper Kelly.  But this wasn't the first time Kelly had created a genre-bending one-shot work of weirdness for the Cartoon Network, for whom he also created "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell" and "Stroker and Hoop."  In 2001, he and his "Stroker and Hoop" co-creator Jeffrey G Olsen produced NIGHT OF THE LIVING DOO, an animated special (originally shown in pieces) that teams Scooby and the gang with Gary Coleman and David Cross.  It's surprisingly funny, even if you think the Scooby-Doo parody has been done to death.  (His 1999 short THE SCOOBY DOO PROJECT is similarly inspired.)

Morning Music Video: Yello - Pinball Cha Cha

Whats the greatest pop song about a pinball champion?  Okay, maybe second greatest behind that other one.  Yello will always be part of the cultural lexicon due to "Oh Yeah," the annoyingly catchy song best known from the end of FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, but the Swiss duo did a heck of a lot more than that - they just never got that much attention in the United States.