Ready for primetime - check out Jennifer Connelly and Donald Pleasence in the insect horror classic, Phenomena, a.k.a. Creepers.
We pulled a few titles from the video download library as well, to make some room for new content in the pipeline. Mesmerized, Richard Diamond Private Eye, and Dr Jekyl and Mr. Hyde were removed from the library for the time being. They’ll be back soon enough. Hope everyone is having a great New Year.
We hope you found time to watch the original A Star is Born starring Janet Gaynor, who plays the hollywood dreamer - who arrives to Hollywood as Esther Blodgett and becomes mega star - Vicki Lester. Well - our next movie offering is Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, starring Uncle Fester. As a kid, Jackie Coogan was cute, with a full head of hair. While most remember him as Uncle Fester of the Addam’s Family with Carolyn Jones and John Astin - believe it or not, he was also famous for being married to this gorgeous pin-up girl, Betty Grable.
Another new classic movie - the 1937 original A Star is Born, written and directed by William Wellman. This David O. Selnick production is slick, and the writers that contributed was good as gold. Robert Carson, Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner, Budd Schulberg and William Wellman.
Worth the view - the original A Star is Born.
Fritz Lang was one of the greatest directors in film - and while he is perhaps best known for his German flavored films, especially Metropolis, his science gone bad silent epic and the kiddie killer thriller - M, Scarlet Street is also a must see if you are a film buff or a fan of this legendary director. The movie stars Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea. Yep - ready for you just in time for the weekend. We hope you enjoy the show.
Here’s a fun movie for everyone, just in time for the weekend. The movie was called either Black Brigade or Carter’s army and has an impressive list of black actors who star in the made for tv low budget war movie. Richard Pryor stars as Jonathan, who is a soldier ready to go AWOL for most of the movie. Billy Dee Williams plays a tough guy from the streets of Harlem, and Rosie Grier plays Big Ed (not to be confused with Big Jim). This rag tag group of fighting men is led by Stephen Boyd as Captain Carter - who has one of the most annoying fake cajun accents you have ever heard. (if you recognize the face - he played Messala in Ben Hur, the evil former friend of Judah Ben-Hur who has all the fancy spikes on his chariot). The movie is for the most part pretty entertaining - though at times the dialogue or concept of a scene might be so contrived you just feel like saying - Oh Brother. If you want to check out a better Black Culture film - by all means try this one - Brother From Another Planet.
Even someone who is an athesist (someone who denies the existence of god) or agnostic (people who believe we cannot know whether or not a God exists) has got to be impressed that a man can draw over 4 million to his funeral. While doing some reseach - i found the American Atheists are tad upset by all the buzz (Atheists: No Public Money For Bush Papal Funeral Junket - April 5, 2005 News Release) - while the Agnostics just don’t know what to think - hahaha. The passing of Pope John Paul II was expected - he has been ill for some time now - yet the outpouring of emotion and the massive pilgrimage to honor the man has been nothing short of amazing. The world has changed so much during his lifetime - he entered the priesthood at a time when about 1/3 of the priests in Poland had been killed just for being priests. And he lived to see the tyranny of the Nazi and the Communist Governments fold in his native Poland during his lifetime. The more I learn about the man - the more i have come to honor and respect him. I just found a media link at the Vatican’s site to watch the current events - LIVE. Check it out.
WATCH the events LIVE from The Vatican
(REAL: hi - med - low or Windows Media: hi - med - low).
Check out the official site of the Vatican for more information about the man and learn more about how they will select the next pope.
Our next movie for streaming and download is called How Awful About Allan, starring Anthony Perkins, Julie Harris, and Joan Hackett (another Aaron Spelling made for TV production - the last one was Boy in the Plastic Bubble) Yep Perkins plays Allan, a disturbed young man who is blinded by a fire that killed his father and scarred his sisters’s face for life. (free preview) Make no mistake - by 1970 - Anthony Perkins has got that creepy, quiet psychotic character down to a nuanced art form and his performance is nothing short of terrific. Julie Harris plays his sister Katherine who seems really sweet and kind but… maybe not so nice. Joan Hackett plays Olive, the girlfriend who waited around why Allan was in the asylum getting better… but perhaps not fully recovered. If you were looking for a dysfunctional family psychodrama - you’ve hit paydirt!
Like most people, my first encounter with Anthony Perkins as an actor came from his ultra creepy performance as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Later on, I learned that the Bates character was modeled after a real serial killer who lived near Plainsville, Wisconsin named Ed Gein. Growing up in Milwaukee Wisconsin, we of course knew who Ed Gein was and in middle school, a really disgusting book was sometimes passed around that contained photos of Ed’s sickness made manifest. (The book was banned and ordered destroyed a few days after it was sold, but images from the book are still floating around thanks to the internet). It still gives me the chills. Let’s just say, Ed was into taxidermy and had some serious issues with women.
Also related… somehow, is a Peter Shaffer play called Equus. Equus was a big Broadway hit in the late 1970s, and starred Tony Perkins - who was replacing… ready for this weirdness, Anthony Hopkins, best known as super creepy whacko Hannibal Lecter. But - both these guys were playing the role of Martin Dysert, the psychiatrist. In another weird twist - the Buffalo Bill character in Silence of the Lambs was modeled after… yep - Ed Gein. In Equus- Perkins plays the shrink - who is helping a teenager with some issues (related to women) - and tries to learn why six horses get blinded by a massive spike.
But once again, i am wondering off the topic - we hope to have How Awful About Allan ready for the weekend. Till then - watch the trailer and prepare your mind.
Coming next week to the monitor near you - it’s John Travolta starring as Tod Lubitch in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Created for TV in 1976, this Aaron Spelling production is kind of bizarre, sometimes quite funny, often really annoying and just the type of film our content editors refuse to let die an obscure death. So why you ask - is this film worth including in the LikeTelevision library? Well lots of reasons. Welcome Back Kotter had just come out and Travolta was beginning to make a name for himself as Vinnie Barbarino. He was just learning to polish his dance moves - yikes, watch this! - and next year, in 1977 - he would be starring in Saturday Night Fever. And you might recall the eyebrow raising relationship between the young Travolta and a woman 17 years older than him, not twice his age… but close enough for government work. Her name was Diana Hyland and she stars as Travolta’s mom in this movie, which i believe is where the two met. Diana Hyland also starred Dick Van Patton’s wife on Eight is Enough, but died tragically at the age of 41 of breast cancer. I remember reading that she died Mr. Travolta’s arms.
The film also features the great Robert Reed, best known as Mike Brady, father of the Brady Bunch. His over the top corny and sappy California PC papa performance is nothing short of hilarious. Too many great lines to mention. Another really fun game to play while watching this movie is - spot the movie gaffs when he could be contaminated by germs. You’ll be very busy. The fashion style of the 1970s is just too aweful and this film really brings that to light. The fashion police would just have a field day - why is Travolta wearing a reddish brown knit Tam O’Shanter, with one of those funky mesh football shirts and terry cloth gym shorts, that are so tight and small i personally embarassed for Travolta’s family 30 years later.
In case you missed it - make sure you test drive a fun movie you may not have seen. Brother From Another Planet is ready to rhumba. Here’s a preview.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee’rrrrre’s Johnny! Another rotation of the best moments from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson - watch the Smothers Brothers, Groucho, pesky animals and of course - Johnny Carson. Free to watch, free to laugh.
And on March 9, 2005 - your search for another planet comes up empty. (Search for another planet located 0 videos) However - keep looking, we’re working on it. In a few short days, your search will hit gold And you’ll find John Sayles’ Brother From Another Planet. Wow! What a great movie. A kind and gentle alien with amazing powers crashlands his UFO in Harlem. He has the power to heal and fix things. And our mute alien brother is also be chased by the original Men in Black characters. In this movie - the Men in Black are the bad guys. Watch a new trailer from Frank Random. So come back, and next week, when you search for another planet you won’t be disappointed.
We just added another cartoon classic for streaming and downloading, Spooky Swabs starring Popeye, Olive Oyl and a bunch of pirate ghosts.
