And now, it's time for Jim's “Pick 'O the Flix”!
Most of you probably don't remember this, but for many years in the 90s I used to do on-air reviews of movies that no one else would even think about watching. I used to go into a video store and find the VHS tapes that were among the dustiest and most untouched; those were the ones that I reviewed. (And then I would wrap it up with something really stupid like “Check it out--'Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy', starring, in alphabetical order, the Aztec Mummy and the Wrestling Women”). While video stores don't even exist any more, nor do I have a VHS player. there are a couple of things I've watched (admittedly, watched a couple of years ago) that I always thought I should review.
And now, I'm finally getting around to doing just that. Especially because I STILL can't tell you about the new thing we're about to do that I've been teasing all week (equipment issues, sad to say. But it IS coming soon!)
Anyway, the first review covers a documentary called “KZ”. Loraine and I have always wondered what it was like for people who live and work in a town that housed a former German concentration camp, so imagine our surprise when we came a film that deals with that very same subject matter. It was shot in Mauthausen, Austria, site of a very big (and, apparently, quite well preserved) camp, and focuses on several of the guides who take tourists around the grounds. I don't wanna give much away, but let's just say that working at a place like that isn't very good for your health, both mental and physical
Now, I guess, Loraine and I have the answer to our question.
The other thing I wanna mention is something else I bought years ago and eventually watched, and that's the complete series of a Saturday morning cartoon from the 70s called “Return to the Planet of the Apes”. Now, when I say it's a “complete series” it's only 13 episodes, and it's so ploddingly paced that you can scan through large chunks of it without missing any dialogue or plot (including, I might add, one 94 second shot of people walking across a desert. Ninety four seconds. You don't think they were short on running time and trying to cheaply pad out an episode, do you???).
8-)
I only wanted to check it out because I was a kid when I saw it, and I was curious as to if it was any good to an adult viewer. And it's really not; it's like most cartoons of the 70s, and better left to youthful memories. But there are two things to recommend to it—almost every episode has a germ of a good idea behind it. Sure, it's a small germ and sure, that germ never gets to grow amidst the really bad animation and the horrendous voice acting, but there is a germ there nonetheless.
The other thing? Well, I didn't even give it a second thought until 10 or 11 episodes in, but the show revolves around three astronauts who get caught up in all the ape-foolery. That's something you'd expect in a Saturday morning cartoon from the 70s. What you might not expect is that one of the astronauts was African-American and another was a woman. These days we don't give that a second thought. But almost fifty years ago?
Well, maybe there was something to “Return of the Planet of the Apes” after all.
Anyway, if you ever see them on a streaming service or find yourself in a store, staring at a discount bin, and notice either of those DVDs on sale for a buck, go ahead and pick 'em up. You might actually get something out of them.
Have a great weekend. If you're so inclined, hope you have something good to watch yourself!
No comments:
Post a Comment