That’s right, the beloved director of such films as Ran, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Dreams, The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon and The Seven Samurai would be one hundred years old today if he were still alive. We don’t actually have any of those titles, so I will instead distract you with this dazzling display of cinematic treasures we’ve just uncovered.
Monty Python fan? We’ve got you covered with all 14 zany crazy volumes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus! Also, Monty Python And The Holy Grail, The Meaning Of Life and Terry Gilliam’s mind-bending Brazil. And speaking of mind-bending and Terry Gilliam, how’sabout the Criterion Collection version of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Yup, we got that.
Music fans may be interested in Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks, The Clash: West Way To The World, The Essential Clash or maybe Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon, a 2003 release that takes an in-depth look into the creation of one of rock’s timeless recordings.
Maybe you want to get your 80s on: The Breakfast Club, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Fletch and the sequel Fletch Lives, Animal House and one of my all-time favorites: The Blues Brothers.
But wait, there’s more! Rob Zombie’s House Of 1000 Corpses, the two-disc super special edition version of Se7en, Army Of Darkness, Soylent Green, Logan’s Run, The Andromeda Strain (a movie that terrified me when I saw it as a youngster) First Spaceship On Venus/Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet (double feature) and the mother of all crappy movies: Plan 9 From Outer Space (includes The Ed Wood Story with Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Ed Wood’s wife Dolores Fuller and even Vampira herself!).
Want more? Good! Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Lauren Bacall smolder in Key Largo, Charlton Heston does what he does best in Ben Hur, Jack Nicholson chews it up in Five Easy Pieces and Chinatown, Paul Newman broods in Hud and The Hustler and Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif star in the sweeping epic Lawrence Of Arabia in a two-disc super-special limited edition.
Not finished just yet, but I’m getting there: Fan-favorites Die Hard, The Road Warrior and Fight Club, plus The Last Of The Mohicans and the classics The Conversation (later remade as Enemy Of The State) and High Noon starring Gary Cooper. A couple anime’ titles: Amon Saga and Appleseed, a tongue-in-cheek look back at “educational” films of yore in Social Engineering 201 (which touches on classic 16 mm films shown to schoolchildren from the 1940s to the 1970s like It Must Be The Neighbors and What To Do On A Date), and finally, a blaxploitation triple feature: Bad Azz Muthaz featuring Black Punisher (Jim Brown), Tattoo Connection (Jim Kelly) and Kid Vengeance (Fred Williamson). Ohhh yeah.
There’s a lot more than that, but my typin’ fingers hurt, so come on in and take a look at the Wall O’ Cool and see what strikes your fancy.
I’ve always been a fan of sketch-comedy. Loved it. When I was a kid, sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday, if a t.v. movie ended early and the station needed time to fill, I remember them showing “Best Of SNL” 30-minute blocks. Channel 9 would show Monty Python’s Flying Circus & its juvenile brother The Benny Hill Show. As a young teenager I also discovered SCTV (SNL’s Canadian Cousin). And later, when I was in college (or at the age where I should be in college as it were) I had MTV’s The State. The Fox network gave us the short lived The Ben Stiller Show….I watched ‘em all.
Anyways…one of the best, and one that holds up really well to this day is HBO’s Mr. Show with Bob & David. This mid-90’s late-night Cable laugh-fest was the brainchild of Bob Odenkirk & David Cross (Arrested Development) & ran for four seasons before being canceled in 1998.
Besides Bob & Dave, you get a soon-to-be-star-studded cast, including Tom Kenny (The voice of Sponge-bob), Jay Johnston & Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman show…she shows up too!), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24) and appearances from folks like Ben Stiller & Jack Black.
The show follows a Monty-Pythonesque sequence, in that all the sketches flow together or are linked somehow. It’s also pretty pop-culture heavy, so if you can’t “Ride The Reference Train” you might want to skip it. Religion, Kid’s Shows, Brit-pop, Sid & Marty Kroftt, Phone Sex, 80’s Films, Brian Wilson….yeah. It’s good stuff.
The cast made a movie…”Run, Ronnie, Run” Which they hated and disowned. But it’s not that bad. Trust Me.
We have the second two seasons of “Mr. Show” in stock. I’d rush in and get them, as they won’t last.
Peace…I’m out.
Geoffrey.