And we’re back! Due to some slight technical difficulties (James seems to think a 5.25 floppy disk can hold an entire movie) we ran afoul of our proposed release schedule for the year. But pay no attention to the machinations behind the curtain, as we race through this episode of High and Low (Brow) in record time, due probably to the fact that one of the movies we viewed is abysmal.
But of Berkeley Square (1933) and World Without End (1956) your guess is as good as mine as to which of the films is the true stinker of the bunch. Thankfully, we don’t linger on this spoiler too long, and simply call a pile of crap a pile of crap right off the bat. That being said, while both of these films are quite hard to track down, one of these films truly deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
Make sure to stick around for our selection process, as we have chosen a far simpler group of films for us to find and watch, which means you should expect to see another episode of High and Low (Brow) by the end of the month, thus getting us right back on schedule for the year. Big thanks to loyal reader Robert R for his help in determining the films for the selection process.
If you have any recommendations for films we could watch for the podcast, or want to suggest a potential theme for us to use, or simply want to tell James how awesome he is, feel free to email us and tell us your ideas. If you enjoy the show make sure to subscribe through iTunes or our RSS feed so you can catch every new episode. Also, please friend James on Facebook. Because it will frighten and confuse him. And while you’re there be sure to join our relatively new Facebook group devoted to Where the Long Tail Ends.
One more thing, if you enjoy the show feel free to donate to it through PayPal in either a single installment or as a recurring donor. We’d love to upgrade some of our equipment and anything you donate will go directly towards us getting some decent mics and perhaps even pop screens that aren’t made out of cotton balls.
Its tough to follow up the absurdly perverse genius of Meet the Feebles, so I decided not to. Instead I decide to pick a film that is truly ridiculous and revels in showcasing some of the dumbest jokes that you could possibly imagine. Yet while the jokes may be stupid, and believe me they are stupid, its the delivery that sells them time and again.
One of the most interesting things about this film, is that it currently holds a 0% approval rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, an impressive feat to be sure. Yet even stranger is the fact the film is actually ridiculously funny and has a truly epic cast (including Steve Zahn, Jonah Hill, Kevin Heffernan, Harry Hamlin, Justin Long, Jeff Garlin, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Patrick). The voice over narration during the nature scenes alone are absolutely priceless (ex – Experts estimate that monkeys make up 80% of the world’s monkey population.) and they beg the question, why the hell isn’t that kind of nature show on television?
But it is the final nature show that truly eclipses them all, and the one that is impossible not to find humorous, despite it being one of the laziest jokes ever. Yet Strange Wilderness continually shows that earnest repetition is the key to getting a laugh, which is why this is one of the Greatest Moments in Cinema History.
And we’re back! It’s been along layoff since James and I had a chance to sit down and record a new podcast, and thanks to the wonders of memory, in this episode you’ll hear exactly why this is so. We also talk briefly about the Oscars, more specifically on the In Memorium montage that honors those who have lost their life in the past year, and we note some of the most obvious snubs from this montage, including the man we devote this episode to, writer/director Dan O’Bannon.
O’Bannon isn’t a household name, but his contributions to the Alien franchise and zombie lore alone make him as influential as anyone you are likely to find working in genre films. But then, the Academy isn’t fond of genre films, so why should they be fond of Dan O’Bannon?
So in this episode James and I tackle five of his films as our own way of honoring a man who has made movie watching just so damn enjoyable for us over the years. You may not know who he is, but you’ll be hard pressed to avoid his influences in modern film. He was an incredible talent, and film making is a lesser medium with his loss, and a whole lot less fun. But hopefully you’ll take the time to try out some of his films and finally see just what you’ve been missing.
Recently I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting up a regular feature that would highlight some of the films that I’ve run across in my film watching career that I adore for no discernible explanation. That is, no explanation until now.
For now I will highlight the competently ridiculous, the oddly perverse and hopefully the drug-addled genius of some truly awful movies that hurt so good. For these movies truly represent the greatest moments in cinema history.
Our inaugural edition highlights one of the most bizarre and possibly frightening films you are bound to encounter. A film so vile, so lewd and so inspired that it could only come from a man who was destined to become one of the biggest director’s in Hollywood, that being Peter Jackson. This movie marks both his creative peak AND nadir, resulting in a movie that is bound to fell anyone without the strongest of stomachs, though a complete lack of morals can only improve your viewing experience.
For those unaware of Meet the Feebles, the plot is rather simple, a troupe of Muppets is trying to put together one big television broadcast special, in the hopes of landing a syndicated series. But as the big day approaches a series of disasters threaten to ruin everything they’ve worked so hard for. Of course that also leaves out the sex addicted rabbit dying from AIDS, the massive drug ring that the show’s producer runs in the theatre’s back alley, or nasal sex, which sounds almost as disgusting as it actually is.
But the highlight of the film is the pinnacle song and dance number as a homosexual fox sings about his love for, you guessed it, sodomy, all while a manic depressive hippopotamus attempts to murder every performer with a machine gun, thus marking this as one of the Greatest Moments in Cinema History with a bullet.
With The Crazies remake just around the corner, I figured it was finally time to watch this exploitation “classic” from George A Romero. While I’m not expecting much I figure it can’t be any worse then the last few Of The Dead films he’s put out.
And we’re back! Due to some slight technical difficulties (James seems to think a 5.25 floppy disk can hold an entire movie) we ran afoul of our proposed release schedule for the year. But pay no attention to the machinations behind the curtain, as we race through this episode of High and Low (Brow) in record time, due probably to the fact that one of the movies we viewed is abysmal.
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