Rocky Horror Picture Show

DVD Review


Here I sit on Halloween Eve and I want to get into the spirit as much as possible. I’m waiting for my director’s cut of The Exorcist to come from Netflix today. I’ll let you all know how that goes. I’m thinking it’s not a good idea to re-watch it after all these years. I’m asking for it!

Last weekend I finally watched a movie I’ve wanted to see for years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The only reason I had never seen this movie was because I wanted to go to one of those midnight showings where people throw toast and stuff. Since it didn’t look like it would ever happen, I checked to see if it was available on Netflix instant play.

This is the typical cult classic story. It originally didn’t do well in theaters, but then found this campy home with the midnight crowd who would come to the screenings dressed up and ready to jump on stage and perform the songs.

I have to say that I was quite shocked with the overt sexuality in the film. I was under the impression, since it was 1975, that there was more innuendo. This was not the case. Man, Tim Curry strutted his stuff, seduced Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and everyone else in his vicinity, including me! What an over the top, bawdy, sexy, hysterical performance backed up with a damm good singing voice!

I’m smitten with this movie and I can see why it has endured. It’s just so out there and fun and unapologetic. It was also refreshing to see how actors and actresses used to look compared to now; Tim Curry with his crooked teeth and Susan Sarandon…wow, how nice to see an authentic Hollywood rack like that. The back of her bra was riding up so high I’m thinking, “Gee, this chick needs a professional bra fitting!” Watching her real breasts makes you wonder how fake boobs ever became so popular. More is not always better.

It was interesting to see the ultra-perfect Glee casts compared to these originals cast members who are far hotter despite or because of their flaws. Sarandon’s singing really left something to be desired, but you just love her spunk. Bostwick brings the straight-laced guy across so believably that it’s that much more shocking to see him romping around unabashedly later with Curry.

Just a couple of days after watching this, I was channel surfing and caught it again on some high numbered digital channel. It was right at the beginning and I sat and happily watched the whole thing again! So I’m a new fan. I still want to find one of those midnight showings though.

Colleenie Ghoulie #5 - Trilogy of Terror

Hello my ghouls! I saved the best for last. Nothing scares Colleenie Ghoulie more than the Trilogy of Terror’s Zuni Fetish doll. When I was just a little ghoulie, this was a made for TV movie of the week. I remember it like it was last week. My big sister and I climbed into my Mom’s bed so we could watch it together. It was 1975 and I was eight years old. Horror films were big in my house, but I was a wimp. Everything scared me. I just didn’t have the stomach for it. I kept trying though. This particular film was actually three vignettes all starring Karen Black. The first two sucked, I was in the clear, this was not going to scare me. Then the third and final story came on. When I saw the little doll encapsulating all my fears in this tiny, knife wielding demon…I frickin’ lost it! I was literally frozen in fear. The commercial came on and my mom and sister told me I needed to leave. This was going to involve putting my feet on the floor. NO WAY! I remember muttering, “ I can’t I can’t.” My mom told my sister to escort me back to the living room. My sister, who was thirteen at the time, was like, “Are you kidding me?” The living room was literally about ten feet away. If you opened my parents’ bedroom door, you could see my dad sitting on the living room sofa watching some sporting event. But yes, big sister had to take me out of that room and deposit me safely with dad. So I never saw the whole thing the first time around. Why would I be stupid enough to watch this again? Well, I had quite a vivid imagination. The Zuni Fetish doll in my mind was ripping off heads and eating brains. I had to watch it again to see that it wasn’t as bad as I could imagine. Really, it’s actually funny. I can get some good laughs at Ms. Black swinging that doll around and especially all the dumb decisions she makes. Couldn’t you swing the suitcase out the window? All in all though, I still don’t like this doll and I didn’t enjoy watching these YouTube clips. They have a life size version of this doll in a collectible shop in San Francisco. Everyone in my family is under oath that it would not be funny to ever buy me a Zuni Fetish doll. It would be grounds for me to completely disown them. That wraps up my month of what scares Colleenie Ghoulie. I hope you’ve enjoyed my cornucopia of horror. Happy Halloween!

Rocky Horror Glee Show

Follow this link to watch the full episode. I think the Glee cast put on a good effort. At least when they take on something they fully commit to it. You can't take the place of Tim Curry though.
http://www.fox.com/glee/full-episodes

David Bowie-Ashes To Ashes-1980

Song of the Week

Well can you highlight Halloween music without throwing in David Bowie? I think he’s worn more costumes than anyone I can think of. This is a fun freaky romp.

The Sweet Smell of Success

DVD Review

I’m in week two of the movie potluck over at Anomalous Material. This week my flick came from Anna of the blog Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile. She recommended the 1957 Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis classic, The Sweet Smell of Success. This is one of those movies that I’d always heard about but never seen.

What a slimy bunch of creeps to spend an hour and thirty-six minutes with! This is one of those old-time films that remind you that people have always done horrible things to each other. Next time someone talks about the degeneration of our current society, point them toward this little gem.

Burt Lancaster plays JJ Hunsecker, a Broadway columnist who’s power to make or break people with a mention in his widely read column has clearly gone to his head. Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, is a Hunsecker wannabe. He’s a crappy PR agent working out of his dingy one room apartment. He wants the type of status Hunsecker has and he’s willing to do the dirty work to get there.

These two slimeballs manipulate and threaten people left and right. They have dirty

secrets on everyone in town and they’ll use them to get their way. Falco is always begging Hunsecker to drop his clients' names into his column. Hunsecker just may throw Falco a bone if he will help to break up upcoming jazz musician’s relationship with his beloved baby sister. We see glimpses of possible character redemption in Hunsecker’s love for his sister and in Falco’s resistance to ruin the innocent musician.

My age was showing as I watched this film and recognized the young jazz musician, Martin Milner, as the guy from the 70’s TV show, Adam 12. I also spotted Darrin’s boss from TV’s Betwitched, and a handful of other old-time actors.

This was a very fast talking film and I’d love to see the size of this script compared to similar films of the same length. Tony Curtis attacks the role as Sidney Falco. He talks fast, paces, fidgets, chats up the ladies and shows a vulnerability underneath his big shot façade. I haven’t seen many Tony Curtis films and I enjoyed watching this vibrant performance. He’s a couple of years away from some of his more famous roles and it’s clear he was a star on the rise.

On the other side, Burt Lancaster had already turned in some of his most memorable performances and had nothing to prove. His give and take with Curtis is powerful and they share the screen well.

Overall, I’m glad I saw this film. I’m not sure I would have stuck with it if it wasn’t a recommendation. It did become quite melodramatic at times and the main characters were so unlikeable, it would have been quite easy to turn this off. However, I found myself thinking about these characters hours after the film was over. That in itself is the makings of a good film.

Colleenie Ghoulie #4

Well my little ghoulies, our time together is quickly coming to an end. I hope I’ve been serving up a nice cauldron of scares for you to enjoy. This week I want to give a nod to arguably the scariest movie of all time…The Exorcist.

I’ve spent weeks trying to find a good clip of Linda Blair doing that head spin. I have to be honest though, after re-watching the scene a dozen times on YouTube, I simply can’t do that to you guys. I found one scene where the mom is downstairs and starts to slowly walk up and I clicked the mouse to logoff before she got to the top. I couldn’t take it!

Honestly, I watched this movie a ridiculous amount of times in an effort to desensitize myself from it. Growing up, we had HBO and Showtime and I tried to watch it every time it came on. I did a pretty good job toughening myself to it except for when she spins her head completely around. It’s interesting why this bothered me so much.

Basically, this was the least effective special effect in an otherwise flawless horror film. Linda Blair clearly looked like a fake doll as the head slowly turned around. Yes, we’re back to the doll thing. I was completely freaked out by this because in some Hollywood prop department THERE-WAS-A-DOLL-THAT-LOOKED-LIKE-THAT!

Imagine how I felt when about a decade later - I was innocently watching some special effects documentary on a lazy Sunday afternoon- and the host was walking by different props on the lot...AND THERE SHE WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR IN A CORNER! I always knew she was there waiting for me.

So I will not do that to you my sweet ghouls. You are more than welcome to YouTube that head spin yourself.

Have you missed a ghoulie Friday? Catch up now!

Colleenie Ghoulie #1
Colleenie Ghoulie #2
Colleenie Ghoulie #3

GO Giants!

There's no new blog post today. I'm watching the Giants!

RIP To Two TV Icons

We lost two great TV icons this week. Barbara Billingsly, otherwise known as “Beaver’s Mom,” and Tom Bosley, Richie Cunnigham’s father on Happy Days.

I have seen ever single episode of both of these shows and I loved these two dearly. June Cleaver was the perfect mom and housewife that none of us could ever live up to. But just when you think she was little Miss Prim & Proper, she did this hilarious cameo in the 1980 movie, Airplane.



Tom Bosley, as Howard Cunnigham, was always the perfect balance of loving, yet strict father. He was there with advice and support when needed. He apparently had some kind of falling out with the eldest Cunnigham, Chuck (I never saw that kid again after the first season) he still managed to always come through from Ritchie and Joanie.

Song of the Week - Werewolves of London

Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon
I’m not familiar with a lot of Warren Zevon’s music, but I always thought this song was cool. He not only sings about werewolves, he howls too! What more can you ask for?

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran

Book Review
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran
By Rob Sheffield


This happens so many times. An author writes a memoir about a cataclysmic event in their life. After the story has been told, however, they have little more to say. This was the case with the follow ups to Julie and Julia, Angela’s Ashes, Marley and Me, and Eat, Pray Love. Once you’ve told the big story, nothing else will live up by comparison.

Fortunately, this is not the case with Rob Sheffield’s new book of essays, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. Sheffield’s first outing, Love Is A Mix Tape, chronicles his young married life and the untimely death of his wife. Sheffield is a writer for Rolling Stone and his life has a constant soundtrack. His first book was funny and beautiful and I really could feel his love and anguish, but he always kept his sense of humor and while you felt for him, you never pitied him.

His new book goes back in time to give us a glimpse into the songs and people that shaped him. Drawing on music from the 80’s, Sheffield is fearless in admitting songs he loved and the role they played in his upbringing.

Like most of us, when we remember a certain time in our life, we usually remember what song we loved too. So it’s not like Sheffield is necessarily dissecting these songs, but more so using them as vehicles to chronicle key points in his life.

What I love most about Sheffield is how unpretentious he is. This guy works for Rolling Stone and I’m sure he has met a string of great musicians; he could easy parlay this into having a cool, underground, hipster taste for bands we’ve never heard of. He could pretend he never listened to Whitney Houston, but he embraces his love for pop music and all the embarrassment that may come with it. Since I’m also a child of the 80’s, I was familiar with most of the songs covered in the book. Interestingly, though, I have never seen the video for “Shiny Shiny” that Sheffield claims was aired constantly on MTV. I don’t know how that’s possible, but the wonders of the internet cleared that up for me.

I was also never a fan of Duran Duran. It’s interesting that he chose this band of the 80’s because it’s quite true that DD will find a way to get you sooner or later. At the time, I hated them and I thought they were all weird looking pretty boys. It was their release of “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” in 1993 that made me finally admit that I liked their songs. I then went back and enjoyed all the 80’s hits that I shunned at the time.

As I read about Sheffield’s sisters, lack of girlfriends and early jobs, I could reflect on my own 80’s experiences. The true beauty of this book is you will love hearing about Sheffield’s life and family, but it will also, hopefully, take you down the soundtrack of your life.

In honor of pointing out an 80’s band I never heard of (a task I did not think was possible), I’m posting Haysi Fantayzee”s video “Shiny Shiny” for all to enjoy.