NostalgiaBlitz

Hollywood has been churning out remakes lately. Most of them suck. This week we even found out that Red Sonja is being remade. 100% chance of suckage. But there’s hope. Once in a while a remake comes along that actually makes sense. Where modern technology can actually help tell the story in a more convincing way. I know humbly present one of these rare opportunities: Clash of the Titans.

Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier is set to direct an updated version of the 1981 classic. If his last film is any indication, Leterrier knows how to use special effects, which should greatly help improve the story’s presentation.

Admittedly there was something charming about the special effects in the original Clash of the Titans. Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion effects are great, but they look dated. Really dated. If the remake can keep the same spirit as the original, but update the effects to modern standards, the result could be fantastic. If they try to go overboard and rely on effects at the expense of the story, it will suck hard. I guess we’ll just have to wait until 2010 to find out.

A couple of weeks ago we got to see two pictures of Snake Eyes from the upcoming big screen edition of G.I. Joe.  Now we get to see a pic of Scarlett, the crossbow-wielding, red-headed hottie.  She’ll be played by the foxilicious Rachel Nichols, and if this pic is any indication, she’ll be the movie’s main attraction.  As always click for the full pic.

via Film School Rejects

In yet another shameless attempt to cash in on my childhood Paramount Pictures is making a live-action G.I. Joe movie, creatively titled G.I. Joe. It’s being directed by Stephen Sommers, the mastermind behind The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Revenge of The Mummy, and Van Helsing. Wow, that’s a tour de force of shit. Can’t wait to see how he rapes my cherished childhood memories…

The movie is currently filming, and it isn’t due out until August of 2009. While you wait anxiously for the release, here’s a few things we know already: Read the rest of this entry »

This guy is directing a
Muppet movie…

The motley crew that revolves around Judd Apatow is set to take on their next challenge: a new Muppet movie. Jason Segal, who played one of Seth Rogan’s friends in Apatow’s Knocked Up, and is the lead in the upcoming Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is set to direct a new episode in the Muppets canon.

Segal promises that the movie will be closer to The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper than Muppets in The Old West or Muppets from Space. He plans to bring back the Muppet tradition of lots of cameos, with Apatow regulars Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, and Paul Rudd already on board. No estimate on a release date yet, as Segal has another project ahead of it on his schedule.

Via MTV

NBC officially unveiled the car that will be KITT in the new TV movie version of Knight Rider, and just like we thought, it’s a Mustang. They also had the cast on hand at the unveiling, so we get to see the folks who will be behind and against KITT. TV Squad has all the details, with pictures and story details.

The highlights are that Hasselhoff will make a guest appearance as Michael Knight, the main character will be his son, and the really cool part, KITT’s voice will be played by Will Arnett (who played Gob on Arrested Development). So KITT should have a sense of humor. And possibly perform illusions.

Knight Rider premiers on NBC on February 17th, 2008.

Evel Knievel, the only daredevil to transcend sideshow spectacle and penetrate the national consciousness, has died at age 69. Probably best know for his spectacular successes and failure on Wide World of Sports, Knievel never failed to entertain. Check out some of his best and worst performances:

As Mr. Whipple actor Dick Wilson implored generations of shoppers not to squeeze the Charmin. Wilson died today at the age of 91. He made over 500 Charmin commercials over a 25 year span, an amazingly consistent advertising campaign. In addition Wilson made guest appearances on sitcoms ranging from Bewitched to Alice.

I propose a 21 squeeze salute as a tribute. Or, failing that, let’s at least watch a couple of his famous commercials…

“We don’t make mistakes here, we just have happy accidents. We want happy, happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news. Everything is possible here. This is your little universe.”

These are the immortal words of Bob Ross, the ultra-mellow painter whose happy little trees and puffy little clouds actually made PBS fun to watch. Bob died in 1995, but if he was alive today would have been his 65th birthday. Many people retire at 65, but something tells me Bob would have kept on painting, and kept on encouraging others to do the same.
Read the rest of this entry »

Remember Reading Rainbow? It was the show where LeVar Burton tried to convince you to read, WHILE YOU WERE WATCHING TV. Yeah, not a great concept. But this clip is great. It’s rap pioneers Run DMC on the show, rapping for reading:

Via BoingBoing

NBC announced that they’re making a pilot/made-for-tv-movie that will update the 80’s classic Knight Rider. Sorry, no Hasselhoff in this one. But it will be directed by Doug Liman, the man who’s brought us Swingers, The Bourne Identity, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The project sounds like it will be kind of a mashup of Knight Rider and Transformers, with the cars being able to change shapes. If the movie is successful the show will likely be picked up for NBC’s 2008 schedule.

Some old-school Knight Rider goodies after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

NBC is bringing the 90’s classic American Gladiators back to TV. The network has picked it up for at least six episodes, starting in the middle of the TV season. The show will be the same basic format as the original, but with updated events.

I for one think this kicks ass. I caught a couple of the original episodes on ESPN Classic a while back and I was amazed how much fun the show was, even though it’s been almost 20 years since it debuted. It really took me back to my childhood.

Variety has the full scoop

Another of my favorite childhood toys/cartoons is coming to the big screen. This time, on the heels of the shitefest that was Transformers, it’s another group of transforming robots, Voltron. No word yet on whether it’s going to be the spaceship version or the far superior lion version, but Voltron: Defender of the Universe is due out sometime in 2008.

Hopefully they’ll keep the “Let’s fight this bad guy as separate robots! Uh oh, we’re getting our ass kicked, better form Voltron. Now let’s chop the bad guy in half with a giant laser sword. Yay!” story line. This is going to be awesome! Unless they hire Michael Bay…

More details at The Game Gods

The undoubtedly craptacular Michael Bay helmed Transformers movie comes out this week. If you’re looking to retain your childhood memories instead of having Hollywood soil them, check this out instead. These people-with-too-much-time-on-their-hands made Transformers costumes that actually transform. Looks like they’re based on actual Transformers too. So sit back and relax and pretend it’s 1985 all over again…

Wanna feel old? Here’s the baby from the cover of Nirvana’s classic album Nevermind:

Yep, the album came out 16 years ago. Ugh.

Television science teacher Don Herbert, more commonly known by the name Mr. Wizard, died this morning at the age of 89. I remember watching his show Mr Wizard’s World in middle school science class and being amazed that he never actually blew up a little kid. Mr. Wizard taught me about topics such as Newton’s Laws of Motion, how RADAR works, and the one-sided wonder that is a Möbius strip. Looking back I think my actual science teachers were just too lazy to teach me themselves. I remain indebted to Mr. Wizard however for sparking my lifelong fascination with science. So thanks Don!

Mr. Wizard’s obituary at LATimes.com

And here’s an old-school Nickelodeon commercial for Mr. Wizard’s World.

Suck on this Michael Bay. This homemade stop-action movie was made using actual Transformers toys. There’s not much in the way of plot, but something tells me there won’t be much in Bay’s upcoming summer blockbuster either. And the effects in this one look like Transformers, not some sort of strange-overdone-too-complicated-ridiculous-robot thing. Strike another blow for the little guy!

According to Variety the ad geniuses in Hollywood are working on a movie adaptation of the classic 80s cartoon Thundercats. Warner Brothers has purchased the rights to a script by Paul Sopocy, and plan on having him direct a CGI animated feature. This will be his first feature film. Oh goody.

Does this seem like a shameless attempt to cash in on my generations epic sense of nostalgia? Or is it just me…

This is a hysterical satire of an anti-pornography film from the 1960s. It artfully presents the absurdity of the uptight puritanical factions of the US.

What’s that you say? This isn’t satire? It’s serious? Oh. Well then. Then it’s basically just offensive. Throughout the film the narrator alleges that viewing pornographic images will turn the viewers into “perverts”. What the hell does that mean? And I’d love to know where they got the figure that 75-90% of pornography ends up in the hands of children. The only thing this video convinced me is that I hope that the sort of people who made it give up fucking and their backward-ass attitudes towards sex disappear.

This 70’s news promo is trippy, to say the least. Make me mellow.

Charles Nelson Reilly, actor and gameshow guest extraordinaire, died Sunday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia. Reilly was a Tony-award-winning stage actor, did a lot of voice-over work, and appeared on film and television for five decades. But I know him from his outlandish appearances on the greatest of game shows, Match Game.

Here’s a clip of CNR taking over for host Gene Rayburn:

Thanks for the memories Charles. You’ll be missed.

Best. Toy. Ever.

Back to the Future’s Biff Tannen (whose real name is Tom Wilson) performs a song about the stupid questions he gets asked about the movie. Hilarious!

This is meant to be a PSA, but somehow it’s just creepy…

We all of course remember the song “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas. There was a time last summer when you couldn’t turn on the radio without running into that song. While the song was a little bit on the catchy side it wasn’t until I saw this that I realized how unbelievably inane the lyrics were…… WOW….

Courtesy of the wicked satirical wit of Alanis Morissette we have her stripped down, piano drive “parody” of “My Humps” a great video too!

And for those of you in the mood for a flashback, lets take you back to First Year of college (1994 Yikes!!!!) when Miss Morissette floored MTV with “You Oughta Know” and “Ironic”. Has it really been 13 years?

Of course she was also on the 80’s Nickelodeon Classic “You Can’t Do That on Television”…. Now THAT was a show!

Wow, didn’t realize how very Monty Python-esque the title sequence was……

OK, I’m getting too random here….. I’m stopping now!

Why is it so much fun to talk about bad tv? That’s a question to ponder on another day. For today we’ll just take advantage of it. Case in point, Celebrity Hack’s list of the 10 Worst Spin-Offs Ever. I have to admit I hadn’t even heard of some of these, but they do sound unspeakably bad.

I do remember Joanie Loves Chachi though, and it was godawful. It was the worst kind of sentimental tacky crap. Trite, sugary, and ill-conceived, JLC lasted only 17 episodes, showing that America does have taste. But hey, at least it gave us a great theme song:

Joanieloveschachi

Or maybe not. Who wrote that? Air Supply? REO Speedwagon? Is it the least inspiring TV theme ever? Excuse me, I need to go find an icepick to poke out my eardrums…

On a different note, what’s the best spin-off ever? I’m going with these ladies:

And they knew how to rock a theme song:
The Facts Of Life

I vaguely remember being creeped out by this as a kid. I know the point of this is to get kids to eat breakfast, but it really just leads to a ton of questions: What is this Timer dude? Is he a half-digested cheese puff? Bile ball? Mrs Peanut’s creepy uncle? And what’s he doing in my stomach? Does that mean I ate him at some point? Is he really advocating eating a chicken leg for breakfast? I just don’t get it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Close your eyes. Now remember all the way back to the early 90s. What was your favorite semi-educational cartoon starring creatures you couldn’t quite identify living on a movie lot? That’s right, Animaniacs. You know you can still hear the theme song…

I used to love the show because it was kind of a sillier version of Schoolhouse Rock (more on that some other time…). They managed to have completely absurd situations mixed with educational content. Here are a couple of examples of the educational stuff: Read the rest of this entry »

Is it just me or were toys definitely cooler in the 80s? And I don’t think many people will argue that Optimus Prime wasn’t the coolest toy from the coolest line of toys of the 80s, The Transformers. Watch this commercial and I guarantee if you’re a male around the age of 30 you’ll be singing along with the song. Transformers! More than meets the eye.

They just don’t make commercials like this one anymore. It’s a Toys R Us commercial from 1985-ish has all the things we love about 80s commercials: cheesy voice over, bad acting, and even worse special effects. But it does bring a little tear of nostalgia to my eye. Check it out:

Yet another great find on YouTube courtesy of ebaumsworld.com it’s Live Action Super Mario Brothers. I’m guessing this was from a college talent show of some sort but regardless this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while.

I ran across this short “Pac-Man” video clip on YouTube when I saw the Japanese “Pac-Man” video. I remember this one making the rounds via e-mail 2-3 years ago, but it’s a classic in my book and well worth the re-visit. I guess those Ann Arbor winters must do something to the students at the University of Michigan.

Found this on YouTube today. I’m not even going to try and describe this one! Watch & shake your head in amazement…….

We live in an instant gratification society, only modern technology and the internet can bring you grainy footage of the execution of Saddam Hussein on YouTube mere hours after the event has occurred. While we here at PCWEI applaud and love modern techology it IS important to remember a time (what like 10 yrs ago?) when a photograph wasn’t something digital. When a picture could capture a moment in time and be left to the interpretation of the individual viewer. In some ways the photograph is the original “pop culture event”. Afterall a picture is worth a thousand words, and stands the test of time. The latest thing on YouTube will be a faint memory to most in a few days (for some a few hours), but pictures are almost timeless.

I mean who hasn’t seen this photograph at least once in their lifetime (if not every day at school!)

So in a little bit of a flashback here I direct you to neatorama.com which posted a wonderful article to be featured in the upcoming Mental Floss Magazine. The article chronicles the “13 Photographs that Changed the World” and while it’s a pretty good list there are some interesting choices. The “Big ones” are present on the list, such as the crash of the Hindenburg, the Gettysburg Battlefield by Mathew Brady (the first battlefield photographer), the execution of a VietCong soilder a South Vietnamese General by and of course a selection by Ansel Adams. While it’s hard to argue with most of the list there are some interesting omissions in my opinion. (For the published list and photos click here)

Here are a few pictures that I’m surprised didn’t make the cut:

1.Marines raising the flag at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima Island (Feb. 1945). Shot by AP Photographer Joe Rosenthal, this photo not only won him the Pulitzer Prize but is also probably the most famous picture from World War II.

2.Perhaps the most famous picture taken during the Vietnam War this photo taken by AP photographer Huyng Cong “Nick” Ut in June of 1972 showed the horror and agony of young Vietnamese children after accidentally being napalmed.

3. Maybe not worthy of the “Top 13″ list, but certainly an icon of the times. President Nixon’s famous “V for Victory wave” was documented many, many times to the point that the “Victory Wave” personifies the Nixon presidency about as much as his “I am not a crook” speech.

4. Though a very recent picture the raising of the American flag at Ground Zero shortly after the events of 09-11-2001 has certainly been burned into the minds of anyone who lived through that day directly or indirectly, which is probably our entire audience here at PCWEI.

5. And finally perhaps the most important picture in the history of Pop Culture. This single moment captured for eternity calls to mind the famous meetings of other greats in history. Ceasar & Cleopatra, Catherine the Great & her horse, Moses & God, and of course When Harry Met Sally all come to mind. But really does it get any better than President Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon & Elvis “The King” Presley in 1972??? I think not……

Pop Culture at it’s finest…..

By the way if you dig Ansel Adams check out this site, or the excellent National Archives site

via B4NG

I found this on CollegeHumor.com this afternoon and well lets just say the folks that make Legos should really market this “set”. Talk about a whole new sales demographic. Yes folks it’s the Lego automated bottle cap remover, need I say more…

Watch, enjoy, build one yourself…

Now if I could only find the bin in my storage unit that has my legos…

What’s the biggest problem you run into when you get a fast food burger? That’s right, the lettuce and tomato get all hot and nasty (I know, I know, that’s certainly not the biggest problem, but work with me here…).

Luckily McDonalds found a solution to this problem in 1985 when they introduced the McDLT (the McDonalds Lettuce and Tomato…get it? Clever). What made this burger special was not the burger itself, but the packaging. The environmentally-challenged styrofoam container had two wells: One for the burger (and half the bun), and the other for the lettuce and tomato (and the other half of the bun). This kept the burger hot and the rabbit food cold. Genius! Well, maybe not. McDonalds discontinued the sandwich in 1990.

Reasons the McDLT Failed:

• People don’t like having to assemble their own food at a fast food restaurant
• Lazy McD’s employees stuck the whole assembly under the heat lamp, creating two chambers: a hot one for the burger, and a hot one for the lettuce and tomato
• The hole the packaging created in the ozone layer caused all the lettuce on the planet to die

Lucky for us, via the magic of YouTube, this relic has survived. I present to you, in its entirety, an original commercial for the McDLT, starring none other than Seinfeld’s own George Costanza (who’s apparently a candidate for President of Isreal), Jason Alexander.

Wonder if he just ate it because it was there….

Found an interesting quiz on gorillamask.net this morning. BUT it’s not as simple as it seems. From Planet Rock the quiz has 54 partial album covers and you are asked to name the artist and the name. Have fun!

Ah, the 70s. A magical time. We had dangerous toys, coked-out music videos, and bad clothes.

Things weren’t all bad though. The 70s did bring us glorious TV. Question: What 1978 holiday special featured Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, AND Jefferson Starship. Well, the Stars Wars Holiday special of course! (The Star Wars geeks in the audience will want to note that the cartoon in this special marks the first appearance of Boba Fett). Without further ado:

Part I:

Part II:

Are you a fan of Taco Bell? Did you ever wonder where the Chili Cheese Burrito disappeared to? Well look no further than chilicheese.org a website devoted totally to the general disappearance of the Chili Cheese burrito from the Taco Bell Menu. In fact this website even goes so far as to chart which Taco Bells in the country still carry the product.

I will admit that while I’ve stopped eating fast food (and NO it has nothing to do with “Fast Food Nation“), I will still occasionally go to Taco Bell, and have sometimes wondered what happened to the Chili Cheese Burrito. As a teenager it was probably my favorite item there.

Also in the interest of full disclosure I have stopped at the Taco Bell in Fayetteville, NC when traveling in the area for the simple fact that they still serve the Chili Cheese Burrito.

As I said “This Place Has Everything”….. The internet that is.

CityRag has compiled a list of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time. The beautiful thing is that they’re all available on-line. Just reading the list brings back memories. Who doesn’t remember “What’s Opera Doc?” (The Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd epic set to Wagner). Or Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon with synchronized sound? Or, as presented the below, in the tradition of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, the immortal, the beloved, the epic……

Bambi Meets Godzilla

Nice job CityRag. Via BoingBoing

So I’ve been spending a lot of time at Mashuptown.com an excellent site dedicated to mash-ups of just about any artist you can think of. Well I came across this masterpeice video mashup of the Lawrence Welk Show and The Velvet Underground. Andy Warhol, the patron of the Velvet Underground and founder of the PopArt Movement would have loved this. The fusion of the avant garde/ acid rock of The Velvet Underground & Nico and the saccharine tones of Welk’s Champagne Orchestra. It’s a peice of PopArt in and of itself! Then again Lawrence Welk is probably reeling in his grave…….

”

These things pretty much kept me alive for a year in middle school.



Note the “Artificially Flavored” disclaimer on the wrapper. Good thing that was there. Wouldn’t want kids to think they were flavored with actual mutant turtle.

These things had a lot going for them:

• They were a tie-in to a very hot commodity. TMNT was HUGE in 1990.
• They were filled with pudding. Not just pudding in fact, but Puddin’ Power!
• They came with trading cards. You can probably send your kids through college if you have a full set of them
• They were sold in our school’s cafeteria. Hmmm….wonder where my taste for junk food came from…

Sadly they don’t make these anymore. Haven’t for years. Another part of my childhood gone forever…