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Short Takes with Cyrus: "Warrior and the Sorceress", "Romeo + Juliet", "Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Legends of the Superheroes"
LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES (DVD)
One from the vaults, this collection of the two live-action Hannah Barbara television specials based on the success of their seventies "Super Friends" cartoon is even more embarrassing than you're probably imagining. But, therein, lies at least some charm. This was a staple of the bootleg videos table at comic conventions for 20 years and now WB makes it officially available to 'must own everything' fans. Adam West and Burt Ward appear as Batman and Robin, of course, but the real stars are Frank Gorshin as The Riddler, who looks to be having more fun than he ever did on the original Batman show, and Howard Morris as Dr Sivana, who actually made me laugh out loud more than once, doing classic shtick here only mildly in character. Don't get me wrong: this is absolute garbage. I mean, geez, the second episode is a roast of the superheroes emceed by Ed McMahon, so you can only imagine how terrible it gets. But there's certainly a nostalgia appeal for those who remember when this sort of thing was about as good as we ever expected it to get. If only I could show the 8-year old Cyrus, "The Dark Knight". I woulda wasted a lot less time in front of the tube.
--CLICK HERE TO BUY "Legends of the Superheroes" (DVD)
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Blu-Ray)
Even though it is completely besides the point to watch this 1975 defining cult film in your own living room, I suppose you could project it at a party and it would look damn fine with this new HD upgrade. Certainly, one should never, ever, EVER try to experience this for the first time without a large, loud, appreciative audience, but for serious fans of the Richard O'Brian directed classic, picking this up on blu-ray is a no-brainer. Hell, the Library of Congress actually added it to the as being National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". I gotta admit, I never saw that one coming. Even so, Tim Curry will always be the definitive transvestite to me (sorry, Eddie). There's an awful lot of cool new bonus features here, and you can always watch it with the 1983 audience audio track added in, if no theater near you has midnight showings (what, do you live in Utah or something?).
--CLICK HERE TO BUY The Rocky Horror Picture Show (35th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]
ROMEO + JULIET (Blu-Ray)
Just like "Moulin Rouge!" did, this new blu release of Baz Luhrman's 1996 re-imagining of the Shakespeare tragic romance, got a spectacular remastering under his own watchful eye (Luhrman's not Shakespeare...at least not until Dr. Who starts his own distribution company). Much like "Rouge", R+J is colorful, musical, whimsical, and drenched in chaotic, almost insane, beauty. Taking the story and adapting it to a sort of alternate universe modern day, Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes are perfectly cast as the doomed young lovers from rival gangs/business corporations in the big city of "Verona Beach". I'm kinda surprised no one has spun that off into a television show on the C-dub. The new upgrade is well worth it just to see how it sparkles, but it also gathers the best of the extras from the two previous DVD editions that were released and adds a few new things. There's no better way to indulge in The Bard's classic play for a newcomer than with Luhrman's pop-culture fantasy version. Now, we just need to get David Fincher to do his own version of the Scottish play...
--CLICK HERE TO BUY Romeo + Juliet [Blu-ray]
THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS/BARBARIAN QUEEN (DVD)
I've got a lot of enjoyment out of these Shout! Factory re-releases of classic Roger Corman films on DVD (and a few on blu-ray) but I'm the first to admit that the swords and sorcery films of the seventies and eighties weren't really on my pull list. Still, for shits, tits, and grins, "The Warrior and the Sorceress" is one of the better examples of the post-"Conan the Barbarian" rip-offs that were flooding the home video market in the eighties. David Carradine is playing the Toshirō Mifune/Clint Eastwood role from Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars here, as a lone warrior who protects the poor residents of a village beleaguered by two rival and equally evil factions, by setting the clans against each other. It certainly doesn't hurt that the sorceress spends the entire film topless. Not quite as good (relatively speaking) is the second feature "Barbarian Queen". Even though it's about kick-ass chicks who wear scanty leathers and furs and beat up dudes, a "Xena" marathon is going to be a significant lesser waste of time than this clunker, if 'warrior woman' is what you're shopping for, although you'll certainly get more untethered boobs in BQ. Lana Clarkson as the primary ass-kicker/hottie, is about the only reason to check this out, if only for the historical novelty (Clarkson was the actress murdered by Phil Spector in 2003).
--CLICK HERE TO BUY The Warrior And The Sorceress/Barbarian Queen - NEW DVD
Comment
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Staff Comment by Fungusmonkey on November 2, 2010 at 4:57pm -
*sigh* I guess I will just have to mourn the fact I wasn't sheltered. :)
Hell, maybe it really is that I "just don't get it". Maybe it's some kind of subcultural zeitgeist that only appears - almost Brigadoon style - at a point in someone's life after a certain set of life experiences has happened to them while growing up. I believe I've mentioned on a few occasions that my high school experience (possibly life experience) tends to deviate wildly from what everyone else seems to consider "the norm", so maybe the fact I didn't find it "transformative" is more a subtext to my carefree, well-adjusted, and seemingly abnormal adolescence than a point of contention against the film.
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Comment by Dr. Detfink on November 2, 2010 at 3:28pm -
RHPS is fukin' brilliant film and experience. Put Fungus on LEOG trial, Cyrus. *cues Law and Order theme* :)
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Comment by Cyrus on November 2, 2010 at 3:20pm
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I expressed definitively in my mini-review here that if you don't go see it with a properly appreciative and loud audience, you're missing the experience entirely. And it's probably too late for you as well. RHPS is a transformative High School experience (or, at least, for relatively sheltered folks). But, I still insist that the songs are all damn good.
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Staff Comment by Fungusmonkey on November 2, 2010 at 2:43pm -
Now c'mon now - kidding aside, we both know that's not true. Leon totally changed my outlook on the second Spider-Man film after our argument on that LEOG episode (I used to quite like it, now I lump it in with the rest of the series). The Thor trailer completely changed my opinion of the film's progress (I was sure it was going to be terrible, but now I'm looking forward to it). I'm quite easy to convince when given a good argument to the contrary that consists of facts and not just "you don't get it" or "it's just a thing". Maybe at some point in the near future we can grab a beer and you can fill me in on the allure of Rocky Horror, but I just don't see it nor have I met anyone yet who could eloquently and concisely explain it to me.
But enough of my war-mongering and stubborn-headedness. We know what I dislike about it - what do you LIKE about it? Favorite parts? Favorite character? Is it only best watched at a large event because the fan participation completes the overall experience? In your defense, I've never watched it in a group that was larger than 5-10 people, so maybe the crowd is what really sells it?
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As near as I can tell, Peter, you've never been confronted with a countering opinion that has made you rethink your position on anything. At least, from what I can tell from your Spill screeds. :p
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Staff Comment by Fungusmonkey on November 2, 2010 at 12:20pm -
I wouldn't say that, in fact I'd say quite the opposite. I try to keep a very open mind, however I've never been confronted with a countering opinion that has made me rethink my position on it. The majority of arguments I get from fans of the movie are "you just don't get it" (even though they can't explain what it is they like about it themselves), or them trying to lump me into the "square" persona they've invented to excuse their personal taste in films, when it's quite the opposite - I find it tame in that "late night Cinemax" kind of way.
Maybe it's just not "my thing". Maybe I just don't like films without a single likeable protagonist. Maybe I just don't like overly theatrical glam rock. Maybe I don't understand why people cling to RHPS as some bastion of alternative lifestyle when it turns all of those lifestyles into near-offensive stereotypes. Perhaps I just don't like seeing Tim Curry in drag (ewwww... not an attractive man). Maybe I don't appreciate the way in which it marginalizes the two main characters relationship and sexuality. Regardless, these and more are why I feel the way I do about it and seek to spare others the wasted time of sitting through it.
I was genuinely interested in seeing it the first time (and genuinely interested in the aforementioned female fan that I was trying to impress) and ended the viewing with a "really? That's what the fuss is about? Really?" expression. Subsequent viewings have done nothing to contradict that opinion.
However, I have my own share of movies that are terrible, so I can relate to it's fans and defenders. If you like that kind of music, you'd probably like RHPS. If you like self-indulgent musicals (and by self indulgent I mean musicals where the story is just a long set up for the next related song), you'll probably like RHPS. If you were a drama geek and you dig that brand of hamhandedness and obtuse performances (see Glee or Moulin Rouge), then you'll probably like RHPS. There are a lot of people out there who would find it interesting, I'm sure. However, if you divorce the film itself from it's enthusiastic cult following and surprise underground popularity, I personally feel that it's not worth people's time. However, if you want to go see it live at an event for the sheer experience of seeing fans lose their minds over their drug of choice, go for it. Go to Lebowski-fest while you're at it. Or any of the other "events" that fans put on all over the world.
However, this is just one person's opinion and shouldn't hold any sway over anyone else's.
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I feel sad for you, Peter, I really do. But, as has already been shown time and time again, once your mind has been made up, come hell or high water, its unchangeable.
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Comment by Guitaro Man on November 2, 2010 at 11:32am -
If David Fincher ever directs Macbeth or (my personal fav) Hamlet, I will see that Day One!
Great review as usual, Mr. Cyrus.
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Staff Comment by Fungusmonkey on November 2, 2010 at 10:52am -
"Certainly, one should never, ever, EVER try to experience this..."
I agree. No one should ever try to experience RHPS.
Well, unless a) you absolutely have to in order to get into a female fan's pants, or b) you just really, really, REALLY like musicals. I personally subscribe to the same philosophy as Edgar Wright on it - "it's boil-in-the-bag perversion for sexually repressed accountants and 1st year drama students with too many posters of Betty Blue, The Blues Brothers and Big Blue and Blue Velvet on their blue bloody walls".
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Comment by Dr. Detfink on November 2, 2010 at 8:13am
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While I found it to be uneven, I did like the energy and bold ambition behind Baz Luhrman's vision for Romeo and Juliet. The trick is, how you deliver rhythm in each line. Harold Perrineau (Lost) was born for the role of Mercucio. He brought that film alive and when he died, the film just never held up in my humble opinion.
Strong inspiring work as always Cyrus.
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