Archive for pop culture

Review of the TV movie The Dreamer of Oz (1990)

Posted in movies, pop culture, TV shows, Wizard of Oz with tags , , , , , on May 16, 2013 by Paxton

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I’m going to continue with my reviews of all things Oz with a TV movie that NBC aired in 1990 called The Dreamer of Oz.

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The movie was a fictionalized biography of the adult life of L Frank Baum and how he was inspired to write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  I remember watching much of this when it originally aired.  My family had no desire to watch it so I was vetoed during commercials and had to switch back and forth, sometimes missing chunks of the story.  However, I remember it fondly and I wanted to revisit it for my Oz series.

In the movie, L Frank Baum was played by John Ritter.

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Baum’s wife, Maud, was played by Annette O’Toole. Maud’s mother, Mathilda Gage, was played by Rue McClanahan.

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Also of note, Ritter’s real life son, Jason, played one of his sons in the movie which I thought was a nice touch.

The movie is actually book ended by scenes at Grauman’s Chinese Theater (aka, TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood) in 1939 during the world premier of the MGM musical version of The Wizard of Oz. A reporter takes an elderly Maud Baum aside and asks her about her husband Frank and how he came to write the book.

The rest of the story is told in flashback and begins about the time Maud meets Frank during a party thrown by one of Frank’s sisters. We see the courtship of the couple and the many lean years in which Frank tries to do different jobs and make ends meet. We see him start to tell his children and the children of the neighborhood pieces of a larger story about what he calls “The Magical Land”. The ideas are developed over the years and we see some of the inspirations for characters along the way. Eventually Baum meets WW Denslow while writing the book Father Goose which would go on to be a big hit. Baum gambles the royalties of that book to sell what is now called “The Land of Oz” book. And, obviously, it hits. Big time.

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Nerd Lunch Episode 85: Time Travel Scenarios

Posted in pop culture with tags , , , , , on May 15, 2013 by Paxton

Nerd Lunch Podcast

Welcome to episode 85. As in 1985…..I take over the reins as host this week and we invite back our good friend Rondal from Strange Kids Club to talk about time travel.  Specifically, I am giving the guys scenarios involving time travel and they have to tell me what they’d do.

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We talk about our favorite time machines.  We talk about what movies we’d go back to see in the theater.  What fast food items that are no longer available we’d go back to eat.  Who would we like to meet from the past?  And what national tragedy we’d try to avert.  And yes, there are numerous references to Back to the Future and Dr Who.

It’s a fun discussion. Come join us.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

Or listen to it online here.

Nerd Lunch Episode 83: Creating movie themed restaurant menus

Posted in fast food, movies, podcast, pop culture with tags , , , , on April 30, 2013 by Paxton

Nerd Lunch Podcast

For this, our 83rd episode, we are joined again by Steve from the Food Junk blog to discuss movies and fast food menus.

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Yes, with the release earlier this year of Denny’s Hobbit Menu, we were inspired to take matters into our own hands and imagine what would happen if other restaurants took the same marketing approach and created specialized menus for movies. Imagine Red Lobster creating a menu for a serial killer. What would a Buckaroo Banzai menu look like at a place known mostly for desserts? And would you eat at Olive Garden regardless of the movie it created a menu for?

All these things and more are answered in this week’s Nerd Lunch Podcast.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

Or listen to it online here.

Btw, I just realized that this is my 700th post.

I “man-down” and review Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Posted in monsters, movies, pop culture, Twilight, vampires with tags , , , , on April 29, 2013 by Paxton

Twilight 4 Part 1

Here we are again, Twilight. Once more we stare at each other across the squared circle in anticipation of this little dance that we’ve done three different times already.  You show up all sparkly and melodramatic and I punch holes into your face until I’m wheezing and wishing I was watching porn.

Let’s begin this dance with a synopisis…

So the movie starts with Bella and Edward’s wedding. It’s in the woods. People show up in florescent tuxes and ascots. It’s all very ethereal and annoying. Not surprisingly Jacob isn’t in attendance until during the reception. He comes with an understandable chip on his shoulder. Edward is now actually trying to be nice and reason with him. For once, I actually feel like Edward cares for Bella.  He tells Jacob that he needs him to help protect Bella. Jacob discovers that Bella hasn’t been turned yet and then he keeps focusing on the eventual “love making” that Edward is going to impart on Bella’s still human vagina and how it could kill her. It’s a rather awkward situation and Jacob just keeps going on and on about it.

After Jacob runs off very dramatically with his pack, Bella and Edward retreat to the Cullen’s private Brazilian island (of COURSE they have an island) to spend what feels like 6 months on their honeymoon. And then Bella and Edward “do the deed” and she and the bed come out looking like the scene of a street fight. Edward vows never to lay with his wife again, until he does about 10 minutes later. Bella turns up preggers with a mutant child that grows months in a matter of weeks.

The wolfpack discovers the pregnancy and plan to attack and kill the “abomination” (I agree).  Jacob violently leaves the pack to protect Bella.  Bella becomes weak and pallid as the baby is drawing off her life force (much like this movie is doing to me).  She painfully gives birth to the child and, in spite, gives it the terrible name Renneesme (I don’t care that it’s a combo of their mothers’ names…it’s still terrible).  Edward injects his “poison” into Bella’s heart after birth to turn her into a vampire but the process doesn’t seem to take and Bella seemingly dies as the Cullens and wolfpack battle.  Jacob goes to kill the child himself now that Bella is “dead” but finds he’s creepily “imprinted” on the horribly named child.  Since Jacob now wants to have intercourse with the baby, by the werewolf rule, she can not be harmed.

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“Oh look, Jacob wants to have sex with our newborn child. How sweet.”

Bella is cleaned and dressed for her “funeral”, I guess, but suddenly her wounds heal and she awakens as a newborn vampire.  And I suddenly realize that I have nothing left to give this terrible, terrible franchise.  I’m struggling to find the testicular fortitude to finish the one last movie in this saga.  The rest of the movies were bad, this one just was….meh.  It wasn’t just f**king awful, especially compared to the second and third movies, but it’s not good, either.  I was surprised that I liked Edward a little bit more in this one.  He actually seemed less wooden and melodramatic and more protective of Bella.  Jacob was even more of an irritating hot head than usual.  And I used to like him once upon a time.  We get some pretty good vamp vs werewolf action, but the wolfpack people suck.  You know, I try to find one thing I like and two others that I hate spring up and take its place.  Like the movie is actively trying to get me to hate it.

I think I’ve said this before, but I’m going to watch the last and final (praise Jesus) movie out of sheer dogged stubbornness.  But I won’t enjoy it.  Like  experiencing a prison rape at Riker’s Island, I’ve just got to bite down and get through it.

Nerd Lunch Episode 82: 90s sitcoms

Posted in podcast, pop culture, TV shows with tags , , , , on April 23, 2013 by Paxton

Nerd Lunch Podcast

You have arrived at Episode 82 of the Nerd Lunch podcast. Unfortunately, Jeeg went on a bender the other night and is sleeping it off so we are joined by two guests. The first is my co-host from the Cult Film Club podcast, Jaime Hood. Also in the guest seat is the return of our good friend, William Bruce West.

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This week the four of us discuss sitcoms from the 1990s.  We talk about our favorites, our not so favorites, some of the ones we thought were overrated and some of the ones we thought were canceled too soon.  Surprisingly there are a couple shows that show up on all of those lists.  It’s a fun time talking about TV shows from the 90s, so join us, won’t you?

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

Or listen to it online here.