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AWESOME-tober-fest 2009: The Thomas Edison Frankenstein movie

Posted in Frankenstein, Halloween, movies, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2009, Frankenstein, Halloween, monsters, movies, pop culture, reviews on October 26, 2009 by Paxton

Welcome to Day 1 of Frakenstein movie week. Last week I looked at different novels and comic books that featured the Frankenstein monster. This week, I’ll be looking at different movies that feature the Frankenstein monster.

I’m going to start with the first movie to adapt Mary Shelley’s novel. Filmed in 1910, today we are looking at Thomas Edison’s Frankenstein.

1910 Frankenstein

Created by Edison Studios in New York, this was the first filmed adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel. Also, since horror as a genre didn’t exist in 1910, this also marks the first horror movie ever produced. At the time of its release, the film was censored and banned as being too frightening and weird (David Lynch would probably have been shot, burned and drowned as a witch in 1910).

Shortly after release, the film was taken out of circulation and prints were scattered. Some to collectors, some to be destroyed. The film became so lost that when Universal’s 1931 Frankenstein was released, Edison’s film was never even mentioned. For many years it was thought that this silent film had been lost for good. No copies could be found anywhere. Then, in 1963 a film historian discovered the above Edison Studios catalog with details and accompanying pictures of Edison’s production and a frantic search was begun to find the missing cinematic treasure. The film never turned up in over 20 years. Then, in the late ’70s, it was learned that a film collector, Alois Detlaff, had the only remaining copy in his collection. Rights and money issues are still keeping this film from being released in theaters or on home video. There is a version of the movie that was filmed from the projected image. You can see it here. It’s a short, silent film, but fascinating to watch as an example of EARLY, early filmmaking.

That’s Day 1 of Frankenstein movie week. Check back tomorrow as I review the Boris Karloff Frankenstein movies from Universal.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2009: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein book review

Posted in AWESOME-tober-fest, books, Classic literature, Frankenstein, Halloween, pop culture, reviews with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2009, Book Report, books, classic literature, Frankenstein, Halloween, pop culture, reviews on October 19, 2009 by Paxton

Today, I review the book that started it all, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley’s tale of the Frankenstein monster is perhaps one of the most classic and iconic horror tales of all time. Shelley’s book has spawned not only other books, but movies, TV shows, plays, satire and short stories. It’s a veritable horror franchise in and of itself. Her book, along with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, helped ground the incredibly popular Universal Monster stable of monster movies in the ’30s. Famously played by Boris Karloff in the Universal movies and by David Prowse (Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies) in the cult favorite Hammer films, the monstrous green, lumbering Frankenstein monster created by a mad scientist looking to create artificial life is what is most popularly known by the public at large. Is this basically what the original book is about? Are the events in the book different? Before this article, I had no idea.

Having never read the original Frankenstein novel by Shelley, I couldn’t answer that question. So I picked up the classic novel for this year’s AWESOME-tober-fest and read the original novel. I had no prior knowledge of Shelley’s book (other than it existed) and all of my imagery of Frankenstein and the monster pretty much come from the Universal movies as well as cheesy ’70s and ’80s adaptations like The Monster Squad, The Munsters and The Groovie Goolies. Let’s see how different the original novel is from the image burned into our collective pop consciousness.

Published in 1818, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is considered a horror classic. Having written the book when she was only 18, Shelley originally published the book anonymously. It wasn’t until 1831 that the book was first published with her name on it. The genesis of this novel began one night when Mary Shelley, her husband Percy and Lord Byron were at Byron’s villa telling ghost stories. They all decided they should each write their own supernatural story. Byron began to research a vampire story that would eventually be written by another author. Percy Shelley would die before he could write his story. Mary came up with her story after a vivid dream. Subsequently, hers would be the only one published as originally intended. The gist of the story centers on Victor Frankenstein and his creation of a monster from dead body parts.

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Star Trek 43rd Birthday: Watching Season 1 on DVD Part I

Posted in movies, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek, TV shows with tags James T Kirk, movies, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek, TV shows on September 11, 2009 by Paxton

Okay, today we are continuing our Star Trek 43rd Anniversary celebration by revisiting the original TV series episodes. On Wednesday I did a movie retrospective of the first six Star Trek movies, but today I’m reviewing Season 1 of the TV series. Growing up in the ’80s, I was a big fan of the movie version of Star Trek. Treks II and VI were my favorite movies with the original cast. I had seen some of the episodes of the original TV show in syndication, but I didn’t remember them. I said before, that the only episode I’ve watched in its entirety more than once was Squire of Gothos because it contained the character of Trelane, the precursor to Star Trek: The Next Generations’ Q character.

Looking at the Season 1 set being offered from Netflix, I noticed something odd. The original unaired pilot, The Cage, is not offered on the first season set. I was disappointed because I really wanted to see this episode. However, after digging around on the internet I found out that The Cage was offered on the very last disc of Season 3 as a bonus. So I had to get the last disc of season 3 mailed to me from Netflix to see the unaired pilot. I just thought that was weird.

So, anyway, this is what I’m watching, the Blu-Ray set of Star Trek The Original Series, Season 1.

Going into this I was very worried that the original show was going to be a little dated and boring. That I wasn’t going to enjoy it as much as the movies. That’s one of the reasons I decided to re-watch the shows, to see the whole phenomenon how it originally aired.

Overview of Season 1 as a Whole

So, how does the series hold up? Very well, actually. Like I said, I was prepared to be a bit bored by the cheap special effects and low caliber story telling, but the series really surprised me. Yes, there are episodes that plod along and bore you, but for the most part it is fascinating to watch the crew at work. Predictably, Shatner is UNBELIEVABLE as James Kirk. All the reasons I love him in every Star Trek movie is presented in this first season. He is supremely bad ass, as macho as the offspring of a T-Rex and a Great White Shark and totally in charge at all times. He seeks out new life, then when the new life starts acting like bitches, he throws photon torpedoes at it until the problem goes away. Kirk doesn’t care. And Spock. OMFG, Nimoy is a treasure. He is the king of the subtle insults. Whenever some crew member is freaking out about the near death adventures Kirk keeps getting them into, Spock always comes at them completely deadpan with something similar to “emotions are illogical” or “emotions make you weak”. Then he gives them that penetrating Vulcan stare with the raised eyebrow that informs the crew member that they have just been OWNED. The crew of the Enterprise have got to think Spock is a douche. I love it.

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Star Trek 43rd Birthday: Re-Watching the movies

Posted in movies, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek with tags movies, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek on September 9, 2009 by Paxton

Star Trek turned 43 this week. The first episode of the original series aired on Sept 8, 1966. To celebrate, I re-watched all the original cast’s Star Trek movies. Starting with Star Trek The Motion Picture and going through Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, I quickly review the movie legacy of the cast from the original TV show.

Let’s see if these movies are still as good in the harsh light of today. Beware, though, as the movie pirate will tell you, “Proceed with caution, mates. Thar be spoilers ahead!”

Star Trek: The Motion Picture — I didn’t watch this until I was in high school. What I remember from that screening was one word: BORING. Watching this again, I have a new word: COMA-INDUCING. The problem lies in the fact that this movie was originally developed as a new Star Trek TV series called Phase II which would’ve included Kirk, Spock, Bones and others in small roles as well as a bunch of new officers (a bald chick and that guy from 7th Heaven). After the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, Paramount trashed the new series and had the show re-developed as a motion picture. Surprisingly, Phase II was written by sci-fi legend Alan Dean Foster who also wrote the Star Trek reboot novelization. Despite the high pedigree of writer, what the movie delivers is an incomprehensible mess. The storyline is hard to follow, some of the effects are terrible and the acting is less than stellar. If you are looking for your first Star Trek movie viewing, I beg you, with all that is holy, DO NOT start here. Your journey will end before it can begin. If you must, return to it later and wonder WTF just happened. After watching this again, I’m surprised Part II got made at all. 1.5/5

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan — It’s almost cliche to say that Star Trek II is the best Star Trek movie, but things become cliche for a reason. Next to Part VI, also written/directed by Nicholas Meyer, this is the best Trek movie. This movie’s story is a sequel to a 1967 episode of the original series called Space Seed. Ricardo Montalban’s Khan first appeared in that episode and the movie picks up years later when Kirk and his crew once again face the titular genetically enhanced Khan. The opening of the movie is iconic and depicts the infamous Kobayshi-Maru officer’s test. From there the action takes off and never lets up during the tight 116 minute runtime. The superior pacing and the tete-a-tete between Kirk and Khan make this a wonderful sci-fi action movie. This is what everyone thinks of when you say Star Trek and that’s why it’s a classic. I’ll tell you this, if you don’t shed a tear during Spock’s death scene when he tells Kirk that he will forever be his friend, then you have no soul, my friend. I’m misting up right now just thinking about it. 4/5

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Glorious Glass: A look back at some of my favorite collector’s glasses

Posted in advertising, comic books, movies, nostalgia, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, The Flash with tags advertising, Burger King, comic books, glasses, McDonald's, movies, nostalgia, pop culture, reviews, Star Trek, Star Wars, Taco Bell on July 28, 2009 by Paxton

Fast food joints used to give out the best swag back in the day. At the top of this swag list was commemorative collector glasses. These were glasses made from ACTUAL glass (not f’n plastic) with kick ass graphics all over it usually given away as a premium with a purchase of food or drinks. Actually, collector glasses didn’t just come from fast food joints. The convenience store 7-11 as well as soda giants Coke and Pepsi both created collector’s glasses that were distributed in stores, gas stations, supermarkets and/or fast food joints. The heyday of collector glasses was in the ’70s and ’80s, but glasses were also released in the ’50s, ’60s and ’90s. Burger King recently revived the collector glass (real glass!!) tradition in May 2009 with their four glass set for the new Star Trek movie (Thanks, Michelle for finding those for me).

So without further ado, here are a bunch of my favorite collector glasses from the ’70s and ’80s. You can click any of the below images to see it bigger.

Burger King Star Wars/Empire/Jedi Glasses (1977, 1980, 1983) — The most famous of all commemorative glasses, the Star Wars Burger King collector glasses are what everyone thinks of when you mention “collector glasses”. A set of four were released for each movie. Surprisingly, it is not very hard to complete a set of all 12 as they made a crap-ton of them. Here’s a pic of the Star Wars set. Here’s a pic of the Empire Strikes Back set. Here’s a pic of the Return of the Jedi set.

Glasses for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by 7-Up (1984) — This is probably one of the more obscure glass sets. Made by 7-Up to commemorate the second Indiana Jones movie, the glasses were only released to certain local fast food chains so getting a full set is extremely hard. I don’t care about a set, but I would love the Mola Ram glass (far right hand side) with him holding the still beating flaming heart. That is BAD ASS. A year earlier, in 1983, there was a set of three glasses created by Coca-Cola for Raiders of the Lost Ark but the set was never released. Check those glasses out here.