Dang! Part 3: The Last Hunt

Credit: MGM

                                             Dang! Part 3: The Last Hunt

                                                                 by

                                                                    Jay Agan

      I've loved westerns ever since I can remember. Up until I was 10 they were the only live action pictures I'd watch. The vast majority would end up on an upbeat note, but every so often I'd run into one that was ..... different.

      Take The Last Hunt. The one you'd think was the protagonist turns out, early on, not to be a nice guy at all. Now, in this day & age, it's no big deal. Most of todays movie heroes are flawed beyond belief & into boredom. It started with Randolph Scott & James Stewart & should have ended right after Clint Eastwood. Now you have these "gritty" (Filthy actually. Everybody looks like they crawled out from under the sub-basement of an outhouse!) westerns where the film would improve if they get the "hero" killed off as soon as possible.

      Being from 1956, The Last Hunt has the main character take a hit at the end. In a very (For me at the time I saw it as a kid in the 60s.) graphic manner. Caught in a snowstorm & desperate, Charlie (Robert Taylor) shoots a buffalo & takes the skin to shield himself from freezing. In a well filmed closing scene, he's discovered sitting up ..... dead ..... with the hide frozen to him.

      That scene has stuck with me ever since.

                                         Article copyright © 4-28-2011 Jay Agan

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Con Time! Anime Punch/Armageddicon Six

      I attended this con Sat., April 23 & glad I did. Held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Small for its size in comparison to others, it more than makes up for it in content. The two seminars I went to certainly made it well worth it.

     The Brad Swaile interview/seminar was informative as well as entertaining. As an out of work/agent voice actor I had gotten some useful info. "As long as you don't get in competition with me, good luck to you." I'd be happy just to do local commercials & only need to get by with a part time day job.

     Though I don't collect comic books anymore (OK! OK! Manga!), the Toren Smith interview/seminar about the industry was fascinating. This was also the first time I shook hands with a real life cartoon character! (Yeah! Yeah! ANIME!) The years have not been kind to Mr. Smith. He doesn't look anywhere near as youthful as he did in Gunbuster.

     The dealers room was reasonably sized/priced. Picked up Last Exile, Evangelions 1.11 & 2.22 (The "wierdism" finally sucked me in. Human Instrumentality Project!? Hell no! I won't go!), & the Azumanga Daioh soundtrack CD. All these from Fast Food Anime.

      I also picked up a couple of t-shirts at the Aardvark Screenprinting table & spent too much time there watching You Tube parodies. Aardvark Screenprinting is owned/operated by a somewhat unhinged individual named Weatherly Hardy who preys upon peoples' minds through the medium of t-shirts. As I am of strong will & mind, I was totally un ......  af ..... ect ..... ed ..... by ..... this .........................

     Also viewed a five ep "sampler" of a very different anime, Yokohama Shopping Journal which I intend on getting & will do a review in the near future. When that concluded I headed off to the folks. It was Easter weekend after all.

     Though I only attended about eight hours & the con comparatively small, I have every intention of coming back next year. I got a lot out of a "little".

Jay Agan

Superfluous-ity

                                                 Superfluous-ity

                                                            by

                                                                Jay Agan

      "Hey Jay! There's a movie I saw a long time ago I'd like to see again. Need some info."

      "Sure, what title?"

      "I don't know."

      "Who was in it?"

      "Haven't the foggiest."

      "Uh ...... Know what kind of flick it was?"

      "Nope."

      "(!?) ..... Anything about the plot?"

      "No idea ..... "

      "Well how do you expect me to ....."

      "Aw c'mon Jay! You oughta know.  It ..... it has that guy in it."

      "(Sigh.) What guy?"

      "I DON'T KNOW!"

      "Well shoot! I need something to go on ..... "

      "I don't know! ..... You know!? ..... THAT GUY!"

      " ..... !?!?"

      " ..... Uh ..... He was in a bunch of movies & TV shows ..... "

      "Which ones?"

      "I ..... DON'T ..... KNOW!"

      "#%@&*!"

      Honest folks. This actually happened to me once.

                             This sad story copyright © 4-26-2011 Jay Agan

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When Worlds Collided

Credit: Paramount Pictures

                                        
                                                   When Worlds Collided

                                                                  by
                                                
                                                                      Jay Agan

      Back in '89, the Columbus Museum of "Art" had a special effects film fest for several weeks & I attended a few showings. One of the films was George Pals' When World Collide. I'd not seen this one on a "bigger" srcreen & wondered what it'd be like with an audience. As it turned out, I could have done without the audience.

      The dweeb running the show got up to give his 1/2 cent worth. The fool sneers at the idea that any such undertaking of manned space travel (Let alone saving humanity.) could be done by free enterprise (He couldn't bring himself to say "Capitalism". Maybe he thought it would sound too political.). No, only government was capable (The brand names on all that equipment at NASA notwithstanding.) After his spiel we get to the movie.

      Well , it's going great until we get a view of the (Obvious model.) space ark. The mob of  oh so sophistacated/annointed ones bust out laughing (They also got a few chuckles over the monologue of how a man gets to genuinly praying in a time of real crisis.).

     What did these Phillistines expect? An excellent film released in 1953, they didn't have the tech for the advanced special effects of '89 (Or of today for that matter.). When I first saw this film as a kid, I knew of the limitations, took that into account, & enjoyed the show. These barbarians seemingly couldn't. I at least had some satisfaction with the audience getting into the flick as the drama & tension built up (The scene with the wheelchair bound villian gunning down his rebellious flunky got their attention & surprise!).

      I'm reminded of an instance where this jerk I talked with was insistant about no movie was worth watching if the spfx didn't meet up with todays' standards. How does one explain culture to a savage? Or a newspaper to an idiot!

                                         Article copyright © 4-19-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

Dang! Part II: Split Second

Credit: RKO Pictures

                                        
                                              Dang! Part II: Split Second

                                                                 by

                                                                    Jay Agan

      Early sixties. Don't know why I bothered with a flick like this (I must have been 10 or 11 then.). It wasn't a cartoon, war, or monster movie. It did have an old west ghost town & that must have been what kept me watching Split Second. The story took place in an "A-bomb" test area (Maybe I was hoping for a war movie.).

      These cons bust out of prison & hide out on a nuke range, planning to take off just before blast time (The authorities wouldn't think of looking there!). Complicating matters are some hostages taken along the way. Don't know how I was able to patiently wade through the drama & commercials but I did.

      The last minute warnings go off & the baddies "git to goin'" while the protagonists duck into an old mine. Taking a wrong turn, the crooks & the moll find themselves at the base of the bomb tower. After some screaming & tire squealing they backtrack through the ghost town & the bomb goes off.

       The special effects crew did an admirable job. The town gets flattened & .....

      Car is spun into the air, womans' scream cut off in mid pitch, cut to mushroom cloud.

      Yes. That's right! Dang!

      You have to see this movie to know what I mean.

                                              Article copyright © 4-17-2011 Jay Agan

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The Passion of Ayn Rand: Man, This REALLY Creeps Me Out!



Horror? Documentary? Bio pic? You decide!
Credit: Producers Ent. Group, HBO

                                         
                    The Passion of  Ayn Rand: Man, This REALLY Creeps Me Out!

                                                                  by

                                                                     Jay Agan

      I like Ayn Rands' works. I've a whole shelf of them. The Fountainhead is in my collection. I consider myself an Objectivist (Small "o". I don't believe that in order to be a true individual I have to do EVERYTHING Ayn Rand says.). I am pretty much an adherent of her philosophy.

      It was with some interest that I snapped up a vhs tape of The Passion of Ayn Rand in a thrift shop a few years back. In spite of it being an "anti" Rand film, I enjoyed it & still do. Maybe she was horrid in person. She certainly had her faults. That only makes her more human to me.

     Horrid or not. It doesn't take  any validity away from her belief system. Actually, very little of Rational Objectivism is original (Aristotle, et al.). Rand was just very good in codifying & laying it all out in an understandable manner.

      Something, however, happened. A most startling revelation hit me while I was viewing the tape for the fourth or fifth time over a several month period. I wasn't looking for it. It hit me between the eyes totally without warning.

      Many may disagree about Helen Mirrens' portrayal of Ms. Rand. I'm sure Peikoff & co. do. Wether or not Mirren accurately played the part of Ayn Rand or not, one thing is for sure: She was  certainly spot on with someone else.

      While watching, it dawned on me: The facial expressions. The gestures. The voice.  The histrionics. The eyes! That ..... heavy ..... "Slavic" ..... accent.

      "Oh my God!" I thought. "It's impossible! It can't be! But it's true!"

Could Helen Mirren & Lugosi be one &
the same? The mind boggles. I know I'm
boggled! credit: Universal Pictures.

     
      He's back! Bela Lugosi is back!

      Helen Mirren as Ayn Rand. If Lugosi had been a woman, this is what (s)he would have looked & sounded like! This was better than Martin Landaus' portrayal in Ed Wood (I was & still am pleased over his getting best supporting actor Oscar in '95.)!

      Yes! He's back! More terrifying & chilling than ever! Don't miss ..... BELA LUGOSI! In ..... The Passion of Ayn Rand!

                                             Article copyright © 4-14-2011 Jay Agan

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

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Dang! Part 1: Dr. Strangelove



WHAT A WAY TO GO! RIDE 'EM SLIM! RIDE 'EM!
Credit: Hawk Films, Columbia Pictures

                                        
                                         Dang! Part 1: Dr. Strangelove

                                                            by

                                                               Jay Agan

      It's a Friday evening in the late 60s, I get in the celler & flip through our whopping 3 (count em!) channels on our older second set when I stumble on something on ch 10 (WBNS). I see this B52 bomber backed up by somber music winging its way over & through fields of icebergs & stop to watch.

      Seems the bomb bay doors won't swing open & this "cowboy" goes down, sits on the nose of an "A-bomb" & starts fiddling with some faulty, sparking "electronics" in the "ceiling".

      Some tense moments in the cockpit as target is sighted then back to the "cowboy". He must have got the doors working because they swing open & OUT with the bomb he goes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! He's still straddling the bomb, holding on with one hand, waving his hat with the other & yahooing like he's riding a bucking bronc. ALL THE WAY DOWN! Then Ka-stinking-BOOM! Break to commercial. What the ..... ?



Got this one from Motifake.com. Check em out!


      I go upstairs for something to drink. I must have had this spooked look on my face as Dad asks, "what's wrong?"

      "I just saw a cowboy ride an atom bomb to the ground!"

      "You're watching Dr. Strangelove."

      It was strange all right! I hadn't seen anything that wierd since I'd seen Goldfinger get sucked out of the plane.

      I go back & finish the show in all seriousness (I was too young to appreciate satire.) & sat through the armageddon planning. That surreal ending montage with Vera Lynn & co. singing We'll Meet Again accompanied by mushroom cloud footage spooked me a bit as well.

      Though the "red scare" was long over by then, the "cold war" was in full swing. At that moment, young as I was, I didn't find those scenes at all funny. Years later (Now having the film in my collection.) I now appreciate the films' wit & humor. But then .....

      Those scenes will always haunt me. At least now, for the laughs.

                                         Article copyright © 4-12-2011 Jay Agan

Major Kong rides the bomb. You Tube link here.

Dr. Strangelove trailer. You Tube link here.

Dr. Strangelove ending scene. You Tube link here.

Previous Strangelove article here.

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DISCLAIMER: All images used on this blog are strictly copyrights of their owners. I do not claim credit/ownership for any images used here in my blog unless stated otherwise. If I have offended anyone by posting any images on my blog, please contact me via email and I will remove specified image(s) ASAP.

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April Snowers

                                                        April Snowers

                                                                 by

                                                                    Jay Agan

      April 4. I look out from the loading dock at work. Snowing again. There's an old saying in Ohio: "Don't like the weather? Wait a few minutes. It'll change." Ohio ("What's round on the ends & high in the middle, O-HI-O!" Yuck! Yuckity, yuck!) is an old Native American word for "Too darn hot. Too darn cold. Too darn wet. Too darn dry."

      When Delaware was an Indian village on the Olantangy River named Pluggystown (Named after a Mingo chief.), two trappers were heading north on a path what was later to become Sandusky Street. Heading south was an elderly native grumbling rather loudly to himself. One of the trappers called out to him, "what's wrong with you?"

      "Oh Hwah Yo!" And he walked on.

      The trapper turned to the other guy. "Y'know? When this territory opens up. that'd make a great name for a state!"

      OK! Don't believe me! See if I care!

                                        Article copyright © 4-9-2011 Jay Agan

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"Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 3

                                         "Trials" of a Voice Actor Part 3

                                                               by

                                                                  Jay Agan

      I get home after a particularly arduous day at work & am greeted with a message on the machine from my agent. "Get down to XYZ Studio at 10 AM for an anti-smoking radio spot. Pays 200 etc....." O.K!.

      Anti-smoking? Hmmmm. I don't mind telling folks what a dumb thing it is to smoke. No sense in hurting yourself & others. Yet .....

      I e-mail the agent inquiring wether this is a simple public service announcement or an advocacy of an anti-smoking LAW. He sends me the script.

      It was as I feared. The Dept. of Health & Human Services of a state out west wanted to innaugurate the activation of a new LAW voted in by the state legislature a year before. The law affected private businesses (Bars, restaraunts, etc.). The ad agency doing the ad thought my voice perfect for it. Wrong!

      As a small L libertarian I believe one has the right to kill oneself as fast or slow as desired as long as no one else is harmed. The government has no right to declare private businesses/property to be public places (If you can't stand the smoke/heat, get the heck out of the bar/kitchen!).

      I e-mailed the agent & declined, giving my reasons.

      I could have used the 200 bucks (less agents' 20%.). I could have used the exposure (My voice would have been heard all over the state extolling Big Brother.). To heck with it. There are some things I won't do for money.

      About a month later, around contract renewal time, I get an e-mail from the agent informing me that due to the bad economy, they were dropping me & others from their roster.

      I would like to thank all the well meaning politicians from both parties for helping to make my life less than it could be. It is because of their well intentioned efforts that I & many others have had to put our dreams on hold. Again, thank you. Now go "help" someone else. Like Libya for instance.

                                         Article copyright © 4-5-2011 Jay Agan

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Can Someone Tell Me What's Going On?

      When I started this blog I was hoping for a lot of hits as anyone would. It started slow & things began to "pick up" in February (380 hits.). Some were starting to notice. March started out at the same rate until Japans' crisis took precedence & peoples' attention diverted to that. When after it took a back seat to the fracas in Libya, the blogs' hit rate started to climb again though I doubted the last week and a half of March would get past 250 let alone the 380 of February.

      Then a strange thing happened & is still going on. I get home from work in the AM on the 28th of March & go online to check my stats. At the right end of the chart I see this flurry of activity. 43 hits for that day! (That was a  lot at that point. In February I got 25 one day & thought that was a big deal at the time.)

      Seems one of my articles got popular. I wrote Call of Cthulhu: One Really Worth Watching back on February 20 over a month ago. I'd like to think it's because it's a great article (Of course it is. I wrote it! My being humble prevents me from telling you how GREAT this GREAT article is. That's me, humble & proud of it!) about a great movie, but as just about all of the hits are coming from Google Image Search, I think it's because a lot of people want to snag that image, a demotivational poster I snagged from elsewhere. I hope some of these folks actually read the article (It's now over 500 hits on it!).
     
      The only connection I can see for such interest is the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society is putting the finishing touches on their latest film The Whisperer In Darkness & taking it to some film fests in Europe, thus the attention. I haven't found anything on a major studio releasing anything Lovecraft related.

      Anyone know what's going on?

You Tube link to Call of Cthulhu trailer here.

You Tube link to The Whisperer In Darkness trailer here.

You Tube link to The Whisperer In Darkness trailer 1 here.

You Tube link to The Whisperer In Darkness trailer 2 here.

Link to H.P. Lovecrafts' Dark Heritage article here.

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