Movie Poster Spotlight :: 40 Years, 40 [Birthday] Films.

Okay, for today's hypothetical / theoretical experiment in wishful thinking, we're going back in time to 1970, and then tic off all the films I would've seen, have seen (or wished that I could have seen) that were released on or around my birthday for each year since. And, for the record, this was my source.

1970 :: 1971


1972 :: 1973


1974 :: 1975


1976 :: 1977


1978 :: 1979

1980 :: 1981


1982 :: 1983


1984 :: 1985


1986 :: 1987


1988 :: 1989

1990 :: 1991


1992 :: 1993


1994 :: 1995


1996 :: 1997


1998 :: 1999

2000 :: 2001


2002 :: 2003


2004 :: 2005


2006 :: 2007


2008 :: 2009

And as I look forward [crosses fingers, toes, and anything else pliable enough] to the next 40 years, I'll definitely be kicking it off with this flick for 2010:

Favorites :: Mags and Slicks : Ho-Ho-Ho-migod ... They Weren't Kidding on That Naughty and Nice Thing : CREEPY #68

Artist: Ken Kelly

Sounds of the Season :: Going on a Killer "Slay Ride" with Los Straight-Jackets and the Fabulous Pontani Sisters

Okay ... NOW I'm ready for the Holidays.

Video courtesy of Deezenuts1981.

YouTube Finds :: Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Go Back in the Water, Antonio Margheriti Strikes!

I fell down one of them there YouTube Holes, as the kids call 'em, a few days ago, where I lost about three hours poking and prodding around the Trash Trailer channel, where, eventually, amongst a metric ton of gonzoidal cinematic gold, I stumbled upon this giant nugget of the awesome:

Don't let the Anthony M. Dawson director's credit fool you, this flick is the work of film alchemist Antonio Margheriti, who already tickled all our fancies with The Wild, Wild Planet trilogy, Naked You Die, and Reb Brown's whole six-pack of WTF known to we mere mortals as Yor, Hunter from the Future. And somewhat inexplicably, this film was completely unknown to me before I clicked the appropriate link. And with a cast like that, with all the shit that trailer promised, I immediately went in search of a copy, leaving a trail of smoke and scorched links as I went.


Alas, the film has yet to be released on DVD, but a little more digging found that the entire film is available serialized on YouTube, courtesy of bvseediermedia2:

OK, fair warning, now having seen the film I can tell you that Killer Fish doesn't quite live up to that trailer. But really, How could it? The film owes much more to Gordon Douglas's Ocean's 11 -- make that Hy Averback's Maudlin's 11 -- than Joe Dante's Piranha ... Well, if Sinatra's crew knocked over a diamond mine by blowing half of it up, whose evil mastermind made sure no one double-crossed him by double-crossing everyone else by stocking a nearby reservoir with said killer fish, that eat the majority of his partners, who is eventually thwarted by a hoisting petard due to some divine intervention in the form of a hurricane/tornado, before culminating in a fist-fight between two 1970's Über-Studs. Yeah, it doesn't live up to the trailer but the sheer, mounting absurdity of this thing is something one definitely needs to see. And if the film did nothing else, it reignited my childhood notions of wanting to be Lee Majors when I grew up -- but I'd settle for James Franciscus.

It's Gonna Be Epic.

I turned 40 today. The Big 4-Ohmigod I'm getting old.


And to help celebrate this momentous occasion, I have
conspired with several others in securing the marvelous
Grand Theater for a special screening of my favorite movie
of all time because, hey, it's my birthday.

And that movie is ...


Will I soil myself when those opening credits
burn through the screen?
I make no promises.
(And that's what damage deposits are for, right?)


Again, I have the greatest friends ever.
And it most definitely is gonna be epic.

Favorites :: Inks and Paints : Don't Blame Me. I Voted for Bill and Opus.

Artist :: Unknown.

Man ... it has been too damned long since I
cracked open a Bloom County compendium.