TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2017

Never heard of Spectreman.  Are there kaiju?  The costume looks like an Ultraman knockoff.

tohostudios wrote:

Never heard of Spectreman.  Are there kaiju?  The costume looks like an Ultraman knockoff.

Definitely has kaiju. Spectreman came out in the early 70s I believe and I remember watching it as a very young kid in the 80s with my elder siblings and loving it. I have to be honest and say I know nothing about Ultraman except that it preceded Spectreman. I always felt like Might Morphin Power Rangers was a Spectreman knock off so is Spectreman a knockoff of Ultraman?

It's definitely an Ultra Man rip off. Kaiju in every episode sent by an alien gorilla scientist in the hopes of taking over the earth. Naturally Spectreman comes to Earth to help us out.

007 wrote:

It's definitely an Ultra Man rip off. Kaiju in every episode sent by an alien gorilla scientist in the hopes of taking over the earth. Naturally Spectreman comes to Earth to help us out.

Yes, Dr. Gori was the main antagonist.

I have all the Ultraman episodes that were available in the US the last time I checked.  I have the 3 seasons from the 60s that were dubbed and shown on cable in the US when I was a kid (so yeah, that was a long time ago).  I also have about 4 more seasons of various other incarnations of Ultraman (Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Gaia) that were only ever shown in Japan.  I also have 3 Ultraman movies.

All of these are basically the same formula with successive "Ultramen" taking over the protection of Earth against various kaiju and aliens.  The FX are a little better in the later seasons but still nothing to really write home about - of course, that's part of the charm. 

I actually should check again because I ordered these several years ago and maybe more are available now.

I wonder how many of these Japanese "superhero vs kaiju" shows there are?  I know of at least 3 now, Ultraman, Spectreman and Space Giants (four if you count Ultra 7 as separate from the Ultraman series).

I just checked.  It looks like there is even less Ultraman series available now than the last time I checked.  Most of what listed is Region 3 DVD which doesn't work on US players.

I only really know of Spectreman and I recommend you at least check youtube to see if you dig it.

I'll check it out.  I like all these silly kaiju shows.

I found all 63 English dubbed episodes on YT on a channel called Vintage Film And Sound.

"Friday Foster" (1975)


A glamorous photo-journalist (Pam Grier, foxy as usual) witnesses the attempted assassination of a black millionaire, and eventually learns that it's all part of a vast conspiracy to eliminate all rich and powerful black Americans. Dammit honky, why you always tryin' to keep the brothas and sistas down?

But seriously... "Friday Foster" (based on a long-forgotten comic strip) is technically well made but overall it's a pretty "meh" blaxploitation flick, in spite of an impressive cast that includes Yaphet Kotto, Carl Weathers, Eartha Kitt, and even Ted "Isaac The Love Boat Bartender" Lange. If it weren't for the occasional (and very welcome) shots of Grier's bare boobs, this could have passed for a made-for-TV movie.
For obsessed Pam Grier fans only, everyone else can skip it.

"Cannibal Holocaust" (1980)


A team of filmmakers disappears in the South American jungle while shooting a documentary on cannibal tribes. Six months later, a follow up expedition finds the film they shot, but when they get it back to New York they're horrified by what they see...
Ruggero Deodato's still-controversial "found footage" splatter epic is seedy, grimy, and unrepentantly sleazy, though I honestly had expected a lot worse, given its rep as one of the premiere lunch-losers of the exploitation era.
PETA members will definitely want to skip this one due to the numerous acts of real animal cruelty, which bothered me more than any of the so-called "cannibal" scenes. Either way, you'll feel like you need a shower when this flick is over.

Cannibal Holocaust is on my "one of these days list" to watch. I've always wanted to see it but never got around to it.


Last night I watched the Walking Dead.

Quote :

Cannibal Holocaust is on my "one of these days list" to watch. I've always wanted to see it but never got around to it.

It was one of "those" flicks for me too, I never got round to it till this weekend. I was looking thru the freebie streaming channels on my Roku and when it popped up I went "Ehhh, what the hell," grabbed a couple of beers and took the plunge.

It's certainly not what I would call a "good" movie. It's nasty as hell, but watchable. When it was over, my reaction was similar to when I saw "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" years ago, i.e. "Ehhh...I guess it was OK, but I don't think I ever want to see it again."

I've never seen it because of the animal cruelty. I don't like PETA but I also don't like deliberate animal cruelty Same reason I've never seen Men Behind The Sun.

Spectreman episodes 4 & 5.

Kevin Can Wait
Man With A Plan

Minions
Star Trek TNG S3E16

last coupla movies I've seen:

The Elephant Man
El Topo
Interstellar
The Missing Pieces: Fire Walk With Me Deleted & Extended Scenes

Witchfinder wrote:

How is that?

I still can't believe the Rams traded Jerome Bettis to Pittsburgh after drafting this clown. This sentence from his Wiki entry about sums up his career:

Quote :

In the 2016 documentary Running For His Life: the Lawrence Phillips Story, Vermeil admits that he fired Phillips for playing while intoxicated, collapsing during the pre-game warmup for his 10th (and final) game with the 1996 Rams

That trade certainly worked out well for my Steelers!

tohostudios wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

How is that?

I still can't believe the Rams traded Jerome Bettis to Pittsburgh after drafting this clown. This sentence from his Wiki entry about sums up his career:

Quote :

In the 2016 documentary Running For His Life: the Lawrence Phillips Story, Vermeil admits that he fired Phillips for playing while intoxicated, collapsing during the pre-game warmup for his 10th (and final) game with the 1996 Rams

It might be the most depressing documentary I've ever seen. Phillips had a brutal childhood and that haunted him for the rest of his life.

Witchfinder wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

How is that?

I still can't believe the Rams traded Jerome Bettis to Pittsburgh after drafting this clown. This sentence from his Wiki entry about sums up his career:

Quote :

In the 2016 documentary Running For His Life: the Lawrence Phillips Story, Vermeil admits that he fired Phillips for playing while intoxicated, collapsing during the pre-game warmup for his 10th (and final) game with the 1996 Rams

It might be the most depressing documentary I've ever seen.  Phillips had a brutal childhood and that haunted him for the rest of his life.

I guess I need to see it for myself to decide.  Although I'm rather biased because Phillips was a total bust here in STL even though he was given multiple opportunities.  I think he was an idiot who just made dumbass choices but I'm willing to see if there's something in this documentary that makes me change my mind.  Lots of guys in pro sports have "hard luck stories" but they don't end up as career thugs like Phillips was.

tohostudios wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

How is that?

I still can't believe the Rams traded Jerome Bettis to Pittsburgh after drafting this clown. This sentence from his Wiki entry about sums up his career:

Quote :

In the 2016 documentary Running For His Life: the Lawrence Phillips Story, Vermeil admits that he fired Phillips for playing while intoxicated, collapsing during the pre-game warmup for his 10th (and final) game with the 1996 Rams

It might be the most depressing documentary I've ever seen.  Phillips had a brutal childhood and that haunted him for the rest of his life.

I guess I need to see it for myself to decide.  Although I'm rather biased because Phillips was a total bust here in STL even though he was given multiple opportunities.  I think he was an idiot who just made dumbass choices but I'm willing to see if there's something in this documentary that makes me change my mind.  Lots of guys in pro sports have "hard luck stories" but they don't end up as career thugs like Phillips was.

He was abused as a child - one of his mother's boyfriends forced him on to the ground and urinated on him, for instance - he lived on the streets at age 11 by himself, he was in and out of foster homes until he made it to college.  Paradoxically he was a gifted student who had no trouble catching up in school even after missing an entire year.  His physical gifts were obvious, but he harbored a ton of anger and rage which he treated with alcohol - thus being drunk on the field.  He eventually had some kind of psychotic break and ended up in prison.  His story is much more complex than being a thug - which is what I had remembered him as. All that being said, he was a very scary person because he appeared so normal until he went berserk.

Thanks for that synopsis.  That's what I was looking for.  I want to see what made him turn out like he did.  I really want to believe that most people don't make stupid choices on purpose, that there's something in their past that leads them down that road.  But the cynic in me says "Nah, people just suck."

I want to see this film.