TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2019

Fat Freddy wrote:

007 wrote:

Unbelievable.  I know I searched on there before. I just figured with the lawsuit and all , it would never see the light of day again. I'll have to catch this one now.

Yeah, Universal sued the hell out of it back in the day, got the movie pulled from theaters, and it never got a home video release in the U.S. either. So when I saw it pop up on Amazon I was like "holy crap!" Haha. Maybe enough time has passed that Universal doesn't care anymore.

Another interesting fun fact about this movie that I learned from my good friend Dr. Wik E. Pedia: the "Great White" lawsuit crippled the film's U.S. distributor, Film Ventures International. The company's head honcho eventually cleaned out whatever $$ was left in the corporate account and disappeared without a trace, he hasn't been seen since. After all these years no one is even sure if he's still alive.

Now THAT would make an interesting movie!!

Isn't this the same guy who didn't end up paying his crew for their work in Grizzly?

Stories like these make me wonder about the possibility of mob activity or something. It all sounds so desperate and lazy, like damage control more than sheer greed. Just speculation.

Quote :

Isn't this the same guy who didn't end up paying his crew for their work in Grizzly?
Stories like these make me wonder about the possibility of mob activity or something.

Yup, Edward L. Montoro. Lord knows the Mob has been involved in the movie biz forever (particularly in the low budget/indie and adult film end of the industry) so that theory is quite plausible.

...sooo in other words, dude could be living out his twilight years on a beach in Mexico, or he could be part of a bridge support on I-95.

Interesting articles about the man here:
https://lastroadreviews.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/an-editorial-on-edward-l-montoro-and-film-ventures-international/

and here:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/from-grizzly-to-great-white-the-death-of-film-vent.html

Started Disc 7 of "The Vietnam War"

This thing has a killer soundtrack. The section I watched today featured Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" (you know, "There something happening here; what it is ain't exactly clear..."). Disc 6 closed out with Procul Harem's "Whiter Shade Of Pale". And the Stones have been featured prominently with "Paint It Black", "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Street Fighting Man". I may end up getting the soundtrack to this too.

Took the young fella on Saturday to see:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Isn't this the same guy who didn't end up paying his crew for their work in Grizzly?
Stories like these make me wonder about the possibility of mob activity or something.

Yup, Edward L. Montoro. Lord knows the Mob has been involved in the movie biz forever (particularly in the low budget/indie and adult film end of the industry) so that theory is quite plausible.

...sooo in other words, dude could be living out his twilight years on a beach in Mexico, or he could be part of a bridge support on I-95.

Interesting articles about the man here:
https://lastroadreviews.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/an-editorial-on-edward-l-montoro-and-film-ventures-international/

and here:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/from-grizzly-to-great-white-the-death-of-film-vent.html

Watch him pop up in seconds on Facebook lol.

You know, after skimming those articles, hell yeah we need a movie about this guy. But I don't know what I want more--a straight story documentary or a Scorcese biopic scorcher, complete with coke and hookers et al.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"The Last Shark" (aka "Great White," 1981)

A seaside resort town is plagued by a series of shark attacks, so a couple of tough guys head out to sea to hunt the critter down and kill it.
...sound familiar? It should. This none too subtle "Jaws" wanna-be from Italy rips off Spielberg's classic to such an astounding degree that when it was imported to the U.S. in early '82, Universal Studios cried "plagiarism" and sued it out of theatres.
It may be a cheap knockoff, but I still like this one better than "Jaws 3D" or "Jaws: The Revenge."

Watched this last night. It is an okay film, and I can see why Universal sued, but they sure didn't mind borrowing an important scene for a future Jaws flick.

Quote :

Watched this last night. It is an okay film, and I can see why Universal sued, but they sure didn't mind borrowing an important scene for a future Jaws flick.

Yep, if memory serves the ending of "Jaws 3D" was very similar to the climax of "GW." Coincidence? I think not. : )

Ring of Honor

Over the past week the three Blade movies and a few episodes of 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'

The Joy of Painting

"Grizzly" (1976)

A rogue grizzly bear is roaming a national park, chowing on campers and tourists, so a group of forest rangers led by Christopher ("Pieces") George set out to hunt it down.
This was one of the better "killer animal" movies made during the late '70s (inspired by the success of "Jaws"), and it doesn't skimp on the gore and carnage. This flick was so successful that it actually held the box-office record for an independent film for a brief period, till it was unseated by the original Halloween a few years later.

Watched this doc on Netflix...



How far is too far when it comes to humor?

007 Moonraker

Some more episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 5

Space Amoeba (1970)



AKA Yog, Monster From Space (The title I saw it under in the theater a looking time ago), this one deals with an alien entity that commanders a space probe and causes it to return to Earth. It commences it's plan of world domination, infecting a squid, crab and sea turtle enlarging them to Godzilla height. This Toho production is rather weak compared to their other daikaiju films. Basically a Godzilla film without Godzilla.

007 wrote:

Space Amoeba (1970)



AKA Yog, Monster From Space (The title I saw it under in the theater a looking time ago), this one deals with an alien entity that commanders a space probe and causes it to return to Earth. It commences it's plan of world domination, infecting a squid, crab and sea turtle enlarging them to Godzilla height. This Toho production is rather weak compared to their other daikaiju films. Basically a Godzilla film without Godzilla.

I saw that a loooooong time ago on cable under the "Yog" title. Must not have made much of an impression because I don't remember a thing about it. I don't even remember the few plot points you pointed out so I guess I'm not missing much.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Grizzly" (1976)

A rogue grizzly bear is roaming a national park, chowing on campers and tourists, so a group of forest rangers led by Christopher ("Pieces") George set out to hunt it down.
This was one of the better "killer animal" movies made during the late '70s (inspired by the success of "Jaws"), and it doesn't skimp on the gore and carnage. This flick was so successful that it actually held the box-office record for an independent film for a brief period, till it was unseated by the original Halloween a few years later.

Ah, a VHS rental staple. Glorious cover art on that tape! I'd love to see it again; I remember the gory scenes quite well. I had NO idea about the BO record. And now all this talk about "The Montoro Conspiracy" gives this title an ounce more interest for me to revisit.

GOT: Season 8, Episode 1

Batman: Under the Red Hood

Watched more of Disc 8 of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War".

This disc is delving more into the unrest in the US regarding the war including the Kent State massacre made famous in the CSN song "Ohio" ("...four dead in Ohio...). What the hell was the governor thinking when he had the National Guard load their weapons with live rounds???? It's also featuring reactions from various vets as to how they were treated upon coming home (and I think the reception they received was shameful).

So far I have to give this doc a 7 out of 10 on the fairness scale; I think I detect a slightly liberal bent in the presentation but nothing really glaring or obvious as far as I can tell. And it's definitely well-done from both a technical and entertainment aspect.

Finished Disc 8 and as I predicted above the song over the closing credits was CSNY's "Ohio".

I find myself looking forward to finishing this series because unlike the usual drivel I watch when on the elliptical, this was all too real and it's REAL depressing after watching so much of it.

Ring of Honor

Watched a few episodes of What We Do in the Shadows tv series. It's not as good as the movie, but it's got potential. I LOL'ed a few times.

I've been slackin' on the movie watching this week, but I have been watching re-runs of the old Spike-TV comedy show "MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" on the Tubi-TV app.

In case you don't remember this cult classic, it takes footage from a Japanese physical-challenge game show from the '80s called "Takeshi's Castle," and dubs over it with new, funny English dialogue that mostly deals with suggestive and/or scatological references. It's dumb as a box of rocks but it's a nice, goofy way to finish off an evening with a few beers. "Don't... get... eliminated!"

Fat Freddy wrote:

I've been slackin' on the movie watching this week, but I have been watching re-runs of the old Spike-TV comedy show "MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" on the Tubi-TV app.

In case you don't remember this cult classic, it takes footage from a Japanese physical-challenge game show from the '80s called "Takeshi's Castle," and dubs over it with new, funny English dialogue that mostly deals with suggestive and/or scatological references. It's dumb as a box of rocks but it's a nice, goofy way to finish off an evening with a few beers. "Don't... get... eliminated!"

I love this show!