Movie Review: Batman (1966)

DIRECTOR: Leslie H. Martinson. CAST: Adam West, Burt Ward, Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp, Madge Blake, Reginald Denny, Milton Frome, Gil Perkins, Dick Crockett, George Sawaya.

Quite interesting to revisit the 1966-71 era Batman in all of its campy glory after both of the modern franchises reinvented the Caped Crusader, rendering the beloved TV show outdated and obscure. Batman (the movie) was originally to launch the series, but 20th Century Fox turned down the idea until opting to cash in on the first season’s incredible success. There is no dark story of personal demons and retribution; expect lighthearted ‘60s hipster humor with some swipes at international politics instead. Batman & Robin take on the filthy & diabolical United Underworld—the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler & Catwoman—who have gained possession of a dehydrator that can reduce human beings into mere dust particles! World domination is on the agenda as these criminal masterminds use the dehydrator to kidnap the entire United Nations Security Council! Only the Dynamic Duo can save the day, delivering a little “POW! THWACK! BIFF!” to the bad guys. Good kitschy fun for the whole family, especially if Mom & Dad have smoked a joint or two beforehand. Batman is the MAD magazine to Tim Burton & Christopher Nolan’s graphic novels.

Captain Lou Albano

N.R.B.Q. have enjoyed a long career and have been featured in The Simpsons, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and movies like Day of the Dead and Shakes the Clown. However, the greatest moment in the NATIONAL RHYTHM & BLUES QUARTET's history as a band took place when they hired Captain Lou Albano to manage their career, which produced this fun novelty song! Let this song and the Captain be your guiding light to greatness!

Movie Review: White Zombie (1932)

DIRECTOR: Victor Halperin. CAST: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert W. Frazer, John Harron, Brandon Hurst, George Burr Macannan, Clarence Muse, Frederick Peters, Annette Stone, John Printz, Dan Crimmins, Claude Morgan, John Fergusson, Velma Gresham.
Although it obviously does not live up to modern horror standards, this is possibly the first zombie movie ever made and that alone makes it worth seeing. Supposedly based on a “nonfiction” account of Haitian voodoo published in 1929, we begin our tale with a young couple planning to get married on the island. However, the lonely rich guy they are staying with wants the bride himself and works out quite the underhanded scheme with a nearby plantation owner to kidnap her from her fiancé. Bela Lugosi is fresh off the Dracula set to play the devious plantation owner who uses black magic to resurrect dead natives for slave labor. Oh, the racial implications! Oh, the awful attempts at blackface! Viewers might be disappointed that the zombies are not exactly of the flesh-eating variety, although it is probably unrealistic to expect that from an old movie like this. White Zombie does not retain whatever impact it might have once had, but Bela Lugosi’s piercing eyes and sinister facial expressions are enough to carry the load. Shot in eleven days for fifty grand with sets left over from both Dracula and Frankenstein.

Bruiser Brody vs. One Man Gang

Bruiser Brody wraps a chain around the One Man Gang’s eyes in what had to be a brutal bout! I actually read about this match in Wrestling Superstars back in the summer of 1986! Brody came out on top, setting an example for a young jobber who was attempting to make his mark in the True Sport of Kings! This photo was part of the article! Nice to see it again after all these years!

Movie Review: Robocop (1987)

DIRECTOR: Paul Verhoeven. CAST: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Dan O'Herlihy, Paul McCrane, Ray Wise, Jesse D. Goins, Calvin Jung, Michael Gregory, Robert DoQui, Felton Perry, Lee de Broux, S.D. Nemeth.
Robocop remains a great action movie and a brilliant satirizing of Reagan-era corporate greed and excess. We see Detroit falling apart in a dystopian future in which the mayor has turned over control of its underfunded police department to the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products. OCP plans to privatize all of the city’s services, including replacing its cops with androids programmed for perfectly efficient law enforcement. They construct RoboCop from the remains of an officer killed in the line of duty by Detroit’s criminal mastermind. RoboCop successfully takes down a number of bad guys, but things go awry when he begins to experience shadowy memories of his previous life. He focuses on bringing his murderer to justice, which also leads him back to the very corporation that made him. Robocop’s greatness lies in the details that separate it from the typical ‘80s shoot-‘em-up action movie. Who could forget “I’d buy that for a dollar!” from everyone’s favorite TV slapstick sex comedy It's Not My Problem? Kurtwood Smith and Ronny Cox steal the show in their inspired character performances. Make sure you also watch the director’s cut that originally garnered an X rating due to the gratuitous violence!