Nowadays studios are making comic book movies so fast we can all barely keep up. They can't seem to release them fast enough, a stark contrast to the mid-90s when one studio in particular, New Horizons, made a FANTASTIC 4 film for the sole purpose of retaining the rights to it and they never even released the movie to the public. It was simply made so that they would be able, in the future, to make a real FANTASTIC 4 movie if they wanted to. I think that sentence should've ended with a question mark. Anyway, a local comic book store in conjunction with our local Rave Theaters cineplex offer free, B-movie showings the first Saturday of every month at midnight. We were there this time and they showed this rare, unreleased fantastic flick. Fantastically bad that is. Produced by Roger Corman, whose portfolio seems to fill SyFy's airtime these days, these 4 were a violation to the 5 senses. Yes, even taste and smell. Candy soured in the mouth and the theater stunk of disbelief at what we were seeing. Luckily the masterminds behind these screenings encourage loud commentary and there was no shortage of it to say the least. Even if they didn't, I think people still would've added their own riffing anyway. A review of this 1994 epic tops our show today.
From a bad movie to bad TV we go with news of pirate-themed dramas coming to Fox and FX. Capitalizing on the 4th Pirates movie? Or just trying to get a pirate fad going like the zombie one that's currently — excuse the pun — dying out... Maybe both? We can expect the series on Fox un-cleverly titled/spelled, PYRATES, to set sail next summer. PORT ROYAL, the series FX is working on, has no air date as of yet. Too bad we couldn't keep it that way, yahrrrr!
Dennis then launches an impromptu discussion of X-MEN FIRST CLASS. Out of the group, Charlie is the only one who has seen it. Although its ticket sales didn't reach those of the X-MEN trilogy, the reviews have been fairly kind. Charlie enjoyed the movie, although he admits he's not really a fan of Professor X and friends. A word of caution as you listen the show, the thought arises that although this movie doesn't follow official cannon either, it could be viewed as an alternate timeline like the many versions found in the actual comic books. This leads to another conversation about JJ Abrams' STAR TREK. You'll be happy to know, it is kept brief. After an entire episode on the film, as well as it coming up randomly on several others, we're trying not to subject you folks to anymore of what you already know.
The next bit on this episode is bad. You win some, you lose some. What I thought would be a fun little exercise of 'guess what' turns out to be a bigger bomb than a segment we used to have called, "Who Fucked You?". I won't waste anymore blog space here explaining. It's pretty dull and only takes up a few minutes of the show, so bare with us.
Ironically, things liven up during our next story about Dr. Death. If you weren't one of his patients, that means you lived through the 90s and are probably familiar with his real name, Jack Kevorkian. He died this past week at 83. He was best known for assisting terminally ill patients end their own lives. He went to court for the practice and stirred up a lot of debate on the subject of assisted suicide. He certainly stirs it up on our show as well. But, not so much for the practice itself. You see, we all agree, assisted suicide shouldn't be illegal, although their should be strict guidelines in place to keep it civil. What we don't agree on is the difference in rights between humans and animals when it comes to euthanasia. Unlike the 'guess what' segment mentioned above, I knew this one would generate dialogue. Who believes what when it comes to the difference between animals, people and suicide? You might be surprised. One thing is for sure... it would have been handy to have Dr. Kevorkian nearby during Roger Corman's FANTASTIC 4.
