THE BAD NEWS BEARS & 5 MORE MOVIES THAT ARE SECRETLY ABOUT VIETNAM

I wrote a piece at IFC.com, originally titled "Holy shit, six movies I hadn't realized are totally about VIETNAM." They changed the title, but it's still pretty good. You can read it here. It's "smart", in a Cracked.com sort of way. 

Interestingly (well, interesting to no one but me) -- my college thesis was about Vietnam in popular memory, so this essay was a return to that. I barely graduated college because of my non-traditional thesis-lecture-show. So writing this essay about Vietnam movies felt very Rambo; but instead of returning to Vietnam I was going back to the treacherous landscape of media studies. "Do I get to win this time?" 

Lastly: I would make a case that GHOSTBUSTERS is about Reagan not dealing with the ghosts of Viet Nam. But I don't want to risk "ruining" someone's childhood with that theory. 

RELATED: 

My STAR WARS personal essay. (Don't worry, I don't argue that STAR WARS is the first pro-war film since John Wayne's THE GREEN BERETS.) 

The RICHARD NIXON figures of my youth

KING KONG: DELETED SCENE

Here's a new award-wining* film I made with Bill Scurry, from a script I wrote with Daily Show writer Elliott Kalan.

Directed by Kevin Maher and Bill Scurry

Written by Kevin Maher and Elliott Kalan
(with an additional joke by Michael Reisman)

Edited by Bill Scurry

Sound and lighting design by Spencer Moore

Title card illustration by Mike Young

The Players

Casey Jost................ Carl Denham

Mike Birch................. Captain Englehorn 

Doug Bost................. Tex

Mark Grenier............. Smitty

Ron Palais................. Ace

Brian Grosz............... Lou

Noah Tarnow............ Jake

Jon Bander............... Curtis

Christopher Dwane.... Rico

Rusty Ward............... Rusty

Matt Wilson............... Wilbur

Glen Heroy................ Bert 

Shot entirely aboard The USCGC LILAC, an authentic 1933 lighthouse tender. You can visit the historic ship at Pier 25 in New York City. (To learn more, click here.)

*King King: Deleted Scene won the audience award at the Iron Mule comedy film festival. It also played at the Gangrene film festival in Salt Lake City. The film premiered at the 92Y Tribeca as part of KEVIN GEEEKS OUT ABOUT MONKEYS (a multi-media variety show about primates in movies, television and comic books.)

Fun-fact: I wanted to make sure no one had already explored this angle, so I read some KONG fanfiction online. But everything I read was gratuitous sex scenes, often involving Captain Englehorn and female characters who don't appear in the film.
**Related Posts: Happy Anniversary King Kong

Kevin Geeks Out About Monkeys recap (Summary of the 2010 show, not the 2013 edition)

Final KGO show at the 92Y Tribeca

The 92Y Tribeca is closing. 

The final show in the screening room will be my show on Friday June 14th. 

(Please note: there will still be a few other shows in the main space, including a chat with Paul Feig, but this is the last event in the screening room.) 

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT MONKEYS
Friday June 14th @ 8pm
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street
New York, NY 

Get tickets here.  The show will sell-out. 



Kevin Geeks Out is the comedy-variety show hosted by writer-comedian Kevin Maher—a confabulation of vintage film clips and videos, new finds, guest experts, games and curiosities. To geek out with Kevin you don’t need to be a geek, you just need to love cool stuff.

This month, Kevin Geeks Out about MONKEYS. Long before cats captivated internet-users, funny primates dazzled audiences. The 2-hour show will feature dozens of clips from classic (and lesser-known) movies and TV shows, spanning 7 decades. Plus Saturday morning cartoons, pop songs and comedy shorts about apes, chimps, gorillas, orangutans, baboons and footage you won’t find on YouTube or Netflix.

Elliott Kalan (writer from "The Daily Show") observes how the “sexually aroused gorilla” has become a horrifying comedy trope.
Professor Geoff Klock examines the Gorilla as Super-Villain.
Writer Meg Sweeney Lawless shares a gallery of the best and worst examples of “Apes on Comic Book Covers”.
Filmmaker Bill Scurry recounts the online adventures of his pet chimpanzee, Chester Balonie.
Host Kevin Maher looks at the legacy of KING KONG.
With trivia from quizmaster Noah Tarnow (from the upcoming "Big Quiz Thing" TV show) 

Monkey-themed cupcakes from Sara Reiss
And a special monkey movie clip from 92Y Tribeca Film Programmer Cristina Cacioppo. 

Kevin Geeks Out About Rip-Off Cinema

We've got a new KEVIN GEEKS OUT show coming up. 

This month's theme is RIP-OFF CINEMA, chronicling the "knockbusters" that attempt to capture the magic of big-budget movies. Buy tickets HERE (NOTE: We're an editor's pick at Gothamist as one of the 20 Fun Things to do in May, so the show will likely sell-out.) 

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT RIP-OFF CINEMA
Friday May 10th @ 8pm
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street, NYC
just ten bucks

Here's the line-up: 

The kid digs KING KONG!

My 7-year-old was psyched to get tickets for KING KONG. 

related: Happy Kongiversary

FLASH GORDON and me

I took my kids to see FLASH GORDON (1980) on the big screen!

My boys are roughly the same age I was when I first saw the movie (over and over) on HBO.  So I was  really excited for them to see it.  But I was worried that the guys would be bored by the slow pacing of the campy film. So before the film I talked it up and brainwashed them into thinking they already loved the movie.

As the film played I wasn't worried about them being bored but I was worried about some of the sexy stuff. Even when FLASH GORDON isn't overt it's a kinky space opera. Being a young boy watching FLASH GORDON is kind of like climbing the rope in gym class.

I'll admit I'm one of those Dads who tries to recapture the best aspects of his childhood and share it with his kids. When Dino DeLaurentiis made the movie, he was trying to recapture his childhood influences.

He's made KING KONG and then FLASH GORDON (and he'd also wanted to make a feature film version of MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN starring Jack Nicholson.)  Now we're onto the third-generation, with me sharing those movies with my kids.
My older son is wearing the FLASH t-shirt I won during the pre-show Prince Vultan sound-alike contest. I won! (I think my full-beard helped.) You can't hear him, but he's shouting "YEAH!" just like Flash does at the end of the movie.  Fun-fact: when they filmed the ending, it felt kind of flat. So actor Sam Jones came up with the idea that Flash should shout "Yeah!" and leap into the air. that was all him.

Lastly, FLASH GORDON holds a special place in my heart because it was the subject of my first AMC web-show "The Sci Fi Department" -- you can see it below.

A IS FOR ANDRE

note: this poem was first shared at KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT WRASSLIN'

Be sure to check out the other pop culture primers (see below)

A is for ANDRE, he has a posse

B is for BOBBY brainy and bossy

C is for CM, straight-edge represent!

D’s DIBIASE, wrestling’s 1%

Pop Culture Blogger of the Year (my acceptance speech)

I recently wrote a piece about being a Pop Culture Expert.

If I win the “Pop Culture Blogger of the Year” Award (and if such an award exists), I already have my acceptance speech written:

Thank you.  This award isn’t just for me, but for all the dedicated men, women and men-children who keep your pop culture blogs fresh.

I share this award with anyone who’s had to excuse themselves from a dinner-date to step into the bathroom and promote a link that just went live.

To anyone who’s used a celebrity’s death to promote something written 8 months ago. 

To people who’ve been forced to “review” a movie that hasn’t come out yet, or recap a reality show they didn’t see.

This award is dedicated to anyone who’s worked for a blog whose title includes some combination of the words: Buzz, Guy, Pop, Geek, Celeb, Burger, Crazy, Hollywood, X, Cuts, Film, or the suffix “--licious."

To the people who think they’re the first to make a video go viral.

To everyone who spends more time tracking down their overdue paychecks than they do researching an article.

To the writers whose editors tell them “300 words is too long.”

I want to thanks anybody who met a deadline while seated next to an emotional train-wreck at Starbucks.

I share this award with people who ask their Facebook friends to contribute to a list piece, then 2 days later encourage those same friends to read the finished article.

To anyone who’s used a pseudonym to go into the comments section and defend your work against the ugly, hateful, small-minded gorillas who visit your website.

Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to remind every website I’ve ever worked for: you still owe me outstanding payments.

Kevin Maher is a writer-producer with impressive resume credits. (But that's because his resume doesn't include gigs like The Daily Dirt, Celebraddiction, The Horror Hacker, Hollywood Update, Star Vs Star, and Bravo's "Great Things About the Holidays.") 

Visit his website for the good credits, sample writing and videos. 

Related posts: Secrets of a Pop Culture Expert

Related posts: How to Scientifically Turn Down a Freelance Gig

Frankenstein & Me

Growing up as a tall kid, I was always forced to be Frankenstein whenever my friends played monsters.  I'm sure other tall kids had to put up with this. 


This continued as an adult, when my old sketch group was developing a TV show called MONSTERS ON THE RUN, I was to play the fugitive Frankenstein Monster (framed for a crime he didn't commit.  He was framed by a rich Kennedy-esque Playboy Mummy and lost his trial when a William Kunstler-esque lawyer used the case as an opportunity to blame society, saying, "You're the monsters! YOU are the monsters."  I wish we'd made that.) 


One Halloween I was the monster, my wife was the bride, my kids were the Doctor and Igor.  (You can make a cute baby look spooky by adding a unibrow and hunchback.) 

One of the first KEVIN GEEKS OUT shows was dedicated to FRANKENSTEIN.  Mary Shelly's novel is the most adapted work of literature (in your face, Madame Bovary!)  So there are so many odd interpretations to look at.  


We screened clips from Frankenstein Vs. Baragaon, Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, TV's The Monster Squad (at 1970's TV series in which Frankenstein, Dracula and the Werewolf team up to fight crime, aided by The Love Boat's Gofer and a super-computer.)  and more. 


We listened to an excellent radio adaptation by the Quicksilver Radio Theatre. 


We also watched Thomas Edison's Frankenstein film (from 1910), which I'd first seen at a Frankenstein film festival in New Jersey.  It was introduced by a religious old kook, who owned the film print and because he was letting the theater screen his movie, he insisted on speaking before the film and speaking out against evolution.  (Which, he believes is at the heart of Edison's adaptation, because the monster is not a re-animated corpse, but a man made from the earth.)  


Throughout the night we saw some radical interpretations of the classic character, and the audience really got excited seeing Boris Karloff, it's like he's THE ONE.  This PSA parody was a big hit at the show, and it still holds up. 


Here's an old AMC video I made looking at some of my favorite adaptations: 

Here's a collection of 50 Posters from various Frankenstein Movies

And in this new video Rusty Ward and I look at FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND, featuring several great clips from the movie. 

And in my newest video, I use one of my all-time favorite gags about the monster: 

(Hey, be sure to donate to the kickstarter campaign HERE)

Frankenstein is always showing up in popular culture. 

DC's WEIRD WAR TALES ran a great series of stories about CREATURE COMMANDOS, in which the Mosnter, teams up with Dracula and the Wolf man to battle Nazis.  (I don't know why writers are always pairing these three up.  I mean, in real life they seem like they wouldn't get along at all.) 

In Dickie Goodman's novelty song FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE BEATLES, the monster becomes envious of the band's popularity, so he forms a rock quartet to compete with the Fab Four.  The Liverpool lads end up feeling sorry for him and invite him to join the band, though it's never clear what instrument he plays. 

The new anthology horror-comedy CHILLERAMA features a very funny segment about THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN, but as an internet nerd it's my duty to point out that the gag was made a decade earlier by Michael O'Donoghue.  (Click here to read his SPIN magazine piece, "Six Hit Movies.") 

The influence of Mary Shelley's story shows up in the oddest places, here's some holiday-themed pop-tarts that seem to play out a theme from the novel: 

"'I am alone and miserable: man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create.'"  ~ The Monster, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Happy Halloween everybody. 

 related posts: 


King Kong and Me

Kevin Geeks Out About Rip-Off Cinema

 

Kevin Geeks Out is the comedy-variety show hosted by writer-comedian Kevin Maher – a confabulation of vintage film clips and videos, new finds, guest experts, games and curiosities. To geek out with Kevin you don’t need to be a geek, you just need to love cool stuff. 

Since 2008, Kevin has geeked out with 23 different installments of his video variety night to fill those gaps in your education about Bigfoot! – Robots! – Video Games! – Werewolves! – KISS! – Batman! – and Sharks! His shows have been critics’ picks in the Village Voice, Time Out New York, Gothamist, The New York Times’ “Urban Eye”...and what other comedy show can you name that’s been featured in Scientific American Online?

This month, Kevin Geeks Out about RIP-OFF CINEMA, chronicling the “knockbusters” that attempt to capture the magic of E.T., KING KONG, WAR OF THE WORLDS and other big-budget blockbusters. The two-hour cultural cavalcade includes trivia, snacks, prizes, and guest speakers presenting rare film footage and TV clips you won’t find on YouTube or Netflix.  Kevin is joined by some very special guests:  

·      Emmy Award-winning Daily Show writer Elliott Kalan looks back at his favorite E.T. rip-off.  (It’s not Mac and Me!)

·      Writer M. Sweeney Lawless gives a brief history of films that aped KING KONG.

·      Comic Book Blogger Nick Nadel presents a montage of Super-hero knock-offs from around the world.

·      Professor Geoff Klock illustrates the difference between a rip-off and an homage.

·      Filmmaker Matthew Glasson shares scenes from his favorite JAWS copycat (that was actually banned from the U.S. for copyright infringement!)

·      Horror Blogger Brian Solomon presents a study of HALLOWEEN rip-offs.

·      And Artist-Baker Sara Reiss serves up “knock-off” themed treats.

·      Plus trivia games and prizes that will include knock-off products.


KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT RIP-OFF CINEMA
Thursday September 15th @ 8pm
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street  NYC


buy tickets HERE

Happy Anniversary KING KONG!

Today marks the 78th anniversary of  the world premiere of KING KONG

The 1933 film opened -- where else? -- in New York City.  The film screened at the RKO Roxy and Radio City musical Hall.

The moving picture was met with great reviews and general amazement.

To celebrate the KONGIVERSARY, my kids and I are making the KING KONG drink. 

TOP 5 RUMORS ABOUT THE END OF KEVIN GEEKS OUT

After 22 shows, great reviews and sold-out houses, Kevin Maher (pictured, with gorilla) is stopping the run following this Friday’s event (Kevin Geeks Out About Aliens ).  Since January 2008 Kevin produced the monthly “pop culture cavalcade”, covering favorite genre topics like Bigfoot , Batman, Dummy Deaths,  Visions of the Future and Shark Cinema.  

Here are five internet rumors about why the show is ending:

1.     Kevin suddenly realized he hates low-budget cult movies from the 70’s.

2.     Kevin only started the show to impress a cool girl in “nerd” glasses, but has since learned she has a boyfriend.

3.     Kevin needs more time to write horrible science-fiction novels under the pen name “William Shatner”

4.     Kevin wants to spend more time with his family, specifically: telling his wife and children some long, anecdotes about the critical reception to “Krull”

5.     Kevin developed a rare form of Terminal Diarrhea.

Kevin Geeks Out About Monkeys (a recap)

Kevin Geeks Out is a monthly video variety/comedy show I host at the 92Y Tribeca.  This is a recap of the February 2010 installment: Kevin Geeks Out About Monkeys.


We kicked off the show with a hot-mix of some favorite monkey movies and TV shows, including clips from The Mighty Gorga, Trog, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and an actual film called FUNKY MONKEY which stars Matthew Modine as a guy who travels around the country with a super-talented chimp.  Apparently they're just about to leave town when they are roped into helping a kid win the big game.  (I'll admit, I didn't watch the entire movie, just the football stuff.)

Then I did a lengthy study about the legacy of King Kong, from the sequels to the Toho reboots, the remakes, the knock-offs, the universal studios ride, the video games, and so on.  [Fun-Fact: the 1933 original was followed by a quickie sequel called Son of Kong.  Now the first film came out in April of '33, the sequel premiered that December.  This is probably the quickest turn-around is sequel-making.  But 50 years later that record was beat when a 1984 blockbuster attempted to quickly cash in on a sequel before the fad ended.  Can you guess the movie?  It was Breakin' (released in May of '84) immediately followed by Breakin' 2 (which was released in December, presumably to be eligible for the '84 Academy Awards.)]  We also covered the Toho reboot, including King Kong Vs. Godzilla and the film where Kong fights his robot doppleganger, Mechani-Kong (below King Kong Escapes) All this, plus: King Kong Bundy, Donkey Kong, King Kong cocktails, and profiles of 1970's knock-offs including Queen Kong, A*P*E, and King Kung-Fu. We showed bits from Universal studios' "King Kong Experience" ride and commercials for Nebraska's King Kong fast-food restaurant. (don't worry, they don't eat gorilla meat.) For the sake of keeping this a family show, we did not screen anything from Kinky Kong or Babes of Kong Island.

Next up, a Kevin Geeks Out favorite -- Professor Geoff Klock did a close-reading on a single issue of the Justice League Comic Book that centered around Gorilla Grodd. Klock argued that the adventured celebrated the weirdness of his adventures -- the kind of stuff Christopher Nolan would never put in a movie -- like Batman taking his space-ship to a distant planet where he kicks a gorilla in the nut-sack.  Viva Comics!

This was followed by another video block, celebrating REAL monkeys in film, including Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, old movies of a monkey wedding and this classic by Tom Stern (a film which is said to be a favorite of Ethan Coen.)

Carrie McLaren (producer of Brooklyn's Adult Ed Lecture Series) delivered an eye-opening lecture about the history of Bob and Mae Noell's "Gorilla's Ark", a mid-century traveling side-show where audience members were invited to win money by boxing chimpanzees. (Not surprisingly, a lot of the volunteers were drunk.  Some things never change.) We do not have footage of Carrie's lecture, but you can see some of her other primate lectures here, including "Why You Want a Monkey" and "How to Raise a Chimp in Your Home.")

After that, KGO super-producer Meg Sweeney Lawless introduced "The Kindest Cut" a recurring segment at Kevin Geeks Out, where Meg and her husband Jay cut-down a feature-film into an abridged version with the best (or the worst) parts of genre movie.  This month Meg shared KONGA -- a bizarre British Kong-like story that featured flesh-eating plants, dummy-deaths and the guy who played Alfred the Butler in Tim Burton's Batman.  (NOTE: Less than a month later, an audience member hosted her own KONGA screening party in Boston, where people dressed up for the film.)

Noah Tarnow was up next with a primate-themed edition of his Big Quiz Thing -- three audience members were brought up to compete (including one guy in a gorilla suit!)  Noah occasionally stumped his contestants with questions about monkey-music, movies and history.

The contestants won some deluxe prizes, including: passes to the Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo, passes to the upcoming Curious George art exhibit at the Jewish Museum, and a signed DVD of the movie KONGA.  (signed by me.)


Then it was time for a snack break!  Our audience was treated to Envirokidz Organic cereal: GORILLA MUNCH.  The gluten-free treat was provided by Nature's Path Organic foods.


While the audience was crunching and munching, M. Sweeney Lawless returned to do a bit with me about the theory behind putting gorillas on comic-book covers.  You can see the cover art and read the bit HERE  (or just scroll down to the next blog entry.)  It's worth noting, I discovered that my favorite cover, was in fact a reprint. Check it out and compare the two covers side-by-side.

Keeping with our comic-book chimps, we brought up one of my all-time favorite cartoonists, Michael Kupperman (of Snake n' Bacon, Tales Designed to Thrizzle).  Kupperman shared a brand-new story about a jungle princess. It will be included in the upcoming issue of his Tales Designed to Thrizzle.

Following Kupperman's classy comic book art, we continued with the high-brow, showing one of the best TV comedy bits I've ever seen.  Ernie Kovacs' rendition of Swan Lake:

The evening was packed with videos of guys in gorilla suits, cartoon chimps and real-live monkeys.  Animal Lawyer (but not an actual animal who is a lawyer) Cori Herbig stepped up and told some true tales of monkeys in movies.  I'd noted after the Lancelot Link clips that the male chimps in that series had been castrated before production began, to keep them from humping people and females.  Well, that's just the tip (ahem) of the iceberg.  Cori talked about some actions being taken to protect performing animals -- or to keep them out of film and tv entirely.


I love to showcase "spoken nerd" poetry whenver possible -- and initially Ernie Cline was scheduled to be part of the show.  Being a hot-shot screenwriter, he was called to L.A. and could not attend, but he did share this video favorite:

Then it was time for the surprise gift of the evening.  Proceeds from Kevin Geeks Out About Monkeys were used to adopt this little darling -- Ubwuzu.  He's a two-and-a-half year old male, the only child of Mitimblili and one of the youngest in his group of mountain gorillas being studied and protected by the Dian Fosey Gorilla Fund's Kaisoke Research Center.  I have to admit, I'd wanted to change his name to baby Milo (like the infant chimpanzee in Escape From the Planet of the Apes -- but just look at him!  He's such a Ubwuzu.  Right?

Following the adoption announcement, we showed a video of Jane Goodall wishing happy 75th birthday to the chimp who played Cheeta in the Tarzan movies.  And then we handed out copies of the adoption notice to audience members -- because we are all Ubwuzu's parents now.


And no show would be complete without a teaser for the next month's show:  (note: this trailer was edited by Matthew Glasson, a longtime KGO favorite who is co-hosting this very show!)
 
KEVIN GEEKS OUT - BONUS MATERIAL: (stuff not actually seen in the show)


Gorilla at Large Trailer. Note: the actor in the monkey-suit also played the title role in ROBOT-MONSTER and the “MUGATO” (white horned ape) in Star Trek. 

I CREATED LANCELOT LINK  a short documentary from the maker of "Heavy Metal Parking Lot"

Infrequently Asked Questions about King Kong

Another one of Tom Stern's Mokeyed Movie: Planet of the Humans 

Here's a hilarious short by Steve Martin. (Sometimes I forget how funny he is. It's understandable.) 

From the TRAILERS FROM HELL website, here's John Landis on Mighty Joe Young and director Mick Garris on Son of Kong.

Enough talking – here’s Chimp Karate!

Two weeks after the show, I found this old bootleg DVD of mine with 1960's Superman cartoons. Here's the Man of Steel taking on the Ape Army of the Amazon

SITES DEVOTED TO GORILLA COMIC BOOK COVERS: Here's one

and another 

and yet another 

and still another  

News report about this Japanese monkey waiter. 

Footage of drunk monkeys in the Carribean.

A link to the trailer for LINK (a 1986 horror movie that pre-dates Monkey Shines) 

King Klunk Walter Lantz's 1933 cartoon that parodies of the Kong myth.