Sex, Love and "Bachelor Party"

As a pre-teen boy with premium movie channels I had access to all the mature-audience entertainment that 1980’s cable had to offer.  I watched everything from Hardbodies to Once Upon a Time In America (the long version). At school my friends would swap stories of seeing late-night nudity, graphic murders and gross-yet-mesmerizing sex scenes. But there was one movie where even the most permissive parents drew the line: Bachelor Party, a raunchy comedy about a bunch of guys having one last blowout before Rick (Tom Hanks) marries Debbie (Tawny Kitaen).

I managed to see this film when I was 12, and it was no wonder Moms and Dads didn’t want their kids seeing it. Bachelor Party features all kinds of debauchery: a girl-on-girl sex show with whips and vibrators, party balloons made from condoms, a donkey snorts cocaine, one party guest mistakenly screws a transvestite, a Hindu pimp threatens to have a man’s testicles cut-off, and a stuffy mother-in-law-to-be mistakes a man’s 13-inch penis for a foot-long hot-dog.  (Not to mention half-a-dozen signature gags shamelessly lifted from National Lampoon’s Animal House, and a gratuitous musical performance by Adrian Zmed!) But the most perplexing

LUCID: a movie I can't wait to see...

Since moving to Brooklyn in 1997 I've met alternative comedians, downtown performance artists, alcoholic poets, content generators, flaky folk-rockers, the list goes on and one.  One of the most slippery of all walks of life is anyone who calls himself an "independent filmmaker."  I could tell you some awful stories, but that's for another post. Today I'm going to share something that's truly exciting and it was made by a writer-director who can deliver.  (Don't take my word for it, just watch this trailer and see for yourself.) 


Jeremy Carr's LUCID is like a David Lynch Batman movie, if Batman weren't in it.


Just think of the money you've spent on seeing bad movies over the years.  Now here's your chance to put ten bucks towards a great movie that needs some help.   The producers are raising funds to finish shooting LUCID, you can join the online fundraiser on Kickstarter.  Every pledge helps -- seriously.

Learn more about the project here and see what you'll get by pledging: you can get an on-screen credit, a copy of Jeremy's short film ICE CREAM ANTS (featuring me as The Drunkard -- pictured above, this is one of my favorite roles), and a few people will get this cool T-shirt:

If you're crazy about movies, help this one get made.  You won't regret it.

Family Photos

When Tobe Hooper revisited the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the 1986 sequel, he said the movie was  the anti-John Hughes movie.  I don't know what the hell that means, but he proved the point with this poster, huh?  

Deleted Sequence from "KEVIN & MATT GEEK OUT ABOUT SHARKS"

Thanks everyone who attended Friday's Kevin & Matt Geek Out About Sharks.  It's amazing that a 2-hour video variety show doesn't have enough time for all the footage we wanted to show.  In talking about JAWS as a pop culture force, we looked at some parodies and rip-offs.  But there was also a series of visual references that came out of the film's success, seen in this dialogue of sorts between two horror film-makers.

We'll start with Wes Craven:  In his 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes, audiences witnesses brutal violence and carnage on screen.  After a particularly gruesome attack, we see the remains of a trailer, in the background there's a ripped poster of a shark (reportedly a poster of JAWS, but I'm not sure.)

Craven seemed to be saying "That's just a movie.  THIS is real horror."  (View this clip and more after the jump...)

SHARK FASHION

When you come to next Friday's KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT SHARKS  feel free to wear your favorite shark shirt, hat or accessories.

SHARK fashion is always in style:

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT SHARKS: Art Gallery

We're pleased to announce that on Friday July 16th, Matt Glasson and I will present an ENCORE screening of KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT SHARKS.  

To get you psyched for this JAWSOME event, here's a gallery of some great sharks: 

The End of KEVIN GEEKS OUT

Last Friday (June 21st) was the final Kevin Geeks Out.  (the theme was KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT ALIENS)

Photos, recap and bonus material to come.

In the meantime, here's a nice write-up about K.G.O. from the wonderful Vault of Horror, by a guy who really "got" the show, Brian Solomon.

Also, here's a photo of the alien cupcakes:

LOST Finale: H.W.G.A.S. edition

I think the worst thing you can do with a pop culture phenomenon is to interpret it for people, or tell them why it's successful or (worst of all) tell people why they really like it. That said, I will share *my* thoughts/reactions/observations to the final episode, simply because I haven't seen this interpretation anywhere in the "mainstream media" (granted I only read 2 - 3 articles.) 

Kevin Geeks Out: A look back

Kevin Geeks Out began while I was doing a weekly web series for American Movie Classics, focussing on Science-fiction movies.  The wonderful Erez Ziv (at the Horse Trade Theater Group) suggested I do a monthly show at the Under St. Marks.  He suggested I rent a movie (from Kim's Video, just down the street from the theater), showing a film that I had spotlighted on my web show.

I thought no one would pay to see a movie that they could rent from Netflix or watch on a computer.  So I came up with an idea for a clip-based show.  Lots of clips around a given theme, all leading up to a feature presentation (a short film, TV episode, something like that.)  Then Meg Sweeney Lawless and Jay Stern started producing the show with me.  We added a co-host (a different one each month.)  We brought in guest speakers.  And then we got rid of the feature presentation to make room for more clips.


The show was great fun, with amazing guests and the best audiences I've ever had the pleasure of appearing before.


After the jump, there's a complete list of shows, followed by a complete list of guests:

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.

GEEK BINGO: the home edition

At April's installment of KEVIN GEEKS OUT we got everyone in attendance to play GEEK BINGO.  How does it work?  It's exactly like regular Bingo, but instead of using specific numbers, you fill in a square based on geeky things about yourself. 


(for example, if the letter "B" is picked, the announcer reads "BEEN to Comic-Con"  If you have been to Comic-Con, then you get the point.  The object is to be the first person with 5 checks across or 5 checks down.) 


So take a regular BINGO card or make your own using blank boxes under the letters. 


Next, pick bingo balls out of a hopper (again ignore the numbers, just call the letter) the read one of the statements that are labeled "B"  "I"  "N"  "G"  or  "O"


Once you've gotten 5 across or 5 down, you shout "GEEK BINGO!"


The call-out card is attached and was written with the help of Lisa Beebe, Scott Christian Carr, Noah Tarnow and Mike Whalen.  (Thanks guys!) 

Tin Foil Hat Competition at this Friday's KEVIN GEEKS OUT

This Friday (May 21st) is the final installment of KEVIN GEEKS OUT!

It's also our first (and last) annual TIN FOIL HAT Competition.

So come with your own tin foil hat and enter the contest.  You could win a big prize!  Or maybe you'll meet the love of your life.  If nothing else, you will shield your brain from the most electromagnetci psycotronic mind-control carriers.

Our Friday night show will be a 95-minute cavalcade of alien-themed videos, guest speakers, snacks and presentations -- so of course we'd want to celebrate the choice headgear to prevent extra-terrestrial mind control.

Kevin Geeks Out About ALIENS!

This month, Kevin Geeks Out about ALIENS! 

It's a 90-minute cultural cavalcade of 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 co-host Philip Shane (editor of the documentary UFOs – Seeing is Believing) and some very special guests: 

·      Emmy Award-winning Daily Show writer Elliott Kalan looks back at his favorite E.T. rip-off.

·      Dr. Justin Weinstein shares insider secrets with his talk “How to Make a UFO Documentary”

·      Anatomy Teacher Kriota Willberg dissects the concept of alien-as-parasite in science fiction films

·      Artist-Baker Sara Reiss serves up home-made Alien snacks

·      Cartoonist Michael Kupperman (Tales Designed to Thrizzle) presents his Martian-themed comic strips.

All this plus a brief history of Project Blue Book, a survey of the galaxy’s sexiest extraterrestrials, a musical retrospective of “Aliens that Rock”, and a field guide on how to identify alien invaders in everyday settings.

 

All audience-members are encouraged to compete in the TIN FOIL HAT COMPETITION.  (Tin foil will be provided.) 

Arrive early and you can catch our new PRE-SHOW VIDEO, featuring dozens of clips from past shows and original music ("The Haunting Theme from Kevin Geeks Out") by Anne Kadet 

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT ALIENS

92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street

New York, NY

$10  (click here for tickets) 

ONE SHOW ONLY - Friday May 21, 8:00pm

Now here's the trailer,  edited by the show's co-host, Philip Shane: 

Danomation - the letter D

My man Dano made this.  I hope we see it on Sesame Street real soon!

Death of a Geek: John McGarr

This is not a symbolic death, like a comic-book geek has been reformed  or anything.  Rather, it's the actual loss of a really great guy who was killed by a drunk driver.  This is the second obituary I'm writing from Kevin Geeks Out About Werewolves; in December I'd eulogized actor-writer Paul Naschey here.   Today I'm writing about filmmaker John McGarr.

John recently produced House of the Wolfman.  He also played the creepy manservant, Barlow (pictured, right.)  The film re-creates the look and feel of a 1940's monster movie, it even boasts a connection to the original Universal Monsters by casting Ron Chaney (grandson of the original Wolf Man, Lon Chaney Jr.)

Last week John attended the HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis.  According to a convention organizer, John and his brother Eben were there working on a documentary.  On Thursday morning, he was walking to breakfast when a car swerved out of the traffic lane, hitting and killing John.

When we did Kevin Geeks Out About Werewolves, I'd emailed John requesting clips.  He sent us the trailer (below).  We closed the show with his footage, it played beautifully and brought the night full circle.  Afterwards a lot of people wanted to know how they could see the whole movie.

He also sent me this video, shot in the style of a 1970's MEGO commercial.  John was a guy who clearly loved what he loved and was making stuff for fans like me.

We never met in person, but I was glad to know him by phone and by email.  When I'd suggested he talk to people at the 92Y Tribeca to arrange a screening, he refused.  John said he wanted to his New York premiere to take place at a Drive-In.  He'd already started researching it, and I hope the filmmakers make it happen.  In March, House of the Wolf Man had been picked up for world-wide distribution by Taurus Entertainment.  (They're planning an October release, naturally.)  We lost a good geek, but his labor of love lives on...

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.