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.

JAWSFEST 2012 and the BROOKLYN OBSERVATORY screening

This summer I did two performances of KEVIN & MATT GEEK OUT ABOUT SHARK MOVIES:  One show at the Brooklyn Observatory and another at JAWSFEST in Martha's Vineyard. 

Here are some photos from the events: (including winners of our JAWS 2 COLORING BOOK Contest) 

Also, here's New York Magazine's piece on JAWSFEST including a chat with Matt. 

Coloring Book Contest at KEVIN & MATT GEEK OUT ABOUT SHARK MOVIES

This Thursday night, Matt Glasson and I will celebrate Shark Cinema. 

Here's a contest for you! 

Print one of these coloring book pages and color it in. 

Bring your page to the show and we'll give a prize to the best page.

You could win passes to the New York Aquarium and other shark-related prizes. 

JAWS joke

Did you know the swimmer from JAWS had dandruff?


They found her Head & Shoulders on the beach. 

Countdown to JAWSfest

I'm counting the days until JAWSfest in Martha's Vineyard. (I'll be there to co-host a Shark Movie Geek Out at Flatbread Pizza on Friday Night's Shark After Dark.)

To get ready I've been re-watching the JAWS movies and reading Patrick Jankiewicz's excellent book JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE: A JAWS COMPANION.

Here are some "fun facts" that demand to be shared:

Universal had wanted Charlton Heston to play Quint.

In Peter Benchley's novel, Hooper is having an affair with Ellen Brody and he is eaten by the shark.

Mrs. Kitner's poster notes that her son Alex was killed by the shark on June 29th -- the same day Quint says the Indianapolis sank.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat" was ad-libbed by Roy Scheider.

Director Jeannot Schwarc was hired to direct JAWS 2 based on the strength of the earthquake scenes he directed in William Castle's BUG

An early draft of JAWS 3-D revealed that the shark was the same burnt-faced shark from JAWS 2. 

Actor Mark Gilpin (Sean Brody in JAWS 2) remembers his co-star Donna Wilkes: "Donna had a lot of pressure, because she's the one who had to freak out so much in the film. Donna kept to herself on JAWS 2, because she had to constantly psych herself up."

Shark Movie Mayhem at the Brooklyn Observatory

Do you like SHARK movies?
Then join Matt Glasson and me (Kevin Maher) as we GEEK OUT about Shark Cinema!  It's Thursday August 9th at the Brooklyn Observatory.

A "LOST" LATE NIGHT CLIP: Bobcat's Trouser Snake on The Arsenio Hall Show

Long story short: I've worked for basic cable clip shows and pop culture websites. (I've written about it here.) These low-paying institutions rely on the internet for examples of pop culture's greatest moments.  But the sad thing is, if a moment in TV history isn't on youtube, it's as if it never happened.

Case in point: I was working on a CNN show that looked back on "Interviews Gone Wrong" -- and my research turned up plenty of familiar moments (I'm sure you can predict the classics):  

• Crispin Glover kicking David Letterman
• Robert Blake being freaky with Larry King 
• Quentin Tarantino vs. Jan Wahl
• Fist-fights on the Morton Downey Jr show
• Marlon Brandon acting weird with Larry King
• Bobcat Goldthwait setting fire to a chair on The Tonight Show

Now the thing is, I wanted to use another great moment with Bobcat, but I couldn't find it anywhere. 

HERE'S A DESCRIPTION OF THE CLIP -- if you have it, please post this "lost" video to youtube: 

After Bob Goldthwait was banned from the Leno Show, he became a frequent guest on The Arsenio Hall Show. This was towards the end of Arsenio's run, so Bobcat wasn't promoting stuff he'd just come out to liven things up a little. 

One time Bobcat made a joke that he wanted to do something crazy -- he said he'd considered coming out and removing a live snake from his pants, joking that it would guarantee he'd appear in any "Best of" episodes. 

Ha ha, pretty funny joke, right? 

Then they did a 5-6 minute interview. 

And at the very end of the segment, Bob stood up and removed a live snake from his pants. 

It was an amazing little moment of TV, but as far as I can tell, no record of it exists online.  (That's why I'm posting this here.) 

Now whenever there's a  bizarre interview moment (like Joaquin Phoenix being weird on Letterman)  

pop-culture bloggers do a retrospective of the weirdest interview moments, but remarkably Bobcat's pants-snake never makes the list.  It's as if it never happened.  (By the way, this would be an appropriate use of the term Orwellian, because it has to do with popular memory being shaped by mass media. People normally say a surveillance camera is Orwellian, but I think this would be a more appropriate use of the phrase.) 

The is because the collective memory doesn't remember it.  But it happened. And it was great. 

I hope other people will keep the oral history of Bobcat's Trouser-Snake alive. 

Or better still, I hope someone posts the video online.  I'd love to see it again. 

Upcoming shows

I've got some upcoming events that the world needs to know about...

This weekend, I'm heading to Boston for GEEK WEEK! 

On Saturday night, I'm doing crash-course on shark-cinema with KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT SHARKS.  (get tickets here) 

Later that night Mark Douglas appears as ANDREW 12-SIDED DICE CLAY (I wrote his stand-up material, which will include a slide-show of Flat Stan Lee)
Get tickets here.  

On Sunday afternoon I'm leading a workshop titled TRUE TALES FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM: The business and craft of writing, click on the link to sign-up. 

In May, I'll return to NYC's 92Y Tribeca with an all-new comedy variety show called KEVIN GEEKS OUT: THE GREAT GRAB BAG SHOW (click here for details) It'll cover a variety of topics including NYC's secret history of pinball, Turkish Cinema's Greatest Hits and an appreciation of Vanilla Ice.  

10 Promised Sequels that Never Happened

For a long time I'd wanted to compile a list of movies that promised a sequel (usually in the closing credits) but the sequel never got made.

Ironically my list was like one of those un-produced sequels -- it never happened... until my friend Nick Nadel asked me to contribute to a website he's editing.

So here is a run-down of 10 movies that promised sequels -- including video clips like Skeletor speaking German and the opening titles of REMO WILLIAMS, the TV series.

Enjoy -- and let me know if there's any films I've forgotten.

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%

10 People Who Missed their calling in the WWE

Admit it, all these people could work in professional wrestling.  They each have that special something. 

A IS FOR AEON: #5 in a series of pop culture primers

 A is for AEON, I’d tap that cartoon

B is for BETTY, with black and white poon

C’s for the CAPTAIN, patriotic and pensive

          

D is DICK TRACY, his sidekicks are offensive

The Top Pop Culture Experts in Pop Culture

Here's the third (and possibly final) entry in my series about being a POP CULTURE EXPERT.  

I went all "meta" and compiled a list-piece about pop culture experts in popular culture. Ha ha. 

Who did I leave out? (Besides "Chainsaw" from SUMMER SCHOOL?) 

(note the article's title was changed to "the geekiest pop culture expert in pop culture", but to me that's a different list entirely which suggests it's based on how geeky someone is. That's not the list I wrote. Oh you editors....) 

Read the list HERE. 

Thanks to Nick Nadel for bringing the list to a "legit" media outlet. 

RELATED POSTS: 


Secrets of a Pop Culture Expert



Pop Culture Blogger of the Year



How to Scientifically Determine when to turn down a Freelance job

Troublemaker at the Comedy Institute

Recently I was hired as a comedy consultant to help some brand creatives think outside the box.

Normally I despise hearing people talk seriously about comedy.  But the money was good.

Turns out the only thing worse than witnessing a panel on comedy is being part of a panel on comedy. People made sweeping generalizations and self-important observations. It was a difficult 75 minutes.

I did two things to simultaneously take my role seriously and (kind of) subvert it.

First, I arrived dressed as Dr. Millard Rausch, the jerk who appears on the panel show in George A. Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD. (Fans will remember I wore this costume when I hosted  Kevin Geeks Out About Dummy Deaths -- honestly, it works better with the beard.)

Second, I tried to answer vague questions with a painstaking amount of detail.

For example, the bizarro question packet wanted to know "What are the genres of comedy?"

I suppose they want simple answers like "parody" and "slapstick."

Instead I wrote up 125 different genres of comedy.

I figured it would be fun audience participation, they could shout out a number and I'd reveal the specific sub-genre I listed.  And it pointed out how dumb the question is in the first place.

After the panel I never heard back from the agency -- dashing my hopes of a lucrative consulting position.  But here's my official comedy research listing the 125 genres of comedy.  (I could've listed more, but I think I made my obnoxious point, don't you?)

125 Comedy Genres

1.   Christian ventriloquism

2.   Greek plays by Aristophanes with lots of phalluses.

3.   Pre-Civil War Minstrel Show

4.   Internet Cat-based humor

5.   Porn parodies of popular culture

6.   Political cartoons with too many metaphors

7.   Nostalgia-based coming-of-age storytelling

8.   Post-PORKY’S teen sex comedies screened late at night on basic cable with all the dirty parts edited out

9.   Humorous fortune cookie

The Flat Stan Lee Project

1. Print or download this illustration (by the talented Karen Sneider)

2. Cut-out your paper doll of Flat Stan Lee. 

3. Bring him on an adventure, take lots of photos. 

4. Email those photos to Kevin@LoveKevin.com

5. See you photos at http://flatstanlee.tumblr.com/ 

You can also color in this black-and-white version. 

Kevin Geeks Out About WRASSLIN'

GET TICKETS

A pile-driver of world-class entertainment, it's KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT WRASSLIN'

Friday March 30 @ 8pm
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street, NYC
just $10
click here for tickets

The two-hour variety show features a no-holds-barred battle royal of film clips, dramatic readings, guest talks, true stories, trivia prizes and never-before-told secrets from the squared circle, with footage you won't find on YouTube or Netflix.

With special guests:

Author-musician MIKE EDISON recounts the bloody Loser-Leaves-Town match where he defeated his boss to become editor-in-chief of newsstand staple Wrestling's Main Event, his feud with Hulk Hogan and his brief stint writing wrestling-themed pornography.

Quizmaster NOAH TARNOW remembers that long-departed staple of televised wrestling: the squash match.

Former WWE editor BRIAN SOLOMON presents "What I Learned Working for the WWE", reflecting on his seven years reporting to Vince McMahon.

Pop Culture enthusiast BRANDON ROHWER salutes the bad guys we love to hate, in his Celebration of the Heels.

Artist-Baker SARA REISS serves up wrasslin'-themed cupcakes (where the secret ingredient is a perfectly-snapped Slim Jim)

And host KEVIN MAHER shares the never-before-told stories detailing his two years as Garbagio, the masked-wrestler on a kids' TV show.


all this plus and much, much more. 

GET TICKETS NOW

note: This event is part of the 92Y Tribeca's series BEAT DOWN: WRESTLING IN THE MOVIES