FanFare

Whether you love it or hate it or are simply confused by the fact that anybody ever made it, it's hard to be completely indifferent to this one-of-a-kind product of seventies excess, in which Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees are cast as a small town band trying to follow the example of hometown hero Sgt. Pepper to save their beloved Heartland, USA from the sinister Future Villain Band and its brainwashed minions. [more inside]
posted by Nerd of the North on Apr 24, 2023 - 37 comments

Re-rewatch! A real estate developer's hubris results in the deaths of some of the guests to his new hotel. This one is seventies-tastic! Previously and again.
posted by JHarris on Jan 5, 2023 - 2 comments

A young woman develops a taste for human blood after experimental plastic surgery, and her victims turn into blood-thirsty zombies, leading into a city-wide epidemic. [more inside]
posted by skycrashesdown on Oct 23, 2022 - 3 comments

Re-rewatch! The evil organization of this movie raises dumb clones of important people, like senators, to serve as sources of spare body parts. It was the kind of movie premise that seemed plausible in 1979, I guess. What happens when the senator gets voted out? Costs a lot of money to keep a clone in feed when it might not even be needed. In subplot news, Pearl and minions babysit a trio of god children. Previously, and again.
posted by JHarris on Mar 3, 2022 - 7 comments

When he was only 10 years old, Jonathan Marshall was sent on a 240 mile bicycle trip. 3 days. Across 2 states. With no adult supervision. 45 years later, Jonathan can't stop thinking about the trip. Or the little boys he made it with. Credits: Hosted and produced by Jonathan Goldstein. Produced by Stevie Lane, along with BA Parker, and Kalila Holt. Editing by Jorge Just. Special thanks to Emily Condon, PJ Vogt, Anna Ladd, Haley Shaw, and Jackie Cohen. Mixed by Bobby Lord. Music by Christine Fellows, John K Samson, Edwin, Blue Dot Sessions, and Bobby Lord. Theme song is by The Weakerthans courtesy of Epitaph Records; ad music is by Haley Shaw. A new season from the inimitable godfather of self-deprecating samaritanism sets off in true form. [more inside]
posted by progosk on Oct 8, 2019 - 2 comments

As Bob edits "Lenny" and begins direction of "Chicago," the cost of his ongoing high-wire act becomes evident. While Bob deals with forced time to reflect, Gwen covers for Bob's absence and cleverly gets rid of a trying hospital roommate, while Ann looks after Bob in other ways. [more inside]
posted by Sheydem-tants on May 18, 2019 - 7 comments

Bob appears to have bounced back from his recent psych hospitalization as he cozies up with new partner Ann Reinking, trades stories with Paddy Chayefsky and newly bereft Neil Simon, and welcomes Gwen and her new beau Ron for a very long weekend party on the Hamptons. Also, Nicole smokes her first cigarette. [more inside]
posted by Sheydem-tants on May 10, 2019 - 6 comments

Rock 'n' roll kids plot to take down their school's fascist administration with a little help from the Ramones. Streaming video available for the moment only on YouTube. [more inside]
posted by Sheydem-tants on Nov 28, 2015 - 2 comments

"The Master Is Here! He's the supreme warrior. Even his eyes can kill you. His student is the supreme heartthrob. His eyes can melt you." A goofy kid who lives out of his van with his pet hamster is taken on as apprentice by an aging American ninja master played, amazingly, by Lee Van Cleef, and who's back in the US looking for his lost daughter. They travel the country in a manner not unlike Richard Kimble or David Banner. This is another of those direct-to-video "movies" that are actually episodes of a TV show stitched together. This time though, despite the name, it's an American show, "The Master," from 1984, and it's from Film Ventures International. You might think it'd make for a bad episode, but this is another true classic, thanks no doubt to the writing talents and obsessive pop culture knowledge of one Frank Conniff. A good jumping-on episode. YouTube (1h33m) Premiered January 11, 1992. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Sep 16, 2015 - 12 comments

Vaughn Hood was a 118-pound barber when he was drafted into the Vietnam War… most men didn’t survive their first three-month tour. Now Vaughn Hood runs a hair salon in St. Johnsbury with his wife, Bev. For a couple days, [host Erica Heilman] sat and talked with him in the back of his salon. We talked about war, about hard work, about survival, and hairdressing. [more inside]
posted by Going To Maine on Jun 30, 2015 - 3 comments

STRANDED IN SPACE, a.k.a. The Stranger (1973, Color, TV Movie, Seventies, Sci-Fi, Dystopia) "The planet he uncovered was a twin to Earth... but so ominously different!" An astronaut goes up, but something seems weird about the planet he comes back down to. It's "Terra," a dystopia where everything is under the control of the "Perfect Order" and everyone lives in fear of being sent to the ominous "Ward E." As Crow points out to us, "lot of Chryslers on this planet." A TV movie salvaged from a failed series pilot, so don't expect an awful lot of resolution. As third season episodes go it's a bit of a sleeper, but that just means it's very funny. Has some classic host segments. Dust off your memories (if you're old enough to have them) of 70s TV stars for this one. YouTube (1h40m) First aired June 29, 1991. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on May 7, 2015 - 7 comments