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Cold Zone (2017)
NOT the "worst movie ever", not by a long shot.
OK... some people love to take shots at things, because they can. Condemnation can be a fun sorta thing for some people. These sorts of people are the ones in here who wish they could give this movie a "0" rating. I wonder how many of them have also rated other movies as "the worst movie ever", etc.
I gave this movie a 5... because this is a sci-fi schlock film. It's supposed to be cliche with a tired storyline and characters doing goofy stuff typical of stuff people do in schlock movies. Lots of these types of movies out there, usually low budget eforts based on existing plotlines/stories, made to cash in on the disaster fans who waste no time stampeding to the Sci-Fi channel or Netflix etc to check out the latest catastrophe threatening the planet, or maybe just Los Angeles or New York city. Or Palm Beach. Or any other place that needs being taken down a peg or two. As schlock goes, this one is watchable and certainly not "the worst ever" and I can make an educated judgment on that sort of criteria because I know what a truly bad movie is... I've seen some seriously lousy movies in my time, some of which wouldn't pass muster as even schlock. They were just plain bad. Go into watching this one with the forewarning that it IS a schlock sci-fi disaster film and pick it apart as you watch... acceptable fare on a weekend evening when the weather is miserable outside and there's take-out pizza on the way.
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)
Sobering
"A Story Of A Flying Fortress"
The Boeing B-17 is a modern era legend and one of the most successful weapons of war to ever fly.
This documentary served to tell a story about the men who flew the Belle, as well as other air crews who flew other B-17s in the 91st bomb group along with other bomb groups in the 8th Air Force, all of whom helped win the war in Europe.
The film did not, however, mention the affection that these men often held for their airplane, cleaving unto it like a lover and depending on it to protect them and bring them home safely. Their lives depended upon their airplane's performance, durability, and function. They would regard their particular personal airplane like they regarded a first car, their "hot rod". This is why almost every B-17 received a personal moniker via nose-art, a name, and it was usually female in gender... such as "The Memphis Belle".
"That's my girl over there!"
These airplanes certainly had an identity, a presence, and in a manner of speaking, a soul... and air crews who saw other B-17s around them fatally damaged, going down often in flames, would watch in horror as the B-17 died. They knew a kinship with those other airplanes and the men in them. They would fight viciously at their gun positions to defend their girl from the enemy fighter planes which would kill her and them, if they could. The air war over Germany was a bloody and violent sort of thing, with hundreds of thousands of casualties suffered in the air before war's end.
Some years ago, when the Memphis Belle was in process of undergoing a restoration in Tennessee (much of what was initially done by Memphis Aerotech) I chased down the man who was heading up the restoration efforts to ask if I could have access to the airplane and photograph it, explaining that I was a photographer as well as a war-bird buff, and I was given access to where the airplane was parked, leaving me alone with the world's most famous B-17.
After shooting a hundred or so photographs, I went forward and sat in the cockpit, in the pilot's seat, staring out through the Plexiglas, thinking about WW-II and the missions this airplane flew, remembering that I was sitting in the ONLY surviving B-17 'F' model that saw combat.
THIS was the very same airplane that I'd watched countless times, while viewing Wyler's documentary film that had inspired me so much...
It's no wonder that the Belle is the only surviving 'F' combat model B-17 because so very few of the 'F' models came back, flying earlier in the war when the Luftwaffe was still powerful, tearing up formations of bombers in a hailstorm of bullets and cannon shells, ripping bombers to pieces as their crews desperately fought to defend "their girls", praying and cursing and firing their 50 cal. machine guns at the fighter planes which had been specifically engineered to tear up bombers.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
It is sobering to think about what must have gone through those air crews' minds. It was equally sobering to sit in the cockpit of the Belle and consider that it was only the luck of the draw and the persistence of the USAAF that managed to beat down the resistance of the Luftwaffe, which resulted in the Belle surviving the war instead of ending up in Germany at the bottom of a smoking hole in the ground filled with pieces of B-17.
Pray for the souls of those air crews who gave their all while doing their duty, whether they were Americans, or Germans... they all died equally.
This documentary film is perhaps the ONLY film that makes any headway towards showing the real side of the air war over Germany in the times when missions were NOT cakewalks and the chances of surviving a combat tour of 25 missions was NIL. ...not until the B-17F Memphis Belle, 324th Sqdn 91st Bomb Group, 8th USAAF managed to do it with her original crew intact. They proved that it could be done, and that alone inspired other air crews more than most people would ever know.
One "technical" note: It was only a stroke of luck that the Memphis Belle survived the mass scrapping of combat veteran airplanes that resulted after the war. The Belle was, at the last minute, pulled off a line of bombers that were slated to be scrapped.
After being displayed in Memphis TN for many years, it was "recalled" by the USAF and transported to the Wright Patterson AFB where it is currently undergoing a second restoration and will be placed on permanent display at the Wright Patterson AFB Air Museum.
It's a fitting place for the most famous B-17 in the world. Go see her, and think about the men who flew in her, and be glad that such men lived.
Does a B-17 have a "soul"? Decide for yourself. I think it does... and next time at an air show when you see an old man standing beside a restored B-17 clutching a prop blade with tears on his face, give him a soft pat on the back. If he says anything about his wartime experiences, LISTEN to him. Ask him about his airplane, what its name was, which bomb group, who he flew with...
Remember the Memphis Belle and the men who flew in her, and then go out and buy-rent the documentary film by William Wyler and watch it with a new perspective, knowing that it was real, and not "Hollywood".
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Beyond the Rising Moon (1987)
Not bad for an Indie
Note, from the beginning, that I gave this film an "8". That's because it was shot on a shoestring budget and limited resources by a guy who took it seriously and worked hard on it. Low-buck effort it may be, but it used that tiny budget to best effect, and the result IS a nicely done piece of sci-fi that, although technically dated today, will still hold up well if you overlook the fact that CGI, which is second-nature today, was something which this film did not have the advantage of enjoying.
Most of the F/X filming was done with miniatures, and I mean miniatures, along with stop-motion film work to depict the characters on "large" sets which the production simply did not have, which DID come off pretty well when you consider the limitations they were working with. Some of the F/X models of vessels were hardly larger than a human hand. Other models/sets were assembled from carefully selected ordinary consumer hardware and old military/NASA surplus items that were arranged and configured to good effect.
It was a fine effort that actually does have a decent story line that makes it interesting to watch, particularly considering that it was such a low budget film where innovation, hard work, and dedication helped to make up for the lack of Star Wars style F/X and major studio facilities, with much of this film having been shot in farmland not very far from where I live.
I had a chance to meet and speak with the director/writer at an expo/screening here in town, and he talked about many of the obstacles he and the crew had to overcome while making this film, particularly with doing the sets and F/X, interesting stuff and all in all an enlightening lecture for independent movie makers and/or anyone involved with film.
This film doesn't show up often, but when it does, you should take a look. It's made the way movies used to be made before current day standards turned many small film maker's dreams and labors of love into multi-million buck big-wheel efforts glitzed with fla$h and "kewl 'splosions an' stuff". This film is not too far removed from being a bit of an icon of how it used to be done... with some decent visuals combined with an interesting story.
I applaud it not because it's a great film, but because it turned out as well as it did with such a small amount of resources to work with. I thought enough of it to seek out and purchase a copy on video, took a while but it was out there. Check it out, and give credit where it's due.
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
In retrospect:
It seems that so many people who were fans of the original BG (aka Battlestar Galactica) were steadfastly against this show from the beginning before they ever saw the first frame of film.
This show was different.
This miniseries and the current Battlestar Galactica TV series is everything it should have been to begin with, Back When, but of course such would never have worked in the Disco Days of the 1970s, when TV was mostly all flash and flair and pretty people with meticulously maintained big-hair who never seemed to worry about that zit on their chin. Substance was severely lacking; everyone was too busy trying to look pretty.
Now: This miniseries, although not perfect, (trying to find its sea legs) did successfully set the stage for a whole new concept of BG unlike anything the original series ever touched upon (or could have gotten away with).
Still, to this day, I keep seeing die-hards who waste no time in condemning this new BG offering as if with every success or accomplishment was viewed as a slap in the face of the original, by those who for some reason will see NO good in any new sci-fi offerings.
You all know the original story concept. Humans invented the cylons to "aid mankind". These "assistants" which eventually developed their own logic and rational thought and decided they didn't want to be robot slaves and they attacked their creators.
SPOILER ALERT For those who have been on another planet, spoilers follow.
This miniseries modifies the concept of the original BG to conclude the first human/cylon war with a cease-fire and truce, whereupon the cylons retreat to a "cylon home world" planet somewhere distant, and vanish for decades... eventually, for all intents and purposes, forgotten by almost everyone.
...until from out of the blue in a sneak attack, the cylons (all new and improved) destroy just about everyone in a nuclear holocaust that leaves fewer than 50,000 people to escape in whatever ships remain in service, fleeing their original home world with the cylons in relentless pursuit. It sets the stage for a new struggle against a dedicated technically advanced mechanical enemy out to wipe out everyone who's human.
Everyone aboard the remaining ships is suddenly thrust into a life or death situation that nobody expected. And of course the only actual protection this fleet has is the Galactica, which is obsolete and had been slated for decommissioning.
An old ship, almost no wartime experienced people on board outside of the "old salts" such as Commander Adama, a brooding career officer who still does things *his way* in spite of all the new tech which had been incorporated into the new ships replacing the "old guard". His 2nd in command, Col Saul Tigh, is an old friend from their early days of service who himself has a lot of issues regarding a failed marriage and a drinking problem combined with a general disillusioned outlook at life in the waning years of his career. Many of the rest of the crew are young, ambitious, and generally sorry to see the retirement of Galactica which had been their duty station for several years for many of them. Almost none of them have any combat experience at all, nor did they really expect to ever have to demonstrate that they could be effective warriors rather than simply "keepers of the peace".
The Galactica is indeed antiquated, with rudimentary (compared to modern warships) computer systems and now only equipped with a contingent of decades-old cosmetically restored "Viper" fighters on board as a part of the display which was to occupy one of the landing bays for visitors to see during the ship's swan song career as a museum, all its modern fighter squadrons having already been reassigned to elsewhere.
Interestingly enough, these obsolete "Viper" fighters are identical in every way to the fighters seen in the original 1970s BG, down to the last rivet. Word has it that one of the Vipers seen on the deck all restored and polished up and ready for display is actually one of the original Vipers used in the filming of the 1970s BG series.
Suddenly, the obsolete Galactica and its decades old force of defense fighters is all that remains between a relentless cylon assault and the remains of humanity; a museum piece left to defend the fleet.
They have their work cut out for them. And it's hard work. Regular series episodes show a battered and dented and scuffed-scratched contingent of Viper fighters oft times patched back together with "bubble gum and baling wire" and a hope and a prayer, oil spills on the decks, worn equipment, sweat and blood, tired deck hands, and a war weary bridge crew short on sleep and quick to snap at one another, all the while wondering what is going to become of them.
This is prime territory for detailed involved story telling.
Those who feel the need to condemn this entry into the modern era of what Battlestar Galactica could initially have been in the '70s (and has actually become in this day and age) can do so. Those who see merit and substance and a great story can laud the efforts of Ron Moore (among others) who gained some serious experience in this sci-fi genre while working for years in Star Trek, as well as the ongoing efforts by Richard Hatch (the original "Apollo" in the 1970s BG and who has an ongoing supporting roll in the new BG) in getting BG resurrected again, in a new and improved form which has proved to be far and away one of the best sci-fi shows to land in living rooms in a long time.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
Kyle's mom's a bitch!
This has to be the most bizarre "musical" to ever see a theater screen.
Keep in mind that it helps to already be a fan of South Park in order to understand anything that's going on in this film. Otherwise, it's going to be a mystery and a bit of a shock to the system if you see this film unprepared.
THIS IS NOT A CHILDREN'S FILM. In spite of the cutsie cartoon caricatures, South Park is for adults only... *especially* BL&U. It contains some seriously harsh dialogue as well as some intense visuals that simply won't appeal to some of the more reserved viewers.
It also contains some of the most inspired lunacy and visual sight gags that have ever graced a movie screen. If you look closely at the entire South Park phenomenon, it becomes evident that there's more to the concept than just a collection of off-color jokes and one-liners and tongue-in-cheek TV and film references. This is a satirical reflection of the memories and recollections that so many of us remember from our times as a child, and how we looked at the rest of the world. However, South Park the TV series takes it all to an extreme... or maybe not. It's a love or hate sport of thing. You either get a bang out of it or you hate it with a passion. Either way, you won't soon forget it.
There's been a lot of controversy over South Park, mostly from people who simply "don't get it". Many of these seem to believe that it's a kid's show and keep condemning it for being such a corrosive influence on "our children". It is not a kid's show. Others think it's simply a vehicle for Parker and Stone to launch onto the viewing public with jokes and one-liners that in a live action series would get it cancelled in a week. In fact, there has indeed been some concerted efforts to get South Park cancelled, which is partly to blame (or thank, depending on your viewpoint) for "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" of which the title itself could well be a take-off on the fact that one of the South Park kids (Stan) is Jewish... which also is no sacred cow, far as the unfolding events are concerned. Nobody is safe. Canadians, Germans, and French appear to be Prime Targets in South Park along with almost any organized religious, political, or ethnic group.
However:
"It is not prejudiced as it offends everyone equally."
First, down to the basics.
SP: BLU is one of the funniest and most imaginative and over-the-edge films I've ever seen. You haven't lived until you see Satan singing, A&E musical style, about dreaming of living a wonderful life "Up There", or the Academy Award nominated "Blame Canada" number, or the outrageous "Uncle F*cka" song... which could well end up having you humming it at work in spite of yourself. It's perhaps the most astonishing song in the film. And that's saying something. Besides, you've not lived until you witness a professionally choreographed/performed musical arrangement that includes the sounds of flatulence as part of the lyrics. It must be seen to be believed. What's more, it actually works. Amazing...
Marvelous fun throughout, for those with an open mind and a taste for the obscure... and aren't bothered with insecurities over how society is being corrupted by the Media... read: South Park.
Now, the serious part:
"South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" actually contains a message. It's a not very subtle punch to the face of censorship and sensationalism regarding over-reaction to things as inconsequential as bad language vs the numerous and much more serious problems facing the world we all live in. It's odd that such a message would be overlooked by so many detractors who only see obscenity and gross crude humor as the "message". Either that or they simply chose not to see.
Of course, most people went to see this film only to get a belly laugh, rather than experience enlightenment over censorship. Others seem to have viewed this film for the sole reason of criticizing it. Their minds were already made up before they bought the ticket.
If you already think South Park is a waste of time and sensibility, forget seeing this film. You've already decided that it's crap.
But if you can be objective and you're not bothered by adult humor... and you're not afraid of being "corrupted", go see it. Rent it. Buy it. You just might end up finding that your memories of being a child might get jostled a bit. And it's OK to hum the tune of "Uncle F*cka" at work... just don't sing the lyrics.
And to those who might take offense at this film... perhaps it's because some of the shots taken at the villains in this movie, whether by direct insult or via metaphor, just might hit a little too close to home.
I was not offended. I went out and bought the DVD. It's worthy of repeated viewing, in my opinion. I also have almost 40 hours of South Park episodes on tape. It's all a great way to escape the rest of the world for a little while on a rainy evening when there's not much doing.
Your mileage may vary... and I do have nomex underwear. So far, the Underpants Gnomes haven't gotten them yet. (South Park fans know about the Underpants Gnomes)
No Highway in the Sky (1951)
Obscure and underappreciated
Evidently not many people have heard of this movie. I saw it when I was a kid in the 1950s and was impressed, being an aeronautics buff even as a child (and still so today). The story revolves around a new advanced design commercial airliner called "Reindeer", in service in the UK and an aeronautical engineer (portrayed by Stewart) who suspects that the aircraft might have a design problem that could result in a structural failure of the vertical tailplane from metal fatigue... an at-the-time relatively new field of science in aviation. After one of the airliners is lost in a crash (and the tailplane is not among the wreckage) Stewart's character (Theodore Honey) begins testing of a production tailplane in a large research lab, vibrating it to see if, after a carefully calculated number of hours of vibration, the tailplane will suffer a structural failure. His theories about the proposed failure of the lab test subject tailplane assembly after a select number of hours of vibration are reinforced by a similar number of flight hours on the first airliner that was lost, which confirms his convictions that the crash was indeed the results of a structural failure brought on by metal fatigue.
The problem is that Mr Honey is a bit of a recluse and eccentric, a widower and single parent, and considered a bit of an odd duck by his contemporaries. However, he has credentials and his work is taken seriously enough to allow him to convince his employers to conduct the structural design lab tests, even though they do not really take him seriously on his metal fatigue theories and for the most part seem to be simply patronizing him... ...until Honey finds himself traveling via air and the airplane he gets onto happens to be a Reindeer... with enough acquired flight hours on the airframe to be dangerously close to the failure point according to his calculations. Honey, upon realizing that the airplane has the "required" flight time on the clocks to be in danger, embarks upon a quest to do something about it as only an eccentric genius can, and the story takes off from there (again, no pun).
The combination of a laid-back American actor like James Stewart and a somewhat abrupt British cast tends to accentuate Stewart's Theodore Honey, a normally reserved but very absorbed engineer caught up in his work, surrounded by a pack of hustle and bustle Brits. It's quite a contrast. Good support from Glynis Johns as the stewardess aboard the Reindeer and Marlene Dietrich as movie star Monica Teasdale, also a passenger aboard the airplane, both of whom get caught up in Honey's apprehension and fears of an impending disaster that he is certain is staring them in the face, although nobody else really takes any of it seriously... until Honey takes matters into his own hands after the airplane lands without incident and he learns that it's scheduled to remain in service in spite of his rather uncharacteristically loud and spirited pleas to have it grounded. His solution to keeping the airplane grounded until his lab tests are concluded is certainly an interesting turn of events.
Considering the vintage of this film (1951) it has decent F/X and remains a bit of a period piece, demonstrating how air travel used to be done before mass transport Jumbo Jets and economy class seating. This film is an aviation enthusiasts sort of movie as well as a story of the little guy who believed in his convictions and the few people around him who believed in him as a person... even though they may have doubts about his work and his theories.
Good cast across the board, with some standouts like Jack Hawkins who is always fine, and Marlene Dietrich who at first seems to be there solely as Star Appeal although after a bit of time passes, her presence becomes more and more genuine. There is some good character development in this film, albeit sometimes a bit rushed and the ending is also rather abrupt... but typical of many British films of the period. All and all, it's a film well worth watching for the fine performances and the engrossing story... and as a sidenote, for the look back at the way the fledgling airline industry and how it was coming into its own.
It also inadvertently provides a sobering point to ponder since this film was produced several years before the British De Haviland Comet jet airliner entered service and disastrously became aviation's first great example of the potential for a catastrophic structural failure caused by a design fault, which although corrected quickly, still didn't save the airliner from the stigma it suffered when several crashed after they experienced explosive decompression at high altitude from something as simple as having cabin windows too large and the wrong shape.
The British airline industry must have collectively flashed back to this film during the mid-1950s and the Comet's woes, and how prophetic "No Highway In The Sky" must have seemed at the time.
This film also includes some considerable supporting talent, almost all of which went uncredited, such as Kenneth More and Wilfrid Hyde-White.
Shogun Assassin (1980)
Surrealistic voyage into bloodletting
This film is not for the faint of heart. It's also not extremely realistic, what with blood spurting in all directions at almost every turn. However, it's not intended to be realistic. It's a fantasy ride. It's intended to be entertaining to those who enjoy film making of this genre, and to serve as a vehicle for a hero. And Lone Wolf is a hero of grand stature with a talent for defending himself and his own. And throughout the film, as he's pursued by hired assassins he defends himself and his child with style and brutal grace. Throughout the film, the glorious examples of extreme bloodshed are observed by his young son who accompanies his father... the son narrates the film in a manner that's almost mesmerizing in its effectiveness as events unfold.
This film has some of the most stylish and expressive swordsmanship you're ever likely to see. And throughout the bloody brutality and edged weaponry action there are some examples of the kindest and most humane exchanges you could ever imagine, particularly between father and son... some profound, some humorous, some just simply ordinary.
This film is hard to find and it's almost never seen on pay cable anymore, although Cinemax used to run it on occasion some years ago. However, it's still around in some video rental stores and on some of the auction sites now and then, so if you spot this film somewhere grab it. It's an amazing way to spend an evening, watching Lone Wolf and child take on the world. I looked a long time before I found my copy in an older video rental store that was going out of business and was selling off tapes. I bought it for four dollars... I'd have paid MUCH more for this obscure little gem of a film that was actually edited together from episodes of a Japanese TV series that aired in the early 1970s.
Watch this film with an open mind and with acceptance. It's a journey into furious bloodletting, subtle glory, and profound dignity.
Moron Movies (1983)
Bizarre and obscure
This is strange stuff.
Len Cella has compiled a time capsule of odd shorts, some very short... often lasting only a few seconds. They range from extraordinarily dumb to genuinely profound, or vice-versa depending on how open-minded you are. Moron Movies is certainly not for all tastes and it sometimes requires some dedicated soul searching in order to keep from asking yourself, "Why the hell am I watching this?".
However... don't give up on it before asking yourself why somebody would cook up such a silly collection of sketches... and why a commercial distributer would agree to pick it up and distribute Moron Movies in the first place, or why some of these sketches were aired from time to time on Carson's stint of The Tonight Show many years before Moron Movies was actually compiled and distributed. There's some inspired lunacy among the sketches that requires some investigation and thought. Of course, there's also some lamebrained efforts in this mix that make no sense at all. You decide.
Make no mistake, Moron Movies might be totally wacko and so bad it's funny in an Ed Wood Jr'ish sort of way. But then perhaps that was the whole point to begin with. It's sure not for everybody but for those who tend to share the same lunacy as Len Cella it can produce some good laughs... and those people could well find themselves repeating some of the catch phrases contained in Moron Movies in spite of themselves...
"I can type 90 words a minute but nobody will hire me just because I'm a shark."
"Does this aggravate ya? Huh? Heh heh heh..."
"They made this out of an old Buick."
As a last note, it's worth the trip through this stuff to watch Len shuffle a stack of sliced salami.
Hey, if Johnny Carson can find merit in Cella's skits, that in itself is saying something. Some people are going to love Moron Movies. Of course, others will simply record cartoons over it.
Skaterdater (1966)
A nice period piece that's come full circle
In the mid-1960s there was a skateboard craze that came and went, and has recently been revived to an almost extreme level, and this short film is about a group of kids on the verge of coming-of-age while zooming around on skateboards in mid-'60s California. Dialog is almost non-existent and none is needed, almost everything being on a visual action level which works out just fine. The music is by Mike Curb and Nick Venet, which although dated a bit, remains very much in tune with the times and the location and fits this short film perfectly. There's a lot of nice photography and some fun skateboard sequences that will certainly bring back memories for anyone who ever scuffed their toes and skinned their knees on a skateboard.
In the story, one of the skateboarder pack-leaders keeps accidently running (literally) into a girl on a bicycle. Eventually, the two of them get together and this does not sit well with the rest of "the guys" and before long a ritual contest to see who rules the hill takes place...
Skaterdater remains a memorable short film with great atmosphere and was in fact nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film in 1966, and was shown in some theaters between features at the time, which is where I first saw it as a kid. Being a rather ambitious skateboarder myself at that time, I never forgot it and it made an impression that lasted to this day. Unfortunately, Skaterdater evidently was never released on video, not even in any short film compilations that I know of. In fact, it hardly ever gets a mention anywhere and it wasn't until just recently that I finally managed to find a copy of this remarkable little film which hopefully, with today's renewed interest in skateboarding, might eventually find its way onto home video soon.
The Wizard of Speed and Time (1988)
"I don't shake hands"
Bizarre and obscure little film that charms you into watching it with gusto once a few minutes of it pass your eyes. It's an homage to struggling independent film makers everywhere, and filled with lots of subtle bits of humor and satire and quick-to-pass messages during the F/X. This film looks like it was made for about 40 bucks but don't let that keep you from watching it. What's more, evidently Mike Jittlov cast all his friends (a LOT of them) and his mom in the film as well, and it appears that each and every one of them are having the time of their lives doing this movie.
One of my favorite scenes is when Mike enters the office that Dora Belair (portrayed by Angelique Pettyjohn, sadly her last film appearance) works from, and there's a poster on the wall behind them of her Star Trek character "Shana" dressed in that aluminum foil bikini from the episode "The Gamesters Of Treskelian". It's a nice sci-fi touch... And nobody seems to notice.
Mike has a hard time trying to get his work recognized by anyone of substance (very much like real life) and it seems there's a crooked producer at every turn waiting to rip him off, and it isn't helped by his stigma about shaking hands... which is never really explained other than that he simply "...doesn't shake hands".
Throughout the film we see Mike working on film F/X in what appears to be his own garage and his own tools and props, and we get to see him actually producing the F/X that end up running in the short that he presents as his product, "The Wizard Of Speed And Time".
This is an astonishing little film that deserves much more recognition than it ever got, and it's a gem in the rough for being so matter-of-fact and innovative. It's also a must-have for any cult film or obscure cinema collector to include in their video collection. Of my all-time top 20 films, this would have to slip into the mix somewhere by its sheer tenacity and strength of will and innovation, if not for anything else. I really would have liked to have seen Mike Jittlov do something else similar to "Wizard..." but alas nothing ever came to be. I can watch this film over and over again, and with each viewing its atmosphere and flavor makes me feel like I'm 20 years back in time.
It's not for all tastes. Some people think it's absolutely wonderful, some people think it's amateurish nonsense. Some people simply won't get it at all. I got it. I liked it a lot, and the somewhat silly segments with the terribly cliche'd producer are forgivable if not perfectly allowable for the sake of comic relief, especially seeing as how that's the real producer of this film hamming it up on camera. If you *do* appreciate films like this, you'll feel refreshed after watching it and you'll feel like you'd like to meet Mike and maybe buy him a coke... just don't try to shake his hand.
Then go out and become an independent film maker yourself.
Bravo Mike, ya done good!