Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner

Santa vs Devil a Festivus Airing of Grievances

Roy’s intense dislike of “Santa Claus Versus the Devil” (he didn’t even watch the entire movie) threw me a little bit – or maybe it was just the spiked eggnog – so last night’s discussion probably never blossomed quite the way it should have done. The film’s many surreal delights were left to wither on the vine. I never even got around to talking about Krampus, the Christmas demon, and the dark underbelly of Christmas!

But even if it took all the air out of the room, in terms of not being able to actually delve very deeply into the film – beyond what I was able to get out about the director, the composer, the American importer, and one of the child actors, now doing hard time – it did allow a platform for the airing of grievances, as any Festivus broadcast should.

If you can’t bear to do your last-minute Christmas wrapping to yet another recording of “The Nutcracker,” put us on in the background. If our combative spirit fails to entertain, you could always just spend Christmas Eve at the local mall.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1789868367889508

We’ll be back on New Year’s Day, with another “Twilight Zone” double-header, and a conversation about the classic episodes “Walking Distance” (1959, written by Rod Serling, and starring Gig Young and Ron Howard), and “Nick of Time” (1960, written by Richard Matheson, and starring William Shatner and Patricia Breslin). This one is being curated by Roy, so don’t blame me if we begin 2022 in “the middle ground between light and shadow.”

What’s that signpost, up ahead? It’s Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner! Leave your best Rod Serling impressions in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, this January 1 at 7 PM EST.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

Stay safe, and Happy New Year!

December 24, 2021
Santa Claus vs Devil Ruining Christmas on Sci-Fi

Tomorrow night, it’s our last chance to ruin Christmas with “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.”

Viewers are still slack-jawed and aghast over last year’s discussion of “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” An 11-year-old Pia Zadora in green face paint, a supporting cast of down-on-their-luck Broadway actors, and a fly-by-night production valued at a dollar-ninety-eight (with every penny onscreen). Where do we go from there?

All downhill, of course. WAY downhill, as it happens. Following in the footsteps of the “Rocky” franchise, we’ll up the ante, even as we go to Hell: our focus this week will be on the Mexican underground classic “Santa Claus Versus the Devil” (1959).

What begins almost as an inversion of Goethe’s “Faust,” with Lucifer dispatching his goateed lieutenant, Pitch, to earth, to turn the children of the world against Santa, builds to a “Spy vs. Spy” type showdown of the kind Blake Edwards would have loved. If only Jack Lemmon had played Pitch.

In the interim, Santa laughs it up with Merlin, a hirsute blacksmith, a multinational consortium of half-pint singing helpers, and a team of wind-up reindeer that will turn to dust with the rising sun, all while keeping tabs on the naughty and nice from his gold-and-crystal toyshop in space, high above the North Pole.

This being Mexico, somehow the Baby Jesus is never far away from the surreal, slapstick shenanigans.

It’s a literal war on Christmas, as Roy and I get hot under the collar. We’ll exchange views – maybe even blows – over “Santa Claus Versus the Devil,” on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave your eerie life-sized dolls in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, this week at a special time, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, AT 7:30 PM EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 22, 2021
Twilight Zone Christmas & Santa vs Devil Discussion

Roy and I were in the “Zone” last night – “The Twilight Zone,” that is – for our discussions of both Rod Serling’s “Carol for Another Christmas” and “The Night of the Meek.” In case you missed it, the show’s been archived.

We’ll revisit Serling’s “middle ground between light and shadow” on New Year’s Day.

In the meantime, so as not to conflict with your Christmas Eve, next week we’ll convene a day earlier than usual. So be sure to have plenty of scotch tape on hand – or perhaps just scotch – as we finish up our giftwrapping to a merry conversation about “Santa Claus vs. The Devil” (1959).

If you think we were punchy last night, wait until we’re ladling out the wassail. Meet us under the mistletoe – WAY under the mistletoe – for the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave your souls in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook, this THURSDAY EVENING AT 7:30 EST. Happy holidays!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 18, 2021
Twilight Zone Christmas Carol Serling’s Sci-Fi

I’m going for my booster shot this afternoon, so in case I’m in the Twilight Zone tomorrow, I’m posting about this now.

This week on “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” we offer, for your consideration, a discussion of Rod Serling’s “Carol for Another Christmas” (1964).

Serling updates Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” to the mid-20th century, with an all-star cast headed by Sterling Hayden (including, among others, Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle, Steve Lawrence, Eva Marie Saint, Peter Sellers, and Robert Shaw as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!). The director is four-time Academy Award winner Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

This is the first of our “viewer’s choice” selections, a “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Feature” feature we hope to return to regularly in the future. Thanks to Jon Haag for his recommendation.

We had actually wanted to cover this rare TV movie last year, but at the time it wasn’t available for purchase or streaming. Some altruistic soul has since uploaded it to YouTube. The film is also scheduled for broadcast on Turner Classic Movies, on December 23 at 12 noon EST.

As a warm garnish to Serling’s Cold War “Christmas Carol,” we’ll also talk about “The Night of the Meek” (1959) from Season 2 of “The Twilight Zone,” with Art Carney a disillusioned department store Santa who discovers a most unusual bag of tricks.

Submitted for your approval: two middle-aged sci-fi geeks, working hard to spread some twilit holiday cheer, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Fabricate your ironic twists in the comments section. It will be a lesson learned, I’m sure, when next we livestream on Facebook, this FRIDAY EVENING AT A SPECIAL TIME, 7:30 EST.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

December 15, 2021
Sci-Fi Distilled Animated Star Trek Review

A tall glass of Romulan ale for Mike and Marybeth of SciFi Distilled for beaming over last night to share their recollections and insights into all things “Star Trek,” during our animated discussion of “Star Trek: The Animated Series.”

We’ll be taking off next weekend, since Roy will be participating in another Country Gate Players murder mystery on December 11, but we’ll be back on Friday, December 17, with the first of our official “Viewer’s Choice” shows. If there’s a science fiction or fantasy film you would like us to discuss (’50s, ’60s, or ’70s), get your suggestion in ASAP by posting it under this image over at the Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner Facebook page.

Also, mark your calendars for our special holiday edition, a suitable follow-up to last year’s “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” as we tackle “Santa Claus vs. The Devil” (1959) on Thursday, December 23.

It’ll be a hell of a time at the North Pole (actually Santa’s Toyland castle in space). In the meantime, enjoy a jolly and meaningful solstice. Live long and conifer!

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December 6, 2021

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