Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun Review

Remember the classic Marx Brothers mirror routine from “Duck Soup?” Expand that to an hour and forty minutes, and you’ve got “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun” (1969). Okay, maybe without the laughs.

Roy Bjellquist and I will talk ourselves blue over Gerry Anderson’s big-screen debut, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Anderson made his fortune creating futuristic television series, such as “Thunderbirds,” “Captain Scarlet,” and “Space: 1999.”

Deliberately-paced, but with captivating special effects and groovy production design, Anderson’s “Journey” is never boring. It can, however, be a little WTF. Sure, the entire premise is like something you came up with as a teenager, when feeling your way into your first philosophical discussions with a close friend. But the execution is diverting and certainly spectacular.

What if there was a parallel Earth, hidden from our view, on the far side of the sun? And what if we were to travel there? What would we find? To tell more would be to give it all away. We’ll save that for tomorrow night!

Relive that dorm room experience. Leave a comment and join the conversation. Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner live-streams on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

PHOTO: Something stinks here… and it ain’t the cologne!

September 10, 2020
Star Trek Open Mic Night & Sci-Fi Talk

If your idea of a good time is having two middle-aged nerds ruin a 42-year-old movie for you, this just might be the ticket. If not, I recommend you watch “Capricorn One.”

Tomorrow night, Roy will celebrate his 40th episode, and the 54th anniversary of “Star Trek: The Original Series,” by providing an open mic – or an open Zoom – for anyone who wishes to step up and share his or her favorite “Star Trek” memories, with perhaps a few additional surprises along the way. To register, send a Facebook message to Roy by 3:00 on Sunday afternoon.

Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner is live-streamed on Facebook every Friday and Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

Next Friday, I’ll be back for Gerry Anderson’s “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun!”

September 5, 2020
70s Movie Signs & Capricorn One Review

10 SIGNS YOU’RE WATCHING A ‘70s MOVIE

** Plot driven by conspiracy theory

** 100-mile-an-hour car chase

** Bona fide aerial stunt work

** Memorable film score (by Jerry Goldsmith)

** Unfortunate drum kit in love theme on original soundtrack

** Everybody’s smoking. Indoors. At the workplace.

** Elliot Gould gets top billing

** O.J. Simpson is one of the most beloved celebrities in America

** Karen Black receives “last” billing

** Even when it doesn’t make any sense, the movie is still somehow satisfying

Take a rocket to Mars, and a time machine to 1978, as Roy Bjellquist and I prepare for lift-off and “Capricorn One.” Peter Hyams’ post-Watergate, Martian hoax mustache-twirler will be our focus on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.

Hal Holbrook is the patron saint of shady government, Brenda Vaccaro’s voice is deeper than Deep Throat’s, and flying ace Telly Savalas thinks we’re all perverts.

Rattlesnake is on the menu! We’ll be late for our own funerals, if not the Facebook live-stream. Drop by, leave a comment, and join the conversation, this Friday at 7 pm EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

September 4, 2020
Puss in Boots & Robinson Crusoe on Mars Tonight

Swashbuckling cats and monkeys on Mars!

You’ll be able to marvel at both this evening, on another Classic Ross Amico double-feature.

First, Antonio Banderas sends-up his Zorro persona in “Puss in Boots.” We’ll enjoy music from the film, composed by Henry Jackman, alongside selections from James Horner’s score for “The Mask of Zorro.” The balance of the hour will be devoted to Alfred Newman’s music for the Tyrone Power vehicle “Captain from Castile” and Max Steiner’s score for the Errol Flynn classic, “The Adventures of Don Juan.” Gen-Xers may recognize some of the latter from its use in “The Goonies!” Enjoy it this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Then Roy Bjellquist and I will talk ourselves red-in-the-face about the Red Planet, and “Robinson Crusoe on Mars.” Paul Mantee (who took his stage name from Humphrey Bogart’s Duke Mantee), Victor Lundin (who abandoned an operatic career to become a film actor), and Adam West (soon to be TV’s Batman) test their mettle on a foreign world. But that’s okay, since apparently there’s food and oxygen. As the poster states: “This film is SCIENTIFICALLY AUTHENTIC… It’s only one step ahead of present reality!”

FUN FACT: Barney the Woolly Monkey was outfitted with a fur diaper so that he could effectively play female space simian Mona.

Join us for the Facebook live-stream, and be prepared to exchange comments, at Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, tonight at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

August 28, 2020
Robinson Crusoe on Mars A COVID-Era Classic

Is there a more appropriate tale in time of COVID than “Robinson Crusoe?” Only if it’s “Robinson Crusoe on Mars.”

Once again, Roy Bjellquist and I will convene from our respective bunkers, through the power of Zoom, to discuss Byron “The War of the Worlds” Haskin’s 1964 Red Planet castaway narrative, starring Paul Mantee, a largely silent Victor Lundin (who started out as an opera singer), and Adam West (who receives third billing, barely, ahead of a monkey).

An American astronaut finds himself stranded on Mars with limited resources, but unlimited resourcefulness. The only thing he lacks for is companionship (save for the aforementioned monkey). Then he meets his man Friday.

51 years before Matt Damon became “The Martian,” there was “Robinson Crusoe on Mars.” Belly-up for a heapin’ helpin’ of water-plant sausage stew and oxygen-generating hot rocks, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Keep us company with your comments. The interplanetary conversation will be live-streamed on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

August 27, 2020

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