What was that 60s film about youth taking over the country?

So by writing about it here, hopefully I’ll find it more easily. It’s sort of like a prequel to Logan’s Run, minus the whole “overpopulation” angle.

Sadly, like two other movies I’d really like to see again(*), it’s not out on DVD.

(* The Dark Secret of Harvest Home[**] and Coming out from the Ice)
(** btw the book of this one is good.)

Second, file under unclassifiable 100 Reasons Why I Hate My Husband; sad, but very funny.

Lastly, via RASSF, on MSNBC we get: Outer-space sex carries complications

Experts say new devices and data would be needed to hit the zero-G-spot

LAS VEGAS – Having sex in the weightlessness of outer space is the stuff of urban legends and romantic fantasy — but experts say that there would be definite downsides as well.

etc… it mentions briefly sex during Zero-G flights (such as on the “Vomit Comet”) – which has been done in an adult movie, Private’s The Uranus Experiment

And that’s all for today.

Die-hard Star Wars fans soon can see the original theatrical versions of the first three Star Wars films on DVD.

Even though George Lucas adamantly declared 2004′s digitally restored Star Wars Trilogy DVDs the definitive versions of his movies, fans have held out hope for DVDs of the originals.

Their wishes will be granted Sept. 12 when Fox releases new two-disc DVDs ($30 each) of Star Wars (since retitled as Episode IV: A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that include the films as they first appeared in theaters, along with the new, restored versions (now available in the four-disc $70 Star Wars Trilogy).

Fox and Lucas are simply taking a page from their old playbook, as expressed by Mel Brooks: “Who knows? God willing, we’ll all meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.” Wait for the EXTRA Special Edition, perhaps?

OK, Greedyo shooting first was not an improvement, but overall I’m not bothered by the changes made to the new Special Editions (and a few of the changes to the DVD versions specifically, like the new Emperor scene in ESB, are actually minor improvements in my opinion). And I have the 1993 VHS boxed set (purchased new) … all told, I’m going to wait for cheap used copies, if I pick up the “original version” DVDs at all. Which, I suppose, still makes me a big dork. (Or more likely, I’ll get them on HD-DVD or something. New medium? Must get Star Wars again…)

via DBA

By Daniel Trotta
Wed Mar 22, 2:06 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – It seemed like the perfect gimmick: a celebrity porn star would launch her own wine, with her alluring picture on the label.

Savanna Samson did just that, but when it received a score of 90 to 91 out of 100 by wine guru Robert Parker, the project became serious. It turns out Samson, the star of “The New Devil in Miss Jones,” has produced an exceptional wine, becoming the toast of two industries: wine-making and pornography.

I have no further comment.

Chuck claims to be a fairly normal inventor at a large audio equipment manufacturer. But in 1972, Chuck lived in the tunnels beneath Caltech’s student dormitories. Soon thereafter, he moved into the misty realm of Caltech legend, where he apparently still lives today.

His legend played a central role in a recent movie about Caltech, called “Real Genius”. The movie was directed by Martha Coolidge and starred Val Kilmer. In the movie, a burned-out misfit named Lazlo Hollyfeld lives in the tunnels beneath a student dorm, easily recognized as Dabney House.

Found via google, looking for something else entirely.

FROM:PRNCSS. L ORGANA
DEAR friend.
I AM PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA ONLY SURVIVOR
OF THE ROYALFAMILY OF ALDERAN (ALDRN).
I AM MOVED TO WRITE YOU THIS LETTER,
THIS WAS IN CONFIDENCE CONSIDERING MY
PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCE AND SITUATION.
I WAS FALSLEY IMPRISONED UPON THE
IMPERIAL BATTLESTATION (“DEATH STAR”)
WHEN MY PLANET WAS HIDEOUSLY DESTROYED
AND ENDED BY THE BVERY BAD SITH LORD
VADER. I ESCAPED ALONG WITH THE AID OF
BRAVE REBELS AND WOOKIES, AND AM NOW I
AM LYING LOW DUE TO THE SITUATION IN
THE 4TH MOON OF YAVIN TILL WHEN THINGS
GETS BETTER. I HAVE CONTROL HERE OF
THE SUM OF $25, MILLIONNN IN IMPERIAL
CREDITS DEPOSITED WITH A SECURITY COMAPNY
FOR SAFEKEEPING ON TATOOINE.

One version of the Nigerian Spam, a-la Star Wars.

Other than that, not a lot of news. I’m back from a vacation that wasn’t, in the end, all that relaxing… though I will have got my AA Platinum renewed for another year once the miles post for the flight home. I’m not sure I’m going to bother next year; I’ve got the miles for Marie’s graduation trip, and I can’t help feeling that I’ve got better things to do with my life than travelling by myself (with company would help, I grant… perhaps someday, when Marie is done with school, or under other better circumstances.)

Slappy’s getting married this Saturday, which is really cool, though I am sad I will be missing a third weekend in a row out of town. Work is hectic; we have some deadlines coming up I have been procrastinating on finishing up rather badly, so I will be busy with that. Ah well.

If you’re really bored… some book/movie commentary follows.

I’ve seen a couple of movies in the theater lately; most recently _The Sound of Thunder_, which was OK – although it stretched WSOD quite significantly at times, and even when it didn’t, things were a little too convenient. Prior to that, _Flightplan_ (which was good, if a bit scripted-feeling) and _Just Like Heaven_ (which was a delightful surprise; a sweet, not-too-predictable romance, with a nice old-fashioned-ish feel to it.)

On DVD, I’ve seen a couple of new things although I’ve actually been acquiring at a rate faster than I’ve been watching… most recently, _The Passion of Ayn Rand_ which was an interesting film if a bit of an train wreck, as I suppose was necessary given the subject matter. And also, though on cable, a thing called _Shooting Stars_ (shows up in IMDB as “Shoot or Be Shot”) an indescribably bad-but-campy-good comedy about a film student and a psycho-stalker screenwriter.

I have been catching up on my reading; I finished _The Protector’s War_, which started off very slowly but worked well… not quite as long a haul as the first book, and not a huge climax, but develops the world nicely and set itself up for a sequel well. I don’t think it’s up to Stirling’s prior series, _Island in the Sea of Time_ (ISoT) although on re-reading it does drag at points as well. It’s rare that a me-too book surpasses the original, but (assuming I don’t have the dates backwards; I don’t think so) I’d recommend Eric Flint’s _1632_ a little more highly. It doesn’t have quite the scope or the apparent depth of detail that ISoT (or its own sequels) have, but it’s got an emotional depth to it that I haven’t found in much present alt-history/time travel fiction. I’ve also been re-reading the ISoT series, although it is beginning to drag a little on re-reading the second/third volumes.

I’ve also been rereading Forester’s Horatio Hornblower books; I’ve reread the first three so far and am about to start on the fourth (_Hornblower and the Atropos_). Very good stuff, I read it over the summer between 8th grade and 9th, and I’m rather sorry I’ve waited so long to rewrite it. The story of Hornblower’s meeting and marrying Maria has a much greater resonance for me now, almost 5 years into my marriage, than it did then (still getting over my first attempt to ask a girl out, and still in the midst of my first crush.)

Lastly, I’m waiting for two sequels to come out later this fall… John Birmingham’s _Designated Targets_ (the sequel to _Weapons of Choice_) and _A Feast for Crows_ (the latest in GRRM’s Song of Ice and Fire). I’m looking forward more to the first; DT was a nicely-researched bit of futuristic military fiction (sort of Clancy-esque writing), with a rather shallow wrapper of a time travel story… but very good fun, and raised some very interesting questions about where he’ll go with the series. If it doesn’t degrade into Mary-Sue-ism (unless he’s Leo Frankowski, who somehow gets away with it) then it should be a great read.

As for AFfC, I am going to read it, but after _A Storm of Swords_ I have gotten used to GRRM’s rather overly-bloodthirsty style of writing, and we’ll see if I can actually relate to any of the characters before he kills them off. Oh well, gotta see how the series ends, and *maybe* when he finally finishes the series I’ll reread it — I’ve started rereading _A Game of Thrones_ a few times, and it’s always been too pained esp. realizing I’ll plow right to the end of _ASoS_. Ah well.

Anyone have any good books or movies to recommend?

A list, for the truly masochistic (or those who want to gloat that they’ve got even more) after the break. Actually, it’s mainly for family to make sure that any Christmas gifts don’t duplicate ones I already have.

10 Things I Hate About You
13 Going on 30
1776 (the Musical)
1998 Winter Olympics Highlights
200 Cigarettes
28 Days Later
8 Mile
A Beautiful Mind
A Bug’s Life (1998)
A Chorus Line
A Gun, A Car, A Blonde
A Little Princess (Hallmark)
A Little Princess (not Hallmark)
A Murder of Quality (1991)
A Room with a View
A Room with a View: Special Edition (1986)
About a Boy
Absolute Power
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
After the Sunset (2004)
Airplane
Airplane II
Alex and Emma
Alexander: Director’s Cut (2004)
Alfie (original)
Alfie (2004 remake)
Alice in Wonderland (Disney)
Alien
Aliens
Along Came Polly
Amelie
American Beauty
American Pie
American Pie 2
American Pie 3 (American Wedding)
American Psycho
American Werewolf in London
American Werewolf in Paris
An Ideal Husband
Anchors Aweigh
Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
Anything But Love (2004)
Apt Pupil
Aristocats
Army of Darkness
Arsenic and Old Lace
Assassination Tango
Attila (2000)
Audition (2000)
Austin Powers
Austin Powers 2: Spy who shagged me
Austin Powers 3: Goldmember
Babylon 5 (the whole damn series)
Babylon 5: In the Beginning
Babylon 5: The Gathering
Backdraft
Bad Day at Black Rock (1954)
Battle Beyond the Stars
Battlestar Galactica (the whole damn series)
Beautiful Creatures (2000)
Beauty and the Beast
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunset (2004)
Bend It Like Beckham
Better Off Dead
Big Fish
Big Trouble in Little China
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Blackadder
Blade Runner
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Blue Thunder
Bound
Bourne Supremacy
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Braveheart
Breaking Away
Bride and Prejudice (2004)
Bridge on the River Kwai
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Bubba Ho-tep
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (The Complete Epic Series)
Bullitt
Bush’s Brain
Cabaret (1972)
Can’t Buy Me Love
Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)
Captain Blood (1935)
Cast Away
Chances Are
Charlie’s Angels
Chasing Amy
Cherry 2000
Chicago
Chronicles of Riddick
Cinderella II
Cinderella Story
Circle of Friends
Clash of the Titans
Clerks (10th Anniversary, Original Cut)
Closer (2004)
Clue
Cold Mountain
Collateral Damage
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Constantine (2005)
Cool World
Crimson Tide
Cromwell
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Cutey Honey (anime)
Damn Yankees (1958)
Dangerous Liaisons
Darkside Blues
Das Boot (director’s cut)
Dead Again
Death of a Salesman (1985)
Death Wish
Death Wish 2 (1982)
Deathstalker
De-Lovely (2004)
Die Another Day
Diner
Dirty Harry
Discworld: Wyrd Sisters
Dogma
Dorm Daze
Dorothy Sayers: Strong Poison
Double Down
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Down with Love
Dragonslayer
Drive Me Crazy
Dumbo
Dune
Dungeons and Dragons
Earthsea (2004)
Elizabeth
Ella Enchanted
Emma
Enemy At The Gates
Envy
Equilibrium
Euro-Trip
Ever After
Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2
Evita
Excalibur
Exorcist
Explorers (1985)
Extramarital (1997)
Fantasia 2000
Far and Away
Farenheit 9/11
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love (1978)
Fast and The Furious
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fellowship of the Ring
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Fight Club
Final Countdown
Finding Neverland
Flatliners
Flesh and Blood
Footloose
Forbidden Planet
Frankenstein
French Kiss (1995)
Frequency (2000)
Fritz the Cat
From Hell (2001)
From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
Futurama (seasons 1-2)
Gettysburg
Ghostbusters
GI Joe the Movie
Girl Next Door
Girl With A Pearl Earring
Gladiator
Glory
Go
Gods and Monsters
Goldfinger
Gosford Park
Great Mouse Detective
Grosse Pointe Blank
Hanover Street
Happiness (1998)
Hard to Kill
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Haunted Honeymoon
Heathers (1989)
Hellboy
Henry V
Hercules (1997)
Hero (2002)
Hidalgo
High Noon
High Spirits (1988)
Hitch (2005)
Home on the Range
Hook
Hot Shots
Hot Shots Part Dieux
Hudsucker Proxy
I Capture the Castle
I, Claudius
In Good Company (2004)
In the Line of Fire
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Inherit the Wind
Interview with the Vampire
Intolerable Cruelty
Iron Eagle
It Happened Here
It Happened One Night
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical (2001)
Jerry Maguire
Jersey Girl
Johnny Dangerously
Johnny English
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Kate and Leopold
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Kill Bill
Labyrinth
Lady Death
Ladyhawke
Lagaan
Land of the Lost (Season 1-3)
Last of the Mohicans
Last Samurai
Last Tango in Paris
Late Marriage (2001)
Laws of Attraction
Left Behind: The Movie (2000)
Legend
Legend of Crystania
Legends of the Fall
Little Women
Local Hero
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock Up
Logan’s Run
Lord of the flies
Lost Horizon
Lost in Translation
Love Actually
Lupin the 3rd: The Pursuit of Harimao’s Treasure (2002)
M.A.S.H.
Mad Max
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Magdalene Sisters
Make Mine Music
Mall Rats
Man of La Mancha (1972)
Mannequin
Maria Full of Grace
Mary Poppins (1964)
Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999)
Master And Commander
Mean Girls
Meet Joe Black
Memento (2000)
Metropolis
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Midway (1976)
Mikado: Gilbert & Sullivan: Stratford Festival (2000)
Minority Report
Monsoon Wedding
Monsters Inc
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Life of Brian
Much Ado About Nothing
Mulan 2 (2004)
Mulan: Special Edition (1998)
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
My Boss’ Daughter
My Man Godfrey
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
My Science Project
Mystic River
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon’s European Vacation
National Lampoon’s Animal House: Double Secret Probation Edition (1978)
National Treasure (2004)
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Needful things
Never Been Kissed (1999)
New Waterford Girl (1999)
Newsies
Nick of Time (1995)
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightmare on Elm Street 2
Nightmare on Elm Street 3
Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
Office Space (1999)
Oklahoma
Old School
Oliver (the Musical)
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Open Range
Ordinary People (1980)
Orgazmo (1998)
Over There (Pilot) (2005)
Paparazzi (2004)
Party Girl
Passenger 57
PCU
Pearl Harbor
Peter Pan (2004 Live Action)
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Pitch Black
Please Save My Earth
Pocahontas
Porco Rosso (1992)
Possession
Practical Magic (1998)
Prayer of the Rollerboys (1991)
Pretty in Pink
Pretty Woman (1990)
Pride and Prejudice
Prince of Egypt
Princess Mononoke
Pulp Fiction
Pump up the Volume
Punisher (2004)
Quantum Leap (Season 1-3)
Quest for Camelot
Rabbit Proof Fence
Radio Days
Radio Days (1987)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ran (Kurosawa)
Random Harvest (1942)
Real Genius
Record of Lodoss War (complete original series, not Chronicles of Heroic Knight)
Red Dawn
Reign of Fire
Repli-Kate
Rescuers
Risky Business
Road Trip
Robin Hood (disney)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Robotech
Rocky
Rocky 2
Romancing the Stone
Royal Deceit (1994)
Rules of Attraction
Run Lola Run
Run Silent, Run Deep
Same Time Next Year
Sanjuro
Saved!
Saw (2004)
Scary Movie 3
Scrooged
Secondhand Lions
Secret Garden (Hallmark)
Secretary
Sense and Sensibility
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Shaft (remake)
Shakespeare in Love
Shattered Glass
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
She’s All That (1999)
Shogun
Shrek
Shrek 2
Simpsons Gone Wild
Simpsons Season 1
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror
Singin’ in the Rain
Sins of the Sisters
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Slayers Next
Slayers Try
Slayers: Book of Spells (2000)
Sleeping Beauty
Sliding Doors
Some Like it Hot
Someone Like You (2001)
Soul Plane
South Pacific
South Park
Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie (1974)
Spaceballs
Spanglish (2004)
Spawn
Spider Man
Spider Man 2
St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
Star Blazers
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 1)
Star Wars
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Clone Wars: Vol. 1 (2004)
Star Wars: Ewok Adventures: Caravan of Courage / The Battle for Endor (1985)
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Stealing Harvard
Strange Brew
Streetcar Named Desire
Sudden Impact
Superman
Superman 2
Supersize Me
Support Your Local Sheriff
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982)
Sylvia
Tank (1984)
Tank Girl (1995)
Team America: World Police (2004)
Terminator 3
Testament
The 13th Warrior
The 39 Steps
The 4400 (Season 1)
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
The Abyss
The Alamo
The Aviator (2004)
The Beach (2000)
The Black Cauldron
The Bourne Identity
The Breakfast Club
The Castle
The Castle of Cagliostro (1980)
The Cat Returns (2002)
The Cell (2000)
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Dead Pool
The Emperor’s New Clothes (2002)
The Enforcer
The Family Man (2000)
The First Wives Club (1996)
The Fog of War (2003)
The Four Feathers (2002)
The Four Musketeers
The Full Monty
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part III
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
The Goonies
The Graduate
The Grinch
The Hidden Fortress
The Hulk
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Incredibles (2004)
The Jacket (2005)
The Karate Kid (1984)
The King and I
The Last Unicorn (1982)
The Legend of Suriyothai (2001)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
The Life of David Gale
The Lion in Winter
The Little Mermaid
The Lost Boys
The Machinist (2004)
The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
The Man Who Would Be King
The Manchurian Candidate
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Money Pit
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns
The Parent Trap
The Passion
The Patriot
The Perfect Score
The Phantom of the Opera: Special Edition (2004)
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Pirates of Penzance (1980)
The Postman
The President’s Analyst (1967)
The Prince and Me
The Princess Bride
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
The Right Stuff
The Road Warrior
The Running Man
The Saint
The Sea Hawk (1940)
The Secret Agent (1996)
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (1993)
The Sound of Music
The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Terminator
The Thin Man
The Ususal Suspects
The Wedding Singer
The Whole Wide World
The Witches
Thirteen Days (2000)
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Three Kings
Throne of Blood (1957)
Time After Time
Timeline
Tipping the Velvet (2002)
Titanic
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tomb Raider
Top Secret
Tora, Tora, Tora
Towering Inferno
Trainspotting
Transformers the Movie
Treasure Planet
Triplets of Belleville
Tron
Troy (2004)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
UHF
Under Siege
Under the Tuscan Sun
Underworld
Uptown Girls
Van Helsing
Vanity Fair (w/ Reese Witherspoon)
Vanity Fair (2-Discs, A&E)
Victoria and Albert
View from the Top
Walt Disney: On the Front Lines (1941)
Wargames
Warlock
Water Babies
Watership Down (1979)
We Were Soldiers
West Wing Season 1
West Wing Season 2
West Wing Season 3
West Wing Season 4
What a Girl Wants
What’s Cooking
Whatever it Takes
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: Special Edition (1988)
Wicker Park (2004)
Wild Wild West
Wimbledon (2004)
Wizards
X-15
Xanadu (1980)
X-Men
X-Men 2
Yojimbo
Young Guns II
Zardoz

Someone on the Sigma Nu mailing list posted “What the FUCK was that?” and I sort of second that.

Some thoughts, though, after the break as there’s a minor spoiler or two:
- The first thing Anakin should have done after turning to the dark side was kill Padme’s hairdresser.
- I’m looking forward to the deleted scenes. There were too many things which seemed like they’d have made more sense if stuff that was in the novel and didn’t make it into the film were there.
- The initial space battle scene looked good at first glance, but went by too quickly. I’m looking forward to the DVD, although somewhat fearful that it was sped up so much because on closer examination it will be crap.
- Lucas continues to be unable to write a decent line of dialogue.
- (minor spoiler) There is a brief digital cameo by a dead actor. Watch for it.

Overall, I rate this about on par with Attack of the Clones; some significant improvements, but some major character lapses in judgement (even if they’re necessary to keep the series going) and Natalie Portman NOT looking like a nearly as much of a babe (leather corsets = good; fake pregnancy and dead-poodle hair: bad) mostly balance it out.

Oh, and to the guy who tried cut off a whole bunch of us on the escalators: your being in a rush because of the need for a nicotine fix is no excuse for being a dickhead, or for making threats when you’re called on it. Have fun with your future lung cancer.

And how could I forget “War of the Worlds”, and”Friday the 13th”, both late 80s shows I watched when I finally started staying up late? Both vaguely science-fictiony, and at least in the case of War of the Worlds, there was something of a story arc as well.

Given the riches of recent TV re-releases on DVD(,,, etc…) perhaps I’ll get to see these again after all. Do they ever live up to memory? Perhaps not, but I still want to see them again.

The idea:
http://qdbii.pyoko.org/upload/catapult1.gif

The execution:
http://qdbii.pyoko.org/upload/catapult2.gif

I think this all started from a discussion some geeks were having on
Somethingawful.com. I have nothing to do with it, just thinks its pretty
good work.