Bismo says, “Okay, there’s so many ways this could go wrong but it continues to look really good:”
“(PS, watch it full screen…)”
Category: Sci-Fi
Larry Blamire’s “Tales from the Pub”
Truphen Newben hosts TALES FROM THE PUB, another spooky manifestation on Bantam Street.
‘Lost’ returns
Being a big fan of The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, a campy note-perfect send-up of old B-grade sci-fi movies, I couldn’t miss a chance to see the sequel, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again. It was shown in the comfortable 45-seat video screening room at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston, as a double-bill with another recent Larry Blamire (BLAM-ear) movie, Dark and Stormy Night. With a full house and an enthusiastic audience, I was there with son Eric, along with friend Bismo and his son Chris. It was an extra fannish evening, thanks to the presence of actor Robert Deveau, who played the doomed farmer in Lost Skeleton.
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Deveau introduced both movies, and answered questions afterward. Eric asked how the DVD sales have been for The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, and Deveau said he wasn’t sure, but he knows they’ve earned back the cost of making the movie. Also in the audience was Blamire’s son Cory.
The Skeleton sequel is full of fun, and it was great seeing the cast reunited. I think my favorite moment was a truly inspired twist on the expression “run for it!” The Boston Globe has this review of The Lost Skeleton Returns Again and Dark and Stormy Night, and I more-or-less agree with it, but I’d give the latter movie three stars, because I enjoyed the large ensemble cast very much, all the way through, and I’m fond of the genre. While watching Dark and Stormy Night, I was reminded of The Old Dark House by James Whale (with Gloria Stuart, who turns 100 on the 4th of July). Something else that came to mind was Tex Avery’s 1943 cartoon Who Killed Who?
BTW, both movies will be out on DVD in August. Tech note: The DLP video projector at the theater reminded me of why I have a 3-LCD projector at home. I can live with its panel mis-convergence, but I can’t stand DLP’s “rainbow effect.”
Chuck redux
I hereby declare Chuck to be one of the three most enjoyable TV shows I’ve ever watched. Is the series ridiculous? Of course it is. But is it excellent? Funny? And very smart? Absolutely.
(Sheesh. Look at that. The episode was available when I embedded it Friday night, and it’s already gone.)
(No! Wait! It’s back!)
(No! It’s gone again!)
Fritz Lives
The giant of fantasy illustration is gone. Frank Frazetta, one of the most influential and imitated commercial artists of the 20th century, a singular and unique force in his craft, died Monday.
From comic book stories, to ghosting L’il Abner Sunday strips, to magnificent paintings for paperback book covers, Frazetta set a standard of such high caliber that, although he may have had contemporaries, he had no peers.
Figure drawing. For Frazetta, that was the thing. He loved drawing men and women. The human form, imbued with an innate fierceness, and an undeniable animal sexuality. Sometimes he drew the inhumanly human form!
Let the work speak for itself. First, some pencil drawings. A quick sketch done for a friend, using a pencil stub on cheap paper…
… and a couple of tightly-rendered samples for Flash Gordon.
Next, here are some works in pen and ink. A sketch for a John Carter of Mars book cover…
… and a Johnny Comet Sunday comic strip.
Finally, what Frazetta is known for best. His oil paintings. Two Conan the Barbarian paperback book covers…
…and higher-quality scans of the paintings. You’ll definitely want to click these to enlarge. Note the changes that Frazetta made to the original version of Conan the Buccaneer.
The original for the painting on the left, for Conan the Conquerer, sold last year for $1 million.
The Lost Art of Cadavra’s creator
I have high hopes for ‘The Lost Skeleton Returns Again’, the sequel to ‘The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra’, an exquisitely funny and intelligent homage to cheapie 60’s sci-fi movies. If ‘Returns Again’ is even half as good as its predecessor, I will enjoy it immensely. Click here to watch ten samples from the new movie, which should be out on DVD to see the light of my projector’s bulb sometime this summer.
Larry Blamire, the creator of ‘Lost Skeleton’, has Boston fan roots going back to the 70’s. I happen to have a 1979 issue of ‘Galileo, the Magazine of Science Fiction’, with a story illustration by Blamire. I wonder if he still feels a connection to this, or if it seems far from where his interests are now?
