A good time at the movies

This entire post was prompted by a tweet from Roger Ebert.  Movies are not listed in order of preference. And, um, they're not all movies. What can I say? So make yourself a nice batch of popcorn...

1. Bubba Ho-Tep (2003). Here is a bit from Roger Ebert's review: "Elvis and JFK did not die, and today they're roommates in an East Texas nursing home whose residents are being killed by an ancient Egyptian Soul Sucker named Bubba Ho-Tep. I want to get that on the table right at the get-go, so I can deal with the delightful wackiness of this movie, which is endearing and vulgar in about the right proportion."

2. Werewolf of London (1935). The first Hollywood werewolf flick, and it's a good one. My favorite part by far, though, is the comic relief bit with Mrs. Whack and Mrs. Moncaster.

3. Look Around You (2002). Hilarious television parody of 1970s educational science films. Deadpan British humor at its best, it nails the detail and tone (even the music) perfectly.  Here's a bit from the episode (or "module") on Sulphur. "Write that down."






4. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) I never get tired of this beautifully shot and perfectly goofy movie, easily my favorite of the Coen brothers' films. Plus it has one of the best movie soundtracks ever.
"I'm gonna R-U-N-N-O-F-T!"

5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). The source of many of our family jokes.

from monty python's completely useless website

Dennis: Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I'm being repressed!
King Arthur: Bloody peasant!
Dennis: Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, Didn't you?
(via imbd)

from imdb

6. The Lady Vanishes (1938). Francois Truffaut said this was his favorite Hitchcock film. The Lady Vanishes has it all: 1930s espionage and intrigue, vintage European trains, humor, and romance. Right up there with The 39 Steps.

Here's a very sweet fanvid:

(all images found via google except as noted)

Random (again) Monday.

Random things from the internets today.

The Zombie Apocalypse of Daniel DeFoe, from Lapham's Quarterly:

Defoe’s novel, published in 1722, is a mutant factual-fiction that recounts the plague epidemic of 1665, which dispatched almost 100,000 Londoners. Purporting to be the “memorial” of a survivor known only as “H.F.”, it was based on genuine documentary sources, including the diary of Defoe’s uncle.

A Japanese scroll from the Edo period (1603 to 1868) about... um, farting. (I know.) From the Daily Mail:

Made by an unknown artist or artists, the scroll depicts a number of different scenes - all linked by the fact that at least one character is directing a debilitating blast of flatulence towards another character.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2104250/Divine-wind-Japanese-He-gassen-art-actually-form-social-commentary.html#ixzz1qCLtD45f

 

See more at Tofugu.

This is so cool I can't even begin to tell you:

Source: bigthink.com via LB on Pinterest

From BigThink.com:

This fantastic contraption, called the ‘Routefinder’, showed 1920s drivers in the UK the roads they were travelling down, gave them the mileage covered and told them to stop when they came at journey’s end.
The technology – a curious cross between the space age and the stone age – consisted of a little map scroll inside a watch, to be ‘scrolled’ (hence the word) as the driver moved along on the map. A multitude of scrolls could be fitted in the watch to suit the particular trip the driver fancied taking.