Connor Trinneer b. 1969 (Star Runners, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Stargate: Atlantis, Star Trek: Enterprise, FreakyLinks, Sliders)
Woody Schultz b. 1968 (Avatar, Beowulf, Alien Hunter, Angel)
Jake Weber b. 1964 (Dawn of the Dead, Wendigo, Meet Joe Black, American Gothic)
Bruce Willis b. 1955 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Looper, Planet Terror, Sin City, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, Breakfast of Champions, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Mercury Rising, Twelve Monkeys, Death Becomes Her, The Twilight Zone)
Harvey Weinstein b. 1952 (producer, Halloween, Knight Rider, The Crow Sin City, The Amityville Horror, Vampire Academy, Dark Skies, Escape for Planet Earth, Piranha 3D, Apollo 18, Spy Kids, The Mist, Planet Terror, The Prophecy, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D, Ella Enchanted, Lord of the Rings, Dracula 2000, The Prophecy, The Crow, The Faculty, Mimic)
Dermot Crowley b. 1947 (HG Wells: War with the World, Return of the Jedi)
Glenn Close b. 1947 (The Stepford Wives [2004], Mars Attacks, Hook)
Ursula Andress b. 1936 (Manimal, Clash of the Titans, She)
Philip Roth b. 1933 (author, The Plot Against America)
Patrick McGoohan b. 1928 died 13 January 2009 (Hysteria, The Phantom, Baby: The Secret of the Lost Legend, Scanners, Ice Station Zebra, The Prisoner)
Tige Andrews b. 1920 died 27 January 2007 (Mistfits of Science, Star Trek)
Fred Clark b. 1914 (I Dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family, Dr, Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, Zotz!, Twilight Zone, Visit to a Small Planet)
Kent Smith b. 1907 died 23 April 1985 (The Cat Creature, The Invaders, The Outer Limits, Moon Pilot, The Curse of the Cat People)
Sir Richard F. Burton b. 1821 died 20 October 1890 (translator, The Book of the Thousand and One Arabian Knights, Tales of Hindu Devilry)
Here are the nominees for The Picture Slot.
Star power choice: Either Bruce Willis or Glenn Close
Fabulous babe choice: Ursula Andress
The Oh That Guy choice: Fred Clark
Iconic choice (and winner in 2014): Patrick McGoohan as Number Six.
The Prisoner was a summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show and my reaction, not at all uncommon among first time viewers was "What the hell is this?" It was very odd, but I was twelve and very odd was definitely a positive.
I like Ken Jennings' Three Categories of Entertainment.
1. This is good.
2. This is bad.
3. I liked this as a kid, so I have no idea if it's good or bad.
There was a remake of The Prisoner with Jim Caveziel and Sir Ian McKellan a few years back that was a tremendous disappointment. Personally, I have not re-watched the original in maybe 40 years because I don't want to break the spell of oddness and wonder that the show has in my admittedly nostalgia clouded memory.
Many happy returns to the living, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Predictor: Paul E. Erdman in The Crash of '79, published 1976
Prediction: In this complex thriller of international finance, the shah of Iran builds atomic bombs with the aid of the Swiss and plans to use them to conquer most of the Middle East in the 4-Day War which begins March 19, 1979.
Reality: The goddamn Swiss! I knew we couldn't trust those chocolate making motherfuckers.
Okay, that doesn't actually count as reality. The reality is that there was a big fear in the 1970s that the oil producing nations would take over. In the 1980s, we feared the Japanese more and now it's the Chinese. Throughout those decades, there has also been a fear that corporations would become more important than governments. None of these has come to pass, but it sure does look like corporations don't have to account for their crimes to governments.
Of course, since I believe governments actually have a purpose, I'm a goddamn communist by modern standards.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
Our new Thursday regular Lee de Forest is back, and the so far reliable futurist comes up with his first clunker.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
I don't want to break the spell of oddness and wonder that the show has in my admittedly nostalgia clouded memory.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the creators of the show had artificially clouded minds, also.
It was certainly unlike anything on the tv at the time. Sheer wtf-ery probably wasn't equaled until Lost.
The comparison to Lost is very apt, because as even Mr. Marshall agrees, it fell apart at the end.
DeleteThe odds are very good that I won't be around 40 years after the conclusion of Lost to have a conversation with its fans, among whom I am not counted. Still, it's interesting to me how shows and film series are perceived once they are gone, most especially with those that ended with a whiff of wtf-ery.
I've re-watched "The Prisoner" many times (note my avatar/icon). Some episodes hold up amazingly well. Others definitely show signs of age ... and of dwindling budgets in the latter episodes. And the final episode was most definitely a WTF episode. There was a 4-issue comic book in the late 80s which was an "authorized" follow-up to the series and tried to explain that ending ... sort of ... in a very 80s kind of way.
ReplyDeleteAs for the remake, I treat it the same way I treated the rebooted "Battlestar Galactica" - it might share a name and some external similarities with the original but it's not really a remake. Once you accept that, you can enjoy it for what it really is ... which is still not as fun or interesting as the original but "edgier" and darker and WTF in a different way. Still, Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan are both very good at what they do and they're interesting to watch with the material they were given.
But I do understand not wanting to re-watch things seen in childhood. I made that mistake with a short-lived little show called "The Phoenix" which was a lot better in my memory than it was when I saw it again a few years ago.
As a major fan, Mr. Marshall, you'll agree that The Village was a big drawing point in the original, as were the rotating Number Twos and the recurrence of Leo McKern.
DeleteThat's three strikes against the remake and as in baseball, three strikes is out.