A Religious State

Gallup has ranked the states from most to least religious, and I live in the 4th most religious of the states. This is how they judged:

For the current ranking, Gallup uses the responses to a straightforward question that asks: "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" The rankings are based on the percentage of each state's adult (18 and older) population that answers in the affirmative.

The picture above came from the Gallup site and clearly shows that solid Southern Bible belt.

I saw it somewhere else first but can't find that now so I'm giving my hat tip to John Meunier.

2/3/2009:
Dispatches from the Culture Wars digs deeper and finds that Tennessee may be the 4th most religious state but it's 3rd in out-of-wedlock births and 4th highest in teen pregnancies. Way to go, Tennessee. Show'em how to walk that walk! Here's proof that feeling "religious" doesn't lead to living "religious".

The Lost Missile

The Lost Missile (1958) is the last film directed by William Berke. The music is by Gerald Fried, who wrote music for Star Trek. It begins with the ubiquitous voice-over narration that sets it all up. The mysterious rocket -nervous countries world-wide can't determine the origin- leaves destruction in its wake. Standard methods to bring it down fail. There's one couple who has to postpone their wedding because of the crisis and a husband who can't leave work to take his pregnant wife to the hospital to give birth. The personal relationships don't distract from the tension of the threat plot, which doesn't tend to drag. There's an interesting series of civilian reaction scenes, a man advising his wife to stay home, a woman giving directions to her son, civil defense activation, school evacuations, stress in the shelters, people waiting and wondering if they'll die... One of the couples shown is black.

This film ends abruptly.

Googlevideo has it:


This movie doesn't have a wikipedia entry, and reviews are scarce. Classic Sci-Fi Movies has a review that says it "has a passable, if not original, plot. It has some eclectic acting but minimal special effects" and "Watch LM to see what The Giant Claw could have been."

6/11/2009: WTF-Film.com has a review, saying: "it remains reasonably entertaining - a blessedly brief running time and a few unexpected moments of comedy..."

The People That Time Forgot

The People That Time Forgot, sequel to The Land That Time Forgot, is a 1977 science fiction film starring Doug McClure. It is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel with the same name. The book can be read online here, or listen to it here.

Watch it online, with commercials, compliments of hulu.com. [update: no longer available there or anywhere else I've looked.]

This is slow. It looks like they're trying to be dramatic, but the music hitting you over the head isn't the best way to achieve that goal. This one is forgettable. The prehistoric monsters are worse than many I've seen in movies from the 50's. The sexism is also worse than much of what I've seen in 50's movies -much worse really, when you think that this is a 1977! film. We hadn't come a long way, baby, after all.

I see that Princess Leia wasn't alone in her choice of hairstyle.

Moria has a review. 1000 Misspent Hours says it "isn’t anywhere near as good as its best moments suggest it could have been".

X The Unknown

X The Unknown is a 1956 British science fiction film from Hammer Films with Leo McKern (The Day the Earth Caught Fire, and Rumpole) and Dean Jagger (Twelve O'Clock High, White Christmas, King Creole, Elmer Gantry). I've decided that anything Leo McKern is in is worth watching.

We get another monster that seeks out energy, but I like this movie. The action moves along briskly, and the story is interesting. The way they handle the special effects is very smart. There is a child-endangerment scene fairly early on that figures as an important part of the plot. I like the 2 short scenes in the church. In the first it's just treated as a normal location where the scientist finds the boy's companion to enlist his help in discovering what happened, and in the second it's used as a place of shelter out of the monster's path.

GoogleVideo has this gem online:


StompTokyo calls it "fake Quatermass" and says,

Once again, Hammer is dealing with a next-to-nothing budget, and for the most part, does it well - one of the advantages of having your production manager write the script. The beastie is not seen until the final third of the picture, and then the blob effects are done extremely well

ImagesJournal calls it "required viewing for all sci-fans" and says,

X The Unknown comes from Hammer's mid-'50s period, when the studio still frequently made black-and-white movies and before they had discovered the path to greatest profits was paved with sex and gore. It's an exceedingly intelligent and thoughtful film, easily superior to subsequent movies about amorphous blobs

DVDTalk has a review.

12/27/2009: SFSignal offers it as their Sunday Cinema post today.

The Atomic Submarine

The Atomic Submarine is a 1959 science fiction movie. Sid Melton is in this one. It starts with one of those lovely voice-overs telling us the story-so-far, and the voice narration shows back up every so often. It doesn't take them long to jump into the boring romance sub-plot. This time there's a military officer who says, "It won't take me long to defrost -not around you," to a platinum blond. She ends up saying, "Let's not waste one precious moment," and then a knock at the door interrupts their passionate embrace. Duty calls. There's lot of political speechifying once the men are on their mission. I want the unidentified swimming object to come up and swallow the sub whole. Given that that is not going to happen I just wish the action would move along with a bit more speed.

Watch it from googlevideo:


Moria calls it "surprisingly good". StompTokyo says it "is a sturdy, workmanlike film. It entertains, in its own fashion."

The Fifth Element

I've seen The Fifth Element (a 1997 science fiction film with flying cars) several times and always enjoy it. I'm not sure the boys have seen it more than once. It's long at over 2 hours but great fun. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Mila Jovovich and Ian Holm. It's directed by Luc Besson (The Transporter).

trailer:


I've seen Leeloo described as a Christ figure. I've got a list of other films containing "Christ figures" here.

Roger Ebert says, "I would not have missed seeing this film, and I recommend it for its richness of imagery," but adds, "There's great stuff here, and the movie should get out of its own way." He thinks it's too long. The New York Times reviewer doesn't like it. SciFi.com describes it as "Space opera with a cyberpunk backbeat," and says it's "more of a comedy than anything else" and that it's "easy to sit back and ride the grandiose, campy story like a runaway aircar." The BBC review says, "Ultimately you'll delight in the ride, but you won't care too much about the outcome."

Battle of the Worlds

Battle of the Worlds is a 1961 Italian science fiction film released dubbed in English in 1963. How did they get Claude Rains to star in this film? He's always a draw for me, so I know the movie will have at least one bright spot.

It's available at googlevideo, and you can watch it here:


As it turns out, Claude Rains is the only bright spot here. It's fun to see him in a space suit. "What importance does life have, young fella, if to live means not to know?"

Moria closes with praise of Claude Rains:

On the plus side Battle of the Worlds is stolen in large part by Claude Rains, the only recognizable name present, who has clearly been imported for transatlantic marquee value. Claude Rains plays to the audience with an amusingly crusty crankiness, delivering almost the entirety of his performance while seated in a hammock in a conservatory. He’s clearly having fun and, amid the bland, lifeless other actors in the cast, gives the film the only vitality it has.

The Blob (1958)

The Blob is a 1958 science fiction film starring Steve McQueen and Aneta Corsaut (Helen Crump from the Andy Griffith Show). The music, by Ralph Carmichael and Burt Bacharach, is fun. A 28-year-old Steve McQueen is cast as a teenager in this one, so I'm torn. Do I run and hide because this features a "teens save the world from alien invasion" plot, or do I watch it anyway since the starring "teen" is nearly 30? What a dilemma! I think I'll watch it... carefully. Beware of the Blob!

trailer:

Moria has a review. 1000 Misspent Hours calls it "one of the best of its breed". Images Journal says "Bad acting is rampant" and that "in the world of schlocky, campy sci-fi, The Blob remains one of the most endearing movies". The NYTimes describes it as "woodenly presented". Classic Sci Fi Movies has a review.

5/3/2009: The Criterion Contraption has a review.

6/18/2009: The Vault of Horror has a review and says, "The Blob is a fine piece of pop horror entertainment, and deserves to be treated as the seminal sci-fi terror film that it is."

Reading Steampunk

Lectitans has an introduction-to-steampunk reading list:

Proto-Steampunk:

Gormenghast Novels (esp Titus Alone), Mervyn Peake
Worlds of the Imperium, Keith Laumer
Queen Victoria's Bomb, Ronald W. Clark
A Nomad of the Time Streaks, Michael Moorcock

Early Steampunk:

The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
Homunculus, James Blaylock
Infernal Devices, K W Jeter

More Recent Steampunk:

The Difference Engine, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (I may have read this... I can't remember)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore
Steampunk, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Girl Genius, Studio Foglio
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket

Ones I've read are in bold print. I'm not doing too great with steampunk, I see. I'll have to take this list to my local used book store and see if I can pick any of them up.

HT: SFSignal

Ice and Snow

These pictures are of our patio and in front of our place. Notes from Memphis has some photos of downtown. It looks like they got more snow there than we did a little further east.

Evil Brain from Outer Space

Evil Brain from Outer Space is a 1964 combination of several Japanese short films from the Super Giant series. There's more than one Starman movie. Attack from Space (link to video at the Internet Archive) is also from 1964. (9/27/2009: SFSignal features Attack from Space on their Sunday Cinema post.)

StompTokyo has a few good words:

To the good: the production values are reasonably high in Evil Brain - this was the period in Japanese superheroics where the director threw as many henchmen as possible at the hero, and Starman usually seems to have a staggering twenty or more men arrayed against him at any one time. The sets are good, and the Bat monster is cool.

but does not recommend it.

I watched it anyway. It starts with one of those voice-over narrations I've come to see as a hallmark of campy scifi. The alien council on The Emerald Planet is great fun -strange costumes and aliens making arm and hand gestures. And then we get introduced to Starman! All in the first 2 minutes!

"Shielded within that suitcase lies the living brain of Balazar." So we gotta find that suitcase and destroy the evil brain, or the world will end. Starman to the rescue!

"It's imperative that it be destroyed. To do so won't be easy, because it's indestructible." Who wrote this?

The narration continues off and on. This is so lame -in a fun way. There's a cool self-duplicating monster, a one-legged man, a mad scientist in a wheelchair with a big black bird sitting on his shoulder, evil minions in capes, a man with a hook for a hand, a man with a scarred face, a woman with claws, cotton candy, ballet, 2 children (a boy and a girl).... And then The Attack of the Zemarian Mutant! Guns are useless against those claws (?), but Here Comes Starman to save the day! Great stuff if you're a kid watching it on tv on a Saturday morning.

They Came from Beyond Space

They Came from Beyond Space is a 1967 British alien invasion film. I like the James Stevens music.

We're from Beyond Space, and we're here to help. What's beyond space, I wonder? Turns out they're from a star system known to the British, so they came from space, all right, apparently to talk us to death in the last 15 minutes of the movie. You can just skip ahead to there and get the summation, but it'd be a shame to miss the music.

Watch it at the Internet Archive or compliments of googlevideo:


1000 Misspent Hours calls it "undeniably a slight movie". DVDTalk opens their review with this plea: "And they should stay from beyond space (wherever that is) so as not to annoy us with their whining requests and horrible noises." MillionMonkeyTheater says,

A clear rip-off of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this film's flavor is fairly common of cheaply made sci-fi in the 1960s. It's not the best movie by any account, more of a made-for-television quality show with some low-rent actors and as little costly special effects as possible. I kind of liked it, and the music was fab!

Project Moon Base

Project Moon Base (or Project Moonbase) is a 1953 science fiction film. Hayden Rorke (better known from I Dream of Jeannie) plays a General. I guess this is how women are bound to get depicted when Heinlein is writing the material. Just when I think a more sexist movie can't exist I see one. The General tells the Colonel, "Any more guff out of you and I'll turn you over my knee and spank you." Later in the movie, the Colonel (Colonel "Bright Eyes") says, "I'm sorry to have gone "female" on you, Major." Then the Major suggests she powder her nose. At least in this one all the astronauts -men and the token woman- wear non-traditional but identical short shorts and tight t-shirts, and the U.S. president is portrayed in this future 1970 as a woman.

You can watch it online, compliments of Googlevideo:


Moria has a review. 1000 Misspent Hours says it "is notable mainly for being among the most conspicuously failed hard sci-fi films of its era" and closes by saying that "All things considered, Project Moon Base is another film which is probably not worth bothering with unless you’re an obsessively hardcore fan of 50’s science fiction." The review spends some time focusing on the blatant sexism of this film.

4/10/2011: SF Signal features this film in the Sunday Cinema post today.

Visit to a Small Planet

I had never heard of this movie until I ran across it at youtube. I find more fun movies that way! Visit to a Small Planet is a 1960 Academy Award nominated Jerry Lewis comedy. It is based on a play with the same name by Gore Vidal.

Youtube has it in 10 sections. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10

The New York Times review calls it "about as subtle as a meat cleaver", but then did you want subtlety here? Moria says it's the "first occasion upon which the theme of the alien visitor was played for comedy on film" and says it's "a likeable piece of slapstick foolery". Sometimes I feel lucky to get enjoyable slapstick foolery.

Bubble Wrap Apprecation Day

Reverend Mommy notes that today is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

Click here if you don't happen to have bubble wrap close to hand and you want to play. pop pop pop Bubble Wrap has its very own Facebook page.

The picture is from Wikipedia.

In the Year 2889

In the Year 2889 is a 1967 made-for-tv movie that's an almost word-for-word remake of the 1955 Roger Corman film The Day the World Ended. Larry Buchanan is the director. I like to think fashions, styles and technology will have changed a bit more by the time the year 2889 comes. The animals and vegetation seem to recover quickly from nuclear holocaust. This one is downright unwatchable. Absolutely dreadful.

Watch it via youtube:



1000 Misspent Hours gives it negative 2 1/2 stars. Foster on Film has a fun, snark-filled review.

Flight to Mars

Flight to Mars is a 1951 science fiction film starring Cameron Mitchell, a long-time favorite from my youth. This one is slow, with the primary emphasis on interpersonal conflicts. The Martians look just like us. The leaders are all middle-aged (and older) white guys, while the women serve as pages and busy themselves discussing food preparation with the token woman on the Earth expedition. And some people look back with longing on the 1950's. Go figure.

I'm finding it painfully boring and am tempted to skip my way through this one.

Moria says that "The first third or so of Flight to Mars is a routine sense of wonder travelogue" and that "Once it arrives on Mars the film slows down to drama of the most routine banality". DVDTalk says, "Of all the early space movies, none is so disappointing as Flight to Mars."

3/23/2009: WTF-Film does not recommend it:

With a little more time and effort, FLIGHT could have been a minor classic instead of the tiresome bore that it is.

The Phantom Planet

The Phantom Planet is a 1961 science fiction film about tiny people battling aliens in outer space. Prepare yourself for the voice-over narration. Is "man" driftwood?

via youtube:



Moria calls it "cheap," "rather dreary and slow moving" and "a frustratingly slight film that fails to go anywhere". Million Monkey Theater compares watching it unfavorably with the suffering endured due to kidney stones. And I've had kidney stones. The plot description is so thorough, though, that reading it can spare you the pain of watching the movie.

1/3/2009: SFSignal features it for their Sunday Cinema viewing.

Soylent Green

Soylent Green is a 1973 science fiction film starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson (in his last film). It also has Joseph Cotten and Whit Bissell. I still clearly remember scenes from the first time I saw this movie.

Googlevideo has it online:


SciFi.com has a review that says,

Ironically, the film's most powerful moments do not belong to Heston, who makes a dubious, ambiguous hero. It is Robinson who lays claim to the most moving passages of the film.

StompTokyo says it "is still a powerful film" and that it

walks a fine line between melodramatic Seventies science fiction and a thoughtful examination of problems that began to surface in a decade of oil shortages, endangered species, and Sha Na Na.

Moria's review describes it as "one of the most successful films of its time". 1000 Misspent Hours says that "Together with Silent Running, Soylent Green would make an excellent introduction to early-1970’s polemical sci-fi."

The Brain from Planet Arous

The Brain from Planet Arous is a 1957 science fiction film about alien possession. There's actually more than one brain from Planet Arous. It stars John Agar (Zontar, the Thing from Venus; Journey to the Seventh Planet; Tarantula; Mole People).

The 50's may be the hey-day of sexism. A man actually says, "Don't worry your pretty little head about it," in this one. This may be the most sensationalistic of the films I've seen so far. The alien brain causes homicide, lots of pain, rudeness, and turns perfectly normal scientists into power-mad smarmy sex-crazed sleaze-bags. With silver eyes. And then it ends with a kiss. What a disaster!

Googlevideo has it online:


Moria says it "exerts a lurid fascination". 1000 Misspent Hours gives it negative 4 stars (never a good sign).