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A fascinating article from the May, 1954 issue of Mechanix Illustrated that explains how the rubber monster suit from the classic 3-D horror film, Creature From the Black Lagoon, was created.
[Link: Science Creates A Monster]
[Link: The Reel Gillman (Creature actor, Ben Chapman's official website)]
I finally got around to watching Mike Judge's new film, Idiocracy, the other night, and I'm still laughing about it today.
Imagine, if you will, America 500 years from now. Evolution has misfired and produced a populace so vapid and moronic, they make Beavis and Butthead look like honor students. The economy is based entirely on Carl's Jr. (whose slogan is now, "F*ck you, I'm eating") and a sports drink called Brawndo that's replaced water everywhere except in the toilet. The Fuddrucker's restaurant chain has devolved over the centuries into "FuttBuckers", and Starbucks now offers "Full Body Lattes" with extra foam. Into this dystopia of NASCAR retards comes Private Joe Bauer (actor Luke Wilson), a totally average soldier who finds himself the victim of an Army hibernation experiment gone horribly awry. Call it, "A Connecticut Yankee in Don King's Court".
What makes this movie so funny and scary at the same time is how believable this whole awful scenario is. It takes America's longstanding anti-intellectual attitudes all the way out to their logical conclusion: a nation full of infantile imbeciles whose favorite TV show is called, "Ow, My Balls!"
Like Judge's last film, the cult classic Office Space, Fox Studios completely dropped the ball on this satiric masterpiece and released it in a handful of theaters with no advertising of any kind. I suspect that it might have had something to do with Judge's refusal to kiss corporate ass, and his spot-on reaming of Fox News, on full-frontal display in this clip [Link: 9.2MB .avi].
My advice is to run, not walk, to your nearest DVD rental outlet and grab ahold of a copy of this film immediately. You'll be glad you did.
Oh, and kudos to Judge for a great soundtrack studded with long-forgotten (by me, anyway) country/western gems like Buck Owens' chicken-pickin' instrumental hit, Buckaroo.