Tuesdays on Tape #17-19

#17 - Snow Day (2/5/13)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Boxart: 0/.5
Previews: 1/1
Soundz: .5/.5
B&T: .5/1
Graphics: 1/1.5
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: 1/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1/1
Total: 5.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy

Kudos:

• Custom boxart and orange tape
• Farts on top of farts
• Smash Mouth soundtrack
• Fry cabin homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
• My friend Steve

Personal Thoughts: Snow Day turned out really nicely. I had low expectations for a Nickelodeon movie, but it wasn't bad at all. While not hilarious by any means, it was enjoyable throughout and even had a couple of funny jokes. The cast did really well at not being annoying. If you like fart jokes and turn-of-the-century pop rock music, you will like it. Ultimately, though, it's a kids movie from 2000. Those without nostalgic investment in the period may not enjoy it as much as we did.

#18 - When Nature Calls (2/12/13)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Boxart: .5/.5
Previews: 1/1
Soundz: .5/.5
B&T: 1/1
Graphics: 1/1.5
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: 1/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: .5/1
Total: 6/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy

Kudos:

• Lots of sweet previews and a post-movie infomercial
• Bullet Baby
• Cougar fight (with intermission)
• Peep show
• Freddie Blassie
• Copious amounts of stunt animals

Personal Thoughts: This is my kind of movie! Made by the lesser of the Kaufman brothers for Troma in  1985, When Nature Calls is a whacky ride. In true Troma fashion, it combines clever humor with low brow gags for lots of laughs. This came out the same year as Toxic Avenger and reminds me of Troma's older comedies (before all Troma Studios films where over-the-top cheezfests). That doesn't mean it's not a little whacky, though.

It's a spoof of the Wilderness Family series, which I didn't know going into it. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the jokes. There is a hilarious man vs. cougar fight, a crazy tirade by Freddie Blassy, and a slew of funny parody trailers at the beginning. This little-known Troma gem is a classy production, right down to the Gone With the Windesque box art. Troma-fans should consider this essential viewing.

#19 - Balto (2/26/13)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Boxart: .5/.5
Previews: .5/1
Soundz: .5/.5
B&T: 0/1
Graphics: 1.5/1.5
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: .5/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: .5/1
Total: 4.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy

Kudos:

• Awesome looking grizzly bear
• Colorful aurora borealis grafx
• Morse code dog
• Palette-swapped pudgy dogz

Personal Thoughts: I've seen Balto a million times. My 2nd and 3rd grade teacher was from Alaska. She would fit Alaska and the Iditarod into the curriculum whenever she could. I think I seriously watched Balto every week for those two years of my school career. So, naturally, it's an important part of my childhood memories.

Unfortunately, it's not great. Not bad, just not great. It fits somewhere in the mid-range of the pantheon of 90s cartoons. Balto is better than We're Back, not as good as Mulan. A couple of things that hold this back are a lack of funny jokes and a couple of really annoying polar bear characters. I would only recommend it for 90s nostalgia.

(The actual story of the Nome medicine run is pretty interesting. After re-watching Balto, I looked it up and read about it for a good hour or so. The story is quite impressive!)

Tuesdays on Tape #14 - #16

With the beginning of the new year, we revamped our rating scale. It's still pretty much the same, but point values have changed. We did add a half point for having cool box art, too.

#14 - Explorers (1/15/13)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Boxart: 0/.5
Previews: 0/1
Soundz: .5/.5
B&T: 0/1
Graphics: 1.5/1.5
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: .5/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: .5/1
Total: 3.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Rent

Kudos:

• Crazy rock 'n roll dance number 
• Sound fx taken from alternator belt
• Trashbag kid

Personal Thoughts: Personally, this was my least favorite tape we've watched. I can't believe we rated everything that highly, especially graphics. This movie was only decent when the aliens were introduced at the end. I was very disappointed by this because I remember loving it as a kid. It sucks even more because I've grown to be a huge Joe Dante fan since then. (Gremlins 2 and Matinee are two of the best movies of all time.) Oh well.

#15 - Ed (1/22/13)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Boxart: .5/.5
Previews: 0/1
Soundz: .5/.5
B&T: 0/1
Graphics: 1/1.5
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: 0/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: .5/1
Total: 3/7

Rent or Buy?: Rent

Kudos:

• Clean Up scene
• Crazy stunt driving
• "I'm gonna spank . . . that monkey."
• Sound fx when kid patted on back

Anti-Kudos:

• No colonoscopy scene

Personal Thoughts: This was the first tape to get an anti-kudos. We had looked up Ed on Wikipedia and read that Ed gives an opposing player a colonoscopy. We were so disappointed to find out this doesn't actually happen in the movie. It turns out that the colonoscopy thing was simply vandalism of the Wikipedia article. When we rated this movie, the shadow of the missing colonoscopy was hanging over our heads. I think the rating reflects that. The movie wasn't that bad (definitely not iMDB bottom 100 bad), but everyone had a bad taste in their mouth afterwards. Upon reflection, I think it's a lot better than Explorers, which we rated higher. Oh well, Tuesdays on Tape is a democratic rating committee, so I only have so much say.

Basically, this movie is pretty much the Cable Guy of animal companion movies. The 90s pumped out tons of those flicks. Like Cable Guy in relation to other Jim Carrey comedies, it's an oddly serious, adult-minded variation of the formula where many of the jokes fall flat. There are better animal companion movies out there, but Ed is definitely far from the worst. Check it out if you liked Dunston Checks In, I guess.

#16 - We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story (1/29/13)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Boxart: .5/.5
Previews: 0/1
Soundz: .5/.5
B&T: 0/1
Graphics: 1.5/1.5
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: .5/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: .5/1
Total: 4/7

Rent or Buy?: Rent

Kudos:

• LaZr Kage
• Naughty Boys Delight
• Hellzapoppin'
• Proto Juggalo/Dark Carnival

Personal Thoughts: We're Back is a stinker. Plain and simple. Mostly the movie just drags on with little of interest going down. The best parts are the fine animation (GRAPHICS!) and musical number by John Goodman. Ultimately, though, this thing fits alongside other 90s animated features like Pagemaster. Basically, the only way you'll enjoy this is if you're a kid. I'd rate this one an avoid.

Find of the Week (5/26/13 - 6/1/13)

Material Issue - Valerie Loves Me 12" Single (Vinyl)

Value: $75 on Discogs

Actual Cost: $0.50

I picked this one up at a local flea market in a dollar bin. It has four songs from the 1991 album International Pop Overthrow. To be honest, this is not the best collection of songs from the album. The A-side is my least favorite song from Overthrow.  The first track on side B, "Diane" is an absolute power pop classic, however. That makes this a dollar well spent! This single is listed for high prices on the web, but the album is even more expensive. I'll take what I can get!

Find of the Week (4/7/13 - 4/13/13)

Warcraft II: The Dark Saga (PSX)

Value: $15 (disc only) on eBay

Actual Cost: $0.50

I was perusing the CD roms at a local thrift when I came across this Playstation game. Warcraft II came in the original case (which was cracked so I switched it out for a typical CD rom case) but no manual. It's a little scratched, but it tested fine. All the video and audio worked well.

Warcraft II is an old favorite of mine. It's probably my favorite real-time strategy game. It plays well enough, but it's probably not as well rounded as some of the other RTS classics. However, it does have great presentation. The voice acting is top notch. The graphics are very 1995, in a good way. The Dark Saga combines the original and the first expansion pack. This port plays pretty well, actually. It's always hit or miss when you're taking a mouse interface and porting it to gamepad controllers. There were a couple of added features too. Sadly, the music and unit voices seemed to have gotten cut to fit the two games to one disk.

Overall, a nice find, but I'm not sure how much more play this will get, considering I can play this on the PC already.

Tuesdays on Tape 2012 The Tapie Awards

The first annual Tapie Awards took place on January 8th, 2013. The top candidates in each category were nominated. Then we voted anonymously and counted up the votes. Here were the winners and runners-up.

Best Previews

Winner: Frailty

Runners-Up: Guyver Gunhed

Best Soundtrack

Winner: King Ralph

Runners-Up: Ocean Drive Weekend, Jury Duty

Best B&T 

Winner: Phat Beach

Runners-Up: King Ralph, Wizards

Best Graphics

Winner: Gunhed

Runners-Up - Guyver, Merlin's Mystical Shop of Wonders

Best Sound Effects

Winner: Volere Volare

Runners-Up: Cat From Outer Space, Merlin’s Mystical Shop of Wonders 

Best Likable Characters

Winner: King Ralph

Runners-Up: Ghost Dad, Ocean Drive Weekend

Best Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion

Winner: King Ralph

Runners-Up: Merlin’s Mystical Shop of Wonders, Phat Beach

Tapette of the Year

Winner: Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold

Runners-Up: Fay’s 12 Days of Christmas, Jackie Chan Adventures

Avoid of the Year

Winner: Wizards

Runners-Up: Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, Gunhed

Tape of the Year

Winner: Phat Beach

Runners-Up: Ghost Dad, King Ralph 

The graduating class of 2012!

Find of the Week (3/31/13 - 4/6/13)

RayStorm (PSX)

Value: $30 on eBay

Actual Cost: $3

I found this in a thrift store which usually has nothing but junk. The disk is scratched pretty significantly but works fine. RayStorm is not only a decent find money-wise, but it's a really fun game too. This Taito shoot-em-up is the sequel to the well-regarded RayForce, also known as Layer Section here in the states.

RayStorm gets a lot of flack from shooter enthusiasts. Apparently it's not as good as its predecessor. Having not played Layer Section, I can't comment on this. As a standalone play experience, however, this game impresses. Most notable are the polygonal graphics. Unlike older polygon shooters like Silpheed that stream the 3D from full motion video, everything here is generated real time. For a game made in 1996, this is very beautiful. I'd say the graphics rank on the high end of all 3D Playstation games.

At first, it can be hard to keep track of everything going on screen. Ships fly below and above you, and bullets tend to have long flame tails. Once you get going, though, you won't have too much of a problem. This game is a little on the easy side. I don't mind that. I honestly had more fun playing this than overrated shooters like Battle Garegga. Then again, I'm not much of a fan of vertical shooters anyways. I prefer horizontal shoot-em-ups like Gate of Thunder and Thunder Force III. Anywho, if you're a shooter fan, forget what the majority say and try this one out.

Find of the Week (3/24/13 - 3/30/13)

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

Value: $10 (hardcover) on Amazon

Actual Cost: $7

John King Books is the largest bookstore in Michigan. I stopped by this week to see if they had any good old RPG books. They didn't, but on whim, I decided to check the film and TV section. I picked up The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch, as well as the neat The Northern Exposure Book by Louis Chunovic. Anyone who knows me knows that I loooove me some Twin Peaks. I've been looking out for this book for a while.

So far, I've read half of it. It's a short read at around 200 pages. The book is basically the diary of an abused girl, but written with the mythos of the Twin Peaks universe. I must say, I was surprised by the quality of the writing. Don't expect beautiful prose coming from a 12-year old's narrative or anything. The strong point here is the quality of the story. Anyone who has seen David Lynch's Twin Peaks knows Laura Palmer's story. For any of you who haven't, I won't spoil the great plot twists.

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer makes a great companion piece for fans of the show. The quality is good enough to stand alone as a novel in the similar vain of Go Ask Alice. However, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend you read this without having seen the show first. Why? Because it would be a disservice to yourself to spoil the amazing story of the TV series!

Find of the Week (3/17/13 - 3/23/13)

Dragonlance: Fifth Age

Value: $60 (used) on Amazon

Actual Cost: $15 (new, but with fading and shelf wear on corners)

I saw this at the local comic shop a while back. It piqued my curiosity, but I forgot to research it when I got home. I finally got around to checking it out a few weeks later. This game gets much critical acclaim, so I figured I couldn't pass it up. The good deal (this thing goes for $240 dollars new!) was icing on the cake.

Dragonlance: Fifth Age is made by TSR and set in the Dragonlance D&D setting. This is not a D&D module or expansion. This is a role playing game that uses the SAGA rules system. SAGA uses card based mechanics, as opposed to dice. I read through the basic rules. It definitely sounds fun!

I'm gearing up to play Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition, so I probably won't play this anytime soon. I will definitely try it later on down the road. When I do, you'll definitely hear about it.

My secondary find of the week goes to a book I bought at the same comic shop.

Greyhawk Adventures

Value: $10 on Amazon

Actual Cost: $5

Greyhawk Adventures is an adventure module/campaign supplement for AD&D 1st and 2nd editions. I kinda regretted buying this for a minute. Then I read the awesome details given for the "House of Cards." The House of Cards is a casino location you can run in Greyhawk or any other D&D setting. It gives some ways to simulate gambling with dice (nothing too fancy, but it gives me an idea on how to quickly determine a poker game without actually pulling out cards). I definitely plan on using this in my upcoming Spelljammer campaign!

Find of the Week (3/3/13 - 3/9/13)

Fay's Fairy Tales: Little Red Riding Hood

Value: $0.01 on Amazon

Actual Cost: $1

This week was not a great week for finds. The most interesting thing I purchased was this children's book from a local library. I payed a dollar since it was hardcover. Amazon has multiple copies for a penny, but I ultimately avoided having to pay the $3.99 shipping costs.

I'm a huge fan of William Wegman, the author and photographer. You probably have seen his acting weimaraner dogs on shows like Sesame Street. He's also done quite a few short films and a few books. Little Red Riding Hood is part of the Fay's Fairy Tales series. I really hope to get the others from this series, as well.

The actors, of course, are Fay and her lovable children. The writing is clever, as per usual with Wegman. I imagined his dry voice narrating the entire thing. Some of the photos are absolutely amazing, even if they're a bit samey overall. Seeing dogs dressed up as people never gets old. Here's a shot of the big bad wolf.

The only distinguishing marks are his snarl and bushy tail.

I love Wegman, and I love fairy tales. Naturally, I also loved this book. Your mileage may vary.

Tuesday on Tape #13 - Jury Duty

#13 - Jury Duty (12/18/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 0/1
Soundtrack: .5/.5
B&T: .5/1.5
Graphics: 1/1
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: .5/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1.5/1.5
Total: 4.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy

Personal Thoughts: Jury Duty is a solid movie. The tape rating suffered a lot due to lack of previews and B&T. Otherwise, it was good stuff. Pauly Shore carries this movie, but he wasn't as likable as he usually is. Pauly just wasn't in full "Weasel" form in this one. He's definitely not as out there as he was in Encino Man or Bio-Dome. Don't let that deter you from watching if you're a fan of Shore or early 90s comedy in general.

Jury Duty was the final tape of the 2012 season. We took the next week off for Christmas but did watch a tapette during our Christmas party. What is a tapette again?


Tapettes
tapette - A VHS tape that fulfills one of two conditions: a) it is a short film that is under 50 minutes in length, or b) it is a compilation tape with episodes of a TV show or short films that total under 50 minutes each. [In case (b), each episode will be considered a separate tapette.]

Ok, I apologize for not updating regularly about the tapettes we watch. I maintain the Tuesday on Tape online presence through our Facebook page and this blog. Sometimes I fall behind. I find it easier if I don't have to worry about taking pictures of the short tapettes every Tuesday night. So rather than updating all the time, I'll probably just give you a list of a bunch of tapettes recently watched.

Here's a list of the tapettes watched in 2012:

- Monster Rancher: Let the Games Begin (Episode 1) - Avoid
- Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold - Buy
- Fay’s 12 Days of Christmas - Buy
- Jackie Chan Adventures: Friend or Foe (1/8/13) - Rent


The first meeting of 2013 was the annual awards ceremony. Tapes are awarded for excellence in the individual ratings categories, as well as for Tape of the Year. So what won what? Check out my next post to find out! 

Find of the Week (2/24/13 - 3/2/13)

Monstrous Compendium Appendices

(Spelljammer I & II, Ravenloft I & II, Dark Sun, Al-Qadim, Outer Planes)

Value: $266 total on Amazon

Actual Cost: $37.50 total

AD&Dmania continues! This week I bought some Monstrous Compendium appendices from the local comic book shop. Monstrous Compendium stuff, unlike most AD&D 2e books (except box sets with low print runs like Planescape), has actually increased in value over the years. The reason being that they came in folios full of loose sheets to be added to a binder. I guess it became harder to find them complete. These things came in the packaging but with a bit of shelfwear to the covers. Otherwise, the sheets are fine.

I already added these to my Monstrous Compendium binders. I suppose I might not ever actually get around to using some of them (like Dark Sun), but I figured it would be a wise investment in case I ever wanted to in the future.

I quite frankly can't wait to get started on my 2e game. It's been my main interest as of late. I've amassed a good deal of books: the core rulebooks, optional splatbooks, and a few settings boxsets. I am all set to go with materials (including a battlemap and cardboard minis), and have familiarized myself with all the rules in the PHB and Spelljammer. Now all I have left to do is finish reading the DMG!

Tuesday on Tape #12 - Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders

#12 - Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (12/11/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 0/1
Soundtrack: .5/.5
B&T: 0/1.5
Graphics: 1/1
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: .5/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1.5/1.5
Total: 4/7

Rent or Buy?: Rent

Kudos:

• Guy breathes fire
• Really cool dog
• Best climax ever
• Monkey toy is despicable antagonist

Personal Thoughts: The ratings might not be give the impression that we liked this movie, but we had a hell of a time with this one. I personally loved it. Essentially, Merlin's Shop was just an excuse to make use of a unreleased short horror film from the 80s (based off of Stephen King's "The Monkey") by adding some low budget 90s footage. To be honest, we picked this one because fellow committee member Sean and myself are on a quest to watch movies from the IMDb Bottom 100 movies list. Is it that bad?

Not at all. It's a good movie. It's not even so-bad-it's-good. It's just good. There are some ridiculous effects in the first tale (the guy breathing fire), but that's about it. The only incompetent part of the whole thing is the first ten minutes being a REALLY slow start. But it picks up speed quickly, leading to one of the best climaxes I've ever seen in a movie ever. I literally jumped out of my seat and screamed in joy. I kid you not.

I understand this was riffed by MST3K but I'm not entirely sure why. Of course, I didn't think Manos: The Hands of Fate was that bad either. Pick this up, but do yourself a favor and watch the original version first!

Find of the Week (2/17/13) - (2/23/13)

Last week was totally devoid of finds. This week, though, I went book shopping in Grand Rapids. I found a ton of awesome AD&D 2nd Edition stuff. Yeah, I know it's not really hip, but that's the edition I'm into, so I was super excited. Let's break down the major finds.

Planescape Box Set

Value: $90 on Amazon (in good condition)

Actual Cost: $6.95 (in acceptable condition, missing monster sheets)

Here's the campaign setting box set for Planescape. Released in the mid-90's, this thing fetches a fair penny online. At its cheapest, it costs $90! Unfortunately, my box isn't in great condition and the Monster Compendium supplement were removed (probably placed in the original owner's binder). The actual contents of the box are in awesome shape, so I don't mind much. Awesome value, as I actually plan on running Planescape someday. It's the most interesting D&D setting after Spelljammer.

Planes of Conflict Box Set

Value: $270 on Amazon (good condition)

Actual Cost: $4.95 (box in poor condition, missing monster supplement)

This box is in similar condition to the first Planescape box. The books inside are fine. It's missing the monsters and has a bad box. This box is more beat up than the last and is actually held with tape at the corners. Oh well, with the cheapest alternative at $270, I'm not complaining.

Planes of Chaos Box Set

Value: $37 on Amazon (good condition)

Actual Cost: $6.95 (box in poor condition, missing monsters and posters)

This box set is in the worst shape of them all. The box is really beat up. It's missing not only the monsters, but also 4 of the 5 posters. This is okay by me, considering this is the least valuable of the box sets.

Hellbound: The Blood War Box Set

Value: $85 (good condition

Actual Cost: $6.95 (acceptable condition)

This was the last Planescape setting box set I was able to pick up. I sadly could not find Planes of Law or Primer to the Outlands. This one is in the best shape. The box has a little tearing at the bottom but is still strongly holding together. There's no tape or anything. All the contents are included too!

Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendices (I, II, and III)

Value: $60 (good condition) 

Actual Cost: $9.90 total (poor condition)

Ok, these books are pretty beat up. There's water damage wrinkles and even one page where a picture has been cut out. Oh well, at least I can get the monster info from them!

Dragon Magazine #159 & #180

Value: $4 on Amazon

Actual Cost: $7

Okay, so I lost $3 on this transaction (not so if I factor in shipping and handling costs, a-ha!). These issues of the official D&D magazine are kinda cool. #159 has a bunch of Spelljammer articles, while #180 has a neat random encounter table. I read these on the bus headed home from Grand Rapids!

Overall, I got some pretty good deals, even if they're not exactly analogous in condition to items found online. $546 worth of AD&D junk for $42 bucks. Not so bad, if I do say so myself. 

As for whether or not I'll actually use this stuff, I guess only time will tell. I do plan on running a Planescape campaign someday, but right now I'm all about Spelljammer. Even if I never actually play them, I will enjoy reading them, so it's worth it.

Tuesday on Tape #11 - The Cat From Outer Space

#11 - The Cat From Outer Space (12/4/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 0/1
Soundtrack: 0/.5
B&T: 0/1.5
Graphics: 1/1
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: .5/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1/1.5
Total: 3/7

Rent or Buy?: Rent

Kudos:

• Horse-racing scene
• Proto-E.T.
• Excellent stunt driving
• Masterful animal acting

Personal Thoughts: Ok, we got ourselves into this one. The Cat From Outer Space is obviously a bad 70's Disney talking-thing movie (like the old crappy Herbie movies), but we watched it anyway. In this one, an alien cat recruits a quirky scientist to help him find gold to power his dead spaceship. I don't really have a lot to say about this one, I guess. I didn't like it as much as the rest of us did, but I suppose you might, if you like cheesy old family movies.

Tuesday on Tape #10 - Volere Volare

#10 - Volere Volare (11/27/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 0/1

Soundtrack: .5/.5

B&T: 1.5/1.5

Graphics: 1/1

Sound Effects: .5/.5

Likable Characters: .5/1

Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1.5/1.5

Total: 5.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy

Kudos:

• Crazy animated graphics
• Crazy sound effects
• Crazy B&T
• Crazy stunt driving
• Crazy dick punching
• Roger Rabbit for adults

Personal Thoughts: Volere Volare is a Roger Rabbit story about a sound effect technician in love with cartoons. When he falls in love with an unconventional prostitute, he finds himself turning into a cartoon himself! This movie unexpectedly used Italian dialogue with English subs. It's actually really funny. Most of the humor is innocent oldschool cartoon slapstick and sound humor. The other jokes are mostly sexual in nature. (The prostitute does weird things and is sometimes nude, but never has sex. Instead, she pretends to be scared while her cab-driving john drives like a maniac. In another scene, she acts as a nun during a fake funeral staged by a necrophiliac old couple.) Not everyone it will enjoy that, but I did.

The animation was surprisingly good for a random Italian adult comedy movie from 1994. The bulk of the animation only lasts for the final 15 minutes, much less than Roger Rabbit or Cool World. I do give it props for having that much, though, especially since I recently watch Evil Toons. That movie only had about 90 seconds of animation. Overall, the animation, combined with the excellent sound effects, did it's job and makes this a very unique movie. 

If you're a fan of cartoons and adult humor, check this one out. It's only like $6 on Amazon for a used copy.

Find of the Week (2/3/13 - 2/9/13)

Nintendo Power (Jan. 1996, Nov. 2010)
Value: $26

Actual Cost: $0.50

I'm a big fan of old video game magazines. I was going through the magazine rack at one of my common spots and noticed some Nintendo Power magazines. There was a year's worth Nintendo Power issues from 2010-2011 and one issue from 96. I picked up the old issue and the only interesting newer issue. I will probably go back and grab the rest of them just for fun, since they're only a quarter.

The 2010 issue celebrates the 25th anniversary of Nintendo Power. I leafed through it and noticed a lot of people sharing their memories about the NES and some of its popular games. I'm into nostalgic writing, so I thought this was pretty cool. The cover is kinda cool too.

The cover on the '96 issue is actually missing, but that didn't stop me. This magazine is THICK. The big feature in this issue was a preview of all the games coming out for the Ultra 64. What a blast from the past! If you know a little about gaming, you'd know that the Ultra 64 turned into the N64, and the first year of the system suffered due to a lack of games. I mean, Body Harvest is one of the games featured, yet it didn't get released until 1998. It's also worth noting that this period saw Nintendo Power covered four video gaming systems at once. In addition to the Ultra 64, there's space devoted to the SNES, Gameboy, and Virtual Boy.

I payed a quarter for each of these. Completed listings say that the November 2010 issue goes for $20 and up to $30 for the special Mario cover alone. These will make good additions to my budding library of video game magazines.

Tuesday on Tape #9 - King Ralph

#9 - King Ralph (11/20/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 0/1
Soundtrack: .5/.5
B&T: 1.5/1.5
Graphics: 1/1
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: 1/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1.5/1.5
Total: 6/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy


Kudos: 

• Spotted Dick jokes
• Cricket scene
• OST by John Goodman
• Burger King scene is hilarious
• Elaborate glass domino effect
• Randy Finnish Princess with man voice
• Tommy is badass
• Goodman hanging out sunroof of a limo

Personal Thoughts: King Ralph is the highest rated tape in Tuesday on Tape History so far. Is it that good? Yes.

It might not be quite as good as Fraily, but this movie is full of fun! John Goodman plays the titular character and makes this movie. (He's as integral to this as he was to Matinee, another excellent film.) Goodman is an American with very distant ties to the Queen of England. He finds himself the King after a freak accident wipes out the entire Royal Family. It's a comedy, so don't expect anything too grand. Unlike most 90's comedies, there are no annoying over-the-top actors.

My favorite part in the entire thing is when John Goodman sings. Multiple times. Yes, really, it's John Goodman singing. He even has a wild musical number at a party! It's amazing! If It weren't for the lack of previews, this would have had a perfect score. The quest for the perfect tape continues!

Please Don't Feed My Kaiju: Imperial Godzilla

When I started this blog, I wrote the first posts about Ultraman episodes. I got bored after a few and quit writing for a year. It wasn't that I don't like Ultraman or kaiju. I just made the posts too long and burned out. It's been so long since I wrote about kaiju that I figure I should give them some love. I present to you Godzilla!

Here is my Imperial Toys Godzilla figure. This was released in 1985, and every kid had one. My brother and I did. My mom threw it away sometime over the years. When I recently went through a Godzilla kick and had money to spare, I picked it up. It's a little worn and is losing the paint on his finger nails, but he's still awesome. I mean, check out that red lipstick!

Imperial Godzilla stands at an astounding 12"!

You may recognize this legendary figure from his many appearances in TV Land. Godzilla is a reoccurring figure in Roseanne and probably a bunch of other crap as well. Seriously, he's in like every episode of Roseanne.

Best of all, this thing is massive. You can trample all over just about any figure. I used to have a bunch of smaller scale Bandai figures, and they didn't hold a candle to this. Not only were they smaller, they were not nearly as durable. Thus, they weren't as well suited for kaiju fights. Now the obstacle is finding other kaiju toys of a similar scale so battles don't seem one sided!

Of course, it's easy to find smaller stuff. I like to browse through dollar stores for bootleg action figures and stuff like that. I found a decent caterpillar plushie to act as larval Mothra. My buddy Sean picked up some little mini wrestling figures and left them over at my house. Naturally, I chose not to follow my own advice and fed them to my kaiju.

Tuesday on Tape #7 & #8 - Wizards & Frailty

#7 - Wizards (10/30/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 0/1
Soundtrack: .5/.5
B&T: 1.5/1.5
Graphics: .5/1
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: 0/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: .5/1.5
Total: 3.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Avoid


Kudos:

• ”Aaahhh!” (You will never be able to recreate that yell simply through text.)
• The two soldiers who were the only likable characters in the movie
• “I don’t wanna hurt nobody anymore!”
• "They killed Fritz!
• Sudden bursts of sensational violence that made the movie kind of tolerable
• Red Lobster Bender

Personal Thoughts: I didn't actually see this one. It's the only Tuesday on Tape that I've missed. I'm just posting it for posterity. Everyone else said it was bad. Over half the viewers walked out. I have seen 5 minutes of it, and they weren't bad. But, knowing Ralph Bakshi, this probably sucked big time.

#8 - Frailty (11/6/12)

Tuesdays on Tape Rating Scale™

Previews: 1/1
Soundtrack: .5/.5
B&T: 0/1.5
Graphics: 1/1
Sound Effects: .5/.5
Likable Characters: 1/1
Memorable Moments/Quotables/Emotion: 1.5/1.5
Total: 5.5/7

Rent or Buy?: Buy

Kudos:

• A dozen simply masterful previews which brought us back to the days of old
• "Butthole!"
• “I'd do anything to see her teeuts!”
• “They killed Fritz!”
• Extensive Anatomy of a Scene after the movie, which had a man moving a 15 foot 2x4 up and down repeatedly ("The Jiggle Master")
• Lots of fun

Personal Thoughts: Frailty may be the actual best movie we've watched so far. I want to start off by mentioning that this tape had 12 previews and a featurette at the end! That's crazy! Frailty is one of my favorite A-movie horror films.

A man is convinced that he has a mission from God to kill sinners. He enlists his two sons to help him in the battle, but one of boys has his doubts. The acting from Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey is excellent. The child actors do an excellent job as well. The script and cinematography are mighty fine, too.

One reason why I like Frailty is because it kind of reminds me of one of my all time faves, Parents. There's a really interesting dynamic to a story where a child can't trust his parents. Unlike Parents, this one also questions religion. Few other blockbuster horror thrillers are this clever. You owe it to yourself to see it if you have not already.