The Washington Psychotronic Film Society turns 20!

The Washington Psychotronic Film Society is now officially 20 years old! I attended the bash with my brother who, along with myself, enjoyed the evening as always.

The night went down pretty routinely, a crowd of people grabbing drinks, chatting, relaxing from a long day at work, mentally preparing themselves for the horror and unintentional comedy that awaits them.

Tonight was different, instead of some insipid 80s science fiction film, or lame horror film from the 70s to delight us, we were treated with some fantastic short films.

For those who do not know the Washington Psychotronic Film Society, as the website states, we are "A group of film lovers who meet on a regular basis, screening some of the most Psychotronic films in the world." Also, for those who don't know what 'Psychotronic' is, it is a term coined by Michael Weldon - describing "just about everything except the Norm." The group meets every Wednesday to watch films that are forgotten, and others that should have stayed forgotten.

Anyway, back to what I was talking about earlier. The 20th anniversary was chock full of small films, such as: Chekhov's Gun, Peep Show, Robot Bastard!, and Vendetta: A Christmas Story.

Chekhov's Gun

Chekhov's Gun | User Video | SPIKE.com

Here is an absolutely hilarious short film that we saw at the Washington Psychotronic Film Society on Wednesday. Enjoy.

C'mon, who doesn't love the idea of a "Civilian Defense Force"?

The "Judgment at Nuremberg" is a 1961 film based on the actual events that occurred at the post-Nazi Germany trials at Nuremberg in 1948. Sure the film is fictionalized.

The movie won Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Writing and Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture. Wow, and I must say - the accolades are well deserved.

Check out the film not only if you're interested in World War II, but also if you like court room dramas.

The film raises quite a few points that caused me to think. I mean, what really caused these people to blindly follow this lunatic? Why did people do it? How could people not see through the idealistic (or hate filled) vision and see what they were doing was batsh*t insane? Was it just some misplaced judgment in believing that he would bring change to their nation, bringing them out of their Great Depression?

I worry that someday, something like this will happen again to a free nation. It may not be Germany, it may not be our country, but human naïveté seems to have a habit of getting in the way of reality. It's a short leap from getting in your neighbors face, to spying on them. It's only a short skip and a jump from someone proposing a paramilitary Sturmabteilung "Civilian Defense Force" that is just "as well-funded". It's not a huge leap when you know that those little children are being indoctrinated into singing a DPRK style "Dear Leader" song.

I will not stand for it. However, it could just be that we're about to take part in the largest Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen, in which case we're only slightly screwed.

First Star Trek pictures

Here's my initial reaction to the picture's I've seen, courtesy TrekMovie.

-Turrets on the ship? What the?
-I see a mini-skirt!
-The uniforms look about right...
-Wait, what the heck is Kirk wearing? A black uniform? No, No NO NOOOO
-What the.... he... the bridge looks like it was designed by someone who watched Galaxy Quest and 1998's "Lost in Space" a few too many times and forgot what the original bridge looked like, let alone what the TOS film bridges looked like.
-What's with the blue tint?
-Why does the bridge/ship lighting look like it's all passed through frosted glass?
-Is this a Star Trek themed restaurant?
-Did someone watch a little too much Stargate SG-1?

Oh great. I'll reserve judgment until a trailer - but I'm no longer holding my breath (or pretending to).

I think I can only really buy the film if most of the events occur in a different "reality" and that the "real one" (or one that actually resembles the TOS universe) is restored in the end - "correcting" some of the artistic license that JJ Abrams seems to have taken with the series.

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is a film that is constantly overlooked for it's greatness. It's not Ben Hur, it's not a masterpiece, but is a solid, fantasy film - especially in a sea of so many bad ones.

The acting may be spotty from time to time - after all, we're dealing with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The rest of the acting is generally on par with many other action and fantasy films - not entirely bad, often over the top, and always with the villain chewing the scenery.

The violence is explicit. Very explicit. Many would never know this - considering how butchered the film is on TV. It is literally unwatchable in that state - a large amount of this is trimmed - to the point where it ends up being relatively tame.

What I was surprised with was the quality of the direction. John Milius did a competent job bringing Conan to the big screen. However, the one thing going against the film is probably the length - the film clocks in at 130 minutes. How the hell did Oliver Stone co-write the screenplay? Did he go insane after this - seeing conspiracy theories everywhere - or was he able to craft a work that is somehow missing his extremely partisan worldview?

Has anyone noticed how much Thulsa Doom's logo and Obama's logo look alike? What insane (or genius) graphic artist came up with that? Provided is an artificallly colorized version to illustrate what I'm saying.

*** 1/2 out of *****

Real men use Veidt