RIP Don West

 Don West passed away December 30, 2022. While not famous, exactly, Don was somewhat notable - Don West was the guy who would come on those Home Shopping channels and sell Baseball cards and the like. More recently, he became an announcer for pro wrestling.

He was apparently well-known enough to be parodied on SNL, even being portrayed by Will Ferrell. Though my favorite of these parodies isn't on youtube.

On another personal note, I've never understood this show's existence. They would always say that they were selling everything for way less than it was worth, and I, being really into sports cards at that time, thought I could confirm that they were telling the truth - everything WAS WAY more valuable than you'd get it there. But how or why would anyone do that? If something is selling for $100, why sell it for $10? Call me naive but it remains a total mystery to me.

And another funny aside about the nature of the brain. I know, in retrospect that all the cards are junk - the card market at that time was a bubble that has since collapsed - but even watching these videos in 2023 I still do get excited as if these are really precious items, as if I'm still in 1993.

The Best Puzzle of 2022?

 

Is this the best puzzle of 2022? Sure. I don't know. I don't know puzzles but I know this is cool.

This kind of video is self-defeating. Now that I've watched it, there's no need to buy the thing. But I wouldn't want to buy if I hadn't watched the video. Maybe don't watch this. Or maybe start watching it, get a sense of it and stop. Maybe I could buy this as a gift?

The Charismatic Voice - Don't Give Up

 

I consider "So" (the album on which "Don't Give Up" appears) to be one of the few truly perfect albums. It mixes avante garde experimentation with pop music to a degree which few albums reach and is completely successful at both. It constantly goes for the weird, the strange, the unexpected and yet each choice seems to work. It's very rare that an album takes so many risks but it's 1 in a 1000 or 1 in 10,000 that also gets every experiment to succeed - one after another.

The music video also takes a risk, and I don't like it. The music video, as the kids say, is "cringe." But no matter, it's the music that counts.

I wonder if this song had any influence from "It's a Wonderful Life." They are both about despair, both involve the Depression, both involve contemplating suicide on a bridge (potentially) and the lyric "Don't give up 'cause you have friends" is eerily similar "No man is a failure who has friends."

Popcorn in Bed - The Best Years of Our Lives

 

I first came across "The Best Years of Our Lives" when doing the IMDB 250. I was completely floored by it. Especially since I never had even heard about it until that list. It's criminally under-watched, under-seen and in all the years I've been recommending it to people, no one has listened. So glad to see it here. It's swell.

Well I Sent a Nukie Tape and It Was Destroyed

 

An examination of value, collectibles and mania. During the Gold Rush, the people who most often made  money were the people selling the mining supplies. I have a feeling the people making the real money off of VHS's is the people grading the tapes.

The ebay auction, in case you want to collect Nukie, is at $35,100 as of this post.

It Happened One Christmas (1977)

 

In Season 3, Episode 21 of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," the crew are forced to watch "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" and are understandably depressed. To help recover, Joel announces that he's gotten a hold of some good Christmas movies. When he proclaims they'll be able to watch "It's a Wonderful Life," the bots are ecstatic... But then he adds, "Don't get too excited, it's the lame Marlo Thomas version." Another version? Yes, the "lame Marlo Thomas version" is a made-for-tv movie entitled "It Happened One Christmas."

In this version, Marlo Thomas (who is a woman) plays the George Bailey character (basically) only they've swapped sexes so the main character is Mary Bailey. She saves her brother from the ice, she has big plans to see the world but gives them up to run her father's Savings and Loan, she keeps her head during the Great Depression and later, facing ruin, she wants to die until her guardian angel Clara saves her.

The film only partially fails in execution but completely fails in concept. People complain that the sequels and reboots of classic movies have gotten out of hand (and they have), but why would ANYONE think they could remake "It's a Wonderful Life"?! It begs belief. It's insanity, it's an insult to film lovers everywhere. And why would you? The original fell out of copyright, it's cheap to broadcast, why spend lots of money to make it again?

Aside from the problem that, you know, the entire concept of the movie is wrong, it isn't a fun disaster - the movie is competently made in every aspect. The film even boasts some great actors. Most notable is Orson Welles as Old Man Potter. How did they get Orson wrapped up in this? His performance is emblematic of the entire problem of the movie. His Potter is smoother and more subtle, more thoughtful, than Lionel Barrymore's but it's to no effect - Barrymore's performance is definitive. Clara, the guardian angel, is played by one of my favorites Cloris Leachman. Her performance in "The Last Picture Show," is one of the all-time greats. In this movie, she's okay. And Mary's brother is played by Christopher Guest, another forgettable performance. In this version, the old man who loses the S&L's money is played by Barney Martin (the dad from "Seinfeld").

Whether this movie should be true to the original or make its own path is a no-win situation. In this case, they chose to be pretty faithful to the original and lost. This exposes the main weakness of the movie: the lead, Marlo Thomas. She's going through all the same actions and making all the same impassioned speeches as Jimmy Stewart did and she has none of the punch, none of the power. I'm not very familiar with Marlo Thomas' body of work but she appears to be a competent actress, she just doesn't compare to Jimmy Stewart. Likewise, a great deal of the movie hinges on the romance between her and her husband, Wayne Rogers, and these two appear to me to have no chemistry. None. It's pretty amazing. Compare that to Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed - one of the most iconic onscreen couples of all-time. 

This movie is the very definition of a mistake, though it is an interesting experience in one way. Watching the emotionally hollow scenes, I was constantly reminded of the parallel scenes from the original movie and how I feel watching those. It's a rather rare phenomenon to watch a movie that's boring, that's dull, that's flat and which is also, nonetheless, emotionally affecting. This is such an experience.