365.)Consumer Guide: video releases of two Beat Takeshi films and three B-budget noirs; museum tribute to the work of Budd Boetticher.
366.)(rerun)Stella Stevens, part two.
367.) Consumer Guide: offbeat mail-order oddities. ’70s porn flick Breakdown (featuring a black militant plotline); Robert Downey Sr.’s completely gonzo Pound; the Japanese ’50s version of Tarzan; the Indian variant Lady Tarzan (hot babe in loincloth does her best amidst tame animals, indian men in blackface, and a female rival who dances better than she does–all in CinemaScope!); and the Turkish version of E.T.!
368.) Joseph H. Lewis “Deceased Artiste” tribute.
369.) Halloween: Consumer Guide reviews of At Midnight I will Take Your Soul; the outtake tape “The Blood Trilogy” (outtakes from Herschell Gordon Lewis’s classic gore trilogy); Micky Dolenz in slasher movie Night of the Strangler (Micky is not the titular killer, by the way); and William Shatner in the artsy horror film (in Esperanto) Incubus.
370.) (rerun) Peter Greenaway’s The Falls.
371.) (rerun)Fred Olen Ray interview, part 1.
372.) Carroll Baker interview.
373.) Luis Bunuel, part 1. On the occasion of a comprehensive centennial tribute at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
374.) Luis Bunuel, part 2.
375.) Luis Bunuel, part 3–the blasphemous scenes! Plus, review of “Cinema/Berlin,” a documentary portrait of the city featuring Wim Wenders and Uncle Jean, Jean-Luc Godard.
376.) (rerun) Filippino “Batman” comedy.
377.) Xmas Show, featuring ’50s/’60s variety show clips; also, first of a multi-part “Deceased Artiste” tribute to Steve Allen.
378.) Steve Allen “Deceased Artiste” tribute, part 2: Scenes from Steve’s ’50s NBC primetime show.
379.) Startling ’80s TV: as part of ongoing “Deceased Artiste” tribute to Steve Allen (part 3 here), scenes from two Irwin Allen TV movies he scored and cameos in: Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass. A who’s who of schlocky ’80s TV–from Sherman Helmsley to Charlene Tilton–with two all-time “Funhouse” favorites, Ringo Starr and Sammy Davis Jr.!!!!
380.) Consumer Guide: foreign classics Portrait of an Assassin (screen legends Erich Von Stroheim and Maria Montez distinguish this oddball character study/noir); Jules Dassin’s The Law (an Italian small-town has its torried secrets, with Marcello Mastroianni, Gina Lollobrigida, Yves Montand, and Melina Mercouri!); and Antonioni’s Beyond the Clouds (co-directed by Wim Wenders, featuring an international cast of stars, plus some young actresses in the altogether–old Michelangelo is now more interested in showing “texture,” one assumes….), plus the making of the film, Antonioni’s daughter’s docu, To Make a Film is to be Alive.
381.) Deceased Artistes: Small performing legend Billy Barty; Amusin’ rocker Ian Dury; “Batman” scripter (and sometime film critic) Stanley Ralph Ross; and Victor Borge.
382.) Deceased Artistes: singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl; Julie London (check out the album covers, plus her appearances in the films of “Funhouse” favorites Hugo Haas and Frank Tashlin); and beloved Jason Robards Jr. (one of the best-ever comedies about conformity and the importance of avoiding it, A Thousand Clowns).
383.) As a tribute to Chinese New Year, Stan Freberg’s “Chun King Hour.” Amazing special that celebrates that holiday while commenting on the medium of television, its attitude towards comedians (Sterling Holloway guides Stan), its violence (guest Mike Mazurki helps out), its commercials (voice specialist June Foray here), and its singalong music shows (Stan as Mitch Miller). Oh yeah, the whole thing is a big fat infomercial for Chun King frozen products–the finest informercial ever, and quite a nice social comment (Stan has his old puppet alter-ego deliver an anti-nuke message!).
384.) Groucho tribute–scenes from Groucho appearances on “The Jackie Gleason Show” (1967); “The Hollywood Palace” (1965); “The Music Scene (1970); and “The The Dick Cavett Show” (primetime, 1969).
385.) “The Joey Bishop Show” with special guests Sammy Davis and Peter Lawford. Regis and Joey wear Nehru jackets, Sammy sings Newley, there’s a pie-fight, Sammy and Joey’s relatives come up from the audience to tap-dance, and the whole audience celebrates Joey’s birthday (and the release of the film Salt and Pepper).
386.) Karen Black interview, part one.
387.) Steve Allen “Deceased Artiste” tribute 4–clips from Steve’s “Tonight Show” run; scenes from “Meeting of Minds”; and Steve’s 1968 low-budget syndicated talk show. Plus his “Prickly Heat Telethon” sketch, an obvious swipe at Jerry Lewis (something he fervently denied).
388.) (rerun) Alice Cooper group interview, part one.
389.) Presentation of clips from a 1957 Thanksgiving “Dinah Shore Chevy Show.” “Couples night” guests include: Dinah’s husband George Montgomery, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, and Ernie and Edie Adams.
390.) Consumer Guide: Agnes Varda fest at Film Forum; Re-releases of Melville’s Leon Morin, Priest and Le Doulos, and Rivette’s wonderfully blasphemous The Nun; also, scenes from the comedy compilations Arbuckle and Keaton.
391.) Latest works by former “Funhouse guests: Rudy Ray Moore’s kung fu patchwork movie Shaolin Dolemite (watch the lady ninja distract her male opponent with her womanly attributes–believe me, it’s better than the comedy); also, Ted V. Mikels’ Corpse Grinders 2, a video feature that is a sci-fi sequel to Ted’s classic no-budget horrorfest, featuring two other “Funhouse” guests, Dolores Fuller and Liz Renay.
392.) Karen Black, part two.
393.) Our annual Easter episode features scenes from the Japanese debauched-clergy opus Wet Rope Confession: the Convent Story, featuring kinky nuns and priest (and disco dancing!); the latest batch of Carman videos (in which we learn that the Devil runs abortion clinics and adult book stores–and warlocks are generally Jewish!); and the yearly visit to the “Donut Hole Repair Club.”
394.) “Deceased Artiste” tribute to Joey Ramone. Featured: Joey and Marky Ramone guest on “The Joe Franklin Show.”
395.) (rerun) Peter Ustinov, part one
396.) (rerun) Peter Ustinov, part two
397.) mini-editorial about Time Warner’s “DTV” service; clips from Ustinov’s “Vice Versa,” the prototype for the adult/child switcheroo movies (with “Colonel Blimp” Roger Livesay and a very young but still scarily tic-ridden Anthony Newley); “Mooch Goes to Hollywood,” a dazzlingly weird TV-movie co-written and co-produced by Jim Backus. A female dog travels to L.A. to be a star–with narration by Zsa Gabor and Richard Burton (!), and guest appearances by Vincent Price, Jill St. John, James Darren, Backus (dressed as Magoo in a fantasy), and, in one startling “party” scene set at the Backus manse, Darren McGavin, David Wayne, Dick Martin, Rose Marie, Sam Jaffee, Jay C. Flippen–and Edward G. Robinson (talking to “Mooch”). See it, then you can believe it.
398.) Steve Allen, part five. We progress from Steve the old fogey (talking vulgarity and its prevalence) to hip younger Steve, with a reading of some of his most “modernist” prose (from his second novel, “The Wake,” 1972), some music from his “hippie” LP “Songs for Gentle People,” and a montage of his cooler-than-cool guests (Winters, young Zappa, Dylan, Lenny, Kerouac, and others).
399.) (rerun) Brion James, part one
400.) (rerun) Brion James, part two
401.) Budd Boetticher interview, part one. Entertaining chat with a legendary Hollywood director about his many lives (his filmmaking career came about by chance–he first worked as a professional bullfighter!), and his films (his series of “adult westerns” with Randolph Scott and a number of great actors playing “bad guys” influenced Peckinpah, Leone, and every Western director that followed).
402.) Ed’s birthday show. Latin music videos: Molotov and my three favorite Latina singers: Alejandra Guzman, Shakira, and Thalia. The show’s closer is one of the oddest music videos I’ve ever seen, “Mi Poquita Fe” by Susana Zabaleta. The vid combines giant toilets (seen in various places around a city–and a graveyard), religious imagery (including people praying in their respective faiths), little kids, old folks, our singer dribbling milk down her chin, and raw meat–how can you go wrong?
403.) (rerun) Internet websites
404.) Japanese exploitation–taking it to the limit, in ’60s girl-gang fashion (Alley Cat Rock), shot-on-video camp style (Playmates, with female spies fighting a villainess dressed like the Joker), and out-there fetish weirdness (a revamped version of Fowles/Wyler’s The Collector, titled winsomely Woman in the Box 2). High, and brightly-colored, weirdness from mail-order house Shocking Videos.
405.) Consumer guide time: tribute to genre moviemaker Kinji Fukasaku (including clips from his high-school-kids-wipe-each-other-out message pic Battle Royale); the ever-trippy Candy; and the makers of Mondo Cane and Goodbye Uncle Tom take on Voltaire in the highly anachronistic, incredibly bizarre Mondo Candido.
406.) Consumer guide: Alain Robbe Grillet’s oblique, elliptical, visually striking bit of pseudo-erotic cine-dreaming, La Belle Captive; celebrating the 100th birthday of Marlene Dietrich with Von Sternberg clips and the English variant version of the original Blue Angel; the mob comedy Made; and the re-release of Bunuel’s final provocation, That Obscure Object of Desire.
407.) Kiyoshi Kurosawa interview, part one.
408.) Kiyoshi Kurosawa interview, part two.
409.) (rerun) Ghoulardi, part one.
410.) Budd Boetticher interview, part two.
411.) Complaints and clips–your humble servant rails on with these entertainments: 1965 “Tonight Show” clips with delightfully meandering guests; 1968 “Dark Shadows” promos featuring Jonathan Frid in full Barnabas regalia; Guy Maddin’s odd fable Twilight of the Ice Nymphs; and a video from band Ilya Kuryaki, featuring our fave small person, Nelson De La Rosa.
412.) Seventh annual Jerry Lewis episode, with guest John Mariano, discussing Jerry’s marathon Learning Annex performance. Included: tribute to Jer’s straight woman Kathleen Freeman; footage of Jer on “Tony Orlando and Dawn.”
413.) (rerun) Ghoulardi, part 2
414.) Budd Boetticher, part 3
415.) (rerun) Deafula
416.) Commentary on the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Includes: anti-war, anti-patriotic comedy by The Marx Bros, Bill Hicks, and George Carlin. Also a montage of the World Trade Center as a movie location (nice assemblage of clips, if I do say so myself).