Thursday, October 25, 2018

Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition-The Weird

Almost the end of October and 2 months before...gulp....Christmas...this is a royal WTF??? Where the hell did this year go? I now firmly believe that the year speeds up as you get older. That is just weird which is this week’s theme from the TV. I bet Twin Peaks will get all the talk but I never watched this show from the freaky David Lynch but I have picked 3 that seem to work here. Wandering through the Shelves is the brainchild of this weekly fun filled adventure into film land. Here are my 3...

1. ONE STEP BEYOND-1959-1961


This is often compared to The Twilight Zone but this show was supposedly based on fact and dealt with ghosts, aliens to past life...and beyond(insert a snicker or a groan). I really enjoyed this show which was remade in the 1980’s usually with the same scripts so watch the original with the narrator, John Newland. My favourite episodes dealt with a woman who had nightmares about water and being book on the Titanic. Another is about the number of people who had a premonition about Lincoln’s death including Lincoln himself ( I remember reading about this) and the last and very frightening episode about a skeptical man who decides to stay at this old hotel supposedly haunted, along with an older woman novelist. His weekend becomes a nightmare and totally freaked me out.

2. RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT-1982-1985


Jack Palance, who was quiet weird himself but I love him, was the host of this anthology show that talked about the strange and freaky things that Ripley himself found on his many travels, but also spoke about hauntings, aliens and the just plain HUH??? What the hell is that? I really enjoyed this program and it is best with this actor.

3. FACE OFF-2011 TO PRESENT


I love this reality program (so does Alex:)) which takes a number of men and women who have applied, to be the best FX makeup artist. Hosted by McKenzie Westmore, whose father, Michael Westmore, guides the people and who is famous for many Star Trek aliens plus other sci-fi and horror films. She informs the group of what creature or being they must create often with a unique slant. For example, they might be told to create a monster but must pick a realm/weapon/colour that they must incorporate into their being. You see these artists create from the putty and molds to the clothing, wings, tails etc... they must put the faces etc...on their model and paint them before their works are shown to the experts. The experts are the Oscar winner Ve Neill, Neville Page and the totally weird, Glenn Hetrick. What I love about this show is not only the creativity but that nobody is cutthroat, yelling or emotionally retarded. No Jersey Shore here and thank god! I just read it has been cancelled after the final showing of season 13....I don't like this at all!

What are your 3?

28 comments:

  1. I do like Faceoff a lot too. It is amazing what they do and what they create, isn't it? have a great day. Hugs-Erika

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  2. Yes! And so bummed the show is over now. Face Off was so fascinating.
    Another weird one - In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy.

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  3. I’m not sure of my top 3, not a movie watcher.

    But I agree that the years do speed up as we grow older, for sure.

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  4. Ripley's is the only one I'm familiar with. I bet you're right about Twin Peaks. I've never seen that show either.

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  5. I only ever watched One Step Beyond. But I was a fan of Twin Peaks even when I had no clue what was going on, lol.

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  6. I've watched One Step Beyond off and on but never enough to say I was a regular viewer. It never caught my attention the way Twilight Zone did but it's been so long I'd have to give a couple of episodes a look to really refresh my memory of it.

    I would watch Ripley's if I ran across it but never made a point of seeing it. Sometimes interesting sometimes not.

    The other show is one I'm not familiar with but I try and avoid all reality TV though this sounds different from the rest.

    This was a bit of a challenge since I don't watch horror TV shows anymore than I watch horror movies but I did manage three.

    Dark Shadows (1966-1971)-The first and probably only daytime horror soap opera. Young governess Victoria Winters arrives at the Collins' estate-Collinwood, in Collinsport, Maine. Greeted by shut-in matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (40’s film noir queen Joan Bennett) and other various members of the family including cousin Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) and the seemingly sweet but truly evil Angelique (Lara Parker). She is soon plunged into a world of strange occurrences and terrifying happenings that includes vampires, ghosts, werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. Enormously popular in its day this spawned a couple of theatrical features during its run, an unsuccessful relaunch in prime time in the 80’s and the Tim Burton misfire.

    Cop Rock (1990)-A police drama in musical form! Truly peculiar show that tried to blend those two disparate elements. For example in the premiere as the judge addresses the jury they rise as one and sing the verdict-“He’s Guilty”-Gospel style! There’s also dancing shootouts and harmonizing lineups! In the late 80’s no one was a hotter ticket in TV than producer Steven Bochco following the successes of Hill Street Blues & L.A. Law and he had achieved a level of carte blanche rarely achieved. This is what he did with it? It has been cited as both one of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time and the single most bizarre TV musical ever.

    American Gothic (1995-1996)-Taking place in the town of Trinity, South Carolina the story revolves around the seemingly good natured but corrupt Sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole), a murderous rapist manipulating people to "fulfil their potential" usually towards evil pursuits by way of supernatural powers. His main goal is to control and mold Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) into his image. Dark secrets abound including the fact that Caleb is Buck’s son via a rape committed in front of Caleb's older sister Merlyn (Sarah Paulson), who is murdered in cold blood by Buck in the first episode but whose ghost guides Caleb aided by the town’s newly arrived Dr. Crower (Jake Weber) and Caleb’s out-of-town cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco). Pitch black, truly eerie and brilliantly acted especially by Cole and Black this was conceived by Shaun Cassidy of all people and ex-produced by Sam Raimi. Sadly it only lasted one season.

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    1. There was actually a short-lived supernatural soap opera called Strange Paradise. They were trying to capitalize on the success of Dark Shadows, I show I lived during my early adolescence.

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  7. Two of my favorites are "Alfred Hitchcock Persents" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." They weren't always weird, necessarily, but anything by The Master of the Macabre is found to be a little creepy. An episode of the latter, "The Jar," was written by Ray Bradbury and scared the hell out of my brother Jim.

    Another is "Thriller" with Boris Karloff. Sort of along the lines of "The Twilight Zone," which was its own kind of creepy, and you know with Boris Karloff it's bound to be weird.

    And third would be "Roald Dahl's 'Tales of the Unexpected'." I found it creepy because it came on very late at night and the stories were strange, I thought.

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  8. Hi Birgit - can't compete with your followers or you ... lots here to think about. I'd never come across Face Off ... so that was interesting - loved the photo ... cheers Hilary

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  9. I don’t know any of these (so what’s new?) Time definitely speeds up. I read that because every year that passes is a smaller fraction of your life than the last, it seems quicker!

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  10. I haven't seen Face Off but it sounds fascinating. True artistry. And to make it 13 seasons....Wow.
    How are you feeling today?

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  11. I watched Ripley's back in the day. I'm not sure how, as they had all sorts of gross out things, if I recall correctly. I have not seen the other two, but as I am a SyFy fan, I have heard of Face Off. (I've heard of the other, too, of course.)

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  12. The paper clip one is pretty simple. I knew what the dollar was going to do and how.

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  13. I've seen bits of Face Off. Seen plenty of Ripley's too. That was a fun one.

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  14. I used to watch One Step Beyond back in the good old days of my youth, along with The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits (which was more sci-fi than outright horror), and the Boris Karloff-hosted Thriller (mentioned above). I guess those and any others like them that I've forgotten can account for the warped individual that I am today.

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  15. I remember seeing bits of Ripley with Jack Palance. Unless I'm sitting with the Husband while he watches these kinds of shows, I generally pass on them. That kind of weird makes me shudder.

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  16. I remember Ripley's. St. Augustine has a Ripley's museum. It's VERY expensive and I doubt that it's worth the cost. I don't really go for weird.

    Love,
    Janie

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  17. I remember One Step Beyond and Ripley's, but not Face-Off. Interesting premise! As a kid, The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits were two favourites.

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  18. Hi, Birgit!

    I have always been drawn to weird forms of entertainment. I'm telling you, the mid 50s through the early 60s were prime time for films and television shows about the supernatural/paranormal including, on the small screen, The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Outer Limits, Way Out and Boris Karloff's Thriller. I watched them all in addition to the mystery and suspense anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents. It was a wonderful period for television - so many great writers and thought provoking tales of the unknown and the unexplained. These shows heavily influenced me.

    I watched Jack Palance on Playhouse 90 and The Greatest Show On Earth and remember him as a senior citizen doing one armed push-ups on live TV to prove how strong and macho he still was. I only saw a few of episodes of his Ripley series. Gosh, I never even heard of Face Off but I like the concept and regret that it has been cancelled. Maybe if the producers encouraged bad behavior, fighting and foul language among the contestants the show would have a chance to survive. :)

    Thank you, dear friend BB, and have a fine weekend!

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  19. I was a big fan of Twin Peaks when it first came on the air. I still enjoy watching the old shows like Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and Alfred Hitchcock (which can get rather weird sometimes.

    A weird sit-com that I used to watch in the early nineties was Maniac Mansion. I don't guess it ever got much of a following because it wasn't on for very long, but I thought it had some excellent episodes in the same vein as The Addams Family.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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  20. BIRGIT ~
    Of course, I like 'The Twilight Zone', 'The Outer Limits', and all those classic shows. But my favorite had to be a TV series that was called 'SIGHTINGS', and I still have some episodes on old VHS tapes.

    'Sightings' chronicled what were purported to be TRUE (non-fiction) weird phenomena from around the world, focusing mostly, however, on the U.S. and Europe. So, the show would address several different topics in a single episode - from ghosts, to UFOs, to psychic experiences, Reincarnation, the Loch Ness Monster, etc., etc.

    Here's a link to one old episode that I just grabbed at YouTube:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGItWfCRzys

    My all-time favorite story that they did dealt with a man on a motorcycle who was struck by lightning one rainy night. The paramedics arrived and said the man was dead. Smoke was still rising from the hole in his chest where the lightning hit him.

    Suddenly this angel dressed in black 1800s attire comes out of nowhere and saves the man's life by beating on his chest with a copy of The Bible. It was pouring rain, but the angel remained completely dry.

    Suddenly the man started breathing again, the angel smiled at the paramedics, stood up, took a few steps away and disappeared in the darkness. They even interviewed one or two of the paramedics (who were NOT fired for being crazy).

    Just thinking about that story gives me goose bumps! (But the good kind.)

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents 'Battle Of The Bands'

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  21. I used to watch Ripley's! Man, that show had some wild stuff going on. I've been to their museum in Myrtle Beach, SC. Lots of what they talked about plus a good deal more is on display.

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  22. Never seen any of these, but I have HEARD of Face Off and see it's advertised on Syfy channel. I LOVED the paper clip sketch. Really clever and compelling, too.

    Sorry I'm late visiting. Wanted to get here sooner, but I've been quite ill.

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  23. I am movie challenged:( I didn’t see any of these movies.
    R

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  24. I've never heard of any of these. You're right about Twin Peaks and it deserves all the talk. It is such a weird show, and I love it.

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  25. Where on earth did you get these? All new to me. I like the paper clip trick but haven't tried yet. Grand kids would love. He really plays it up well doesn't he? Pretty creepy. Perfect for Halloween!

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  26. Umm, sorry, but none of these spookies float my boat! I DON'T DO spooky or anything of the sort, as I'd have nightmares and flinch at every creaking noise the house makes. I do remember Palance in that series, and while he was a fine actor, he could do creepy REALLY well! (I did like him in Monte Walsh though...) TFS

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  27. I don't any of those three you feature! Here in the UK we had the creepy The Day Of The Triffids series and The Prisoner. I don't know if you got either of those in the US.
    That's Purrfect

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