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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Movies That You **MUST** See - 1941


1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd. The film is about a panic in the Los Angeles area after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
Although not as financially or critically successful as many of Spielberg's other films, it received belated recognition after an expanded version aired on ABC, and its subsequent successful home video reissues, raising it to cult status.

Co-writer Gale stated the plot is loosely based on what has come to be known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942 as well as the shelling of the Ellwood oil refinery, near Santa Barbara by a Japanese submarine. Many other events in the film were based on real incidents, including the Zoot Suit Riots and an incident in which the U.S. Army placed an anti-aircraft gun in a homeowner's yard on the Maine coast.




Cast

John Belushi as Captain "Wild" Bill Kelso, U.S. Army Air Corps
Dan Aykroyd as Motor Sergeant Frank Tree
Ned Beatty as Ward Douglas
Lorraine Gary as Joan Douglas
Bobby Di Cicco as Wally Stephens
Murray Hamilton as Claude Crumn
Christopher Lee as Captain Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
Tim Matheson as Captain Loomis Birkhead
Toshirō Mifune as Commander Akiro Mitamura
Warren Oates as Colonel "Madman" Maddox
Robert Stack as Major General Joseph W. Stilwell
Treat Williams as Corporal Chuck "Stretch" Sitarski
Nancy Allen as Donna Stratton
Lucille Benson as Gas Mama (Eloise)
Jordan Brian as Macey Douglas
John Candy as Private First Class Foley
Elisha Cook Jr. as The Patron (Dexter)
Eddie Deezen as Herbie Kazlminsky
Dianne Kay as Betty Douglas
Perry Lang as Dennis DeSoto
Patti LuPone as Lydia Hedberg
Frank McRae as Pvt. Ogden Johnson Jones
Steven Mond as Gus Douglas
Slim Pickens as Hollis P. Wood
Wendie Jo Sperber as Maxine Dexheimer
Joe Flaherty as Raoul Lipschitz
Ignatius Wolfington as Meyer Mishkin











Plot

On Saturday, December 13, 1941 at 7:01 a.m., somewhere along the Northern California coast, a woman goes swimming alone and naked only to find a Japanese submarine surfacing beneath her. The submarine crew realizes they have arrived where they intended to be, Hollywood, and the vessel submerges while the woman swims to safety.
Later that morning, dishwasher Wally Stephens is planning to enter a dance contest with Betty Douglas, against the wishes of her father Ward. A tank crew commanded by Motor Sergeant Frank Tree, U.S. Army, 10th Armored Division, and consisting of Privates Foley, Reese and Henshaw, and Corporal Charles ("Chuck") Sitarski, are at the restaurant where Wally works. The trouble-making, egg-hating Sitarski dislikes Wally almost immediately, and trips the youngster up. A fight ensues, leading Wally to lose his job. About half an hour later, Wally takes his friend Dennis shopping to pick up some zoot-suits and steals a suit.
Death Valley, California, high noon: deranged Army Air Corps Captain Wild Bill Kelso lands his Curtiss P-40 fighter near a grocery store and gas station; while refueling, Kelso accidentally blows up the gasoline station.
In Los Angeles, Major General Joseph W. Stilwell, Commander of the U.S. Army's III Corps, attempts to bring order, but Colonel "Mad Man" Maddox, the General's new secretary Donna Stratten and the General's assistant Captain Loomis Birkhead have other ideas. At one of Stilwell's press conferences at Daugherty Field in Long Beach, the woman-chasing Birkhead is attracted to Donna, who he knows is sexually aroused when in an airborne aircraft. He lures her into a bomber to seduce her but she knocks him out. Birkhead lands on the bomb release control and sends a bomb rolling towards Stilwell's podium as the General is promising that "there will be no bombs dropped here." The bomb explodes, though Stilwell escapes.
That afternoon, at the Douglas family home in Santa Monica, Wally is told by Betty and her friend Maxine, both USO hostesses, that he will be forbidden to enter the USO dance to be held that night because he is not a serviceman. Wally is forced to hide in the Douglas family's garage loft when Ward shows up. Soon after, Tree and his tank crew arrive to deliver an anti-aircraft defense battery; Corporal Sitarski spots Betty and is attracted to her. He is just about to ask whether Betty will go to the dance with him when Wally falls from the loft. Ward and Sitarski dump him into a garbage truck.
The Japanese submarine becomes lost trying to find Los Angeles when the ship's compass is broken. A landing party captures a timber merchant, Hollis "Holly" Wood who will only give up his name, occupation and social security number (106432185) on board the sub. They see he has a small Cracker Jack compass that he swallows, in a fit of patriotic pica. Wood escapes, hoping to find the authorities.
Hollywood Boulevard, 7:35 p.m.: Stilwell goes to see Dumbo. By 9:05 p.m., Birkhead and Donna are headed toward the 501st Bomb Disbursement Unit at Barstow, where Maddox shows them the unit's dilapidated aircraft. Maddox, convinced the Japanese are sending parachutists into the hills near Pomona, lets Birkhead and Donna borrow his aircraft, assuming they are going on reconnaissance.
Back outside the USO dance-hall, Betty is greeted by both Sitarski and Wally. Sitarski kicks Wally in the groin and drags Betty into the dance as his unwilling date. Maxine has fallen in love with Sitarski and tags along. Wally sneaks in with a stolen Shore Patrol uniform, steals Betty away and they win the dance contest whilst evading Sitarski, who is pursued by Maxine. Sitarski, in khaki, punches Wally, in blues, inciting an inter-service brawl. Tree arrives with his team to stop the riot just as Los Angeles goes to Red Alert with an unknown aircraft in the air, piloted by Birkhead and Donna. At the Douglas' home, Ward spots the submarine. As Birkhead and Donna fly over Los Angeles in the back of their aircraft, Army anti-aircraft batteries open fire. Kelso joins the fight and, after shooting Birkhead's aircraft into the La Brea Tar Pits, sees the submarine, only to be shot down by two United States snipers who mistake his plane for a Japanese fighter.
Sitarski drags Betty underneath a tank to rape her. Wally rescues Betty and knocks Sitarski out. They discover Kelso, who informs them about the sub. Wearing an army uniform, Wally commandeers Tree's tank and heads toward Pacific Ocean Amusement Park for a rendezvous with the sub. Ward begins firing at the submarine, destroying his house in the process. The submarine returns fire, hitting the ferris wheel, which careens into the ocean. The tank sinks when the pier collapses. Kelso drives his motorbike into the ocean and swims to the submarine, where he is captured by the Japanese, who, believing their mission accomplished, return home.
Sunday morning, December 14, 1941: Stilwell arrives at the Douglas home where Ward is hanging a Christmas wreath, only to accidentally push his home into the ocean. With all the characters in front of the foundations of the destroyed home, Tree predicts to Stilwell that 1942 will be "the 'really big' year of the war." The General simply mutters: "It's gonna be a 'long' war."




Friday, April 29, 2011

Random Collection Coolness - Australian Insert Lobby Poster

JUST GOT IN THE MAIL TODAY !!



Over the years I have collected many many many different things.
Along with the 1000 movies I still have on VHS tapes. I used to
collect Lobby cards, the occasional poster ,
and lots of Autographed 8 x 10 Movie stills.

This will go GREAT with my old Lobby Cards !!



Wikipedia says :
Lobby Cards are like posters but smaller, usually 11" × 14" (but also 8" × 10" before 1930). Lobby cards are collected and their value depends on their age, quality and popularity. Typically issued in sets of eight, each featuring a different scene from the film. In unusual circumstances, some releases were promoted with larger (12 cards) or smaller sets (6 cards). "The Running Man" set, for example had only six (6) cards, whereas the earlier classic "The Italian Job" set spanned twelve photographs. Films released by major production companies experiencing financial difficulties sometimes had no accompanying "lobby set" at all. Perhaps one of the most notable examples of this scenario would be Michael Mann's cult classic Manhunter (1986), for which no USA lobby card set was ever printed. Notably, there was also no 10" x 8" colour set of cards for John Carpenter's cult horror classic Halloween (1978)
In the United Kingdom, sets of lobby cards are more typically referred to as "Front Of House" cards. However, this can sometimes also refer to black and white press photographs - in addition to the more typical 8 × 10 inch lobby card style promotional devices.

The following sizes were in common use in the United States prior to the mid-1980s, but have since been phased out of production:
One sheet, 27 inches by 41 inches (686x1040mm), portrait format (this size is one inch longer than the modern One sheet)
Display (aka Half-sheet), 22 inches by 28 inches (559x711mm), landscape format
Insert, size 14 inches by 36 inches (356x914mm), portrait format
Window Card, 14 inches by 22 inches (356x559mm), portrait format
Two sheet, 41 inches by 54 inches (1040x1370mm), either landscape format or portrait format
Three sheet, 41 inches by 81 inches (1040x2060mm), portrait format
30x40, 30 inches by 40 inches (762x1016mm), portrait format[5][6]
40x60, 40 inches by 60 inches (1016x1524mm), portrait format[5][6]
Six sheet, 81 inches by 81 inches (2060x2060mm), a square format, often printed in landscape format
Twenty four sheet, 246 inches by 108 inches (6250x2740mm), landscape format often called a billboard.

Foodie Post - Brunch Line-up


The starting line-up for today is ...
Leading off & Batting 1st - Coffee (brewed)
Hitting 2nd - Cinnamon Buns (cooking now)
On Deck & Batting 3rd - Bacon
(one pound thick sliced, ready to knock it outta the park)
Hitting Clean-up - Easter Ham
(in my omelet .. with sharp cheddar)






Funko NEWS - Entertainment Earth SALE until May 3rd !!!!





Is it true you're offering a a free Funko item if I order 5?
Yes, it is! Bring home Funko items and make your kitchen even more exciting. Entertainment Earth carries a huge variety of super-cool collectibles, and for every 4 in-stock Funko items you buy, we'll send you a 5th of your choice... for FREE! Just put 5 in-stock Funko items in your shopping cart and we'll automatically insert a coupon in your cart that gives you the lowest-priced Funko item at no charge at checkout. Browse our entire catalog of Funko items, order or pre-order the ones you like, and buy one for a friend, too!

Official Rules: Offer valid on new orders placed from the Entertainment Earth web site between April 27, 2011 and May 3, 2011. Order must include at least 5 Funko items. Funko items must be in stock. For every 5 Funko items that are ordered, client will receive the 1 lowest-priced Funko item for free. If a client orders 15 Funko items, they will get the 3 lowest-priced Funko items for free. Backorders will not be issued for this offer. Not applicable to previously purchased merchandise. This offer does not apply to EE Distribution orders. This offer cannot be used with any other offer. Offer may be modified or cancelled at any time. For a full list of Funko items, visit this page.


THE ENTERTAINMENT EARTH FUNKO HIT LIST


It's a GREAT Day for America Everyone !! - Syd's Pick of the Week



Please watch this #!$@%'ing Clip ..
It's my Favorite of last week ..




Funko NEWS - The DUKE Preview



"If I had known this, I would've put that
patch on thirty-five years earlier."

(1969, Academy Awards speech for Best Actor in True Grit.)