WEIRD AL - THE COMPLETE SERIES is set in an underground cave, complete with all the modern conveniences, Weird Al is an inventor living with his pet hamster. An elevator brings an endless supply of friends and guests, including: Dweezil Zappa, Daisy Fuentes, Michael McKean & David L. Lander (Lenny and Sguiggy), Emo Philips, Drew Carey, Victoria Jackson, Gilbert Gottfried, Dr. Demento, Fabio, John Tesh, Alex Trebek, and even Hanson (who play a song). Unfortunately, most of these guest stars just have a fleeting appearance on the show, rarely long enough to make a substantial contribution. I found myself fast-forwarding my DVD player to get to Al's parody of commercials and 1950's educational films. These were truly inspiring. Plus, Al pretty much avoids his primary talent: the song parody! Only once does Al perform one of these on the show, a great version of "Yoda". That's another gripe about this set - instead of the lame "bonus" features, why not a collection of his videos? Besides, a few of these are shown during the closing credits of some of his shows. Maybe I was expecting too much. I loved Weird Al's 1989 movie UHF, and I first thought that he would bring some of the comic genius of that film to his 1997 TV series The Weird Al Show. I know - the target audience was set for a much younger crowd, and each episode tries to come across with a moral lesson. But, the show drags as Al is only hitting about 50% of his usual brilliance. Maybe that's why the show only lasted 13 episodes.
After seeing the remake of THE WICKER MAN, two thoughts remained in my head - first, "Why was this film even made?" and the second, "what the hell was Nicolas Cage thinking doing this crappy movie?" The 2006 version stuck pretty close to the original script from the 1973 film, with a few alterations. The location of the island was changed to the "Pacific Northwest" (there were a few mentions of Washington state). Like the '73 film, a sacrifice is needed for failing crops. However, the only "crops" you see are honey-making bees for their mead. There seemed to be even less religious references in this film than the original, except at the end. The priestess mentions the "religion of our Celtic ancestors". Although there were a few references to fertility, the new film doesn't have the sexuality of the original, i.e. there is no pretty Britt Eckland-type doing any nude dances, or couples in the field (wink wink). Fertility was an integral part, so what happened to it? Also, while the original film having some cool music, the re-make just has the bland, typical "Hollywood thriller" music. It almost made me laugh every time Cage flashed his badge every chance he could get to the people on the island that seemed to ignore him. Never mind that being a California cop would give him NO jurisdiction in Washington State! And, they seemed to go overboard on the "sacred-feminine" (which they do mention a few times) - the men having totally subservient roles, both on the island and during the ritual. In fact, I don't recall a single male on the island even speaking - although one grunted at one time (after being hit by Nicolas Cage) making me wonder if they cut their tongues out, ha ha (because they DO cut the tongue and eyes out of the pilot who takes Nicolas Cage to the island). It kind of reminded me of one of those '40s movies about Amazons - but this is the "island of ugly Amazons", with only a scant few even being attractive. I'm actually surprised that they didn't cast Rosie O'Donnell in this film, she would have been perfect! However, the ending goes a little further than the 1973 film, with an interesting twist (setting it up for a sequel? God, I hope not!). This film is another in a long line of the stereotypical Hollywood take on "alternate-religions". Sure, it is enough to scare the fundamentalist Christians out there with the, "there's a pagan behind every tree ready to sacrifice you" paranoia - but if you've seen the original 1973 version, do yourself a favor and rent IT instead of this piece of shite.
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"The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series"
"The Wicker Man"