Twilight Zone: “The Grave” [Season 3, Episode 7] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Grave” [Season 3, Episode 7]
Original Air Date: October 27, 1961

Director: Montgomery Pittman

Writer: Montgomery Pittman

Starring: Lee Marvin, James Best, Strother Martin, Elen Willard and Lee Van Cleef.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Late one night Bounty Hunter, Conny Miller rides into town.  At the tavern he learns from several men that the outlaw he had been tracking for months has been gunned down and buried by the town folk.

When Conny expresses displeasure that he had wasted months tracking the outlaw, one of the town men says that Conny only acted as if he wanted to meet up with the outlaw but the truth was that Conny was afraid. Arguments with the men lead to a twenty dollar bet that Conny hasn’t the courage to go to the outlaw’s grave and stick a knife in it.

This is episode would work even without the all-star cast, but is even better because of them.

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Twilight Zone: “The Mirror” [Season 3, Episode 6] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Mirror” [Season 3, Episode 6]
Original Air Date: October 20, 1961

Director: Don Medford

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Peter Falk, Will Kuluva and Antony Carbone.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Ramos Clemente [Falk] and his generals have led a successful revolution to overthrow their government.  Before his execution, the ousted dictator tells Clemente that the mirror in his office can predict who will betray him.  Clemente begins to see things in the mirror that are not happening in reality and that his closest generals plan to execute him!

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R.I.P. – Clyde Lovellette

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Clyde Lovellette passed away yesterday at the age of 86 from cancer.

If you’re a die-hard basketball fan, you probably know that Hall of Famer, Clyde Lovellette was the first player to win an N.C.A.A. championship, an Olympic gold medal and an N.B.A. title.  That puts Clyde Lovellette in the same stratosphere as Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan… of course Mr. Lovellette got there first.

Clyde Lovellette played 11 seasons in the NBA and was a player on three championship teams [one with the Minneapolis Lakers and two with the Boston Celtics].  Of course before he was in the NBA, Lovellette had a great college career at Kansas… and before that an outstanding high school career at Garfield High in Terre Haute, Indiana.

And that’s where my knowledge of Clyde Lovellette comes into play.  When I was a kid, Clyde Lovellette was the Sheriff of Vigo County.  Terre Haute is in Vigo County and that is where I was born and grew up.  Clyde Lovellette lived one block from me.

We all knew Clyde Lovellette as The Sheriff.  He reminded us of Matt Dillon and at 6’9″ he was just an imposing figure.  I have just a few memories of interacting with Mr. Lovellette.  A couple of times hanging out on the front porch of his house talking to neighborhood kids and another time when he came to a Collett Elementary “fair.”  He had a portable “jail” and kids could buy tickets to have other kids put in jail with Sheriff Lovelette keeping guard.

We didn’t know then how famous Mr. Lovelette was or would become.  We just knew him as a man who kept us safe and took the time to come to our school to help us raise money.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Clyde Lovellette’s family, friends and fans.

Twilight Zone: “A Game of Pool” [Season 3, Episode 5] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “A Game of Pool” [Season 3, Episode 5]
Original Air Date: October 6, 1961

Director: Buzz Kulik

Writer: George Clayton Johnson

Starring: Jack Klugman and Jonathon Winters.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Jesse Cardiff [Klugman] is the greatest pool player alive.  Sadly, no matter who or how many people Jesse beats, he always is told, that the late “Fats” Brown was better.  One night, alone in the pool hall, Jesse says he’d give anything to play “Fats.”

“Fats” appears and accepts the game if Jesse will wager his life.

Be careful what you ask for, because you just may get it all.

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Twilight Zone: “The Passerby” [Season 3, Episode 4] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Passerby” [Season 3, Episode 4]
Original Air Date: October 6, 1961

Director: Elliott Silverstein

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: James Gregory, Joanne Linville and Rex Holman.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

The Civil War has ended.  A young Confederate widow sits on her porch and watches a long procession of soldiers [Union and Confederate] slowly march by her house which is on a dark, remote road.  When a soldier asks for water and a chance to rest, she comes to discover that all is not what it seems.

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10 Law-Abiding Facts About “Raising Arizona”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 10 Law-Abiding Facts About Raising Arizona.  Here are three of my favorites…

3. KEVIN COSTNER AND RICHARD JENKINS AUDITIONED FOR THE FILM.
Kevin Costner auditioned three times to play H.I., only to see Nicolas Cage snag the role. Richard Jenkins had his first of many auditions for the Coens for Raising Arizona. He also (unsuccessfully) auditioned for Miller’s Crossing (1990) and Fargo (1996) before calling it quits with the Coens. In 2001, Joel and Ethan cast Jenkins in The Man Who Wasn’t There, even though he had never auditioned for it.

4. KATE CAPSHAW TURNED DOWN THE LEAD.
Kate Capshaw said no to playing Ed in Raising Arizona—and later regretted the decision. She also notably turned down the role of Diane Chambers on Cheers.

9. THE FILMMAKERS GOT EXPERIMENTAL WITH THEIR CAMERA TECHNIQUES.
Wanting to have as many options as possible in the editing room, the Coens and their cinematographer, Barry Sonnenfeld, decided at one point to have Cage run through the house while holding a camera towards himself. After seeing the results, they was decided it was too weird.

Twilight Zone: “The Shelter” [Season 3, Episode 3] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Shelter” [Season 3, Episode 3]
Original Air Date: September 29, 1961

Director: Lamont Johnson

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Larry Gates, Joseph Bernard and Jack Albertson.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers….

Several families from the neighborhood have come together to celebrate a birthday.  Just as toasts are made with everyone expressing their friendship, an emergency warning announcing an imminent nuclear attack is broadcast.

As each family prepares for the incoming bombs, they realize that one of the families has a bomb shelter.  Sadly it is not big enough to hold everyone.

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Brian J. Davis Creates The Composites

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The police artist rendering above is of a famous literary figure.

Any idea who?

Before I tell you, let me tell you about the process in making the piece.

Brian J Davis is a filmmaker and digital artist living in Brooklyn.  Using composite sketch software available to police sketch artists, Davis creates the drawings of famous literary characters and posts them on his The Composites website.

There you can find composites of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Hannibal Lector, Jack Torrance, The Vampire Lestat and others.

Oh, the character above?  Why, that’s Bond. James Bond.

Source: CBR.com.

Twilight Zone: “The Arrival” [Season 3, Episode 2] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Two” [Season 3, Episode 2]
Original Air Date: September 22, 1961

Director: Boris Sagal

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Harold J. Stone, Fredd Wayne and Noah Keen.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers….

When a commercial plane lands at an airport and is found to be empty of passengers and crew, it is up to Federal Aviation Investigator Grant Sheckly to discover what happened.

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16 Earth-Shattering Facts About “Independence Day”

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Janet Burns and Mental_Floss present 16 Earth-Shattering Facts About Independence Day.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. THE FILM LOST ITS MILITARY SUPPORT DUE TO ITS AREA 51 REFERENCES.
In its roundup of insights from the Independence Day DVD commentary, Film School Rejectspoints out that the U.S. military had initially agreed to support the film’s production by offering greater access to military facilities and consultation from real-life officers, soldiers, and pilots. However, according to the film’s producer and co-writer Dean Devlin, the military withdrew its support after learning about the script’s multiple references to Area 51 being a hub for extraterrestrial projects.

5. THE COMPUTER VIRUS THAT SAVES THE DAY IS ALSO A REFERENCE TO THE WAR OF THE WORLDS.
In both the novel and film versions of The War of the Worlds, mankind’s biggest guns fail to take down Martian attackers. Instead, it’s tiny viruses in our atmosphere—mostly harmless to humans, but foreign to Martian immune systems—that finally do the job. In Independence Day, too, Bill Pullman’s presidential order to “nuke the bastards” doesn’t even make a dent in the aliens’ front, but a cunning (if confusing) computer virus manages to destroy the invaders at last.

In the case of Independence Day’s viral “Hail Mary,” fans have raised criticism—and plenty of eyebrows—over the years regarding just how on Earth David Levinson (played by Jeff Goldblum) could have drummed up a computer virus that affects alien technology so quickly. Devlin offered some answers during a 2014 Reddit AMA:

“Okay: what Jeff Goldblum’s character discovered was that the programming structure of the alien ship was a binary code. And as any beginning programmer can tell you, binary code is a series of ones and zeroes. What Goldblum’s character did was turn the ones into zeroes and the zeroes into ones, effectively reversing the code that was sent.”

Cracked notes that there was also a seven-minute scene that would’ve addressed this issue for viewers from the very beginning, and which suggests that modern computers in the Independence Day universe are descended from a reverse-engineered version of recovered alien tech courtesy Area 51. Unfortunately, that scene was cut from the final release of the film, only adding to viewers’ confusion.

 

11. MATTHEW PERRY DROPPED OUT OF THE FILM. BUT HIS DAD HAD A ROLE.
Film School Rejects reports that the role of Captain Jimmy “Raven” Wilder, which was eventually played by Harry Connick Jr., was originally offered to Matthew Perry. He pulled out before shooting began, though, making his father, John Bennett Perry, who played a Secret Service agent, the only Perry in the film.

Twilight Zone: “Two” [Season 3, Episode 1] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Two” [Season 3, Episode 1]
Original Air Date: September 15, 1961

Director: Montgomery Pittman

Writer: Montgomery Pittman

Starring: Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers….

Bronson and Montgomery play two soldiers who have survived an apocalyptic battle.  Everyone else in the city [maybe the world] is dead.  For five years each of the soldiers has been struggling to survive.  Then they discover each other… and the fact that they from opposing armies.

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