Originally Released: 8/14/12
Get involved with the Honor Flight. Suzette tells us about WWII vets flying to Washington, DC to see the WWII memorial. Video taken June 2 at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale, WI.
I have a column about Universal and I actually debated if I should cover this. Well, I think I have to. NBC/Universal’s streaming service, Peacock, is now open for business.
Did you know? I think they made it pretty evident on YouTube with ads displacing the political ads for a week, but otherwise, I think this has been kind of quiet. The service has been open to some cable company customers for a while now, but upon launch, Peacock is not yet available on Roku or Amazon Fire streaming platforms.
But, on the positive side, it is free. Mostly.
Universal decided to go the ad route. They have paid options, to be sure, but for the most part, it is a free service best I can see with ads. The ads aren’t too bad yet, but YouTube wasn’t bad at first, either. So hold on with that judgment.
Actually, hold on is the best advice in general. We don’t know what they are going to do with the Olympics yet. I’m sure that will be at least partially behind the paywall options. Will they show the Olympics live as well as the tape delayed packages we are used to?
How about movies? Will something like Trolls World Tour premiere on here from time to time? Or am I right at looking this over and seeing it primarily as a TV service?
I mean, their big event promotion hasn’t even happened yet, when they get The Office to return to their shores. They paid a pretty penny to wrestle it back from Netflix, so the impact of that one show could turn a big tide.
They are pushing Brave, New World as their big Sci Fi offering, which hits me as an odd choice. I mean, this is the home of Universal monsters. I am surprised a Horror Hosted Universal Monsters “channel” or choice is available to match their impressive deep dive on the classic horror movies.
We will need to wait and see, but if you are interested NOW, check it out at Peacock. Heck, it can’t be worse than that HBO thingy they flopped around in the boat the last couple of weeks.
Originally Released: 3/6/2006
JD Dhein wraps up his discussion of Auto Accident scams in this informative program.
We know no one uses mail anymore, but here in the mailbag we put a selection of Instagram posts, Facebook posts and Twitter posts that we’ve been tagged in.
Here’s this week’s selection:
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Originally Released: 2/27/2006
Police officer JD Dhein tells us about the Swoop & Squat staged auto accident. It’s important to be able to tell the signature of this type of fraud so you are not a victim of this scam.
So, Kevin Costner made a movie back in the 90s. It was a surefire hit. The story line was a direct rip off of The Road Warrior, but instead of a desert it happened in the water. What could go wrong with Waterworld?
The movie became one of the bigger box office disasters of the century. It became a punchline like Ishtar or Howard the Duck. The facts are it isn’t a terrible movie and frankly, it made money if compared to the budget (however, marketing costs are another story)…in fact, it made more money than Ishtar and Howard the Duck combined.
Part of the marketing efforts for Waterworld was a tie-in to the developing Universal Studios property in Los Angeles. Universal had given tours for a long time, but by the 90’s they started eyeing Walt Disney’s successful (and relatively recession proof) theme park assets. It was time to get in the theme park business.
Since Waterworld seemed like an intellectual property that was as can’t miss as possible. Costner was hot from The Untouchables and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and as stated before it was a carbon copy of one of the most successful films of the 80s. It even had Dennis Hopper as a sarcastic bad guy.
So the cross promotion they chose was a stunt show, often a standard in upper level theme parks, based on the property. Previously, they had a Miami Vice stunt show but no one knew that property anymore by the middle of the 90’s.
So they retooled it to the theme of Waterworld where Kevin Costner’s Mariner character is pitted against the Deacon and his legion of “Smokers.” Basically, it is an excuse to blow stuff up real good and whip around on jet skis.
To tell you how good this show is, keep in mind, it replaced the Miami Vice show which had an old forgotten IP from the 80s. Waterworld was released in 1995 and mostly forgotten by 1996…and yet it is still running. It wouldn’t be still going if the show wasn’t just rock solid.
There are great stunts with fire, explosions, choreographed fights, and one gigantic stunt that stuns the audience on its scale EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I think what really helps is that while most of the soundtrack is recorded and timed to the nanosecond, the main actors…especially Deacon…are miked and allowed to go with the flow of the audience and even improv. In this way, if they have a sleepy little audience, he can hype them up. If he has a wild audience, he can go with that flow. Prior to the festivities, a few of the Smokers also have fun heckling passers-by and on hot days, may even give them a squirt to remind them it is a water show afterall.
Once you see the show, you’ll never forget it. Check it out soon….Waterworld is worth taking in. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
To see a fairly decent filming of the show, check this YouTube video:
We’ve heard similar scams before. Who knew having grandparents could be a blessing…and a burden…all in one?
Svengoolie strikes again! I saw this one as I’ve been clearing out my DVR of old Svengoolie episodes and I admit I was jazzed for this one.
I’ve heard about this one forever. It Came from Outer Space (1953) was Universal’s first 3D entry directed by Jack Arnold, who would make “Creature of the Black Lagoon” which is often considered the last classic Universal monster to be introduced.
On top of that, it is often stated that Ray Bradbury, classic SF novelist, wrote this script entirely though Harry Essex carries the screenplay credit.
Unfortunately, if I tell you the twist this movie has that other alien invasion films didn’t have at the time, it would ruin the entire thing….so don’t read those IMDB comments. I paid for it!
Having said that, it has a mysterious plot, but it isn’t terribly exciting or engaging. It kind of plays out a little like Tremors at times, but it just talks itself to death. Argh.
All the SF 50’s McCarthy tropes are here: a seeming outsider trying to alert authorities of the threat, a straight laced All-American couple, a town ridiculing the beliefs of the hero and even a cockeyed ball cap on the smart aleck sidekick.
All of that to see an alien that resembles Sigmund the Sea Monster through a “bubble cam.”
The lead is held down by Richard Carlson, who is one of those actors that you see the mug of and say “Oh, that guy!” He is probably best known as the antagonist without gills in the aforementioned “Creature of the Black Lagoon” but he plays a pretty convincing hero here. I just found myself not being too interested in his character. I guess that happens.
The female lead is Barbara Rush, who has literally done so much television it staggers the imagination. Her career spanned 50 years yet this film and “When Worlds Collide” are in 2 of her top 4 spots on IMDB. Her work as the lovely girlfriend and then becoming very sexy toward the end of the film is good, but her low threshold before she screams is annoying. She screams at everything. It is comical.
Russel Johnson is here. He was Gilligan’s Island’s Professor, but outside the trivial connection to a well known franchise, his performance simply isn’t notable.
The movie pivots on a twist I can’t mention…but frankly, it isn’t all that clever or shocking (even though it was spoiled for me). It just kind of hangs there and this movie is just a little too talky for me.
We know no one uses mail anymore, but here in the mailbag we put a selection of Instagram posts, Facebook posts and Twitter posts that we’ve been tagged in.
Here’s this week’s selection:
CLICK IN FOR MORE!
Originally Released: 2/13/2006
JD Dhein discusses plans to keep your family safe.