Your Weird Uncle's Winter Wonderland Family Film Festival

Hi!  I'm Your Weird Uncle.  If you're like me, you might have children visiting your home for the holidays.  That's why it's a good idea to stock up on family friendly holiday movies, so the little tykes have something to do and don't get bored.  My buddy Larry over at my local Hollywood Blockbuster Video just hooked me up with a big stack of VHS tapes of all the latest and classic Christmas movies, so I'm all set!  Larry's kind of a creepy guy, and honestly, some of these movies look kind of weird.  But he works at the video store, so he must know what he is talking about.  Larry assures me that they are chock full of Snowfall, Santa Clauses, Jingle Bells, and all that Christmas stuff that the kiddies go nuts for.    I'm looking forward to watching them with my three nephews: Louey, Screwey, and Kablooey. So join me here on this blog starting December 1st, and we can watch them all together.  Happy Holidays, everybody!

Funko Garbage Pail Kids Vinyl Figures: Mad Mike, Ali Gator, and Dead Ted

Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike, Dead Ted, and Ali Gator

Today I'm back for round 3 of my look at Funko's Garbage Pail Kids Really Big Mystery Minis Vinyl Figures.  In my previous installments I featured Tee-Vee Stevie, Adam Bomb, New Wave Dave, Bony Tony, Nasty Nick, amd Hot Scott.  Today I'm looking at Mad Mike (a Conan-style barbarian), Ali Gator (half kid, half alligator), and Dead Ted (a rotting zombie).

Mad Mike, Ali Gator, and Dead Ted on their original trading cards

Mad Mike comes with two accessories, a sword and an axe.  He can hold either one in his left hand, but it's hard to make him hold them both at once because his right hand is kind of loose.  I got him to hold his axe in that hand, but just barely, and only by pointing it down to the ground and balancing it just right.  Ali Gator comes with a fish he can hold, in addition to the the fish that is sculpted in his mouth.  Dead Ted does not come with any accessories.  Like all of the other figures in this line, each figure has an identical body sculpt, a unique and highly detailed head sculpt, a really nice paint job, and three points of articulation on the arms and head.  Check out my photos of these guys and let me know what you think of them.

Bungle in the Jungle

BONUS!  MUSIC VIDEO:

This one is dedicated to Mad Mike...
The Darkness - Barbarian


More photos after the break...

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

The Brides of Dracula is not the most accurately titled movie, as neither Dracula nor his brides appear in it.  Rather, it follows the adventures of Doctor Van Helsing, who killed Dracula in the previous film in this series, "The Horror of Dracula."

Van Helsing and the Baroness

Dracula is still dead, and now Van Helsing has set his sights on another group of vampires, led by the evil Baron Meinster.  This is where the film falters a bit.  David Peel, who plays the Baron, has absolutely none of the menace or charisma that Christopher Lee had as Dracula.  When ever the Baron appears on screen flapping his cape or making bloodshot googly eyes at his victims, the effect is comical rather than scary.

Baron Meinster

Still, Peter Cushing is excellent as Van Helsing, and the rest of the cast is solid.  Over all it is still an effective horror picture, even without Christopher Lee, although his absence does prevent "Brides" from being a classic on the level of it's predecessor.

The Corpse Opens Her Eyes

MORE SCREENCAPS AFTER THE BREAK...

David Bowie - Blackstar

It's good to see that David Bowie is still the best kind of weird after all these years.

Superman on the refugee crisis...

This has been making the rounds on the web the last couple of days, mostly due to a tweet by Oliver Willis, and I thought it would be worth reposting here.  After the Islamic State terror attacks in Paris, there has been a backlash against refugees, which I think is very sad.  Syrian refugees have been tortured, murdered, and raped in their home country, and they need safe places they can go.  Helping these families find new homes is the decent, human thing to do.  If we turn them away, we are doing exactly what the murderers from Islamic State want us to do, and it it seems like the more xenophobic members of our society are willing to do just that.

I'm not willing to do that, and I hope you are not, either.  I urge you to stand with Superman, and "lend a friendly hand" to our fellow human beings in their time of need.

Super Powers Collection "Aquaman" Vintage 5 Inch Action Figure - Kenner (1984)

Kenner Super Powers Aquman Action Figure (1984)

Aquaman was one of the characters featured in the first wave of Kenner Super Powers figures in 1984.  He originally came with a trident which I sadly no longer own.  He also came packed with a mini-comic where he teamed up with The Flash to fight The Penguin.  I was going to say that was an odd combination of characters, but then I thought about it, and penguins are aquatic birds, and The Flash does have the power to run on water, so I guess it works.

Mini-Comic

Squeezing Aquaman's arms together activates his power action:  a "deep sea kick," which is basically him kicking his legs like he was swimming.  Which is perfect for this character, and I often imagined him swimming under water as a kid while playing with it.  Check out the photos after the break as Green Lantern pays a visit to Aquman...

Aquaman and His Pal Mr. Fish

BONUS!  MUSIC VIDEO:

Songs and Stories About the Justice League of America - Aquaman


MORE PHOTOS AFTER THE BREAK...

X

Aquaman Sits And Chats With a Fish

Aquaman: "Be honest Mr. Fish, Do these trunks make my aquabutt look fat?"

"Why, hello there, old chum!"

"Look, Mr. Fish!  It's my Super Buddy Green Lantern!"

Aquaman: "Would you like to hold Mr. Fish, Hal?"  Green Lantern: "Err... no thanks, Arthur."  

Bring Back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000

Wow!  ANOTHER one of my favorite TV shows from the 1990s looks to be coming back.  First it was Twin Peaks, then the X-Files, and now it's MST3K!  Yesterday, Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson announced a new Kickstarter campaign to bring back MST3K.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 started off as a local show in Minneapolis, then went on to national runs on Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel.  It originally starred Joel Hodgson as a man who was trapped on a satellite in space, and forced to watch cheesy movies as a psychological experiment by mad scientists.  Joel coped with this by building robot sidekicks who could watch the movies with him and hurl jokes and insults at the screen.  Later Joel was replaced by a new host played by Mike Nelson.  There were also several different mad scientists and robot voice actors over the years.

The new version of the show that Joel is pitching would feature a new cast as the host, the mad scientists, and the voices of the robots, but Joel says he has invited the previous cast members and writers to return to the show to make cameo appearances or work behind the scenes.

Joel needs a minimum of 2 million dollars to produce three new episodes of the show.  If the Kickstarter exceeds the minimum, they can make even more episodes, up to a total of 12.  It breaks down like this:

• $2 Million - 3 Episodes
• $3.3 Million - 6 Episodes
• $4.4 Million - 9 Episodes
• $5.5 Million - 12 Episodes

Joel hopes to go beyond these episodes, as well.  He believes that if he can show television channels or streaming networks that the fan demand is great enough to fund new episodes, he should be able to secure a new home for MS3TK either on TV or online.  But it sounds crazy, doesn't it?  I mean we are talking about millions of dollars!  But guess what, in a little over one day, people have already pledged over $1 million dollars to this project!  Amazing!  There are still 30 days left to go on the Kickstarter, so the odds are looking pretty good that we'll get the full 12 episodes!  Why don't you go the Kickstarter page and check it out for yourself!

BringBackMST3K.com

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Knight Battle Batman (Mattel, 2011)

I recently unearthed some toy photos from my hard drive that I took last year, mostly Batman figures, that I forgot about and never posted.  Most of them were Batman Classic TV toys, and those ones I'm going to save for 2016, since that will be the 50th anniversary of the Batman TV show.  A few of them were Batman: Brave and the Bold figures, such as today's action figure, the Batman: The Brave and the Bold Knight Battle Batman.

Knight Battle Batman has a striking red and black color scheme that reminds me of the 1966 Batmobile (although technically that Batmobile is actually orange and black).  His bat-symbol on his chest isn't very batty, though.  It almost looks more like Nightwing's symbol than Batman's.  The figure has a translucent red cape, a removable helmet, and a flight pack and bazooka that plug into the figure's hex holes.  It has 7 points of articulation at the legs, shoulders, elbows, and head. This is a kids' toy first, it's not really designed for adult collectors, but if you're still a kid-at-heart, this is fun line of toys to collect.

More photos after the break...

Super Powers Collection "Green Lantern" Vintage 5 Inch Action Figure - Kenner (1984)

Kenner released Green Lantern as part of the first series of Super Powers figures in 1984.  The figure came packed with a lantern that he could carry in his left hand, and a mini-comic featuring Green Lantern teaming up with Robin to fight The Joker.  By squeezing his legs together, you would activate his "Power Action" feature, causing his right arm to rise up, as if he was aiming his Green Lantern power ring.  I don't have his lantern, so I did the next best thing and gave him a green fish to hold in his hand instead.  This in turn attracted Super Powers Aquaman, sniffing around the fish.  Enjoy my photos.

Mork From Ork Vintage Action Figure - Mattel (1980)

Mork From Ork Action Figure (1980, Mattel)

This Mork From Ork action figure was produced by Mattel in 1980.  It came packaged inside a space egg, kind of like the Xeonomorphs from Alien.  Mork was an insane space alien who had come to Earth to prepare it for conquest by his home planet.  At least I think so, I haven't actually watched the show since I was a kid... but that sounds about right.  He was played with psychotic verve by Robin Williams, who you may remember from his frightening role as killer Walter Finch in Insomnia.

My God... THOSE EYES.

They say eyes are the window to the soul.  The Mork From Ork action figure has eyes that appear to be covered in flesh... clearly Mork HAS NO SOUL.

Mork was rarely seen without his gun and his blade (again, if my memories are correct... it's all a bit hazy).  But make no mistake, he could kill you just as easily with his bare hands.  And don't even get me started on his bizarre, alien powers.  Humanity doesn't stand a chance.