It Came From The Man Cave!: January 2020

It Happened Today in Music

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" opens at Royale NYC in 1982 for 747 performances! Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musicalize the Biblical story of a young man whose brothers are jealous of their father's favoritism toward him and the beautiful coat he receives as a gift. They sell him into slavery in Egypt, telling their father he has been murdered, but he ultimately becomes important to the Pharaoh through his ability to interpret dreams. Bill Hutton may have been the first Joseph but Donnie will always be the best.

Michael Jackson Pepsi Generation

Superstar singer Michael Jackson suffered second-degree burns on the scalp while filming a multi-million-dollar Pepsi commercial featuring fireworks, which ignited his jacket and hair.

Everybody Dance Now!

The 19th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 27, 1992, at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, California. The awards recognized the most popular artists and albums from the year 1991. C+C Music Factory were the most nominated and the big winners of the night, with Six nominations they took home five awards!

Just putting this out there

The Brady Kids is an American animated television series and a spin-off based on the ABC live-action sitcom The Brady Bunch, produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television. It aired on ABC from September 9, 1972, to October 6, 1973, and also spun off another Filmation series, Mission: Magic!, starring Rick Springfield.

Mission: Magic! is an American Saturday morning animated series starring rock star Rick Springfield and is a spin-off of The Brady Kids, produced by Filmation. Although only 16 episodes were produced, the series aired on ABC from September 8, 1973, to December 12, 1973. It was also shown on television in Springfield's native Australia, where Springfield was then a bigger celebrity.

Your Front Row Seat To Murder! Tonight On Svengoolie

Berserk!
1967 | NR | 1 Hr 36 Min | Horror | Columbia Pictures

Director:

Jim O'Connolly

Writers:

Aben Kandel

Herman Cohen
Stars:

Joan Crawford

Ty Hardin

Diana Dors

Synopsis:

Monica Rivers is the owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus, and she'll stop at nothing to draw bigger audiences. When a series of mysterious murders begin to occur and some of her performers die gruesomely, her profits soar. She hires high-wire walker Frank Hawkins, impressed by the handsome and muscular young man. They begin an affair that arouses her previous lover Durando's jealousy. When Durando is found dead shortly afterward, the other performers begin to take alarm, as a mysterious killer is obviously loose in their midst. Many suspect Monica herself of the killings, especially Matilda, who has set her sights on Monica's new lover. At this point, Monica's unruly, sixteen-year-old daughter Angela is expelled from school for being incorrigible, and Monica is forced to take her into the circus, allowing her to become the partner of knife-thrower Gustavo. Meanwhile, the dead bodies continue to pile up...

Just Say No No!

No No A Dockumentary
2014 | NR | 1 Hr 45 Min | Documenty Sports |Arts and Labor

Director: Jeffrey Radice

Stars:

Larry Demery

Dock Ellis

Ron Howard

Synopsis:

In the 1970s Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD and his outspoken style courted conflict and controversy, but his latter years were spent helping others recover from addiction. No No: A Dockumentary weaves a surprising and moving story of a life in and out of the spotlight.

Jeffrey Radice gives us an inside look at the dirty side of the 70s baseball when drugs ruled the playing field. Flawlessly paced he weaves us through hilarious stories to the really shady ones, the film never ceases to amazing me, although it could have been a tad shorter. Admittedly I was blown away learning about some of my hero's and drug use. Yet I should not have been such a surprise while in high school "Greenes" were still floating around with the promise to enhance our game. Thankfully I stayed away.

What truly surprised me going into the story was expecting to hear all about throwing nine innings while on LSD. What we do get is truly unbelievable but once we get past that game we get a humbling story of a ballplayer that struggled with addiction. From a broken home to the loss of a great friend in Roberto Clemente Dock's life spiraled out of control fast. Yet his story deserves to be told and gratefully it was. If you are a baseball fan this one is up your alley if your into Documentary that tells a meaningful story give this one a look.

3 out of 5 stars.

It's Volleyball Season!

Well, here we go again back to the grind. TCA actually opened their season last week against a bigger school and lost in 2 matches. But this week the Saint's went to battle with Holly Cross of Mendota breezing through an easy victory in the first match they found themselves back on their heels during the second match.

I'm not so sure what got into Lainey as she went off for 7 points in the first game and four in the second. That second match found the home team struggling a bit but never losing out on the teamwork aspect. Sometimes the ball just does not bounce your way as Mendota found the sweet spot on the line as they fought back to win the second game.

The third match had both teams fighting hard for the win. At one point Lainey was on a six-point run at the line when Holy Cross called time out. It's funny because at home I always use sports terms that drive my kids nuts. When Lainey missed her next serve she knew it and on the drive home she was complaining that they called a time out on her and it goofed her up I turned to her and said "Yeah they Iced you" to her groans I got back "Oh Dad!".

Unfortunately, that was enough for Holy Cross to mount their comeback getting within one late in the game. Up buy one the fight continued back and forth with Holy Cross prevailed in a 16-14 victory. The girls played hard and had fun this time around once these girls shake off the cobwebs they will be a force to be reckoned with!

With his All-Girl Army of Kung Fu Killers.

Dolemite
1975 | R | 1 Hr 30 Min | Action | Demmention Pictures

Director:

D'Urville Martin

Writers:

Jerry Jones

Rudy Ray Moore

Stars:

Rudy Ray Moore

D'Urville Martin

Jerry Jones

Synopsis:

Dolemite is a pimp who was set up by Willie Greene and the cops, who have planted drugs, stolen furs, and guns in his trunk and got him sentenced to 20 years in jail. One day, Queen B and a warden planned to get him out of Jail and get Willie Green and Mitchell busted for what they did to him. However, Dolemite is no stupid man and has a lot of warriors backing him, such as his call girls, who are Karate Experts--and lots more...

"You no-business, born-insecure, jock-jawed motherf#@ker!" Dolemite

70s Blaxploitation

Growing up I could not have told you what Blaxploitation was nor did I care. All I know was picking up the VHS cover at the local rental center and seeing movies like Shaft, Foxy Brown, and Cooley High looked fun leading to that Saturday afternoon rental. Of course, I had no real clue who Rudy Ray Moore was other than a record my buddy once had and it is a shame I missed out on the whole Dolemite craze. Moore may not be an A list actor or heck a C list at most he was still a delight to watch has he fumbled around the screen bringing his charter to life. And boy I love my B movies so I was right at home with this one. Sure it's not Black Dynamite or Coffy in terms of look and polish but that is what gives Dolemite its charm.

"Can you dig it?" Dolemite

Dolemite the Man

Moore first developed the character of Dolemite in his stand-up comedy routines, and later appeared on his 1970 debut album, Eat Out More Often, which reached the top 25 on the Billboard 200. He released several more comedy albums using this persona. In 1975, Moore decided to create a film about Dolemite, paying for most of the production out of his own pocket, and using many of his friends and fellow comedians as cast and crew and according to Dolimete's my Name (2019) a lot of hard work and hustling. Also, directed by D'Urville Martin, who appears as the villain Willie Green and made appearances on All in the Family, The Cosby Show, and as a villain in many other films would finish his career with 1984s The Bear before suffering a heart attack at the young age of 45.

D'Urville Martin

Grab your Popcorn it's going to be a fun ride.

Dolemite must use his sharp tongue and karate skills to find the source of the crime and take down Willie Green (D’Urville), a ruthless crime boss. Moore is absolutely awful as an actor, however, the character of Dolemite is simply amazing. Nearly every strained line that comes out of his mouth is a classic and simply begs to be quoted. For example, when one of Dolemite’s ladies proclaims she’s afraid of ghosts, Dolemite reassures her by exclaiming “Ghosts? If you ever see a ghost cut the mother f@#ker.” While Moore’s performance is poor, nearly everyone else is even worse. That being said, the terrible acting actually makes the film more charming and provides more comedy, though it was certainly unintentional.

"Man, move over and let me pass 'fore they have be to pullin' these Hush Puppies out your motherf@#kin' a$$!"

Is it worth your time?

On a technical level, No. It is hands down some of the worst editing I’ve ever seen in a movie with frequent cuts and unmatched jumps that lead to missing dialog maybe? And those boom mics wow. Again, this sloppiness would detract from most movies, but in Dolemite it just made it all the more comical. So with that Dolemite is simply not to be missed. It summarizes everything that makes 70s grindhouse cinema such a joy to watch. It’s poorly directed, scripted, acted, and edited, but somehow remains an entertaining laugh riot. Dolemite is like the crazy drunk buddy that has no filter and hits on all the girls in the bar. It’s dirty, offensive, and full of its self, and a shit ton of fun I was digging every second of it.

3 out of 4 stars

If you have not seen Dolemite and plan on watching this plus Dolemite's My Name I suggest checking this one out first I wish I did.

Today In Music

1982

Ah yes, the famous Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, when a member of the audience threw a bat onto the stage. Stunned by the light, the bat lay motionless, and thinking it was a rubber fake, the singer picked it up and attempted to bite its head off. As he did this, the bat started to flap its wings and Ozzy soon realized it wasn't fake but in fact a living thing. After the show, Ozzy was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital for rabies shots. And here we are in 2020 and the immortal Osbourne has released a new song featuring Sir Elton John

1983

Def Leppard released their third studio album 'Pyromania' which featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album has now sold over 10 million copies in the US and is hailed one of the greatest, well ok at least by me anyway.

2017

Sir Paul McCartney was suing Sony over control of The Beatles' back catalog. McCartney had gone to a US court, seeking to regain the publishing rights to 267 of the band's classic songs. He had been trying to get them back since the 1980s when Michael Jackson famously out-bid him for the rights. Jackson's debt-ridden estate sold the songs to Sony in 2016.

And that my friends is your music history for January 20,2020!

Sunday Paper (The Best Part)

Born Loser

You'll Die Laughing! It Runs Riot!

the old dark house
1963 | PG | 1 Hr 26 Min | Comedy | Hammer

Director: William Castle

Writers: Robert Dillon

Stars: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott

Synopsis:

An American who sells cars in England receives a mysterious invitation from an old, eccentric millionaire to visit his house in which he lives with his twin brother.

I'm excited I have never seen this flick and its a William Castle win win!! Make sure to tune in tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central on MeTV, or check listings in your area ( or at www.metv.com ) for the time and channel. Twitter fans keep live-tweeting during the show, using the hashtag #svengoolie!

Small Town USA

So many people ask "don't you hate living in such a small town? With so much to do in Chicago living in your town would be so boring" well No I love small-town life had a taste of the city and just did not care for it. Sure we do not have entertainment around every corner but we have community. Do know your neighbors? Do you know them by name? Heck, I can go for a few blocks and know 80% of who lives there. I love my small town.

My Brother Eric Myself and Brian who comes down here to get away from a big city.

Sure jobs around here are lackluster at the most and pay is lower but we all make it work. Growing up LaSalle County was famous for one thing Must alcohol consumed per capita. We had more bars then banks! You know what else we have more of? Star's yeah can you look up and see stars? Any way a fresh out of high school student made a fantastic video celebrating LaSalle and I would like to share that now.

As you can see I Believe in LaSalle its gorgeous here and a wonderful place to raise a family. Both our schools are featured in the video along with our amazing church. I love living in such a small town.

Bouns footage of Starved Rock...

Dolemite Is My Name and...

Dolemite is My Name

2019 | R | 1 Hr 58 Min | Comedy | Netflix

Director: Craig Brewer

Writers: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

Stars: Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps

Synopsis:

Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.

Make your own legend

Eddie Murphy has not made an R-Rated film sense 1999s "Life" and thanks god he is back! The beloved foul-mouthed comedian returns to his roots in a big way. Honestly, I do not think anybody could have brought Rudy Ray Moore's character to life on the big screen the way Murphy did. Even tho the movie is more about the making of Dolemite it also hits the sweet spot telling Moore's back story. I knew of Rudy Ray's records (I mean who did not listen to early comedians like this or Red Fox in the basement trying not to get caught) what I did not know is painted perfectly throughout this flick. Craig Brewer does an amazing job painting a picture that makes you feel right at home. Honestly, after watching this one I'm glad he is back behind the camera for "Coming to America 2".

The Cast is strong with this one.

"It's a comedy and it's sexy and it's action. It's a total entertainment experience!" Well, you got that right Rudy Ray! Everything in this production is done right from the oneliners used in the script to the clean-cut scenes and a perfect blend of young stars mixed with its new stars. The cast really makes this one shine! Even Wesley Snipes did not annoy me this time around. For me, the true star of the show has to be Da'Vine Joy Randolph who played Lady Reed. Randolph was nominated for a Tony Award in 2012 for playing Oda Mae Brown in “Ghost the Musical,” a role originated by Whoopi Goldberg in the 1990 film “Ghost.” She has since branched out into TV and film roles but says she would like to return to Broadway one day. She is an amazing talent and I look forward to seeing more of her someday.

Feel good or Funny?

Everything clicks in the comedy Dolemite Is My Name and even tho you find your self laughing your ass off the drama side kicks in and your left feeling pretty good about Rudy Ray's life. From his struggle to the way he reinvented himself and how he fought to make this movie is all here for you to witness. It is about as straightforward rags-to-riches tale that it can be. This story needed to be told and we as movie fans are better off for it. Rudy Ray maybe an overweight miss understood actor but don't tell him that he will not listen to you anyway. This is the first movie in a very long time that made me feel good! And to dig up a few of Moore's movies to watch along the way.

Oscar Snub?

If Dolemite was Moore’s restart button, Moore is Murphy’s. All the love Eddie has received for this movie is well deserved and really should help put him back on the Hollywood map. Maybe he did not win the Golden Globe but the nomination was the right one, so when the Oscars were announced it was a little shocking that he was not on the list. But then again why would he be he is just a black man swearing all the time how could we reward him for that? Ugh, I hate Award season.

I can not say this enough the cast is perfect the story is perfect its a fun feel-good laugh all the way movie! If you have Netflix then why the hell have you not watched this yet?

5 Stars out of 5!

"You know what they say, brother - luck is where opportunity meets preparation." Rudy Ray Moore

The magic comes to life

Aladdin
2019 | PG | 2 Hr 8 Min | Family | Disney

Director: Guy Ritchie

Writers:

John August

Guy Ritchie
Stars:

Will Smith

Mena Massoud

Naomi Scott

Synopsis:

A kind-hearted street urchin Aladdin vies for the love of the beautiful princess Jasmine, the princess of Agrabah. When he finds a magic lamp, he uses a genie's magic power to make himself a prince to marry her. He is also on a mission to stop the powerful Jafar who plots to steal the magic lamp that could make his deepest wishes come true.

The Monkey In The Room.

Ok, let's talk about the monkey in the room for a second, shall we? When Aladdin was teased everybody was up in arms about Will Smith and his role-playing the Genie. Look he is no Robbin Williams but was he really that bad? I think not, in fact, I thought he did a great job when he was being himself its when he tried to channel in the cartoon Genie that he failed. And to be honest you would think he could sing just a tad better then he did. Honestly, I did like him 90% of the time. So with that, the rest of the movie should make everybody happy right? With the right blend of action and romance, Aladdin is a perfect family movie that just happens to run over 2 hours. Yep, my kids were growing bored rather quickly.

It's so beautiful!

My kids also took notice of the strangely placed camera angles from time to time and trying to explain to them this was a Guy Ritchie flick did not help. Ritchie must have had the Disney blessing to stick to his style action movie formula and for the most part, it paid off. Aladdin is stunning to look at from the sets to the costumes and how the color really splashed off the screen. Pepper in dazzling sound effects that had the whole house shaking and the family belting out the familiar tunes making this one heck of a fun ride.

Choose Wisely

And they did Naomi Scott is a breath a fresh air playing Jasmin and Mena Massoud although rough around the edges did pull off Aladdin. But the one you will remember the most has to be Marwan Kenzari playing Jaffar. Kenzari plays one wicked bad guy hell-bent on ruling the world. Also if I may SNL alum Nasim Pedrad is really cute playing Dalia, yeah just putting that out there.

A Whole New World

This is Guy Ritchie's first PG-rated film and it worked well for me. Take is directorial style add-in Disney Magic and a cute princess exquisite music you can sing along to you are bound to have a $1,050,693,953 dollar hit on your hands. Disney dominated this year's box office and its no secret. I'm just glad people got past the negativity and went out and enjoyed Aladdin. Fire up Disney Plus and take this magic carpet ride I promise you will not be disappointed!

4 Stars out of 5

After watching Avengers and Toy Story 4 in the theatre we look forward to watching The Lion King coming to Disney+ at the end of January. I see another family movie night coming up soon.

View this post on Instagram

Family Movie Night with Aladdin on @disneyplus and our favorite popcorn bowls.

A post shared by Bob Johns (@mda4life1970) on Jan 11, 2020 at 6:33pm PST

Benchwarmers 2 Yes This Is A Thing!

Benchwarmers 2 Breaking Balls
2019 | PG | 1 Hr 31 Min | Comedy | Universal

Director: Jonathan A. Rosenbaum

Writer: Stephen Mazur

Stars:

Chris Klein

Jon Lovitz

Chelsey Reist

Synopsis:

A washed-up baseball player becomes an attorney. He gets a chance at redemption when his boss asks him to manage the company softball team in hopes of winning a championship.

Why So Much Hate?

So maybe its the fact that it is 45 to 50 degrees here in Illinois during January or maybe its how my beloved White Sox are doing damage this offseason or maybe just maybe it's my love for baseball that has me setting in to watch Breaking Balls. Like most of you, I had no clue that 2006 flick Benchwarmers was getting a second chance. Admittedly I wondered why myself (Hated Benchwarmers) but pressed play and off we went. Yes, we start off with grade school humor with Chris Klein's career coming to an end after being hit it the family jewels ending his chance in the big leagues. Our hero's life goes to crap as he loses his trophy wife (Lisa Durupt) and is left to mow lawns in his small town. On the other hand, he is secretly taking online classes to become a lawyer. After a few failed job attempts Jon Lovitz enters the story. Lovitz is the only returning charter for the first and this is where the story turns itself around.

The Good The Bad And the Why?

This movie looks good and what I mean by that is every shot was done right and clean. With a nice blend of lighting and angles, we are rewarded with a smooth looking story. This was not thrown together overnight. And it's no surprise director Jonathan Rosenbaum has made a career through Disney Shows like ANT Farm, Austin and Aly, and one of my popular post's The Prince of Peoria so clearly, he understands framing scenes. And if Klien is not enough we are treated to the adorable Chelsey Reist who plays the straightlaced lawyer slash love interest. She brings a nice energy to the screen along with a girl next door style. The only bad I can come up with other than the silly grade school humor we did not get the 80s inspired team coming together montage before the big game. Look Benchwarmers 2 is a Hallmark movie if they made bad comedies. You're not going to get something that blows you away and YES it is 100% predictable yet the story did not get in the way of my enjoyment. This movie has a heart there I said it.

Why not give it a go?

I really enjoyed the story that Benchwarms tries to tell Klien has his ups and downs in his role but overall the cast is there for him leading the way. I wish it would have focused just a little bit more on the baseball aspect and less lawyer story and maybe a tad more backstory allowing our stars to fall in love. With that said Benchwarms is just a time killer that you will like it or not and for this guy I liked it...a lot!

3 Stars out of 5

I might be alone on this one as Rotten Tomatoes has it at 20% and on Letterboxd 80% of the reviews are half a star to one star. I'm one of eight on Letterboxd to give this one 3 1/2 or higher.

Here is my review for Prince of Peoria A Christmas Moose Miracle