Buttered Pop Culture

 (Everything in this post was created by AI.)   Deckard, a blade runner in a dystopian future, had been tasked with tracking down a gang of Muppets who had been accused of stealing a priceless diamond from a high-security museum. The Muppets, led by Kermit the Frog, were known for their wit and cunning, and Deckard knew that tracking them down would not be an easy task. As Deckard began his investigation, he found himself drawn deeper into the seedy underworld of the city, where Muppets and humans alike engaged in all manner of illegal activities. He met a cast of colorful characters along the way, including Gonzo the Great, Miss Piggy, and the Fozzie Bear, each with their own motivations and secrets. As the investigation progressed, Deckard found himself growing increasingly conflicted. On the one hand, he knew that the Muppets were wanted criminals, and that they had broken the law by stealing the diamond. On the other hand, he couldn't help but admire their spirit and determinat

 I love horror movies. They don't even need to be scary per se. I have enjoyed goofy horror movies, overly moralistic horror movies, and action movies thinly disguised as horror movies. I am also fascinated by the process of making movies. So when you see a dvd or bluray with a behind the scenes featurette, or a making of documentary and you wonder what kind of nerd even wants to see that kind of thing, the answer is me. I am that kind of nerd. Two really good making of documentaries for horror movies are Full Tilt Boogie and Never Sleep Again. Full Tilt Boogie is about the making of From Dusk Til Dawn. Written by Quentin Taratino and directed by Robert Rodriguez, this is a vampire movie that goes over the top in terms if action and gore. They snagged an on the rise George Clooney for the lead. The documentary begins with Tarantino, who plays Clooney's brother in the movie, and Clooney doing a bit about how cool they think they are, treating fans like shit until they are approa

(Everything in this post was generated by AI.) Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise were on a routine mission to explore a distant planet when they detected a strange energy reading emanating from a nearby asteroid. Curious, Kirk led an away team to investigate, but what they found was beyond their wildest imaginations. The asteroid turned out to be a hollowed-out space station, filled with bizarre and exotic creatures, led by a flamboyant transvestite scientist named Dr. Frank N. Furter. Dr. Furter welcomed the Enterprise crew with open arms, inviting them to stay and witness his latest experiment. The experiment, it turned out, was a new type of propulsion system for starships, powered by the energy of the stars themselves. The system was so revolutionary that it could make intergalactic travel faster than ever before, and Dr. Furter was eager to show it off to Kirk and his team. But as the demonstration began, things took a turn for the bizarre. Dr. Furter's

  Every once in a while on social media you'll get a crop of posts saying things like "You couldn't make Blazing Saddles today. The woke crowd would melt down." You'll also get the same thing about the sitcom All In The Family. I have puzzled over this, as I consider myself to be at least a little "woke". Why would right wingers thing that I would not like the movie about how racism is bad and showing the institutional racism in our country's history? Why would I not like the sitcom about how ridiculous the racist old conservative is? So I pondered, and I think I figured out the answer. They think that people like me won't appreciate these things because they themselves don't get them. They see Blazing Saddles and miss the fact that every person who uses the N word is an imbecile and evil to boot. They think the person saying the word IS the joke. They see Archie Bunker saying something ridiculous and instead of laughing at the outrageousness

  I was born in 1975. That means I was a youngster right around the time that vcr's and cable became things that even poorer families were starting to be able to afford. This had the effect of making movies that kids before had little access to easily watchable by them. Many parents didn't pay a lot of attention to what their kids watched. Some didn't think they'd actually show anything inappropriate on television, even cable, or have those movies out to rent in the video store. Some just didn't care what their kids watched. Before I was 13 years old I had seen Revenge of the Nerds, Emmanuelle, Porky's, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Hellraiser, 9 1/2 Weeks, Body Heat, Robocop, Dawn of the Dead, and dozens upon dozens of movies that parents would never let their kids watch now. How do I know they wouldn't? I listen to them. I have had parents tell me in shock at how they let their kids watch Ghostbusters, only to discover to their horror that in this beloved chi

 I read a description of a Jules Pfeiffer cartoon in a book recently. I have tried to find the actual cartoon, but in vain. The description was a series of drawings of a boy growing into a young man and then aging into an old man. The caption for the boy read something along the lines of loving the popular songs on the radio, and going to see sci-fi and horror movies in the theater. Then the young man had a caption about loving jazz and seeing art films. The adult man's caption talked about listening to the old standards and watching serious drama. The old man's caption mentioned listening to oldies on the radio and watching "junk" movies in revival houses and being allowed to love pop culture again. And that line is what prompted this post. Because I thought to myself, "Wait, aren't all of those things pop culture?" So I thought it might be worth taking a look at what comprises pop culture. To begin, let's take the words pop culture. I have always t

 Rock and roll culture, at least since the late 60's, had revered it's guitar gods. I mean sure, we also love a great bassist or drummer or singer. But there is a special reverence given to a guitar player who is especially good at his craft. It is to the point where even someone who isn't a fan of the band the guitar player is in knows the guitarist's name and reputation. People who don't listen to Van Halen know that Eddie Van Halen is worshipped for his playing, for instance. But there are certain, shall we say, restrictions on this fame. One is you have to be in the right genre, and be the one in the posters for the band. That is why Glen Campbell doesn't get the same adoration Eddie Van Halen does. After all, Eddie wanted to take lessons from Glen after he was already famous for being a shredder, that's how good Glen is. But you never hear about how great Glen is from most people, for two reasons. When he was playing rock, he was doing it as a studio mu