Kenny and Company

But not just any Kenny and Company...

...it's the Japanese VHS version! A friend in Hawaii sent it to me. I had never seen it and he sent it on a whim that I'd like it. Well, I sure did! What a crazy flick! I'm sure kids loved it back then and would dig it now. It's like a group of Dennis the Menaces. :p I don't think you'd see anything like this now, just for the imitable acts alone!

Interesting little pumpkinheaded skateboarder there.

Good news! You can watch the whole thing on YouTube. :) I highly recommend you check out this quirky slice of mischievous life.

The other parts are available from the same user.

Las Vegas Weekend

Sadly, that car is the best thing about the movie...and that's not even the one that appears in it! The one in the movie is actually much cooler; very muscular with side pipes and everything. ;)

Before we go on to the back cover, let's take a look at an interesting screen that appeared after the standard FBI and Interpol warnings...

I had never seen this before. Kinda neat! But, again on a sad note, such a practice is one foot in the grave, the other above a banana peel nowadays. Let's see if the back cover can cheer us up...

Nope. The movie really doesn't go anywhere and the ending is quite predictable. Barry Hickey did a good job with what he was given to work with, though. I'd watch another movie he was in.

Your World As I See It

Ah, Ernest... A big part of my growing up in the 80s. I didn't even know this special/tape/special tape existed until I bought...

 ...this! (and it only cost $5 at Wal-Mart!) Highest recommendation possible on this if you're an Ernest fan! Ernest's Greatest Hits are especially great, as it compiles a TON of his commercials ("nice mumu, Mrs. Johnson!"), plus bloopers. There is a second volume as well, though not quite as special.

Anyway, back to the tape...

I wish I knew how this was originally broadcast. The way it's done—Astor Clement introduces every story individually, which does get tiresome in a lumped-together format like VHS or DVD, I must say—makes me think that maybe they were interspersed throughout some TV special. Does anyone know?

Dangerous Curves

Dangerous Curves? Oh, I get it! ;) (actually, it's a play on the female form and the main plot of the story)

Porsche = "bikini magnet." Sounds perfectly cromulent to me. Stack and Nielsen are in it, so that's pretty cool. I kinda doubt either would've considered this a particularly noteworthy entry in their long, impressive careers, though.

Just to reiterate, there are several bikinis in this movie. (or whatever bathing suit that is considered)

Here is a trailer for the movie:

Even more bikinis. You have been warned.

Whacky Racers!

I'd've spelled it Wacky, but it wasn't my decision. ;)

These Havoc-like tapes are often hit-and-miss, or just contain stuff I don't want to see (deadly collisions and such), but this one is actually pretty good! Certainly worth the 25 cents I paid for it.

My favorite segment on it, besides any of the rally-type stuff, is a competition held on a beach (Brighton, England, maybe? Can't remember...) where hundreds of motorcyclists race. They all seem to start out fairly well, but then when they hit the first hill, the field is pretty much cut by 2/3. Some try and try and try to get over, but it just doesn't happen for many of them. Must be incredibly frustrating...but it's fun to watch.

Animal Farm[s]

I have two different copies of the 1954 cartoon adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. I'll display them in the order I got them, starting with this more artsy one...

I quite like this one! Simple and very effective. :) A more adult presentation, if you will.

The more novel-like approach continues on the back. Very classy.

Now let's take a look at the much more kid-friendly version...

Simple watercolor painting for this one. I don't know why they have the American flag there instead of a Union Jack, since Manor Farm is in England. Marketing, I guess. :p

Somewhat non-descript back cover with somewhat hard to read text. (but not too bad)

As is the case with many old films, it's YouTube time! I definitely recommend it! :D

Enjoy!

The Jet Benny Show

*sigh* It's The Jet Benny Show...

Prepare yourself indeed! But how?! This painting reminds me of something... No, don't tell me! :p

The packaging is nice, as is the logo. (which also reminds me of something...) Anyway, the premise is interesting, but overall, ugh. It drags on and on and on and on and on... I picked it up at a video store that was closing and I believe it had been rented twice in the past 25 years. :p

This is the only clip I could find of it at YouTube:

So there you go. Here are a couple of other Bennys...

Benny "The Jet" Urquidez versus Jackie Chan...

and Benny (on the right), one of the cats that lives outside...

UPDATE Mar. 16, 2020: I don't know what happened to Benny, but her brother Handsome on the left is still around. Saw him yesterday. He'll be 8 in a couple of months!

Psycho Skate

I love old school skateboarding videos and still buy VHS copies when I find them. The older and more obscure the better. :) I was so happy to find this legendary (and controversial, as explained below) video!

 

 Typical busy, though not terribly interesting, cover. The huge bright lettering certainly draws your attention, though.

Same busy look on the back. (obviously)

 

This tape featured a LOT of the big names at the time, including Vision posterboy Mark "Gator" Rogowski. A lot of people hated his parts in this at the time (some goofiness, some arrogance), viewing him as a bit of a corporate sell-out. He had the look and they took advantage of it. (this even led to the rise of smaller companies like Blind, who tried to be the opposite of the corporate machine called Vision) Sadly, he later became a rapist and murderer, so some people also hate this video in hindsight. (similar to how people say that WWE is now supposedly erasing Chris Benoit from history) I take it for what it is: a fascinating snapshot of a great era of skating. It really has everything.

Happily, the entire video is available for your viewing pleasure! :)

2020 Texas Gladiators

Ah, the masterpiece* known as 2020 Texas Gladiators (a.k.a. 'Anno 2020 - I gladiatori del futuro' in the original Italian)...

Neither of those guys, nor that cool cannon/blunderbuss gun thingy appear in the film, not surprisingly. This is just another example of cool, yet misleading, poster art of the time. :) There is actually nothing in the movie to make you think this was in the future. It looked pretty much like a messed up 1984.

The description is fairly accurate, but the story is so bogged down with "meh" that it's not too clear. *shrug* This is also typical of B-movies, of course. Actually, B is pretty generous. (think C or Z)

They spelled explosive as exsplosive throughtout the fuel refinery scenes. Those pics will show up in my dumberer blog eventually. ;)

As is the case with a lot of old OOP movies, you can see the whole thing at YouTube! (can, but don't have to, of course...)

*No.

Not Quite Human

The Not Quite Human trilogy was a HUGE favorite of mine—and my brother's—growing up, but especially the first one from 1987:

Great cast! Jay Underwood was very likeable and played the part so well. Alan Thicke was allowed to play his role as father with a certain levelheadedness, rather than the 'idiot' father of so many movies, so that was nice. And speaking of nice, Robyn Lively...wow! Definitely had a big crush on her! Hesseman and Balogna were a fun duo you had no problem seeing beaten. (business-wise, I mean)

Not sure when this tape was released (I'm guessing early to mid 90s), as they never put any dates anywhere. :p I have a bunch of undated Disney tapes. Why would they do that?

The whole movie is on YouTube! :) Here's the first part:

Z.P.G.

Ah yes, Z.P.G. I picked it up on a whim at a video store liquidation. I'm glad I did. It's a little lot slow at times, but pretty interesting overall. And this is a case where the low quality of the print seems to help it be more mysterious. 

Love them 'tells you nothing' covers! ;) 

Decent dystopian story, typical of the 70s. 

Here's the trailer:

 Makes me want to watch it again!

Grunt!

Pure class. Even Joe Bob Briggs endorses it! I think that's an endorsement he wrote...

"Fascinating" storyline. They must have really liked Joe Bob's comment about it, because they also used it on the sticker on the tape itself. 

GOOD NEWS! The whole thing is on YouTube! Check it out! 

Pole Position

[loosely] Based on the 1982 Namco arcade game of the same name, it's 1984's Pole Position!

This is a [sunbleached on the front] large format box, for some reason. The tape is in a thin black tray. 

I really loved this show. I don't know if it was the original 1984 run I watched, or the 1986 re-runs, or both.

Anyway, it has everything: cool cars (which function as far more than just cars!), action, peril, a cute animal, etc... I think kids today would love it, but if they remade it, you just know it would be typical ho hum CGI. :p

Here's the intro:

 

Cyber C.H.I.C.

A blast (not really) from the not so distant past of 1994; Cyber C.H.I.C.

That car does not appear in the movie! :( 

That woman in the middle does not appear in the movie either...if my memory serves me correctly.

The tape sticker has plain black letters over white background, though C.H.I.C. is written as C.H.I.C (incomplete sentence?!)

I tried to find a video, but no dice. I did come across a French poster for it, though. And there's a French DVD, too! *shrug*