Tag Archives: Cracked

General

More from Cracked…

Love this website.  Interesting mix of both Informative AND hilarious articles.  A few I’ve checked out recently:

First up is a list of 5 Movies That Shamelessly Ripped Off Obscure Ones:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19852_5-famous-movies-that-shamelessly-ripped-off-obscure-ones.html

Fascinating list, particularly the #4 movie displayed, Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The “look” and some aspects of that very famous film sure are similar to the far more obscure Charlton Heston 1954 film Secret of the Incas.

Another movie, the classic 1979 horror/sci-fi hybrid Alien, clearly owed plenty to the atmospheric 1965 film Planet of the Vampires, as well as the other movie presented (I’ll leave that for you to discover!).  When I first saw Planet of the Vampires, I already knew that it had been an “influence” on Alien.  Seeing it proved a revelation.  While Planet of the Vampires is very low budget (and it shows at times), it features several sequences that seem to have been taken almost whole in Alien, including the crashed alien craft complete with a dead alien pilot!

Interesting stuff!

Next, 20 Most Amazing People You’ve Never Heard Of:

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_753_the-20-most-amazing-people-youve-never-heard-of_p20/#20

Really fascinating list, including the person who created the first video game/video game system, the first jet airplane, the first porn film (!), the actual First President of the United States, and the man who influenced both Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.

An eclectic and fascinating list, though you may find some examples far more interesting than others.

Finally, here’s a podcast exploring the question of why some music and movies go “bad” over time: 

The topic to me is fascinating because I’ve certainly experienced film/music that in my younger years really enjoyed but as I grew older didn’t.  Meanwhile, there are other examples of film/music that you enjoyed as a youth that you still enjoy tremendously.

What makes one still work while the other no longer does?

Again, interesting stuff.  Enjoy!

General, Music

This is…interesting

From Cracked.com, 29 Insane Pastimes That Prove History Was Terrifying:

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_692_29-insane-pastimes-that-prove-history-was-terrifying_p29/

If your interest isn’t piqued -or, alternatively, grossed out- with the very first entry (blowing tobacco smoke up people’s rectums being thought of as a way to save someone from drowning), then this list isn’t for you! 😉

Secondly (I always find more than one humorous/horrifying list from Cracked.com at a time), check out their second list of 10 Great Songs by The Worst Bands of All Time…

http://www.cracked.com/blog/10-great-songs-by-worst-bands-all-time-part-2/

Now, I can’t quite agree with all their choices.  At least one of the bands/artists presented I find better than they do (though they are hardly a favorite), while others I simply cannot stand to listen to at all.  Of the choices presented, however, there is one that I strongly agree with and that admission…well, its a hard one to make but here it goes: I really, really like Brittney Spears’ song “Toxic”.

Mind you (oh the shame!!) I was never a fan of Ms. Spears’ music even in her heyday and that’s putting it kindly.  Her brand of bubblegum pop, while I can certainly see what many others liked about it, never appealed to me.

So the years pass and Brittney Spears’ star sets a little (OK, perhaps quite a bit) and then, one day, I’m driving along down the road and the radio announcer on a local radio station comes on and states that he’s about to play the latest Brittney Spears song and its called “Toxic.”

Just as I’m about to change the station I hesitate.  Perhaps I was coming close to a red light or perhaps someone driving beside me nearly drifted into my lane…whatever it was that happened, I was forced to focus on the road rather than on changing the radio station and the song starts playing.  And I’m listening to it.

And I’m not changing the channel.

When the song eventually ends, I smile and shake my head.

Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Your mileage, as the saying goes, may certainly vary!

Movies

Back to Cracked…

A couple of fun/funny lists via Cracked.com, both dealing with movies…

First up, 6 Mind-Blowing Easter Eggs Hidden in Famous Movies…

http://www.cracked.com/article_20649_6-mind-blowing-easter-eggs-hidden-in-famous-movies.html

Perhaps my favorite bit is #5, the many references in Toy Story (Particularly Toy Story 3) to, of all movies, The Shining!  A curious choice to make references to an “R” rated horror movie in a “G” rated (primarily) kid’s movie!

As for some of the other items, the one I was most familiar with (and which most fans of the Evil Dead movies already know as well), is the famous Oldsmobile featured in several Sam Raimi directed/associated films.

Next up, 5 Clever Movie Schemes You Didn’t Realize Were Stupid:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20659_5-clever-movie-schemes-you-didnt-realize-were-stupid.html

I was more familiar with several of these.  The Django Unchained one, in particular, I couldn’t agree with more.  When I originally reviewed the film, I noted that so much pain and possible death could have been avoided by, of all damn things, simply shaking a person’s hand.  But the reality is that the whole entire climax made very little sense.  As noted, there was no reason for Django himself to be involved in the entire climax, and Dr. Schultz could have come up with a far less bloated plan to buy Broomhilda from her owner.  Then again, had they used a far more logical means of getting to this end, the movie wouldn’t have had its “explosive” climax.

Still…

As for the #1 entry, the latest James Bond film Skyfall, I likewise agree with the points being made.  I have to admit enjoying the film as it moved along and it was only afterwards and as I thought about what I had just seen that I realized how nonsensical the whole thing was.  Case in point was the whole climax, as noted in the Cracked entry.  Why was Judi Dench’s M there at all?  She didn’t need to be.  There was no way the villain could have known if she was when he attacked.

And the bottom line is this: The villain essentially accomplishes everything he set out to do, despite Bond.

Way to go, James!