Bizarre News of the Day: Hells Angels Plotted To Kill Mick Jagger in 1969

Hells Angels Plotted to Kill Mick Jagger

Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger escaped an assassination plot hatched in 1969
by the Hells Angels, a new British Broadcasting Corp. documentary has claimed.

Basically the story states that the Hells Angels were angry at Jagger for saying he would never use them for security again, after the tradegy at Altamont in December of the same year. An 18 year old concert goer was killed by one of the Angels after brandishing a gun in an altercation with some of them.

According to the source in the article the Angels hatched a plan to kill Jagger while he vacationed in his Long Island, NY home. The plan was sidetracked by a storm...

Mangold said the men tried to reach Jagger by sea. "The boat was hit by a
storm and all of the men were thrown overboard," he was quoted as saying. They
all survived but made no other attempt on his life, Mangold said.

New DVD review: Beavis & Butthead Volume 3

Also published on Blog Critics.

The last of the Mike Judge Collections has arrived, Volume 3, and my mixed feelings are carried over from the previous two releases. For those who weren't keeping up with this DVD series, a quick recap is in order. A few years back, MTV attempted to release a DVD compilation of Beavis and Butt-head, calling it The History of Beavis and Butt-head. Even though this 2-DVD set had shipped to retailers, Mike Judge demanded it be recalled — he hadn't been asked to participate. Reasonable enough, it was his creation after all — and, of course, a phenomenal success that made him a household name. Frustrating as the recall may have been for B&B fans starving for something more than the then-recent Time-Life volumes (which were simply DVD reissues of the VHS collections), a Mike Judge-sanctioned release sounded promising.

Last year, the first of three 3-DVD Mike Judge Collections was released. Tucked inside the box was a note from Mr. Judge himself. He explained that he is very proud of about one-third of the approximately 200 Beavis & Butt-head shorts. Another third he feels are pretty good. The remaining third he finds embarrassing. The three collections contain the two-thirds he thinks are good. In other words, some 70-plus cartoons will not be released on DVD. To make matters worse, the "Director's Cut" cartoons found on Volume 1 turned out to be shortened versions. Probably due to a very vocal fan reaction, the cartoons on Volume 2 were not edited.

The good news is that the 42 shorts found on Volume 3 are also presented in their entirety. Fans of the show will be pleased to find loads of classic episodes on this set. Some of my favorites are found on disc one, such as "Buy Beer" where the boys get 'drunk' from non-alcoholic brew. The Great Cornholio makes an appearance on Disc One as well, in "Vaya Con Cornholio." The superb Christmas shorts are also on the first disc, "Huh-Huh-Humbug" (a take-off on A Christmas Carol) and "It's a Miserable Life" (which spoofs It's a Wonderful Life).

Disc two has its share of great moments as well. "Bride of Butt-head" finds the boys ordering a mail order Russian bride (she ends up ditching them and scoring with Todd). "Woodshop" is another favorite of mine, where the two get carried away with the table saw in shop class. The series finale concludes Disc Two, "Beavis and Butt-head Are Dead," and it runs considerably longer than the average episode — about 20 minutes — though much of that time is taken up by clips from earlier episodes.

I could go on and on about my favorite moments, but some things are better appreciated without any set-up. If there are episodes on this volume that you haven't seen (and some of them were not broadcast as frequently as others back in the day), you will enjoy discovering them. For those of us who were watching this show when it was new, these Mike Judge Collections have been real nostalgia trips. I think the social satire has aged very well. Beavis and Butt-head was always a much smarter show than its detractors gave it credit. Rather than promoting anti-social behavior, the show was an accurate reflection of the TV-obsessed youth culture that existed then (and now). One of the subtler running gags throughout the series was that the adults Beavis and Butt-head encountered were usually just as clueless as they were. Of course, the bottom line with this show has always been: it's just plain funny. I hope there is a new generation of fans discovering the show on DVD. But quite frankly I wonder if it all seems a bit quaint to newcomers, what with the edgier fare kids have been raised on (edgier fare who's way was paved, it should be noted, by Beavis and Butt-head).

Disc three houses the special features. The format is pretty much the same was with the previous two volumes. That's by no means a complaint, as these releases have done a nice job of rounding up old B&B tidbits, as well as adding some newly produced supplements to the mix. First up is a selection of music videos with B&B commentary. A real point of contention among many fans has been the omission of the music video segments from the episodes. The expense of music licensing for scores of artists was too much for MTV. While it would be great to have all that material in place (some of the boys' best moments came during those segments), it is understandable I guess. The compromise has been to include a handful of music videos on each volume, giving a nice representation of the wide-ranging topics B&B would discuss (sometimes they focused on the content of the video they were watching, sometimes their commentary would veer off to something entirely different). Volume Three has 15 music video segments, running a combined 27 minutes. The 'Play All' option is a welcome touch.

Next up on disc three is the original, uncut Frog Baseball - the cartoon that started it all. This was Beavis and Butt-head's first appearance. It is most valuable as a historical artifact. There really isn't much to it (it runs well under 3 minutes total). Everything about this short is crude and not all that representative of what the show would develop into. Actually, the meaner personas the boys exhibit here are pretty much in line with the very early episodes. But since Mike Judge has elected not to release many of those early cartoons, new fans are likely to be shocked by Frog Baseball — not necessarily by the animal cruelty depicted, but by how different the characters come across when compared to the late-era episodes collected on discs one and two.

Taint of Greatness: The Journey of Beavis and Butt-head, Part 3 concludes the retrospective documentary that began on Volume One. This 24-minute piece follows the same format as the previous two installments, mostly interview clips with Mike Judge and others who worked on the series, mixed with clips from episodes (far too many, in my opinion). Here you can see Mike Judge discussing how he was feeling bored by the series in it's final two seasons. We see a few brief shots of him in the studio voicing the characters — far too little, I would've loved to seen more of that.

Many 'Special Appearances' are found on disc three. The funniest stuff is Christmas-themed. The "Letters to Santa Butt-head" is really hilarious — and was originally part of the hour-long B&B Christmas special. Also included are a few short clips from the 2005 VMAs that constituted B&B's return to MTV - the first new material since the series ended. Nice to have, even if Judge can't quite do Beavis's voice like he used to. Rounding out the set are some promos including a few priceless clips of Mike Judge directing the boys on the set of the movie. Also noteworthy: there are newly done promos that were shown in '05 when MTV was promoting the first of these Mike Judge Collection DVDs. In the final one of these promos the infomercial "Decade of Power," featuring Billy Dee Williams interviewing Beavis and Butt-head to promote Volume One, is mentioned. Considering that the infomercial had a considerable amount of new B&B material, it's a shame that MTV did throw that on the DVD as well.

We fans can only hope that Mike Judge eventually sees fit to release the remaining episodes on DVD. But until then, Beavis and Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection Volume 3 provides plenty of laughs.

New movie review: Clerks II

Review can also be found on Blog Critics.

Do you ever stop to wonder if all the decisions you’ve made over the past twelve years were the right ones? Did they put you on the right path? Did you end up where you thought you would? Perhaps you disagree with John Lennon when he says, “there isn’t anywhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.”

In Clerks II we catch up with Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and his pal Randall (Jeff Anderson) twelve years after we last saw them, working at the Quick Stop and wondering what life had to offer them. What are they doing now? The same thing — that is, until a fire in the opening scene forces them to do something else. What do they decide to do? Lacking any other experience they decide to become clerks at a local fast food restaurant called Mooby’s.

Unhappy with the situation, Dante decides he wants something else. He wants what other 33-year-olds have — a wife, kids, a house, and a good job. He almost has these things. He’s on the verge of leaving Mooby’s, Randall, and New Jersey far behind. What’s the catch? Marrying a controlling woman and being on the take from the woman’s parents — in essence exchanging freedom for possessions.

Clerks II does a great job of philosophizing about what makes us happy. Is it marriage, money, a career, prestige? Or is it just finding something you don’t mind doing and hanging out with your friends? Is one really better than the other?

So Clerks II examines some of life’s eternal questions, but did I also mention it’s hilarious? It is. It’s just about as funny as the first one, but maybe not as shocking. You know why it’s not as shocking? Clerks raised the bar for the bawdiest of bawdy talk in an R rated movie. It almost became the first movie to be given an NC-17 for language alone.

Seeing Clerks II took me straight back to seeing the first one in 1994. It was a time when people looked at you funny if you carried around a cell phone, the Internet was still for computer geeks, and setting up an email account was more complicated than my calculus exam. I was a film student at the time, so seeing the movie was practically required. I remember how exciting it was at the time. The movie was low budget, with unknown actors using language seldom heard in mainstream cinema, yet it was getting tons of attention from critics.

So Kevin Smith set up an empire based around the characters he created and is probably one of the better-known directors today. And I’m not making movies. At least I can write about them. I can’t say whether Kevin Smith agrees with John Lennon or not. At first glance I might say no, but then again maybe he does.

New DVD review: She's The Man

Review also appears on Blog Critics.

Comedies are created for many varied demographics. There are comedies intended for adults. Some are aimed at teens. Still others find favor with young children. "She's the Man" is a comedy so dull and predictable, it's makers could only have had fetuses in mind as their audience. No one any older will be even mildly amused.

Despite the rather high falutin' credit, "Inspired by the play 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare," the movie I was most frequently reminded of was 1985's "Just One Of the Guys." As with that much funnier movie, "She's the Man" finds a high school girl attempting to gain the respect that her male classmates seem to be awarded so easily. When her twin brother Sebastian skips the country - without telling his parents - in order to perform in a British music festival (yeah, right), Viola (Amanda Bynes) decides to fill in for her brother at school. The reason? She wants to join the boys' soccer team in order to prove that she is as good as them. Of course, she effortlessly convinces all concerned that she is Sebastian. Even Sebastian's friend and ex-girlfriend speak to her, face-to-face, without ever questioning.

Casting Amanda Bynes in the dual-role was a staggeringly poor choice. Ms. Bynes, who somehow managed to convince a surprisingly large number of people that she is actually funny, is not masculine in any way, shape, or form. While not exactly the most bodacious bod in Hollywood, she never manages to evoke anything remotely resembling a high school boy. In fact, the only boy she does look like is the kid who played Sly Stallone's son in "Over the Top." Her voice remains feminine, even when she affects a bizarre accent - a mixture of deep south with Jamaican patois. For a movie like this to work, we need to be at least somewhat convinced we are watching a male actor. Bynes was simply not up to the task.

Even in the by-the-numbers attempts to display "girl power" and such, the movie is dismally uninspired. Of course Viola is able to wow her coach and teammates with her soccer prowess. Of course Viola, as Sebastian, develops a crush on her male roommate. Of course you will see every plot development coming a mile away. With a running time of 105 minutes, it's very odd that the filmmakers chose to include four or five montages, edited to blaring (but numbingly generic) pop-rock songs. Why the padding? This movie would've seemed long had it clocked in at 80 minutes. The flimsy plotting doesn't justify the indulgent length. On a more positive note, the PG-13 rating is entirely appropriate as this film is basically family-friendly viewing. If anything, a plain old PG might have been more accurate. The filmmakers avoid the tasteless humor found in many of today's teen flicks (though frankly, some of that might have improved this movie).

By the way, Sebastian is portrayed by an actor named James Kirk. Had the screenwriter named the character Tiberius instead, it would have provided the movie with it's only moment of true wit.

As for the DVD itself, the movie is presented in anamorphically enhanced widescreen. The transfer is sharp and clean, as expected for a movie just released earlier this year. Soundtrack choices are Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 surround. The disc is loaded with a fairly impressive array of bonus features. There are two commentary tracks featuring cast and crew members, as well as a text commentary. A selection of approximately 11 minutes worth of deleted scenes is included, with optional commentary. There are three fairly informative featurettes dealing with the making of the film, it's cast members, and the Shakespeare connection - they total just under a half hour combined. A variety of more minor features round out the supplements, including a not very funny gag reel.