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The Bootleg Files: Chu Chu and the Philly Flash

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BOOTLEG FILES 892: “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash” (1981 comedy feature starring Alan Arkin and Carol Burnett).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Only available on VHS.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

While viewing this 1981 comedy film, a nagging thought kept cycling through my mind: Did anyone during the creation of this work genuinely believe they were making a funny movie? Granted, there is a surplus number of unfunny comedy films – but “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash” is such an astonishing misfire that it could inspire an academic consideration of how not to make a comedy film.
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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Water, Water Every Hare (1952)

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Water, Water Every Hare (1952)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Lloyd Vaughan, Richard Thompson, Harry Love
Music by Carl Stalling

Comedy horror movies rarely work, if only because they devolve into the obvious buffoonery of having the funnymen go into unamusing spasms of anxiety when confronted by ghouls, ghosts, creepy beings, and other unpleasant entities. The 1952 cartoon “Water, Water Every Hare” clicks because it doesn’t sink into the standard nonsense of the comic (in this case, Bugs Bunny) being endlessly frightened by the stock villains. Instead, it offers some brilliantly inventive segments that take the comedy horror genre to a new dimension.
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Demolition Man (1993) [Arrow Video] 

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Now available from Arrow Video 

The film starts with Detective John Spartan causing all kinds of mayhem while chasing a criminal. Due to this, he is imprisoned in a Cryo facility only to be awakened early in 2030 when criminal Simon Phoenix escapes. Soon, he finds out that the world has been sanitized, and Taco Bell has won the fast-food wars (or Pizza Hut for those not in the US). 

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The Bootleg Files – Computability: How to Make the Most of Your Home Computer

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BOOTLEG FILES 891: “Computability: How to Make the Most of Your Home Computer” (1984 educational home video starring Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Only available on VHS.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Woefully outdated production with no reissue value.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

Forty years ago, many Americans were spending the holidays getting acquainted with a remarkable gift: their first home computer. But for those at the dawn of the digital age who only knew about computers from science-fiction films, the machines posed a complex challenge.

In 1983, comedian and talk show host Steve Allen teamed with his wife, actress Jayne Meadows, on a record album called “Everything You Wanted to Know About Home Computers,” which provided a pleasant introduction to how home computers work and how people can get these machines to work for them. The record, which was produced by Casablanca/Polygram Records, received a Grammy Award nomination and it inspired the creative talent involved to adapt the material into an educational video with an accompanying glossary.
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