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The Bootleg Files: Jack Benny in Australia

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BOOTLEG FILES 776: “Jack Benny in Australia” (1964 television special from down under).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived commercial value.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In early 1964, Jack Benny received an offer to do a series of shows in Australia, where his radio and television shows had been popular for years. The timing for the offer was serendipitous, as CBS unceremoniously axed Benny’s popular television program at the end of 1963 and he had no other engagements lined up.
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How “Jason Lives” Became My Favorite “Friday the 13th”

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As a kid horror movies were forbidden. But they were forbidden in the way that staying up late was forbidden. Sure, it was a no no, but our parents always looked the other way if we caught a sneak peek at one of the stronger horror shockers. Plus, growing up with a mother with an insatiable appetite for all things horror, it’s pretty tough to re-enforce a ban when she’s showing up every other day with VHS copies of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Sleepaway Camp.” For some reason though, growing up, my mom always discouraged my watching “Jason Lives.” I could never quite figure out why, though.

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Brain Freeze (2020) [Fantasia Film Festival 2021]

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Director Julien Knafo’s zombie horror comedy is a movie that teeters back and forth between what it’s trying to say and what it’s trying to appeal to. It identifies itself as a horror comedy and injects a lot of silliness involving zombie carnage, body horror, and even some poor animals, but mid-way it stops being funny and tries to convey some kind of social commentary. What the commentary is, exactly, is beyond me, but it never improves on the overlong, tedious exploits.

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Baby, Don’t Cry (2020) [Fantasia Film Festival 2021]

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Director Jesse Dvorak’s crime drama is a bit problematic in that it’s a film that constantly jumps from theme to theme and never quite decides on what kind of story it wants to tell. It’s both about the immigrant experience in America, followed by culture shock often experienced by main character Baby. Most of the time she struggles with what she thinks are the norms for American culture, and this amounts to a script that’s never quite focused and feels ultimately under cooked.

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10/31 Part II (2019)

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I’m elated with the fact that a lot of indie filmmakers these days have delivered so many Halloween-centric genre films. Whether good or bad, there’s practically a whole new sub-genre now, and we’re treated with “10/31, Part II.” The sequel to the surprisingly very good Halloween based horror anthology, “10/31, Part II” offers much of the same Halloween based horror stories, all delivering some unique concepts and narratives that kept the experience lively and surprising.

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The Bootleg Files: Doom of Dracula

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BOOTLEG FILES 775: “Doom of Dracula” (8mm reissue of sections from the 1944 “House of Frankenstein”).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived commercial value.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In the years before video cassette recorders invaded living rooms in the late 1970s and early 1980s, movie lovers who wanted to own copies of their favorite films relied on portable projectors that screened the 35mm or 70mm Hollywood theatrical fare in the much smaller 16mm, 9.5mm, 8mm and Super 8 formats.
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