Thursday 23 November 2017

"SURVIVORS": A Poem Inspired By The 1951 Sci-Fi Film, "Five"




SURVIVORS


From Big Ben to the Eiffel Tower

Doomsday warnings wail hour after hour:
Imminent collapse of the human race!
And in a flash the world is laid to waste.



A shocked raggedy-doll stumbles and staggers

Along aimless paths seeking survivors,
While calling out plaintive piteous pleas
Of, “Can anyone help me please!”



The path leads Raggedy-doll to another:

A sensitive Poet and Philosopher
Waving absurdity laid bare and unfurled
Of a once cheap honky-tonk of a world.


Here comes a beetle-browed financier,
Well – just a mere assistant cashier
Counting out a life paid in denial and delusion;
Here he enters in wide-eyed confusion.

Supporting him is the Black Samaritan
Strong of shoulder, pride and passion,
Who once dreamt of being something
more,
Only to end up minding a door.


“I am one who was once blind but can now see;
Who once had settled for a piece of security
In a city where I had never seen the lights,
Nor till now what is important in life.”

The four soon become five
When they save one just barely alive,
Through iron willed-soul so black and depraved
And from whom they will have to be saved.

Beetle-brow cashier now on vacation
Has arrived at his final destination
Which he has yearned for in his dreams
For a whole life-time to him it seems.

“I often dreamt of going on vacation,
But my work was my life’s obligation.
And so I sat behind self-made prison bars
Dreaming of sleeping under the stars!”


The need is felt to stay alive 
As once again four become five 
When Raggedy-doll gives birth to future hope 
Without which our survivors would not cope. 

Iron-will’s hope hides in a fascist fantasy 
That seeks salvation through supremacy 
By force of power, violence and destruction: 
And all that sow the seeds of annihilation. 

“I climbed Mt. Everest. I alone. Always alone. 
And there I’ll sit atop the mountain on my throne 
Invincible and possessed of a special immunity 
With a plundered world spread out below me!”

Clinging to his tattered rags of self-delusion, 
Iron-will’s life force leaks away with the radiation 
Of an inner poison of violence and domination, 
That once robbed a new world of a wise Samaritan.


What of the Poet, Raggedy-doll and Future Hope?
Will they leave behind the Past’s mistakes as they grope
Their way to a new Eden that heals and mends;
Where people work together, live together, like friends?



*****************

Thanks for reading my little poem inspired by and based on the science fiction film,






©Chris Christopoulos 2017

Friday 17 November 2017

The Blob (1958)



Although not a masterpiece, this film is a cultural gem


Practically nothing is known about an incident that occurred in a small rural town in Pennsylvania in July 1957. It involved a mysterious extra-terrestrial blob-like entity that crashed to Earth inside a meteorite. Not only that, but the alien entity turned out to be both aggressive and destructive as it set about devouring and dissolving the citizens of this small rural community.

Almost nothing is also known about the then teenage pair, Steve Andrews and his girlfriend, Jane Martin who witnessed the crash of the meteorite and who set about investigating it. As the teenage pair witnessed the alien creature’s destructive power, they faced the problem of being confronted by a wall of adult skepticism and anger. Meanwhile, the blob continued to engulf more and more people, while growing bigger and bigger……



Directed by Irvin Yeaworth
Produced by Jack H. Harris
Written by Kay Linaker, Theodore Simonson
Story by Irving H. Millgate
Music by Ralph Carmichael, Burt Bacharach
Cinematography Thomas E. Spalding
Edited by Alfred Hillmann
Production company: Fairview Productions, Tonylyn Productions, Valley Forge Films
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Running time: 86 minutes
Budget: $110,000
Box office: $4 million


Cast


Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews
Aneta Corsaut as Jane Martin
Earl Rowe as Lieutenant Dave
Olin Howland as Old Man
Stephen Chase as Dr. Hallen
John Benson as Sergeant Jim Bert
George Karas as Officer Ritchie
Lee Payton as Kate
Elbert Smith as Mr. Martin
Hugh Graham as Mr. Andrews
Keith Almoney as Danny Martin





Trailer


Read on for more....

Thursday 2 November 2017

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)


A sci-fi film so terrible yet so much fun to watch!

Directed by Nathan H. Juran
Produced by Bernard Woolner
Written by Mark Hanna
Music by Ronald Stein
Cinematography: Jacques R. Marquette
Edited by Edward Mann
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Running time: 66 minutes
Budget: $89,000
Box office: $480,000 (USA)



Cast


Allison Hayes as Nancy Fowler Archer
William Hudson as Harry Archer
Yvette Vickers as Honey Parker
Roy Gordon as Dr. Isaac Cushing
George Douglas as Sheriff Dubbitt
Ken Terrell as Jess Stout
Otto Waldis as Dr. Heinrich Von Loeb
Eileen Stevens as Nurse
Michael Ross as Tony the Bartender/Giant
Frank Chase as Deputy Charlie


Trailer


The husband of an unhappily married rich socialite returns to her after having left her only because he now needs money. Meanwhile, philandering hubby, Harry happily continues his affair with another woman aptly maned, Honey Parker. After an explosive confrontation at a bar, his wife, Nancy drives off until she encounters a large spherical object on the road. The object’s sole occupant is an enormous alien……

Despite rumours of UFOs in the area, will anyone believe Nancy?
What effect will Nancy’s close encounter have on her?

Read on for more