Scrubbles.net » Video

Forsaking All Others

Matt — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:29:02 +0000

Over the weekend, the spouse and I caught Married Life starring Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan and the wonderful Patricia Clarkson. While we both enjoyed this neo-Hitchcock period drama very much, I loved the opening credits sequence. This was created by the Venice, California based Prologue studio. Loverly:

Kodak Moment

Matt — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:13:18 +0000

This video has been passed around a lot, but I love Kodak’s precious test color footage from 1922 so much I want to share it here. It’s mesmerizing: the flicker, the color, the mannered posing. The weird looking woman in the clip’s last half is actress Mae Murray, one of the iconic silent film stars (her 1925 opus The Merry Widow just got DVR’d here at Chez Scrubbles). More info on the clip can be perused at Kodak’s A Thousand Words weblog. Now excuse me while I watch it again:

She’s Hot, She’s Sexy, She’s Dead

Matt — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:13:43 +0000

Today’s video is the opening of CBS’s tribute to their recently deceased comedy queen, Lucille Ball, broadcast April 26, 1989. I may have watched this when it originally aired. Lucy’s death was a huge deal that year, garnering the kind of media coverage usually reserved for world leaders and royalty.

On a related note, of late we’ve been watching a lot of I Love Lucy’s third season DVD set (a gift for Christopher’s birthday). This was the first season after Little Ricky was born. Although it contains a lot of hilarious episodes, the darn baby gets dragged out all the time and it stops the comedy dead in its tracks. Lucy and Desi Arnaz must have realized what negative impact Little Ricky had, since the following season they bounced back with a baby-free trip to Hollywood. I do believe the show hit its peak during seasons four (Hollywood) and five (European trip).

More of CBS’ Lucille Ball memorial tribute: Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Paint Chips Ahoy

Matt — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:16:25 +0000

How often do you see a TV commercial that truly captures your eyes with beauty and subtlety? The Sherwin Williams campaign with animated paint chips does that for me. These play frequently on The Weather Channel; every time they come on, I sit and stare — they’re almost hypnotic. Wish I could say the same thing for other W.C. advertisers such as Newsmax or Crazy Critters.

Where Have You Been Hiding Out Lately, Honey

Matt — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:41:50 +0000

I barely remember watching this clip from Marie Osmond’s short lived solo variety series, Marie, when it was originally on circa 1981. This is Marie performing Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock ‘n Roll to Me” as a campy duet with herself — what a hoot! Two things I notice now: the costumes have all the hallmarks of the legendary Bob Mackie, and Marie was a talented performer for being only about 21 years old. Enjoy.

Pretty Sneaky, Sis

Matt — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:36:38 +0000

No comment needed.

California Déjà Vu

Matt — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:10:21 +0000

From this video of TV show opening credits of 1979, a long forgotten one — California Fever. I used to watch this every week, but I honestly don’t remember a thing about it except the theme song (sung by actor Jimmy MacNichol) and that pulsating red circle in the opening. The montage also includes Real People, a show I watched zealously week after week. I had a little boy crush on Sarah Purcell.

A Pinch of Basil

Matt — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:02:39 +0000

Today’s video is another forgotten ’80s tune I just discovered this week — Toni Basil’s “Over My Head.” I think this song actually betters “Mickey;” too bad it barely made it onto the Billboard Hot 100. The video has a terrific concept with multi-talented Toni dancing in and out of vintage pulp book covers with various “outrageous” looks. She’s a helluva dancer, of course, and the theatricality she used on her image is very prescient. The Lady GaGa of 1983?

The Fabric of Our Hip, Happenin’ Lives

Matt — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:42:58 +0000

Hey people, it’s been over two weeks since we’ve gotten a comment at scrubbles.net. I’m not going to get too sad about it, but… where is everybody? Please come out from that sun scorched rock you’re under and tell me what’s going on.

Onward to the latest semi-forgotten industrial film of the past. 1969’s R.F.D. Greenwich Village is a tranquil ode to the bohemian youth of NYC and their seemingly endless supply of wide wale corduroy fashions. This sort of cinema vérité documentary-cum-advertisement shares a lot of similarities with Every Girl’s Dream, another short produced by the Cotton Producers Association a few years earlier. In that film, a young woman (Nancy Bernard, 1966’s Maid of Cotton) tours a run-down, deserted MGM studio lot while wearing an assortment of fresh cotton daytime wear. The short also contains some great wardrobe tests of Doris Day modeling costumes from The Glass Bottom Boat. This priceless short isn’t viewable online, but whoever programs Turner Classic Movies seems to enjoy playing it in the gaps between features.

My First Modem

Matt — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:39:11 +0000

I recently came across a true artifact of its time while cleaning out the garage. This Hayes Accura 1140 modem was purchased after I moved into my first apartment in 1994. Armed with it, a Macintosh IIci, and a new America Online membership, I was ready to blaze the Information Superhighway — at 56K per second! Listen, I even had my place equipped with a separate phone line to enable websurfing and talking on the phone simultaneously (considering my pathetic social life at the time, not really necessary). I’m also not afraid to admit that the AOL membership was mostly used to find dates and look at porn. This was back when it took 15-20 minutes to download one photo, mind you. Thank our lucky stars that the internet has grown up since then, and so have I.

Dig this early AOL commercial from 1995. “A friend of mine told me ‘Try America Online.’ I said ‘Why? I’ve got a computer.’” That line always seemed so bizarre to me, even back then. What, were they selling to complete idiots?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Box

Matt — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:28:47 +0000

Here’s a vintage ’60s commercial for General Mills’ Twinkles, the cereal with a storybook embedded in the box. Christopher actually saved an old Twinkles box from when he was a child (one instance where hoarding pays off!). I posted scans of the box’s front, side and back to flickr a few years ago. Cute stuff!

They Got Rhythm

Matt — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:25:54 +0000

During a break from a busy week drawing cartoons (for a client, even!), I spent a few minutes watching clips from an obscure variety show called What’s It All About, World?. The program aired on ABC in the Spring of 1969, a satirical revue with all the edges sanded clean for mass consumption. Yet another example of something that tries so hard to be “hip” that it ends up being painfully unhip. At least this performance of Sweet Charity’s “Rhythm of Life” with Dean Jones, Ricardo Montalban and a troupe of monochromatically garbed dancers is kitschy fun.

You Need a Montage

Matt — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:28:28 +0000

One of my favorite YouTube people, bobtwcatlanta, has taken the time to upload a gem of an awards show — the 1978 Emmys. This was the 30th anniversary program, filled with more back patting than usual (and a neat set design). The first segment contains montages aplenty and Cicely Tyson wearing a weird quasi-Egyptian gold headpiece.

Huggy Bear Gone Viral

Matt — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:25:27 +0000

An adorable circa 1983 commercial for Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. What, you never heard of Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear? That’s because the pink ‘n fuzzy toy only exists as a character in the forthcoming Toy Story 3; the commercial is actually a promotional tool from those sneaks at Pixar. Brilliant!

Bob and Carol and Bobby and Cindy

Matt — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:02:26 +0000

In honor of Ann B. Davis’ birthday, a Brady Bunch scene snipped out of repeats (I don’t remember this at all, by the way):

Remember Kids, Users Are Losers

Matt — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:16:48 +0000

Remember this 1987 anti-drug PSA with crazy-haired pop singer Regina and McGruff the Crime Dog? Staying on the straight and narrow never looked so totally awesome.

Related: Download Regina’s 1986 LP Curiosity featuring the wonderfully Madonnaesque hit “Baby Love.”

Ladies and Gents, Miss March

Matt — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:23:00 +0000

My first run of Jo March Lit Kids screen prints was completed this week. The pages come from an lovely old edition of Little Women. I did a lot of preliminary drawings for Jo, and I’m still not sure if this one captures her spunky spirit, but they came out pretty nice all the same. And the color palette of mauve, purple and gold on yellowing paper looks absolutely gorgeous.

I was so busy with printing that I forgot about our Wednesday video. How about a scene from the historically inaccurate 1978 TV movie version of Little Women? I mean how “1978 TV movie” is the casting of Susan Dey as Jo and Meredith Baxter Birney as Jo’s sister Meg? Eve Plumb was in this as well (being a Brady Bunch fan, that was the only thing about this production I remember).

Ingénue Times Two

Matt — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:40:02 +0000

Last night I got reacquainted with a compilation from 1980s Europop princess Lío and thought I’d share a few of her vintage videos here. I’d say her music is like a French version of Madonna’s stuff from that period, very strident and “of its time” but completely irresistible. The gorgeous “Mona Lisa” comes from her 1982 album Suite Sixtine. The song’s lush and romantic production came courtesy of Ron and Russell Mael, better known as New Wave duo Sparks.

And here is Lío looking her jailbaitiest while singing 1980’s “Amoureux Solitaire” from a hammock. This synth-driven gem must have been one of her biggest hits in Europe, since there are five or six different performances of this song on YouTube. Lío’s hit streak continued all the way through 1991, after which she turned to acting. Apparently she now earns her Euros as one of the judges on the French edition of American Idol. C’est la vie, as they’d say over there.

Little Bit ‘O Soul

Matt — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:49:53 +0000

Today’s video is a snippet of gold from the classic era of Motown records. This clip of the Temptations performing their funky b-side “Sorry Is A Sorry Word” in the Hitsville U.S.A. studios came from a 1967 CBS news report on Motown. Considering how little footage there is of the artists actually recording in the studio from back then, it’s pretty amazing. I like the lady sitting in on the conga drums. I know about the Funk Brothers, but could there have also been a Funk Sister?

This scene comes from the 2006 DVD Get Ready: The Definitive Performances 1965-72.

The Lovely Bones

Matt — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:48:07 +0000

Let’s take a look at one of the TV series that was a by-product of the early years of The Simpsons, shall we? Family Dog originated as an episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. CBS commissioned a full-fledged series based on the success of that episode, but after sitting in the can for two years the network wound up airing only a few episodes in the summer of 1993. As seen in the “Show Dog” opening below, the project bears the charming creative imprint of Brad Bird (The Incredibles). Having only seen the Amazing Stories segment, I’m really curious as to what this entire series was like.