June | 2013 | 2 Warps to Neptune

Archive for June, 2013

Movie Theater Marquees: Jaws (1975)

Published June 28, 2013 Jaws , Movie Theaters/Marquees 6 Comments

Above: The Rivoli Theatre, New York City, June, 1975.

Below: The State Theatre, Sydney, Australia, 1975.

(Images via Thin Ghost, Feej, Sydney Morning Herald)

Couple Posing with Mounted Swordfish, 1975

Apologies if you thought the title of this post was metaphorical.

The Legacy of Jaws Told in Movie Posters

Published June 27, 2013 '70s Movies/TV , Jaws 11 Comments

Roger Kastel‘s Jaws poster, an exquisite representation of the greatest horror movie ever made, has been imitated as much as, if not more than, Spielberg’s legendary film. It’s impossible to imagine the one without the other. Combine them, and Jaws becomes much more than a giant, man-eating great white shark.

Jaws is the primordial terror of predators lurking beneath the water, circling in the jungle brush, descending unseen from the sky. Jaws is unchecked, insatiable animal aggression: nature stripped of evolutionary checks and balances. Jaws is beyond nature, the supernatural, the devil, the possessed (“he’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes“). Jaws is the male sex drive, a giant dick with teeth. Jaws is Freud’s Id, the iceberg representing the sublimated Unconscious. Jaws is humanity stripped of the manufactured veneer of civilization.

The message of Jaws is that we’re all stuck in the same shabby boat, soon to be dead in the water, trying to fend off the monster that’s trying to break in and tear us to pieces.

The catch is: we’re also the goddamn monster.

‘The 3:00 Movie’ Commercial Break, 1982

Published June 26, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Atari , Commercials , Promotions/Contests/Sweepstakes 3 Comments

Why was there a 3:00 movie? Because that’s when we got home from school, or that’s when we huddled around the little TV in after-school daycare. I said somewhere else that my dad picked me up early a few times so I could catch assorted creature features: Frogs, Empire of the Ants, Night of the Lepus, The Swarm. Even if we did have a VCR at the time, nobody knew how to record on the damn thing.

First commercial: “Taste the Thrill of Atari at McDonald’s.” Atari worked promotions with almost every big name in the business, and I never won jack. Watch for the Atari 800 and the Atari 825 dot matrix printer. I found some of the game cards on eBay.

And here’s one of the tray liners, courtesy of Peter Hirschberg, who has lots of other awesome stuff on display.

Second commercial: “I need well trained people” is actually progressive phrasing for a secretarial staffing company in 1982. Five years earlier it would have been, “I need well trained, well groomed women.” Notice that there’s only one guy in the spot, and he’s in the only office.

Third commercial: You recognize her, right? She’s very awkward here.

Fourth commercial: That’s one giant meatball that splats on the floor, amigos. It ain’t organic, and it ain’t made of turkey. It’s red meat, and we were too busy shoving our faces to ask any questions.

The editorial rebuttal enters the realm of surreality. A union rep on TV? In a position of authority?

(Video via FuzzyMemoriesTV)

Kids Playing on Psychedelic Shag Carpet, 1972

Published June 25, 2013 '70s Decor/Design/Fashion 4 Comments

I’m thinking of starting a separate category called “When Carpet Was King,” or something like that. There was a distinctive interior design aesthetic in the ’70s because people of ordinary means could afford houses.

The 21st century has no style because everybody’s renting or living in housing developments.

(Photo via eBay)

Neal Adams and Mike Grell, 1977

Published June 25, 2013 Comic Books , Conventions (Cons)/Trade Shows , DC Had Its Moments 1 Comment

A couple of good-looking, talented fellows at the Chicago Comic Con. Look out for those collars!

What the hell, here’s Adams’ run of House of Mystery covers from ’77. (#252 is my favorite.)

And here are a few splash pages from Grell’s Warlord from late ’77 and early ’78.

(Images via Sword and Planet Books and Comics, eBay, and Diversions of the Groovy Kind)

Letter from Camp, 1975

Published June 24, 2013 Letters from Kids , Summer Camp Leave a Comment

It says “nice horse” in the third line, if you can’t make it out.

Thank you, Shawn Bouckaert, for sharing this. My day has been made.

Comic Book Spinner Rack, 1956

Published June 24, 2013 Comic Books , Kids Reading Comics , Spinner Racks 1 Comment

It took me a while to pinpoint the year on this one, but I got it.

The Little Lulu #94 is on the left, very bottom. The Adventures of Bob Hope #38 is on the same column, three up (it’s also on the next row). Our hero is reading Superman #105.