First Look: What An Institution! The Story of Police Academy

Hey, you got 10 minutes? That’s about how long this sizzle reel is:

If the embedded video doesn’t load, click to watch
What An Institution! The Story of Police Academy (2019) Exclusive 10-minute Preview at YouTube.

What An Institution! The Story of Police Academy is in production now. The team is still collecting interviews, but here’s a list of confirmed participants:

  • Paul Maslansky, Executive Producer
  • Bobcat Goldthwait, “Zed“
  • Michael Winslow, ” Jones“
  • Leslie Easterbrook, “Sgt. Callahan“
  • Shawn Weatherly, “Karen Adams“
  • Marion Ramsey, “Hooks“
  • Art Metrano, “Captain Mauser“
  • Brant Von Hoffman, “Blankes“
  • Peter Van Norden, “Schtulman“
  • Tim Kazurinsky, “Sweetchuck“
  • Charlie Schlatter, “Connors“
  • Matt McCoy, “Nick Lassard“
  • Julie Brown, “Chloe“
  • G. W. Bailey, “Captain Harris“
  • Brian Tochi, “Nogata“
  • Donovan Scott, “Leslie Barbara“
  • Scott Thomson, “Copeland“
  • Lance Kinsey, “Proctor“
  • Gregg Berger, “Talinsky“
  • Andrew Paris, “Bud Kirkland“
  • P. J. Ochlan, “Lester Shane“
  • Don Lake, “Mr. Wig“

The film is scheduled for release in 2019. I’ll post updates here from time to time, but if you’re on Facebook, you can follow the project here.

Winona Ryder as Dinky in Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael

Winona

Winona Ryder is back with a new movie, and in New York City two theaters are marking the occasion with events. The Quad is presenting a 16 film retrospective and Alamo Drafthouse is having a 4 film marathon. It seemed fitting to make this the Song Of The Day. Winona is a track from Matthew Sweet‘s 3rd studio album, Girlfriend. The performance presented here was recorded at City Winery in NYC in July, 2014.

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ONE ON ONE: Matthew Sweet – Winona July 18, 2014 City Winery New York at YouTube.

 

Remember that time I was a puppeteer?

Ten years ago this weekend, I was the host / emcee of The New York Infringement Festival, a series of plays and one person shows held over Labor Day weekend in Greenwich Village. Someone (I forget who) had created this large puppet called Bushiva to parade around Washington Square Park. I don’t know if they had any specific performance planned, at least, I wasn’t given any direction when I was asked to help operate the puppet.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans that weekend, and if you remember, the initial government response to the crisis was far from adequate. Consequently, there were a lot of activist groups and politically minded individuals demonstrating when we arrived with this giant George W. Bush head. I decided to give Bushiva a voice right there on the spot and started fielding questions from pedestrians, offering satirical commetary on the policies and practices of our then president.

I’m not sure who shot and edited the video below, which was posted to YouTube some years ago and I came across recently. Even though the general public’s questions prompting the responses aren’t included, you can still get the idea. It would be great to have a look at the raw footage since I’ve never seen it, but I’ll take what I can get.


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Bushiva at YouTube.

A still from the music video of the song “Sorry” by the band, “Nerf Herder"

Sorry

My Song Of The Day subscribers may have inadvertently been sent one of my recent MoviePass posts because it was tagged incorrectly. Here’s a song to apologize.

Though Nerf Herder is probably best known for providing the theme music for the Buffy The Vampire Slayer television series, this was the song that initially blew them up (at least in California) and most likely got them the Buffy gig. This shit was all over the radio when I was on the West Coast back in late ’96 – early ’97, and it always stuck with me, because it’s genuinely funny. Happy Thanksgiving (if you’re in America, otherwise, Happy Thursday)!


If the embedded video doesn’t load, click to watch
Nerf Herder – Sorry at YouTube.

MoviePass Review Banner

Beat the Clock & Buy Advance Tickets with MoviePass

The title says it all, doesn’t it? In this video, I explain and demonstrate how to get around MoviePass‘ Countdown Clock and why it works. This doesn’t violate MoviePass Terms Of Service, either; I explain that towards the end, but once they get hip to this, I’m sure MoviePass will make some changes. Most ironic is that while MoviePass may not be too thrilled about this video, it’s the smoothest MoviePass transaction I’ve ever recorded. Seriously, I wonder how many MoviePass users have ever checked in and got their ticket that fast.


If the embedded video doesn’t load, click to watch
Beat The Countdown Clock and Buy Advance Tickets with MoviePass at YouTube.

I can’t front, I’m feeling pretty Damian Sandow-ish right now, but this is so face palmingly simple that I’d honestly be amazed if I was the first one to come up with it. You’re welcome.

Please be sure to check out the other articles in my series on MoviePass:

Why I can’t recommend MoviePass (and why I won’t be renewing my subscription anytime soon)

If you’ve read my other posts on MoviePass, it’s clear that overall I was happy with the service and how it was implemented for the first 11 months of my membership. Even with the Countdown Clock, many of you may find that MoviePass is indeed a great value that would suit your needs. The way the Countdown Clock was implemented and announced is only the latest in a string of ethically questionable practices that I have issue with.

Right off the bat, it was pretty impossible to recommend the service to anyone, despite how much value I was getting from it. Whenever I would tell anyone about MoviePass, they would ask, “What’s the catch?” at which point, I would rattle off a list. “So, the very thing MoviePass advertises as their service is pretty much bullshit,” is how people would basically respond to the list of restrictions on the “unlimited” service. I would contend that I didn’t believe it to be an intentional deception; the service was in still in “beta,” and I believed they were working towards offering what they were advertising.

“Get back to me when they’re out of beta.”

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