Saturday, May 01, 2021

Say How Do

It's May Day, which means we'll break out our DVD of The Wicker Man, director Robin Hardy's 1973 folk-horror film starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, and the subject of this week's pipe pic, the late Sir Christopher Lee.

This distinguished photo is from a 1979 karate/kickboxing exploitation film titled Jaguar Lives!, in which Lee played a criminal kingpin. I've never seen this one, in part because I generally don't trust a film with an exclamation point in its title. However, I have seen The Wicker Man dozens of times, and never fail to enjoy it.

Lee's performance as Lord Summerisle is widely considered to be his best ever. The film is a sexy, smart, suspenseful tale of paganism and ritual sacrifice on a remote island. Similar territory was explored more recently in the 2019 Swedish film Midsommar, and Mayday, a 2013 British TV series. Both are worth seeing, but The Wicker Man is the undisputed champion on this genre. Paul Giovanni's music in an integral part of the film, with Giovanni and members of his band Magnet appearing in several scenes.

Here's hoping the gods find your May Day sacrifice to be acceptable to, and that your crops flourish.

Now, let's review this week's crop of Bizarro cartoons.

Speculative historians tell us that this method of tracking down criminals is the origin of the term "You're busted."

This clown is pumped, and has a overinflated ego.

A reference to the legend of Robert Johnson's musical education, and a tribute to the skill of Old Scratch's tailor, who added a fly in the back for comfort.

As more citizens are vaccinated and travel picks up, let's pause for a moment in respect to all employees of the hospitality industry, and all they must endure. When we all emerge from our homes, may we all be grateful for the folks who help to make travel and dining enjoyable, and may we all tip generously.

There's a mysterious ashy residue in the oven, too.

The key to a healthy diet is platelet control.

Thanks, as always, for checking in here at the old Waynoblog. Don't forget to visit Dan Piraro's blog to see what he has to say about these cartoons, and to admire his always-spectacular Bizarro Sunday page.

Bonus Track

"Willow's Song," from The Wicker Man

The scene that features this song is definitely NSFW.






7 comments:

  1. If you avoid all movies with an exclamation mark in the title, you're missing out on a couple of classics: Airplane! and Top Secret!

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  2. The fairly recent (2006) "Wicker Man" starring Nicholas Cage was hilarious; his performance was positively Shatnerian.

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    1. I watched the trailer, which was more than enough for me. Wow.

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  3. Wayno, I just wrote you a semi-long explanation of why the trailer isn't representative of the entire movie, and then accidentally erased it (the explanation, that is).
    Suffice it to say, before I erase this too, that Cage's performance was uneven--he seemed to lose focus several times during the film and it made too much of it risible, particularly during the infamous "bee" scene, which I won't describe further, for fear that you'll decide to see it for yourself.

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  4. The “You’re busted @ comment made my week!😂

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  5. I 💗 that settler's Hawaiian shirt. How long did you spend filling it in with colorful little little flowers? Worth it.

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    1. Thanks! It wasn’t too difficult to color, but I was having dreams of spinning flowers that night!

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