Jimmy-14

I knew the first time I watched The Hollow Men it was too good for the likes of Comedy Central's base audience -- it was too British. I loved it, and I also knew it would not survive. I guess it is very tale-telling when the idiotic and very tired Reno 911 gets a third season and Blue Collar Comedy is doing well that the Hollow Men would not be understood by the same audience. So, it is canceled, and replaced with the less sophisticated Stella.

Now that Chappelle seems to over, the only thing left worth watching on Comedy Central is The Daily Show. I am hoping that Jon Stewart moves to network television, then I can get rid of Cable TV altogether.

If you are familiar with the works of the the artists collectively known as Hipnosis, then the look of Barry Gibb's first (officially) released solo album art and accompanying video, NOW VOYAGER, will have a look I describe as a sort of deja vu -- unique, yet familiar. Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell were responsible for many great album covers from 1968 to well into the 80's as Hipnosis. They did classic covers for Led Zeppelin, Yes, Peter Gabriel, 10CC, Paul McCartney, Black Sabbath, and Pink Floyd. In 1983, Thorgerson, Powell, and Peter Christopherson formed Green Back films, and Nowvoyager became one of their first projects. The marriage of Barry Gibb's music with Hipnosis visuals create an interesting if somewhat surrealistic sojourn with the late veteran actor Michael Hordern as a Rod Serling type host who interacts with Gibb between the different sequences for the nine songs. It is ashamed that neither the album nor the video got much attention as it is well worth watching. Most of the songs broke new ground for Gibb who experimented with several new styles which worked very well in my opinion. Even though "Shine Shine" made the top 40, it should have been a bigger hit. American radio was still blaming the Bee Gees for a handful of disco songs some six years earlier and refused to play anything sung by the Bee Gees. They were clever enough to keep right on having huge hits as writers and producers for other artists.

Those who write that this film is bad really cannot be fans of Hammer Films. It is important to understand that Hammer was a small, independent company that made low-budget, campy, and sometimes classy horror films. This one was Christopher Lee's second appearance as Dracula. His first, Horror Of Dracula, was made in 1957, and Lee did not want to risk being type-cast such as Bela Lugosi and therefore turned down the offer to be in Brides of Dracula. His return for Prince of Darkness was on the condition that he not be made to deliver dialogue that he thought was bad or unbefitting for the undead Count to say. For this one film, Christopher Lee never says a single word -- he hisses a time or two, but speaking isn't necessary. Just one menacing glance from the Count says it all. The supporting cast is another great asset to Dracula: Prince of Darkness. Barbara Shelley in particular is excellent as Helen. I love the way she goes from stern and sensible at a local pub to cautious and frightened when the other three members of her party want to spend the night at Castle Dracula. She isn't at all sexy, but after her encounter with Dracula, she is transformed into a vixen. Vampire women seem to prefer really sexy shrouds. Well, that's just a few comments, I could say a lot more, but it isn't necessary. Hammer fans know that these films are really great fun, and that is what really appeals to me. The only ones who take them seriously are the actors which is as it should be. Watch and enjoy!