Usually, when I have nothing to do, my mind begins to wander and I end up thinking about really strange things. For instance, given all the serial killers, axe murderers, and work mishaps there have been in the world during your lifetime, what amount of meat would you guess you’ve eaten, accidental or otherwise, that was human flesh (not counting your own)? Likewise, how much urine or fecal matter that was not your own do you think you’ve ingested over your lifetime (prisoners, fetishists, and those trapped in mines are not eligible)?
As far as Texas Chainsaw movies go, this one isn’t much different. There’s lots of sick, twisted, and creepy imagery. There’s a guy abusing the authority a cop’s uniform gives him. There’s a deranged family that has no qualms about killing and eating people. There’s a lunatic with a chainsaw. And there’s a group of teens that gets slaughtered along the way. Pretty much the usual stuff.
What I really liked about this movie, and serves as the reason for the title, is that we get to learn the origins of the characters and the circumstances that lead them to commit the atrocities they did. It starts with the birth of the baby that would grow up and become Leatherface, his first kill, and the domino effect of killings that follows from it.
Worth checking out if you like slashers, or Texas Chainsaw movies in particular.
I started off looking for a Grandpa Simpson quote, and stumbled upon a list of favourite quotes of Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama. Here’s one in particular, from the episode entitled “Fry and the Slurm Factory:”
Which, of course, got me thinking. Has “robot” always been pronounced “roh-baht” or was there a time, perhaps early on when it was still a new word, that people pronounced it “roh-biht?”
First, it might be prudent to learn a little bit about the word itself. The Online Etymology Dictionary states the word first appeared in a 1923 English translation of Czech playwright Karel Čapek‘s 1920 play entitled R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). It is translated from the Czech word robota, which literally means “forced labour” or “drudgery.” Although, Karel Čapek is credited with popularizing the term, he himself attributes his brother Josef with coining the term.
So now we know how old the word is, are there any recordings of people saying the word besides Billy West as Zoidberg? Well, we can go directly to the source. Isaac Asimov is, of course, famous for coining the term “robotics” and for his three laws of robotics which he introduced in his 1942 short story “Runaround.” His first robot story was “Robbie” which he wrote in 1939. How does Asimov himself pronounce “robot?” Well, in this 1987 interview with Don Swaim, he pronounces it just as Dr. Zoidberg does. According to Asimov’s biography on Wikipedia, he was born into a Jewish family and immigrated to the States when he was 3. His family spoke in both Yiddish and English, and he became proficient in both languages.
So then, it must come as no surprise that Asimov and Zoidberg would pronounce “robot” is the same fashion. Billy West has said in interviews that he based Zoidberg on Jewish vaudeville-ish comedians such as George Jessel (who can be heard here) and Lou Jacobi (you can hear audio clips of him here; not to be confused with Michael Vale who portrayed Fred the baker from the Dunkin’ Donuts commercials). So is it just people with a yiddish background that pronounce “robot” that way?
Here’s where I muddy the water a little. There was a comic strip that came out in 1934 called “Flash Gordon” that was created to compete with Buck Rogers at the time. A few years later, several serials were produced at Universal Studios starring Larry “Buster” Crabbe as Flash Gordon entitled “Flash Gordon” (1936), “Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars” (1938), and “Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe” (1940). It is this third serial that I’ll be interested in today. One of the main characters in the series is Dr. Zarkov, played by Irish actor Frank Shannon, who’s basically an all-round science genius and do-gooder that helps Flash with all the problems that can’t be solved with punching or fighting. Near the end of Chapter 3, Ming unleashes a swarm (or gaggle, or whatever) of mechanical men on our heroes. Pay close attention to Zarkov near the 19:00 mark:
I love that theme music. If you want to watch the serial in its entirety, all of the episodes are available on Google Video.
I had watched this serial years ago, and was the first time I had ever heard “robot” pronounced “roh-bit.” So on the off chance that Shannon was Jewish and not Irish-Catholic and spoke Yiddish, that might explain it.
In the end, I guess it doesn’t really prove anything.
To end on a lighter note: If you’re like me and a fan of 80′s cheese, you probably remember the 1980 movie simply titled Flash Gordon starring Max Von Sydow as Ming and beefcake Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon. Jones has actually had a semi-successful career playing bit parts in film and TV. Even had a memorable (I’m told) role in the popular sci-fi series, Stargate SG-1, playing Aris Boch.
I think I saw this in the theatre with my dad and brother as part of a double feature with Batman, but it was so long ago I could be wrong. I didn’t know who Queen was either, but my dad had the soundtrack on LP and my brother and I played the $#!% out of that thing. It’s sad, I know, but it probably wasn’t until Wayne’s World that I really bothered checking into who this band called Queen was.
First, let me say, I’ve never read the book. It is, however, sitting on a shelf at arm’s length as I write this, so I have every intention of doing so.
The interesting thing about this movie is its use of interpolated rotoscoping to achieve a cel-shaded look to it (don’t worry, I had to look it up, too). Gives it a very strange look that keeps you slightly distracted throughout the film. I’m sure that was the intended result, and they put it to good use. There were some effects in there you probably couldn’t do otherwise without it looking really hokey.
As I watched, I really started to wonder what this movie was supposed to be about. Basically, an undercover narcotics agent gets too entrenched in his role, and gets addicted to the same substance he’s supposed to bring down (think Jack Bauer, in the third season of 24). The first part of the movie follows Bob Arctor and his buddies on their drug-enhanced day to day activities in comedic style. Then it takes a darker turn when Arctor starts to realize he may have passed the point of no return, and that people might not be who they seem.
The first 24 minutes are available for viewing at IGN’s Filmforce (age verification required).
