Something I've Noticed About Michael and Harry...

Medved, that is.

For those of you out of the (bad movie) loop, Harry and Michael Medved are the authors of some of the most fun/informative books about bad movies ever written. Chronologically, they are:

The 50 Worst Films Of All Time (...And How They Got That Way)

The Golden Turkey Awards

The Hollywood Hall Of Shame

Son Of The Golden Turkey Awards

And as amazing as it is, I've read every one of these books (I know, I know...sit down, relax....) and enjoyed them all. They are all so passionate and consummately all-inclusive about their subjects that virtually no symbolic stone is left unturned in their tomes and paeans to films the likes of The Assassination of Trotsky, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Inchon, Blindman and countless others which deserve the ol' literary thrashing.

BUT...

Just how well did the Brothers Medved do their research?

(dun, dun-DUNNNNNN!!)

Needless to say, there are times when you write a book that some facts get glossed over, some points are polished up and others ignored altogether just to get the book finished, prettier or just made-up to get the book sold (just look at all the unofficial celeb bios out there). Say it ain't so, Dope, you may say. It's so, says me.

There are a few points in The Golden Turkey Awards, for example, that prove this. For instance, in their description of The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, in which the following is said about the movie:

"The film attempted to launch a new national dance craze with its bewitching musical interlude 'The Zombie Stomp'."

Looking back at the film in question, nowhere in the film is a song called "The Zombie Stomp" played! However, anyone with a good eye/ear/memory, will recall this title in the movie The Horror Of Party Beach, another 'monster movie musical' from the same year.

Easy to see how such a mistake could be made, but still....

Another example from TGTA comes when they discuss The Incredible Melting Man, as they talk about one of the characters discovering one of the creature's ears melted onto a tree branch and scream out, "OH MY GOD - IT' S HIS EAR!!"

...this line is never shouted; in fact, it's said votto sotto by the discoverer, one Dr. Ted Nelson.

Also, in the same paragraph, they discuss how in the end, the monster is scooped up by a janitor and dumped into a trash can.

...again, nope. He's discovered by a janitor by the end of the film, but the guy drags the trash can over to the mess; we never see him do any scooping or sweeping or anything else to it before the screen goes to black.

I know, I know; it's implied. But if you're going to say that the actual physical act of scooping a melted monster into a trash can happened in a movie and then write that in a book for millions of people to see, then it better have happened. Because, you know, someone's going to watch that movie just to see that monster get scooped up in a shovel and dumped into a trash can; that is, if that's what they read happens in a book that discusses that movie.

So, if you watch The Incredible Melting Man and expect to see that monster get scooped into a trash can at the end, caveat emptor.

Another good one is where they discuss the movie Him. For those who don't know, and I'm sure there's several (bless you for this, BTW), to put it bluntly it's a movie about Jesus Christ being a homosexual. Yes, you heard me. Now, they go into somewhat tawdry detail about the contents of the film itself (which I won't get into here, thank you very much).

But anyway, there is also the idea that they propose one of the films they discussed in TGTA was a complete and utter hoax and invite the viewer to seek it out. It turned out that it was a film called Dog Of Norway, replete with a photo of the Medveds' own dog photographed in a "publicity still" from the film.

All well and good, but then, if Dog Of Norway was the fake, then what happened to this Him film? No one seems to know where it disappeared to or even if a copy even exists today.

Mind you I am NOT looking for nor even interested in seeing a copy of this film and I'm not going to get into an online argument about homophobia,. religion or whatever, all I'm saying is if Him indeed existed, wouldn't there be some kind of proof of it existence in a film archive or register rather than a single newspaper ad you can find online (authentic or not?) or some second-hand reviews. Is it real , or yet another urban hoax perpetrated by the Medveds? Look up the film if you dare - its dearth of ready information makes you wonder...not that there's anything wrong with that....

But do you see what I'm getting at? The books are still entertaining, but what about these msiused, misresearched, incomplete facts they filled their first book with? Are there further examples in their other books? Is further research needed by all bad film lovers everywhere just to verify "facts" we just took for granted all along. Maybe the Medveds didn't think we would actually go out and check bad flicks like these ourselves to double-check their facts? Could be, but what does that do to the trust of a bad movie lover who expects the truth about the movies he wants to seek out? Do we trust the author less in the future? Do we go back and double-check his facts and second-guess his opinions?

Well, yeah.

Did this turn into a rant? Hmph; didn't expect that. Kids, see what linear writing will get you?

Dope out.

-TGWD