Staff 17 October 2009 Things We Like 1,019 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

Every Saturday, the editorial staff and friends of Monkey Goggles will rummage though bookshelves, toy boxes, DVDs, music collections and stacks of assorted stuff to pick out a few choice items that will make your life better.

Scarecrow Video’s Movie of the Week: “After Hours” (1985), directed by Martin Scorcese

When average working man Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) leaves his office after another routine day, he has no idea that the night ahead will be one of the weirdest of his life. “After Hours,” a comedy of errors set against the vibrant backdrop of 1980′s New York, is probably Martin Scorcese’s most overlooked movie.

The story follows a single night in Hackett’s life from the time he leaves work and back to his office in the morning. Along the way, he meets a beautiful but emotionally damaged girl (Rosanna Arquette) her kinky roommate (Linda Fiorentino), a heartbroken bartender (John Heard), a clingy waitress obsessed with the Monkees (Terri Garr), and an angry mob. I think that if this movie had been made by any other director it would be a cult hit – but coming from the director of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” “After Hours” seems a bit out of place. I recommend that you pretend the director is a complete unknown and just enjoy the movie. – Rhias Hall

Doom Patrol

A group of super-powered outsiders led by a genius in a wheelchair? No, it’s not the X-Men, and if anyone got ripped off, let’s just say the Doom Patrol premiered first. This comic is a big dollop of weird plopped into the squeaky clean world of 1960s DC Comics. You probably haven’t heard of its heroes, Elasti-girl, Robotman and Negative Man, but the stars of this show are the villains. The Brotherhood of Evil are the biggest bads, led by a brain in a jar (The Brain) who is carried around by a beret-wearing gorilla with an IQ of 176. An affordable edition has finally been released and you can buy the first half of the run for less than $13. I prefer the 1990s version by Grant Morrison, but more on that later. – David Wahl

Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy

Under normal circumstances, Disneyland’s Space Mountain is a borderline-terrifying experience — a fast, twisting and unpredictable excursion through inky-black, ice-cold “space.” This year, however, Disney’s Imagineers have gone over the border with “Ghost Galaxy,” a limited-time Halloween-themed overlay for the popular rollercoaster that transforms the attraction into the most unique haunted house in America . The interior walls of Space Mountain, usually speckled with stars, are now covered with swirling galaxies that tranform into terrifying spectres; just imagine what it would be like for the Milky Way to sprout arms, glowing eyes and a horrible, gaping mouth, and then to chase you from Earth to NGC 4414 — which is also screaming like a banshee and reaching out its arms to ensnare you. Even the attraction’s sweeping, timeless facade is visibly possessed and seems to be moving with purpose to gobble you up.

“Ghost Galaxy” will only occupy Space Mountain through Halloween, after which the space ghosts will change back into harmless galaxies and clouds, and bide their time until next Halloween. For you, tasty little Earthling, the universe has nothing but time.  – Geoff Carter