Forbidden: Planets & Plants

I was going get through the week blogging about neither Nielsen nor Nelson, but then the perfect title presented itself, & ass we learned w/ Die Another Day, Shaft in Africa, & Judge Dredd, when one has a perfect title, one doesn't let the little fact that one has absolutely nothing to say get in his or her way.

The thing w/ Leslie Nielsen is that other than the Airplanes & the 1st Naked Gun movie, his career is pretty forgettable... except for Forbidden Planet. Of all the B Sci/Fi movies from the 1950's, it could be argued that this one was the most significant. It leads directly to 3 of the greatest Sci/Fi moments in the history of Sci/Fi moments. Of course, its influence on Star Wars is obvious... just check out the opening crawl in the trailer... or the way the door melts @ the end just like Qui Gon cutting through the blast door in The Phantom Menace!It is also a prime influence on The Rocky Horror Picture Show... & no one better be denying Rocky's awesomeness! Here's the opening track from Rocky for y'all to enjoy... God said, "Let there be lips, & there were, & they were good:Thirdly, I think that the argument could be made that w/o Forbidden Planet, there would never have been MST3K. I spent the summer of 1994 watching back to back episodes of that sweet, sweet show every morning, often w/ Jason, but occasionally on my own. It was such a good show. And I think that had Forbidden Planet not been as absurdly popular as it was, the B Movie Sci/Fi cult following wouldn't have been as big which means the post-modern desire to spoof it, dub over it, & just simply laugh all the way to Hell in our proverbial hand basket might not have happened. So before you call someone Shirley again, remember that his influence goes way, way back... of course, you can also enjoy the fact that somewhere someone is watching him ask Priscilla Presley how hot & wet she likes it.

In other news of the forbidden, Drifting into Deep Water's love for Willie Nelson came to the fore again this week as his X-Mas Cd, Hill Country Christmas, finally arrived. It's not as great as Dylan's but it's Willie so we'll listen to it all month anyway. That's obviously not the forbidden part though. We were just about to go get out X-Mas tree when the news of his arrest appeared on my phone. It seems like they would just leave him alone about this. If they aren't going to legalize it, they could still turn a blind eye to Willie. Maybe this will lead to a reworking of "Me & Paul"

Nearly busted in El Paso
For reasons that I'd rather not discuss
But when you're cruisin' through the border patrol there and stop
Don't leave no 6 ounces on your bus

If not, you can at least enjoy the original version here: