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Oh Man, They Netflixed Me Again! (Netflix 4)

11 Aug

August 11, 2011

Time for another round of “what the heck is Netflix thinking?” This is the game show where we try to find the often incomprehensible links between movie suggestions that Netflix has for me. The prize is usually nothing more than a headache.

Let’s begin.

I certainly enjoyed Terror of Mechagodzilla, and Gojira is a logical suggestion. Problem is, this is “The Original Japanese Masterpiece” and only the recut American version of the film features Raymond Burr as reporter “Steve Martin.” He adds little to the movie but I always get a laugh when someone calls him “Steve Martin.” Halloween is stretching it a bit, but since they both fall, broadly speaking, in the horror genre I can see it. But The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? Other than Godzilla being both bad and ugly, and in later films turning good, I don’t see it. One is a Japanese Kaiju and the other is a Spaghetti Western. One stars a man in a rubber suit and one stars Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name. Hmm. Both are genre pictures, both have famous characters in the lead. That’s it? They may as well have suggested Steamboat Willie with Mickey Mouse.

Gunsmoke because I watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home? Well, Gunsmoke is a western TV series, and Star Trek IV is based on a TV series that was pitched as “Wagon Train to the stars.” See how simple this is? And by “simple” I really mean “silly.”

I can see the link between The Twilight Zone and Back to the Future, but what do those have in common with Cheers? Broadly speaking, Cheers and Twilight Zone are both TV shows, but that would be like suggesting Sex and the City to a fan of Leave it to Beaver (if you could find one.) And Rocky? Rocky is set in Philadelphia, Cheers is set in Boston, both are historic East Coast cities. Why wouldn’t Rocky fans love Cheers? They have so much else in common, right? Right? But Back to the Future and Cheers? Bif Tannen is as dumb as Woody Boyd. Hey, that’s the best I can do.

So what’s the link between The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Them!, Gunsmoke, and The Odd Couple? Before you scream “absolutely nothing,” notice they were all suggested because I enjoyed Dirty Harry. Dirty Harry and Gunsmoke I can see, and Harry himself, Clint Eastwood, had a bit part in the Creature sequel flick, Revenge of the Creature. As for Them, all I can say is that they shoot a lot guns at the ants. But The Odd Couple? The best I can do is that one of their poker buddies is a cop named Murray and Dirty Harry is a cop. And honestly, I’m feeling pretty good that I came up with anything, even something as tiny and meaningless as that.

Eventually I’ll be back with another round of “what the heck is Netflix thinking?” Hopefully by then I’ll have a printable answer for this:

For more Netflix oddness, check out

I’ve Been Netflixed!

They’ve Netflixed Me Again!

The Tepid Zombie: What Am Netflix Thinking?

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Cops and Strippers.

8 Aug

August 8, 2011

I originally slated this for a slot with The Imponderables but read the article and I think you’ll see why I changed my mind.

Before we go any further, I need to get something out of the way. “Biggins Gentleman’s Club.” BWAH HA HA! Lovin’ it! (And props if you remember that Biggin’s was Al Bundy’s favorite magazine.)

But I digress. (And props if you remember that “but I digresss” was my favorite expression in this blog for years.)

It sounds pretty funny on the face of it. A group of strippers sued and won a settlement in a case where the strippers were strip-searched by the police.

Part of the reason they won was the law that said, as a protective measure,  “strip-searches must be conducted by a person of the same sex and that any observer shall be of the same gender as the arrested person.” This despite the fact that women strip almost exclusively for men. (There is also a possibility of a homosexuality bias. What if the strippers worked in a gay bar? Or the observer is gay? Having observers of the same sex seems to go against the purpose of the law in those cases.)

I did a bit of research and the particulars of the case don’t come into play here, only the circumstances of the strip searches. It was a mostly clear-cut case of civil rights. Strange as it may seem simply on the face of it, they were wronged by being forced to submit to a strip search. There is a joke somewhere in here about strippers not giving it away for me but I won’t make it. (Though you can feel free to leave it in the comment section. You may want to base the joke on the cops not giving the strippers any singles first.) It is actually straight-forward once you stop giggling.

The takeaways of this case?
One, that not every Imponderable is as Imponderable as it may seem.
And two, “Biggin’s Gentlemen’s Club.”

BWA-HA-HA!

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