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I need such a thing.

Russell's name came up the other day when discussing the many twists and turns of several actors and actresses who, although not A-list superstars, have managed to have regular, ongoing, full-bodied careers with many excellent performances and have miraculously avoided becoming bad jokes (Mickey Rourke, Gary Busy) or burnt-out waste cases (Nick Nolte). We selected Jeff Bridges, Dennis Quaid and Diane Lane at the top of the pile and then decided Russell would be a good addition as well due in no small part to his juvenile career. As most of this was at Disney it's no real suprise that they should devote a line of product to cash in.

That said this cover is truly wacko. Isn't that Joe Flynn from McHALE'S NAVY examining Kurt? Or is he lining up a shot (or perhaps taking a meter reading) through the poor boys skull? And I just love Russell's ecstatic look. But I don't recall Doris Day (?) as a guest star!

Meh. I don't know. My guess is that's probably the most "taste"-ful cover for that movie that anyone could have come up with.

dx23 wrote:

that black guy is about a millisecond away from saying "Hey, aren't you David Hasselhoff?"

Hasselhoff seems to be saying "you're not really thinking of buying this, are you?"

It's a bit hard to see, but this one is bad not so much for the cover design but for the spelling of the actors' names: Stanley Baxter, Joan Crawford (instead of John) and Donald Plesence.

dx23 wrote:

From J.Lo to the Hoff in three movies. What a franchise.

I was walking through a Target today and came across this beauty:

Dr. Milo Aukerman, please report to Pediatrics immediately.

The dog's front paws are resting against air

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:It's a bit hard to see, but this one is bad not so much for the cover design but for the spelling of the actors' names: Stanley Baxter, Joan Crawford (instead of John) and Donald Plesence.

It's even funnier if you know that Stanley Baxter was a hugely popular television comedian. Actually, given his repertoire, I'm sure he could have done a half-decent impersonation of Stanley Baker, but I don't think Val Guest gave him a chance.

All else aside, the tagline alone is unforgivable.

The Sony Martini DVD covers really do suck.

Let us all gaze upon what will no longer be the cover after the criterion release.

dx23 wrote:The Sony Martini DVD covers really do suck.

Why do all the actors look as if they've accidentally superglued themselves to each other?

What the hell is a "martini movie"?

Antoine Doinel wrote:What the hell is a "martini movie"?

According to Sony, it is a "hip and iconic movie for the cool film lover."

I have no idea and I doubt very much anyone at Sony with two matching brain cells has either. The whole thing reminds me of a series that AMC had going about a dozen years ago with a '50s/'60s style animation promos and a contest with classic '50s era Capitol albums (think Sinatra, Nat Cole, etc with arrangements by Billy May, Nelson Riddle, Alex Stordahl etc.) newly mastered to CD. Of course the films they programmed were representative of the era (STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET, THE MAN IN THE GREY FLANNEL SUIT, ARTISTS AND MODELS, BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE and the Ross Hunter/Hudson/Day oeuvre) as well as actual Rat Pack films like OCEAN'S 11 and ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS. I don't think any of the films in this series have anything remotely to do with Hollywood's "High Martini" Period.

When I worked over at a bargain bin dvd/cd company that dealt mostly with public domain material, you would be surprised at how well "cocktail/martini" themed crap sold. And not only that, how much of easy sell it was to buyers for WalMart, Costco etc. For some reason if it vaguely smells or reminds a customer of the Rat Pack or Vegas in general, they'll buy it. Jazz and classical music in particular did gangbusters. Finding appropriate movies, as Sony has so perfectly pointed out, is a bit harder to do.

There is NO WAY that Catfight Wrestling is as cool as that cover...

...or indeed what's going through my frankly filthy mind at the moment.

Come to think of it, is that Michael Kitchen in Mobile? Action packed? Has he turned into the new Arnie?

Dr Amicus wrote:There is NO WAY that Catfight Wrestling is as cool as that cover...

Think Criterion should hire that artist to do all their covers...