Lost In Your Eyes - theremin version

Happy birthday Debbie Gibson! 

"Lost In Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson (and the song fairies), performed on Lost Volts LV4 theremin.

Who is Shane Van Dyke? [Titanic II Week]

A message to everyone who sailed with me on Titanic II Week, I hope you've had a pleasant voyage. It's been a lot of fun writing these posts. I had hoped to bring you a review of Titanic II along the way but it hasn't been possible - in retrospect, shipping the review copy to me across the Atlantic by sea might have been asking for trouble...

Shane Van Dyke, director and star of Titanic II, comes from a hard-grafting cinematic dynasty: the Van Dykes. His grandfather Dick Van Dyke cut a swathe through Hollywood as cheery Cockney chimney sweep Bert in the classic witchcraft horror Mary Poppins. In his later years he would also become known as Dr. Mark Sloan of the long-running series Diagnosis: Murder. Dick Van Dyke's son Barry and another grandson Carey also worked on Diagnosis: Murder, Shane's aunt Stacy Van Dyke made a guest appearance, and the Happy Families set was completed when Shane himself appeared as medical student Alex Smith.

Shane has worked on other Asylum movies: he appears in Transmorphers: Fall Of Man which he also wrote, and Paranormal Entity which he also directed. I'm pleased to report that according to IMDb his next film Super Shark is in post production - you can never have enough films about sharks. What has the rest of the dynasty been up to? Shane and Carey Van Dyke also co-wrote The Day The Earth Stopped with Darren Dalton. You can look forward to seeing Carey again in Mega Python Vs Gatoroid, alongside Debbie Gibson and Tiffany who, contrary to popular belief, have not been cast in the title roles.

Source: IMDb

Lost In Your Ice [Review: Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus]

Before I watch an Asylum film I always wonder if it will cure my sci-fi gene deficiency and restore my critical faculties for sci-fi. So far it hasn't worked - despite sometimes laughable production values, I have to say they've all had something to redeem themselves, whether it's the performances, the sense of fun, or just the audacity with which they have been made.

Cruelly overlooked at the Oscars, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus is nevertheless another such film, and despite aspects which are undeniably cheap and silly, I have to admit as usual that I enjoyed the ride. The plot concerns two prehistoric beasts frozen in an ice-shelf and released due to global warming and military interference - this is a metaphorical film with a strong eco-message but that's not really the point. What's not to enjoy about a film which features an oil-rig eating octopus, an aeroplane-eating shark (technically a megalodon) and, playing their oceanographer nemesis, singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson?

I am inconsistent. I complained here about the poor depiction of gravity in Armageddon which jumped the shark (although I enjoyed that movie too) but I wasn't troubled in the slightest by this shark jumping out of the sea to eat a plane - my sole complaint was that it only happened once! Far too much of this film was about beautiful Debbie Gibson moping around on beautiful beaches watching beautiful sunsets and there was not enough aeroplane chomping.

There is no cure for me. I am lost in the eyes of a giant octopus and I am doomed to continue loving bad sci-fi. Hit it, Debbie!