Lapti Nek!
Just a shorty for tonight, which I’m posting super early because by the time anyone reads this, I’ll be out and hopefully drunk.
This is the official music video for Lapti Nek — that weird song from Return of the Jedi — which actually got some airplay on MTV back in ’83.
Of all the changes Lucas made to the original trilogy, I think modifying the Lapti Nek sequence may have been the most shortsighted. (Well, no, turning the sarlacc into a giant Audrey II was worse, but this came close.)
The original version was just so much better suited to the tone of Jabba’s palace, and it was a way better song, to boot.
This music video is a modified version of the scene from the movie, which used additional shots to make it more self-contained. I love it. The Star Wars soundtracks were my first CDs (really), and I used to listen to Lapti Nek like it was a regular pop song. This gained me no new friends, of course.
Happy Friday!
Beast Wars!
Even after so many years, I’m still completely in love with Beast Wars. It’s IMO the best of all the Transformers shows and movies, superbly written and with so many awesome characters. It helps that the show — which at first seems maybe a tad mundane — manages to work in some truly mind-blowing twists as it rolls forward.
Here’s the first episode, which is good for sure, but doesn’t really hint at just how good the series would become later. I haven’t written nearly enough about Beast Wars over the years, but trust me on this one: You should definitely buy the DVDs and definitely watch the whole series.
More TFTD!
So annoyed. Just spent 20 minutes building tonight’s After Dark post when I realized that the to-be-featured video was in Dutch. Now I have no movie to post, and like ten seconds to find one.
Eh, fuck it, I’ll just give you another Tales from the Darkside episode:
It’s the totem series of Dino Drac After Dark, after all.
Tonight’s episode is called The Circus. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s one of the rare Darkside episodes that fits within the horror genre in a perfectly on-the-nose sort of way. And hell, even if it didn’t, it stars William Hickey, so y’all would love it anyway.
You’ll dig this one. Assuming you dig monsters, I mean.
Filmation’s Ghostbusters!
Though many believe Filmation’s Ghostbusters series to be a ripoff of The Real Ghostbusters, the truth is more complicated. Filmation’s series was actually based on The Ghost Busters, a live action series from the 1970s. In fact, the people behind the 1984 Ghostbusters film had to pull some strings to be able to use the name!
Still, this “other” Ghostbusters cartoon never would’ve existed had the movie not been so popular. It debuted in 1986 (a few days before The Real Ghostbusters, if I’m reading things right), and while I certainly watched it every now and again, all I really remember is a talking gorilla and a way cool lead villain that looked like a cross between Skeletor and Satan.
Here’s the first episode. If you dig it, there are many more on YouTube.
