This Saturday night (Aug 8), Mr. Lobo will host a very special, Cinema Insomnia, birthday event for his endearing cohost, Miss Mittens, with a showing of two of her all-time, vegetated favorites: The Day of the Triffids (1963) and Prisoners of the Lost Universe on Twitch, OSI74/Roku and Amazon Fire, starting at 10pm.
Many consider the original film adaptation of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids to be the best. The movie was directed by Steve Sekely (with some hardy help from Freddy Francis), fortified by Bernard Gordon's character-driven script: a plus for any post-apocalyptic adventure. The cast is great, too, helmed by Howard Keel, Janette Scott, Nicole Maurey, Mervyn Johns and Kieron Moore: a veritable who's who in quality, British cinema.
Prisoners of the Lost Universe is a science-fantasy romp directed by Terry Marcel, who cowrote with Harry Robertson. The plot takes off when a couple is catapulted into another dimension, the world of Vonya, where they face a series of strange encounters that include fierce cavemen, subterranean freaks, a menacing villain named Kleel and above all, amazing, scrubland plant life.
Battlestar Galactica's Richard (Apollo) Hatch (joined by Kay Lenz, John Saxon and Ray Charleson) propels the action, which rolls in the style of an old-time, movie serial.
It should be noted that this episode is Miss Mittens-centric in more ways than one. Beyond the plant-based movies (where her leafy friends are seen), our beloved cohost is left in charge of the proceedings (and through the use of a handy keyboard, makes derisive, pop-up comments throughout), while Mr. Lobo goes off to participate in a Battlestar Galactica playdate. (And to entrench that Galactica element even further, there's a terrific interview with Mr. Hatch that all Galacticans will enjoy.)
Miss Mittens' official birthday was on Aug 4, but Saturday's commemoration seals the official deal. Please tune in to be part of this wondrous, double-feature event. It'll surely be one to remember.
