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Champagne and Bullets – the greatest vanity project ever?

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In the early 1990’s, middle-aged John De Hart was convinced that he possessed all the qualities needed to become a Hollywood leading man. According to him, not only did he have the physique of an Adonis, but could recite Shakespeare as well as sing and dance on par with any West End or Broadway performer. To round out the entire package, De Hart believed he was a comedian of the highest calibre, trend-setting fashion icon and a sex symbol second to none.

The only way John De Hart could harness all his powers and announce himself to the world was to produce, direct and star in his own movie. If this wasn’t enough, he sang all the musical numbers throughout the film and I believe wrote every song.

When none of the major distributors picked up ‘Champagne and Bullets’, De Hart went back to the drawing board and made a few changes. As far as I can tell, some of the sound editing was improved and the gratuitous sex scenes shortened (a little). In a major shift, the opening credits were swapped around with different music and footage. De Hart’s songs, including the entire ‘Shimmy Slide’ performance survived the cut as did his jokes.

This resulted in the film’s re-release under the title ‘Road to Revenge’.

De Hart was passed over again, but came back stronger with a new-look version of his masterpiece. I’m not sure what changes were made third time around, only that the film was now called ‘GetEven’ – one word.

Sadly, ‘Champagne and Bullets’/’Road to Revenge’/’GetEven’ was the only film John De Hart ever made.

You only need to digest a handful of scenes from this movie to understand the dangers of pursuing a vanity project of this size. John De Hart could not act, nor could he sing and dance. He was a fifty year old man with zero sex appeal and a wooden personality. Yet because De Hart was writing the cheques and calling the shots, chances are no one informed the boss of his shortcomings during the film’s production.

Almost thirty years on, ‘Champagne and Bullets’ (or whatever you wish to call it) is still regarded as one of the worst movies ever made. To comprehend just how bad it is, there was a recent review by Jason Brant on his awesome YouTube channel which is worth checking out. Hit the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvQo_AeW3gk

All cover images courtesy of Monarch Productions.

Knights Of The Old Republic – A gaming classic!

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I bought this on Steam a couple of weeks ago, when it was on special for $5.

I remember playing it on X-Box many years ago, and how blown away I was with the size and detail of the game.

The story begins when your Republic Cruiser was attacked and you crash land on the planet Taris in an escape pod.

Your first mission is to locate a Jedi from your ship who is somewhere in the city, with many other side quests available to explore.

So far, a couple of hours in, my verdict on the game is very positive.

Yes, the graphics have aged, but the solid story line and sheer size and depth more than make up for this.

It was a shame the reboot was cancelled, but for now all we have is the original and it’s still hot!

I might post some further updates with screenshots as I progress through the game.

Did the author drop a clue?

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Most people would have seen, or at least know of the Roman Polanski film ‘Rosemary’s Baby’.

The novel was written by Ira Levin and published in 1967.

Did you know that Australia is mentioned on more than one occasion in the book as a location for witchcraft and devil worshipping? In fact, the specific town named is Cessnock, NSW.

I have copied the exerpts below.

“…and the Castevets in 7A, heard (“Roman! Where’s Terry?”) but unseen, were either recluses or comers-and-goers-at-odd-hours. Their door was opposite the elevator, their doormat supremely readable. They got air mail letters from a surprising variety of places: Hawick, Scotland; Langeac, France; Vitória, Brazil; Cessnock, Australia.“

“Do you come from Australia?” Rosemary asked, when the carpet had been blotted, the tray safely kitchened, and the Castevets seated in straight-backed chairs.

“Oh no,” Mr. Castevet said, “I’m from right here in New York City. I’ve been there though. I’ve been everywhere. Literally.”

“This book was published in 1933,” Rosemary said; “there were covens in Europe—that’s what they’re called, the groups, the congregations; covens—in Europe, in North and South America, in Australia; do you think they’ve all died out in just thirty-three years?

Interesting, don’t you think?