To give attention to lesser-known but worthwhile streaming services this month, we’re turning our attention to a reputation that may mean rather a lot to a certain style of Gen Xer: Night Flight Plus. For those too young to remember (or too old to care), “Night Flight” headlined the American cable network’s late night programming from its debut in 1981 until it led to 1988, and ran for 4 up to six hours on weekend evenings. It was primarily a spot where music videos were shot, especially within the early years when the still nascent MTV had not yet cornered that market. “Night Flight” featured a greater variety of acts and pioneered most of the later staples of MTV programming – movie countdowns, artist profiles, and the like.
But there never was a series Just video magazine, and as MTV became a brand in itself, “Night Flight” proudly proclaimed itself “more than just music television.” In reality, it was more like a digital entertainment program, combining music video packages with an assortment of alternative programming: cult and camp movies, broadcast of their entirety; short movies by emerging experimental filmmakers; offbeat cartoons, each latest and vintage; segments featuring hot latest stand-up comedians and sketch artists; and quirky throwback TV episodes. Each episode of “Night Flight” is a crazy and unpredictable ride, where the one inclusion criterion is chill.
Night Flight Plus broadcasts chosen ones original episodesand if that was all it offered, it might still be value $5.99 a month. However, Night Flight Plus expanded on the spirit and mission of the unique anything-goes series, offering not only those episodes but in addition the crazy side shows that filled its margins; these shows and movies are actually available on the touch of a button relatively than online.
So you may select from a wide selection music documents AND concert performances, soft play AND favorite retro horror movies, operational photos AND forgotten television. There are sidebars of movies by such fringe artists Darius Argento, Lucio Fulci, Andy Milligan AND Penelope Spheeris. And several boutique home brands including Arrow video, Blue Underground, Grindhouse Edition, Something strange AND Vinegar syndromemade their hottest titles available to subscribers.
That’s all six bucks a month, which makes Night Flight Plus one of the best overall value amongst subscription streamers — a minimum of for a certain sort of pop culture-obsessed weirdo. (You know who you’re). Here are some recommendations:
Night Flight: Full Episode (14/07/84): : If you are an ’80s survivor in search of a full-scale nostalgia overdose, skip straight to the choice “Episodes “as aired” with commercials”, that is, as promised, full and original two- and three-hour programs, which will even include vintage advertising spots (and their characteristic, sonorous melodies). They’re all delightful, but this one is my favorite and the quintessence of the “every part however the kitchen sink” approach. Featuring a wide selection of at-times captivating music videos, including “Magic” by Cars, “Breakin’… There’s No Stopping Us” by Ollie & Jerry, and “Lucky Star” by Madonna (“one among the most well liked rising stars”); an episode of Radio 1990 ” starring David Lee Roth and Van Halen; a featurette on this summer’s goofy jungle adventure movie “Sheena”; and an installment of the 1950s sci-fi adventure series “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.” Add add in these ads that feature both of Michael Jackson’s 1984 Pepsi spots and you’ll feel like you’re in a time machine.
TV Party: “A Extremely Insufferable Show”: : If your tastes lean towards much more eclectic dimensions, Night Flight Plus offers a handful of vintage pieces television programs available to the general public – a very powerful of themGlenn O’Brien TV Party, a stunningly low-fidelity video shot of the downtown New York art and punk scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The show was hosted by writer and scene chronicler O’Brien and Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, and directed by the creator of No Wave ” Amos Poe. Hip-hop godfather Fab 5 Freddy was a frequent guest and occasional cameraman, and guests also included Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Byrne and Deborah Harry. You can watch excellent documentary from 2005 in the series – or you can go straight to this typical episode where the energetic music and devilish atmosphere of the cocktail are not disturbed even by unyielding technical problems.
“Identikit“: : Sewerin’s films belongs to distributors with collections on this site, and the attraction may be the 1974 Elizabeth Taylor vehicle (originally released in the United States as “The Driver’s Seat”). Directed and co-written by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, much of the film’s fascination stems from the incongruity of one of America’s biggest stars in such an aggressively alienating example of 1970s Italian psychological drama. The entire enterprise has a feverish intensity, including the jagged narrative structure, demented supporting players, an inexplicable Andy Warhol cameo and (especially) Taylor’s performance, which starts at 10 and goes up.
“Rose’s funeral parade“: Toshio Matsumoto’s 1969 Japanese drama part Cult Favorites Collection., is both wildly ahead of its time and uncompromisingly old-fashioned, deftly combining LGBTQ representation and Douglas Sirk-style melodrama. This covers trans women (and the men who love them) both through episodic vignettes and direct-to-camera interviews. To tell his stories, Matsumoto uses Godardian editing and on-screen text, stark visuals, self-referential touches, and frank sexuality. Moving from broadly comic to deeply disturbing to quietly poignant, the drama is as resonant now as ever.
“Heavy metal parking zone“: : Just like the original show, Night Flight Plus loves to empower you short videos, and this 1986 favorite is a lovely intersection of their main interests (music, cult films, and ’80s nostalgia). Directors John Heyn and Jeff Krulik went to a Judas Priest concert in suburban Maryland to interview fans riding backwards in the parking lot, and in less than 17 minutes they managed to capture both the goofiness of the hair metal scene and the real sense of belonging it gave to outsiders in the scene AND in the group.
