Does anyone remember the HBO short films from the late 70's early 80's that they showed in between long movies.  I believe they were called HBO Short Takes.  Shorts like "Hardware Wars" and "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind".  I'm trying to find the one where film or video tape comes to life and eats some guy.  Does anyone remember this?  I remember I was real young when I saw it and it scared me to death!  I'd love to find out the name of it or get a copy of it on tape or dvd if anyone has it.

Jay

I dont remember that one, but I remember those ones where a Jason type killer would stalk this woman. I vividly remember one where he was going after her in a public restroom. the shorts always ended before he caught her. 

Does anyone remember the HBO short films from the late 70's early 80's that they showed in between long movies.  I believe they were called HBO Short Takes.  Shorts like "Hardware Wars" and "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind".  I'm trying to find the one where film or video tape comes to life and eats some guy.  Does anyone remember this?  I remember I was real young when I saw it and it scared me to death!  I'd love to find out the name of it or get a copy of it on tape or dvd if anyone has it.

Jay
I THINK I MIGHT HAVE ACCESS TO SOME OF THOSE SHORT TAKES.  I HAD "SILVERBALL vs. VIDEO WARRIOR",  THE DEER GETTING STEPPED ON,  THE SMALL SPACE SHIP THAT WENT TO EARTH AND ANNOYED A SUNBATHER AND THE ONE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR WITH THE TAPE THAT CAME UNDER THE RUG AND ATE SOME GUY WITH AN AFRO.  IF I CAN FIND IT, I WILL COPY IT FOR YOU.

If anyone here wants the opening to Short Takes, It's right here, along with a bunch more old HBO junk:
http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/ (Click on International/United States/HBO)

Does anyone remember the HBO short films from the late 70's early 80's that they showed in between long movies.  I believe they were called HBO Short Takes.  Shorts like "Hardware Wars" and "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind".  I'm trying to find the one where film or video tape comes to life and eats some guy.  Does anyone remember this?  I remember I was real young when I saw it and it scared me to death!  I'd love to find out the name of it or get a copy of it on tape or dvd if anyone has it.

Jay


I remember that one. I also found it kind of distrubing. I'd love to be able to find some of those old mini's. The one I remember most I think was called "Arcade Wars". It started out live action. Space Invaders, like from an old atari home game,  popped out of a TV set and zapped this man to dust. Then all these pinball machine charactors started coming to life. After that, it is all animation. The pinball charactors fight the Space Invaders in a strange version of the old video game "Defender". I'd love to get a copy of that.

Youtube.com has these movies. Does anyone remeber one about a hot?

I too was totally freaked out by that man-eating video tape film as a kid. I'm looking for that one as well as a short film about a mailman who wants to become a tree. For some odd reason they always seemed to play it before they shwed "Flash Gordon."

Well, no sooner had I posted my message than I actually stumbled upon the man-eating videotape film on YouTube. Quite accidentally too! Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Qeee8D2Ro

I remember that one. I also found it kind of distrubing. I'd love to be able to find some of those old mini's. The one I remember most I think was called "Arcade Wars". It started out live action. Space Invaders, like from an old atari home game,  popped out of a TV set and zapped this man to dust. Then all these pinball machine charactors started coming to life. After that, it is all animation. The pinball charactors fight the Space Invaders in a strange version of the old video game "Defender". I'd love to get a copy of that.


-- That pinball film you're thinking of was actually a "Showtime Short" called "Arcade Attack" and is on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNSnsccG0T4

I'd been looking about 25 years for that myself!  ;D ;D ;D

Yes I remember those! My favorite was the one about the parrot that kept shreiking "Anymore!" and driving the people in the house crazy. If I'm not mistaken I think someone was killed because of the bird.

I do remember the "Short Takes" on HBO. I was just talking about the film reel that eats the projectionist last night. I am not sure where you would get that, but I know that "Hardware Wars" has been available at Sci Fi cons. Funny thing I actually heard about that while it was being made a few years before it aired on HBO. I was really shocked when I saw it there. It was the idea of one of my school mates when I was in middle school.  I wonder if he actually make it or if the idea was stolen, for lack of better terminology.
I want to know if any one else remembers "Storm the castle & seize the magic tweezer".  I have no idea what the short was called, I just remember a guy in a jester hat looking a little crazy and saying those words. I must have seen it about a dozen times, but I can't find anyone else who remembers it.

Does anybody remember the one where two guys in spacesuits got lured by a wispy vixen through cavernous hallways until the guys got trapped by being transported into a couple of stasis cells in a big honeycomb?

Found it.  It was a music video.

La Bionda - I Wanna Be Your Lover - Stéréo - 1980
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVxoFjdWTzY

jaymanchu-

  the HBO short take you're looking for in called ''RECORDED LIVE'', and it's on youtube as ''flesh eating film reels''.

Yes, these are all classic retro short takes.  I'm trying to find one called something like "Mig Alley" where the guy steps into the arcade where they install a brand new jet fighter simulator that uses multiple outlets for power and shorts out all the other games.  The game ends up being too realistic and he gets shot up and ejects through the roof.

Does anyone recall an HBO short film regarding astronauts on a spaceship that beam up a little caveboy.  The female astronaut takes kindly to the little boy and decides to return with him to wherever he came from.  Does anyone remember this one???  It's killing me!

Does anyone recall an HBO short film regarding astronauts on a spaceship that beam up a little caveboy.  The female astronaut takes kindly to the little boy and decides to return with him to wherever he came from.  Does anyone remember this one???  It's killing me!


That sounds a bit like Isaac Asimov's The Ugly Little Boy.  The film version of the short story was a 26-minute production from 1977 - which also fits with your recollection.

Does anyone remember the HBO short films from the late 70's early 80's that they showed in between long movies.  I believe they were called HBO Short Takes.  Shorts like "Hardware Wars" and "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind".  I'm trying to find the one where film or video tape comes to life and eats some guy.  Does anyone remember this?  I remember I was real young when I saw it and it scared me to death!  I'd love to find out the name of it or get a copy of it on tape or dvd if anyone has it.

Jay



Jay, I remember that!!!
I remember being scared as well!!! lol

Does anyone remember the HBO short films from the late 70's early 80's that they showed in between long movies.  I believe they were called HBO Short Takes.  Shorts like "Hardware Wars" and "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind".  I'm trying to find the one where film or video tape comes to life and eats some guy.  Does anyone remember this?  I remember I was real young when I saw it and it scared me to death!  I'd love to find out the name of it or get a copy of it on tape or dvd if anyone has it.

Jay


Found it=)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Qeee8D2Ro

Found it=)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Qeee8D2Ro


Flesh-eating film reels for the win!

Am looking for one that starred Ellen Foley and was called "Headshots"

Can anyone find that one, because I am having no luck.

I LOVED Recorded Live!  We watched it many times.  And I loved the HBO freaky short films.  I wish they would bring them back. 

I have been trying to find one called Night of the Living Pancake.  Does anyone have ANYTHING AT ALL about that one?  Even just personal memories?  I can find no reference to it anywhere on the web.

Thanks everyone - great to know there are other Short Take enthusiasts out there!

I managed to catch a few on tape when I was a kid, including The Chord Sharp, The Chalice, and Recorded Live ... but my favorite that I'm trying to find more about is the one where the guy had just had his butt whupped in a tennis game, and as he goes to the showers his "buddies" make off with all his clothes except his tie.  Of course the locker room also is suddenly deserted, and he manages to lock himself out wearing only a towel... basically everything keeps going wrong.  Anyone remember that one or know its title?

Recorded Live had always freaked me out as a kid, that's why I've gone digital and ditched all my tapes. I somehow remember seeing something similar  on tv as a young kid late at night back in the 1970's. Something involving tiny metalic marbles from space that gobbled up people and leaving their clothes behind. It was in black and white, and I have no idea what this film was called, but it seemed similar to that short film.

Always loved the Flesh eating film skit...funny disturbing to me as a kid, but loved watching it now.  I'm wondering if anybody can recall a skit (I think it was on Short Takes) that featured a young Bill Murray as a flower salesman who at the end ate flowers?  That one was really funny to me as a kid...of course it might not be the same to me now.  Also, while on the topic of strange out there skits from the 80's, I used to watch the show Pinwheel on Nickolodeon as a kid and I totally remember a stop motion skit where a guy tried numerous times to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but kept making a huge mess!  I wish I could find that video but can't seem to find it anywhere on the web. Somebody please help so I can show my kids!  :D

Hey-
Can anyone tell me if Terry Gilliam short animations use to air on HBO in the late 80's? Was Do Not Adjust Your Set airing during that time? I think I remember watching weird cut out animations on HBO during the late 80's...but I was so young it's all a blur. It could have been another channel or a video tape. Please help - I'm using this information for a dissertation.

Thanks so much!

-Chelsea

Hey-
Can anyone tell me if Terry Gilliam short animations use to air on HBO in the late 80's? Was Do Not Adjust Your Set airing during that time? I think I remember watching weird cut out animations on HBO during the late 80's...but I was so young it's all a blur. It could have been another channel or a video tape. Please help - I'm using this information for a dissertation.

Thanks so much!

-Chelsea
Do Not Adjust Your Set was originally broadcast in the late 60's in the UK.

looking for the short take about big brother 1984.

I remember some of these. I'm also trying to find out information about a short film shown on HBO back in the early 80's about making a suit of armour. It featured an English armourer named Tony Ptolomey. It followed him all through the process, gave a history of armour, and had a short scene of him and his wife at tea time. Does anyone remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1NKoMNy5bY



Cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1NKoMNy5bY



Cat



Thanks Cat, that brought back memories.

I loved these short films as a kid! What a great way to fill time slots in the early days of 24 hour programming.

I'm looking for an animated short that was on HBO that opened with something like this:

"Citizens of Mars, after years of study we can finally conclude: this is the Earthling" and they show us an automobile. The whole short is a Discovery channel style documentary from a Martian perspective, featuring humans (cars), their viruses (humans), the working class (dumptrucks and cranes) and other facts of human life from the Martian point of view. Very funny.

Anyone find that on YouTube?

This is fantastic to find all this chit chat regarding the Short Takes. Some of these I remember and some I do not. I am curious if anyone remembers an animated short where an astronaut or spaceman lands on a small planet and transforms the planet into a large world set in biblical times using some sort of remote control wand. After a series of mis-adventures he is arrested and then crucified where upon he drops the remote wand to the ground and it transforms the world back into a small planet and he is stuck there to die? A bit vague perhaps but I have been trying to find this short for years. Any help would be awesome.

This is fantastic to find all this chit chat regarding the Short Takes. Some of these I remember and some I do not. I am curious if anyone remembers an animated short where an astronaut or spaceman lands on a small planet and transforms the planet into a large world set in biblical times using some sort of remote control wand. After a series of mis-adventures he is arrested and then crucified where upon he drops the remote wand to the ground and it transforms the world back into a small planet and he is stuck there to die? A bit vague perhaps but I have been trying to find this short for years. Any help would be awesome.


That is almost certainly Guido Manuli's Fantabiblical (1977), but I (edit: still) can't find a copy online.  There was a compilation called "Guido Manuli: Animator" released on laserdisc that may have it.  I can't find anything firm on whether or not it was ever released on any other compilations.  It needs to be rediscovered and preserved.

That is almost certainly Guido Manuli's Fantabiblical (1977), but I (edit: still) can't find a copy online.  There was a compilation called "Guido Manuli: Animator" released on laserdisc that may have it.  I can't find anything firm on whether or not it was ever released on any other compilations.  It needs to be rediscovered and preserved.


I am very new to this site so hopefully I do my reply correctly, ha ha. I just viewed one of Guido Manuli's shorts on Youtube and it is definitely the same animation style I remember. YOU ARE THE BOMB :-)  Now the search begins! If I come across anymore info on Fantabiblical I will let you know. Thanks again.

I am very new to this site so hopefully I do my reply correctly, ha ha. I just viewed one of Guido Manuli's shorts on Youtube and it is definitely the same animation style I remember. YOU ARE THE BOMB :-)  Now the search begins! If I come across anymore info on Fantabiblical I will let you know. Thanks again.


I found a copy of "Guido Manuli: Animator" on laserdisc via ebay. The seller had a picture of the track listings and it does include Fantabiblical. I went ahead and purchased it so now all I need to do is get my hands on a laserdisc player and figure out how to get this gem on Youtube for all to enjoy.

I found a copy of "Guido Manuli: Animator" on laserdisc via ebay. The seller had a picture of the track listings and it does include Fantabiblical. I went ahead and purchased it so now all I need to do is get my hands on a laserdisc player and figure out how to get this gem on Youtube for all to enjoy.


Congrats!

That can also be done via eBay.  They weigh about 50 pounds, so expect to pay about $50 for shipping, and another $20-50 for the player itself.  Output will typically be composite or S-Video.  Expect better video output than VHS, but not quite up there with DVD.  If you're in a largish city, Craigslist is your best bet - there are a lot of laserdisc players being sold dirt cheap as long as you're willing to meet the seller and pick it up yourself. 

Laserdisc was an older technololgy, and predates even the (ineffective) Macrovision "copy protection" of the VHS era.  Any old video capture hardware should handle the rest.  NTSC or S-video out, and standard RCA audio jacks.  And even if you don't digitize it, enjoy the animation!

Thank you for the laserdisc info :-)


Congrats!

That can also be done via eBay.  They weigh about 50 pounds, so expect to pay about $50 for shipping, and another $20-50 for the player itself.  Output will typically be composite or S-Video.  Expect better video output than VHS, but not quite up there with DVD.  If you're in a largish city, Craigslist is your best bet - there are a lot of laserdisc players being sold dirt cheap as long as you're willing to meet the seller and pick it up yourself. 

Laserdisc was an older technololgy, and predates even the (ineffective) Macrovision "copy protection" of the VHS era.  Any old video capture hardware should handle the rest.  NTSC or S-video out, and standard RCA audio jacks.  And even if you don't digitize it, enjoy the animation!

I remember this short about a dog whose owner dies, and they play a background music that goes i look around the room everyday, the dog was basically looking at his masters pictures, it was really sad

Great topic that spans the years. I used to love watching the shorts they'd play between movies on HBO. I believe Cinemax even did some. There's one that I've been looking for but have never been able to find. It was a short animated film called "Fragments" and I believe it was French. There is no dialogue, just a lot of eerie ambiance and tolling bells as these animated figures move about a crumbling city. Anyone recall this or have any more information? This short remains the last missing movie from my youth - I've managed to find all the others. :)

Vince

I just found this doing a Google Search and this is killing me. Is it all in my mind? I remember at least three shorts I can't remember titles to and I only have vague bits and pieces of each. The first one had Darth Vader following some guy around, in particular there was a scene on a subway platform. The second, I remember a guy playing some type of airplane flying arcade game and when the game would shoot at him everyone in the background around him was getting shot and killed. The last one might not even be a short. It was a lonely guy who built this sophisticated computer that fell in love with him and got jealous of him when he meant a girl. At the end it turned to Pacman and tried to eat him. That's all I got. Am I crazy?

The first one had Darth Vader following some guy around, in particular there was a scene on a subway platform.


Not sure of this one.  A lot of people seem to be drawing blanks on this one - and have been for several years on several message boards.  Maybe we'll the the first to crack it, and/or find a reference where someone else has solved it.

(00ze regulars - really.  I found half a dozen people asking this dating back to 2007, and no answers.)


The second, I remember a guy playing some type of airplane flying arcade game and when the game would shoot at him everyone in the background around him was getting shot and killed.


Could that be one of the four segments of 1983's Nightmares, entitled Bishop of Battle?  It was more of a maze game, but it was 3D (in an age when most games weren't 3D), and the game broke the fourth wall and started blowing up the real world. 

The last one might not even be a short. It was a lonely guy who built this sophisticated computer that fell in love with him and got jealous of him when he meant a girl. At the end it turned to Pacman and tried to eat him. That's all I got. Am I crazy?


Ek08KvgqFGM

That one I'm pretty sure is Electric Dreams, full-length feature film, 1984.

Thanks for that. Yes, Electric Dreams. That is indeed it. I thought it was a short film but what do I know, I was 7. lol As for Nightmares I don't believe so. It doesn't even look familiar. I'm almost positive what I saw was a short and almost even comedic how everyone who got killed in the background was just sitting at tables eating or drinking and getting shot by fighter plans on the screen. Too bad about the Darth Vader thing. I hate that my memory is so awful. I remember this stuff and never have answers. Thank you for Electric Dreams though.

Oh and Recorded Live scared the crap out of me as a kid.

The second, I remember a guy playing some type of airplane flying arcade game and when the game would shoot at him everyone in the background around him was getting shot and killed.


Hey, are you sure that one wasn't "MiG Alley"? A post from a couple of years ago this thread sounds like it might be your answer.


Yes, these are all classic retro short takes.  I'm trying to find one called something like "Mig Alley" where the guy steps into the arcade where they install a brand new jet fighter simulator that uses multiple outlets for power and shorts out all the other games.  The game ends up being too realistic and he gets shot up and ejects through the roof.


I'm still looking for the video and coming up blank because of too many false positives, but does the title ring a bell?

Omg!  Hopefully you guys can help point me in a direction for a "Short" that I've been searching for, for over 20 years! 

Its about a guy that suddenly appears on a middle divider of a busy street.  He is carrying a suitcase and seems confused.  As he goes about his day, at a certain time we (the viewers) see a flash of lights and darkness, then suddenly we see the same man starting as if its the beginning of the short again.  Only difference is, is that he is aware of it too!  (from here, memory gets foggy....I was a little tot when I saw this!) but the premise throughout the short is the same:  at the exact same time, we see those flashes and its back to the beginning!! 

Of course he is getting increasingly frustrated (starts throwing the suitcase, hitting people, etc).  At the end of the short, he goes up to a friend and (I forget the specifics of the conversation, but I do remember the last line and action said) "It won't stop!  Nothing will stop it!"  then he grabs a gun and shoots himself in the head.  Then its pitch black for a second, then we (the viewers, hehe) see the flash of lights and whatnot and then the "boom" sound like it started again, but this time the credits roll.

For some reason, I want to say that the short was called, "Time Bomb" but I'm not too confident in that.  Does ANYONE know what I'm talking about?  I remember seeing it with my mom, but she doesn't remember it and its driving me bonkers!!!

Thanks in advance!

~Seth

Omg!  Hopefully you guys can help point me in a direction for a "Short" that I've been searching for, for over 20 years! 

Its about a guy that suddenly appears on a middle divider of a busy street.  He is carrying a suitcase and seems confused.  As he goes about his day, at a certain time we (the viewers) see a flash of lights and darkness, then suddenly we see the same man starting as if its the beginning of the short again.  Only difference is, is that he is aware of it too!  (from here, memory gets foggy....I was a little tot when I saw this!) but the premise throughout the short is the same:  at the exact same time, we see those flashes and its back to the beginning!! 


Inspired by a 1973 short story by Richard A. Lupoff, the 1990 film (which aired as part of the Showtime 30-Minute Movie anthology series) also spawned a 1993 full-length movie: 12:01 PM.  The "time bomb" you remember is probably him speaking about the "time bounce".  I'll bet this is what you're after:

1/3:
WUGYwNzez3g

2/3:
VRVvTMSnmj8

3/3: (the ending you describe)
0bxX8Beb8Ec
  - 12:01 pm (1990)

Lupoff wrote two more short stories, 12:02 PM in early 2011, and 12:03 PM in late 2012.  A transcript of an interview with Lupoff about his 12:02 PM sequel (and some information about the orivinal film) is located here.

I'll give this a shot, hoping it bubbles up on the board.

I remember a short (4 or 5 min) where everyone spoke in self-referential terms.  Woman: "Sigh of distress". Man" Expression of sympathy", or somesuch.

The only part I remember for certain is the milkman opening the door, depositing a bottle, and saying "This is my only line".

Title, anyone?