Back in the '80s we got Showtime Shorts, short films shown between feature attractions. There are a few I’d like to see again.
Psychic Parrotis about this parrot, y’see, who’s psychic! ‘Polly predicts… Polly predicts… The world will end on Friday! Midnight Friday!’ Of course being a renowned psychic his prediction was carried live on television. The governments of the world hatched a plan to build a giant rocket to take the cream of human civilisation to safety on the moon. Politicians, scientists, actors, etc. In the meantime we see inside a typical lower-middle-class home, where the guy watched the drama unfold on the television and his wife nags him from the kitchen. The giant rocket is built within the week, and the world watches as it is launched and they follow its progress to the moon. Friday night in Times Square a crowd gathers in a party atmosphere to watch the ball drop…
20 Mile Limit. I’m not entirely sure what was going on with this one. It appeared to be severely underexposed negative (so that the image was mostly white). It took place in a future time where there exists a Forbidden Zone beyond 20 miles from the coast. A small group of people have it in their minds that the 20-mile limit does not indicate a Zone Of Certain Death, but is rather an old and forgotten fishing boundary. They decide they need to explore. I don’t remember how it turned out.
Quasi At The Quackadero. I did find this one.