The Maxx's Cardboard Box

Other Stuff You Might Enjoy

If you like The Maxx, you might like the following movies, TV shows, books, other comics, etc. If you notice Maxxlike qualities in anything you've enjoyed, please let me know at flint@kiva.net, and I'll add your favorites to the list.)

Movies

The Frighteners
Stars Michael J. Fox and is directed by Robert Zemeckis, but Back to the Future it is not. A guy who used to be an architect has been living in pain and misery since his wife died. He's also been able to see ghosts since then, so he's been making a marginal living as a psychic investigator with a couple of ghosts as accomplices. A lot of people in town have been dying mysteriously of heart failure, and guess who's the only person who knows that they're actually being killed by a serial murderer who's already dead? As soon as he finds out, the deaths begin to center around our hero, and a really bizarre FBI agent thinks he's causing them. Everybody's seriously damaged in this movie, both good guys and bad guys, and the suspense just keeps coming. The special effects are incredible, and the writing is very, very tight. Look for John Astin ("Gomez" from the original "Addams Family" TV show) as the Judge.
(contributed by Tom Lee)
Taxi Driver
(contributed by Sascha Schnitzler [Sascha@gc-system.de])
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Jewel (JJCNJ@aol.com) says, "Definitely as complex as The Maxx, if not more at times."
Pink Floyd: The Wall
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says, "The last half of The Wall takes place in Pink's mind/Outback. Check out the trial sequence in the movie."
The Neverending Story
Greg Tannahill (firefly@effect.net.au) says: "Another kind of Outback. The sequels are a load of crap, and even the first one's a bit dodgy in places, but still..."
(See also my comments about the book, below)
Labyrinth
Greg Tannahill (firefly@effect.net.au) says: "Another spiritual journey through strange worlds filled with weirdos. Brian Froud's goblins make the movie worthwhile (although I have been told by female friends that David Bowie in tight pants was another attraction).
The Breakfast Club
Greg Tannahill (firefly@effect.net.au) says: "The Breakfast Club is another great movie, sticking with the psychological theme and the trials of youth.
The City of Lost Children
A noble but simple man and a brave girl in a dark, Gothic city try to discover why children are disappearing, including the man's adopted little brother. But there's more: An Oliver Twist-like band of street-orphan pickpockets, run by a greedy pair of Siamese twin women. A brain kept alive in a cabinet. Mind control with fleas and a hurdy-gurdy. Six identical clones. A crazed amnesiac living at the bottom of the harbor. A cult of men who exchange one eye for a camera. Some really strange-looking actors. It's French, but it's subtitled.
Evil Dead trilogy (Individual film titles: The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness)
EVILASHxx@aol.com says: "A great blend of humor and horror. Directed and written by Sam Raimi (Darkman), and stars Bruce Campbell as ASH (chainsawed armed sawed off shotgun zombie killer)."
A Clockwork Orange
Dan Jackson (WEIRMAN23@yahoo.com) says: "Some people have mentioned that Sam Kieth seem to have been a bit inspired by this film. In fact, a little song called 'I wanna marry a lighthouse keeper' from Clockwork was featured twice in 'THE MAXX' cartoon. A VERY bizarre and psychologically freaky film, and depending on who you are, a tad offensive. It's about an 'ultraviolence' lovin', woman-raping, Beethoven-worshipping gang member and how 'the new government' tries to cure him of his antisocial tendencies. The narration in this movie is also very similar to 'THE MAXX.' You gotta check this one out!"
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says: "An art film about evil in both the people and the government."
12 Monkeys
Shawn Christenson says: "I think that people that enjoy the Maxx, would also enjoy Twelve Monkeys. It is an amazing movie that is very complex. Just as enthralling as The Maxx, it is a movie that deals with time travel, and also the human mind. Definiteley worth checking out."
Brazil
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says: "A (art) film about an evil government."
"Tin Man" (imsuch@hotmail.com) adds: "Or any movie by Terry Guilliam (kooky guy) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas rocked!"

Television Series

"Twin Peaks"
Jewel (JJCNJ@aol.com) says, "Definitely as complex as The Maxx, if not more at times." John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says, "I think about half of it took place in Pangea."
"Babylon 5"
Greg Tannahill (firefly@effect.net.au) says: "The plot's every bit as complex, and there are plenty of weird dream sequences. It's not as psychological, but it's plenty good."
"The Twilight Zone"
Suggested by Aaron M Jones (amjones@juno.com)
"Sam & Max"
Aaron M Jones (amjones@juno.com) says: "could be comics, too"
"Teletubbies"
Suggested by Aaron M Jones (amjones@juno.com) says: "Think of an outback of someone who grew up with THAT"
"The X Files"
Suggested by Aaron M Jones (amjones@juno.com)
"American Gothic"
EVILASHxx@aol.com says: "The show was on CBS, but is now on The Sci-Fi Channel. (Check it out, very weird maybe even more weird than 'Twin Peaks.')"

Music

Various music by Genesis
About The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says, "If the main character, Rael, isn't wandering through his Outback, I have no idea what's happening in this." He also mentions "Supper's Ready," by Genesis (on Foxtrot and Seconds Out: "More Outback wandering." "Another Genesis song, 'Squonk,' from A Trick of the Tail, describes a character straight out of Sara's Outback. A fat, ugly creature that cries constantly because of its looks. It's easy prey for hunters, who just follow the teary trail. When captured, it may dissolve into a puddle."
Basically anything by YES
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says, "Lots of Pangean imagery and artwork." I have to agree.
Basically anything by Pink Floyd
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says, "Probably Sara's favorite band, the last half of The Wall takes place in Pink's mind/Outback. Check out the trial sequence in the movie." He also suggests Dark Side of the Moon and Meddle. "The track 'One of These Days' features the line, 'One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces.' Norbert to Iago?"
The early works of Tangerine dream
Suggested by John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net)
The Tea Party
Shawn Christenson says: "Their music includes world, and electronic, with amazing lyrics, and awesome sounds. Very hypnotic, and to see them live almost makes you delve right into your own outback."
They Might Be Giants
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says: "Modern Music for People who like to think."
"Tin Man" (imsuch@hotmail.com) adds: "Going along with TMBG, Frank Zappa, or POTU.S.A." (That's the Presidents of the United States of America)
Andy Summers and Robert Fripp: "I Advance Masked", "Bewitched"
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
Andy Summers: "The Golden Wire"
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
Peter Gabriel: Soundtrack from "Birdy"
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)

Books

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass And What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll.
Greg Tannahill (firefly@effect.net.au) says: "The ultimate Outback! Large monsters with strange names! Weird spirit guardians who take the form of animals! Rabbits! Strange beings spouting twisted logic! Sadistic killers with a fixation on decapitation! Shrinking! Growing! Oh, it's all too good to be true...."
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. (Individual book titles: The Lion, the Witch And the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse And His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle)
Greg Tannahill (firefly@effect.net.au) says: "I was quite sad to discover later in life that these were actually a religious metaphor (which explained the bizarre final book), but they're still a classic."
The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende.
The movie can't hold a candle to this amazing book. If you read it, try to get the edition printed in red and green ink: things that take place in the real world are printed in one color and things in Fantastica are in the other -- and the way this is treated in the story makes you wonder whether you didn't just feel the book move in your hands. A boy brings life back to a dying fantasy world, and the fantasy world teaches him how to bring life back to this world. This book is alive.
The poetry of T. S. Eliot, especially "The Waste Land" and "4 Quartets"
John Kelley (jkelley@zoomnet.net) says: "[It] has a quality that is dreamy and at the same time gritty, and is thus very Kiethian."
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut, especially Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
The Last Unicorn, A Fine And Private Place and The Folk of the Air, by Peter S. Beagle
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
The Way the Mind Works, by Steven Pinker
Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com) says: "A little stiff, but worthwhile"
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
Glory Road, by Robert Heinlein
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com) says: "MUCH better than the film"

Other Comics

Mage
Suggested by Yoda979306@aol.com
Groo the Wanderer
Suggested by Yoda979306@aol.com

Art

Frank Frazetta
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
Boris Vallejo
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
Salvador Dali
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)
Max Ernst
Suggested by Dave Maurer (dpmaurer@sqc.com)

Page maintained by Tom Lee (flint@kiva.net).

Go to Maxx main menu
Go to Tom's home page