Great end to a great movie!
Friday, December 28, 2012
The Black Hole
One of the last movie overtures made. This along with the iconic main title piece, readied you for an adventure. The main title theme starts at 2:39. Close your eyes and listen, as the accompanying video is unfortunate at best....
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Johnny Cipher in Dimension Zero
I don't remember this one either. This series is supposed to be one of the worst ever, but it looks good to me....
Bailey's Comets
I don't remember this one, but since this comes from Depatie Freleng of Pink Panther fame, I would give it a try.
Hoppity Hooper
Another cartoon from the same warped minds that brought us Rocky and Bullwinkle, Fractured Fairy Tales, etc.
Waterloo (1970)
Why this has not been restored and offered on some type of Special Edition DVD or Blu Ray is beyond me. This is a great movie. Rod Steiger should have won an oscar for this....
Star Trek The Motion Picture
Watched this last night. It looks better than ever. Although some of the later movies were better, say Wrath of Khan, this one still holds up well.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Politically Correct Do-Gooders: Stay the F@#& Away From My Cartoons
When I was growing up I seriously loved my cartoons – Bugs, Daffy, Tweetie, Tom & Jerry, Woody, Popeye, and the Roadrunner. Little did I realize, that great stuff was from the 1940’s and 50’s but who really cared, it was on Saturday mornings and I didn’t go out until they were done airing at around noon. My brother and I would pour ourselves a big ol’ bowl of Frosted Flakes (which were known as ‘Sugar’ Frosted Flakes back then), turn on one of three network channels and laugh like a couple of giddy little bastids until our mom made us go outside and play. I know I’m dating myself like a son of a bitch, but does anybody remember Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, Sherman and Mr. Peabody? Now THAT was entertainment – before computers, the internet, video games, or cable and satellite television – and most importantly, long before political correctness.
In any of these animated classics, you could guarantee that sometime within the next five minutes, some person or talking animal was going to completely get his ass handed to him. Anvils fell from the sky, trains thundered through living rooms, dynamite blew shit up, dudes fell from twenty story buildings and walked away, and shotgun blasts to the face caused heavy gunpowder burns that washed right off. Popeye and Bluto unmercifully beat the snot out of one another, the Coyote was maimed on a regular basis, and instead of that delicious mouse dinner he dreamed of, Tom the cat was sure to receive a sledgehammer to the back of his feline skull. And, if you remember, many a cartoon character smoked a big, fat cigar. (Did I forget to mention there was a fat stuttering pig?)Afterwards, we’d go out and play football or street hockey, tag, hide and go seek, and we only came in for lunch and dinner. We rode our bikes with no helmets what seemed like miles away to another kid’s house, there were no cell phones to call our moms, and the thought of a child predator lurking about was the absolute furthest thing from a parent’s mind.
Damn, those are great memories and I really dug my early childhood. And you know what? Those cartoons subjected me to more brutality and physical violence than most Sopranos episodes (although I do admit it would have been pretty sweet to see Yosemite Sam receive a good old fashioned, Jersey-style shine-boxing.) But I can say with total honesty that watching these toons never made me think about hurting other children, or causing vile mischief. I never wanted to stick explosives in someone’s pants, run them over with a bus, or bash their head in with a wooden club. (And I haven’t even mentioned the Three Stooges.) And yet, I grew up to be a responsible adult, with a wife, two great kids, and a nice home.
This just in from the true and incredibly disturbing department… there is a group in England that is responsible for censoring all the cartoon classics, removing all violent scenes and any characters who smoke, gamble, or drink alcohol. Absurd you say? Rumor has it that there is a kid’s consumer watchdog group lobbying to do the same here in America. (Me thinks “kid’s consumer watchdog group” is just another term for “uptight, politically correct assholes.”)Here’s what is simply amazing, my friends – when I was a young child there were no politically correct do-gooders saving me from myself, but yet I turned out all right. There was no one rating kids shows to make sure that there’s one white kid, one black, one Asian, and one Hispanic in every episode. And cartoons weren’t on from morning ‘til night with
their own dedicated channels – completely desensitizing today’s kids into thinking that Sponge Bob Ass-Pants, That’s So Fatso Raven and all the other P.C. Disney and Nickelodeon dreck is the only type of programming that exists.Let me say it one more time, people – I turned out all right. Thank you mom and dad for raising me correctly – but with all the violent programming and un-supervision – I turned out just fine. (I know some of you may be debating that very thought, but I like to amuse myself, so just keep it to yourself, thanks.)
Okay, so maybe I have a few vices, smoke a cigar (or ten), yeah, I admit it – but I’m a good husband, great dad, and loving son, and the cartoons of my youth didn’t see me strapping myself to an Acme rocket, or turning me into some shotgun toting, mallet wielding, dynamite igniting Looney Tune. There comes a time in your childhood when you realize what’s real and what’s not, and I didn’t need some politically correct ass-wipe to play God, determining what was good for me and what wasn’t. Even as we speak there’s a group of these hypochondriacs putting together a 250 million-dollar class action suit against Warner Brothers for exposing them to a lifetime of second-hand cartoon smoke.
Dag nabbit… where’s one of them goddamned screwy anvils when you really need one?
That’s All Folks,
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Restored 'Lawrence of Arabia' released for 50th anniversary!!!
Earlier this month, Peter O'Toole, who turns 80 in August, announced he's retiring.
Now, one of his most famous works, Lawrence of Arabia, returns to the big screen 50 years after its 1962 premiere in a special, digitally-restored version of the Director's Cut.
The restored film was shown at the Cannes film festival in May. On Thursday, a U.S. premiere is planned in Los Angeles at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (O'Toole won't be there and Omar Sharif sent a taped message from Paris).
Lawrence of Arabia will make its theatrical debut Oct. 4. It will be available in a Blu-ray collectible box set starting Nov. 13 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. And it will be featured for one night only on Turner Classic Movies, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.
I was lucky enough to see this on a really big screen, the Indian Hills theatre, a former Cinerama screen, on it's 30 Anniversary. You can bet I will do my best to see it on the big screen again this October!
Now, one of his most famous works, Lawrence of Arabia, returns to the big screen 50 years after its 1962 premiere in a special, digitally-restored version of the Director's Cut.
The restored film was shown at the Cannes film festival in May. On Thursday, a U.S. premiere is planned in Los Angeles at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (O'Toole won't be there and Omar Sharif sent a taped message from Paris).
Lawrence of Arabia will make its theatrical debut Oct. 4. It will be available in a Blu-ray collectible box set starting Nov. 13 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. And it will be featured for one night only on Turner Classic Movies, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.
Coming soon to the Jordan Creek theatres (and possibly to a theatre near you!)
Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich
Finally! Coming our way on Blu Ray and DVD Sept. 25th! Another great Cinerama (Cinemiracle) production.
This is Cinerama!
Coming Sept. 25th to Blu Ray and DVD in a 60th Anniversary Edition! I was born ten years after this came to theatres so I never saw it on the big screen, or anything other than a few clips here and there. Looking forward to seeing it on my basenent wall with my Bose surround...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Three Comrades
Great movie! This movie will stick with me a long time. It has also inspired me to read the book it was based upon.
There is one particular scene of mayhem in the snow juxtaposed with Handel's Messiah from the nearby church....
Fortunately, this move is available from the Warner Archive Collection.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Bookworm
You should follow the blog Bookworm. They talk about some great books that are out there! So go check it out! http://happydaze-mml.blogspot.com/
Hmmmm, I wonder who the blogger is......The World may never know....
Hmmmm, I wonder who the blogger is......The World may never know....
Harry Black and the Tiger
New DVD available from Amazon UK! It is in widescreen, befitting a Cinemacope movie. As the picture below shows, it is from The Best of British Collection. I've always liked Stewart Granger. Remember Bhowani Junction?
It Always Rains on Sunday
Another Film Noir from the UK. Yes, it is on my wish list from Amazon UK....LOL.
Hunted (1952)
Here's a movie I'd like to see. Just watch this little clip and judge for yourself. I seem to be on a Brit movie kick right now. In addition, I just started reading the Magazine "Empire" and have a wishlist on Amazon UK.
The last two editions of Empire have been excellent. This month was largely about the upcoming Dark Night Rises, and last month was all about James Bond's 50th Anniversary.
Last Night's Movies...
The Man in the Iron Mask, with Richard Chamberlain. He made this as well as The Count of Monte Christo. He did a good job with both roles. Both of the aforementioned movies will be on TCM this Monday and Tuesday, but with Louis Heyward and Robert Donat in the starring roles. Looking forward to seeing both!
Santa Fe Trail, with Erroll Flynn, Ronald Reagan, and Olivia De Havilland. Great little movie! Directed by the great Michael Curtiz. Unfortunately, this movie fell into the public domain years ago. As a result, it has not seen any restoration that I know of and you can tell. I see that it is being released later this summer on Blu Ray, but I'm not getting my hopes up that any real restoration was done.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Dressed to Kill...
Watched this the other night. Good little movie. Basil Rathbone is the only Sherlock Holmes worth watching....
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Top O' The Morning-1949
If you get a chance to see this movie, don't miss it. How can it miss? Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald...
Thursday, March 29, 2012
SPARTACUS (6CDS DVD BOOK) -- SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT
SPARTACUS (6CDS DVD BOOK) -- SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT
Without a doubt the most ambitious soundtrack tribute ever attempted....
Without a doubt the most ambitious soundtrack tribute ever attempted....
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Coming Soon to DVD-Underdog The Complete Series
Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, and the supporting cartoons such as The World of Commander McBragg, were some of my favorites as a kid (and still like them now),
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Decision Before Dawn
Caught this on TCM recently. Very good movie. Never once thought I was "watching a movie". It seemed like I was watching real events unfold.
It was filmed on location in Germany, and the war, just being a few years before, brought a level of gritty realism to the black and white photography.
It was filmed on location in Germany, and the war, just being a few years before, brought a level of gritty realism to the black and white photography.
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