tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35333138747591814212024-03-05T16:45:27.057-05:00ShadyGradyOnlineShadyGradyOnline: Politics, Film, Books and MusicUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1748125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-48701912532778078312023-03-25T06:00:00.001-04:002023-03-25T06:00:00.205-04:00Music Reviews: Jimmy Donley<span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlUmH48LOaEl7shjHKZlDKHF1SeI21mBq8qjZTWHzETXthMP7xZqlruWmQH49TdgAwUiq-iJIT9E5_ZTuVUEJQlW3JMxOoQFdJDr-SaObuqU0hIaOQTC-6BdS6aUJo01OFaoPovFbNBxOYpqguqYel7e4eUDH4gbqZpee1hM8u_r5YxqCcKcqPuLa/s1080/Jimmy_Donley_Fats_Domino.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlUmH48LOaEl7shjHKZlDKHF1SeI21mBq8qjZTWHzETXthMP7xZqlruWmQH49TdgAwUiq-iJIT9E5_ZTuVUEJQlW3JMxOoQFdJDr-SaObuqU0hIaOQTC-6BdS6aUJo01OFaoPovFbNBxOYpqguqYel7e4eUDH4gbqZpee1hM8u_r5YxqCcKcqPuLa/w400-h400/Jimmy_Donley_Fats_Domino.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Skilled people aren't necessarily nice or moral people. Today many folks like to "cancel" people. Maybe the consumer doesn't like the artist's politics. Maybe the artist is abusive to family members or intimates. The artist might be racist or sexist. The artist might be violent. The artist might just be a low quality human being.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't think the value of a person's art or the level of their skill is determined by their morality. Flowers can grow from crap. We are all different mixes of good and evil. The worst and best of us are still human.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The troubled singer/songwriter Jimmy Donley (1929-1963), who committed suicide in 1963, was a mix of good and evil. The Mississippi born Donley was dishonorably discharged from the Army in the late forties/early fifties because of his racism towards a Black NCO. Think about how racist you had to be to kicked out of the Army in the mid 20th century! Nevertheless Donley later became good friends with Black rock-n-roll icon Fats Domino, occasionally writing for and singing with Domino in integrated bands. </span></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Donley created some tear jerking songs. Unfortunately Donley wrote some of the songs as apologies to his wives (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">he was married six times</span>) all of whom he apparently abused pretty badly. A violent jealous alcoholic, Donley had no problems putting hands on his wives or innocent men who wound up in the hospital because Donley didn't like how they looked at or spoke to his wife.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The prolific Donley never had quality management. Donley sold portions of or entire songs to label owners, promoters, other musicians, ripoff preachers, or so-called "managers". The impecunious Donley was allegedly not above mugging concert goers after shows.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">All the same Donley was one of the greatest early rock-n-roll singer-songwriters.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I really like "Love Bug" and "A Woman Gonna Have Her Way".</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b>A Woman Gonna Have Her Way</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6-aAXvd_xy8" width="500" youtube-src-id="6-aAXvd_xy8"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Love Bug</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gvg-H0xbEOY" width="500" youtube-src-id="Gvg-H0xbEOY"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Think It Over</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xa-TmuRB6tQ" width="500" youtube-src-id="xa-TmuRB6tQ"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Please Mr. Sandman</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1OZBqZI77qc" width="500" youtube-src-id="1OZBqZI77qc"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Just A Game</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O88kXvfri_4" width="500" youtube-src-id="O88kXvfri_4"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-38493389475322976582023-03-04T06:15:00.001-05:002023-03-04T06:15:00.188-05:00Movie Reviews: Theatre Of Blood<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Catamaran; font-size: large;">Theatre of Blood<br />directed by Douglas Hickox</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9yrPQb3n1rqH1Mg1eGSy41RXytlgMQqLZspagv28aXPlDcEoIxPiNHdOloywNKdpn2SPhJ67lFprw23vJRbfXQ_MWwWxc30E5Uf1C7ofzYT4E_A88R6Rg-txFw2qYsLyQLiok5koIlWl9H2UixomjN55_JYKJue2n3YLlJxldUI88O0Ky_BVM44S/s800/Theatre_Of_Blood1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="800" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9yrPQb3n1rqH1Mg1eGSy41RXytlgMQqLZspagv28aXPlDcEoIxPiNHdOloywNKdpn2SPhJ67lFprw23vJRbfXQ_MWwWxc30E5Uf1C7ofzYT4E_A88R6Rg-txFw2qYsLyQLiok5koIlWl9H2UixomjN55_JYKJue2n3YLlJxldUI88O0Ky_BVM44S/w640-h452/Theatre_Of_Blood1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Growing up back in the day I always thought that if one wanted to be an evil overlord one could do worse than model yourself after<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b> Vincent Price</b></span>. Price was one of the most famous practitioners of the now archaic Transatlantic Accent. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;">Price was also an actor who could simultaneously bring a tremendous amount of gravitas to almost any movie he starred in while also, if the role called for it, chewing the scenery with an unmatched manic hammy intensity. Price never made any good movie bad but he made quite a few bad movies good. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;">Many of Price's villains were often insane, inbred, murderous, lustful, scheming, and completely malevolent but they were also almost always polite and possessed of remarkably good manners. Just because Price's character might be preparing to serve you your own kidneys is no reason for him to be uncivil or mean to you. Perish the thought! Price's characters were gentlemen! And so was Price in real life. He was the opposite of villainous.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEJ0BHWd-UoIOFOQNdI3KQUjU7IdO34zTlIBaeoNbCFybMbA3xrKwwHQJdqTxR4NfWMqsTBOpW-PBYabHWykzdMhQ3I9IpaUJcJG3niwy8gkiOniusvSnHdWI_f-Ld2ck_yY-XxrViP6MJhoWblLpPAK2zc1SRYL6d-Id3w4uW3_erM08-q4rKPGt/s1920/Theatre_Of_Blood2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEJ0BHWd-UoIOFOQNdI3KQUjU7IdO34zTlIBaeoNbCFybMbA3xrKwwHQJdqTxR4NfWMqsTBOpW-PBYabHWykzdMhQ3I9IpaUJcJG3niwy8gkiOniusvSnHdWI_f-Ld2ck_yY-XxrViP6MJhoWblLpPAK2zc1SRYL6d-Id3w4uW3_erM08-q4rKPGt/w640-h360/Theatre_Of_Blood2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Price's characters were smooth, cultured, nattily attired, and well spoken with a distinctive projecting bass voice that could be threatening or calming depending upon the role. Younger people might well remember Price's spoken word interval on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oafF7wTZbpE&ab_channel=Officialmichaeljacksonfan" target="_blank">Michael Jackson's Thriller</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;">In <i>Theatre of Blood</i>, Price demonstrated some very good Shakespearean acting within the movie and sent up overly serious theater actors, his own previous films and film persona, and the critical establishment that can make or break actors' careers. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;">Edward Lionheart (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Price</span></b>) is a British stage actor of a certain age who has spent virtually his entire career performing nothing but Shakespeare. Lionheart is annoyed that his efforts have not won him any critical acclaim. But this annoyance turns to rage and sadness when the prestigious Theatre Critics Guild gives the Best Actor Award to a younger actor, who in Lionheart's words (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">paraphrase</span>) could barely grunt his way through a school play.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lwC1cAS2zzZ9B6nyM-hRVxFRc5tiirCVFpD1YepjD7QpH3-9W9ilWvi-hqGhEF8_bv3x8WHSnO3etb7vg_RVeLcjrOqZ3x3kgiE8ZK32LJ-awQStf4d0E1tcR3eJ1mIHZ7h016rgo9XnnqXsTWLZOsi5nrrAJDErvVNPZj6PAnJQt7YO7BeoZdGC/s600/Theatre_Of_Blood3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="600" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lwC1cAS2zzZ9B6nyM-hRVxFRc5tiirCVFpD1YepjD7QpH3-9W9ilWvi-hqGhEF8_bv3x8WHSnO3etb7vg_RVeLcjrOqZ3x3kgiE8ZK32LJ-awQStf4d0E1tcR3eJ1mIHZ7h016rgo9XnnqXsTWLZOsi5nrrAJDErvVNPZj6PAnJQt7YO7BeoZdGC/w640-h358/Theatre_Of_Blood3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Seeking explanation Lionheart confronts the critics at their afterparty but is humiliated further when he discovers that while some critics think he overacts and others feel he doesn't challenge himself, none of them think that he's a good actor. At best they think Lionheart's acting is one step above or below cat vomit. Heartbroken to be so cruelly mocked in front of his devoted daughter Edwina (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Diana Rigg</span></b>), Lionheart jumps off the balcony into the river Thames.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;">Two years later, however it becomes apparent that Lionheart is not dead. His critics have started dying in manners listed in Lionheart's Shakespeare repertory. And if no one actually dies in the play, Lionheart is not above doing a rewrite.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Catamaran; font-size: medium;">Although this 1973 movie is not gruesome by <b>modern</b> standards, it was still explicit for the times. People who don't know Shakespeare could be taken aback by the violence. Price is obviously having a fun time with his character's various disguises and revenges. Lionheart is a man who just can't take it any more. It's<i> </i>a<i> </i>rare movie that can successfully combine horror and black comedy<i>. Theatre of Blood</i> does just that. Check this out.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-65509715645256143442023-03-04T06:00:00.048-05:002023-03-04T06:00:00.193-05:00Movie Reviews: The World The Flesh and The Devil<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">The World The Flesh and The Devil<br />directed by Ranald MacDougall</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Vks1rp1kkpbainxVAEzn6KjcEFV8LrO_7CUxran5pOvWObKQD5N19pdDVIrz3Hc8mA5MHkpdDgmO2g3K3fo7LuFm8XModdH7SilbSu_g0Ukx2_Ufk7q9RHlNBNGnEzcg0iubq-EPY_1wa_j5o_ynWKcH1f8J1objTmjsiCOtCh0t5bzc5F51x9_1/s3500/The_World_Flesh_Devil1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="3500" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Vks1rp1kkpbainxVAEzn6KjcEFV8LrO_7CUxran5pOvWObKQD5N19pdDVIrz3Hc8mA5MHkpdDgmO2g3K3fo7LuFm8XModdH7SilbSu_g0Ukx2_Ufk7q9RHlNBNGnEzcg0iubq-EPY_1wa_j5o_ynWKcH1f8J1objTmjsiCOtCh0t5bzc5F51x9_1/w640-h416/The_World_Flesh_Devil1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This is an apocalyptic movie with statements on society, fear, and race. Superstar actor and icon of cool <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Harry Belafonte </span></b>also produced the movie. As</span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"> this film was made in 1959, what was then likely daring and risk taking may appear less so to modern eyes. Or not. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">There are certain storylines that Hollywood was and is squeamish about investigating, both in 1959 and in 2023. Still, this film was unusual in featuring a reasonably well developed Black character. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span>Extroverted or not we all need </span><b>some</b><span> human contact. </span><span>Ralph Burton (</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Belafonte</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Poppins;">) is a mine inspector in Pennsylvania who is investigating a mine tunnel that has been shut down. After a cave-in Ralph can hear people digging to rescue him but then they stop. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpm5Cm4k9ba3QyiFlO_uGXTIXw_lWsEv9XakHUoZ826g17MoSZRX-WTu6maeM8gq4I_2MDFoSZd-wytXlFHzElD3JBzmBQDCcq4GfuTs5Bw-fm_TlGFolDabkyEE7a0_6MsVdvt-ncYxQga7rwWrYJ-wSbyKU01D2g2O1IzuNfWOmpRVSiH0R6ZbWb/s580/The_World_Flesh_Devil2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="580" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpm5Cm4k9ba3QyiFlO_uGXTIXw_lWsEv9XakHUoZ826g17MoSZRX-WTu6maeM8gq4I_2MDFoSZd-wytXlFHzElD3JBzmBQDCcq4GfuTs5Bw-fm_TlGFolDabkyEE7a0_6MsVdvt-ncYxQga7rwWrYJ-wSbyKU01D2g2O1IzuNfWOmpRVSiH0R6ZbWb/w640-h292/The_World_Flesh_Devil2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Freeing himself, Ralph returns to the surface. Ralph finds some recent newspapers. There was a nuclear accident or military exchange. An atomic dust cloud has killed everyone. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Shocked, Ralph travels to New York City. A resourceful intelligent man, Ralph lives in an apartment building to which he has restored power. Ralph spends his days talking to mannequins, playing the guitar, and trying to reach anyone on short wave radio. Ralph is losing his mind. Ralph thinks he's all alone.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span>But he's not. Ralph becomes aware that Sarah (</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Inger Stevens</span></b><span>) has survived. Sarah's been watching Ralph. After some hesitation Sarah introduces herself. The two survivors begin a halting friendship. There's no one else around. And there's the problem.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Z2PpOOC0QIosyx_S4IapL4Adv-287hXtgT_pLIqy4tpSOwIwhEkJMo2zwmaC5ZPvZIUT8EcqByLCmCficu5En58mGTi6DTRQdOMEtCddRsU4Fd-4ggNpHhH-5WfEGNWLs1A7Y9sqhHiS29U0eQ9C-7forbaYifQCqNWhToSbNfDSqjLtGsyMbXNs/s400/The_World_Flesh_Devil3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="400" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Z2PpOOC0QIosyx_S4IapL4Adv-287hXtgT_pLIqy4tpSOwIwhEkJMo2zwmaC5ZPvZIUT8EcqByLCmCficu5En58mGTi6DTRQdOMEtCddRsU4Fd-4ggNpHhH-5WfEGNWLs1A7Y9sqhHiS29U0eQ9C-7forbaYifQCqNWhToSbNfDSqjLtGsyMbXNs/w640-h432/The_World_Flesh_Devil3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Ralph knows that in the world as it was a woman like Sarah would likely not view him as an appropriate romantic interest. Viewers in 1959 would have been aware that a Black man or boy could be arrested, beaten, imprisoned or lynched merely because a White woman claimed he looked at her. Ralph has internalized certain survival behavior patterns and will not easily let them go.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Sarah is falling in love with Ralph more than Ralph is falling in love with her. At least that's what Ralph says. His true feelings are obvious. However, Sarah is still a woman of her time and is occasionally prone to prejudiced assumptions or gaffes that cut Ralph to the quick. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span>Life becomes more complex when Ralph and Sarah discover another survivor, Ben Thacker (</span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mel Ferrer</span></b><span>). Ben immediately sets his sights on Sarah. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzAlSVFyhW_iY0rH1jOjLrv15FO5b_1i7Kj5uOPQTwwBEeXemX7dY2nWGstf6YvPVPDqqT5RSL37f2JzCi2LE1ii9rhpA9ZkEyEPTZxE-gCILDb89Wxbs8u-gfTR_yV2DPt8XHyo0EE7EFoq-D8CNS3UH2VK-RSjnofwEt3siwvCnaXDEuroUQVfo/s660/The_World_Flesh_Devil4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="660" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzAlSVFyhW_iY0rH1jOjLrv15FO5b_1i7Kj5uOPQTwwBEeXemX7dY2nWGstf6YvPVPDqqT5RSL37f2JzCi2LE1ii9rhpA9ZkEyEPTZxE-gCILDb89Wxbs8u-gfTR_yV2DPt8XHyo0EE7EFoq-D8CNS3UH2VK-RSjnofwEt3siwvCnaXDEuroUQVfo/w640-h388/The_World_Flesh_Devil4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Sarah doesn't dislike Ben (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">well not that much</span>) but has a preference for Ralph. Short of Sarah throwing himself at his feet, which she won't do, Ralph won't openly admit to liking or loving Sarah. And Ben and Ralph, as you might expect, begin to dislike each other.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">I was impressed with the sets, most of which were on location in NYC. The director and cinematographers were able to make NYC look empty, eerie, and deserted. There were realistic looking matte backgrounds and some cool shots that messed with the viewer's perspective. This looks better than CGI.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span>Belafonte is one cool dude who is just as convincing arguing with department store mannequins as with Ferrer and Stevens. I thought that I'd lose interest in a movie with only three actors but that wasn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"> the case. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOUBLJaVKNI" style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-67074988605094814982023-02-25T06:00:00.002-05:002023-02-25T06:00:00.207-05:00Giant Steps Explained<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Nanum Gothic; font-size: medium;">I enjoy listening to John Coltrane's piece "Giant Steps" but as I am not a musician or someone who understands much musical theory my eyes would always glaze over when musically talented people tried to explain to me exactly why the work was challenging. So I ran across this explanation and for a few brief moments I think I barely understood some of the basic concepts being discussed. Or not. Either way I liked this video. I liked learning how math, music, and physics are all linked. And I like John Coltrane's music.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/62tIvfP9A2w" title="The most feared song in jazz, explained" width="650"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-89271015741267440942023-02-18T06:00:00.001-05:002023-02-18T06:00:00.186-05:00Movie Reviews: The First Power<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: large;"><b>The First Power<br />directed by Robert Resnikoff</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeFvBBbDaPjTu7DQgbXsrOEUgrgUUUO4yKMONqfY9CrHJVQSpG4GCYuKaQ9cOWrGhSVY9WsAABUmCadhIydcJXGisjG3ssk6rhirbY7Ncw0qm15cN_gFB_gzmhTkQFNY_CRsyDUwu74LqgpashuNWuyE_1waywFiua7GJs55ZsvVr4FGGrbnRSd1v/s1280/The_First_Power2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeFvBBbDaPjTu7DQgbXsrOEUgrgUUUO4yKMONqfY9CrHJVQSpG4GCYuKaQ9cOWrGhSVY9WsAABUmCadhIydcJXGisjG3ssk6rhirbY7Ncw0qm15cN_gFB_gzmhTkQFNY_CRsyDUwu74LqgpashuNWuyE_1waywFiua7GJs55ZsvVr4FGGrbnRSd1v/w640-h360/The_First_Power2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Hollywood created a number of eighties and nineties movies that shared the theme of a bloodthirsty killer being caught and executed before coming back from the dead, possessing other people, and continuing to murder folks. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">Often the obsessed hero detective who was the person who tracked the murderer down in the first place had some strange link with the supernatural murderer. Now, left grasping at straws, the detective must struggle with reality. Maybe he really did arrest and help convict the wrong man. Maybe the detective is hearing strange things or having nightmares. Maybe the detective's wife or brother suddenly is speaking in languages they don't know.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">Maybe the detective's over the top sexy but profoundly strange new girlfriend knows more than she's telling him. Maybe there's a cult of killers. Maybe the detective himself is the killer. These movies can vary widely in quality. There was <i>Deliver Us From Evil</i>, <i>Shocker</i>, <i>The Horror Show</i>, <i>Virtuosity,</i> and <i>Fallen</i> (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">the last two</span> <span style="color: #2b00fe;">both starred Denzel Washington and were at the higher end of the quality spectrum</span>).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiL714t_JSbhCqAXKslbKOlqbeUvQMUb0f6KbKBelmszSLW1Czi0qJ7oGAwnlJWBAtn06glFKgYMhMiustZY7xWY_W-SxWnCT-MS4hlTuXBlalw-Rkj2Ffsb0_D1rFFhbEJ-XU9qB_1NJRaH2X3OBjgwKmSmouTosIjfjDw9xu-GYbzYXxvF9XNSqb/s1920/The_First_Power1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1920" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiL714t_JSbhCqAXKslbKOlqbeUvQMUb0f6KbKBelmszSLW1Czi0qJ7oGAwnlJWBAtn06glFKgYMhMiustZY7xWY_W-SxWnCT-MS4hlTuXBlalw-Rkj2Ffsb0_D1rFFhbEJ-XU9qB_1NJRaH2X3OBjgwKmSmouTosIjfjDw9xu-GYbzYXxvF9XNSqb/w640-h340/The_First_Power1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />So YMMV vary on this but </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i style="font-family: Comfortaa;">The First Power</i><span style="font-family: Comfortaa;"> was Lou Diamond Phillips' entry into this genre. It was decent enough I guess but lacked chemistry between and among the lead actors.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">In Los Angeles a crazy serial killer Patrick Channing (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jeff Kober</span></b>) is running around murdering people as sacrifices to Satan. He's always at least one step ahead of the cop assigned to his case, Detective Logan (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Phillips</span></b>), something which drives the tightly wound Logan up the proverbial wall. Channing loves to call and taunt Logan.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">When the busty psychic Tess Seaton (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Tracy Griffth)</span></b> anonymously lets Logan and his team know where she thinks Channing will strike next, she also extracts a promise from Logan to urge the DA not to seek the death penalty. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEX2vnlPJ6NBIkW_JFbBVYr-Zbzp-Rorb3tctH1SPTVWDZHySd7P4zGs46seM1MkMORD4bTHguZFmmNsnZi6vdcaRFq4YlnHxmhCR7JT-h9PK1C0TPrMH8vwwg639whqwdJOFaUCIBk1Zn_yEnvAApc8G3EyOh94fy-IvpQj4AwFVMZodRY93oRE78/s341/The_First_Power3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="148" data-original-width="341" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEX2vnlPJ6NBIkW_JFbBVYr-Zbzp-Rorb3tctH1SPTVWDZHySd7P4zGs46seM1MkMORD4bTHguZFmmNsnZi6vdcaRFq4YlnHxmhCR7JT-h9PK1C0TPrMH8vwwg639whqwdJOFaUCIBk1Zn_yEnvAApc8G3EyOh94fy-IvpQj4AwFVMZodRY93oRE78/w640-h278/The_First_Power3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />After capturing Channing and being wounded in the process, Logan doesn't see the point. And the DA isn't bound by promises cops make.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">A surprisingly cheerful Channing is executed in the gas chamber. All's well that ends well. Except that it isn't. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">Logan starts hearing Channing's voice when other people are talking to him. There are taunts on answering machines that only Logan can hear. Logan sometimes sees Channing but of course Channing isn't there.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">Logan's partner, Detective Franklin (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mykelti Williamson</span></b>) and supervisors think Logan is starting to lose it. They don't want to be around a nutcase with a badge and a gun. But when there are more murders, no one knows what to think. Are there copycat killers?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;">Logan intends to track down Seaton and find out what she knows, even if everyone else thinks he's crazy. The bodies are piling up. And Logan thinks he's next. As mentioned, ok movie for what it was but nothing to write home about. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Comfortaa; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwkpaM0qssc" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-51493684909659245552023-02-17T06:15:00.015-05:002023-02-17T06:15:00.182-05:00Racist Ukrainians<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesfyIa0K5eHjYeeiKHWePIrHxGO7KE4MpOl_fzq1aTS0nHsVhY9wv4CDxmhaCOX89X14jrLgmX_YWSzCIKHisNBGZQ1YQMf_3_jJ4Ll9AqwKD1GjDeOpPSIfGuh6B4MXyfsmFs2Wj38br4NcrW-yloYWRw_cKubgr-jYfDVgq-YVlnZ2awGOaqNti/s1000/Racism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1000" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesfyIa0K5eHjYeeiKHWePIrHxGO7KE4MpOl_fzq1aTS0nHsVhY9wv4CDxmhaCOX89X14jrLgmX_YWSzCIKHisNBGZQ1YQMf_3_jJ4Ll9AqwKD1GjDeOpPSIfGuh6B4MXyfsmFs2Wj38br4NcrW-yloYWRw_cKubgr-jYfDVgq-YVlnZ2awGOaqNti/w640-h392/Racism.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I don't eat meat. I never ate pork. I have never liked eggs. Can't stand them. I find eggs' texture, look, and taste disgusting, along with their very concept. Eating chicken ova? Yuck. No thanks. However, if I were starving I wouldn't be so picky.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span>If some Good Samaritan offered me a hot plate of ham sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs, I would graciously accept the food. I wouldn't throw it back at the Good Samaritan as if the food were raw sewage. It wouldn't be my preference but it would keep me alive. That's important.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span><span>One would think that Ukrainian refugees, running for their collective lives from their war torn country, would be happy to be allowed into another nation to live. One would think they'd be wise enough to keep minor complaints to themselves. One would be wrong. Apparently some Ukrainians really hate Black people and Asian people--and aren't shy about making this known.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JRq0zKZ7jU4" title="How Ukrainian refugees are handling cultural integration in ethnically diverse areas of the UK" width="700"></iframe></p><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Sorry but there is a very simple fix to this issue which would satisfy everyone. <b><span style="color: red;">Don't let any Ukrainians into the UK!</span></b> Send the Ukrainians back to Ukraine or some other monoracial Caucasian nation where they won't have to worry about THOSE FOLKS breathing up all the white people's air.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I wouldn't waste my time and resources educating people who are apparently so racist that even during a war they find it critically important to express and uphold racist beliefs to all and sundry.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I used to think that education would soften or reduce racism. I no longer think that. People are who they are. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-91898977711925789072023-02-17T06:00:00.001-05:002023-02-17T06:00:00.181-05:00Flaco The Owl<p><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMCByS2Nlgj8VzwVASG4LURp8cWdahVSgcKnmUwb5FnKLb-sb-TY5BbuxOoZVbxDhePQkfMKFjwHhmP32bmHeCs4xwOFmHcPRQW0k0NUrmihPdpQwSZqqi05Nw1FQMpgoPdGGxSVBaR1nuqCdXfZEAY7g1-t5j-x76vU1cOspI5jUvW0WAtyblVRP/s2500/Flaco_The_Owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1666" data-original-width="2500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMCByS2Nlgj8VzwVASG4LURp8cWdahVSgcKnmUwb5FnKLb-sb-TY5BbuxOoZVbxDhePQkfMKFjwHhmP32bmHeCs4xwOFmHcPRQW0k0NUrmihPdpQwSZqqi05Nw1FQMpgoPdGGxSVBaR1nuqCdXfZEAY7g1-t5j-x76vU1cOspI5jUvW0WAtyblVRP/w640-h426/Flaco_The_Owl.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br />As more and more animal habitats are destroyed or compromised by human presence or activity there may be an increased need for zoos, sanctuaries, or wildlife parks/reserves where animals can be allowed to thrive. Of course sometimes animals escape captivity and do just fine, showing perhaps they never should have been in captivity in the first place. One Flaco the Owl made a recent jailbreak--flew the coop so to speak--and has so far avoided the nets and traps put out for him.</span><div><span style="color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: courier;"><i>Halley Barton was at a dinner party with friends on Saturday night when someone in the group shared the news that the Eurasian eagle-owl Flaco had coughed up a pellet of animal matter — rat fur and bones — in Central Park.<br /><br />“It’s really exciting to see him learning how to catch his own rats,” said Ms. Barton, a health care case manager who was at the park around 1 p.m. Monday for her first look at the black-and-orange bird of prey. She had followed his activities online before then.<br /><br />After Flaco flew off on Feb. 2 — his mesh enclosure had been vandalized — zoo officials, bird watchers and everyday people worried that he might not know how to fend for himself. He had never done so in his 13-year life. </i></span><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: courier;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: courier;"><i>But by Sunday, his survival instincts had kicked in enough for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the zoo, to say it would ease the intensity of its effort to retrieve him. He had earned the chance to live without 24-hour scrutiny. <br /><br />Flaco’s ability to catch his own food, the society said, had prompted officials to “rethink our approach” to returning him to the zoo while remaining focused on his well being. (He had narrowly avoided being captured with a baited trap Friday evening.)“We will continue to monitor him, though not as intensely, and look to opportunistically recover him when the situation is right,” the society added.</i></span><div><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="350" id="nyt_video_player" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.nytimes.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000008769783" title="New York Times Video - Embed Player" width="700"></iframe></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/14/nyregion/flaco-owl-central-park-zoo.html" target="_blank">LINK</a></p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-51582975008657828972023-02-11T06:15:00.071-05:002023-02-11T06:15:00.183-05:00Movie Reviews: The Family<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Prompt; font-size: large;"><b>The Family<br />directed by Luc Besson</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLoDYrSttHN2ZjX47wYerYwwg9kVHWZr9R_C85yTDRMnxGN6hlcz3aPt6q3X8KFMCWgtArD3Oe7EscmMrA59-AmlLR-gJzsOi-hhINFQXcKRMj3BsMlyPZ6MBP1hBwfq8in8PJ_1Hjrv0tbZddkwmPsOTX2JNrTZN3BRVtJU8To_h3L5xkXEBAG2_i/s612/The_Family1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="612" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLoDYrSttHN2ZjX47wYerYwwg9kVHWZr9R_C85yTDRMnxGN6hlcz3aPt6q3X8KFMCWgtArD3Oe7EscmMrA59-AmlLR-gJzsOi-hhINFQXcKRMj3BsMlyPZ6MBP1hBwfq8in8PJ_1Hjrv0tbZddkwmPsOTX2JNrTZN3BRVtJU8To_h3L5xkXEBAG2_i/w640-h398/The_Family1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />How many serious gangster movies have you seen or least are aware of starring <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Robert DeNiro</span></b>? Probably quite a few, right? Now how many gangster movies have you seen that feature a fish out of water gangster who is the often clueless focal point of the resulting comedy? More than a few, yes? Well <i>The Family</i> combined those two genres with mixed results. <i>The Famil</i>y is black comedy. The director invites laughs at serious but absurd situations. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">YMMV on this, given the subject matter and settings. The movie shows that even people who aren't so nice still face the same life challenges as us all. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">They get irritated at their spouse for not capping the toothpaste. </span><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">They have sibling rivalries. They fume at repair men who are late, don't complete the job, or who try to cheat them. They pick up skills and knowledge from their parents' careers and life examples. And when things get tough families stick together against outside threats.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRuM2ig5Zgy3RfxAot9BoV2UR0oRG0DUzP8qhI98U-nDMB9a6cwX_w9Za8TFX0lH6f6a__XtGvTvksCsdKB-YITmSZ75ZUAAKaMjQFQZzUz8ZhPntJcW17bjy34ye039-gQsrWzwrTN3088SM8VTW0ZpKkXSQc5tX8Rx_NDsuIuqeVqV4rK3V-BHo/s660/The_Family2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="660" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRuM2ig5Zgy3RfxAot9BoV2UR0oRG0DUzP8qhI98U-nDMB9a6cwX_w9Za8TFX0lH6f6a__XtGvTvksCsdKB-YITmSZ75ZUAAKaMjQFQZzUz8ZhPntJcW17bjy34ye039-gQsrWzwrTN3088SM8VTW0ZpKkXSQc5tX8Rx_NDsuIuqeVqV4rK3V-BHo/w640-h268/The_Family2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Giovanni Manzoni (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">DeNiro</span></b>) is a tough Mafia Boss who is rivals with another Mafia Boss Luchese (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Stan Carp</span></b>). Luchese tries to have Manzoni assassinated in front of his family/along with his family. This breaks the rules so Giovanni decides to rat out Luchese, sending him to prison for multiple life terms. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Giovanni and his beautiful wife Maggie (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Michelle Pfeiffer</span></b>), daughter Belle (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dianna Agron</span></b>) and son Warren (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">John D'Leo</span></b>) all enter the Witness Protection Program. They are watched over by humorless straitlaced FBI Agent Robert Stansfield (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Tommy Lee Jones</span></b>).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">The Manzoni family (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">now calling themselves the Blakes</span>) have often had to relocate. Their latest attempt to fit in finds them in a small French village in Normandy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JjERANbgV4y9vi3HJvvFSUgSEvp-C3W2bz-o2H-fZkN6XlOhmGRtOn-YcvX7IUs0cI5wFGkD6cKgSvJBqzC2jh97kY6u15Qet45LS2AxAcBBvtisI57J8pttF4L-weeT2iKBfwJYQjmU-U_s4Urn8N4hW6Ld7K4f9Q69UMG41VsSUiSCyJbM39-E/s1200/The_Family4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="1200" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JjERANbgV4y9vi3HJvvFSUgSEvp-C3W2bz-o2H-fZkN6XlOhmGRtOn-YcvX7IUs0cI5wFGkD6cKgSvJBqzC2jh97kY6u15Qet45LS2AxAcBBvtisI57J8pttF4L-weeT2iKBfwJYQjmU-U_s4Urn8N4hW6Ld7K4f9Q69UMG41VsSUiSCyJbM39-E/w640-h268/The_Family4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">The humor arises from the fact that Giovanni's penchant for violence, direct confrontation, and refusal to quit until he wins are evident in all his family members. Giovanni's wife, son, and daughter may, pound for pound, be just as dangerous as he is. No one in the family takes any guff from anyone.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">DeNiro also plays Giovanni as a loving father and husband and reasonable fellow of good humor, liberally employing his famed smirk and facial grimaces. Giovanni writes his memoirs while pretending to be a WW2 historian. Giovanni doesn't know anything about Normandy. Giovanni knows a lot about the Mafia and is eager to share, something which irritates Stansfield.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the Manzonis makes a mistake that gives away their location to certain people back home. I didn't expect much from this film. It was ok. The contrast between the humor and violence can be jarring. Scorsese was a producer so there is a funny scene where Giovanni watches and critiques Scorsese's <i>Goodfellas</i> (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">in which DeNiro starred</span>).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SwDU04Oeak" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">TRAILER</span></a></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-36782167974270588742023-02-11T06:00:00.024-05:002023-02-11T06:00:00.189-05:00Movie Reviews: After.Life<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><b>After.Life<br />directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjj97HDCE7fFC-W08Vbjb0u2oXx3rBV4MtG_WXxALemzx3-LMphqChcYNTN8tRNpjuUl4sUrxiGV0z7lBRFEsmWt68SMqbhzQw5RKrBgc6TaY8WwOPIJ_e3kCkvOiedKhVVjTNEE-COkAXsZ67sv4scG_vaZ7Qw6xP0PUazoMVVWfW6wbTzlD7Swn/s592/After_Life2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="592" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjj97HDCE7fFC-W08Vbjb0u2oXx3rBV4MtG_WXxALemzx3-LMphqChcYNTN8tRNpjuUl4sUrxiGV0z7lBRFEsmWt68SMqbhzQw5RKrBgc6TaY8WwOPIJ_e3kCkvOiedKhVVjTNEE-COkAXsZ67sv4scG_vaZ7Qw6xP0PUazoMVVWfW6wbTzlD7Swn/w640-h378/After_Life2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Depending on your mood you might believe that this is an intelligent art film with a powerful message. Or you might think that it's a pretentious horror film that thinks it's smarter than it really is and uses tropes and cliches you've seen a million times before--including plenty of female star nudity-- to no great avail.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As referenced in HBO's <i>Boardwalk Empire </i>death will happen to us all eventually. But we don't know what it's like until we experience it. And once we do we can't tell anyone what it's like. All we know is that it's final. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So it's important to live life to the fullest, to give and receive love while we're here, to live each day as if it is our last, because one day we'll be correct. </span></span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">That's this film's underlying message. However it's wrapped in a horror movie packaging, that as mentioned, feels old and dull. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjN8YKYqNX00I40klF7fG7JRr1I_2nS9PNAXfqYCWCexLMhXgPZXUQlpeOLs68uUYUHuPxhroCrkJoOV8RAq78Ij7sUffq2y0faCvuDlcOr7yyGX5aqWlsdOIdddDNL8CSDqzSJERVXsh36Xt9t7jDzBB5YgCIQaTCEfjs7XuSQie-atlhgSZ2bGU/s1581/After_Life4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1581" data-original-width="1581" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGjN8YKYqNX00I40klF7fG7JRr1I_2nS9PNAXfqYCWCexLMhXgPZXUQlpeOLs68uUYUHuPxhroCrkJoOV8RAq78Ij7sUffq2y0faCvuDlcOr7yyGX5aqWlsdOIdddDNL8CSDqzSJERVXsh36Xt9t7jDzBB5YgCIQaTCEfjs7XuSQie-atlhgSZ2bGU/w200-h200/After_Life4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></span></span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">The film wants to have it both ways, leaving it up to the viewer to decide if s/he just watched a movie about a supernatural angel of mercy who hates his job or instead saw an extended examination of a man who is, if not quite a serial killer, is certainly someone who stretches the definition of mercy-killing to uncomfortable and illegal levels.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span>The movie is stylish and looks great. There's a visual coldness that makes perfect sense considering the subject matter and locations. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span>But there aren't necessarily any heroes or villains, well again depending on how you look at it. </span></span><span style="font-family: Poppins;">There's an essential emptiness to the story that makes it difficult to care about the characters.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Anna Taylor (</span><b style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Christina Ricci</span></b><span style="font-family: Poppins;">) is a middle school teacher who's in an up and down relationship with Paul (</span><b style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Justin Long</span></b><span style="font-family: Poppins;">), a lawyer. Sometimes she likes him; sometimes she does not. That's life right?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqhdgAEjEFjKAYqIykwKXg7QTe_aPNnNp4LxSETm--bJO4JwLxFaDj4BSnyAEQL9e78ulUGFHuwEhBRALvgnfd6njDSlv_90FYqz4J3Yt1pFwqETp1cNERHdpK58rnBe73O3NrpbqIO702w3w-MUBZYJbN2NGBQaqsBak9sKihElOt8j6BFdJcE46/s1920/After_Life3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqhdgAEjEFjKAYqIykwKXg7QTe_aPNnNp4LxSETm--bJO4JwLxFaDj4BSnyAEQL9e78ulUGFHuwEhBRALvgnfd6njDSlv_90FYqz4J3Yt1pFwqETp1cNERHdpK58rnBe73O3NrpbqIO702w3w-MUBZYJbN2NGBQaqsBak9sKihElOt8j6BFdJcE46/w640-h360/After_Life3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Death is also part of life, something that Anna is reminded of when she attends the piano teacher's funeral. The local funeral director and mortician is a detail oriented man named Eliot Deacon (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Liam Neeson</span></b>). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That evening Paul invites Anna to dinner. Paul has big news. Paul has an opportunity for a promotion requiring relocation. Paul would be a fool to decline. Paul believes he and Anna have been dating long enough. They both know where this relationship is going so--Anna assumes that this is Paul's break up speech. Anna insults Paul and storms away.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anna is wrong. Paul wanted Anna to come with him and marry him. But that's what happens when you interrupt people. You never get the full story. Zooming down the highway during a rain storm and in an emotional state Anna crosses the median and is hit by a truck.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioarGx4Vmxdtts-bmVSikDQMeF3RX0iHnsv7NWOZ_etxxXwqTe-mhbWZuFKC2Bp_LvmiwB0dCk9ilgTN1J5JkGgth7XayGeyorM9yrmrLZKIthYdEAQlwSmrJVM32t1X0_cYQW6QSq3UGGARjRl79tJv6iLC6CiUe4yJzy7uHZtk-GKHuv7xZ8Wutn/s1600/After_Life5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioarGx4Vmxdtts-bmVSikDQMeF3RX0iHnsv7NWOZ_etxxXwqTe-mhbWZuFKC2Bp_LvmiwB0dCk9ilgTN1J5JkGgth7XayGeyorM9yrmrLZKIthYdEAQlwSmrJVM32t1X0_cYQW6QSq3UGGARjRl79tJv6iLC6CiUe4yJzy7uHZtk-GKHuv7xZ8Wutn/w640-h360/After_Life5.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Waking up in the mortuary Anna finds that Eliot is preparing her for her upcoming funeral. Obviously if Anna can talk to Eliot then she must not be dead, right?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anna can move and throw things. That is, she can do those things when Eliot is not pumping her full of chemicals that seem to cause paralysis. Eliot rudely explains to Anna that no she is dead. He just happens to have a gift for talking to dead people and convincing them to let go. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There's a lot of "<b>I'm not dead!</b>" and "<b>Yes you are. Now shut up and let me help you!!</b>". Eliot thinks that life is wasted on most people.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Eliot keeps photographs of those he's "helped". Paul has trouble accepting Anna's death, especially when Anna's disturbed student Jack (</span><b style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Chandler Canterbury</span></b><span style="font-family: Poppins;">) says that he saw Anna thru the funeral home window. Paul's suspicions are further raised when Eliot refuses to let him see Anna's body.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There's a fair amount of (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">mostly non-erotic</span>) nudity by Ricci. Neeson helps keep story interest barely flickering but this wasn't a great movie imo.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGLjqTKtD34&ab_channel=UnseenTrailers" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-82017476560082213522023-02-04T06:00:00.022-05:002023-02-04T06:42:43.152-05:00Movie Reviews: Danger Signal<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Roboto; font-size: large;">Danger Signal<br />directed by Robert Florey</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3AMZEMmyNUPBfUIq4HPtqTHLyaYNW40tKoJkDDiJkV_KdZly2vmEKLqkotmi37gQ03uHgiCI5sclqmZDMD_j0RkMiq7o9JA3H7h9UQ4IEOSzy9IqNMorqjeKm0P2oGm0QI4hOX2DCbvQHcl7Op3upgNs2ZEN4DvPfcQiBtvquO_h0zFPzHSecX1D/s1434/Danger_Signal1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="1434" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG3AMZEMmyNUPBfUIq4HPtqTHLyaYNW40tKoJkDDiJkV_KdZly2vmEKLqkotmi37gQ03uHgiCI5sclqmZDMD_j0RkMiq7o9JA3H7h9UQ4IEOSzy9IqNMorqjeKm0P2oGm0QI4hOX2DCbvQHcl7Op3upgNs2ZEN4DvPfcQiBtvquO_h0zFPzHSecX1D/w640-h498/Danger_Signal1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This short movie doesn't reach the level of a true film noir though it certainly looks like it thanks to the fantastic cinematography by James Wong Howe, a rarity in early Hollywood, a Chinese-American cinematographer. Howe's work, along with some of the acting, gives the film a gravitas that unfortunately falls apart at the ending or when you closely examine it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">But since the movie moves fast it's entertaining enough I guess. In the sitcom <i>Seinfeld</i> there was an episode where the title character wanted to stop dating one roommate and switch to dating the other. His solution was to propose a threesome in the hopes that his current girlfriend would be disgusted and dump him while the other lady might be intrigued enough to become his new girlfriend. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">His plans fell through when both women expressed interest. <i>Danger Signal</i> was made in 1945 so it lacks lurid sex, but it does have a man, a far more dangerous man than the hapless Seinfeld character, who wishes to switch from one roommate (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">here the women are sisters</span>) to the other. We already know that this man Ronnie Mason (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">a perfectly cast</span> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Zachary Scott</span></b>) is no good because we see him leaving his murder victim, after stealing her wedding ring and some cash and placing a fake suicide note where the authorities are sure to find it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMQpjjTmEBWxN_zMYvQslTfqXXzQuULcxawCw4UsbgQbEhNgHTEEPt4KDCnC9R0QCg9azHezItebbxXdWJTxxYvDS9J0Xr21wnu_2K7WLwf-D9b9UATFt0jIk059a72djSQtPBSl52zq7PZoN-i_1rYsgaMN7nqozoi-D3wdBcqkmGz5Gxs6OFIcX/s801/Danger_Signal2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="801" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMQpjjTmEBWxN_zMYvQslTfqXXzQuULcxawCw4UsbgQbEhNgHTEEPt4KDCnC9R0QCg9azHezItebbxXdWJTxxYvDS9J0Xr21wnu_2K7WLwf-D9b9UATFt0jIk059a72djSQtPBSl52zq7PZoN-i_1rYsgaMN7nqozoi-D3wdBcqkmGz5Gxs6OFIcX/w640-h496/Danger_Signal2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Changing his name and inventing a bogus wartime background Ronnie becomes a guest boarder in the home of an older woman (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mary Servoss</span></b>) and her two daughters, the lonely Hilda (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Faye Emerson</span></b>) and the younger and naive Anne (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mona Freeman</span></b>). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Swiftly schmoozing his way past Hilda's weak objections of having a strange man around, the sharp dressed Ronnie impresses all three women. Ronnie is a writer. He says he'll pay his rent just as soon as he's sold his next/first story. Somehow though he never seems to sell that story. And he certainly never pays rent.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Hilda doesn't mind though because Ronnie takes her out and makes her feel desired, something that her shy, boring boss and would be beau Dr. Lang (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Bruce Bennett</b></span>) can't seem to find the courage to do. Ronnie sweeps Hilda off her feet. Hilda and Ronnie talk of marriage. That is they talk of marriage until Hilda discovers that Ronnie has also been putting the moves on Anne, who is only too happy to steal her big sister's man. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHmVaURI5oKAz8uc62Zm2FmRekcPg1wPcekbDrbmFzCnZVILveRxApusrz3vjQa0Qcjv1nbKyCRzWVksvCh6lF-O19cdkE6JsPqOXi_QHuj0SHq5pS1ynsALbeVnIWoTWdq0MHWW6lvSyuEiuQxVCK5VznJH0gvOYGt8HdPoN5l5lwXajeX3QWTDS/s3500/Danger_Signal3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="3500" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHmVaURI5oKAz8uc62Zm2FmRekcPg1wPcekbDrbmFzCnZVILveRxApusrz3vjQa0Qcjv1nbKyCRzWVksvCh6lF-O19cdkE6JsPqOXi_QHuj0SHq5pS1ynsALbeVnIWoTWdq0MHWW6lvSyuEiuQxVCK5VznJH0gvOYGt8HdPoN5l5lwXajeX3QWTDS/w640-h416/Danger_Signal3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Ronnie has learned that it's Anne, not Hilda, who's due for an inheritance. And Hilda has learned that Ronnie has lied about not selling any stories and thus being unable to pay rent. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">When Hilda finds a gun among Ronnie's belongings and other discrepancies in his story she blows the whistle. But it may be too late. Anne and Ronnie are due to be married. Anne's convinced that Hilda's objections are sour grapes and sibling jealousy. Hilda will have to take matters into her own hands. But how far is she prepared to go?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">The film purports to be a look at a psychopath. But by today's standards it's pretty light fare. The film doesn't go as far as it could have and perhaps should have. Part of it could have been that the actress playing Hilda was FDR's daughter-in-law. Hilda marches to the beat of her own drummer. I don't think there's any man that rushes to the rescue. Women make their own mistakes and fix or do not fix them on their own. This movie was one step above or below mediocre.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAMg9JKViL0&ab_channel=LudwigSiegel" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-51116474439471324062023-01-28T06:00:00.008-05:002023-01-28T06:00:00.205-05:00Movie Reviews: Johnny Cool<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><b>Johnny Cool<span> <br /></span><span>directed by William Asher</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwHdEAHWEGW2yJEQbdevz3iJbeyT2t6lg2ky80ZmojZJ16lkJ682tdPa02OosLIBG-GdidFPiFXR3nnXBkt3xkGfgHaxJA-ccjS6nV__AYX202MMbiuq_MVEkShLOGnemv4QI0wz6bxDx27YkYmqj_iSScMkZAzwU4mjGEGqE2HXtvCrdidxA9ETQ/s684/Johnny_Cool1.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwHdEAHWEGW2yJEQbdevz3iJbeyT2t6lg2ky80ZmojZJ16lkJ682tdPa02OosLIBG-GdidFPiFXR3nnXBkt3xkGfgHaxJA-ccjS6nV__AYX202MMbiuq_MVEkShLOGnemv4QI0wz6bxDx27YkYmqj_iSScMkZAzwU4mjGEGqE2HXtvCrdidxA9ETQ/w351-h400/Johnny_Cool1.gif" width="351" /></a></div>It's always interesting and maybe even a little unsettling in a fun way to realize that actors or actresses that you think of in only one way actually can have a wide range and be convincing in different roles. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">I remembered the actress <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Elizabeth Montgomery</span></b> from being a child back in the Pleistocene period watching reruns of the bland tv series <i>Bewitched</i> in which Montgomery played Samantha. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Samantha is a sorceress who despite being far more powerful and intelligent than her ordinary ad exec husband, is content to be (mostly) a compliant housewife who uses her magic to get her husband out of various silly jams or give folks lessons on how to be better people. She was a "good" witch.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">In <i>Bewitched </i>Montgomery was often attired in relatively sensible clothing. Plain, staid, and blah were the normal descriptions for the Samantha character. So it was something of a shock to me to watch <i>Johnny Cool</i>. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWbcrbDCyXVR9IE_Ydb_pKqCsOgfDfalZywF_zTsfvbhOvOzUXPz3tui4fCpqw6kOwCfGbtl5uy8aBCXrf0MmFIsHuDkhwW8EROfWLYyNQJL4HaBrSpWExmTlHKWV4S1-B1ci9n9m-vnSvXvs-bfUqBYedmiM_Ibu5aTQYaQL8K2sm7SyCJPnykdi/s688/Johnny_Cool3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="688" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWbcrbDCyXVR9IE_Ydb_pKqCsOgfDfalZywF_zTsfvbhOvOzUXPz3tui4fCpqw6kOwCfGbtl5uy8aBCXrf0MmFIsHuDkhwW8EROfWLYyNQJL4HaBrSpWExmTlHKWV4S1-B1ci9n9m-vnSvXvs-bfUqBYedmiM_Ibu5aTQYaQL8K2sm7SyCJPnykdi/w640-h386/Johnny_Cool3.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />In this movie Montgomery struts her stuff and shakes what her Mama gave her, playing a socialite/party girl with a very high sex drive, a taste for bad boys, and a penchant for toplessness and va-va voom form fitting clothing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><i>Johnny Cool</i> is an imagination of what would happen if real life American Mafia boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano, deported to Italy, had tried to take revenge on his erstwhile stateside comrades. Luciano died of a heart attack in 1962 so I imagine this 1963 film's inspiration would have been obvious to its audience.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">In Italy deported American mobster Johnny Colini (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Marc Lawrence</span></b>) stews over slights from other mobsters. Colini may have status in Italy but no one in America listens to him any more, especially new boss Vince Santangelo (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Telly Savalas</span></b>). In fact, Vince might just be ready to remove Colini aka Johnny Cool from the planet.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0Ii6fd3jeG7YdNGtN4GDSceZlctgzN3xVqhKhTdnQJjNHpdpwtIWerx0lXELk_g83ltjxRJ4wfFz4xkO5BrWK2iIBjFBt_3nzAMGAv2XNXhMJOnr5LUqJlZckeJmW5d5uVyqVZ4F1q99v8saVECJKz4Q2EuaPP5lfD_qZll6enaKPDrCHEhrX0h3/s500/Johnny_Cool2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="500" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN0Ii6fd3jeG7YdNGtN4GDSceZlctgzN3xVqhKhTdnQJjNHpdpwtIWerx0lXELk_g83ltjxRJ4wfFz4xkO5BrWK2iIBjFBt_3nzAMGAv2XNXhMJOnr5LUqJlZckeJmW5d5uVyqVZ4F1q99v8saVECJKz4Q2EuaPP5lfD_qZll6enaKPDrCHEhrX0h3/w640-h512/Johnny_Cool2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />But Colini has a plan. Colini has rescued Sicilian outlaw Salvatore Giordano (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Henry Silva</b></span>) from the police, faked Giordana's death and given him his own name. In return the new "Johnny Cool" must go to America and eliminate Colini's enemies. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span>But the abrasive Giordano/Johnny Cool isn't exactly grateful and has his own plans, which may or may not include following instructions but definitely involve doing the do as much as possible with American socialite Dare Guiness (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Montgomery</span></b>). </span><span>Along the way Johnny Cool and Dare encounter various hoodlums, carry out assassinations, make love, get assaulted, and of course, do the twist. You HAD to do the twist in the early sixties. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span>Other stars included </span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sammy Davis Jr</span></b><span>., </span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Mort Sahl</span></b><span>, </span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jim Backus</span></b><span>, </span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Richard Anderson</span></b><span> (from The Six Million Dollar Man), and </span><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Joey Bishop</span></b><span>. </span><span>The Dare character isn't just a sexpot. She's important to the plot. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span>The other stars, with the exception of Savalas, don't impress much. Silva plays his character as congenitally choleric, which doesn't allow for much nuance and thus little sympathy. There are some cinematographic elements which would later appear in Scorsese and Tarantino works. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfsrZ6OTcDY&t=1s" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-49764045800268371182023-01-21T06:00:00.057-05:002023-01-21T06:00:00.189-05:00Movie Reviews: Halloween Ends<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Prompt; font-size: large;">Halloween Ends<br />directed by David Gordon Green</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl0SJe7t_4Kp8JhAe5-MNWm5-hnNSwZ7csmE4lkgP7AgTLNyrC_2P8B3laHiwZy8g1Vkd3DtUifCxMdg6mfqm6KnHsRgA6Thi30WyQkP5kx_w-c8iA8uVMBHGoRx0Gfj2Avb4Oi_xQRgmyDaRjzFgbTrW1ZR-fGHLaMWsbl_h37Z-rGn0_kprHwZv/s1250/Halloween_Ends1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl0SJe7t_4Kp8JhAe5-MNWm5-hnNSwZ7csmE4lkgP7AgTLNyrC_2P8B3laHiwZy8g1Vkd3DtUifCxMdg6mfqm6KnHsRgA6Thi30WyQkP5kx_w-c8iA8uVMBHGoRx0Gfj2Avb4Oi_xQRgmyDaRjzFgbTrW1ZR-fGHLaMWsbl_h37Z-rGn0_kprHwZv/w640-h400/Halloween_Ends1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This movie, the conclusion of the original <i>Halloween</i> storyline, was disappointing. <b><span style="color: red;">Seriously Freaking Disappointing</span></b>. The serial killer Michael Myers has been terrorizing an Illinois town for over half a century. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Michael seemed to be obsessed with town resident Laurie Strode (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jamie Lee Curtis</span></b>) one of the few people to survive his remorseless attacks. Now the thing about Michael, which has launched him from run of the mill murderer to force of nature, is that his strength, ability to endure pain, and ability to avoid detection have always been beyond that of any man. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">The films always played coy about this but the previous installment <i>Halloween Kills</i> made it obvious that Michael had consistently survived wounds that would have killed anything that was human. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLf6IuZDx5MTnfI_ArzCK5MhbNRwJZjUgb0xRWB9BCkDhS2rBD38Z2Ja4V667r2PceA-43VaeWThUNjh--sduCWXNaGHQqM0od09L4uB9vqKjDCGMxu80kHSqFOfgLbH5alGDipOyLqjNcY10l-n2-LNkJWuVQ-h4S0p6_NQ-4ybZ5Q_-uP6xYiIF/s2000/Halloween_Ends2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLf6IuZDx5MTnfI_ArzCK5MhbNRwJZjUgb0xRWB9BCkDhS2rBD38Z2Ja4V667r2PceA-43VaeWThUNjh--sduCWXNaGHQqM0od09L4uB9vqKjDCGMxu80kHSqFOfgLbH5alGDipOyLqjNcY10l-n2-LNkJWuVQ-h4S0p6_NQ-4ybZ5Q_-uP6xYiIF/w640-h426/Halloween_Ends2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />In the second film as Laurie gave a voiceover detailing her hypothesis that Michael was something supernatural we watch Michael, who was attacked by a mob, get shot at least seven times, be beaten in the head with baseball bats, two by fours, wrenches, and pipes, get stabbed several times with butcher knives and various other sharp implements, stand up and nonchalantly dispatch the entire mob. This must set up this movie's big reveal about Michael's powers and origin and the FINAL SHOWDOWN between Michael and Laurie, right?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><i>Halloween Ends</i> opens four years after the events of the first two movies. Surely Laurie has been doing some research into phenomenon like Michael Myers. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Will Laurie will hook up with some secret Vatican task force that can exorcise Michael or turn him human. Maybe there's some government agency doing experiments with LSD and nanobytes that accidentally created or worsened Michael. Maybe there's... </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01RbFhGZdRdRCmKVXIjbXwAD8AtitFKbRbPYRFxYKyrGhANKmn1etz1v_97aS-Ky4nXzlSacHcSzGfYuLB-so9dIFLf6Nnezy8mMQBZr2JnELoV53RCsPiSlRpZ-TPqfQHVSHz8p-gMRNMnGFFiSGgcG3UXyUGYcfVbx87GcDj1MnGtjet2RXBQ7j/s1001/Halloween_Ends3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1001" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01RbFhGZdRdRCmKVXIjbXwAD8AtitFKbRbPYRFxYKyrGhANKmn1etz1v_97aS-Ky4nXzlSacHcSzGfYuLB-so9dIFLf6Nnezy8mMQBZr2JnELoV53RCsPiSlRpZ-TPqfQHVSHz8p-gMRNMnGFFiSGgcG3UXyUGYcfVbx87GcDj1MnGtjet2RXBQ7j/w640-h360/Halloween_Ends3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Nah. Instead, there's Laurie Strode writing her memoirs, doing some painful flirting with deputy sheriff Frank Hawkins (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Will Patton</span></b>) and fretting as her granddaughter Allyson (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Andi Matichak</b></span>) makes googly eyes with town creep and loser Corey Cunningham (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rohan Campbell</span></b>) a charisma free teen who accidentally caused the death of his babysitting charge three years prior.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">And THAT's the film. People bully Corey. Allyson wants his babies. Corey's Mom is mean to him. Allyson wants his babies. Corey starts developing into a serial killer. Allyson wants his babies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Laurie and Michael Myers are secondary figures. The writers are more interested in Corey's lack of arc. Get bullied. Pout and whine. Make out with Allyson. Have Laurie make concerned face. Repeat.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">There might have been a story about how a combination of supernatural and social evils created monsters or even a theme showing how evil is metaphorically (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">or literally</span>) transferred from one generation to the next but there wasn't. This movie was a like a car that shuts off and won't start just as you reach home. At least you're home.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-75257357823485789912023-01-14T06:00:00.004-05:002023-01-14T06:00:00.193-05:00Book Reviews: Edgewise<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: large;">Edgewise<br />by Graham Masterton</span></b><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMF1opfLdzD7YEN6CBgHZRnzzKS5s_BwzhupLlBUQkRhnzOqrLuXLQk97Jb4l2aeZWlZ8jIEyvbaIplCXd9axlk8CQOtJiTvbZw8oOePPL9ax_8AckF_UX-O8TVRl3VQlyezTQDe7s0kfkf4zBY-S_lYRXjZFQ4dpLo_UWdolacoI9C5wOJbaWI22r/s400/Eddgewise.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="248" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMF1opfLdzD7YEN6CBgHZRnzzKS5s_BwzhupLlBUQkRhnzOqrLuXLQk97Jb4l2aeZWlZ8jIEyvbaIplCXd9axlk8CQOtJiTvbZw8oOePPL9ax_8AckF_UX-O8TVRl3VQlyezTQDe7s0kfkf4zBY-S_lYRXjZFQ4dpLo_UWdolacoI9C5wOJbaWI22r/s320/Eddgewise.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>I picked up this novel from the stacks of unread books in my library. Like Richard Laymon, Masterton can be perverse but there was little of this here. <i>Edgewise</i> is a thriller novel based on the North American Indigenous legend of the Wendigo. </div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Wendigo is a forest spirit that possesses people and causes them to commit acts of violence and cannibalism, is created or summoned when people do evil all on their own, or that simply roams the forest eating people because it's cursed with never ending hunger. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Stories and details differ. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Although this is an older novel, having been released in 2007, it captures some of the fraught relations between men and women today, especially regarding divorce and resulting child custody battles. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lily Blake is a Minnesota realtor who has completed a divorce from her less successful husband Jeff, who saw his once promising IT career crater while Lily earned more than three times his salary. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">According to Lily, wimpy Jeff couldn't handle her awesomeness which is why he's her ex. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">But apparently Jeff has gone over the deep end. Some seriously twisted hateful men who say they're from FLAME (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">Father's League Against Mothers' Evil</span>) invade Lily's home, kidnap her young children Tasha and Sammy, and attempt to kill her.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_tBkeJq3GH_gQoCd9xYppmuBwT6y3onzZg2rJrIIJXfEmn_D65_RjQ3Vk-vOCofcVW99W_LjYnEq0llWup18pgnbpcAAN47fi62F98vEuYaR5kfO-CxuhTKtt-Q4AePeKIvyW4ZtTnnwfFUzFRoKiFYdOAG312toNSVXvZRVwnK7ybIxvTl5I_x6/s640/Graham-Masterton.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI_tBkeJq3GH_gQoCd9xYppmuBwT6y3onzZg2rJrIIJXfEmn_D65_RjQ3Vk-vOCofcVW99W_LjYnEq0llWup18pgnbpcAAN47fi62F98vEuYaR5kfO-CxuhTKtt-Q4AePeKIvyW4ZtTnnwfFUzFRoKiFYdOAG312toNSVXvZRVwnK7ybIxvTl5I_x6/w400-h225/Graham-Masterton.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The local police and FBI aren't much help. Jeff could have the kids and intend to leave the country. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Lily's lovestruck boss puts Lily in contact with some Native American men named John Shooks and George Iron Walker. The men claim to be able to help Lily get her kids back, for a certain price. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Lily doesn't believe the men but when some impossible things occur Lily's idea of reality expands. Unfortunately for Lily, George has an inflexible and literal idea of a binding contract. George doesn't want to hear that you won't or that you can't. To George, a deal is a deal. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">George might be more than he seems, but I was increasingly unsympathetic to Lily. If I completed a task for someone and they changed the terms, refused to pay because they disliked me, or said they lacked authority to make an agreement, I'd be upset. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Would I be so peeved as to send a multidimensional virtually invulnerable ravenous non human entity seemingly unbound by the laws of physics after them? Hmm.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The best parts of this 300 page story were the description of Midwest winters and woods. The characters were a little weak. This would be a good book to read on a airplane trip or similar travels.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-38002176902483719992023-01-07T06:00:00.066-05:002023-01-07T06:00:00.194-05:00Movie Reviews: Five On The Black Hand Side<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Prompt; font-size: x-large;"><b>Five On The Black Hand Side<br />directed by Oscar Williams</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyzpuOMUhdQa6MhZ7q79pMeBLiY2rE0Z36xTdwZhJbQXImoN6tFmNo3cR5KKEbLAuGlP-6QfFJscoI3GBgiG3hN14vkVvVy4aWz3Da9oBuw1m7fP6c-44O6q3ARf3OOh5klwdnKQlk8Q7XaRFOi7IEXvf6Aa-I5HovYt78x7HvtoaOuH83bnn2VmK/s728/Five_Black_Hand_Side1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="728" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyzpuOMUhdQa6MhZ7q79pMeBLiY2rE0Z36xTdwZhJbQXImoN6tFmNo3cR5KKEbLAuGlP-6QfFJscoI3GBgiG3hN14vkVvVy4aWz3Da9oBuw1m7fP6c-44O6q3ARf3OOh5klwdnKQlk8Q7XaRFOi7IEXvf6Aa-I5HovYt78x7HvtoaOuH83bnn2VmK/w640-h360/Five_Black_Hand_Side1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />From the mid sixties to the early seventies there was a cultural and artistic component to the US and associated diaspora civil rights/Black power movements. It</span><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"> didn't last long but for about a decade there was renewed interest--marketable interest--in Black centered stories and other art. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;">This film's director and writer thought that there were too many movies which presented Black actors and actresses as gangsters, pimps, drug dealers, super studs, and foxy mamas all looking to "stick it to the Man" over a wah-wah guitar and congas soundtrack. The writer and playwright </span><span style="font-family: Prompt;">Charlie Russell, the older brother of NBA superstar Bill Russell, conceived this movie </span><span style="font-family: Prompt;">as an anti-blaxploitation corrective.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">This film has no nudity, toplessness, or real violence. It's a broadly humorous, though not slapstick look, at issues impacting a Black Los Angeles family.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4k4XpaIuhuUqVA2eLTXYDTBOlxjTeadRvaiDnBkbsMvfO403E8W4ra_IBjzTDmxXgtlxKKAtVPFrRzMifY1nGPxvHnufGJQKYsu7bGYSCPxv7R3-aUFWs8Q8q5FJFXvOCwnLEEWkMvioWsG0Z3hnH4zX6pDsZVeykdbEfdDvPhXO3iFt14gG0S3y/s1360/Five_Black_Hand_Side4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1360" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4k4XpaIuhuUqVA2eLTXYDTBOlxjTeadRvaiDnBkbsMvfO403E8W4ra_IBjzTDmxXgtlxKKAtVPFrRzMifY1nGPxvHnufGJQKYsu7bGYSCPxv7R3-aUFWs8Q8q5FJFXvOCwnLEEWkMvioWsG0Z3hnH4zX6pDsZVeykdbEfdDvPhXO3iFt14gG0S3y/w640-h298/Five_Black_Hand_Side4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />John Henry Brooks (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Leonard Jackson</span></b>) is an exacting man who thinks he's always right. Brooks ignores different perspectives, particularly if such opinions emanate from his wife Gladys (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Clarice Taylor</span></b>) or middle son Gideon (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Glynn Turman</span></b>). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">John Henry insists on referring to his wife as "Mrs. Brooks". Although he's a barber, John Henry likes giving the impression that he's a business mogul. John Henry requires Gladys to keep a daily task schedule which he approves or edits each morning. John Henry will criticize Gladys if she's $0.17 over the approved grocery spending limit.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Gideon is a Black nationalist who intends to major in anthropology in college. His father disapproves because he thinks that career is poorly paid. John Henry is dismissive of anything hinting at African cultural pride, viewing himself as only an American.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxO_F3mw2cChs5vQiUcpWTqD7An5jWT0T4tcF7LRF-7Vgt6c5iLtWbsr6kSfNR4JjagFLo8OyVrviBcjwRMxeLim4XdNpWMZG5wptLYAuhGqbtBlCoDZFlVsGwgsKCv6U784iC3_p1sfs5PGWafgg0oZaSPXEnWIt-NRIR-2DwEx0HU29oShE-3FPO/s420/Five_Black_Hand_Side2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="420" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxO_F3mw2cChs5vQiUcpWTqD7An5jWT0T4tcF7LRF-7Vgt6c5iLtWbsr6kSfNR4JjagFLo8OyVrviBcjwRMxeLim4XdNpWMZG5wptLYAuhGqbtBlCoDZFlVsGwgsKCv6U784iC3_p1sfs5PGWafgg0oZaSPXEnWIt-NRIR-2DwEx0HU29oShE-3FPO/w640-h336/Five_Black_Hand_Side2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />John Henry dislikes the Afro hair styles worn by all of his children, including his daughter Gail (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Bonnie Banfield</span></b>) and eldest son Booker T. (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">D'Urville Martin</span></b>). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Booker T. tries to keep the peace but he's already moved out. Booker T. has his own issues. Gail is preparing to marry (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">in an African themed wedding</span>), and is happy to be leaving. Gideon refuses to talk to his father or even be in the same room as him, despite his mother's pleas. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;">Emotions erupt one morning when Gladys decides she will no longer tolerate her husband's overbearing ways and cheapness. </span><span style="font-family: Prompt;">Although her friends (</span><b style="font-family: Prompt;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Virginia Capers</span></b><span style="font-family: Prompt;">, </span><b style="font-family: Prompt;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ja'net Dubois</span></b><span style="font-family: Prompt;">) tease her that she's just blowing off steam, Gladys has had it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;">If John Henry won't meet Gladys' demands she will leave. To demonstrate her seriousness, Gladys presents her demands (</span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Prompt;">which are mostly just centered around basic respect like calling her by her first name</span><span style="font-family: Prompt;">) in her husband's barbershop in front of his customers and co-workers.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3gQwXPvJv0ysmqmXXcE_dL-8SlxItDlZWKVRJi-YdaFjCQgtdJR_Y8SEyAdEeGWzQ9kuJvsCeiigrlsPT4jqT8JsyAxVWezCeoQD6OrdNuCcVr5LCX8aQ9U8T3M2qTT-HlQ79aFFABVWsVrcue4Tlu-J-rGeai1FhBXJFV-oZAKw2RF2WhKOUzwg/s225/Five_Black_Hand_Side3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="224" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3gQwXPvJv0ysmqmXXcE_dL-8SlxItDlZWKVRJi-YdaFjCQgtdJR_Y8SEyAdEeGWzQ9kuJvsCeiigrlsPT4jqT8JsyAxVWezCeoQD6OrdNuCcVr5LCX8aQ9U8T3M2qTT-HlQ79aFFABVWsVrcue4Tlu-J-rGeai1FhBXJFV-oZAKw2RF2WhKOUzwg/w398-h400/Five_Black_Hand_Side3.jpg" width="398" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">John Henry doesn't like women in his barbershop. Heresy! Blasphemy!! Revolution!!!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">This starts a comic squabble which may require outside intervention to set right. Gideon is eager to get back at his Dad for many imagined or real sins, and uses activist tactics to help his mother. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;">The family has double agents and would be peacemakers. John Henry</span><span style="font-family: Prompt;"> is not a bad guy. There are no real bad guys here. The writer has love for all the characters. Some are just misunderstood. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">The movie is firmly based in Black American culture circa 1973 but families who don't understand each other but still love each other exist in all cultures. Parents and children often have different ideas about the child's future.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Clarice Taylor would later have roles in <i>The Cosby Show</i> and <i>Sanford and Son</i>. Glynn Turman would have a star turn in <i>Cooley High</i>. This was a good positive movie that didn't overstay its welcome. I saw some of my relatives in the story.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50UNNw64Heg" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-22273180794961752312023-01-02T06:00:00.006-05:002023-01-02T06:00:00.190-05:00Happy New Year!!<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: x-large;">I hope you have as good of a New Year as these wolves intend to have.</span></div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here we go, yo, here we go, yo!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NewYearsEve?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NewYearsEve</a> 🐺🐺🐺 <a href="https://t.co/i3PEgYl5gA">pic.twitter.com/i3PEgYl5gA</a></p>— Wolf Conservation Center (@nywolforg) <a href="https://twitter.com/nywolforg/status/1609376110566932480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-13897183634072038572022-12-24T06:00:00.039-05:002022-12-24T06:00:00.179-05:00Book Reviews: Gangland<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: x-large;"><b>Gangland<br />by Chuck Hogan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtc0HGC8HLGYqalUR3WMzsK01LBz-strQxglckOpFiiracyKjigJ05OyVFV34BcIHM22SIaOKik5rKMkYfHtCP243hTs5ZZ6JppKRSNnfqn77_wz-_3TOkdrm76_1d2VcIRTNHpdR04qwfkKXhDBB7D6b9KjjQ_OJyrDmCCbW09gL_uhSyP-CVksM/s500/Gangland1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtc0HGC8HLGYqalUR3WMzsK01LBz-strQxglckOpFiiracyKjigJ05OyVFV34BcIHM22SIaOKik5rKMkYfHtCP243hTs5ZZ6JppKRSNnfqn77_wz-_3TOkdrm76_1d2VcIRTNHpdR04qwfkKXhDBB7D6b9KjjQ_OJyrDmCCbW09gL_uhSyP-CVksM/w273-h400/Gangland1.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>Historically New York City had five separate Italian-American criminal organizations, or "Families" that were arguably the nation's most powerful Mafia collective. The only Mafia organization that could match or rival the NYC Families was the Capone descended Chicago Outfit. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;">Anthony Accardo, a Capone protege, driver, bodyguard, and business associate, was the Outfit's longest serving overlord. Capone called Accardo "Joe Batters" because of his prowess with a baseball bat. Accardo rose quickly to leadership, combining brainy business acumen with violence. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;">Accardo and his older but equally homicidal buddy Paul Ricca shared power as the Outfit's effective CEO and Chairman. No one called Accardo "Joe Batters" to his face. Close friends could call him "Joe". Everyone else called him "Mr. Accardo" or "The Man".</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;">Later in life, Ricca and Accardo ceded authority over daily operations to other gangsters. Despite their "semi-retired" status, no hoodlum who liked living ever challenged or defied Accardo or Ricca. Outfit Boss Sam Giancana, himself a brutal killer, learned this the hard way in 1975, when he was murdered in his home. The slaying was unsolved.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><i>Gangland</i> starts with the Giancana murder. A low level Outfit hoodlum, Nicholas "Nicky Pins" Passero, (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">so-called because of his bowling alley ownership</span>) killed Giancana on Accardo's orders. </span><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: medium;">Accardo likes and seemingly trusts Nicky. Accardo gives Nicky special off the record jobs.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizMrlpY4C1oC4-H4PtApNCB78fhlhFv8f20RHCYCkn1k2FKXmJJE0iVm9sWNx5hYYu2jKl6Wt3B-qoTBSyIdu7XNim--Ds07Fx5fxLqPl9HAywCMPXdX8v4mupIdM4NhrgY6BCWkLjd-rFpB-uo66R1LiBO2qzfTVeOoZSG1ybj_pfHScMyErLBs5/s1000/Chuck_Hogan.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizMrlpY4C1oC4-H4PtApNCB78fhlhFv8f20RHCYCkn1k2FKXmJJE0iVm9sWNx5hYYu2jKl6Wt3B-qoTBSyIdu7XNim--Ds07Fx5fxLqPl9HAywCMPXdX8v4mupIdM4NhrgY6BCWkLjd-rFpB-uo66R1LiBO2qzfTVeOoZSG1ybj_pfHScMyErLBs5/w400-h225/Chuck_Hogan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Nicky is excited and worried about getting close to Accardo. Although the seventy something Accardo no longer personally assaults people with baseball bats, he's still mentally sharp, vicious, and quick to notice mistakes or take offense. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: medium;">Displaying anything besides competence and respect in Accardo's presence is dangerous. Accardo pivots from gentle patient grandfather to scary snarling thug more quickly than it takes to read this sentence. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: medium;">During a recent prison stint Nicky discovered something about himself. Nicky's ex-wife either knows or suspects. Another person who knows is the FBI agent Gerald Roy, who constantly harasses Nicky for both business and personal reasons. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;">When someone commits a crime against Accardo, Accardo taps Nicky Pins to deliver retribution. Nicky dislikes the assignment because Accardo's sense of "justice" is sickening. Accardo has many violent loyalists so why employ Nicky? Nicky fears that Accardo will throw away the tool after the work is done. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;">Nicky also frets that Accardo might notice something amiss, that Roy will arrest Accardo, or that Roy might disclose Nicky's secrets. All of these scenarios would end in Nicky's death.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Josefin Sans; font-size: medium;"><i>Gangland</i> was a pretty quick read. The crime milieu and Nicky's secret might turn off some readers. Neither is that important. Nicky isn't a good man. He is a lost man trapped in a bad situation. The story wouldn't change much if Nicky were a disillusioned corporate drone. The book maintains the claustrophobic paranoid feeling by showing almost everything from Nicky's POV. Hogan also co-wrote <a href="https://www.shadygradyonline.com/2014/10/book-reviews-gentlemen-of-road-harlem.html" target="_blank">The Strain trilogy</a> with Guillermo Del Toro and Prince of Thieves, upon which the Ben Affleck film <a href="https://www.shadygradyonline.com/2011/04/film-reviews-irish-gangsters-mama-boys.html" target="_blank">The Town</a> was based.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-23209883724395153542022-12-17T06:00:00.002-05:002022-12-17T06:00:00.198-05:00Movie Reviews: The Crow<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: x-large;">The Crow<br />directed by Alex Proyas</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mNBDKeQ3NOoS3y3V1tb2fHd4R0QT6SCR4zR5ZCcOYCOewuNbRpCQOx7QGb_YbPklSxM7RgF4jj8jpdl9lMX72VtyBmUZWa6XttU7ArDNxpoPg-itQzFKNYhvq_MvZSPrVJfARR3yW4TrjriYfirr4l1YrbPv8BZovNXsl_IaNmKGb4vCYrvMImru/s1087/The_Crow_Gif1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1087" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mNBDKeQ3NOoS3y3V1tb2fHd4R0QT6SCR4zR5ZCcOYCOewuNbRpCQOx7QGb_YbPklSxM7RgF4jj8jpdl9lMX72VtyBmUZWa6XttU7ArDNxpoPg-itQzFKNYhvq_MvZSPrVJfARR3yW4TrjriYfirr4l1YrbPv8BZovNXsl_IaNmKGb4vCYrvMImru/w640-h294/The_Crow_Gif1.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />This 1994 goth action/horror/romance film was the actor <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Brandon Lee's</span></b> breakthrough film. It would have made him a household name and likely raised his profile for many more lead action roles and who knows what else. Unfortunately it became Lee's epitaph. People could only wonder what might have been. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;">Another actor shot and killed Lee while the two were filming a dramatic sequence. The actor used a weapon that should have had blanks but via negligence had been loaded and misfired with a dummy round that still had primer. Lee had completed most of his scenes before his death so the director and producer finished the film, using other stand-ins and creative editing for work or dialogue that required Lee.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;">These events gave <i>The Crow</i> more somberness but it was already a dreary movie. The film was based on a comic book /graphic novel written by a man who was processing his emotions around the sudden random death of his fiancee. Combine that with some real life criminal events in Detroit and you have <i>The Crow</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtViFZd3VCKp90NgGBxORsOSgEO3O5pl_jeTogP_3C3xntQeN9TwwOugBPLYRwEqObcZj9kLnpuHNyClyBB5Wy5Shuiwl17d-E4iLq-arInd_U6t4b-GLUwUyMKPfLQiwYCP3kYXvfVHAixGHH63OjhAvw7p2YfBKHBv8jb0LcL1AG9woogQFb0vM/s1280/The_Crow2.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="1280" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtViFZd3VCKp90NgGBxORsOSgEO3O5pl_jeTogP_3C3xntQeN9TwwOugBPLYRwEqObcZj9kLnpuHNyClyBB5Wy5Shuiwl17d-E4iLq-arInd_U6t4b-GLUwUyMKPfLQiwYCP3kYXvfVHAixGHH63OjhAvw7p2YfBKHBv8jb0LcL1AG9woogQFb0vM/w640-h344/The_Crow2.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />During the 80s and early 90s Detroit had a tradition known as Devil's Night. Devil's Night was more serious and dangerous than its forerunner Mischief's Night which was always the night before Halloween where kids played "tricks" on people. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;">The pranks became darker and costlier until arson became a reasonable expectation on Devil's Night. Things were so bad in the late eighties that international news crews began visiting Detroit in late October, hoping to report on fires. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;">Locals argued with each other as to how many Devil's Night fires were set by Detroiters and how many were set by non-Detroiters looking to make a quick buck via insurance. <i>The Crow</i> is set in Detroit during the height of the Devil's Night arsons.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;">The musician Eric Draven (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Lee</span></b>) and his fiancee Shelly (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Sofia Shinas</b></span>) have been murdered on Devil's Night. Shelly was also gang raped. The two had planned to be married the next day. Eric and Shelly had been circulating petitions demanding higher standards from their landlord. The Big Bad didn't like that.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Playfair Display"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Playfair Display";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiC5PsMBS5ImpdqpvMESWsn9EYPPj4VRQCQYN1O0s6gIyWE_u1-syr53dK_isHyLPp1PYlChkugttyjeLNfwtTWk1WnImzQdQv3kroOLcwRUtczeiFGQeeN-4hq4Igu7YtDas0YzGFQeKGxUWFEH5TC3l0W7Q_Ft4mKKofOxx2aNAF-lb0gHsbJmy7/s1005/The_Crow3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="1005" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiC5PsMBS5ImpdqpvMESWsn9EYPPj4VRQCQYN1O0s6gIyWE_u1-syr53dK_isHyLPp1PYlChkugttyjeLNfwtTWk1WnImzQdQv3kroOLcwRUtczeiFGQeeN-4hq4Igu7YtDas0YzGFQeKGxUWFEH5TC3l0W7Q_Ft4mKKofOxx2aNAF-lb0gHsbJmy7/w640-h426/The_Crow3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">The only people who mourn Eric's and Shelly's untimely passing are the hulking but sensitive cop Albrecht (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ernie Hudson</span></b>) and the semi-feral young girl Sarah (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Rochelle Davis</span></b>) who viewed Eric and Shelly as the parents she wished she had. Sarah's mother (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Anna Levine</span></b>) is a prostitute and junkie with little time for Sarah.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Playfair Display";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Playfair Display";"><span style="font-size: medium;">A year later a crow attends as Eric rises from the grave. Dressed in black with white face paint, Eric starts tracking down his murderers and dispatching them in inventive ways designed for maximum terror and publicity. Unfortunately for Eric's targets, Eric is immune to any of their weapons. But the Big Bad (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Michael Wincott</span></b>), his top enforcer (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Tony Todd</b></span>), and his incestuous lover (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Bai Ling</span></b>) have more expansive ideas on how to deal with the dead man spoiling their party.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Playfair Display";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><i>The Crow </i>is a visually and thematically dark movie. Though it's set in Detroit it was shot in North Carolina studios. The city doesn't look like Detroit. It looks like a gothic comic book city. The movie is influenced by older film noirs and films like <i>Bladerunner</i>. It's almost always raining. I think <i>The Matrix</i> also took a few things from <i>The Crow</i>. The style, lighting, and scenery are impressive. This movie doesn't look dated.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Playfair Display; font-size: medium;">Though the story and plot are simple the film is elevated above the prosaic by Lee's <b>intense </b>portrayal of loss and grief. But never fear, the viewer could easily see the film's message as one of ultimate optimism. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5uPZ7ocsqA" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-81832617791893131412022-12-17T05:50:00.001-05:002022-12-17T05:50:00.199-05:00Michigan Woman Cyberbullies Daughter<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObJHlG0wesYF4mXWFH9JfcFntu7_sTR2SldEBrnd1cEUIMp52Phw4vDEmvC5KipHAnw1DZ2hTJdHXQyxhsAANMpc_1AsBnC2tHRrkc70TWxUaZcmG9nttOVKNIw4QLtW1ZcaRcrz2YrYbL8ORzi5bNlHGobj2qRE9KFzL2b1AriC646b_vtD00APd/s950/Kendra_Licari.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="950" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObJHlG0wesYF4mXWFH9JfcFntu7_sTR2SldEBrnd1cEUIMp52Phw4vDEmvC5KipHAnw1DZ2hTJdHXQyxhsAANMpc_1AsBnC2tHRrkc70TWxUaZcmG9nttOVKNIw4QLtW1ZcaRcrz2YrYbL8ORzi5bNlHGobj2qRE9KFzL2b1AriC646b_vtD00APd/w640-h360/Kendra_Licari.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>There is a BB King song/lyric titled "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1KOcM2aT9U" target="_blank">Nobody loves me but my mother/And she could be jiving too</a>!". It's funny because if there's one person that most people think will be in their corner when times get tough, it's usually their mother, the person who brought them into the world. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I thought of this lyric when I ran across the below story about a Mt. Pleasant, Michigan woman. Sometimes you can't even trust your mother.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Quicksand;"><i>A Mt. Pleasant woman accused of engaging in a sophisticated catfishing campaign of harassment that targeted two teens — one her daughter — was charged with five crimes, including one that accused her of attempting to frame another student.<br /><br />Kendra Gail Licari, 42, was charged Monday afternoon with two counts of stalking a minor, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of obstruction of justice. The obstruction charge alleges that Licari attempted to frame another minor for her actions during the investigation. Licari and the mother of the other student worked with school officials to figure out the source of the harassment, David Barberi, Isabella County Prosecutor, said Monday.</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Quicksand;"><span><i><br /></i><a name='more'></a></span></span></div><div><i style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Quicksand;">Licari was arrested Monday after an investigation that started with a report to officials with the Beal City Schools of a cyberbullying complaint involving Licari’s daughter and the boy she was seeing at the time. Licari’s daughter attends Beal City Schools. While law enforcement assistance was officially requested in January, family members said that the harassing messages started early in 2021, Barberi said.<br /><br />Barberi said on Monday that his office compiled 349 pages of harassing text and social media messages during the course of the investigation. The FBI was finally able to lock down the IP addresses used to send the messages and realized they were Licari's, Barberi said Monday. When confronted, Licari reportedly made a full confession, Barberi said. What is unknown is why Licari would have done it.</i><br /><a href="https://www.themorningsun.com/2022/12/14/mt-pleasant-woman-charged-in-catfishing-scheme-involving-her-daughter/">LINK</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This is like that moment in a horror movie when people realize the bad guy is inside the house.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-82544029527437934282022-12-10T06:00:00.031-05:002022-12-10T06:00:00.181-05:00Movie Reviews: Violent Saturday<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Roboto; font-size: x-large;">Violent Saturday<br />directed by Richard Fleischer</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Rntshz51PRxn8flq59U4rD2MZVjci0P90_SwgRZIzFZJsT7cKVCn0q0Psvsdb2LITOp20a1M-uEEA75XX-LK_-bjcMZhuM-RZzj9QKd8LYpwkshwUG4SL38FDmGaSInzFv1Y-I_3p_WuuGWD_5sGMTQM1VkxLHreSDUFZRC65LJ7W1NB5IKnt6wj/s1000/Violent__Saturday2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="1000" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Rntshz51PRxn8flq59U4rD2MZVjci0P90_SwgRZIzFZJsT7cKVCn0q0Psvsdb2LITOp20a1M-uEEA75XX-LK_-bjcMZhuM-RZzj9QKd8LYpwkshwUG4SL38FDmGaSInzFv1Y-I_3p_WuuGWD_5sGMTQM1VkxLHreSDUFZRC65LJ7W1NB5IKnt6wj/w640-h250/Violent__Saturday2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I have seen this movie characterized as a film noir. I'm not sure I would categorize it as such. It has some noir elements. Many characters are sympathetic or disturbing mixes of good and evil. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">I think this is a good crime drama that doesn't try to convince the viewer that the bad guys aren't so bad or like some later films show things from the bad guys' point of view. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Nonetheless in style and interlocking story lines this film must have had an influence on later crime or drama directors, especially people like Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch. I seem to remember reading someplace that Tarantino cited this movie approvingly. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Don't worry. This film is not that explicit in terms of violence despite the title. It does play up the idea that no one is safe, even women and children. I suppose that was a little unusual in the mid fifties when this film was released. This film didn't have much in the way of cynicism, pessimism, or "good guys" losing, all of which I think are important to a greater or lesser extent for something to be a true film noir.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6u2DrlIYwtW_hsODia_S6N-mTSprB6B_WM_0TEdJV9jhl4LzAAYjH2Tg02nbo5umUwOcP632dzQ7cq1irv7vv6EurSn1M30SOsIEtwf4DindWWf5MfIBOInTvjrsE6MVnmCaPgaOHRX2yvAhsP21VoTgLmY_cp0qUYQnrXON6FThN_gcXblweETi8/s494/Violent_Saturday3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="494" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6u2DrlIYwtW_hsODia_S6N-mTSprB6B_WM_0TEdJV9jhl4LzAAYjH2Tg02nbo5umUwOcP632dzQ7cq1irv7vv6EurSn1M30SOsIEtwf4DindWWf5MfIBOInTvjrsE6MVnmCaPgaOHRX2yvAhsP21VoTgLmY_cp0qUYQnrXON6FThN_gcXblweETi8/w640-h340/Violent_Saturday3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Every father wants his children's respect, particularly that of his sons. Young boys model themselves after their father and often go through a stage where they think their father is Superman. Perhaps this adulation helps boys define themselves as they mature. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Shelley Martin (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Victor Mature</span></b>) is a copper mine executive happily married to Helen Martin (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Dorothy Patrick</span></b>). They have a young son Steve (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Billy Chapin</span></b>) who has been misbehaving at school and getting into fights with his best friend. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Steve won't tell his mother why but eventually admits to his father Shelley that he's embarrassed by the fact that Shelley was stateside during WW2 doing defense industry work. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Steve has been fighting with other boys, including his best friend, who call his father a coward because many of their fathers were in combat. Steve is unimpressed with his father's patient explanation that heroism and duty come in many different forms.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7ipfDhx_aEt_7f07Zc23fyS9I_wcw2lzl3AjR5IsJh4d6etbMy5h8Vw5hUIcKSveLpjsEhGlh0b72sYzXBARnbWszaDEWenRj_CDvgHN_1QI4rL9Pzvio1GIYpCTlo1BUFk2rSYKwuOr_FYmXRGuVrMF9yNU6VxrhW1b4oz5lYXByt4ctY9jcPmi/s1280/Violent_Saturday1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7ipfDhx_aEt_7f07Zc23fyS9I_wcw2lzl3AjR5IsJh4d6etbMy5h8Vw5hUIcKSveLpjsEhGlh0b72sYzXBARnbWszaDEWenRj_CDvgHN_1QI4rL9Pzvio1GIYpCTlo1BUFk2rSYKwuOr_FYmXRGuVrMF9yNU6VxrhW1b4oz5lYXByt4ctY9jcPmi/w640-h360/Violent_Saturday1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Roboto;">Shelley's</span><span style="font-family: Roboto;"> boss, Boyd Fairchild (</span><b style="font-family: Roboto;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Richard Egan</span></b><span style="font-family: Roboto;">), doesn't have a happy marriage. Boyd's imperious wife Emily (</span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Roboto;"><b>Margaret Hayes</b></span><span style="font-family: Roboto;">) openly cheats on him. Emily has her reasons. Her character isn't just a *****. </span><span style="font-family: Roboto;">Boyd has had enough. He's thinking divorce and maybe having some fun with the intelligent, perceptive, and oh yes sexy nurse Linda (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Virginia Leith</span></b>). Boyd can't wait too long. Every man has noticed Linda.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">Three men arrive in town. They claim to be travelling salesmen but are actually bank robbers. Harper (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Stephen McNally</span></b>) is the leader, planner and front man. The calm older Chapman (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>J Carroll Nash</b></span>) handles details and logistics. Dill (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Lee Marvin</span></b>) is the dapper unstable muscle, who likes to snort amphetamines. The men case the bank and make their plans. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;">The bank manager Reeves (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Tommy Noonan</span></b>) is a sexual deviant. The town librarian Elsie (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sylvia Sydney</span></b>) isn't flying right either. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ernest Borgnine</span></b> appears as a righteously religious Amish farmer who opposes all violence, even in self-defense.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Roboto;">These storylines all come together in the movie's final third. I enjoyed how the director turned up the tension, often just by changing perspective. Lee Marvin was cool, as always. </span><span style="font-family: Roboto;">The film was set in and shot in Arizona. So there's lots of sun but very few shadowy streets, constant rain, or neo-gothic architecture. This was an entertaining movie with some modern attitudes about the dance of life between men and women.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-50383051213757260912022-12-10T05:30:00.004-05:002022-12-10T05:30:00.191-05:00Popeyes Chicken And Roaches<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Do you like Popeyes Chicken? If so you will be excited to know that a Popeyes Chicken location on Detroit's east side was giving its customers bonus protein in their order in the form of grease fed sustainably sourced humanely raised roaches. For some strange reason an unnamed Doordash employee blew the whistle. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">The restaurant location has closed down for cleaning and extermination. Still my bet is that it won't be much longer before the location has re-opened. Then customers will once again be able to get some wriggling insect treats to go along with their greasy poultry, all free of charge! Yum, yum eat em up!!</span></div><p><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WVzVSzQgVUs" title="Popeyes shut down after viral cockroach video" width="700"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-89575732723737238952022-12-03T06:00:00.009-05:002022-12-03T06:00:00.198-05:00Movie Reviews: I, Madman<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Prompt; font-size: x-large;">I, Madman<br />directed by Tibor Takacs</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Catamaran; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPsjHab-VeLFzVOOnhvvOxidWl3jxP_2PsiZnZ-HXzXMy3L866P2-MFdOfj_Qa1pEgTsSveQVlTU_ngWITFcr67TdNwYfzoLTtQeliO4a1SZ8ogsziLGkwy36mxVDFhNEG-TPeEALwwj9AKhPfC2uSYx7RoXZaqgEm-c_OhfyLrt7GGt4FPTq5Ue_/s1917/I_Madman_Movie1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1917" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPsjHab-VeLFzVOOnhvvOxidWl3jxP_2PsiZnZ-HXzXMy3L866P2-MFdOfj_Qa1pEgTsSveQVlTU_ngWITFcr67TdNwYfzoLTtQeliO4a1SZ8ogsziLGkwy36mxVDFhNEG-TPeEALwwj9AKhPfC2uSYx7RoXZaqgEm-c_OhfyLrt7GGt4FPTq5Ue_/w640-h338/I_Madman_Movie1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Prompt;">This horror movie is visually and thematically a homage to old noir films and pulp detective/adventure stories that usually had an endangered pretty woman, a protective two-fisted hero, and some creepy psycho villain. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Although this 1989 movie was made when standards on horror film depictions of sex and violence were relaxing, this film remained faithful to its influences in that more is implied than is shown. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">I didn't think anything shown or implied was gratuitous. I like horror movies; it takes a lot for me to think that something is gratuitous. Anyhow I never thought that the director was trying to hide a bad story with cleavage shots or buckets of blood.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIwk2UIyr3Y47QC7vlhECGCKTMoR9Fq8Odx6QEjb9fnj-oa3oM517McWNTkbSsFXqGv8ZO6SazUgXdzPp-oe2xYJZmYntBPfh7FPO1Fp9vDmcp4BEgN_m45xDmn0Ew-wX32r2FhUdXSLoEIslo-iRbNro0uL8orNM_o-zdrnAcC-xuUNA-Vkx9KSD/s717/I_Madman_Movie2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="717" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIwk2UIyr3Y47QC7vlhECGCKTMoR9Fq8Odx6QEjb9fnj-oa3oM517McWNTkbSsFXqGv8ZO6SazUgXdzPp-oe2xYJZmYntBPfh7FPO1Fp9vDmcp4BEgN_m45xDmn0Ew-wX32r2FhUdXSLoEIslo-iRbNro0uL8orNM_o-zdrnAcC-xuUNA-Vkx9KSD/w640-h360/I_Madman_Movie2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The best stories are immersive. The reader is transported to that reality. For some young or sensitive souls this may be too much. They might have nightmares. Virginia Clayton (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jenny Wright</span></b>) is such a sensitive soul.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">A used bookstore clerk, Virginia likes nothing more than curling up in her bed with a good pulp horror novel. She's found one by the mysterious author Malcolm Brand who disappeared years ago. Brand writes weird stories with twist endings. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Virginia's (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">not quite live-in</span>) boyfriend, young solicitous homicide detective Richard (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Clayton Rohner</span></b>), dislikes his girlfriend's choice of reading material because he believes it upsets her and almost as importantly it interferes with what he considers to be more important bedroom activities.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYvM7Mn6ZH3r6Bgin5rY1LRqfMFR5pRR2pRBn8i5vbspsH3LKfBAUCuec8aAZQGyN7SR-cMQrhPGkZ6icHd2Wk-xNKZD3FyiDNrKYE93763Je8QVy8bC8Errtoh616q4ZbUGnhjADhMTxz2JDtfLZC7lc7-xt4shvVshXQO31I_JLMSZ4Y0iwzrdE/s1920/I_Madman_Movie3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1920" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYvM7Mn6ZH3r6Bgin5rY1LRqfMFR5pRR2pRBn8i5vbspsH3LKfBAUCuec8aAZQGyN7SR-cMQrhPGkZ6icHd2Wk-xNKZD3FyiDNrKYE93763Je8QVy8bC8Errtoh616q4ZbUGnhjADhMTxz2JDtfLZC7lc7-xt4shvVshXQO31I_JLMSZ4Y0iwzrdE/w640-h342/I_Madman_Movie3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Virginia vainly searches for Brand's out of print second novel, <i>I, Madman</i>, which concerns a mad disfigured doctor. This doctor is a serial killer who seeks to win an actress's love by killing people and using their body parts to rebuild his face.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Virginia can't find the book. It later appears at Virginia's apartment door. Virginia doesn't know how. She's just happy to read it. But Virginia has nightmares and waking dreams about the mad doctor. She thinks that maybe Malcolm Brand (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Randall William Cook</span></b>) isn't dead. Maybe this book isn't fiction.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">Virginia hears Brand talking to her. Richard worries about Virginia's sanity. Virginia witnesses and predicts murders detailed in Brand's book. But saying that a fictional character committed a murder to impress your girlfriend isn't something Richard can tell his bosses.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">This was a decent Saturday afternoon type movie with thrills and chills without too much gore. Cook would later win awards for his special effects work in the<i> Lord of The Rings</i> trilogy. You might recall Wright from <i>Near Dark</i> and <i>The World According to Garp</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CThhGkTY4Y" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-75952169529242311462022-12-03T05:45:00.004-05:002022-12-03T05:45:00.187-05:00Movie Reviews: A Christmas Story<b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: x-large;">A Christmas Story</span></b><div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: x-large;">directed by Bob Clark</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSV6U1F5Ykb1ESuXy77ME0ekPtMtEXk-_bswZg26yS4F-bjCIwNbUkj2PX6nuS41hyX6PNW4GjfslG03mCerCvP12surrgnnAdAFSayuFM24bjRjd-ahmBENfeGj2U3muwAjopzDlodwqyA8CTmHdbwx_wHui14w5yvfypu6yfbB_Yi9b5gQvD6LAL/s2028/A_Christmas_Story2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2028" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSV6U1F5Ykb1ESuXy77ME0ekPtMtEXk-_bswZg26yS4F-bjCIwNbUkj2PX6nuS41hyX6PNW4GjfslG03mCerCvP12surrgnnAdAFSayuFM24bjRjd-ahmBENfeGj2U3muwAjopzDlodwqyA8CTmHdbwx_wHui14w5yvfypu6yfbB_Yi9b5gQvD6LAL/w640-h328/A_Christmas_Story2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />It's nearing the time of year when this movie will be playing all day every day somewhere on a cable or streaming service. If you are under 40 or so you may wonder what the big deal is. Older people such as myself may remember watching the movie and experience a wave of nostalgia. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">I still think the movie is funny. My good feelings about the film are not because the film is always laugh out loud hilarious but because I remember watching this movie with departed family members. So I associate this movie with better times.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">Yes, many of the film's activities and attitudes are now dated. Most mothers work outside the home. Most kids would rather have the latest video game than a BB gun. A lamp of a female leg clad in fishnet stockings would be tame today. And there would be some sort of adult intervention if a child bully and his evil henchman chased other children home from school every day.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">But some things are timeless. Adults and children live in different worlds with different rules. People often have outdated perceptions of younger relatives. Most parents love their children unconditionally.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7RelExX6UkK8ateUtQsR8l_kh4LqcWDtGy7hGqnv_9jPomCasycaSWfB-iRVjrZym9ifsIp57Zl3psleDSvO3DUpdypuKVphPrgx5KdtoqgjSkKly8EZQABQqOSU0zh-HsXBqnK0P29UkJtaiXT7Lw1DnCZyhrgcfrdYGpF5JsVq-4xItfdA1BNg/s1280/A_Christmas_Story1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1280" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7RelExX6UkK8ateUtQsR8l_kh4LqcWDtGy7hGqnv_9jPomCasycaSWfB-iRVjrZym9ifsIp57Zl3psleDSvO3DUpdypuKVphPrgx5KdtoqgjSkKly8EZQABQqOSU0zh-HsXBqnK0P29UkJtaiXT7Lw1DnCZyhrgcfrdYGpF5JsVq-4xItfdA1BNg/w640-h424/A_Christmas_Story1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This story is based on the semi-fictional memories of a man's childhood in 1940s Indiana. The adult Ralph Parker (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Jean Shepard</b>, the author who wrote the book upon which this movie is based)</span> provides a voiceover to his adventures as nine year old Ralphie Parker (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Peter Billingsley</span></b>). Ralphie has a gruff hot tempered father (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Darrin McGavin</span></b> ) known as "The Old Man", a fun but disciplinarian mother (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Melinda Dillon</span></b>) and an oft silly younger brother Randy (<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ian Petrella</span></b>).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">All Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun but everyone dismisses that request, warning him that he'll shoot his eye out. The movie is a series of humorous events which include but are not limited to :</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">Ralphie's unending attempts to trick, guilt trip, or convince his parents or other adults to get him his Red Ryder BB gun</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">Next door neighbors with a pack of irritating dogs</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">The Old Man swearing up a storm (<span style="color: #2b00fe;">all rendered as gibberish</span>) but being outraged when Ralphie does the same</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">Ill-advised triple dog dares that end up with the fire department being called</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">Long lines to see Santa</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">The aforementioned lamp that Mrs. Parker hates</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">Mrs. Parker's habit of bundling Randy up so tightly for winter that he can't get up if he falls</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: Titillium Web; font-size: medium;">All in all a good fun movie. If you haven't seen it you should. There's a lot of irreverence and some occasional breaking of the 4th wall when Ralphie looks at the camera and grins. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfjEZ88NHBw" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-70456501492362969572022-12-03T05:40:00.000-05:002022-12-03T05:40:00.194-05:00Labrador and Bearded Dragon Share Salad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Labrador and Bearded Dragon share salad. Or rather the Labrador eats all the good stuff while the lizard eats the lettuce. But sometimes that's what friends do isn't it, take all the good parts and leave you with wilted lettuce.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='650' height='450' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwR144NBDFwMGag6FwQ1ft7VH4VQCCW_S8_pgvH1Mxnsf0kfa-6mwpZIK0tjKVLiCUouKy8bvgGbqf9tYU-lA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-33762900646973031702022-11-26T06:00:00.010-05:002022-11-26T06:31:58.240-05:00Movie Reviews: Fuzz<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: Prompt; font-size: x-large;"><b>Fuzz<br />directed by Richard Colla</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKVRvZVtWXKCNJzWQ0jEIuCacl8HERZHRbvsov8TqV8TYKtrraCYCKIpX61QTmUDDBnJi1tl1PGU3G4eEhhb1Wr7xJWLBvkPr9lcXQ5AAUta2lmBfBaOkYKOxY5y6FnCt2DJhCdvUfd-EwfSMCdHPh7h_QrpVAwC3BDTW4XRQJo1yB6vuBqlKXmpF/s1000/Fuzz_Movie1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKVRvZVtWXKCNJzWQ0jEIuCacl8HERZHRbvsov8TqV8TYKtrraCYCKIpX61QTmUDDBnJi1tl1PGU3G4eEhhb1Wr7xJWLBvkPr9lcXQ5AAUta2lmBfBaOkYKOxY5y6FnCt2DJhCdvUfd-EwfSMCdHPh7h_QrpVAwC3BDTW4XRQJo1yB6vuBqlKXmpF/w640-h360/Fuzz_Movie1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />This 1972 movie was based on the novel of the same name written by Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Lombino, who is best known by his pen name of Ed McBain. Hunter also wrote the film's screenplay. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;">Many of "McBain's" novels were set in NYC's 87th precinct but this movie was set in Boston. <i>Fuzz</i> had two big stars in<b> <span style="color: #2b00fe;">Burt Reynolds</span> </b>and <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Raquel Welch</span></b> but they didn't</span><span style="font-family: Prompt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Prompt;">click together for at least two reasons.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">(1) The film was conceived and executed as an ensemble "dramedy". </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">(2) According to Reynolds, Welch was not happy, to put it mildly, that Reynolds had higher billing and the associated higher pay. Welch refused to work with Reynolds. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Prompt;"><span>Their two characters were rarely in the same scene together and again according to Reynolds when they were Welch insisted on using body doubles for dialogue so that she wouldn't be there. </span>Welch was also annoyed with what she thought was excessive attention to her beauty/body; she made the director tone down a scene she thought was needlessly revealing.</span><span style="font-family: Prompt;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgj61vSS1S7pZZhS4kdtcTT0-nFfz4VsVb9RktLnFdNzY5aeEIzL4294CelTHMgMgKcrtfuRIXTlyaZzOV2FiYBSWL-LsDqx7Jw2YpgsS_vnd5SI2mdNjMDr6BlIxhFqZBLcZhmSbVMXfxZEnKHnZUTlC1yPLCdg0P7ysQNKo8fswBJ4mPbhAIQOO/s1024/Fuzz_Movie2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="1024" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgj61vSS1S7pZZhS4kdtcTT0-nFfz4VsVb9RktLnFdNzY5aeEIzL4294CelTHMgMgKcrtfuRIXTlyaZzOV2FiYBSWL-LsDqx7Jw2YpgsS_vnd5SI2mdNjMDr6BlIxhFqZBLcZhmSbVMXfxZEnKHnZUTlC1yPLCdg0P7ysQNKo8fswBJ4mPbhAIQOO/w640-h330/Fuzz_Movie2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />As mentioned this is a dramedy-a mixture of drama and comedy. The comedy is not slapstick. It's just rumination on life's absurdities. A typical example is when an earnest white city electrician assures a Black detective that he's not racist because after all he gets along with <racial slur> just fine. The detective's reaction is direct. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">In Boston's 87th precinct a group of bumbling detectives must solve a number of crimes. These include a serial rapist, a string of robberies, a rash of arson attacks on homeless men, and an extortionist who is targeting high ranking city politicians and officials for murder. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">And if that's not enough on the cops' plate, the police station is being repainted. It's chaos. The painters have people working in the wrong offices, have moved or damaged important files, talk all the time, and worst of all are very slow workers.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1T2z52FrlxofaNNBn00GstJ7UFFLoVTrlc9BkZhltw7BbOHCoCjDAOazwgI6GG5EypY_C3nZGgOi9BN7gp5SyIJfky-KwrY0HKcy8aHw74oYRDtJmrOtamkC4Yk-eJLP2mgbjkRrcdcQsK-qeGdRVmpnD0tpt2QMJCvVIkUZ7noHOYwLQQPReZ1rk/s1440/Fuzz_Movie3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1T2z52FrlxofaNNBn00GstJ7UFFLoVTrlc9BkZhltw7BbOHCoCjDAOazwgI6GG5EypY_C3nZGgOi9BN7gp5SyIJfky-KwrY0HKcy8aHw74oYRDtJmrOtamkC4Yk-eJLP2mgbjkRrcdcQsK-qeGdRVmpnD0tpt2QMJCvVIkUZ7noHOYwLQQPReZ1rk/w640-h480/Fuzz_Movie3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The detectives include <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Reynolds</span></b> and <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Welch</span></b>, along with <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Tom Skerritt</span></b>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jack Weston</span></b>, and <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">James McEachin</span></b>. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Yul Brynner</span></b> appears as a mysterious criminal mastermind..</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">There are many mistakes and mixups. My problem with the movie is that I didn't think that it properly balanced the humor with the seriousness of the crimes. There are people being raped, murdered, and set on fire. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;">One minute the viewer is smirking at some bureaucratic paradox and the next some politician is being shot in the head. Some directors/writers can tie together those events better than others. Much of the film's humor would likely not go over well today. The movie ran a little long at ninety minutes. But it definitely has that seventies vibe that I like.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW-hjEx2y0Q" target="_blank">TRAILER</a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533313874759181421.post-46983610009862093052022-11-26T05:45:00.003-05:002022-11-26T05:45:00.183-05:00Rhino Wakes Up Dog<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Prompt; font-size: large;">Don't you hate when people wake you up from a deep sleep? Maybe you react just like this dog did when a friendly and curious rhino interrupted the canine's beauty rest.</span></div><p><br /></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">If you wanted any proof that the Rhinos are really gentle 😊😊 <a href="https://t.co/6WhK5VMyqr">pic.twitter.com/6WhK5VMyqr</a></p>— Susanta Nanda (@susantananda3) <a href="https://twitter.com/susantananda3/status/1592552700100902912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com