Monthly Archives: August 2018

What’s In The “Space Basket” ?

Posted on by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)'s avatarRyan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse

Maybe I’m just a masochist, but for whatever reason, comics that utterly defy description are almost always my favorite to read, and without question always my favorite to review. As a reader, they force me outside my comfort zone, and require me to consider what I’m experiencing in a deliberative manner; to question the function of the work certainly, but also, at the best of times, the form. Trying to figure out what’s happening on the page (assuming such a thing can be done), is only half the battle — why what’s happening is being communicated and presented in the way it is, deciphering the reasons for the choices the cartoonist has made, that’s the other half. And it can often be the more richly rewarding part of the equation.

As a critic, all of the above still applies, of course, but I’m also called upon to examine my…

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Bump’N’Grind: LADY OF BURLESQUE (United Artists 1943)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

Famed striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee published a steamy mystery novel called “The G-String Murders” in 1941, all about backstage intrigue at a burlesque house. The book was a best seller, and so of course Hollywood came a-calling, and William Wellman was assigned the director’s job for LADY OF BURLESQUE, a somewhat sanitized version of Gypsy’s racy tome, though Wellman and screenwriter James Gunn got away with what they could in those heavy-handed Production Code days.

The film opens with the glittering lights of The Great White Way, then takes a turn onto 42nd Street, where benevolent burlesque impresario S.B. Foss (J. Edward Bromberg) has purchased the old Opera House to present his bump’n’grind shows. Barbara Stanwyck plays new headliner Dixie Daisy, and (as they said back then) va-va-voom…

La Stanwyck is some kinda hot in her skimpy Edith Head-designed costume! Dixie sings “Take It Off the E-String, Put It…

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Music Video of the Day: All Out of Love by Air Supply (1980, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

A few years ago, you couldn’t turn on a television past midnight without coming across the Time-Life Classic Soft Rock infomercial.

It was hosted by the members of the Australian soft rock duo Air Supply, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell.  While sitting in a very wholesome-looking living room, the Russells talked about how much they loved soft rock and how happy they were that Time-Life was now giving a new generation a chance to get mellow with Elton John, Peter Frampton, REO Speedwagon, and Seals & Croft.  Graham Russell played his guitar and a chirpy co-host said, “I can’t believe that I’m meeting Air Supply!”

The path to infomercial super stardom began in 1975 when Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock were both cast in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar.  They formed Air Supply in 1976 and went on to become superstars in Australia.  They also had eleven hits in the United States, five of which had the word “love” in the title.  Their biggest hit was All Out Of Love.

What do you say, everyone?

Are you ready to soft rock?

The song’s best known lyric, “I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you,” was originally “I’m all out of love, I want to arrest you.”  By arrest, Graham Russell meant that he wanted to capture someone’s attention.  No one found the lyric to be strange in Australia but, when it came time to release the song in the United States, Arista Records’s Clive Davis feared that listeners would misinterpret the song’s meaning.  It was Davis who came up with the new lyrics.

Years later, when Songfacts asked Graham Russell whether “I want to arrest you,” is a common Australian saying, he had this to say:

“It really isn’t. I think it was just me using a weird word. But, you know, now I think of it, it’s definitely very weird. There are certain words that you just don’t use when you’re writing songs. And ‘arrest’ is one of them. Words like ‘cabbage’ or ‘cauliflower,’ like that. There are certain words that just aren’t poetic. And ‘arrest’ is one of them. And I really don’t know why I used it. But Clive called me on it, and the rest became history.”

4 Shots from 4 Films: Happy Birthday Robert Mitchum

Posted on by gary loggins

4 Shots from 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and reaps that we usually post, 4 Shots from 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking. Acting icon Robert Mitchum was born on this date in 1917, and in his honor, here are four shots from four of his best films (and with a 50-plus year career, it was tough to choose just four!):

His Kind of Woman (RKO 1951; D: John Farrow)

Night of the Hunter (United Artists 1955; D: Charles Laughton)

Cape Fear (Universal 1962; D: J. Lee Thompson)

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Paramount 1973; D: Peter Yates)

No Trigger Warning Can Protect You From The Dangerous Covers Of Dime Detective Magazine!

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Artist Unknown

It’s a dangerous world out there and here to prove it is Dime Detective Magazine!  Dime Detective was one of the most popular of the classic pulp magazines, running for 274 issues between 1931 and 1953.  Dime Detective was known for its outrageous covers.  Here’s just a few of them:

by H. William Ruesswig

by H. William Reusswig

by John Newton Howitt

by Malvin Singer

by Norman Saunders

by Norman Saunders

by Rafael De Soto

by Walter Baumhofer

Artist Unknown

by John Newton Howitt

Music Video of the Day: Party All The Time by Eddie Murphy (1985, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The year was 1985 and Eddie Murphy was one of the most successful entertainers on the planet.

He was the only star to emerge from the wreckage of Saturday Night Live‘s disastrous sixth season and, by his presence along, he kept the show alive through some tough years.  He had starred in the hit films 48 Hours, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop.  He had even won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for Eddie Murphy: Comedian.  There was only one world left for Eddie Murphy to conquer, the world of music.

How Could It Be, Eddie Murphy’s first musical album, was released in 1985 and it spawned one hit single, the Rick James-produced Party All The Time, a song in which Murphy laments that his woman would rather party than take care of him.  The critics may have hated it but Party All The Time was a hit, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Of course, there was a video:

The main thing that sticks out about this video is how seriously it wants us to take Eddie Murphy as a singer.  Murphy may flash his trademark grin but the video mostly seems to be about convincing us that Murphy was not just another celebrity with a vanity album to sell.  No, Murphy was a professional and, in case you had any doubts, just watch Rick James get down in the control booth!

Look at how much effort Eddie’s putting into the song!

Towards the end of the song, Rick leaves the control booth to perform with Eddie and to make sure we understand that Eddie Murphy is the real deal.

It’s too bad that Eddie’s being so professional because if any song seemed perfect for Murphy’s sarcastic and uninhibited comedic sensibility, it was Party All The Time.

Though Murphy is still best known as a comedian and actor, he has continued to record music.  He even had another minor hit, a R&B song called Put Your Mouth On Me.  (You read that right.)  Though it’s been 25 years since he released his last album, Murphy did receive his first Oscar nomination in 2007 for playing R&B singer James “Thunder” Early in the musical Dreamgirls.

As for Party All The Time, it has more recently found new life as the unofficial anthem of Scotland’s St. Johnstone F.C.

Lisa’s Week In Review: 7/30/18 — 8/5/18

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s been a long week.  On Monday, I got a bit too enthusiastic while dancing and I twisted my ankle the wrong way so I spent most of this week cranky and limping.  So, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do over this upcoming week!

Movies I Watched

  1. Cheerleader Nightmare (2018)
  2. A Father’s Nightmare (2018)
  3. If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? (1971)
  4. I’ll be Watching (2018)
  5. Invaders from Mars (1953)
  6. Invasion USA (1952)
  7. Killer Twin (2018)
  8. Murdered at 17 (2018)
  9. The Nanny is Watching (2018)
  10. A Sister’s Secret (2018)
  11. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
  12. The Woodcarver (2012)

Television Shows I Watched

  1. American Justice
  2. American Pickers
  3. The Bachelorette
  4. Bar Rescue
  5. Big Brother 20
  6. Big Brother After Dark
  7. Casanova Killers
  8. Dark Waters
  9. Evil Lives Here
  10. Ghost Whisperer
  11. Golden State Killer: People Investigates
  12. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  13. King of the Hill
  14. Live PD
  15. The Love Boat
  16. Murder Calls
  17. Murder Comes To Town
  18. Primal Instinct
  19. The Proposal
  20. River Monsters
  21. Sharp Edges

Books I Read

  1. The Battle for Beverly Hills: a city’s independence and the birth of celebrity politics (2018) by Nancie Clare
  2. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search For The Golden State Killer (2018) by Michelle McNamara

Music To Which I Listened

  1. Adi Ulmansky
  2. Bebe Rexha
  3. Big Data
  4. Camila Cabello
  5. Devon Welsh
  6. DJ Judaa
  7. Elle King
  8. Jack White
  9. Jakalope
  10. Jake Bugg
  11. John’s Children
  12. Soda Fabric
  13. Taylor Swift
  14. The Voidz

Links From Last Week

  1. At her photography site, Erin shared: Fountain Again, When You Look Up, Mushrooms, Rain Driving, MRI Central In The Rain, Gray, and Going to Rain!
  2. At my Dream Journal, I shared dreams about drones and Angelina Jolie!
  3. On my music site, I shared music from Soda Fabric, Jake Bugg, Adi Ulmansky, Devon Welsh, Bebe Rexha, The Voidz, and Jack White.
  4. On SyFyDesigns, I wrote about Venezuela.
  5. Nicolas Winding Refn Just Launched His Free Cult Genre Film Streaming Service, byNWR
  6. Zombie Flesh Eaters – 4K Blu-ray restoration coming soon

Links From The Site

  1. Erin profiled A. Leslie Ross and shared artwork from James Avati, Modest Stein, herself, J. Allen St. John, James Avati again, an unknown artist, and Edmund Emshwiller!
  2. Gary reviewed Bend of the River, Blockheads, and Saps at Sea and took a look at the Sci-Fi World of Irwin Allen!
  3. Jeff shared music videos from U2, Inner Circle, Blotto, Iron Maiden, Tears For Fears, Stakka Bo, and Whitesnake, along with wishing Spider-Man a happy birthday and sharing this week’s trailer round-up!
  4. Ryan reviewed Red Winter, The Enemy From Within, Five Perennial Virtues, and shared his weekly reading round-up!
  5. I reviewed Invasion U.S.A., paid tribute to Mario Bava, and shared the trailer for If Beale Street Could Talk!

Want to see what I did last week?  Click here!

What Lisa Watched Last Night #188: Killer Twin (dir by David Langlois)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched the latest Lifetime original film, Killer Twin!

Why Was I Watching It?

Well, it was on Lifetime, of course.

Plus, I love movies about evil twins!

What Was It About?

As babies, twin sisters Amber and Kendra were both abandoned at the same orphanage.  The head of the orphanage, Eunice (Bronwen Smith), took an instant dislike to Amber but always liked Kendra.  When it looked like the sisters had a chance to be adopted, Eunice arranged for Kendra to go off with new parents while Amber remained at the orphanage.

30 years later and Kendra doesn’t even remember that she had a sister.  However, Amber remembers.  Kendra has a great life, with a good job and a nice husband (Jason Cermak) and a big house.  Amber has … well, Amber has a lot of bitterness.  When Amber manages to track down Kendra, she sets out to make her sister’s life a living Hell.  That means breaking into her house, ruining her credit, lusting after her husband, and … even murder!

(They couldn’t call it Killer Twin if one of the twins wasn’t a killer!)

What Worked?

Occasionally, a supporting character will pop up in one of these movies and, despite having limited screen time, they’ll become something of a cause célèbre  for those of us watching.  In Killer Twin, that character was Marvin (Nelson Wong).  Marvin was a totally nice, friendly, and professional guy who worked at a bank.  When he suspected that Amber might be imitating her sister, Amber reacted by hitting him in the head with a safe deposit box and then running out of the bank.

Now, here’s the thing.  Amber hit Marvin pretty hard.  A lot of us were convinced that Marvin was dead.  BUT NO!  Marvin not only lived but he went back to his desk and called the police!  YAY MARVIN!  After that happened, I think we all definitely wanted Justice for Marvin.

As for the rest of this film, it was a good and entertaining Lifetime movie.  It was totally over-the-top, melodramatic, and fun.  Lindsay Hartley was obviously having a ball getting to play two totally opposite characters and director David Langlois and cinematography Jan Klompje brought some visual flair to the story.  There was one shot in particular, in which Amber seemed to literally emerge from the Seattle fog, that was especially impressive.  Visually, Lifetime films have come a long way.

What Didn’t Work?

It all worked!  If you can’t enjoy a good killer twin movie, I worry about you.

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

You know, at the start of the movie, I was pretty much Team Amber.  I mean, I went through a whole period of time when I only wore black and I refused to smile and I’m actually kind of amazed that people put up with me while all that was going on.  I knew that Amber was serious about her scheme when she removed her nose ring because seriously, nose rings are almost as painful to take out as they are to put in!  I speak from personal experience.

But then, of course, Amber hit Marvin and I lost sympathy for her.  Leave Marvin alone!

Lessons Learned

Marvin is indestructible and evil twin movies are always fun!