Yearly Archives: 2018

Special Memorial Day Edition: THE DEVIL’S BRIGADE (United Artists 1968)

Posted on by gary loggins

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In the wake of 1967’s THE DRITY DOZEN came a plethora of all-star, similarly themed films. THE DEVIL’S BRIGADE is one of those, though just a bit different: it’s based on the true-life exploits of the First Special Service Force, a collection of American misfits straight from the stockades and the crack, highly disciplined Canadian military, forging them into one cohesive fighting unit.

William Holden  heads the cast as Lt. Col. Robert Frederick, tasked with putting the units together. His seconds-in-command are the cigar chomping American Major Brecker (Vince Edwards) and proud Canadian Major Crown (Cliff Robertson). The Americans, as rowdy a bunch of reprobates as there ever was, include Claude Akins , Luke Askew, Richard Jaeckel, and Tom Troupe, while the Canadians are represented by the likes of Richard Dawson, Jeremy Slate, and Jack Watson , war movie vets all.  Andrew Prine is also aboard as an AWOL…

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One Hit Wonders #14: “The Ballad of The Green Berets” by SSgt. Barry Sadler (RCA Victor Records 1966)

Posted on by gary loggins

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The year was 1966. The month was May. The Vietnam War was dividing the country as the U.S. made their way into Cambodia, civil rights marchers were  protesting across the nation, and China set off their third nuclear bomb. Rock and roll ruled the pop charts, as The Rolling Stones were having their 19th nervous breakdown, Nancy Sinatra’s boots were made for walkin’, Bobby Fuller fought the law (and the law won), but it was Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, an Army medic who served in Vietnam, who began a five-week run at #1 on the Billboard charts with “The Ballad of The Green Berets”:

The music charts weren’t as polarized then as they are now. Besides all the latest rock hits, you could find traditional pop (“My Love”, Petula Clark), R&B (“Uptight”, Stevie Wonder), country (“Cryin’ Time”, Ray Charles), instrumentals (“Theme from Zorba the Greek”, Tijuana Brass), even blues (“Scratch…

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Music Video Of The Day: Arlington by Trace Adkins (2009, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m not really a country music fan but it does seem to be the best genre to go to if you’re looking for a good Memorial Day song.   Add to that, I may not be a country music fan but I do like Trace Adkins because he’s like the perfect Texan, even if he is from Louisiana.

To quote from the video’s description on YouTube: “Arlington” is sung from the viewpoint of a soldier, killed in battle and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. It was inspired by United States Marine Corps Corporal Patrick Nixon, who died in battle in 2003.

Someone needs to make a TV show where Trace Adkins and Sam Elliott ride across America on motorcycles and solve crimes.

 

Lisa’s Week In Review: 5/21/18 — 5/27/18

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week started out poorly but it got better on Tuesday.  That’s when I came across an interesting statistic. Only 21% of American adult have a twitter account.  Why is this important?  Because we tend to assume that the worst people online represent all of humanity when, in all reality, most people aren’t even online.  Once I realized that, this week got a lot better!

Anyway, it’s the holiday weekend!  Erin and I spent it at our uncle’s!  I got to work on my tan.  I got to hang out with family.  It was the perfect way to end a week.

Here’s what else I got accomplished!

Movies I Watched:

  1. Boulevard Nights (1979)
  2. Clown (2014)
  3. Deadpool 2 (2018)
  4. Fiance Killer (2018)
  5. Killer Ending (2018)
  6. Killer Island (2018)
  7. Mistress Hunter (2018)
  8. Mommy’s Little Angel (2018)
  9. Six: The Mark Unleashed (2004)
  10. This Island Earth (1956)
  11. The Unmiracle (2017)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. American Idol
  2. The Americans
  3. Archer: Danger Island
  4. Cheaters — It was a Joey Greco episode!  Though, sadly, not the one where he got stabbed…
  5. Dancing With The Stars: Athletes
  6. Doctor Phil
  7. Fear the Walking Dead
  8. Extreme Measures
  9. Ghost Whisperer
  10. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  11. iZombie
  12. King of the Hill
  13. Legion
  14. Miss USA 2018
  15. Murder Calls
  16. The Perfect Murder
  17. Roseanne
  18. Saved By The Bell
  19. The Split
  20. Survivor 36
  21. The Terror
  22. Westworld

Books I Read:

  1. Space Oddyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpice (2018) by Michael Benson
  2. Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir (2018) by John Banville

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Above & Beyond
  2. Adi Ulmansky
  3. Blanck Mass
  4. Blondie
  5. The Chemical Brothers
  6. Christopher Lee
  7. Chromatics
  8. Fitz and the Tantrums
  9. Goblin
  10. Jakalope
  11. Kama Vardi
  12. Kedr Levanskiy
  13. Meg Myers
  14. Nedelle Torrisi
  15. Saint Motel
  16. Talking Heads
  17. Zoe Johnston

Links From Last Week:

  1. Kevin Smith says Ben Affleck hasn’t spoken to him in years.
  2. Strong, assertive, and surprisingly feminist – why there’s nothing ‘offensive’ about Bond girls
  3. Showtime to air uninterrupted Twin Peaks marathon in June!
  4. The Cultural Vandalism of Jeffrey Tambor by Matt Zoller Seitz.  I’ve never struggled with separating the art from the artist but, as always with Seitz, this is still an interesting and even important read.
  5. On her photography site, my sister invited us all to look up!

Links From The Site:

  1. Erin honored the memory Bill Gold and celebrated World Redhead Day (as everyone should)!
  2. Gary reviewed Die, Monster, Die and paid tribute to Clint Walker!
  3. Leonard shared the Too Old To Die Young trailer and reviewed Solo!
  4. Case gave us his own thoughts on Solo!
  5. Ryan reviewed By Monday I’ll be Floating In The Hudson With The Other Garbage and The Fuhrman Tapes, along with sharing his weekly reading round-up!

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

Have a great week everyone!

4 Shots From 4 Vincent Price Films: The Last Man on Earth, The Masque of the Red Death, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, The Witchfinder General

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots from 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is Vincent Price’s birthday!  This edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films is dedicated to him, his memory, and his career!

4 Shots From 4 Vincent Price Films

The Last Man on Earth (1964, dir by Ubaldo Ragona)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964, dir by Roger Corman)

Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966, dir by Mario Bava)

The Witchfinder General (1968, dir by Matthew Reeves)

Music Video of The Day: The Bloody Verdict of Verden by Christopher Lee (2012, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Christopher Lee’s birthday so it only seems appropriate that today’s music video of the day should be for a song that appeared on Lee’s first full-length album of original music, Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross.  This was a “concept album” about the life of the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne.

To be absolutely honest, this really isn’t my type of music but Christopher Lee was one of the greatest actors ever and if anyone earned the right to a vanity project or two, it was him.

Enjoy!

Weekly Reading Round-Up : 05/20/2018 – 05/26/2018, Brian Canini And Pat Aulisio

Posted on by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

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

Let’s talk some mini comics! I’ve been getting a ton of them in the mail lately and am doing my best to keep up (if you’ve sent me some and haven’t seen ’em reviewed yet, rest assured, I’m getting around to everything in the next week or two — and if you haven’t sent me any but want to, get in touch!), so let’s dive right in and take a look at some of what’s been coming my way, starting with a trio from our old friend Brian Canini and his Drunken Cat Comics self-publishing imprint —

Roulette is a stark and unforgiving (just check out that cover) eight-pager about a couple “dudebros” who have hit rock bottom and are indulging in the preferred method of drunken Russians to end their suffering. What exactly brought the pair of them to this point is only hinted at, but it’s not like…

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