Artwork of the Day: The Absence of a Cello (by Victor Kalin)

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Dazzling Erin

by Victor Kalin

The Absence of a Cello was originally written in 1960. It’s a satire about a scientist who needs a job but who isn’t sure that he’ll be able to fit in with corporate America. A representative of a company that wants to hire him come to visit him and, with the help of his sister and neighbors, the scientist tries to come across as being the perfect company man.

This book proved popular enough to be adapted into a play, which opened on Broadway in 1964. The same year that the play opened, the book was reissued by Avon Books. Artist Victor Kalin provided the cover for the reissue. Kalin has been featured on this site many times in the past and will undoubtedly be featured again in the future.

Music Video Of the Day: Missing You by John Waite (1984, directed by Kort Falkenberg III)

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

“The biggest thing I remember about ‘Missing You’ is that the night before I went down to Let It Rock, which was a clothes store on Melrose Avenue. I bought a Johnson suit, this black two-piece suit from London that was a beautiful suit. Tiny. I was very thin at the time. And then I went and had all my hair shaved off. I thought, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to go in whole hog, you know. I’m just going to do it flat out European.’

I showed up with a black suit and a crew cut, and it worked. I do everything on instinct, basically, and half of the time it’s a bullseye.”

— John Waite on the music video for Missing You

This video was shot in downtown Los Angeles, near Pershing Square and its popularity on MTV helped to push the song to the top of the US charts. The song was inspired by Waite’s feelings while he was working and away from his wife. Myself, I’ll always think about it as being the song playing on the radio while I was driving a white Cadillac across the beach in Vice City. Unfortunately, I got so into the song that I drove the car straight into the ocean. That was when I discovered that Tommy Vercetti couldn’t swim.

Enjoy!

Lisa’s Week In Review: 3/15/21 — 3/21/21

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

And so another week comes to an end.

After all the drama of the extended awards season and all of the scenarios that we all went through as we tried to predict which films would and would not be nominated, Monday’s Oscar nominations were rather anti-climatic. For the most part, there were no shocking snubs nor were there any truly awful nominations. I can even accept the nominations that Borat received. For those who were hoping for at least one totally weird nod — like Jared Leto for The Little Things — it didn’t happen. (The only real shocker was both Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield being nominated for supporting actor for Judas and the Black Messiah, a film that I guess the Academy decided did not have a lead actor.) For the first time in history, two female directors were nominated. That’s a good thing but, otherwise, the Oscar nominations were, for those of us who love controversy, almost boring.

Of course, I have to admit that I was far more interested in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this week than obsessing over the Oscars. Even though the annual parade got cancelled, I was determined to go out and celebrate and that’s just what I did. I went out and I celebrated my heritage with friends and family and I stepdanced to Celtic folk music and, later on that night, I got a bit too enthusiastic and I missed a few steps and I managed to twist my ankle. It’s really not a holiday unless I manage to injure myself in some way, is it?

Anyway, it’s not a bad sprain. (To be honest, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve sprained and/or strained that ankle.) I spent most of this weekend resting and, when I woke up on Sunday morning, I was feeling a lot better. Of course, as I stumbled around this morning, I managed to accidentally slam my ankle against the coffee table, which led to me doing a lot of cursing and hopping around but I’ve recovered.

Finally, I hosted three live tweet events this week. For #FridayNightFlix, we watched Cocktail, which is on Prime and which everyone of you needs to watch this upcoming week. And then, for Saturday’s #ScarySocial, it was The House On Sorority Row! And then, after #ScarySocial, it was time to watch The Thirty Dead with the #LateNightMovie Gang! And then, just a few hours ago, I watched Deadly Illusions with some of my fellow TSL contributors. Four fun movies with good friends, that’s the perfect way to end your week.

Here’s what I watched, read, and listened to this week:

Films I Watched:

Television Shows I Watched:

9-1-1
Allo Allo
America’s Most Wanted
American Idol
The Bachelor
Bar Rescue
Baywatch
The Bold and the Beautiful
Call Me Kat
Community
Days of Our Lives
Degrassi
The District
General Hospital
Ghost Whisperer
Hell’s Kitchen
Hill Street Blues
Intervention
King of the Hill
Most Daring
Open All Hours
Parking Wars
The Rookies
The Voice
The Walking Dead
Yes, Minister
The Young and the Restless

Books I Read:

Devoted (2020) by Dean Koontz
Gilded Cage: A Russian Mafia Romance (2021) by Nicole Fox

Music To Which I Listened:

Addison Rae
Big Data
Billie Eilish
Bob Dylan
Britney Spears
Brittany Howard
Cage the Elephant
The Chemical Brothers
Coldplay
Daft Punk
Dillon Francis
Dropkick Murphys
Fatboy Slim
Franka Potente
Gary Nunan
Gorillaz
Hans Zimmer
Icona Pop
Imagine Dragons
Jake Bugg
John Carpenter
The KLF
M/A/R/R/S
Madeleine The Person
Muse
Neon Indian
Nine Inch Nails
Olivia Rodrigo
Phantogram
The Prodigy
Public Service Broadcasting
Saint Motel
Selena Gomez
Sleigh Bells
The Selkie Girls
Taylor Swift
Teisto
Zedd

Awards Season:

News From Last Week:

Links From Last Week:

Links From The Site:

I paid tribute to David Cronenberg. I wished everyone a happy St. Patrick’s Day. I reviewed Schizoid, The Beach Girls and the Monster, Top Secret!, The Sound of Metal, Jaws: The Revenge, and The Thirsty Dead!
Erin shared: Love Life of a Hollywood Mistress, Hollywood Hellcat, Fight Stories, Tom Blood Highwayman, Madame Buccaneer, Mystery Adventures Magazine, and La Paree!
Jeff paid tribute to Yaphet Kotto and shared music videos from Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics, U2, 4hero, ABC, The Beach Boys, and Survivor!
Ryan interviewed Sean Knickerbocker!

More From Us:

At SOLRAD, Ryan reviewed Dog Biscuits!
Ryan has a patreon! You should consider subscribing!
At Days Without Incident, Leonard shared a song from Brittany Howard!
At Pop Politics., Jeff shared: Beware The Ides of March, Thoughts of a Former Smoker, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, 2024 Predictions, Here Come The California Recall, Everything You Need To Know, and Andy Kaufman on The Dating Game!
At her photography site, Erin shared: More Old Cameras, Old Flash Bulbs, St. Patrick’s Day Morning, Mourning, Morning, Bird On A Wire, and Made in Texas!
At SyFy Designs, I shared: Perspective, I Miss Spring Break, For St. Patrick’s Day A Poem By William Butler Yeats, St. Patrck’s Day Recap, Ankle Update, What I’ve Learned over The Past Two Days, and Ouch!
At my music site, I shared songs from Phantogram, Gorillaz, Saint Motel, Imagine Dragons, Gary Nunan, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo!
On my online dream journal, I shared: Last Night’s Oscar Dream, Last Night’s Weird Party Dream, Last Night’s Shopping Dream, Last Night’s Dancing Nightmare, Last Night’s Dream About Waiting Out A Tornado While Half-Naked In The Laundry Room, Last Night’s James Franco Dream, and Last Night’s Bad Kitty Dream!
At Horror Critic, I reviewed The Caller, Scissors, Invitation to Hell, Summer of Fear, Cutting Class, The Wraith, and The Food of the Gods!

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

The Writers Guild Honors Promising Young Woman And, For Some Unfathomable Reason, Borat

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Writers Guild of America has announced their picks for the best written films and TV shows of 2020. Below are the three film awards. I’m happy to see Promising Young Woman won for Best Original Screenplay. As for Borat winning for Best Adapted Screenplay …. yeah, okay. The WGA can honor whoever they want but just don’t pretend like Borat won for any reason other than the whole Rudy Guiliani thing. (Does it really take a lot of effort and skill to make Rudy Guiliani look foolish?) That Borat beat both One Night In Miami and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is embarrassing.

Anyway, here’s the winners:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Judas and the Black Messiah – Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King, Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas (Warner Bros.)
Palm Springs – Screenplay by Andy Siara, Story by Andy Siara & Max Barbakow (Hulu)
Promising Young Woman – Written by Emerald Fennell (Focus Features)
Sound of Metal – Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder, Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance (Amazon Studios)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Written by Aaron Sorkin (Netflix)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern, Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad, Based on Characters Created by Sacha Baron Cohen (Amazon Studios)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Screenplay by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Based on the Play Written by August Wilson; (Netflix)
News of the World – Screenplay by Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies, Based upon the Novel by Paulette Jiles (Universal Pictures)
One Night in Miami – Screenplay by Kemp Powers, Based on the Stage Play “One Night in Miami” by Kemp Powers (Amazon Studios)
The White Tiger – Screenplay by Ramin Bahrani, Based on the Book “The White Tiger” by Aravind Adiga (Netflix)

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
All In: The Fight for Democracy – Written by Jack Youngelson (Amazon Studios)
The Dissident – Written by Mark Monroe and Bryan Fogel (Briarcliff Entertainment)
Herb Alpert Is… – Written by John Scheinfeld (Abramorama)
Red Penguins – Written by Gabe Polsky (Universal Pictures)
Totally Under Control – Written by Alex Gibney (Neon)

Artwork of the Day: La Paree (by Earle Bergey)

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Dazzling Erin

by Earle Bergey

This is one of my favorite pulp magazine covers. She’s got a general, a sailor, a boxer, and Mr. Monopoly all on the same string! Which one is her dream man? I’m guessing Mr. Monopoly because he gets $200 every time he passes go.

La Paree was published from 1930 to 1938. This issue is from October of 1935 and for a quarter, readers could learn how she managed to get all those men on the same string. This cover was done by Earle Bergey, an artist who has been featured on this site many times in the past and who will probably be featured many more times in the future.

Music Video of the Day: Burning Heart by Survivor (1985, directed by Jerry Kramer)

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

This song was written for Rocky IV. Survivor also did Eye of the Tiger, which was the anthem for Rocky III so it only made sense to approach them to contribute a training song for Rocky IV. Burning Heart may not be as classic of a song as Eye of the Tiger but there’s no way Rocky could have defeated Ivan Drago without it. And if Rocky hadn’t defeated Drago, the Berlin Wall would never have fallen, America would never have won the Cold War, and Adonis Creed would have had to find a different mentor. Without this song, the world would be a very different place.

The video is a performance clip. There’s another version out there that features clips from Rocky IV.

Enjoy!

Spring Beakdown: The Thirsty Dead (dir by Terry Becker)

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, imagine this.

You’re on vacation in a tropical paradise. (Maybe you’re even there on Spring Break, just so we can justify including this review in my series of Spring Break film reviews.) One night, while wandering around the city, you get grabbed by a bunch of robe-wearing monks. The monks proceed to tie you up and then force you to take a canoe ride from the sewer to the middle of the jungle. Once you reach the jungle, you’re informed that you’ve been kidnapped by a cult that worships a shrunken head in a box. The members of the cult have been around for centuries but they’ve managed to retain their youth by drinking the blood of the women who they kidnap off the streets of the city. Like you, for example.

That would probably freak most people out. That would certainly freak me out. Not only do I not particularly care for the jungle but I’m also pretty attached to my blood. However, when this exact same thing happens in the 1974 film The Thirsty Dead, no one seems to be particularly shocked to hear about it. Instead, the kidnapped women all kind of shrug and accept their fate as if it all makes total sense.

In fact, Claire (Judith McConnell) appears to develop Stockholm Syndrome within record time. She’s a dancer in Manila who, within hours of being kidnapped, is soon joking with her abductors. She makes it clear that she’s apparently fine with being kidnapped and donating her blood to a good cause. It’s never really clear why she’s okay with that but Claire is so determined to do what she wants to do (even if that means being subservient to a bunch of 100 year-old cultists) that it’s hard not admire her stubbornness.

On the other hand, Laura (Jennifer Billingsley) is determined to escape. Even though the members of the cult believe that she’s the reincarnation of one of their goddesses, Laura wants to get back to civilization. She thinks that one of the cultists, Baru (John Considine), might be willing to help her. However, as Baru explains, if he goes too far into the jungle, he’ll lose his youth and basically just waste away.

(Just in case there’s any doubt on the part of anyone reading this review, the cult is right about the whole eternal youth thing. One cultist makes the mistake of venturing too far out into the jungle and transforms from 49 to 50 right in front of our eyes!)

The Thirsty Dead is an odd film. On the one hand, the first few minutes of the film is undeniably sordid. Claire dances in a cage. Laura gets knocked over the head by a cultist and ends up with her hands tied behind her back. The camera lingers on a doll of a baby floating in a sewer. When the women first find themselves in the jungle, Claire jokes about being sold into prostitution and the whole film, up until that point, has had a rather icky feel to it. However, once the cult shows up, The Thirsty Dead suddenly becomes a rather tame film, one that’s almost totally free of graphic gore and sexual innuendo. The Thirsty Dead ultimately feels less like a film and more like an extended episode of some 70s sci-fi show. For a film about a blood-sucking cult, there’s surprisingly little blood. It feels a bit off and, to be honest, it’s a little boring. This is the type of film that calls out for a sleazier approach.

Despite being rather forgettable, The Thirsty Dead has achieved the dubious immortality of being included in several Mill Creek box sets, the ones with names like 100 Horror Classics or 50 Chilling Thrillers. So, in all probability, you’ve got The Thirsty Dead on DVD or Blu-ray without even realizing it. If you somehow don’t already have The Thirsty Dead in your film collection, you can always watch it on YouTube or Prime or probably a hundred other streaming sites. The Thirsty Dead will never die.

Artwork of the Day: Mystery Adventures Magazine (by Alvin Pearson)

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Dazzling Erin

by Alvin Pearson

This cover is from March of 1937 and it was done by an artist named Alvin Pearson, who I don’t think has ever been featured on the site before.

If you’re going to be sneaking on the ledge of a skyscraper, don’t do it in high heels. Take the shoes off. I wouldn’t want to do it in that dress either and I hate to think about the view the people on the ground are getting but, aesthetically, the red dress blowing in the wind is a good image.

Music Video of the Day: Kokomo by The Beach Boys (1988, directed by ????)

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJAyW4sInbs

Having watched Cocktail earlier tonight with Lisa and the FridayNightFlix crew, Kokomo seemed like an obvious choice for today’s music video of the day. Kokomo started out as an unreleased song by John Phillips. When The Beach Boys were commissioned to provide a theme song for Cocktail, Phillips sent the song over. The Beach Boys, of course, put their own spin on the material and the end result was a surprise hit for the band.

The video was shot at the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida, with the band performing in front of an audience that included several cheerleaders from the University of Nevada. This is the only Beach Boys video to not feature Brian Wilson. It does, however, feature actor John Stamos playing the conga. (Stamos, apparently, is a long time friend of the band.)

While I couldn’t find a credited director for this video, it does contain several scenes from Cocktail, which was directed by Roger Donaldson.

Incidentally, at the time this song was recorded, there were no resorts called Kokomo. After the song became a hit, however, several island resorts borrowed the name.

Enjoy!

The Austin Film Critics Association Honors Minari

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today the Austin Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2020 and it was another victory for Minari!

Here are the winners in Austin:

Best Film
First Cow
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Nomadland
Minari
Promising Young Woman

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Kelly Reichardt, First Cow
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Best Actress
Nicole Beharie, Miss Juneteenth
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Coleman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Helena Zengel, News of the World

Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr, One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
David Strathairn, Nomadland
Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Best Original Screenplay
Minari
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Father
The Invisible Man
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Nomadland
One Night in Miami

Best Cinematography
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Tenet

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
Soul
Tenet

Best Foreign Language Film
Another Round
Bacurau
Beanpole
La Llorona
Minari

Best Documentary
Boys State
Collective
Crip Camp
Dick Johnson is Dead
Time

Best Animated Film
Over the Moon
Onward
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Best Ensemble
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
One Night in Miami
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Editing
The Father
Mank
Nomadland
Tenet
Sound of Metal

Best Motion Capture/Special Effects Performance
Luke Davis, The Invisible Man
Andrew Jackson, Tenet
Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Invisible Man
Matt Kasmir, The Midnight Sky
Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man
Terry Notary, Call of the Wild

Best Stunts
Birds of Prey
Extraction
The Invisible Man
The Old Guard
Tenet

Best First Film
Miss Juneteenth
One Night in Miami
Palm Springs
Promising Young Woman
The 40-Year-Old Version

The Robert R. “Bobby” McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award
Radha Blank, The 40-Year-Old Version
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Alan Kim, Minari
Cathy Yan, Birds of Prey

Austin Film Award
Bull
Greenland
The Orange Years
Pahokee
We Can Be Heroes

Special Honorary Award: Honoring “Miss Juneteenth” with a “Texas Spirit” award, for exemplifying the creative output of the film industry here in the Lone Star State, as well as embodying the character of our community.