Monthly Archives: February 2022

Artwork of the Day: Snowslide (by Griffith Foxley)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

by Griffith Foxley

This is from 1950 and I really hope that it’s not a story about what’s about to happen down here over the next few days. It’s supposed to snow today. Last year, it snowed at this time and there were people who had to go days without power. That was not a fun snowslide.

This cover was done by Griffith Foxley.

Music Video of the Day: The Girls Are Fighting by Bloc Party (2022, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

But why are the girls fighting!?

Seriously, it’s a strange song and a strange video.  Myself, I don’t have the slightest idea how to throw a punch.  When I was like 5, I was crying because some bigger girls were bullying me and my grandmother told me that I needed to break their noses.  She didn’t really explain how I was supposed to do that, though.  And I’m glad that she didn’t because I don’t believe in violence.  At heart, I’m a pacifist.  Plus, I actually broke my nose once and it hurt like Hell.  I wouldn’t wish that type of pain on anyone, other than a certain ex-boyfriend and the two bitches who ran a friend of mine off twitter this past weekend.  That’s all I’ll say about that.  I don’t believe in spiritual karma but I do believe in karma as a self-fulfilling prophecy.  And if you’re so empty and foul-hearted that you have no trouble attacking a stranger who was just trying to talk about something that he enjoyed …. well, then you’re pretty much destined to be miserable no matter what happens in your life.  They say most people’s destinies have been determined by the time they turn 5.  So, if you’re reading this right now, get used to whatever your life is like right now.

If I was in the ring, it would probably be like round one on this video, a bunch of punches and jabs that don’t actually make contact.  I have a feeling that it would hurt to punch someone, which is one reason why I don’t have any interest in doing that.  My hands are too pretty for bruises.

A friend of mine in Scotland turned me onto Bloc Party.  I like them a lot.  Their new album, Alpha Games, is set to be released on April 29th, 2022.

Enjoy!

hey! hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
hey! hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
hey! hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
hey! hey! hey!
i do my grieving early

its a riot at infernos, the filth are on their way
lusty casanova, been making eyes again
the bouncers made a movie, upload it to world star,
scrag fight!
she wants to send a message but she’s taken it too far
there’s blood on the dancefloor extensions on the bar
i blame the Jägermeister and the vodka lemonade
and now these boys can’t cope

hey! hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
and the boys can’t cope
hey! hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
and the boys can’t cope
hey! hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
and the boys can’t cope
hey! hey! hey!
i do my grieving early

how many times will he use the same lines?
how many maidens will fall for his charms?
how many? how many?
he crossed a line he should never have crossed
he promised her things

hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
and the boys can’t cope
how many times will he use the same lines?
hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
and the boys can’t cope
how many times will he use the same lines?
hey! hey!
the girls are fighting
and the boys can’t cope
how many times will he use the same lines?
hey! hey!
(ooh!) the girls are fighting
the girls, the girls, the girls, the girls
the boys, the boys, the boys can’t cope x4

The Big Stampede (1932, directed by Tenny Wright)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

On the New Mexico frontier, war is breaking out behind rancher Sam Chew (Noah Beery) and rustler Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni).  Both want to control the land and the cattle that graze upon it and innocent settlers are getting trapped in the middle!  The governor decides to send a young sheriff named John Steele to maintain order.  No sooner has Steele arrived then he meets a young woman (Mae Madison) and her father, who have both been attacked by and had their cattle stolen by Sam Chew.  After Sonora Joe and his gang save his life from Sam’s men, Steele realizes that Sam is more malicious and dangerous than Sonora Joe so he decides that the best way to handle the situation is to deputize Joe and team up with him to stop Sam and his men.  It’s a tall order but John Steele is just the man to handle it because John Steele is John Wayne!

This was one of the many B-westerns that the former Marion Morrison made in the decade before John Ford made him a star by casting him in Stagecoach.  Wayne was always a good hero, even in a 54-minute programmer like this one.  Though there is, as the title promises, an impressive stampede, Wayne is the main attraction here, with Noah Beery serving as a good heavy as always.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about this movie, if you’re a western or a John Wayne fan, is that Wayne’s horse is named Duke.  This was one of six films that Wayne made with Duke. Back in the 30s, the horses were often as a big a star as the men who rode them and, from the posters I’ve seen, it does appear that The Big Stampede was advertised as starring, “John Wayne and DUKE!”  At least Wayne was still able to get top billing.

The Big Stampede had previously been made as a silent film and the remake reuses a lot of old footage from the original.  John Wayne, needless to say, did not star in the original film, though he did wear the same costume that Ken Maynard wore in an attempt to keep people from noticing that the footage didn’t always match.  It’s not a totally successful ploy, though undemanding audiences in 1932 probably accepted it.  The Big Stampede would be remade one more time, in 1936, with Dick Foran taking the starring role.

4 Shots From 4 John Ford Films: The Informer, Stagecoach, The Quiet Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More 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!

Yesterday was John Ford’s birthday.  Better late than never, here are four shots from four of my favorite John Ford films!

4 Shots From 4 John Ford Films

The Informer (1935, directed by John Ford. Cinematography by Joseph August)

Stagecoach (1939, directed by John Ford, Cinematography by Bert Glennon)

The Quiet Man (1952, directed by John Ford. Cinematography by Winton C. Hoch)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, directed by John Ford. Cinematography by William Clothier)

Music Video of the Day: Break The Rules by Charli XCX (2014, dir by Marc Klasfeld)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Needless to say, I support this message.  All rules should be broken.

Also, the top of a school bus apparently makes for a good performance space.  Actually, the same thing can probably be said of all buses in general.  If you’ll remember the classic film Degrassi Goes Hollywood, Studz ended up performing on top of a bus and really impressing Kevin Smith.  As anyone who watched Degrassi can tell you, Studz was actually a pretty sucky band that only had about three songs (one of which was that terrible House Arrest song) so obviously it was not the band’s sound that won Kevin Smith’s attention.  Instead, it was all about the fact that they were standing on top of a bus….

At least, that’s the way I remember it.  It’s been a while since I watched the movie.  They could have been standing on a van, to be honest.  Or maybe they were on one of those boats that got jammed up in the Suez Canal last year.  I don’t quite remember.  I probably need to watch Degrassi Goes Hollywood again, both for the bus performance and the Ellie/Craig scenes.  Perhaps that’s what we should all do this week.  Canada needs the love, eh?

Anyway, break the rules.  I’m going to start by parking wherever I feel like parking.  Take that, parking police!

Enjoy!

Ride Lonesome (1959, directed by Budd Boetticher)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In the western Ride Lonesome, Randolph Scott plays Ben Brigade. Brigade is a bounty hunter. The only thing that really differentiates him from the outlaws that he captures is that he gets paid for what he does. When Brigade arrests a young outlaw named Billy John (James Best), he gives Billy just enough time to send word to his older brother, Frank (Lee Van Cleef). And when Brigade starts to lead Billy John back to the town of Santa Cruz, he takes his time and fails to cover his tracks, almost as if he is intentionally making time for Frank to eventually catch up to him. Along the way, Brigade meets up with three others, a woman named Carrie (Karen Steele) and two outlaws named Boone (Pernell Roberts) and Whit (James Coburn). Carrie is searching for her husband while Boone and Whit want to arrest Billy John themselves so that they can turn him in and get a pardon for their own crimes.

Ride Lonesome is one of the best of the many films that Randolph Scott made with director Budd Boetticher.  Boetticher specialized in making fast-paced westerns that had deceptively simple plots.  Nobody in a Boetticher western was totally good or totally bad and that’s certainly the case with Ride Lonesome, which may seem like a typical western but which is actually a character study of 6 very different people.  Brigade is often only the hero by default and his actions are often as ruthless as those of the men who are tracking him.  It’s only after he meets and gets to know Carrie that he starts to seriously consider that his plans could lead to innocent people getting hurt. Billy John may be a wanted killer but, underneath his bravado, he’s just someone trying to live up to his brother’s example.  Meanwhile, Boone and Whit may be outlaws but they turn out to be the most morally upright characters in the film.  Ride Lonesome takes a serious look at frontier justice and suggests that maybe black-and-white morality isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Needless to say, the cast is great.  Randolph Scott was one of the great western heroes and Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts, Lee Van Cleef, and James Best all turn in memorable performances.  Best of all is James Coburn, making his film debut and showing that, even at the start of his career, he was already the epitome of cool.  Ride Lonesome is one of the best of of the Boetticher/Scott westerns and a true classic of the genre.