Monthly Archives: December 2017

BARBIE IN A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2008)

Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2017 continues! Yes, it’s the Christmas Carol adaptation NOBODY asked for … not even KEN!

Barbie in a Christmas CarolBARBIE IN A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2008) – Mattel provides us with a plastic version of the Carol in a plastic cartoon about its plastic creation Barbie. Just as Mr Magoo was an actor portraying Scrooge in Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol, Barbie is the story-teller relating the tale to her younger sister Kelly.  

As in A Diva’s Christmas Carol the Scrooge stand-in here is a female singing star – Eden Starling. Eden’s mean-spirited Aunt Marie has spent a lifetime molding the young songstress into an equally unpleasant figure complete with Aunt Marie’s credo: “In a selfish world, the selfish succeed.” Continue reading

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MAY 2017’s BEST

Balladeer’s Blog’s Best of 2017 resumes with this look at May.

mapNUMBER ONE – Hillary Clinton and her deluded supporters kept manufacturing excuses about her humiliating LOSS to President Donald Trump. (Red counties on map- TRUMP, blue ones – Hillary) The funniest ones involve the way Hillary and her supporters had no clue about how the Electoral College works. No, Hillary-drones, winning California and New York by large margins does NOT make you president – those numbers are meaningless statistics.

This article examining how PRESIDENT TRUMP EVEN DEFEATED HILLARY CLINTON AT IRRELEVANT STATS looked at how Trump crushed Hillary in terms of counties won, states won and geographical area won, but those, too, would have been as meaningless as Hillary’s popular vote in California and New York (LMAO) if he had not won the Electoral College. CLICK HERE  

The Comic bigNUMBER TWO – Balladeer’s Blog’s reviews of bad movies – the more obscure the better – always attract a lot of attention.

In May I reviewed THE COMIC (1985) a bizarre sci-fi/ horror/ post-apocalypse/ art film which boggles the mind with its weirdness. How much of that weirdness was deliberate and how much was caused by ineptitude on the part of the filmmakers? Well, you can decide for yourself. CLICK HERE 

Dr Frank N Furter

NUMBER THREE – My examinations of Ancient Greek Comedies often strike a chord with readers, especially the ones with lots of sex or political jokes in them.

BAPTAE (415-413 B.C.) had a lot going on, including the memorable anecdote about Eupolis – the comedy’s author – running afoul of Alcibiades aboard ship. CLICK HERE

Trump doing rightNUMBER FOUR – Balladeer’s Blog often hypes the need for Third Parties in the U.S. to start whittling down the power of those two rival gangs of white collar criminals called Democrats (DemCorp) and Republicans (RepubCorp).

Donald Trump is a de facto Third Party President. That’s because – unlike garbage like Barack Obama and George W Bush – President Trump is NOT a career politician. American career politicians are among the lowest life-forms on the planet. For confirmation of how well the Donald rocks the crooked boat of American politics see PRESIDENT TRUMP: INFURIATING ALL THE RIGHT PEOPLE by CLICKING HERE 

Star by C I Defontenay betterNUMBER FIVE – Ancient Science Fiction reviews have become a staple here at Balladeer’s Blog.

In May the most popular review of an ancient or vintage science fiction story was STAR: PSI CASSIOPEIA (1854) a “Tolkien in Space” style look at multiple planets in a Trinary Star System. CLICK HERE 

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ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE: THREE DOG NIGHT

From Scrooge’s Rock and Roll Christmas, which I’ve previously reviewed here at Balladeer’s Blog, it’s Three Dog Night performing Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.

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THE LAND OF THE CENTRAL SUN (1903): ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

Land of the Central SunTHE LAND OF THE CENTRAL SUN (1903) – Written by Park Winthrop. The Wintons – Jack and Louise – plus the Livingstons – Bert and Lily – are among the passengers on the ship Golden City when it gets blown off course. The ship winds up near Antarctica and gets trapped in ice.

Damages cause the vessel to start sinking, but some passengers are rescued by the arrival of a (literal) CIGAR-SHAPED aircraft made of metal. The crew members of this mysterious ship are all dwarves and they are captained by Baron Montavo.

The Baron explains to his guests that the ship is called the Meteor and is run by anti-gravity devices in the center and by magnetic devices at the front and back. Montavo pilots the Meteor under the sea and into a subaquatic tunnel which goes on for miles.   Continue reading

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APRIL 2017’s BEST

Balladeer’s Blog’s Best of 2017 continues with the best from April.

Donald Trump rock starNUMBER ONE – We have a tie at Number One – First, President Donald Trump, America’s first de facto Third Party President, has been doing more for the working class of ALL colors than the Democrats or Republicans have in decades. CLICK HERE  

Second, an item about Left-Wing Archie Bunkers who refuse to join the 21st Century. CLICK HERE 

Psycho Gothic LolitaNUMBER TWO – Up next on this countdown is my review of the Japanese horror film PSYCHO GOTHIC LOLITA (2010).

Blood, guts, silly jokes and almost non-stop action are – as always for J-Horror – present in this very entertaining film.

CLICK HERE 

hippyNUMBER THREE – Balladeer’s Blog often deals with the way Left-Wing Archie Bunkers from the 1960s generation distorted the educational system into centers for irrational thought.

Those Faculty Lounge Fascists abuse their positions by browbeating students to agree with their political prejudices. CAL-BERKELEY is their Nuremberg – CLICK HERE

Begotten 4NUMBER FOUR – Another movie review is in fourth place.

This time around it’s my review of the bizarre, horrific movie BEGOTTEN (1990). This is definitely a very unusual film that is definitely not for the squeamish.  

For that review just CLICK HERE 

trump-and-hillary-map-behind-themNUMBER FIVE – Every day that Hillary Clinton is NOT President is great! My Hillary Clinton interview dealt with her defeat at the hands of President Donald Trump, the New Franklin Roosevelt.

For a Hillary Clinton interview the way it SHOULD go read HILLARY EXPLAINS IT ALL by clicking HERE

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ANOTHER ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS: GARY GLITTER

Pope Francis thumbs upThe Pope has vowed not to brush his teeth again until every one of you listens to his favorite singer Gary Glitter performing his old holiday song Another Rock and Roll Christmas.

So here’s one more Yuletide song getting a shoutout from Balladeer’s Blog.

And yes, Gary Glitter’s lip-synching coaches were clearly the same people who used to dub Japanese monster movies into English. He might as well have taken a long drink of water at times during this performance.

But I LOVE the song!

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SCROOGE AND MARLEY (2012): THE GAY CHRISTMAS CAROL

scrooge-marley-2012SCROOGE & MARLEY (2012) – I am still very ill so here’s a rerun for this latest installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-A-Thon for 2017.

Scrooge & Marley is a gay-themed version of the Dickens classic. It’s also a musical, but unfortunately the songs struck me as being as blah as most of Leslie Bricusse’s output in Scrooge (1970).

Previously I’ve examined Ebbie, which is a business-woman themed version of the story, John Grin’s Christmas and Christmas is Comin’ Uptown, which are black-themed versions of the story and even See Hear Presents A Christmas Carol, a sign-language and spoken version aimed at the hearing impaired. 

Scrooge & Marley is an openly and deliberately gay adaptation of the Dickens story. It often falls into the trap of using its gay narrative as a gimmick rather than a theme but that risk just goes with the territory when a creative team is locked into following a previously mapped-out storyline.  

The film is set in the fairly present day and opens up at Ebenezer Scrooge’s gay nightclub called Screws. I was hoping it would be called Screwed, to be reminiscent of the porno version of A Christmas Carol titled Ebenezer Screwed.

At any rate Scrooge is, as usual, a tight-fisted (as it were) hand at the grindstone and treats his employees horribly. Hell, he even fires them if they tip delivery people out of their own pockets! Continue reading

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MARCH 2017’s BEST

I’m very, very ill today so here’s just a look at the Best of March here at Balladeer’s Blog.

bill-paxtonNUMBER ONE – With the passing of eccentric actor Bill Paxton I wanted to do an appropriately weird movie of his to give him an authentic Balladeer’s Blog sendoff.

The movie I decided on was Paxton’s often forgotten flick TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN (1983).

The link to that film review is right HERE

sjws-always-lieNUMBER TWO – SJW’s are among the saddest and most pathetic people alive.

Though they are nothing more than petty informants whose only power comes from the higher authorities they run sniveling to, they laughably consider themselves to be “activists.”

To read SJW’s: LOSERS OR JUST FOOLS? click HERE 

TrainNUMBER THREE – In March I reviewed the 1888 novel A MEXICAN MYSTERY.

That work of Ancient Science Fiction was ahead of its time and dealt with a train engine so well-designed it achieved sentience and began attacking, killing and even feeding on human beings to fuel itself.

Long before Skynet, there was “the Engine.” Click HERE 

Mascot with demo and repub headsNUMBER FOUR – Just as Balladeer’s Blog features Liberals moving on from that outdated label I also feature Conservatives moving on from THAT outdated label.

Here’s a self-described Conservative fed up with the likes of Karl “Miss Piggy” Rove, Kevin Williamson, George Will, Bill Kristol and the repulsive Bush family. Click HERE

TNTNUMBER FIVE – Superheroes are everywhere these days.

Among Balladeer’s Blog’s most popular posts in recent years have been the ones dealing with neglected superheroes and superheroines.

For a look at the neglected CENTAUR COMICS SUPERHERO PANTHEON click HERE

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12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS: RELIENT K

Christmas Time rolls along with another Christmas Song. This time it’s The Twelve Days of Christmas by Relient K.

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TRUMP CARDS II

Mascot with demo and repub headsWhile “Murky” Mueller and his Funky Bunch of Hillary donors continue to prove what a joke their “investigation” is, Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at more Trump Cards. 

But by the way, don’t you love how the new motto of the FBI (Fuggedda Bout Integrity) is “First we COMMIT the crimes, then we INVESTIGATE the crimes, and if you slip us enough incentive sometimes we’ll agree to SOLVE those crimes!”

Michelle Obama*** Anyway, our de facto Third Party President Donald Trump nicely overturned another idiotic policy from Michelle Obama by restoring the choice of chocolate milk for children at schools. It’s a small thing but the fact that that hopelessly embittered woman tried keeping chocolate milk from kids is so typical.

Thankfully now we have a sophisticated First Lady like Melania Trump who SPEAKS MORE LANGUAGES THAN BOTH OBAMAS COMBINED. 

Keith Olbermann*** As expected the Supreme Court AGAIN upheld President Trump’s travel restrictions. I only point this out because the hilariously uninformed people who hate Trump have such short attention spans they always celebrate the pointless challenges as if those ungrounded challenges “prove” Trump did something wrong. 

Elizabeth Warren interns*** A Think Progress Op-Ed recently blasted Faux-cahontas aka PRIVILEGED WHITE WOMAN SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN, who deceptively exploited minority set-asides by pretending to be 1-32nd Cherokee. The Tribe Warren claimed descent from REJECTED that claim long ago which is why President Trump delights in calling the repulsive Warren “Pocahontas.”

Deranged Trump-haters always feign outrage over that but conveniently overlook Warren’s offense, which denied academic employment to deserving minority women. Anyway, the Op-Ed is titled I AM A CHEROKEE WOMAN – ELIZABETH WARREN IS NOT, if you’re interested. Continue reading

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