MARK GREGORY: TEN FILMS

It’s been pointed out to me that for my look at Mark Gregory’s action films I did not provide my usual “all links in one convenient post” item after a series of themed blog posts. Here we go.

adam and eve vs the cannibalsADAM AND EVE VS THE CANNIBALS (1983) – Way back in 2014 I reviewed this quasi-peplum flick starring Mark Gregory, real name Marco De Gregorio. Instead of portraying Hercules or Maciste or Samson taking on monsters and human opponents, Mark played Adam taking on monsters and human opponents.

Andrea Goldman portrayed Eve as the couple are expelled from the Garden of Eden and clash with dinosaurs, fur-faced cavemen, giant bears and green-skinned cannibals before settling down to have children. Weird story. Weirder theology. Continue reading

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BOOK OF THE DUN COW: PART TEN

Here is the tenth and FINAL part of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the various mythological works in Ireland’s Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow. For Part One click HERE.

ireland 600THE STORY IMPLYING THAT MONGAN WAS FIONN MAC CUMHAILL REBORN AND HOW HE AND HIS NEPHEW KILLED FOTHAD AIRGTHECH (Scel asa mberar combad hé Find mac Cumaill Mongáin ocus aní día fil aided Fothaid Airgdig) – Ireland’s Prince Mongan, whom we met in a few previous installments, was a historical figure but his life has been so smothered in embellishments and legends that facts can be hard to come by. He supposedly died around 625 A.D.

        This particular item presented Mongan arguing with the poet Forgoll when that poet claimed to know the circumstances of the death of Irish High King Fothad Airgthech, who ruled around what we would call the early 270s A.D. A heated argument breaks out.

        book of the dun cowEventually Forgoll insists his knowledge has been insulted by Mongan’s contrary claim and threatens to curse and ridicule Mongan unless Mongan gives him his wife by way of reparations. An elderly, decrepit stranger arrives on the scene.

        The stranger says he is Cailte mac Ronain, nephew of Fionn mac Cumhaill (better known as Finn MacCool). Cailte is one of the last surviving members of Fionn’s troops and has lived this long through enchanted means. Like Oisin, his fellow survivor of the Battle of Gabhra, Cailte is destined to live long enough to convey tales of ancient Ireland to the prophesied Saint Patrick. Continue reading

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MAY 3rd ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

biden bank failuresHere’s the latest roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog.

JOE BIDEN’S 2023 BANKING COLLAPSE IS NOW WORSE THAN THE BANKING COLLAPSE OF 2008 WAS. More HERE. And HERE.

biased mediaDEADBEAT DAD HUNTER BIDEN, UNDERBOSS OF THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY, CHEWED OUT BY JUDGE FOR TRYING TO CONCEAL INCOME TO GET OUT OF PAYING MORE CHILD SUPPORT

MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS PASS LAW TO TAKE CHILDREN FROM PARENTS WHO DON’T PLAY ALONG WITH THEIR CHILDREN’S “TRANS” PLANS. The law (HF-146) adds a new category under which courts can take children from their parents’ custody. Before this bill was passed, the law recognized only abandonment and abuse as grounds for a court taking custody of a child. This bill adds a third category, “The child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care” (Section 3.3). If a child is prevented from receiving “gender-affirming care,” then the state has a right to take emergency custody. 

        Democrats called critics of the bill the forces of “hatred and bigotry”.

HUNTER BIDEN’S LAWYERS CALLED OUT FOR WITNESS INTIMIDATION REGARDING WHISTLEBLOWERS. Continue reading

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FIVE HUNDRED YEARS HENCE (1818) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

pocket magazine of classicFIVE HUNDRED YEARS HENCE (1818) – Written under the pseudonym “D” this work was published the same year as Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. The story is presented as written observations of the world in October and November of the year 2318.

London has fallen so far in prominence that it is by then just a fishing village, barely known outside of England. Liverpool is close to becoming a ghost town, and Oxford is closing its sole remaining institution of higher education. In Edinburgh of all places, disparaging Great Britain is a crime punishable by being hanged upside down.

Next, D turned their attention across the pond to the United States. Continue reading

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THE CASSANDRA CROSSING (1976)

cassandra crossingTHE CASSANDRA CROSSING (1976) – The Andromeda Strain meets the later Supertrain in this railroad version of the Airport movies. I’m sure we all know the formula of Disaster Movies, be they about natural disasters striking cities or manmade disasters striking mass transportation like airplanes, ships and trains.   

The Cassandra Crossing was a co-production of Carlo Ponti and Lew Grade. The film had a lot of potential but was ultimately doomed by oddball acting choices, a script full of holes and a train that clearly changes multiple times during the course of the movie. And I mean it even changes from electric to diesel multiple times as the film progresses.

cassandra crossing posterIn general, the storyline involves a genetically engineered plague covertly developed by government functionaries (think of Anthony Fauci and his ilk) despite international agreements not to conduct such research. Terrorists who want to steal the plague for their own use botch a raid on the International Health Organization (a pastiche of the World Health Organization), which results in a shootout and in two of the terrorists being exposed to the plague.

One of the exposed gunmen escapes and seeks shelter on a departing train, spreading the plague – for which there is no known cure – to the other passengers, instigating a crisis. If the infected aren’t contained, this plague could wipe out 60% of the population of Europe and eventually, the world. The government locks down all the people on the train and proceeds to care more about covering up where the disease originated than they do about public safety.  Continue reading

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JUNE 2017

FOR PART ONE OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE (2016) FROM INDEPENDENT VOTER SITE BALLADEER’S BLOG CLICK HERE.

camille paglia picCOURAGEOUS FEMALE ROLE MODEL CAMILLE PAGLIA SPEAKS OUT ON DEMOCRAT FAILURES AND SNOBBERY, PLUS TRUMP’S SUCCESSES SO FAR.

RESISTANCE, INC: THE FAUX REBELS OF ANTI-TRUMP HYSTERIA. One of my most-read blog posts of all time.

THE NEW YORK TIMES ON THE INTOLERANCE FOR FREE SPEECH AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. And in 2017 we hadn’t seen ANYTHING yet! Continue reading

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BOOK OF THE DUN COW: PART NINE

Here is Part Nine of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the various mythological works in Ireland’s Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow. This part features multiple sections. For Part One click HERE.

conchobarTHE CONCEPTION OF CUCHULAINN (Compert Con Culainn) – One of the versions of the birth of the demigod Cuchulainn. This version begins as Ulster’s King Conchobar mac Nessa (at left) goes on a hunt for magical birds with several nobles of Ulster and his daughter Deichtine, his charioteer. (In the later and more popular versions Deichtine is King Conchobar’s sister, not his daughter, and most of the Cuchulainn myths refer to him as Conchobar’s nephew, not grandson.)

        A heavy snow falls, prompting the hunting party to seek shelter in an isolated house where they are made welcome by the man and the pregnant woman inside. The woman goes into labor, and Deichtine helps deliver the baby – a son – overnight. A mare also gives birth to two colts that night. Continue reading

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SATURDAY NEWS ROUNDUP: APRIL 29th

The latest roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog.

biden creepyEVEN THE DEMOCRATS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES ADMIT THAT BIDEN HAS OVERSEEN AN EXPLOSION IN THE NUMBER OF MIGRANT CHILDREN BEING ABUSED AND TRAFFICKED AND SUBJECTED TO CHILD LABOR. More HERE. And HERE.

JOE BIDEN CALLOUSLY CLAIMS TO HAVE ONLY SIX GRANDCHILDREN, INTENTIONALLY SNUBBING HUNTER BIDEN’S CHILD OUT OF WEDLOCK. Joe Biden is one of the lowest lifeforms on the face of the Earth.

ANOTHER ARTICLE ASKS A QUESTION THAT I CAN ANSWER BY SAYING “BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THE CLUELESS, OUTDATED AND UTTERLY USELESS REPUBLICAN PARTY FAIL TO KEEP UP WITH THE OPPOSITION PARTY IN THE MEDIA ARMS RACE”. That answer won’t change no matter how many ways the question is reworded.

china owns bidenTHE DEMOCRATS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES PROTECT BIDEN’S UNFITNESS BY CLAIMING THAT AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT CAN FUNCTION WITHOUT A HEALTHY PRESIDENT. So get ready for that new narrative through the next election. The Democrats felt differently about this issue when Biden’s predecessor was in office. Continue reading

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THE HERETIC (1996) – NEGLECTED SUPERHERO

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero blog post here at Balladeer’s Blog will examine the unjustly overlooked character the Heretic, a NON-Marvel and non-DC character. 

heretic clockTHE HERETIC

Secret Identity: Dominic DeMarco

First Appearance: The Heretic #1 (November 1996)

Origin: Much of the Heretic’s past remains shrouded in mystery. In his early adult life he left the seminary and joined the Brotherhood of Cain, a covert order of religious assassins who presented themselves as righteous warriors crusading against evil.

        That turned out to be a lie, so the disillusioned figure left the order and was branded a heretic, a label he embraced as his nom de guerre. Acting independently, he used the skills and abilities he learned from the order to begin his own war against the crime and corruption at all levels of society, including government and organized religion.

        Gaining bizarre superpowers, the Heretic also battled the infernal forces behind all Earthly evil, from the lowest street crimes to the bloodiest wars. He learned that God and Satan exist. Heaven and Hell exist. And there’s no predicting which side the rest of us will end up on. Continue reading

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THE TERRORNAUTS (1967) – BAD MOVIE

the terrornautsTHE TERRORNAUTS (1967) – Simon Oates of Doomwatch fame stars as yet another maverick scientist in this effort from earlier in his career. Oates is running a British version of the SETI project and is forever trying to intercept signals from space … signals that might indicate intelligent life forms.

Conveniently, just when their funding is about to be cut Oates and his team at last receive a broadcast from actual alien life forms. And not just any alien life forms but the exact race that use a cave in France excavated by Oates’ father as a teleportation point from their orbiting space station.

terrornautsWild coincidences like that are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of this ridiculous movie’s plot holes, inconsistencies and lack of logic.

At any rate when Oates and company broadcast a reply of their own the extraterrestrials fly to England and snatch the entire building that the scientists’ project is housed in. The Earthlings, including a cockney female janitor along for excruciatingly bad comic relief, find themselves at the mercy of the space station’s Doctor Who (original series) level special effects renditions of androids, monsters and interstellar cooking devices. Continue reading

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