This review is dedicated to my beloved nephew Donny, who first introduced me to this movie years ago.
BLOODHOUNDS OF BROADWAY (1989) – Randy Quaid and Madonna as a romantic couple? Rutger Hauer as a pastiche of crime lord Arnold Rothstein? THE William S. Burroughs as a butler? Ethan “Neelix” Phillips as a wannabe gangster?
Yes, all that and more in this all but forgotten 1989 flop which deserved to be much better than it is and with work it could have become a New Year’s Eve viewing staple.
Four Damon Runyon stories were blended into a 93 minute movie that was released to just one theater … missing a reel. PBS Playhouse gave this romantic comedy its widest exposure before it fell down the memory hole. As of this writing it has only 8 reviews at IMDb.
Significantly, the film is set on December 31st of 1928, which was the last big New Year’s Eve bacchanalia of the Roaring Twenties but nobody knew it at the time. Before another year went by the Stock Market Crash would help usher in the Great Depression, making that 1928 New Year’s Eve blowout a figurative Mardi Gras before the austerity of Lent. The December 31st, 1929 celebrations were considerably subdued by comparison.
If you’re a Guys & Dolls fan, Mindy’s Restaurant is one of the settings for Bloodhounds of Broadway, just like in that much better known work based on Damon Runyon stories. At any rate, the four tales combined to form this rom-com are: Continue reading
LARAINE NEWMAN’S CANNED FILM FESTIVAL (1986) – After Elvira’s Movie Macabre, concurrent with The Texas 27 Film Vault and a few years before MST3K came this short-lived Movie Host show that presented bad and campy movies from the 1930s to 1960s. Click 
FAUST: THE PRE-SPAWN VERSION OF SPAWN – A look at the 1987-2012 horror hero whose comic book adventures featured over the top violence and pornographic sexuality so extreme that the book was banned in various countries around the world. Click 
DUNE AS AN OPERA CYCLE – Frank Herbert’s first few Dune novels presented as a cycle of operas. 
GRAVEYARD SHIFT – A review of the first three volumes of the Malin/ Poulton team of monster superheroes. Meet Professor Blood, the Monster, the Bride, Ghost in the Machine, Monster Girl and Sea Urchin. For villains you have the likes of Lady Shoggoth, Killer 99 and the Crimson Guard. Click 
It’s been a year of non-stop hatred, lies, ineptitude, intolerance and division from the Democrats, the political party I’m ashamed to say I used to belong to before I left it to become an Independent Voter. And as for the Republicans, anyone who claims they have a hard time finding items pointing out that party’s failings and scandals is lying.
As always, from December 1st through Twelfth Night (January 6th) Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the old legends surrounding Charlemagne and his Paladins. These are the fictional tales about Charlemagne, so there will be magic and monsters included. 
THE ENCHANTED GARDENS OF FALERINA – We pick up from last time as the Paladins Roland and Reinold are separately heading for the Gardens of Falerina to free all the warriors imprisoned there. Reinold (at last reunited with his faithful steed Bayard) was on this quest on behalf of the beautiful Flordelis, whose true love Florismart is among the prisoners. 
ROLLER BLADE (1986) – My review of this cosmically bad post-apocalypse movie about roller-skating warrior-priestesses who wield switch-blades and perform faith healing. No, I’m not kidding. Click 
FOOL KILLER – Six Fool Killer Tales From American History 
RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (1991) – Balladeer’s Blog’s review of this ultra-violent and transcendentally gory martial arts movie. Click 
As regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know, December through Twelfth Night (January 6th) is the time of year in which I look at versions of the tales of Charlemagne and his Paladins. These are the legends about Charlemagne, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 
REINOLD BATTLES ROLAND – Regular readers will remember that when we left the Paladin named Reinold he was making his way on foot back to the Court of Charlemagne after escaping from Princess Angelica’s enchanted island. 
JOE BIDEN’S AFGHANISTAN DEBACLE – Several items regarding Biden’s inept departure from the previously decided upon withdrawal procedures, plus the needless tragedies which followed. Click 
JOE BIDEN’S BLOOD-SOAKED FAILURES – And for not covering him in 2020 the way all previous presidential candidates had been covered. Click 
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION – A Journey in the 29th Century (1824) 
Joe Biden, accused rapist, proven racist and career criminal who, 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2020) – Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2021 comes to a close with this review of the criminally underrated version of A Christmas Carol that was released last year. This production is easily one of the most beautiful adaptations of the Dickens classic. 
And what thespians! The voice of Andy Serkis is heard, in addition to those of Sian Phillips, who apparently will never die, and Leslie Caron, whom I thought had already died. Serkis provides the dialogue for Marley’s Ghost and Old Joe. Phillips is the narrator whose wonderful performance ties it all together and Caron provides the voice for the Ghost of Christmas Past. 
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