FOES (1977) WEIRD MOVIE REVIEW

FOES (1977) – Though I’m reviewing this movie under my Bad and Weird Movies category, let me be clear that Foes is not bad and it is weird in the best way possible. I’ve watched the 91-minute version with Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat from The X-Files) and Macdonald Carey (“Like sands through the hourglass …”) top billed AND the 72-minute version with just the virtual unknowns appearing.

I much preferred the longer version because it helped add important context to the film and actually made it feel like a cross between the old TV series Project Bluebook and the aforementioned X-Files. John Coats, the writer and director of Foes, went on to a long career in visual effects and this movie nicely highlighted what he was capable of, even on a small budget. 

A married couple (Alan Blanchard and Jane Wiley) are posted at the lighthouse and marine science station on Pershing Island off the coast of California. Their daily routine turns nightmarish when a vessel from another planet shows up and subjects them to frightening and harmful scrutiny.  Continue reading

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COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM: MOHAVE COLLEGE

Forget the overused college team names like Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats. Here’s another institution whose team name is more creative than that.

MOHAVE COLLEGE Continue reading

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ANNUAL NOVEMBER FIFTH POST: 2025

Che Guevara 2Yes, it’s once again Guy Fawkes Day, the day Balladeer’s Blog celebrates figures who became symbols of the exact opposite things they represented in their actual lives!

Guy Fawkes was a religious fanatic whose face became a symbol of resistance against a fictional theocratic dictatorship thanks to a comic book. Che Guevara was a murderous, homophobic, racist would-be dictator depicted as a symbol of youthful rebellion thanks to the spiteful cluelessness of Left-Wing Archie Bunkers.  

Thank the forever-childish 1960s generation leftists for elevating such a repulsive and barely human creature to such heights. Even at HUFFINGTON POST the truth about blood-soaked animal Che has been written. Click HERE  

Here are some actual quotes from hatemonger Che:

“Go ahead and try them tomorrow morning — but execute them NOW!”

“We must do away with all newspapers. A revolution cannot be accomplished with freedom of the press.” 

Viva La Ignorant“Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood.”

“We don’t need proof to execute a man. We only need proof that it’s necessary to execute him. A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate.” (Note from Balladeer: Gee, I thought the poseurs and buffoons of the American Left said they’re AGAINST “hate.”)

 “What we affirm is that we must proceed along the path of liberation even if this costs millions of atomic victims.”

Che QuoteRead more of this animal’s own words and you will see what a callous, unfeeling political fanatic this hate-filled scumbag was. He never wanted to overthrow dictatorships to help “the people”, he just wanted to overthrow them to install dictatorships more to his liking.

In other words, dictatorships that would let that bloodthirsty maniac kill as many people as he wanted. Che Guevara was a waste of biomass and was the exact opposite of what delusional and uninformed fools consider him to have been. Continue reading

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NOV FIFTH NEWS: EVERYWHERE DEMOCRATS WON LAST NIGHT WERE AREAS THAT VOTED FOR KAMALA LAST YEAR

Regular readers of Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog may recall that one of the things I laugh about the loudest is the way that both major political parties in America overreact to off-year elections. Last night’s results would be news if places that voted for Trump in 2024 suddenly voted for Democrats. That didn’t happen. Areas that voted for Kamala Harris last year are still voting Democrat.

DEMOCRAT PARTY

DEMOCRAT COUNTY COMMISSIONER WHO RESIGNED OVER STOLEN FUNDS SCANDAL MAY HAVE FLED THE U.S.

ARTICLE: “DEMOCRATS DOUBLE DOWN AS THE PARTY OF CRIME AND CHAOS.” Not to mention the party of threatening violence to others.

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FILED AGAINST CORRUPT “JUDGE” JAMES BOASBERG, ONE OF THE “ARCTIC FROST” SCANDAL’S LEADING NAMES.

ANOTHER ITEM EXAMINING HOW BADLY DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLETS STILL OUTNUMBER REPUBLICAN MEDIA OUTLETS. The Republican establishment STILL fails to keep up with their opponents in the Media Arms Race.

JOHNSON ON SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION IN THE SCHUMER SHUTDOWN.     

EVEN DEMOCRAT CNN POINTS OUT THAT DEMOCRATS ARE THE ONES WHO KEEP VOTING NOT TO END THE SHUTDOWN

ANOTHER ITEM COMPARING PRESIDENT TRUMP TO THE HEROIC FRANK SERPICO. Continue reading

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SEVEN AMERICAN ACES OF WORLD WAR ONE

eugene-bullard

Eugene Bullard

With Veterans Day approaching, here’s a shoutout to the Flying Aces of World War One. The movie Flyboys is a good fictional film about their mystique (but based on the real-life Lafayette Escadrille).

EUGENE BULLARD – This African-American boxer from Columbus, GA served in the French Foreign Legion as early as the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and had already won a Croix de Guerre before joining the legendary Lafayette Escadrille on a bet.(!) He qualified but the prejudiced French Foreign Legion’s Dr Edmund Le Gros rejected him for service.

Bullard instead flew a Spad 7 with French Escadrille 93. Eugene still had an uphill fight against prejudice and the French supposedly failed to credit him with all of his kills, limiting him to just 2 in the official records but tradition credits Bullard with between 5 and 9. He had what may be the best nickname outside of the Red Baron and was called the Black Swallow of Death. On the side of his plane he painted the words “ALL blood runs red” in reference to the bigotry he had faced.

paul-iaccaciTHE IACCACI BROTHERS – In the 1960s young American men would head to Canada to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. During World War One a number of young American men headed to Canada to serve in British Military Units because the U.S. had not yet entered the conflict.

Two of those men were Paul T Iaccaci  and his younger brother August. The brothers served in the 20th British Squadron flying Bristol F.2 Fighters.

Both brothers were Ivy League men – Paul at Harvard, August at Princeton. Both Iaccaci’s became Aces on the exact same day – May 31st, 1918. Paul ended the war with 17 kills and his brother August … kept the uncanny coincidences going with 17 kills of his own. In late October of 1918 August was wounded in the eye and spent the few remaining days of the war hospitalized in England.   Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS’ FIRST TWO PELLUCIDAR STORIES

Balladeer’s Blog

Recent online discussions among film critics dealt with how the Jurassic Park series could be livened up.

Personally, I think it shot its bolt and should be done and left alone. Filmmakers who still want to deal in large numbers of dinosaurs should start adapting the Pellucidar novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs instead. They’re just begging for modern adaptations!

AT THE EARTH’S CORE (1914) – This tale was originally serialized in several issues of All-Story Weekly in 1914, then was assembled in novel form in 1922. American mining heir David Innes and his much older inventor friend Abner Perry test-drive Abner’s diesel-punk subterranean tunnel-drilling vehicle the Iron Mole.   

The pair inadvertently drive the train engine sized vehicle to an Inner Earth realm called Pellucidar in the language of the native inhabitants. Amazed by this find, David and Abner set out on foot to explore some of the rainforest region and realize it is inhabited by thousands of dinosaur species long extinct on the Earth’s surface. Continue reading

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DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT (1952) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT (1952) – Brian Donlevy, famous as Professor Quatermass in a pair of movies, starred as secret agent Steve Mitchell. He received his missions from a man called “The Commissioner” (Herb Butterfield).

Dangerous Assignment had started as a radio series in 1949 with Donlevy already in the lead role. Thirty-nine 30-minute episodes were produced. 

STANDOUT EPISODES:

THE SUBMARINE STORY – The Commissioner sends agent Steve Mitchell to the South China Sea in the undercover identity of a rogue submarine commander called Captain Jaeger. Mitchell’s assignment is to infiltrate and shut down a gun running operation in the area. Paul Frees and Robert Easton guest-starred.

THE MEMORY CHAIN – Steve’s latest assignment finds him in Munich, where he is to collar a spy ring passing U.S. nuclear secrets through West Germany to East Germany and then to the Soviet Union. Jeanne Bates and Lynne Roberts were among the supporting cast members. Continue reading

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NOVEMBER 3rd NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog serves up a Monday current events roundup.

CORRUPT DISTRICT JUDGE JAMES BOASBERG’S INVOLVEMENT IN SCANDALS AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOR LEADS THE REVELATIONS ABOUT THE BIDEN REGIME’S “ARCTIC FROST” VENDETTA AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP.  Jack Smith a close second.  By the way, let’s finally break away from appending the word “gate” to every scandal and now make “Something Frost” or “Arctic Something” the new meme. So tired of the overused “gate”.

A BREAKDOWN OF THE MONUMENTAL CRIMES AGAINST THE NATION COMMITTED IN ARCTIC FROST. More on Boasberg HERE.

SENATOR MARSHA BLACKBURN COURAGEOUSLY BLASTS ARCTIC FROST AS A VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AND FOURTH AMENDMENTS, THE SEPARATION OF POWERS AND THE STORED COMMUNICATIONS ACT.

ANOTHER DEEP DIVE INTO THE COUNTLESS ABUSES BY THE ARCTIC FROST CONSPIRATORS.

LATEST DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS REVEAL MORE ABOUT THE AUTHORITARIANS OF OUR “INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES” BREAKING THE LAW AND CONSTITUTION AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP AND CIVILIAN SUPPORTERS.

JACK SMITH’S INVOLVEMENT COVERED IN MORE DETAIL.

DEMOCRAT SENATOR FETTERMAN COURAGEOUSLY RESTATES THAT THE DEMOCRATS OWN THE SHUTDOWN. Violent 2025 Democrats may seek to harm him. More HERE.

FETTERMAN ALSO APOLOGIZES TO SUFFERING CITIZENS ON BEHALF OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. Stay safe, John.

UNION PRESIDENT CALLS ON DEMOCRATS TO END THEIR GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

CANADIAN PM MARK CARNEY APOLOGIZES FOR AD FRAUDULENTLY ATTACKING PRESIDENT TRUMP.

DEMOCRAT LAWMAKER IN NORTH CAROLINA RESIGNS AFTER GETTING HIT WITH CHILD SEX CHARGES. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

FORMER HOST AT DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLET NBC DECLARES TRUMP “THE BEST COMMUNICATOR OF THIS GENERATION.” More HERE.

AND YET ANOTHER STUDY POINTS OUT THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAVE BECOME THE PARTY OF SELFISH RICH PIGS WHILE TRUMP HAS MADE THE REPUBLICANS THE PARTY OF THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR. The U.K.’s left-wing Guardian recognized this as far back as late 2016, but it still bears repeating. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS: NOV 2nd

HEADLINES

NUMBER FIVE TOPPLED – In NCAA Division Two, the 8th ranked COLORADO STATE AT PUEBLO THUNDERWOLVES visited the number 5 team in the nation – the WESTERN COLORADO UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS. By Halftime WCU was in front 21-7, but the Thunderwolves shut them out from there. It was 21-21 in the 3rd Quarter with CSU-Pueblo winning 24-21 in the 4th.

DOWN GOES NUMBER EIGHT – Down in NCAA Division Three, the number 9 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT RIVER FALLS FALCONS played host to the 8th ranked UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT WHITEWATER WARHAWKS. UW-River Falls made a definite statement, leading the Warhawks 31-7 at the Half before embarrassing them by a final score of 52-14   

CENTURY CLUB IN FOOTBALL? – My Century Club notes usually apply to college basketball teams that score 100 or more points in Regulation. In a very, very rare case in football, the NJCAA’s SNOW COLLEGE BADGERS welcomed the CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE SAINTS and utterly eviscerated them ONE HUNDRED ONE to SIX! Continue reading

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FOX FEATURES SUPERHEROES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the neglected characters from Fox Features. 

Dynamo Fox Features picDYNAMO

Secret Identity: Jim Andrews, electrical scientist

First Appearance: Science Comics #1 (February 1940)

Origin: Jim Andrews risked his life to contain a potentially deadly accident at the electrical lab where he worked, inadvertently gaining superpowers from the incident. He donned a costume and fought the forces of evil as Dynamo.

Powers: Dynamo could use his electrical powers to shoot electric rays from his hands, to fly, to surround himself with a force field and to magnify his own strength.

Comment: In his very first appearance this hero went by the nom de guerre Electro, but in his remaining 24 adventures called himself Dynamo instead. 

Black Lion picBLACK LION

Secret Identity: George Davis, big-game hunter

First Appearance: Wonderworld Comics #21 (January 1941)

Origin: George Davis’ career as a big-game hunter had brought him wealth and fame. Having met all the challenges of hunting members of the animal kingdom he decided to go after the most dangerous game of all: human criminals. To that end he donned a costume and took on supervillains and Nazi agents.

Powers: The Black Lion was at the peak of human condition and had the agility of an Olympic gymnast. He was also an expert at unarmed combat and could outfight multiple opponents at once. His totem animal the lion gave him superhuman healing ability. Continue reading

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