Balladeer's Blog

Balladeer’s Blog continues its retrospective of The Best of 2018 with this look at July’s Best.

MAVERICK (1994): MOVIE REVIEW – Frontierado was fast approaching when I posted this review of the 1994 film version of the James Garner television series Maverick.

Virtually no movie adaptations of tv shows do real justice to their source material but this flick is a major exception! Mel Gibson plays Garner’s original role of Bret Maverick and is terrific. Jodie Foster and James Garner himself are along for the ride as co-stars in this gambler/ gunslinger classic. CLICK HERE   

#WALKAWAY MOVEMENT: DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM THE DEMOCRAT PARTY – Gay man Brandon Straka became a dissident hero as he launched the #WALKAWAY movement. Straka provided organization to the ’til now random exodus from the increasingly fascistic and intolerant Democrat Party. (I myself went Independent years ago.) 

#WALKAWAY became a viral online phenomenon with video testimonials from many of us who have left the Democrats in disgust. The Democrats in the media, hilariously enough, tried to pretend it was all the work of Russian Bots! I’m not joking! Anyway, there was even a #WALKAWAY March on Washington and the group spawned offshoot organizations like #Blexit and #BlackLivesMAGA. CLICK HERE 

TUILAKEMBA: FIJIAN DEMIGOD – Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the saga of Fiji’s heroic demigod Tuilakemba was a hit. I covered not just the original myths but the way Tuilakemba’s tale evolved over the centuries.

The heroic figure supposedly conquered all the islands of Fiji then departed in search of fresh conquests in the distant past. When French Missionaries made contact with Fiji the Fijians identified Napoleon with their departed conqueror Tuilakemba. CLICK HERE

ASK BALLADEER: WHY DID I LEAVE SICILY OUT OF MY EXAMINATION OF THE ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY THE BIRDS? – Many readers were curious why I left out the usual academic speculation about the invasion of Sicily in my look at Aristophanes’ comedy The Birds.

I laid out my many reasons in this blog post HERE

FLASHMAN: THE LOST ADVENTURES – I took advantage of the heavy interest in the reviews of my Top Five Harry Flashman Novels to go into total fanboy mode.

Using hints from George MacDonald Fraser’s offhand references to Harry’s unpublished adventures combined with research into potential Flashmanesque situations in various countries during the anti-hero’s 19th Century travels I speculated on Flashman Down Under, Flashman in the Opium War, Flashman and the Kings and The Battle Cry of Flashman. CLICK HERE

THE CLONES (1973): MOVIE REVIEW – Balladeer’s Blog reviewed this neglected science fiction suspense movie.

The storyline was dealing with what was back then the still fairly new topic of cloning.

To read the review of this hit and miss film click HERE

CLIVE BARKER’S THE SCARLET GOSPELS (2015) – What Ridley Scott did to his Alien saga with Covenant, Clive Barker did to his Hellraiser series with his novel The Scarlet Gospels. 

Readers were excited to see what Barker would do with a story that pitted his Hellish masterfiend Pinhead against occult detective Harry D’Amour. This novel was a disaster in my eyes. CLICK HERE 

THREE NEGLECTED GUNSLINGERS – Cash Hollister, Zip Wyatt and Black Ike don’t get as much love as names like Wild Bill Hickok, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but they had eventful lives nonetheless.

To check out their Old West antics click HERE