Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective concludes with this look at September’s best.
ROBERT REDFORD, R.I.P. TEN NEGLECTED FILMS OF REDFORD – With this superstar’s passing I reviewed several of his often overlooked movies, including War Hunt, The Chase, Downhill Racer and more. Click HERE.
RED SONYA AND DARK AGNES, ROBERT E. HOWARD’S RED-HAIRED WARRIOR WOMEN – I looked at the two fiery sword-wielding redheads from the creator of Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror and Solomon Kane. Click HERE.
FORGOTTEN TELEVISION – City of Angels (1976) Wayne Rogers as 1930s private detective Jake Axminster solves assorted mysteries for his clients, who ultimately go as high as the president himself. Click HERE. The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966) – Stefanie Powers as superspy April Dancer HERE. A Year at the Top (1977) – Failed sitcom about THE Paul Shaffer and Greg Evigan selling their souls for a year as rock stars. Click HERE.
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE DAY OF RESIS (1897) – Lillian Mentor’s book combining science fiction with Lost Civilization tales. American Enola Cameron leads a co-ed expedition to find the kingdom of “On.” Mutagenic chemicals and dinosaurs are found there. Click HERE.
DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988) – The ultra-violent cult film from independent maverick Jim Van Bebber. Crime, gangs and extreme gore in the envelope-pushing film that launched Van Bebber’s career. Click HERE.
THE CLOCK: CONCLUSION – His final adventures, 1941-1944 HERE.
QUISP VS QUAKE (1965-1973) – The two cartoon mascots for breakfast cereals competed in clever commercials for years HERE.
THE DEFENDERS: VALKYRIE’S QUEST – The team battles villains like the Wrecking Crew, the Grandmaster, the Nameless One, the Sons of the Serpent, Jeremiah and more HERE. Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore.
PART SEVEN: The seventh surviving Fool Killer Letter. (See Part One for an explanation.) 
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
Independent College Football Teams
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #8 (Dec 1941) 
The island is inhabited by THE Amazons from Greco-Roman myths and they are still ruled over by Queen Hippolyta. The Queen’s daughter Princess Diana nurses Trevor back to health and falls in love with him but while he was recovering, Hippolyta used magic to probe Steve’s mind. 
BAD MOVIE REVIEW: TOWING (1978) – Even though this film’s cast includes JOE MANTEGNA, SUE LYON and DENNIS FRANZ it is a thoroughly bizarre attempt at a comedy. It’s based on some real-life unethical procedures by towing companies in Chicago. Relentlessly unfunny and very weird. Click 
FORGOTTEN TELEVISION – Bird of the Iron Feather (1970), the pioneering soap opera about the lives of black Chicagoans 
WHISKEY JIM – A neglected Old West gunslinger who interacted with the likes of Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Hoodoo Brown, Bushwacking Joe and the 4th Cavalry. He also fought in the Buffalo Hunters War and later against the Las Lagunas Comanchero Gangs. Click 
KARATE GIRL (1973) – This Turkish martial arts film is one of that country’s premier violent revenge flicks. Fun-bad yet badass all at once. I reviewed it in detail 
NON E MAI TROPPO TARDI aka It’s Never Too Late (1953) – This is one of the few Italian movie adaptations of A Christmas Carol, so that alone makes it worth seeking out for obsessive Carol fans like me. 
The misdirection went so far as to list Marcello’s name above the actual star Paolo Stoppa in the movie’s re-release title A Wonderful Night (Una Notte Meravigliosa). 
THE SMURFS: A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2011) – I generally dread Smurfs productions, which is why I put off watching this Carol for so long. Happily this was a pleasant surprise, and I really enjoyed it. 
ASTOLPHO IN ETHIOPIA – When we left Charlemagne’s Paladin Astolpho, he had just vanquished the evil sorcerer Atlantes, then freed all of the captives in his invisible castle. Among those captives was the great Roland, the Emperor’s nephew and most accomplished warrior. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2015) – This 59-minute rendition of the Dickens Yuletide classic is often referred to as “the Colin Baker version.” Too bad Baker can’t sue somebody over that, since he had nothing to do with this laughable production beyond portraying Charles Dickens and narrating the story. 
Soon the image improves to conventional standards (well, sort of) and the sound improves to 1950s television levels. Unfortunately, this is a 2015 production, not a 1950s presentation, and the weak, amateurish sound work will plague this Carol the rest of the way. 
Balladeer's Blog 