A bit tardily, Balladeer’s Blog concludes its annual retrospective with this look at the best of September 2023.
THE 14 AMAZONS (1972) – My review of this terrific movie about the women of the legendary Yang Family in China. This film is set when there were so few male family members left due to losses in war that the women of the family band together and set out for revenge on the Yang enemies. Click HERE.
AGZCEAZIGULS – A look at the fictional South American land Agzceaziguls, from a 1919 novel by Charles Derennes. The land is inhabited by descendants of the Incas. Click HERE.
SURF NAZIS MUST DIE (1987) – My review of the renowned post-apocalypse film about a black woman taking on a gang of Surf Nazis to wipe them out for killing her son. A wild ride. Click HERE.
AN AUTOMATIC ENIGMA (1872) – An “ancient” science fiction story by Julian Hawthorne – Nathaniel’s son. The tale involves an early robot. Click HERE.
THE GREAT MOLASSES FLOOD OF 1911 – Read about it HERE.
OF ANTICHRIST AND HIS RUIN (1692) – John Bunyan’s neglected novel about the Antichrist, his methods and the destructive war that is unleashed. Click HERE.
THE SILENT FILMS OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK – His overlooked movies from the silent era. His films from 1922-1929 HERE.
ANOTHER WORLD (1873) – An “ancient” sci fi novel about the history of civilization and technology on the planet Mars. Click HERE.
JUSTICE SOCIETY STORIES: 1950-1951 – The JSA’s final Golden Age adventures vs the Diamond People, the Four Kings, the Circus of Thrills, Bakeelu of the Green Star, the Chameleon Race and the Key. Click HERE. Continue reading
In the past I’ve covered my fondness for Dashiell Hammett’s mysteries. Given my whole theme here at Balladeer’s Blog, this time I’ll take a look at Hammett’s often overlooked Sam Spade short stories that followed a few years after the novel The Maltese Falcon. 
A MAN CALLED SPADE – Published in the July 1932 issue of The American Magazine. 
Max lies on the floor, partially undressed. A five-pointed star has been drawn on his bare chest in black ink and with a Greek letter tau in the center. Spade, hoping Max’s daughter will pay him the fee that her father now cannot, tries selling her on the notion that he’s now working for her late father’s estate, and her. 
PRIMER (2004) – HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yes, I’m just childish enough to pat myself on the back for that play on words in the title of this blog post. With that out of the way I know I’m late to the game when it comes to Primer but my own skepticism about it made me keep it on the back burner in terms of priority movies to watch. 
Shane Carruth stars as Aaron and David Sullivan portrays Abe. The pair are engineers who – on the side – run a tech business out of Aaron’s garage. As a side effect of a project they are working on the two discover a means of time travel. 
THEDA BARA: SILENT FILM STARLET – My examination of this big-screen femme fatale, her surviving films and what little is known about her movies that have not survived. A Fool There Was, Cleopatra, The Vixen, An Unchastened Woman, Sin, Madame Mystery and more. Click 
LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS (1905) – “Ancient” science fiction story about life on other planets in our solar system AND around distant stars. Click 
PETER PAN (1976) – My review of this forgotten musical version of the Peter Pan story, starring Mia Farrow as Peter, Danny Kaye as Captain Hook and Paula Kelly as Princess Tiger Lily. Click 
DENVER DOLL DIME NOVELS – My look at the four Dime Novels starring the fictional female gunslinger the Denver Doll during the 1880s. Click 
DETECTIVE COMICS Vol 1 #437 (November 1973) Later reprinted multiple times in Trade Paperback collections of the entire new Manhunter saga. 
Christine travels to Nepal to investigate this new Manhunter’s recent actions which saved the life of a wealthy philanthropist. Via flashbacks from her informant, she learns that the new Manhunter has been battling an organization which made several clones of Paul Kirk and has been using them to carry out the assassinations that Manhunter is blamed for because the clones wear blue costumes like his red one. 
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association)
RIVERBOAT (1959-1961) – My review of this neglected television series about Darren McGavin and a young Burt Reynolds as partners who run a riverboat along the Mississippi and its tributaries during the 1830s and 1840s. Burt and Darren help Texas rebels fight Mexican tyrants, assist historical figures like Zachary Taylor and Abe Lincoln, and clash with river pirates, gunrunners and fugitives. Click 
THOMASINE & BUSHROD (1974) – A western about a pair of fictional outlaws who become folk heroes from 1911-1915 as the Wild West is fading away. Vonetta McGee plays Thomasine, a female bounty hunter who winds up robbing banks alongside her true love J.P. Bushrod (Max Julien). The pair give away most of their illegal proceeds to the poor of all colors. This movie is like The Wild Bunch crossed with Bonnie & Clyde, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and more. Click 
JANUARY 1972 MARVEL PUBLICATIONS – Black Bolt and the Inhumans take on Magneto, Spider-Man fights Kraven the Hunter in the Savage Land, Daredevil and the Black Widow face MK-9, Conan the Barbarian meets Omm the Spider-God and much more. Click 
HURRICANE NELL – One of the first Dime Novel heroines created by Edward L. Wheeler in 1877. This tale follows the daring young lady sharpshooter on her revenge quest against a gang of outlaws. Click 
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will remember my review of three neglected swashbuckler novels by Alexandre Dumas. (For those three – Georges, Captain Pamphile and La Dame de Monsoreau click 
When I was a little boy thrilled with the Musketeers, Monte Cristo and Iron Mask I excitedly grabbed The Black Tulip to read, assuming it, too would feature derring-do and swordplay. Much to my disappointment the novel instead dealt with attempts to cultivate a black tulip, the mob-slaying of Netherlands politicians Johann and Cornelius de Witt, romance and the redemption of personal honor. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS (1995) – Remember Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater? Switch it to another name for that deity and you get Quicksilver Radio Theater. QRT went to great pains to treat listeners to as authentic a simulation of old-time radio dramas as possible. 
BUGS BUNNY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979) – When is an adaptation of A Christmas Carol NOT an adaptation of A Christmas Carol? When it features Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Nearly thirty years later WB would inflict on the world another version of the Carol that was just as soulless and joyless as this 1979 effort. 
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