MS SCROOGE (1997) – Balladeer’s Blog’s Twelfth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon is fast approaching its finale. This time around I’m reviewing Ms Scrooge, a Hallmark TV movie starring the revered actress Cicely Tyson as Ebenita Scrooge.
Tyson is easily the best thing about this production and she towers over everyone trying to share the screen with her. Ms Scrooge would have had more impact if they had surrounded Cicely with other big names, but even as it is it’s still pretty enjoyable.
The main distraction in this telefilm is the one that afflicts many other attempts to set A Christmas Carol in more modern times – employers cannot, and for decades haven’t been allowed to, treat their employees the way that Scrooge treats Bob Cratchit in the original story. Some modern adaptations avoid the problem by just making vague references to Ebenezer’s merciless running of their business, and in my opinion that works the best. Unfortunately this Hallmark presentation constantly takes you out of the story with blatantly illegal conduct by Scrooge.
As Ms Scrooge rolls along a few elements indicate that the creative team really gets the Dickens story, while others indicate that they have no clue. Same ol’ same ol’ for most Carol adaptations. Continue reading
THREE BIZARRELY WATCHABLE MOVIES – My review of the neglected movies Darker Than Amber (1970), Bloodbath (1975) and Circle of Power (1981). Very odd but very watchable. Click 
RYAN DRAKE NOVELS BY WILL JORDAN – Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the series of Ryan Drake spy novels written by the one and only Will Jordan. Click 
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: THE ORIGINAL TEAM – I examine the Guardians’ stories from 1969-1977. Click 
FRONTIERADO PARTY ESSENTIALS – The official list. Click 
FOOL KILLER: JULY 1912 – The Fool Killer targets abuses by the monied class and follies by America’s political establishment. Click 
Because December 21st is the shortest day of the year, Balladeer’s Blog always runs articles about short films, short presidential administrations (Yes, William Henry Harrison) and similar topics. This year I’m pandering to the insatiable superhero audience with this look at a Marvel Comics title that was INTENTIONALLY published as a one-shot item, making it the shortest series run imaginable. 
Previous articles here have dealt with the way that, for part of the 1960s, Marvel was limiting how many titles it had hitting newsstands. That meant publishing some of their heroes in one monthly publication, with each character getting a story covering half the issue. Iron Man and Captain America shared Tales of Suspense, Sub-Mariner and the Hulk shared Tales to Astonish. 
The trouble was, both Iron Man and Sub-Mariner had one more half-issue length story left and ready to be printed, but there were no more split comic book titles to accommodate them. So, Marvel Comics published one lone issue of a comic book titled Iron Man and Sub-Mariner. 
NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – Yesterday the MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS clashed with the GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS (should be the Zebras) for the NAIA title. In the 1st Half the teams went blow for blow and score for score, resulting in a 21-21 deadlock at Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended in a 28-28 tie but in the 4th the Mustangs pulled away for a 38-28 victory and their 3rd title in 4 years. 
NCAA DIVISION TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – This title tilt pitted the FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS against the storied VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS. It looked like a shootout was in store as the 1st Quarter ended in a 20-17 edge for the Bulldogs. In reality, however, Ferris State shut out the Blazers the rest of the way, leading 41-17 at the Half on their way to a resounding FIFTY-EIGHT to SEVENTEEN blowout win. 
PRIME CUT (1972) – My review of this neglected gangster movie about a Chicago enforcer sent to nip in the bud an incipient rebellion from a defiant Kansas crime boss who is technically subordinate to Chicago. Click 
ESTABLISHMENT FEAR OF POPULISM – America’s notoriously corrupt political establishment has always feared and attacked great populist leaders like William Jennings Bryan, Eugene Debs and Donald Trump. The white-collar criminals who run our political system condemn populism with ever-changing slurs. Click 
LIGHT SPEED ESPER (1967-1968) – An overlooked science fiction television series from Japan about a heroic boy who fights off invading aliens with the high-tech suit he wears. Click 
SHANG-CHI: HIS FIRST TWELVE ADVENTURES – An examination of Shang-Chi’s first 12 stories in the 1970s. Click 
THE PEOPLE VS JOE BIDEN – The corrupt yet senile Joe Biden is even worse than the repulsive George W Bush. Articles covering Biden’s many crimes against the rest of us are right 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #149 (October 1975) 
At last revealing why he has always been undetectable by Spider-Man’s spider sense, the villain removed his mask to reveal that he is really Professor Miles Warren, Peter Parker’s fatherly mentor and academic advisor for years at Empire State University. (Professor Warren had been a supporting character in Spider-Man stories since 1965.) 
CAROL’S CHRISTMAS (2021) – Balladeer’s Blog’s Twelfth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this independent flick filmed in Las Vegas for $500,000.00. Special thank you to reader Lee Anne, who in the past recommended 
Regular readers know I’m open to all kinds of dark interpretations of A Christmas Carol, but unlike efforts like the year 2000 Brazilian film in which Scrooge is a drug dealer, Carol’s Christmas is not a flawed but artful dive into a holiday story which gets distorted by grim realities. 
BEYOND THE UNIVERSE (1981) – My review of the tenth and final hilariously bad science fiction film from 1980 and 1981 by the Anne Spielberg, Robert Emenegger and Allan Sandler team. Yes, ten films in two years. 
THE REAL DIVIDE IN AMERICA: DEMOCRATS VS THE REST OF US – A piece about how the real divisiveness in America is not black vs white, rich vs poor, gay vs straight, etc. It’s really Democrats vs the rest of us. *** Remember, the people who call others White Supremacists do not speak for all black people, they speak for DEMOCRATS, some of whom happen to be black.
*** People who oppose voter i.d. do not represent all people of color, they represent DEMOCRATS.
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION – Remarkable Experiences In Another World (1899) 
WITH THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION IN SYRIA (1928) – A memoir from a Legionnaire about the war in Syria during the 1920s. Click 
MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1940s – When they were called Timely Comics. 
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