Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my fondness for the old, old Movie Host shows. Here is the ballot for 2019 which lets you select your five nominees for the Horror Host Hall of Fame. VOTING ENDS FEBRUARY 15th SO JUST ONE WEEK LEFT!
Filed under Bad and weird movies, humor, Movie Hosts
Balladeer’s Blog reviews another psychotronic film starring the one, the only Robert Ginty! FOR MORE ROBERT GINTY REVIEWS CLICK HERE
GOLDRAIDERS (1982) – A plane carrying two hundred million dollars in gold (in 1980s money) gets shot down over Thailand and lands in the jungle. A blandly-dubbed Robert Ginty plays Mark Banner, part of a hastily-assembled team sent in to recover the gold. Sarah Langenfeld is our hero’s leading lady this time around.
Naturally other parties are after the bullion bonanza, too, like drug dealers, a man who needs gold to make a gold dress to win his intended bride (?) and a corrupt communist General. The commie with decidedly capitalist leanings is one of the most memorable villains in B-Movie history! Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
Superhero fans want more JSA, so here we go with this latest look at the world’s OLDEST superhero team: DC’s Justice Society of America. FOR PART ONE CLICK HERE
I will review the original issue and then detail how I would “script-doctor” the story for modern audiences.
ALL STAR COMICS #19 (November 1943)
Title: CRIMES SET TO MUSIC
Heroes: WONDER WOMAN (Original), STARMAN, THE ATOM (Original), DOCTOR FATE, SANDMAN, THE SPECTRE, HAWKMAN (Original), DOCTOR MIDNITE AND JOHNNY THUNDER
Villain: THE COMPOSER
Synopsis: The Composer (Hector Bauer) kidnaps Hawkman and commits a series of music-related crimes. The Justice Society members try to thwart his crime spree and free their captured teammate.
Our heroes prevent the Composer from destroying a priceless Stradivarius violin, restore the voice of an opera singer after the Composer mutes him and stop the villain from cutting off the fingers of a pianist. They also save another composer from the supervillain’s attempt to inflict brain damage on him to rob him of his talent. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
With President’s Day coming here’s a look at some of the men and women who proved pivotal to the administrations of the Presidents of the United States. Many of those Secretaries may not be household names here in the 21st Century but they would definitely stand out on any staff. Here is an examination of sixteen such figures in chronological order. Figures like James G Blaine, William Seward, and Henry Kissinger are so well-known that they are not included on this list.
1. TIMOTHY PICKERING (1795-1800)
Served under: Presidents George Washington and John Adams
Noted for: Conspiring with Alexander Hamilton to undermine some of the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations. When Adams discovered this he ordered Pickering to resign, but Pickering refused, forcing Adams to fire him. Pickering remains the only Secretary of State to officially be fired by the President.
2. HENRY CLAY (1825-1829)
Served under: President John Quincy Adams
Noted for: Fighting a duel with Senator John Randolph, one of Clay’s critics who felt he had struck a “corrupt bargain” with Adams to get this prized cabinet position. Also for completing the first commerce treaties between the young United States and the various nations in Scandinavia and Latin America.
3. JOHN FORSYTH (1834-1841)
Served under: Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren
Noted for: Obtaining long-disputed reparations from France for U.S. commercial losses suffered during the Napoleonic Wars. Also for threatening to resign early in Van Buren’s administration before his relationship with the new president improved. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
Per the Glitternight Index:
NCCAA – 1. BETHEL (IN) COLLEGE PILOTS (Riverboat Pilots) ### 2. OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES ### 3. WARNER UNIVERSITY ROYALS ### 4. EMMANUEL COLLEGE LIONS ### 5. CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS ###
6. MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS ### 7. COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS BOBCATS ### 8. SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY LIONS ### 9. CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY YELLOW JACKETS ### 10. BLUEFIELD COLLEGE RAMBLING RAMS ### Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
May 14th will see the Scream Factory releasing Blu-Ray editions of Quatermass II: Enemy from Space plus Quatermass and the Pit. NOTE: These are the THEATRICAL RELEASE versions. If you want the original 1950s British television versions of the Quatermass Serials they are available but sometimes just on Region 2 DVD.
To pre-order these Blu-Ray editions: Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
Here’s Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of Don McGregor’s 1973-1975 Black Panther story Panther’s Rage. I’m no comic book expert but in my opinion Panther’s Rage surpasses much of the work done by the overrated and overpraised Alan Moore.
As always, since I’m neither a liberal nor a conservative I was surprised by some of the intense political reactions to my reviewing this Black Panther story. Many people who call themselves conservatives seem to think this Marvel Comics character has some connection to the hate group called the Black Panthers.
Actually this figure came BEFORE the Black Panthers. In fact Marvel flirted with changing the character’s name a few times – once to just simply “the Panther” and once to “the Black Leopard” – to keep their character separated from the racist hate group.
“Memes … memes, everywhere.”
On the other side many people who call themselves liberals huffed and puffed indignantly that I was covering a 13-part story written by (GASP) a white guy about a black character! Hey, a white guy even CREATED the character. I wonder if that invalidates the Black Panther entirely in their narrow minds.
Anyway, here are chapter by chapter links to my review –
ONE: PANTHER’S RAGE – Prince T’Challa, the Black Panther, returns to his isolated African kingdom of Wakanda to try to put down a violent rebellion led by a Wakandan calling himself Erik Killmonger. CLICK HERE
TWO: DEATH REGIMENTS BENEATH WAKANDA – The Black Panther battles Venomm, the supervillain in charge of Killmonger’s operation tunneling toward Wakanda City while simultaneously mining and stealing the nation’s vibranium reserves. CLICK HERE
THREE: MALICE BY CRIMSON MOONLIGHT – Killmonger sends a super-powered woman called Malice to help Venomm escape from the Royal Palace’s prison on the same night that T’Challa is undergoing his renewal of the Panther Herb ritual. CLICK HERE Continue reading
Filed under Pulp Heroes, Superheroes
Balladeer’s Blog’s recurring feature Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead returns with this nod to the Cars and their song Just What I Needed.
Filed under opinion
NAIA DIVISION ONE
NUMBER SEVEN TAKES A FALL – The 18th ranked WILLIAM JESSUP UNIVERSITY WARRIORS hosted the number 7 team in the nation – THE MASTER’S UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS. The Warriors let a 44-31 Halftime lead slip away to a 69-69 tie to end Regulation. The 1st Overtime ended in a 78-78 deadlock but in the 2nd William Jessup University emerged with a 90-84 triumph. Tyras Rattler Jr’s 21 points led the victors.
OTHER UPSETS IN THE TOP TWENTY-FIVE – There was only one other Upset among the ranked teams yesterday. The OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY STARS took the court against their guests – the number 21 JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY GOLDEN EAGLES (should be the Abolitionists). The Stars were chasing the Golden Eagles 42-31 at the Half but came roaring back after the break. Oklahoma City University won an 82-81 Instant Classic led by 20 points from Trae Bryant.
WORKIN’ OVERTIME – The MENLO COLLEGE OAKS defeated the visiting WESTMONT COLLEGE WARRIORS (should be the Guardians) 97-91 in the extra session ### Meanwhile the (6) TOUGALOO COLLEGE BULLDOGS won a 99-98 OT thriller at the EDWARD WATERS COLLEGE TIGERS ### And the (16) UNIVERSITY OF PIKEVILLE BEARS downed their hosts the LIFE UNIVERSITY RUNNING EAGLES 85-79. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
Here’s more of the world’s FIRST superhero team – DC’s Justice Society of America – for this superhero-crazed world. FOR PART ONE CLICK HERE
I will review the original issue and then detail how I would “script-doctor” the story for modern audiences.
ALL STAR COMICS #18 (September 1943)
Title: INSECTS TURN TO CRIME
Heroes: DOCTOR FATE, WONDER WOMAN (Original), SANDMAN, THE ATOM (Original), STARMAN, THE SPECTRE, HAWKMAN (Original), DOCTOR MIDNITE, JOHNNY THUNDER
Villain: KING BEE & HIS INSECT-MEN
Synopsis: A supervillain called King Bee (Elmer Pane) has his biochemically-created Insect-Men use their super powers to wage a criminal reign of terror on land, at sea and in the air. He’s even captured and transformed Johnny Thunder into a Fly-Man (no loss).
The JSA sets out to fight King Bee and try to save Johnny. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
