Tag Archives: movie reviews

BEST OF AUGUST 2018

Balladeer’s Blog’s retrospective of the Best of 2018 rolls along with this look at August’s Best.

Boone MayBOONE MAY: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER – The three-day Frontierado Holiday Weekend kicked off with this look at the underrated gunslinger Daniel Boone May, better known as just Boone May.

Calling someone “the deadliest gun in the Dakotas” makes people think of Wild Bill Hickok but actually that title belongs to Boone May. (Most of Wild Bill’s kills happened years before he drifted into the Dakotas.) CLICK HERE 

Mascot new lookSJW’s: LOSERS OR JUST FOOLS – SJW’s are the modern-day equivalent of those primly disapproving religious nuts who spent their lives trying to impose their own uptight notions of right and wrong on other people. Except SJW’s are even more annoying. 

For this particular blog post CLICK HERE

Moona Lisa with skullLOST MOONA LISA FOOTAGE SURFACED – Balladeer’s Blog’s love of the old Movie Host Shows of the past has been well-established. Moona Lisa (Lisa Clark) has been featured here since 2011.

Some old 1970s U-Matic Video Recorder footage of Moona Lisa’s show had surfaced back in August and I was happy to alert fans to this and to provide info on the auction of the long-lost material. CLICK HERE   

Rob Smith#WALKAWAY MOVEMENT CONTINUES – This item examined the continuing #WALKAWAY Movement, the exodus of so many of us former Democrats from the party because of Democrats’ increasing fascism, intolerance and snobbery toward the working class. To read this item CLICK HERE

twisted pairNEIL BREEN’S LATEST FILM: TWISTED PAIR (2018) – The Breenius behind movies like Double Down, I Am Here …. (sic) Now, Fateful Findings and Pass Thru struck again with this sci-fi/ social commentary oddity title Twisted Pair.

All Human Breens, as Neil Breen fans are called, owe it to themselves to check out this latest work of the man, the legend. CLICK HERE 

Mascot sword and pistolDYSTOPIA NATION: THE NEW COLONIALISM – This controversial blog post was another in my Dystopia Nation series.

The New Colonialism looked at a hypothetical future of nothing but bloated rich pigs and suffering poor, and with the bloated rich pigs telling themselves they are THE moral authorities for the country. CLICK HERE

Ndakuwang gaSHARK GOD OF FIJI: NDAKUWANG-GA – Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the Gods of Fiji was incredibly popular. 

That popularity prompted this entry on the Fijian shark god Ndakuwang-ga.

For many of that deity’s myths you can read the blog post HERE

CIA John BrennanJOHN BRENNAN: CIA FILTH … PLUS MORE – John Brennan, The Man From S.C.U.M. himself, headlined this look at the ongoing offenses of America’s forever-slimy CIA and NSA.

One of the reasons I used to be a Democrat before becoming an Independent Voter was because of the way Democrats USED TO be openly critical of America’s counter-productive and outrightly criminal “Intelligence Services” (LMAO). These days, though, Democrats applaud the heinous activities of CIA and NSA filth like Brennan. CLICK HERE

Living in HarmonyTHE PRISONER: LIVING IN HARMONY – Balladeer’s Blog’s episode by episode look at this 1967 Patrick McGoohan sci-fi/ existential drama raised a lot of interest.

One of the busiest posts was this look at the episode Living in Harmony, in which the Prisoner found himself living a bizarre Wild West version of his plight. To read it click HERE

Wizards of OROBERT MUELLER: GANGSTER BOSS – Accused rapist and accused suborner of perjury Robert Mueller, the modern-day Martin Dies and Joe McCarthy, was the topic of this blog post.

Mueller’s corrupt “investigation” has been exposed as such a travesty that I would not blame anyone who rejects anything and everything Mueller and his staff of Hillary donors come up with. CLICK HERE

Selleck 2FLASHMAN ITEM: SO HOW WOULD I HAVE HANDLED HIS CIVIL WAR ADVENTURES? – The love for George MacDonald Fraser’s antihero Harry Paget Flashman kept pouring in all summer long.

To meet demand I used this blog post to answer the frequently-asked question about how I would have handled Harry’s Civil War exploits, since I felt Fraser forced Flashman into way too many Civil War historical events, lacking his usual finesse. CLICK HERE

fascists will call themselves anti-fascistsANTIFA IS REALLY KLAN-TIFA – A look at the cowardly masked fascists of Antifa, who are really KLAN-tifa, no matter what they pretend their name is short for.

Are Antifa trash really the same kind of losers who gravitate toward rape and serial killing or are they just white children of privilege play-acting at being members of some absurd pretense of “resistance” (LMAO)? CLICK HERE  

democrat republican awakeDEMOCRATS LOVE CORPORATE FASCISM – The new motto of the Democrats seems to be “Vote all you want – we’ll use our corporate fascist allies to force you to comply with our every bizarre notion.”

For this step by step look at the way bloated rich pigs now use their influence on behalf of the political left instead of the political right CLICK HERE 

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A CAROL CHRISTMAS (2003): CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON CONTINUES

A Carol ChristmasA CAROL CHRISTMAS (2003) – Here’s another entry in Balladeer’s Blog’s Ninth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon. This version is one of the many that tries mining laughs out of setting the Dickens classic in the modern age. These adaptations have varying degrees of success and on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this effort a 6.5.

A Carol Christmas isn’t trying to be the most touching or the funniest rendition of A Christmas Carol, it’s just a pleasant, fluffy diversion for the Christmas season. Tori Spelling stars as Carol Cartman, a daytime hostess like Jenny Jones, Oprah and so many others. As the Scrooge figure Spelling is selfish, mean-spirited and abuses her staff, especially her assistant Roberta, the Bob Cratchit role.

Roberta (Nina Siemaszko) is a struggling single mother caught up in a custody battle for her version of Tiny Tim in a novel departure from the usual Cratchit family pathos. 

Dinah Manoff portrays the ghost of Carol’s late aunt and manager Marla. Aunt Marla was a driven “show-biz mom” type whose monomaniacal, cold-hearted drive was passed on to Carol as she forced the girl into a show business career she never really wanted. Because of this Marla is cursed in a Jacob Marley manner and has come to warn her niece that she faces the same fate unless she changes her ways. Continue reading

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BEST OF JULY 2018

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

MaverickMAVERICK (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#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 

Fiji 3TUILAKEMBA: 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

Birds by Aristophanes 2ASK 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 cutFLASHMAN: 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

clones 2THE 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

Scarlet GospelsCLIVE 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 

Zip WyattTHREE 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

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A DIVA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (2000)

A Diva's Christmas CarolA DIVA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (2000) – Balladeer’s Blog’s Ninth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with a look at this Vanessa Williams venture. Due to the nature of this adaptation of the Dickens classic it is often categorized as one of the “African-American versions.” Among other such Carols I have reviewed are Christmas is Comin’ Uptown with Gregory Hines and John Grin’s Christmas starring Robert Guillaume. 

The forever-underrated Vanessa Williams is brilliant in this very good film that mixes comedy, music and drama together far better than many stage versions manage to do. Williams stars as Ebony Scrooge, a pop singer who puts on a kind and pleasant public face but who is a … well, a diva behind the scenes.  

Ebony is even more nasty than usual as she pushes her entourage beyond all their limits to get ready for an alleged “charity” show for the homeless on Christmas. Ebony’s demeanor makes it clear that she is really doing it all just for public image reasons and to feed her own ego (Bono – cough – Bono) as she wallows in the plaudits sent her way.   Continue reading

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BEST OF JUNE 2018

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

Fiji 4GODS OF FIJI – Balladeer’s Blog’s examinations of neglected pantheons of deities from around the world are always a hit.

The ancient belief system of the islands of Fiji were covered in this blog post which featured nearly 30 Fijian gods and goddesses. CLICK HERE 

mother-jonesMOTHER JONES: RECOMMENDED TRUMP LINKS – Balladeer’s Blog once again posted a roundup of links to the most thought-provoking articles about President Donald Trump.

All of them recommended by Mother Jones.

CLICK HERE

hammett 2HAMMETT (1982) – I reviewed this 1982 Wim Wenders film that was produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios. Frederic Forrest (Chef from Apocalypse Now) plays real-life mystery writer Dashiell Hammett as he gets caught up in a real-life mystery.

A friend from Hammett’s days as a Pinkerton Detective shows up asking for a favor in the mid-1920s, when Dashiell is still working for just pennies a word for Black Mask and other Pulp Magazines. What follows is a fun homage to Film Noir and to Hammett’s stories. CLICK HERE     

Phelim McAleerPHELIM MCALEER ON THE AMERICAN LEFT’S TOTALITARIANISM – Like me and so many others, Phelim McAleer used to consider himself part of the political left but was driven away by the left’s growing fondness of censorship, blacklisting, totalitarianism and their support of ONLY reactionary Muslims, not Muslims who seek reform in their faith to bring it into the 21st Century.

His excellent take can be read HERE

Hellbound HeartHELLRAISER: ORIGINS TRAILER – My love of Clive Barker’s horror novel The Hellbound Heart and the subsequent Hellraiser film series is well known.

In this spec trailer for Hellraiser: Origins you can take a look at a reimagined Pinhead and a depiction of Hell that is a bold departure from Barker’s own. CLICK HERE 

Obama hates childrenSNOPES CONFIRMS BARACK OBAMA’S ADMINISTRATION TURNED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AT THE BORDER OVER TO HUMAN TRAFFICKERS – Just one of the many, MANY scandals of Obama’s presidency ignored by the Democrats in the media.

When even Snopes can’t slant an item to try to cover up for their beloved Hollow Man Barack you KNOW the evidence is monumental. CLICK HERE

Silas TalbotSILAS TALBOT: REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO – Balladeer’s Blog took a look at the Revolutionary War career of Silas Talbot.

BONUS: A descendant of Talbot showed up in the comments for a quick acknowledgement of this recognition of his ancestor’s heroics.

CLICK HERE

donald-trump-and-flagTRUMP-HATERS: ARE THEY INSANE OR ONLY PRETENDING TO BE? – A look at the slobbering, psychopathic behavior of those bizarre people who devote their every waking moment to drooling hatred of de facto Third Party President Donald Trump.

To read this item you can simply CLICK HERE 

declarationTHE INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH THAT NEVER WAS – This item examined a much-discussed speech during the deliberations over the Declaration of Independence.

The only problem is, it never happened. But it SHOULD have! Read the fiery speech and the notes about the odd theories surrounding the man who allegedly delivered that speech. CLICK HERE Continue reading

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CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON: BRE’ER RABBIT’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992)

brer-rabbits-christmas-carolBR’ER RABBIT’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992) – Balladeer’s Blog’s Ninth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues! Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, Br’er Bear, Br’er Gator and many other characters created by Joel Chandler Harris are featured in this animated version of the Dickens tale.

Br’er Rabbit’s Christmas Carol is my favorite out of all the versions which present A Christmas Carol as the framework of a Mission Impossible/ Leverage “con job” to make a greedy character change their ways. To nobody’s surprise, Br’er Fox is the Scrooge stand-in who requires a wakeup call.

brer-rabbits-christmas-carol-2All the characters live in a town in the American South, where a charity stage production of A Christmas Carol is being performed, with the proceeds going to benefit the terribly ill Timmy Mouse. No, not “Br’er Timmy” or anything like that, just Timmy Mouse as our Tiny Tim stand-in.

Br’er Fox has no time for silly fiction and is completely unfamiliar with the Dickens Christmas classic. That fact gives Br’er Rabbit the idea to work with his friends to instill some holiday spirit into Br’er Fox, who refuses to help Timmy Mouse and charges the other animals exorbitant prices for the firewood he sells. If they can’t afford to pay, they go cold.   Continue reading

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BEST OF MARCH 2018

Balladeer’s Blog’s End of Year Retrospective Continues with this look at The Best of March.

Anni on ShariaANNI CYRUS, IRANIAN-BORN CRITIC OF SHARIA LAW – Another member of the real-life League of Extraordinary Women, Anni Cyrus was in the news again, this time for her 2018 Anti-Sharia Law Tour.

As ever, the courageous Cyrus had to endure all manner of threats from reactionary Muslim fascists AND from privileged white women who pretend they’re “heroic” by engaging in childish Handmaid’s Tale cos-play. Meanwhile the Democrats on college campuses worked to block TRULY heroic Anni Cyrus’ talks by claiming she promotes “Islamophobia” or by saying they couldn’t guarantee her safety from mobs of fascist Democrats. CLICK HERE

Jet Benny ShowTHE JET BENNY SHOW – Balladeer’s Blog’s reviews of bad and weird movies are still very popular.

This one addressed The Jet Benny Show, a bizarre attempt at comedy which fused Star Wars with The Jack Benny Show. The result was horrendous in all kinds of ways. CLICK HERE 

Shotgun ZieglerNON-DILLINGER: QUICK TAKES ON OTHER GANGSTERS OF HIS ERA – In keeping with Balladeer’s Blog’s tradition of examining topics which slip through the cultural cracks this blog post looked at some of the 1930s gangsters overshadowed by John Dillinger’s legend.

Figures like Two-Gun Crowley, Jelly Nash, the Tri-State Terror and others are featured in this item from March. CLICK HERE 

Ratings GameTHE RATINGS GAME – I reviewed this overlooked comedy from 1984.

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman starred in this hilarious sendup of the perpetually flawed television ratings process which enables some truly absurd programs to thrive while more thoughtful efforts get quick cancellations. CLICK HERE 

Sharyl AttkissonJOURNALIST SHARYL ATTKISSON’S COURAGEOUS EXPOSURE OF OBAMA’S COUNTLESS SCANDALS AND CRIMES – Strong female role model and 21st Century Ida Tarbell, Sharyl Attkisson refused to be intimidated by the Obama Administration’s thugs.

Even now she continues her heroic exposure of the weak, inept and crooked little man named Barack Obama. CLICK HERE

Jimmy Kimmell fat pigJIMMY KIMMEL: THE BALLADEER’S BLOG INTERVIEW – Relentlessly unfunny waste of biomass Jimmy Kimmel is a truly disgusting human being.

Jimmy gets the kind of unfair treatment he gutlessly dishes out on his show, where he controls the final broadcast product and rigs it to make himself look like he actually knows what he’s talking about. CLICK HERE 

Urkel

UNITED STATES PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

OBAMA’S PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAIT – The controversy surrounding the decapitation porn artist that weak, inept and crooked little Barack Obama had paint his presidential portrait got covered in this blog post.

The timing of this portrait’s unveiling was cosmically bad.

It came out in the middle of revelations about previously covered-up details of Obama’s horrific Iran Deal AND the way he permitted a drug ring run from the middle east to thrive on our southern border to avoid embarrassing reactionary Muslim fascists. CLICK HERE   

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CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON – SCROOGE (1935) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Scrooge 1935Balladeer’s Blog’s 9th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues!

Before MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault!

In the middle 1980s, way down on Level 31 Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class hosted this neglected cult show.

SCROOGE (1935)

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: December 14th, 1985 to the best that can be determined.

Flash Gordon Conquers the UniverseSERIAL: Before showing and mocking the movie our members of the Film Vault Corps showed and mocked a chapter of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940).

In that serial Ming the Merciless unleashes a disease called the Purple Death on Earth, prompting Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr Zarkov to fly to the planet Mongo to find a cure and defeat Ming for good.

HOST SEGMENTS: None have been unearthed for this episode yet. As always if any other fans of this show have any info they would like to share feel free to contact me – see my About page for details.    

We’ve come a long way toward tentatively reconstructing a tiny bit of this show’s history over the past few years so hopefully more memories will be jogged.

MOVIE:  Continue reading

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AN ALL DOGS CHRISTMAS CAROL (1998): CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON CONTINUES

All Dogs Christmas CarolBalladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2018 continues with a look at this animated sequel to All Dogs Go To Heaven.

The dog-angel characters from that reasonably successful film use their Heavenly powers to get the dog-gangster Carface Caruthers (Ernest Borgnine) to change his ways. The portions of this direct-to- video flick dealing with the actual Christmas Carol adaptation are very good. 

Unfortunately that element takes up barely half of the story. The overall tale is about a demonic figure called Belladonna (Bebe Neuwirth) who wants to use a gigantic magic dog bone to manipulate all of Earth’s dogs in a plot to destroy Christmas. Dog-Angels Charlie Barkin (Steven Weber) and Itchy (Dom Deluise) from the previous movie need the help of canine crime-lord Carface to thwart Belladonna’s plans. Hence the plot to “Dickens” him into becoming a better man … or dog, actually.   Continue reading

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SUSAN LUCCI’S CHRISTMAS CAROL: EBBIE (1995)

ebbieEBBIE (1995) Balladeer’s Blog’s Ninth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon rolls along with this 1995 telefilm  starring soap opera queen Susan Lucci. The eternally-sexy Lucci plays Elizabeth “Ebbie” Scrooge, our regulation “grasping and covetous” business magnate who runs the Dobson’s department store empire. This version of A Christmas Carol is kind of cute and it tries hard.

At its core Ebbie combines the Dickens tale with elements of the Diane Keaton movie Baby Boom. The dialogue self-consciously uses Big Business/ Executive Culture cliches in various exchanges. For example, where Scrooge normally says “Can’t I take them (the Ghosts) all at once and have it over with” Ebbie instead says “Can’t I just Conference Call them all in and have it over with?” Plus Marley’s Ghost refers to Scrooge “taking meetings” with the three Spirits. Sometimes these substitutions are amusing, other times just eye-rolling.  

Ebbie is one of those Carols which make the Ghosts look like people that the Scrooge figure knows in real life. Personally I don’t care for that approach but others do, so it’s all just a question of taste. An interesting note is that outside of Susan Lucci and the guy who plays her late partner Jake Marley (Jeffrey DeMunn) virtually NOBODY in the cast is recognizable. It’s like The Susan Lucci Community Theater Players Present A Christmas Carol.

Taking the crucial elements of the tale in order: Continue reading

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