20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) – The famous first cinematic adaptation of the Jules Verne classic. Having loved the version of this pioneering 1916 film that was available during the 1990s and earlier I had put off watching the restored and upgraded version released in 2010.
That delay was a mistake on my part. The restored version can leave you floored even when compared to the already impressive print that was previously available. Universal released 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea after two years in production.
The title is misleading, because this movie combines Verne’s original tale of Captain Nemo with the sequel novel The Mysterious Island in which Nemo’s origin was revealed along with his real name – Prince Dakkar.
As you would imagine, combining both novels was necessary to provide a longer viewing experience due to how much of the 20,000 Leagues story had to be omitted. Submarine technology was still fairly primitive and God knows the technology for filming underwater was more primitive still. Viewers get short shrift in terms of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea storyline with the Mysterious Island portion taking up a lot of the runtime.
Personally, I would have preferred that Universal had just produced a shorter 20,000 Leagues film that was all Leagues and nothing but Leagues, then release The Mysterious Island later as a sequel. In 1916 audience expectations were not yet such that movies had to run the 86 to 105 minutes boasted by surviving copies of 20,000 Leagues.
At any rate, we all know the story – a supposed “sea monster” preying on international shipping turns out to actually be the futuristic submarine called the Nautilus. After the sub attacks the vessel the Abraham Lincoln, Captain Nemo (Allen Holubar) and his crew take aboard survivors. Continue reading
Have I mentioned lately that anti-Trumpers are the most ignorant, uninformed and emotionally unstable people I have ever seen? They still haven’t learned to curb their brain-dead enthusiasm for reading “nazi salutes” and the like into waves from people associated with him. 
At any rate, this blog post shows just a few of the photos online which featured Democrats Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren and many, many more of their ilk making that same arm gesture when waving to crowds. 
Democrats, you are in no way fit to compare yourselves to heroic people who were often killed or tortured by REAL nazis, often being herded to their deaths with the laughter of their killers being the last thing they ever heard. NO Democrat today would have the courage to take any actual risk by opposing the world’s REAL forces of oppression in 2025.
Not even having the career criminal installed in his place in 2020 unleashing his attack dogs in the DOJ on him stopped him. Not even the heinous heads of the CIA stopped him. Not even multiple assassination attempts stopped him. (Though let’s face it, America’s cesspool of a political establishment may yet try more impeachments and assassination attempts against him.) 
But most importantly, the man himself prevailed. By refusing to give in to forces that would have stopped lesser figures, Trump inspired America’s voters to remember the many successes from his first term and take note of the failures, graft and lies of the white-collar criminals who opposed him. From BOTH parties. 
From 
Fellow blogger Dawn at 
I was happy when Lizard Planet started selling Murph Merchandise comparatively recently. We got Murph calendars for different rooms but if calendars aren’t your thing there are magnets, mugs, hoodies, cards, throw pillows, shopping totes and more! 
Every time it seems that the zealots who still call themselves Democrats have sunk as low as they possibly could, they prove 
There are plenty of news stories that are still unfolding right now but need another few days for the figurative and literal smoke to clear. I will definitely be covering them in the days ahead. For today plenty of readers have been asking about my view of the continuing U.K. grooming gangs scandal. 
ROTHERHAM REPORT OPINION (September 2nd, 2014) – “Females as young as ELEVEN were being systematically raped and groomed for further abuse by Pakistani Muslims in the U.K for years. Over FOURTEEN HUNDRED VICTIMS (Note: that was the 2014 estimate) have been referred to in just the Rotherham Report with countless other areas of the U.K. weighing in with similar accounts.” 
“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE ACCUSED OF BEING ISLAMOPHOBIC” IS THE NEW “I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS.” (September 22nd, 2014) – “The atrocities were enabled by U.K. bureaucrats, many of whom willfully ignored the complaints of the rape victims because the assailants were Muslim. Some of the bureaucrats have tried to excuse their actions (or rather their inaction) by plaintively whining that they ‘didn’t want to be accused of Islamophobia.’
As an appreciative shoutout to James Woods, one of the wildfire victims in California, here’s a Balladeer’s Blog look at 8 of his films. 
VIDEODROME (1983) 
Balladeer's Blog 