One of the Second World War's most iconic images is that of General Douglas MacArthur wading through the surf at Leyte in his long-promised return to the Philippines. While that incident has famously been called "staged," it was and it wasn't. MacArthur's landing craft was unable to take him right up to the beach because … Continue reading I Shall Return
A Surfeit of Weirdness
Virtually everyone has seen their share of weird movies. I know I have (Birdemic, anyone?). So when Ronyell asked us bloggers to name ten of our personal weirdest, it was a hard choice. There's a lot of strange stuff out there. It's kind of disturbing that I was able to compile this list in about … Continue reading A Surfeit of Weirdness
Five Reasons To See “Young Frankenstein”
Apartment living can be surprising, annoying, and a hundred other similies. It can also be inadvertantly beneficial. I never saw the beat of our current apartment for getting other people's stuff, and it's happened the entire nine years we've been in the place. We gotten court orders from two different counties. Eight cases of Hopsy … Continue reading Five Reasons To See “Young Frankenstein”
It’s A Charmed Life
Who else misses Brittany Murphy? I do. She was a fun lady who left us way too soon. I always enjoyed seeing what kinds of parts she chose to play, and I think one of the nicest is 2003's Uptown Girls. Molly Gunn (Brittany Murphy) lives like a princess. Her Manhattan apartment looks like Rapunzel's … Continue reading It’s A Charmed Life
Reading Rarities: The American Home Front, 1941-1942
When most people think of Alistair Cooke, at least people of my generation and before, we think of the dapper English gentleman on Masterpiece Theatre or Upstairs Downstairs, sitting in the posh wing chair bidding all of us a good evening before introducing that night's program. Mr. Cooke was an institution, and Masterpiece Theatre hasn't … Continue reading Reading Rarities: The American Home Front, 1941-1942
Somewhere Over the Film Noir
Betty Grable and Carole Landis don't really come to mind when one thinks of film noir. They're fun and nice and pretty and hardly the type for dark and stormy nights, but dark and stormy is exactly what they get in 1941's I Wake Up Screaming, a murder mystery based on the Steve Fisher novel, Hot Spot. Well, … Continue reading Somewhere Over the Film Noir
Page To Screen: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
When looking at America's entry into the Second World War seventy-plus years on, it might be hard to believe how high the stakes really were in early 1942. The United States' armed forces were very small, we were still using cavalry horses and bayonets, and the Japanese dealt Americans heavy blows at Pearl Harbor and … Continue reading Page To Screen: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Verne’s Extraordinary Voyage
Back with another page-turner... What Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is to crime fiction and forensics, Jules Verne is to sci-fi, and next to Around the World In Eighty Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is probably his most well-known work. First published in France in 1870, then translated into English in 1873, it's filmmaker bait because a … Continue reading Verne’s Extraordinary Voyage
A Woman’s Touch
Ms. Day is back... Doris Day was, of course, typically cast as a plucky, elegant songstress or would-be songstress, but few roles she played were as unique as 1953's Calamity Jane, a musical very loosely based on the life of the famous Wild West figure. Well, unique to Doris Day, anyway. The movie opens with Calamity … Continue reading A Woman’s Touch
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy…
"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed...Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20, NIV) Mention 1993's Rudy and a lot of sports fans will get misty-eyed. My dad is one of 'em. Based on a true story, the movie follows Rudy Ruettiger, a guy who flew in the … Continue reading Rudy, Rudy, Rudy…
Taking Up Room 