When Clark Gable came back from the his overseas service, MGM was, of course, chomping at the bit to put him in a movie and recapture some of the old magic. Adventure was the name of that first movie, and Greer Garson was Gable's costar, with "Gable's back and Garson's got him!" as the tagline. … Continue reading Not the Same Mr. Gable
Tubi and Asylum, Together Again
When Asylum and Tubi started teaming up in 2021 to create content, it didn't bode well, at least not for Tubi. Tubi, a promising streaming service, was probably looking for cheap movies, and Asylum is the Grand Pumbah of mockbusters and all-round bad movies of varying quality and low budgets. It's amazing that these films … Continue reading Tubi and Asylum, Together Again
Let Them Eat Movie Cake
In a previous post we talked about how we never see crab cakes in movies. Regular cake, on the other hand, is obviously a different story. If there's a wedding, there will probably be a cake. If there's a birthday, there will probably be a cake. If there's an office party, there will probably be … Continue reading Let Them Eat Movie Cake
August Was Hot. The Movies Were Not.
In Placer County, we have lonnnng summers. We'll get summerlike weather from June all the way up until around Halloween, albeit punctuated with some rain and thunder and lightning in the last couple of months. Right now we keep getting rain and lightning in the morning, and muggy and hot in the afternoon. At least … Continue reading August Was Hot. The Movies Were Not.
It’s All In Your Head
One of the most highly successful series of the mid-thirties and early forties was Dr. Kildare, which paired a young Lew Ayres with an older Lionel Barrymore. The clash of generations and an older doctor mentoring a younger one never failed to land. The third movie in the series was 1939's The Secret of Dr. Kildare, … Continue reading It’s All In Your Head
Dial “O” For O’Malley
Welcome back, Miss Ingrid... I don't know about anyone else, but my parents and I watched a lot of movies when I was growing up, and they were the ones to introduce me to classic Hollywood. They were both born in the early forties and remembered a lot of these movies from their childhood and … Continue reading Dial “O” For O’Malley
Dancing With Walter and Jack
Off we go... Real-life best friends Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon co-starred in nine movies, which is, funnily enough, one more than Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and two more than Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Anyway, Lemmon and Matthau's next-to-last movie together was 1997's Out To Sea, a fun if uneven comedy that has its heart … Continue reading Dancing With Walter and Jack
The Student Surpasses the Master
Saddle up, y'all... When a genre is soaked with titles, it can take a lot for a movie to stand out. Westerns are probably the most saturated in this regard, because they were often cheap to make, didn't need a lot of sets, and there was always a ready crowd of real cowboys waiting outside … Continue reading The Student Surpasses the Master
Duck and Cover
Timing is a funny, funny thing. 1962's Panic In Year Zero came out right before the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cold War was in full swing, obviously, although the average person was no longer scrambling to build a home fallout shelter. Still, the threat of nuclear war was definitely there, and naturally American International Pictures saw the … Continue reading Duck and Cover
During World War Two: Postwar Movie Recs
Almost immediately after the ending of the war, and for that matter, even before that, Hollywood tried to make sense of it and offer commentary on all that happened. Of course, countless movies have been made about the war, too many for any one listing, and some are done better than others. This list, however, … Continue reading During World War Two: Postwar Movie Recs
Oh Yeah, It’s Blockbuster Season
School is back in and I go back to work today. In fact, by the time this post goes live, I will be at home eating breakfast after my first shift of the day, extremely glad to be out of the August heat. Speaking of heat, July is supposed to be the height of blockbuster season, … Continue reading Oh Yeah, It’s Blockbuster Season
Hacking Is Fun
We all know there was a plethora of sci-fi films in the late seventies and early eighties or so, many of them more or less trying their hardest to rip off Star Wars. Among the throng was 1980's Saturn 3, which went a bit more ham than its counterparts as well as copying other sci-fi films. Just a bit. … Continue reading Hacking Is Fun
The (Fictional) Birth of Rock
1956 was quite the banner year for music and culture. Rock was really starting to grab the public at large and the bottom was falling out of the swing and big band genre. People like Harry James, who were treated the way rock stars are today, suddenly couldn't get bookings or draw audiences the way … Continue reading The (Fictional) Birth of Rock
A Jana Kramer Film Festival
I just kinda fell into this one. After a weekend of interesting tumult but still tumult, a seemingly random Jana Kramer movie on Tubi looked like the polar opposite of all things Titanic. Until I saw that Tubi had four more movies lined up right behind it. Feeling lazy and a little curious, I thought, … Continue reading A Jana Kramer Film Festival
During World War Two: 1946 Movie Recs (And a Short Watchlist)
OK, this might seem kinda like cheating because the war ended in 1945, but a lot of the films on this list were in production while the war was still going on, so they count. Obviously, this rec list is a lot shorter than past years, but this post has something those other lists haven't … Continue reading During World War Two: 1946 Movie Recs (And a Short Watchlist)
Movies That Need Fish Cakes
Has anyone ever seen a fish cake in a movie? I have yet to see one. Fish, yes. Fish cakes, no. Maybe it's because they're too easy to mistake for other things, or they're too high maintenance for multiple takes, or they're too rich to nibble on all day. Who knows. Either way, they're not … Continue reading Movies That Need Fish Cakes
Unicorns, Red Bull, and Well-Endowed Trees
Everyone is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Back To the Future and I'm right there with them, but I stumbled on Rankin-Bass's The Last Unicorn the other day while puttering around Tubi and a light went on. I haven't seen this movie in almost forty years. It would have been on TV or VHS, either … Continue reading Unicorns, Red Bull, and Well-Endowed Trees
Taking Up Room 