OK, little change of plans. I just looked at my dashboard and noticed I'm about to publish my six-hundred sixty-sixth post. Not review. Post. Now, I'm not superstitious or anything, not by a long shot, but I thought something truly weird would be fitting for the occasion. We'll go back to the fifties sci-fi later. … Continue reading Manos, King of Slaps
Dallas To Donuts
Different city. Different state. Much, much bigger fair. It is Texas we're talking about, after all. Hollywood has never been one to let a beloved property languish on the shelf, and in 1962 Twentieth Century Fox released its remake of State Fair, hoping to make some more magic out of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. The new film had … Continue reading Dallas To Donuts
Selena, La Reina
Today is Selena Day in Texas. For those who aren't familiar with Selena Quintanilla-Perez, she was shot on March 31, 1995 by her fan club president, Yolanda Saldivar and died soon after. I had never heard of her before her murder, probably because she had been a niche artist on the verge of going mainstream … Continue reading Selena, La Reina
They Really Lived
We're still in Texas, only our hero now has the accent and a shotgun on his knee. I give you Michael Caine in 2003's Secondhand Lions. The film opens with two old men flying a biplane around a wide stretch of Texas prairie. Actually, it's more like joyriding than flying. They even barnstorm an overpass … Continue reading They Really Lived
Going Wildcat
Time to pay homage to the King... Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable made three movies together, always playing close friends, or what some today might term "bromance." However, instead of simply being best friends, the dynamic was usually Tracy's character shepherding Gable's, at times sacrificing his own happiness in order to allow Gable to prosper, … Continue reading Going Wildcat
Taking Up Room 