Confessions of a Half-Breed Prince

2012-01-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Robert Hegyes

American actor Robert Hegyes, best known for his role as Epstein on the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, played his last prank today at age 60. He will be missed.

2012-01-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Nicol Williamson

Scottish actor Nicol Williamson, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1976 film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and Merlin in the 1981 movie Excalibur, closed his last case on December 16 of last year at age 75. He will be missed.

2012-01-25T20:35:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. James Farentino

American actor James Farentino, best known for his roles in such TV shows as Dynasty and The Bold Ones, lost his last case Tuesday at age 73. He will be missed.

2012-01-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Dick Tufeld

American actor Dick Tufeld, best known for being the voice of the Robot on the American TV series Lost in Space, gave his last warning to Will Robinson Sunday at age 85. He will be missed.

2012-01-24T23:52:00.001-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "Only Happy When It Rains"

Shirley Manson goes to where the wild things are.

2012-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

Fantasy Quote of the Week

There is nothing more frightening or exciting than a blank piece of paper. Frightening because you’re on your own, leaving dark tracks across that snowy plain, and exciting because no one knows your destination but yourself, and even you can’t say exactly where you’ll end up.
--Robert McCammon, Boy’s Life

2012-01-24T23:37:00.001-08:00

Science Fiction Quote of the Week

There is a technical term for someone who confuses the opinions of a character in a book with those of the author. That term is idiot.
--S.M. Stirling, Conquistador

2012-01-23T21:14:00.001-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Gaston"

I guess it's a good thing for us that Gaston is a fictional character because otherwise, he might be running for President right now.

2012-01-22T23:43:00.000-08:00

Trailer of the Week: Network (1976)

Remember the good old days when people still watched live television?

2012-01-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Flying Nun

The original opening for the oddest sitcom I ever saw. The funny thing is that when I watched this show as a kid, it never occurred to me to question the logic of the show's premise. In fact, I remember being disappointed whenever Sally Field's character went a whole episode without flying.

2012-01-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

Shaking the Veil

One of the oldest tropes in the book is that of the former sinner who becomes a saint--or at least, that of the former troublemaker who mends his or her ways and becomes a more respectable person. Such is the trope used by the writers of the 1966 movie The Trouble with Angels, a comedy which would have you believe that adorable little Disney actress Hayley Mills was born to play both a rebellious Catholic girl and a future nun.

Unfortunately, Ms. Mills is not all that believable as rebellious Catholic girl Mary Clancy and though it is quite adorable to see her repeatedly lure her schoolmate Rachel Devery (played by June Harding) into one mess after another, I got the feeling that the film's writers just didn't have the heart to make a movie in which Ms. Mills was too rebellious. It doesn't help that most of Ms. Mills' misdeeds seem hilariously tame by today's standards; granted, Ms. Clancy's habit of smoking cigarettes will still get a girl in trouble with her teachers today even in public schools. But compared to the attitudes which would become common in future generations, Mary Clancy seems like an altar girl and the harshest sin we ever see her actually commit occurs in the opening credits sequence in which Clancy's animated self blows out the flame of the Columbia Studios torch. More often, Ms. Clancy's worst sin is trying to seem a lot more sophisticated than she actually is and she is hardly the first or last teenager to commit that misdeed.

Fortunately, there is Rosalind Russell as the strict but ultimately kind-hearted Mother Superior to give an antidote to whatever saccharine taste Ms. Mills gives the movie. Ms. Russell was hardly the first actress I would have picked to convincingly play a Catholic nun but she plays the role well enough that I can't help but think that if most real-life nuns in the 1960s were nothing like Ms. Russell's character, they should have been.

There is also a cameo by former stripper Gypsy Rose Lee whose role in this movie never quite makes sense as anything but either an in-joke reference to Ms. Russell's performance in Gypsy or else an excuse to allude to Ms. Lee's former career within the opening credits.

As a devout Catholic, I must admit that I wanted to like this movie a lot more than I actually did. After all, this was one of the last Hollywood movies to depict the nuns of the pre-Vatican II era in a sympathetic fashion and while I realize there is a darker side to recent church history than Hollywood movies of the Hays Code era liked to admit, I also doubt that such a system could have endured for so long if there was not at least some good in the system as well. However, this film just did not work for me as well as it should have.

Oh, well. Like Mary Clancy, I too was once a bit of a rebel against the Church even though I never went to Catholic school, and yet even back then, there was a part of me who could not resist the lure of holy water and stained glass. Wishful thinking, perhaps?

Perhaps. I'm still a long way from qualifying for a halo but at least I haven't been hit by lightning yet so maybe my guardian angel was trying to tell me something.

2012-01-20T18:47:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Etta James

Blues singer Etta James, best known for such songs as "At Last," sang her last note todayat age 73. She will be missed.

2012-01-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

Politics is a very peculiar thing, Woodrow. If they want you, they want you. They don’t need reasons anymore…they find their own reasons. It’s just like when a girl wants a man.
--Harry Hayden, Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

2012-01-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

Maybe we’re good pirates.
--Perry Lang, Miami Vice, "Trust Fund Pirates"

2012-01-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "Redland"

Reflections on the Revolution in America.

2012-01-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Iowa Stubborn"

You just know I had to post this number some time this month even if it doesn't have a thing to do with Martin Luther King Jr.

2012-01-16T22:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

A lot of things look easy once somebody else has done them.
--David Drake, The Military Dimension: Mark II

If that above quote doesn't sum up my view of the various attempts made by revisionists this past year to dismiss King as a grandstander whose protests were unnecessary because an end to segregation would have eventually come anyway, I don't know what does.

I hope you all have a good holiday despite the existence of such foolish people.

2012-01-16T22:03:00.001-08:00

Literary Quote I Like

You know, one thing really mystifies me about you crackers. The way good Christian white Americans treated the black man in the ‘50s we’re lucky we have one city left standing, and Martin Luther King was a man who could have said, all right, people, go to it, burn this country down. But he didn’t. And all you can do after some white trash shot him, is run him into the ground.
--O’Hanrahan in Wilton Barnhardt's Gospel

2012-01-15T20:53:00.001-08:00

Trailer of the Week: Bulworth (1998)

An O.J. Simpson joke in 1998? Oh, Warren, what were you thinking? And whatever made you think that it was only black voters who felt especially betrayed by the Democrats?

Oh, well. I guess I could give you credit for trying. But not a whole lot seemed to have changed since 1998. So, er, gracias por nada*...

* Spanish for "thanks for nothing."

2012-01-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Remember This Show: Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har

At long last, an animated cartoon that really describes the human condition.

2012-01-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

Don't Worry!

I have been recently trying to make this blog more user-friendly and in order to make the job go faster, I decided to hire the above team of experts to help me out. So from now on, everything should be smooth sailing, right?

2012-01-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

Of all the silly nonsense, this is the stupidest tea party I’ve even been to in all my life.
--Kathryn Beaumont, Alice in Wonderland (1951)

2012-01-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

Bernard, if the right people don’t have power, do you know what happens? The wrong people get it: politicians, councillors, ordinary voters!
--Nigel Hawthorne, Yes, Prime Minister, “Power to the People”

2012-01-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

2010s Movie Reviews

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Larry Crowne (2011)
Machete (2010)
Paul (2011)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Rio (2011)
Soul Surfer (2011)
The Losers (2010)
The Wolfman (2010)

2012-01-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

2000s Movie Reviews

A Day Without a Mexican (2004)
All About Steve (2009)
An American Carol (2008)
Aquamarine (2006)
Ask the Dust (2006)
Bandidas (2006)
Beowulf (2007)
Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)
Bolt (2009)
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
A. Part I
Casino Royale (2006)
Catch and Release (2006)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Charlotte's Web (2006)
Coraline (2009)
Crazy/Beautiful (2001)
Crossing Over (2009)
Death at a Funeral (2007)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
88 Minutes (2007)
Enchanted (2007)
Eulogy (2004)
Ghost Town (2008)
Hairspray (2007)
Hancock (2008)
Happy Feet (2006)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Haute Tension (High Tension) (2003)
Hoodwinked (2006)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Idiocracy (2006)
Igor (2008)
In the Land of Women (2007)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
King Kong (2005)
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Lassie (2005)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
A. Part I
B. Part II
Love Actually (2003)
Marley and Me (2008)
May (2002)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
Mission: Impossible III (2005)
Music and Lyrics (2007)
Night at the Museum (2006)
No Reservations (2007)
Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)
Perfect Stranger (2007)
Poseidon (2006)
Premonition (2007)
P.S. I Love You (2007)
Psycho Beach Party (2000)
Ratatouille (2007)
Spanglish (2004)
Spiderman 3 (2007)
Star Trek (2009)
Ten Items or Less (2006)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
The Box (2009)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Grudge 2 (2006)
The Holiday (2006)
The House Bunny (2008)
The Last Kiss (2006)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
The Proposal (2009)
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
The Weather Man (2005)
The Wrestler (2008)
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Up (2009)
V for Vendetta (2006)
Waitress (2007)
WALL·E (2008)
Watchmen (2009)
What's Cooking? (2000)

2012-01-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

1990s Movie Reviews

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
Music from Another Room (1998)
Strangeland (1998)
The Faculty (1998)

2012-01-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

1980s Movie Reviews

Beetlejuice (1988)
Border Cop (1980)
Born in East L.A. (1987)
Dead of Winter (1987)
La Tumba del Mojado (1985)
The Island (1980)

2012-01-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

1970s Movie Reviews

Black Christmas (1974)
Cabaret (1972)
A. Part I
B. Part II
Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1973)
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
Grease (1978)
A. Part I
B. Part II
Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973)
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Suspiria (1977)
The Brood (1979)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Mutations aka The Freakmaker (1974)
The Lady in Red (1979)
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)

2012-01-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

1960s Movie Reviews

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Charade (1963)
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) (1964)
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
The Old Dark House (1963)
The Trouble with Angels (1966)

2012-01-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

1950s Movie Reviews

Angel Face (1952)
Borderline (1950)
I'll Never Forget You (1951)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

2012-01-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

1940s Movie Reviews

Angel on My Shoulder (1946)
Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Black Friday (1940)
Border Incident (1949)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Fallen Angel (1945)
Frankenstein Versus the Wolf Man (1942)
George Washington Slept Here (1942)
Holiday Affair (1949)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
I Married a Witch (1942)
Miranda (1948)
My Favorite Brunette (1947)
On Our Merry Way (1948)
State of the Union (1948)
The Barkeys of Broadway (1949)
The Big Steal (1949)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The Great McGinty (1940)
The Luck of the Irish (1948)
The Wolf Man (1941)
This Gun for Hire (1942)

2012-01-11T17:41:00.001-08:00

1930s Movie Reviews

American Madness (1932)
Bachelor Mother (1939)
Blonde Venus (1932)
Dames (1934)
Dancing Lady (1933)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Easy Living (1937)
Footlight Parade (1933)
42nd Street (1933)
Frankenstein (1931)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
A. Part I
B. Part II
C. Part III
Holiday (1938)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Meet the Baron (1933)
Night Nurse (1931)
No Man of Her Own (1932)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Romance in Manhattan (1935)
Scarface (1932)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Step Lively, Jeeves! (1937)
Thank You, Jeeves! (1936)
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Old Dark House (1932)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
Three-Cornered Moon (1933)
Werewolf of London (1935)
Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

2012-01-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "Dear God"

The song least likely to be used in Rick Perry's Presidential campaign.

2012-01-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Who's Your Little Who-Zis?"

For the Self-Styled Siren, a brief musical number from the most elusive of Busby Berkeley movies, the 1932 film Night World. I can't wait to see this film make it to DVD.

2012-01-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

Pensamientos Acerca de TV

Bored to Death: "Pilot"

There was a time a few years ago when I probably would have appreciated this show more. Then again when I consider some of the more stupid stuff that I enjoyed watching when I was younger, I don't necessarily consider that a good thing.

Besides, there are TV shows that have done the old "P.I. who's not really a P.I." thing a whole lot better than this particular show. Perhaps it's because I've gotten tired of the old "hipster who is too hip to avoid making a mess of his love life" routine but this show got really old really fast--so much so that I found it hard to root for the hero to get back together with his obligatory love interest. Granted, a show with this kind of title can't be accused of false advertising but I wasn't exactly surprised to find out that it has been recently cancelled. It was only a matter of time...

2012-01-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

Trailer of the Week: Primary Colors (1998)

Is it primary season already? Boy, does time fly!

2012-01-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Remember This Show: 24

So the closest thing we have nowadays to a modern-day Mission: Impossible series is The Jack Bauer Show? Say it ain't so.

2012-01-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Don't Remember This Show: Mission: Impossible (1988)

So there was an attempted revival of the old Mission: Impossible TV series that lasted two seasons and ended six years before the first Mission: Impossible movie was released? Why doesn't somebody tell me these things?

2012-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

This is too much goddamned bullshit!...And not enough fact.
--James Cromwell, The Sum of All Fears (2002)

2012-01-05T11:10:00.001-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

You know how I always dread the whole year? Well, this time I’m only going to dread one day at a time.
--Chad Allen, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

2012-01-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury"

Eat your heart out, Britney.

P.S. A tip of the sombrero to the Flick Filosopher for introducing me to this tune.

2012-01-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"

Heh. Marilyn who? You say Nicole Kidman did a number like this as well? You don't say...

But seriously, folks.

This week I post an brief excerpt from my favorite musical guilty pleasure of the last two years: the 2010 musical Burlesque--a film ironically recommended to me by a female acquaintance. If nothing else, it's nice to see Christina Aguilera and Kristen Bell cast against type. And the other women in the number aren't exactly tough to look at either.

I hope you all enjoy it.

2012-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Bienvenidos, 2012!

For a while there, I was beginning to wonder... and worse yet, my fellow ethnic half and half Cameron Diaz was starting to get annoyed. And when you wear a bathing suit in this weather, it doesn't take much to get you annoyed.

2011-12-31T22:05:00.000-08:00

What? No Regular Features This Weekend?

In honor of the new year, I won't be posting much this weekend. I know some of you will be disappointed to hear that but I trust you'll live.

With luck, I should be posting more next year.

2011-12-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

To God, there is no zero.
--Grant Williams, The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

2011-12-29T23:45:00.001-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

You know what I find interesting? If you lose a spouse, you're called a widow or a widower. If you're a child and you lose your parents, then you're an orphan. But what's the word to describe a parent who loses a child? I guess that's just too fucking awful to even have a name.
--Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under, “Life’s Too Short”

2011-12-27T22:06:00.003-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "Make the Weather"

The other official video from the all-too-short-lived group The Waitresses.

2011-12-27T22:04:00.000-08:00

Cinema Interruptus: Part I

One of these days, I'm actually going to finish watching this movie. I really am.

I just didn't have the heart to watch it in the movie theatre so soon after I got laid off from my job back in 2009. And more than two years later, I still find myself wanting to watch almost anything but this flick. Perhaps because I found its attitude toward the involuntarily unemployed and underemployed a tad smug. For what it's worth, Meryl Streep's character seemed sympathetic. But I suspect I should have waited until this movie came out on DVD before I first started to watch it.

2011-12-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "If I Only Had a Heart"

Oh rats! The Tin Man did not get what he wanted for Christmas. I wonder what he's going to do about that?

2011-12-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

Pensamientos Acerca de TV

Doctor Who (The Second Series): "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe"

As much as I like River and Rory, I was kinda glad to see the Doctor spend his time in this year's Christmas special with a new cast of characters for a change. This time out he played the mysterious caretaker to an old mansion which was to be the refuge for a young WWII widow and her two children. The Doctor had planned all sorts of surprises for the two children but the biggest surprise of all came from something he didn't anticipate. I guess it was a good thing for him that those WWII widows tended to be so resourceful...

Despite the episode title, the episode did not quite draw on the Narnia books as much as you might think. True, there was a trip from the mansion into a mysterious wintry world that could have been the inspiration for Narnia and I must confess that there were times when I kept expecting to see a faun or two. But apart from that, there was not much else that would remind one of things Narnian.

In any event, the episode was still enjoyable and though I had a few nitpicks as to such things as whether the RAF would really use a middle-aged father of two to fly planes when piloting planes during wartime was traditionally a younger man's game and why actor Bill Bailey was shown in the previews when his role came so close to being a cameo, I still enjoyed it more than last year's Christmas special.

I guess part of me was in the mood for a crowd-pleasing episode after the more disappointing episodes of the past season and this episode filled the bill. Granted, had it been a bit more shameless in its attempts to tug at my heartstrings, I might have had cause for complaint. But fortunately, it was not.

2011-12-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

Feliz Navidad

Gabrielle Solis wishes you all a Merry Christmas and hopes that you won't let the fact that she's a fictional character keep you from having a happy holiday.

None of my regular features will be posted this weekend so until Monday... May my best wishes go out to all my faithful readers.

2011-12-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

Go on! But if you do, remember this: you can count on getting just two votes, your own and that district attorney's out there.
--William Frawley, Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

2011-12-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

I don’t hate Christmas. I hate this Christmas.
--Jon Hamm, Mad Men, "Christmas Comes But Once a Year"

2011-12-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Václav Havel

Former Czech President and playwright Václav Havel, best known as the leader of the 1989 Velvet Revolution which put an end to the Czechoslovakian Communist regime, ended his last campaign Sunday at age 96. He will be missed.

2011-12-21T23:54:00.001-08:00

Yo Amo a Maria Conchita Alonso*

Just saying.

Por supuesto, certain recent events have made me love her even more. Thus ever to tyrantophiles.

* Spanish for "I ♥ Maria Conchita Alonso."

2011-12-20T22:16:00.001-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "Rockin' Little Christmas"

Deborah Allen isn't going to settle for just some tinker toy this Christmas. Come to think of it, she probably doesn't have much use for any type of toy. Or so I hope.

2011-12-20T22:16:00.000-08:00

Random Thoughts

It is so depressing seeing a librarian referred to as a "customer service representive." Especially since most library patrons aren't necessarily likely to be flattered by being referred to as "customers."

It is even more depressing to wonder how many books my local library system got rid of in order to make room for its expanded internet system and its multiple DVD racks.

Let someone wish you a "Happy Holidays" instead of a "Merry Christmas" and certain Christian people will make a big deal out of it. Let a retail store deliberately expand its hours so that most of its staff has to miss out on Thanksgiving and those same Christians don't even bother to say a word.

How seriously should we take someone who talks about wanting to get rid of large corporations yet constantly talks about hanging out at Starbucks instead of the local library and buying their books through Amazon instead of the local indy book store?

The coming election won't hinge on how crazy Michele Bachmann looks or how weird Mitt Romney's religious background is. It will hinge on which candidate is most likely to do something that will improve this country's economy.

One does not have to be crazy to worry about the ever-increasing federal deficit but it certainly helps the current administration to think so.

Much of our country came from countries that could not afford to keep all their territory. Part of the reason they could not afford this is because they often ran up huge debts borrowing money to pay for foreign wars. And yet it is so fashionable to act clueless when Americans start to make a big deal about similar practices here in America.

It is no longer that big a deal to be mad at Wall Street. Even my conservative Republican mother is angry about the latest Wall Street scandals. What matters now is doing something constructive with that anger.

The real trouble with anarchy is that it is at best a temporary condition. Sooner or later it is replaced by a more ordered system such as, say, feudalism or fascism. Which means that those people who advocate anarchy are in reality a future dictator's best friends.

I am so glad that the Iraqi War is finally over. I just hope it stays that way.

2011-12-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

Wow! I had been warned that this song was a lot darker in its original context than in its more modern version. But I never realized how dark until just this week. Then again, this song was first written and performed in 1944, a year when many Americans had little reason to feel optimistic about the future due to World War II. And, of course, in view of recent events, it would be foolish of me to not feel a bit leery about enjoying myself in the wake of any holiday song--especially since my siblings and I once had to move around Christmastime. But that's just me.

Please feel free to enjoy the coming holidays if you can.

2011-12-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

Yet More Sad News About September

I found out this weekend that the type of ulcer which killed my sister this past September was a perforated ulcer. Apparently not only can it be fatal if not treated by immediate surgery but it has also killed a lot of famous people such as actor Rudolph Valentino, writer Rudyard Kipling and musician Charlie Parker. So at least she died in good company--though, of course, I would have preferred that she not had died at all.

She is going to be sorely missed this coming Christmas.

2011-12-18T22:52:00.001-08:00

Trailer of the Week: Remember the Night (1940)

For Campaspe, the charming woman who first introduced me to this flick.

2011-12-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Alvin Show (1961)

Wow! Alvin and the Chipmunks have been around since 1961. I had no idea that such a great contribution to Western culture happened during the year of my birth.

On a more serious note, it should be pointed out that the tall guy with the moustache who keeps interrupting the action in this intro is cartoon character Clyde Crashcup, a would-be scientific genius who was often kept a hair's length away from disaster by his short and bald assistant Leonardo. He used to appear quite regularly on the original Alvin Show but since then, he has disappeared into cartoon oblivion--unless you wish to regard that short, moustached guy who was regularly pestered by the Pink Panther as one of his distant descendants.

2011-12-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Don't Remember This Show: Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983)

Apparently there was an attempt to reboot the original Alvin and the Chipmunks series of the 1960s back in the 1980s that I don't recall. As much I loved the original Chipmunks show, I somehow doubt I was missing much by not seeing this version. Of course, YMMV.

2011-12-16T21:12:00.002-08:00

Laugh of the Week: "All I Want for Christmas Is...Jews"

Oy, vey! Such grammar in that song title, Mariah. You really should be ashamed of yourself.

2011-12-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

Oh My! Is Francine Parker Having a Banner Year or What?

At this rate, it looks like poor Francine is going to be up there for the rest of the year but hopefully not through January. I thought about trying to take her down last month but I changed my mind after seeing that loaded rifle in her hand.

Oh, well. The way this year has been going, I find her presence there kinda reassuring.

2011-12-15T18:27:00.001-08:00

Christmas Song of the Week: "Rudolph the Manic Reindeer"

An oldie but a goodie--at least as far as my music collection is concerned. And yes, I know the video spells it "Rudolf" but the CD on which I first encountered this song spelt it "Rudolph."

2011-12-15T16:51:00.001-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

Who the hell cares! Let’s go shopping first!
--Ken Foree, Dawn of the Dead (1978)

2011-12-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

Oh the noise. Oh the noise, noise, noise, noise. There’s one thing I hate, all the noise, noise, noise, noise!
--Boris Karloff, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

2011-12-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

Mashup of the Week: "Buffyverse Footloose"

Hey, who would ever guess that the most memorable version of Kenny Loggins' classic title tune from Footloose would come from the world of Joss Whedon? Not that he actually created this video but it's pretty obvious that his work on Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired it.

2011-12-14T11:58:00.001-08:00

Fantasy Quote of the Week

For the Dream-Master had set up His own picture, and full-length and in the most gorgeous colors, in His window. Choking and spluttering I saluted it, and then, still filled with laughter, I crossed the street once more and went inside, where I knew I would find Him. A man awaited me there--not the one I sought, but one who understood Whom it was I had come for, and knew as well as I that His capture was beyond any thief-taker’s power. I knelt, and there, though not to the satisfaction I suppose of Baron H_______, Fräulein A_______, Herr R______, and the Count and Countess von V________, I destroyed the Dream-Master as He has been sacrificed so often, devouring His white, wheaten flesh that we might all possess life without end.
--Gene Wolfe, “The Detective of Dreams”

2011-12-13T21:10:00.001-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "The Curly Shuffle"

Who needs the Farrelly Brothers when you got this?

2011-12-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Bringing Glass Into It Again

Hey, remember that broken window I had to deal with last winter?

It turns out that I was not the only person in my complex who had a window broken that day. A lot of other people also had windows broken in their condominium units--and no one ever fessed up to doing it. The current theory was that it was just kids but even kids need to take responsibility for their actions--especially when their actions affect others. And while one can argue that anyone who owns a condominium can well afford to replace a broken window every once in a while, that's not the point.

It's not like most people who live in my condominium complex get free window panes every time they ask for them. While the complex's maintenance people will do a lot of things for free, they generally balk at fixing broken window panes on the grounds that fixing such items is the responsibility of the condo owner. And while one can argue that most condo owners should be able to afford that, it should be noted that many people in my complex live on fixed incomes. Moreover, some people who own condos there sublet their units through Section 8 (i.e. the government pays their maintenance fee aka rent).

Even if this were not true, most condo owners don't put up with broken windows forever. Eventually if the police fails to locate the culprits who do such things and their windows keep getting broken, many of those who can afford to do so will move to a location where their windows are not as likely to be broken. Which mean the condominium complex will eventually be left to those residents who either won't or can't afford to move elsewhere.

Yes, it is tempting to dismiss this issue as the type of minor thing that only uptight senior citizens worry about but then again, this is how neighborhoods start going bad. Not because a lot of poor people move in but because a lot of people who don't really care about their neighbors start breaking stuff and making life hell for everyone else who lives around them, eventually forcing the more respectable residents to move and ensuring that equally respectable people won't move in and replace them.

It's not like breaking windows is a typical activity of the poor. I grew up around people who grew up poor and some of my best friends have firsthand experience of such a life. Though I grew up hearing many stories about poverty and discrimination, I was never taught that it was right to go around breaking other people's property--for fun or otherwise--and the notion that other people weren't taught likewise is depressing.

Even more depressing is the fact that my neighborhood's downward slide just didn't stop with broken windows. Just a few weeks ago when my mother and my middle brother came to visit me, my mother spotted a broken bottle on the sidewalk just a few feet away from my condo unit. Since the bottle was a malt liquor bottle, it seemed obvious that the bottle in question had been dropped by either an adult or a person who fancies himself or herself an adult. And yet even though the person who had dropped it lived in a condominium complex where many of the residents have children--children who could have been easily injured by the bottle's broken glass while they were walking or playing on that sidewalk--he or she did not consider it his or her responsibility to pick up that bottle's broken glass. In other words, they considered themselves mature enough to drink alcohol but not to clean up after themselves. And if I had not swept up that glass soon after my mother had told me about it, that glass would probably still be there today.

2011-12-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Jack's Obsession"

Heh. This week I post yet another musical number from my favorite part of the Tim Burton Christmas trilogy--a number in which Jack Skellington singlehandedly invents the Holiday Tree and announces the start of the Occupy Christmas movement.

2011-12-12T00:12:00.000-08:00

Science Fiction Quote of the Week

My only regret is that I have but one life to give for my Christmas present.
--William Tenn, "Child’s Play"

2011-12-12T00:07:00.001-08:00

Christmas Movie Songs

“All Alone on Christmas”--Home Alone 2 (1992)
“Christmas”--Tommy (1975)
“Happy Holidays”--Holiday Inn (1942)
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”--Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
“Jack's Obsession”--The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
“My Favorite Things”--The Sound of Music (1965)
“Silver Bells”--The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
“Waltz of the Flowers”--Fantasia (1940)
“What's This?”--The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
“White Christmas”--Holiday Inn (1942)

2011-12-12T00:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas Pop Songs

“All I Want for Christmas Is You”--Mariah Carey
“All I Want for Christmas Is You”--Vince Vance and the Valiants
“Christmas at Ground Zero”--“Weird” Al Yankovic
“Christmas Wrapping”--The Waitresses
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”--John Lennon
“If We Make It Through December”--Merle Haggard
“It's a Sin”--Pet Shop Boys
“Rockin' Little Christmas”--Deborah Allen
“Rudolph the Manic Reindeer”--Los Lobos

2011-12-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas Trailers

A Christmas Carol (1938)
Batman Returns (1992)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Remember the Night (1940)
The King of Kings (1927)
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

2011-12-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Trailers

Pieces of April (2003)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

2011-12-11T22:26:00.001-08:00

Trailer of the Week: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

And you thought this year's Black Friday shopping sprees were bad.

2011-12-11T21:59:00.002-08:00

Hey, I Remember This Show: M*A*S*H

In honor of the late Harry Morgan.

2011-12-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Don't Remember This Show: AfterMash

Here we have not just one but all three intros from one of the few primetime TV shows of the 1980s that I never saw. Unfortunately for the cast, it was never as successful as the show to which it was so obviously a sequel. In fact, its existence has been eclipsed for most people of my generation by the more successful "spin-off" Trapper John, M.D..*

* Legally, Trapper John, M.D. is considered to be a spin-off of the movie M*A*S*H, which inspired the TV series of the same name, and not of the TV series itself. Frankly, I doubt few TV viewers really cared that much and in any event, the show pleased enough people to last a few more seasons longer than AfterMash so obviously somebody liked it.

2011-12-11T02:01:00.000-08:00

Quotes of the Year 2007

I actually wrote this back in December of 2007 but for some reason, I neglected to post it because I wasn't sure it would be all that relevant. Boy, was I wrong.

1. Don’t tase me, bro!--Andrew Meyer, September 17, 2007.

Apparently this is becoming the most popular catchphrase in the year. Which would be nice if it was being quoted to establish solidarity with the dude who said it. But apparently it’s being quoted for the same reason Rodney King‘s “can we all get along?” was so often quoted--to make fun of the person who said it. On one hand, I can understand this. No one likes a jerk, and it’s very tempting to see the person who said it as just another jerk who got his just desserts.

And yet one can’t help but find something ominous about the circumstances of that quote. After all, that guy who said it wasn’t harassing cheerleaders or schoolchildren. He was asking questions of a major Presidential candidate. And while he might not have all that polite in the ways he asked his questions, he didn’t deserve to punished so harshly for essentially doing no more than ask a few questions.

Yes, people will laugh at anything, and maybe I shouldn’t take the jokes surrounding that quote all that seriously. But then again, maybe I should. After all, if Americans have no shame about laughing at the tasering of a political dissident--and let’s face it, that’s what the student in question is--how long before they start laughing at far worse treatment?

2. Por qué no te callas?--King Juan Carlos of Spain, to Hugh Chavez, November 10, 2007.*

Apparently this is becoming one of the most popular Spanish-language quotes of the year. It’s apparently appearing on T-shirts and everything.

Too bad that out of context, it comes across not as much as an effort to quiet a jerk’s insults but rather an attempt to silence free speech.

But, hey, that’s the Spanish tradition, right? Whenever someone tells us something we don’t like, our first response is not to debate them and prove them wrong, It’s to tell them to shut up.

Good thing we don’t yet have an attitude like that here in the United States, right? Er, right?

* Spanish for “Why don't you shut up?”

2011-12-09T20:15:00.001-08:00

Movie Quote of the Week

You have a heart of gold with other people’s money.
--Rod La Rocque, Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

2011-12-09T20:09:00.001-08:00

TV Quote of the Week

Thank you. I’ve no idea who I am, but you’ve just summed me up. So, do you accept my challenge? Or are you just a kalak pel kasa kree salvak?
--David Tennant, Doctor Who (The Second Series), “The Christmas Invasion”

2011-12-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Movies

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Black Christmas (1974)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Holiday (1938)
Holiday Affair (1949)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Love Actually (2004)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)
Remember the Night (1940)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

2011-12-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas TV

Doctor Who (The Second Series): “A Christmas Carol”
Doctor Who (The Second Series): “The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe”

2011-12-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

Feliz Cumpleaños, Mi Hermano y Mi Mamá

It's my mother's birthday today. We probably won't celebrate it until Sunday but it is officially today.

It's also my youngest brother's birthday today. We won't celebrate that until Sunday as well.

It's also the Catholic religious holiday known as Feast of the Immaculate Conception but you all probably knew that.

2011-12-08T14:53:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Movies

Charade (1963)
What's Cooking? (2000)

2011-12-08T14:52:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving TV

Dexter: "Hungry Man"

2011-12-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

R.I.P. Harry Morgan

American actor Harry Morgan, most famous for his roles as Col. Sherman Potter on the TV series M*A*S*H. and police Officer Bill Gannon on the TV show Dragnet, turned in his badge today at age 96. He will be missed.

2011-12-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas Movie Quotes

Francis De Wolff, A Christmas Carol (1951)
Michael Hordern, A Christmas Carol (1951)
Chico Marx, A Night at the Opera (1935)
Rod La Rocque, Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Charles Winninger, Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Margot Kidder, Black Christmas (1974)
Barbara Stanwyck, Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Cary Grant, Holiday (1938)
James Stewart, It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Harry Holman, Meet John Doe (1941)
William Frawley, Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Alvin Greenman, Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Philip Tonge, Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Michael Caine, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
James Stewart, The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Pedro Armendáriz, Three Godfathers (1948)

2011-12-07T18:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas TV Quotes

Christopher Shea, A Charlie Brown Christmas
Joan Cusack, A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV Movie)
Adam West, Batman, “The Duo Is Slumming”
Susan Sullivan, Castle, “Deep in Death”
David Tennant, Doctor Who (The Second Series), “The Christmas Invasion”
Kylie Minogue, Doctor Who (The Second Series), “Voyage of the Damned”
Jackie Vernon, Frosty the Snowman
Boris Karloff, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Jon Hamm, Mad Men, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year”
Lisa Wilhoit, My So-Called Life, “So-Called Angels”
Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek, “Amok Time”
Kristen Johnston, 3rd Rock from the Sun
Peter Vere-Jones, Xena: Warrior Princess, “A Solstice Carol”

2011-12-06T20:01:00.001-08:00

Pop Song of the Week: "It's a Sin"

Speaking of sins, 'tis the season to indulge in Catholic guilt. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

2011-12-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

The Politics of Anger

It is the dark, dim period between autumn and winter and a not so young man's thoughts naturally turn to anger. Anger at all the shameless greed to which the latest TV ads pander. Anger at the fact that so many people are still unemployed this close to Christmastime. Anger at the indifference shown to our current economic situation by our nation's leaders. Anger at the way our police seem to be becoming more like the corrupt Latin American police we profess to despise and anger at the fact that no one seems to worry about such mundane problems as drug abuse, domestic violence and crime.

As usual, there are many on the Right and Left who would contend that the solution to all this is to get angry. And indeed, inspiring anger is usually the first step toward motivating people to seek political reform. But anger alone is not enough. Discipline is far more important for anger ultimately means nothing if it is not channeled in an useful direction.

Indeed, if the last two decades have proved anything, it is that anger is a bit overrated as a motivational force. For example, there was plenty of anger expressed by the Right over the Checkgate scandal in the 1990s–yet little followthrough when it came to voting out the politicians responsible for that scandal. More recently, we saw plenty of anger expressed by the Left about the intrusiveness of the TSA scans–but again, little effort to follow through with actual actions such as protests or boycotts.

Anger can be a powerful motivational force; that is true. But one can walk into any prison in this country and find plenty of people who are full of anger. And many of the people who are there end up there because of actions born of wrath. Moreover, you can walk into any battered women’s shelter and find plenty of people there who are victims of another person’s anger. Which means that anger can be a force for evil as often as it is a force for good and it certainly explains why Anger is numbered among the Seven Deadly Sins.

Control is the key. Not anger.

2011-12-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Pensamientos Acerca de TV

Desperate Housewives: "Putting It Together"

As this week's episode ends, poor Bree Van de Kamp (played by Marcia Cross) was talking to a dead person. If there has been one thing that has been established on this show and other TV programs, it's that talking to dead people is never a good sign.

2011-12-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Pensamientos Acerca de TV

Desperate Housewives: "Pilot"

My late sister got me hooked on this show and though I should hate myself for admitting it, I actually found it hard to resist its spell. Oddly enough, the series seems rather tame by cable standards. Only one of the four main characters is doing anything particularly sinful and even she eventually sees the error of her ways. I must confess that Gabrielle "Gaby" Solis and her husband Carlos are my favorite characters on the show thus far but the others have had their moments.

The one main flaw in the series I've seen in the series thus far is its inability to reconcile the cheery demeanor of the show's ghostly narrator with the tragic aftermath of said narrator's big secret. Not only does such a demeanor not make much sense in light of what we eventually learn about said character, but it is also difficult to watch the end of the first season and still think as highly of the narrator as the show's writers expect us to do. After all, many things can be forgiven in the name of friendship but there is a limit.

2011-12-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

Movie Song of the Week: "Christmas"

From the 1975 Ken Russell musical Tommy comes one of the most dysfunctional Christmas movie songs of all time. Who would have guessed back then that singer Ann Margret would prove to be such a big influence on future televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker?

2011-12-05T19:38:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Movie Quotes

Maury Chaykin, What's Cooking? (2000)
Mariam Parris, What's Cooking? (2000)
Ann Weldon, What's Cooking? (2000)

2011-12-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving TV Quotes

Hilary Momberger, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Hilary Momberger, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Pangs"
James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Pangs”
Gordon Jump, WKRP in Cincinnati, “Turkeys Away”

2011-12-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

Trailer of the Week: The Boy Friend (1971)

The late Ken Russell's tribute to Busby Berkeley--among other people. Unfortunately, Twiggy--the thin woman who played the female lead--probably would need some introduction nowadays. The less said about her more recent film career, the better.

2011-12-04T20:58:00.000-08:00

Hey, I Remember This Show: The Lone Ranger (1966)

The more I learn about the real-life Texas Rangers, the more I regret spending so many hours watching this show as a child. If only more real-life Rangers had lived up to the ideal expressed in this show, I might feel less guilty.