Major League memories for a winning movie

 "...JUST a bit outside!" has become a catch phrase for more then just a wild pitch in baseball.  It's been called out by commenters at tennis matches, football games and about any other sport with a ball, but it's just one of the many memorable lines from, Major League.

To this day, Major League, is still one of the most beloved and memorable sports movies of all time and gave us some truly great movie characters and a launching pad for two great careers, Wesley Snipes and Charlie Sheen.

The biggest problem that this movie has, its sequels, it's hard for some to separate the first film from the second, and the second didn't do any favors to the first, as the sequel went far more into the comedy genre than a good up-and-coming baseball film.

Standing on it's own, Major League really is a truly great sports movie, it had a lot more of the life problems that some players see, but was also able to mix in a bit of that movie magic, so that all things come together.

One of the first people that has to be acknowledged is, Mr Baseball Bob Uecker, without him, the film would have had a completely different tone and wouldn't have been the success it was, he stole the show, yet all the rest of the cast is still very memorable.  He was given a completely free hand at his scenes and it really paid off.

The base story is pretty good, a widow and former showgirl inherits ownership of a major league baseball team from her deceased husband, she hatches a plan to sink the team and move it to a more pleasant climate, from Cleveland to Miami.  The ragtag team of has-beens, never should bes and misfits has to come together to win the pennant.  It's basic but really works, especially if you can keep the second film out of your head, it deserves the 🌟

Wild Thing Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), Cerano (Dennis Haysbert) & Jobu, Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes), Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) and the bitch herself, Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitten) are ones that very few sports fans don't know, and a lot of non-sports fans won't forget.  The characters for the film all filled their roles very nicely, almost no crossover.  Even though you might not remember the name, Eddie Harris (Chelsie Ross) you will remember the line, "yo bartender, Jobu needs a refill" and what he was like.  This gang should get the star but I'd like to have seen more of the team represented than just a small handful of the starters, I think this is one of the two things that held the film back.

The casting, was phenomenal, not sure they could have done any better on any of the choices.  Each one ate up their role as if the chef cooked it based on their DNA.  James Gammon was great as Manager, Lou Brown and his short connection with Charlie Donovan (Charles Cyphers), was an excellent scene, and should have had more to it.  Casting gets the 🌟

Next to the sequels, the writing was one of the parts that needed to push themselves more, in the way the team did to mess with Rachels plan, but they slid short and got tagged out.  As I said, the basic story was good, but the script didn't seem to know which direction it really wanted to go.  The comedy from Uecker's announce, Harry Doyle and the problems with Wild Things control were more than enough comedy for the film, but they felt the need to over play some at the expense of what could have been a bit more dramatic story. 

When Jake Taylor walked back out onto the field, we felt the weight of it and that special moment for him, we felt that big league part.  He points to the wall, takes his swing and hits his "home run" and takes his trip around the bases, but it then fell a bit flat as the two rookies didn't have their moment of "WOW, this IS the big leagues" that they should have, another fail of the writing, but we still felt it for Taylor.  On top of that, all the other locations just felt right for the scenes, except one, the bar that Vaughn was sitting alone in when Dorn's wife comes in to pick him up, didn't seem like his kind of place to "be alone".  Two pieces, even though one was more the writers fault, doesn't make it to third base on production.

The soundtrack is an excellent blend of James Newton Howard's great buildup music and Randy Newman's easy blues for, Burn on Big River, gave you the feel of Cleveland and Municipal Stadium near the Cuyahoga River, it made a good setting for the opening credits, you got the vibe of film from that song and you were moved by the background music, encouraging the desire to cheer them on.  The nice mix gets the soundtrack the 🌟

When it comes to the direction of the film, this cast shot says a lot, they really had a good time making the movie and it moves well, you connect to the story and characters at a good pace and get the changes and growth of the story and characters.  There aren't any bits and pieces left dangling, no real unanswered questions that highly affect the story, things wrap up nicely in then end,  David Ward gets the 🌟 for this one, too bad some of his other directorial outings, King Ralph, Major League II and Down Periscope weren't done a bit better, even though I'm a fan of those.

The editor Dennis Hill should get an extra bases high five, as the scenes went well together, the flow and rhythm of the film are good and keep you involved. 🌟

The studio put a fairly good marketing campaign out for the film, but didn't really step up to the plate like they could have, more baseball oriented merchandise like pennants would have been great, as well as action figures through Kenner Toys and their, Starting Lineup sets would be incredible collector items today.  They seemed to just see it as another sports movie, with a decent push, but didn't expect much so they didn't go for the big hit, they played it safe, unfortunately. 

As far are Time & Loyalty, like many sports movies, this one certainly qualifies for the hall of fame, it's still a big hit and fans still cheer for the underdog.  The merchandise has even begun to come around with bobbleheads and Funko Pop figures, along with even being able to get a pair of Wild Thing glasses. 🌟

⚾ A film that could have been an epic, grand slam home run, but didn't have the power to make it over the wall, so it's only a 6 out of 10 stars, but still a movie I will rarely give up the chance to watch. 

Femme Fatale Friday : Elle Fanning

 

The amazing, Elle Fanning seems to be some kind of porcelain princess straight out of some enchanted fairy tale, best known for her role in the fairy tale turned upside down, Maleficent.

The younger, yet taller sister of the equally amazing and beautiful Dakota Fanning, her career and future just keeps on getting brighter.

The statuesque beauty (5'9"), nicknamed "Elbow" (maybe she used hers to tag up someone staring at those legs 😆), has also been modeling for a lot of her life, who celebrates her birthday on April 9th.

Fanning's mother was a professional tennis player and her father was a minor league baseball player.

She began her career doubling for her sister in, I Am Sam, and, Taken.

Then on her own in a small role for, Daddy Day Care, with appearances on the small screen on, Judging Amy, and, CSI Miami.

Her own film work began with Door in the Floor, Because of Winn-Dixie, and, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With.

Her first starring role came in, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8, and, We Bought A Zoo.  Her real breakout was as Aurora in, Maleficent.

Now that Hollywood has opened back up we can only hope that she's back at work again soon, shining on the silver screen and in our hearts! 💖

Throwback Thursday : The Cartoon Booth

 In a small town, the local Wal-Mart provided little entertainment but it was the only store in town large enough for coin operated games before arcades came around.  When you got to big to ride the merry-go-round you went for the cartoon booth, usually featuring Terry Tunes (which I'll do a history on at some point) but there were others to enjoy too.  For the price of a quarter, you could sit and enjoy an entire cartoon... if it was working right 😆

They had an all-star list of cartoons... from 20 years before but they were still entertaining and fun, the company would change out the reels every three months or so.

Heckle & Jeckle were one of the mainstays of the booths.  A pair of trouble making magpies who were always looking for a new deal to get in on.

In the hero department, the resident top guy was one of the smallest of all time, Mighty Mouse.  Looking back, almost all the stories were pretty much the same but the nostalgia of that classic theme song still bring back great memories for so many of us who still have a little kid inside.

Some of the characters, like James Hound, were very forgettable.  A really back knockoff of the spy genre, James Hound had more trouble with his own equipment then he did with the bad guys he was after, luckily there was only one or two lemons like this on a reel of 12.

The Mighty Heroes, this bunch was both hysterical and fun, but there weren't that many episodes.  The team featured, Strong Man, Rope Man, Tornado Man, Cuckoo Man & Diaper Man... yes, those last two are correct.  When trouble broke out in the fictional city of, Good Haven, this team of accident-prone bunglers would burst into action and often into each other.

Betty Boop & Popeye the Sailor would also have episodes on the reels.  Not a lot of people know that Popeye first appeared in a Betty Boop cartoon.  They were classics but Betty ended up being taken out of the machine in my town, she was still to risque for good old Bolivar MO 😆

Another of the great, or not-so-great, from this crew was, Deputy Dawg, a country law man who would have all kinds of trouble from towns folk and two bear cups who liked to play hooky from school.

Like several others, Deputy Dawg ended up getting a reboot on the new Mighty Mouse show on Saturday Mornings, but only lasted one season.

He didn't make it to every reel but every so often, the man of steel, in his Max Fliescher form, would surprise you with a classic episode.  Superman was such a treat because those episodes were far longer than most of the cartoon shorts for the other characters. 

One of the biggest mainstays of the groups though, was Woody Woodpecker, he had at least two episodes on each reel, as he was still seen as the biggest cartoon star in the world that wasn't under the ownership of Disney or Warner Brothers.  And, his episodes were all over the board from the original to what the modern was at the time.

These classics are still such today, still fun and entertaining, if you can stomach the stereotypes from the ages, they are some of the purest cartoons of their era.

Great Americana Legends: Legend of the Lone Ranger

 Not many heroes from the wild west era of Hollywood have the staying power and respect as, The Lone Ranger, thanks in most part, to the incredible strength of Clayton Moore, who brought a level of credibility and trust to the character that nobody since has come close to.

In 1981 the masked avenger of the west took to the big screen with an unknown behind the mask, seems appropriate too bad it wasn't.  Klinton Spilsbury was a photographer and sculptor in New York when he was discovered for the role and looked good in the mask, but his acting was so bad (some claim intoxication, but no confirmation) it had to be dubbed over by actor, James Keach (National Lampoons Vacation) for the entire film. 

They did consider some experienced actors for the role; Stephen Collins (Star Trek The Motion Picture), Nicholas Guest (National Lampoons Christmas Vacation) and the more experienced Bruce Boxleitner (Tron) were all considered but they went with the tender foot. 

For the role of Tonto they wanted to make sure he was an American Indian, Michael Horse was cast, in one of his only two roles he ever had, but a silversmith by trade.

As a 10 year old kid, I was unaware of the dub and was awestruck by the film, especially with the incredible cast of characters.  President Ulysses S Grant (Jason Robards), Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Farnsworth), Buffalo Bill Cody (Ted Flicker) and General George Custer (Lincoln Tate) all appeared in the film, like a wild west version of, The Justice League.

One of the biggest concerns of producers was that the film not be seen as a spoof, in fact, one producer made sure to state to the media, "this isn't Blazing Saddles."

The writers seemed promising, Ivan Goff & Ben Roberts were part creators of Charlie's Angels and had worked together on the highly successful series, Mannix.  The film's story had a good foundation to it.  Villain Butch Cavendish (Christopher Lloyd, a COLD performance but still great) kidnapped the President and demanded the surrender of Texas to be reinstated to it's own nation.

Composer John Barry did an excellent job with the score, but had some amazing voice over help from Country Music legend, Merle Hagard as the narrator of the story.  Barry also worked on Goldfinger, Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves.  But it's Hagards haunting narration of the film that kept it from being a complete overall bomb. 

Even though the film was a critical failure with critics and audiences, many like myself, remember it with great fondness and I still get moved by the first look of Spilsbury in the mask, it brought back great memories of watching Moore in the role with my Grandad. 📺

The film did have the confidence of the studio at the time, they did  a massive advertising campaign with plenty of merchandise of figures, lunch box, coloring books, board game and even a Rangers Star belt buckle, yes I still have mine.  The figures still mounted on the original cards are worth quite a bit of 💲

The film is somewhat easy to find on Youtube and I think is still worth it if you can ignore the dubbed voice of the hero, it's a pretty decent film.  Like many in this era, it has, Superman The Movie to thank for the producers & studios enthusiasm for making it to the big screen.

In modern times, there is no more Americana than Superman, but when it comes to the old west, nobody compares to The Lone Ranger, that's why he would cameo on an episode of Happy Days as the childhood hero of, The Fonz, which can also be found online and worth the look, it's great. 👍

For the record, I absolutely LOVE this film and am not ashamed of it in any way at all, it's a great part of my childhood.  The Disney remake of 2013 on the other hand is an embarrassment to the legendary characters, it was absolutely awful.

Toon Tuesday: Scooby Doo and the Hassle in the Castle

 Scooby Doo Where Are You
The Hassle in the Castle
September 27, 1969 📺
Season One, Episode Three

One of the gems of season one, this was the third episode and would give the opening credits several of it's best video moments. 

While on a pleasure cruise ⛵, the gang gets lost in a fog bank then onto an island, 👻Haunted Isle, after Scooby finds a map with a threat on it, the gang decides to make a search of the old Vasquez pirate castle.  (Isn't it amazing that SO many amazing places are within a short drive of, Coolsville? 😆)

They aren't in the castle long before they encounter The

Phantom, who has one of those legendary laughs made famous on the show.  Of course the gang gets separated as Dafney finds a trap door, while Fred & Velma get separated from Scooby & Shaggy.

Scooby and Shaggy run into a talking skull 💀 that is nice enough to provide directions and the famous line "salright". Then Shaggy

gets a little hungry and wished he had a ham sandwich 🍔 with mustard, the ghosts provide one out of thin air, this remains one of the few times that the "ghost" provides help and "kindness" to the "pesky kids".  Looking at the rest of the series, it's kind of an unusual pair of happenings.

After being reunited, the gang see the Phantom go right through a solid wall, they start to believe this one might be real, but then find a room full of old magic equipment, where a flying carpet gives them a ride away from the Phantom.  When they finally go after the Phantom we get to see Scooby Doo's impersonation of John Wayne 💪 and some bravery....after a Scooby snack or two

In the end, the gang unmasks the Phantom to be, Bluestone the

Great, who is wanted in multiple states and was using the old pirate castle as a place to lay low from the police while searching for the Vasquez Treasure.  The unmasking of Bluestone has become one of the most used shots from the show for online meme's to show off, "the real villain" behind the mask.

It's a classic style episode the series would become famous for, with one exception at the end, the criminal seems delighted to show off to the kids how he did all his tricks in the castle.  Even in the end he's a showman wanting to give one more performance before going off to jail, a very gracious criminal, indeed. 😆

MY TAKE 😉... this episode had the opportunity to mix things up, by having the "villain" turn out not to be a villain or criminal, but just an eccentric magician living in an inherited old castle, it would have better explained how the spooks always seemed to be gracious to the kids.  This was the one thing the show lacked, a twist, they never really gave us one that went off the norm of the show and I think that was a mistake.

Airport (1970) Flying to a Perfect Score

 Based on the 1968 novel by Authur Hailey, this film was one of the classics of Hollywood's epic disaster era, so much so it would spawn several sequels and one of the most famous film spoofs of all time, Airplane (1980).

Director and screenwriter, George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street, 1947) brought the novel to the studio and was granted a great budget for the film, Hollywood was still pretty open about going all out for such types of films at the time.  

The base story of the novel/film is that the transcontinental flight between the US and Rome was threatened by a disturbed passenger looking to commit suicide by bomb so his wife could collect the insurance.  The explosion was to take out the airliner over the sea, as one character says, "the Atlantic doesn't leave any evidence".  Bottom line, it's basic, real and believable in the age, it was as if one was watching a film of how an event actually happened.  The story gets the 🌟 and the bold yet realistic script also gets the 🌟

The cast was quite the who's-who list for the era and would cost a major fortune by today's standards.  Burt Lancaster stars as Airport President, Mel Bakersfeld, overseeing the day-to-day operations of Lincoln International Airport during one of the worst snow storms in 20 years.  It also created the role for which George Kennedy was born to portray,  head mechanic, Joe Patroni, a role he would reprise over and over, also leading him to be, Mr Disaster Films for the 1970's.  Two Supporting Actress Wins, an Oscar for Helen Hayes as Ada Quonsett & a Golden Globe for Maureen Stapleton. Everyone  either grows or grows on you.  The Characters get the 🌟  While we're on the subject, everyone seems to be just right for their parts, each one fits their role in the story and comes off as believable and identifiable.  Casting also gets the 🌟

The Production was top rate for their time, they even brought in a second director (Henry Hathaway) to oversee the outdoor winter scenes that didn't involve the main cast, so as to take in the full effect of what the storm was doing to, not only the airport, but the north part of the nation.  Sets and settings were fantastic and had the exact look that took people behind the scenes of how an airport is run.  The Cinematographer, Ernest Lazlo is an Oscar Winner and went on to work on, Fantastic Voyage, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (with Mel Brooks) and the sci-fi classic, Logan's Run. For this, it also gets the 🌟

For the films score, Alfred Newman was brought in and created a masterpiece, he would be nominated for the Oscar for best soundtrack and win the Grammy for the same that year.   The score is not only memorable but moving the viewer through the film and has great timing, the theme brings out the hurried panic that the story wanted, so this also gets the 🌟

Director & screenwriter George Seaton hadn't had a major hit since he worked on the 1947 classic, Miracle on 34th Street, but if you're going to hang your hat on a film, that's a good one to have.  After you learn about the film, you can feel his passion for the project and to pull off a very specific mood for the film, like the magic of 1947, he brings out the fear and panic in this one, so he too gets the 🌟

In the editing process you develop the pace for a movie, a critical step in the making of any disaster film, 1970 or 2021, Airport would lay out a flight plan for other films to follow for decades to come, even though not all would follow it, Stuart Gilmore (Hatari, 1962) (The Alamo (1960) would be used to a big production after two John Wayne hits. 🌟

The studio would go all out for the film, with multiple posters in the States (a sign of studio confidence back then) and both would feature shots of the star-studded cast, which is another reason they went all out, even if the story flopped, they thought most would come out to see these stars together.  English actress and 70s sex symbol icon, Jacqueline Bisset would do some of the promotion for the film, that sure got a lot of men interested in the film.  It also showed the confidence that would give them three sequels, each one trying to outdo the last, Airport 77, will be another film I'll feature sometime.  But the Commitment & Confidence in this one also gets the 🌟

It's only in the category of, Time & Loyalty, that the film see's any issues, but not for the fault of the movie or it's producers, air travel has changed so much since then, it doesn't have the believability it once did, people just can't understand how the character of D.O. Guerrero (great character actor, Van Heflin, who would be characterized in films and cartoons) could get a bomb on board an airplane that easily.  Also the information age does some damage to the films credibility.  Back then, it would take an expert in air travel to see the unlikely way the plane remained airborne after the explosion, but with the internet, everyone is an "expert" or thinks they are.  But, if you know the era and age that it was filmed in, or allow yourself to live in that era, it still holds up and the loyalty of the fans George Kennedy still has, keeps this one flying high, so it still gets the 🌟

As you might have guessed, I really like this film, it has all the elements that makes for great and basic story telling.  It is one of my "go-to" films to just pop in the player and let it fly, it's one that never gets old to me. 

Those who don't like this film are mainly going to be people who don't have the intellectual capacity to put themselves into the era the film was made, they try to watch it with today's eyes and refuse to understand the history of film making.

Airport (1970) gets 10 out of 10, and my highest recommendation. ✈😉

Next film review will get a little WILD with, Major League 

Femme Fatale Friday : Julie Newmar, Cat Scratch Fever Forever

 

To say that Julie Newmar is one of the most beautiful and naturally sexiest women to ever walk this earth would be a bold statement but also an understatement.  Newmar has been wowing the world for decades. 💖

Born, Julia Charlene Newmeyer on August 16th 1933, in Los Angeles California, she began dance at an early age.  Her father, Don Newmeyer was a Phys Ed teacher for Los Angeles City College and played professional football for the Los Angeles Buccaneers.  Her mother, Helen was a fashion designer and Swedish-French born, who later invested in real estate, which Julie would also get into, later in life.

In 1956 Julie was in a stage production of, Lil Abner, for 3-

minutes she portrayed, Stupefyin' Jones, but it wasn't until she reprised the role for the film in 1959 that she would catch the attention of the world for her statuesque beauty, but this wasn't her first taste of fame.

At age 15 Julie was the Prima Ballerina for the Los Angeles Orchestra and this fueled her fire for stage production.

She performed in regional productions of Zeigfield Follies (1956), Damn Yankees (1961) and Irma la Douce (1965) and would win a Tony Award in 1958 on Broadway for her performance in, The Marriage-Go Round and would reprise that role in the 1961 film.

Then in 1966 she found the role that would immortalize her forever, the sleek, sultry and every so sexy, Catwoman in the television series, Batman, starring Adam West & Burt Ward.

Julie's costume for the role is also immortalized in the Smithsonian Institute as she altered the costume that her belt would fit around her hips rather than her waist to show off her hour-glass figure.

Former Miss America, Lee Meriweather would play the Catwoman role in the 1966 Batman film, Newmar had a scheduling conflict, and Eartha Kitt would take the role in the final season of the show.  But today, Newmar is the one that most fans associate with the role.

Newmar would go on to make appearances in numerous television series; Twilight Zone, F Troop, Bewitched, Beverly Hillbillies, Hart To Hart, Love Boat, Get Smart, Columbo, The Bionic Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (still looking good in a skin tight outfit), CHiPs, Fantasy Island and many more...

In 1995 Newmar found a whole new generation when she was paid tribute in the film, To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar.  Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo all went drag for their roles and it was a hit, and still has a very strong cult following to this day.  Newmar only did a brief cameo at the end of the film but was very flattered for all the attention and dedication.

Newmar stays active to this day and has always been an avid gardener, she also followed in her mothers footsteps and became a real estate investor, even having a short feud with actor James Belushi, to the point that it almost ended up in court, after it was settled, Newmar did an appearance on Belushi's television show as the two made fun of the feud.

Newmar has remained one of Hollywoods class acts, rarely if ever being the target of the tabloids and always fighting for causes in her community, a true champion of the celebrity set.  But to some of us, she'll always be, Catwoman 😍😻

Time to laugh away the political “correctness”

 It’s downright hilarious and pathetic to listen to today’s young people whine about “being offended” by so many things.

Obviously raised by spineless morons, these 🐑 and ❄️s are an embarrassment to modern society.

Some comedians once made their careers on insulting people, Don Rickles will forever be the king of the insult comics.  If you were at his show and he didn’t go after you, you literally felt like you did something wrong and a bit shortchanged, it was kind of an honor to be insulted by great comedians like him, because we all knew it was all in fun, nothing personal at all.

Then two men came along that upped that game, they took it to a new level, nothing was taboo, nothing was “too far” for guys like Sam Kinison and Andrew “Dice” Clay, but they still did it with a manner of style where sophisticated adults knew it was all still just about the humor, we weren’t offended because we were grown adults who understood that the context was in a joke and the intent was humor.

But, then the “pc police” started raring their empty heads, slamming Clay & Kinison for anything they could get their hands on, “this is racist” “that is sexist” “that’s not scientifically correct” and a whole host of mindless drivel that the media ate up like fresh fish, using this fodder in smear campaigns to further an agenda of victimhood for anyone and everyone they could.  It was a major regression of a civilized society and this regression continues in the Karen’s war against humor.

George Carlin was the one to first push the envelope to the extremes, yet still keep it in the direct context of humor but still making people think about issues.  Carlin still used his humor in the proper context and with the right intent, Sam & Dice just  took it to the next level, but still kept it in the context of humor.

Comedian and PhD, Yakov Smirnoff talks about being a comedian in Russia and that jokes had to be submitted for review before a comedian could perform them in public.  Is that where we are headed?  The land of the Free?  The land of Free Speech, headed for having joke police?  Modern liberalism would like us to go there, even though any educated adult knows that  such a thing is absolute foolishness.  …what a country?

Dice was banned from MTV (which I’d certainly consider a badge of honor) and Kinison was banned from Saturday Night Live, this only upped their popularity and exposer as Rebels in the world of comedy.  

Kinison was labeled as one of the most offensive comedians ever, he was called names, vilified and hated by people who refused to grow up and try to think like adults.  To them, he was a “horrible person”, but nothing could be further from the truth, I knew Sam, he was awesome, a great guy who loved his fellow human beings with a heart bigger than that big old overcoat could ever contain.

It’s time that we not only start to laugh again, but laugh hard at those who would shackle and condemn laughter, just because they refuse to grow up and live in reality.  Let’s all LAUGH AGAIN!

Super Sunday: Roller Disco & Magic, MCU in 1970s Vegas

 

At first the Marvel Cinematic Universe acted as if super hero’s were a “new” thing, but still hinted that they’d been around for a while.

Then we got, Captain America in World War II and Captain Marvel in the 80s, so it really wasn’t new, but who else could have been out there?  So why not give the 70s some space in the MCU?

We know in the mutant part of the MCU that Wolverine has been around for a long time, we just don’t know how they will address that when they shift the mutants from 20th Century Fox to Disney.

Let’s go back to Las Vegas in the 1970s and the possibility of two other great Marvel characters could have already been influencing the world; now don’t go all Austin Powers or Xanadu on me, but Roller Disco was a HUGE thing at one point, and I’m sure the parts of Vegas that got into it, got into it big, so why not introduce part of the mutant-verse into this, The Dazzler, Vegas’s queen of Roller Disco & super hero, for the era, she would have been perfect.  No camp, no over the top comedy, a straight period piece for Super Hero’s in Las Vegas of the 1970s. 

Cool as she was, a stand alone movie might be a bit much, so why not take the opportunity to add a lesser known Marvel hero, but one that fits perfectly into the world of Las Vegas, the Jack of Hearts?  One of my all time favorites he could be billed as Vegas’ premier magician during showtimes but a full blown super hero in the off time.  

Even though their comic book pasts don't give them much in common I think that the era and location turn them into a perfect pairing.

Perhaps the introduction of a villain from the X-Men world would be a nice foe for them, like Mojo, looking for fresh entertainment for his enslaved world goes after these two, only to have him discover the plethora of incredible entertainment from this earth era, who not only have to save themselves but also all of Vegas/Hollywood from Mojo’s mad desire to take both over to keep his power.

Part of the film could touch on the back stories of the characters, in flashbacks or just the character telling the story to the other, but I think it would help build them up.  Jack Hart could recall the days when he had to construct his containment suit to control his powers.  Hart could also reveal that he is part alien.

It would also be great if Jack was using Vegas as a cover to aid and teach meta-humans (and mutants), it's the perfect city for it, easy to hide the fantastic in a city of over the top entertainment.

Many aren't aware that The Dazzler, once simply called, The Disco Queen wasn't originated by Marvel, but commissioned by, Casablanca Records (we need to work that legendary label in somewhere).  This could give the film several tie-ins with 70s On 7 with Sirius XM.

It would also be cool to put in some cameo's, but do so without the camp, of stars from the age, Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, or someone from the genre like, The Bee Gee's, as if they don't have enough film credits. 😆

This also provides two, well experience, supers for cameo’s in movies and streaming shows.

Femme Fatale Friday : Holly Sonders, fairway on FIRE

 

If I'd had known that there was a woman even half this incredible on a golf course, I might have given the game a more fair try, even without the windmill, giant clown head & dinosaur...

One time golfer and commentator, now she just seems to be the leading cause of global HOTNESS, this beauty is reason enough for anyone to tee-up

Raised in Marysville Ohio, she attended Michigan State University, in 2007 she led the Lady Spartans to a Big 10 Conference Championship, before becoming a pro golfer and college football sideline commentator.

The 5'8" Pisces had wanted to be a pro golfer since she was a little girl, influenced a lot by her mother.  She won her first organized golf tournament at age 7, unfortunately a knee injury at 20 ended her pro career.  She started with The Golf Channel in 2011 then moved on to Fox Sports in 2016.  She's been featured by golf.com as one of the Beauties of Golf from 2013 to 2017, we'd sure like to see more of her again!

Great Americana Legends : Superman The Movie

 

Very few fictional characters say, Americana like Superman, he seems to be the poster child for the term, even by real life standards at times, and in 1978 he came to life on the big screen and changed the world... we really believed that a man could fly...

Only three years earlier the world had been terrified by the original Summer Blockbuster, the Stephen Spielberg masterpiece, Jaws, then in 1977 George Lucas amazed the entire galaxy with Star Wars, but in 1978 the world was treated to the most iconic comic book hero of all time, brought to life and it took our breath away.

This was the first one, the big screen super hero film that all others have since, and will probably always be judged against, and rightfully so, because of the impact it had.  This film is the one that should always be the measuring stick for any other costumed crime fighter to hit the silver screen.

In 1974 producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind acquired the rights to the man of steel in a film, but Warner Brothers kept the distribution rights for the film.  It was an enormous gamble, like the one Lucas made with Star Wars and/or the one Disney made with, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  The Salkinds had to produce and make the film, the Warner Brothers, if it was worth it, would write a check to pay them back and distribute the film and both would share in the profits (not sure how they had that split).

They were going to shoot in Italy with James Bond veteran director Guy Williams but when they had to move shooting to England, Williams was out.  They cast Marlon Brando ($3.7M) as Jor-El, less than two weeks work and Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, both were in the absolute peak of their careers at the time, this gave the film acting credibiltiy.

The author of, The Godfather, Mario Puzo was brought in to develop the story, which he and Williams had come up with a 500 page script.

Alexander Salkind had been impressed with Richard Donner's work on, The Omen, so he called him to ask, Donner was on the toilet when he got the call.  Salkind said he would pay one million dollars (astounding for a director at that time) but for two films, Donner agreed, taking notes on the back of a business card from his hairdresser. 

One of Donner's first calls was to writer, Tom Mankiewicz (Live & Let Die, The Eagle Has Landed) to repackage the script, quite the task.  He decided to focus very heavily on the relationship between Lois & Clark and Lois and Superman, once the story landed in Metropolis, the remainder of the film and into the second revolved around that relationship.

All kinds of names had been tossed around to play Superman/Clark Kent, like Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Nick Nolte, and even Ilya Salkind's dentist came in and did a reading.  Reeve was passed over by the producers over and over until they gave in, and one screen test it all it took.  I'm going to do a whole other blog on Reeve later.

Leslie Ann Warren and Anne Archer read for Lois, but when Morgot Kidder literally tripped into the audition, she had the part.

The rest of the cast was stacked, Hollywood names hat nobody could ignore, Jackie Cooper & Glenn Ford were a couple of screen legends, Ned Beatty was seen as an up and coming but already known character actor, plus a man who would have a connection to the man of steel for decades, Terence Stamp.

The crew was like the cast, between them, there were over 80 Academy of Motion Picture Oscar nominations for those working on the sets, costumes and special effects.

Then there was the soundtrack, to this day, the measuring stick for a super hero sound, John Williams, who had/has done so many amazing soundtracks created a theme that still brings so many emotions to so many people, including myself, I can't hear that theme without tearing up or feeling a lump in my throat.  When Hans Zimmer would write the new Superman soundtrack, he purposely made parts of it, like his new twist on the theme, match up to the beat and tempo of Williams great masterpiece.

This film has stood the test of time, to this day it still amazes

children who see it for the first time and gives them about as positive a role model style Superman as you can get.

When you line them up, this one still has to go into first place because it was the first one to really bring the magic to life in the character.  Superman was created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster with influence from Wayne Baring but at that time, Superman didn't fly, he leapt over what was in his way.  It wasn't until the Max Fleischer cartoon short, The Mad Scientist, that Superman took flight in 1941 and still took several months before it was worked into the comic stories themselves.

The film was made with a $55M budget and brought in $300M just in its first release, it was another mega-blockbuster for Hollywood.  It built bridges and opened doors for other super hero films to follow, and in the 80s and 90s, we saw some spectacular ones, films that today's hero films could learn a lot from.

In 2006, what I thought at the time was a horrible film (that has since moved up to, watchable) Superman Returns, supposedly took over where Superman II left off, completely ignoring the existence of III and IV, an insult to Reeve, no matter what you think of those two films.  But then in 2013, Man of Steel, really hit bottom of the barrel with a hollow and dreary performance that was followed by two more appearances of the same horrible actor from Man of Steel, the DCEU is in dire need of a reboot.

Of his role, Christopher Reeve said, "I was temporary custodian of a classic part of an essential piece of American mythology."  "I took this as if it was a bible."  It was that kind of commitment and deep hearted love & respect for the character that I believe made the film what it is, because if Reeve didn't believe it, he couldn't have made us believe it.

I was one of those starry eyed kids in the theater when Superman came out in the Christmas season of 1978 and to this day, the film made me believe that a man could fly.

We love you and miss you, Chris.

MTV killed more than the Radio Star

 

Today we mark the 40th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the history of music, the “birth” of MTV.

In reality, it was never about the music, the founders have come fourth on several occasions to admit that it was always about the money alone.

This weekend, the vapid and talentless VJ’s have been spouting their nonsense just as they did four decades ago, pretending to be the celebrities that they never will be.  Sirius XM would do the world a favor by flushing all of the “MTV VJs” and giving us real Rock N Roll DJ’s, and adding Casey Kasum’s American Top 40 each week.

Since the invention of MTV we’ve also seen the obesity rate in the

United States SOAR.  Before this musical disaster, kids played outside after school, they were active, but MTV gave them reason to lay around and vegetate on the television after they had outgrown after school cartoons.  The cartoon show has it’s dates wrong, it began not in 1990 but on August 1st 1981.

The Radio Star really was an important part of music, far more than most know now, it was defining to have good music, but look what’s happened to music since MTV, it’s gone downhill since, in almost every genre, it became about how you looked, not the music you made.  The afterbirth of this was the “talent” shows of today, American Idol & The Voice, can you imagine The Rolling Stones or Johnny Cash having to get through that crap to become stars?

I’m happy to say that I never saw MTV until my freshman year in college, my musical life wasn’t ruined by that nonsense like it did to a lot of people my age… note, I didn’t say “ALL” others but “a lot”, it did some good for some people, but overall, it killed the music business in so many ways and it finally oozed into the Country Music industry and did a lot of damage there, but that was part of what they wanted… but that’s another story.

MTV made it seem that if you couldn’t do a “cool” music video, your music must not be good either, it allowed MTV to control who got airtime and who didn’t, what they played effected what was played on many radio stations, lots of great talent fell off because MTV didn’t give them time. 

MTV also gave the false impression that if LA and New York didn’t like your music, you couldn’t be cool in any way.  They furthered the lie that New York and Los Angeles are the center of the “coolness” universe, when in reality, it was just mega-cities that made it easier to hide lies and frauds.  Most of the great music has come from the heart of America, Jazz in New Orleans, Country in Nashville, the Blues in Chicago and Rock & Roll from Memphis… I rest my case.

I’m forever anti-mtv and damn proud of it, I like GOOD music, made and produced for the heart and soul of music, not for money to people who had no creative input to the process (like the mtv vj’s and execs).