-By Warner Todd Huston
Two more of my favs from 60’s TV have passed today. Patrick McGoohan of “Secret Agent Man,” and “The Prisoner,” and Khan Noonian Singh himself, Ricardo Montalban have died today.
These guys were everywhere on TV in the 60’s and were icons of their day (and mine). McGoohan was 80 and Montalban was 88.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Forrest J Ackerman, the man known for coining the phrase “Sci-Fi” has passed at the age of 92, dying of heart failure on December 5.
Like most sci-fi and horror movie fans of my age (45 years and over), I was first exposed to Uncle Forry through his amazing magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. I discovered it the the late 1960s, about 10 years after it started publication. I loved it and the other Warren magazine offerings (Creepy, Eerie and especially Vampirella).
Forry really had me with his Vampirella magazine. I had every single issue (#1 through #113) at one time. I sold them to a guy in Canada in the late 1990s. Seriously, what young male in the 60s and 70s could resist Vampy? Not only did I love the admittedly teen libido titillating comic, but Vampy served as the very first time I ever saw my name in print as two of my letters to the editor made it into her fan section in the 70s. It was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me in those days.
So, now that Forry has passed all we have are the memories. But, let’s not imagine he felt he’d be looking down on us as we go forward. After all, Forrest J Ackerman was a fiercely committed atheist. He was absolutely sure that once he passed from this earth… that was it. Eternal darkness was all that awaited him.
But, let’s hope he was wrong.
Continue reading “Uncle Forry Leaves Us”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Once again, we see the long knives sharpened against the right by employing innuendo and outright lies. This time it is against the movie An American Carol. On Tuesday, I reported that there was some concern that ticket sales for the movie were being diverted to other movies at certain theaters across the country. But, I never said there was a “conspiracy” to do so. The filmmakers also attempted to do some detective work to find out the veracity of the claims. But they didn’t call it a conspiracy either. Apparently simply asking the question, though, is too much for Wonkette and Huffington Post to handle. They had to gin it up as some wild-eyed claim of a “conspiracy” on our part.
In her inimitably profane and unprofessional style, Wonkette claimed the filmmakers are saying some great, leftist conspiracy is destroying the movie. The next day, an entry at the Huffington Post asserted the same thing. From there the lefty blogs took over to add to the din. Unfortunately for their hyperbole, the movie folks never asserted any such thing (for that matter, neither did I).
Continue reading “An American Carol: Filmmakers are NOT Saying there is a Conspiracy”
-By Warner Todd Huston
An American Carol debuted this past weekend and there have been some disturbing reports that ticket sales for the film have been fraudulently credited to other films in cineaplexes all across the country. The rumors are so persistent that the American Carol folks have added a section to their website for movie-goers to report the fraud. The filmmakers are reporting that at least 10 theaters are being investigated for this fraudulent practice.
So, if you have attended this film and happen to still have you ticket stubs, take a look at them to see if you were credited with having paid to attend the right movie.
There has also been a few reports by Eric Odom that some venues have incorrectly identified the rating for the film as sporting an “R” rating instead of the proper “PG-13” that the film rating board actually gave it.
We’ll have to keep an eye on this situation, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out that certain people are trying to doom this film.
Continue reading “Theaters Defrauding Ticket Sales From ‘An American Carol’ Film?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
On Monday, voice artist Don LaFontaine died. You may not know his name but you absolutely have heard his work. Think of yourself settling into a movie. The theater goes dark. The trailers begin. Dramatic music fills the room and the mellifluous sound of a baritone voice emerges to coo: “In a world where…”
That’s right, the movie trailer guy. He has given the dramatic reading for over 5000 movie trailers over the decades. His voice is now stilled. By all accounts he was one of the truly nice guys in Hollywood, too. No ego trip, full of mirth and good humor.
Here is a Geico commercial he did so you can hear and see him…
And here is a nice little video about his work…
RIP, Don… In a world where there is no Don LaFontaine… will we ever enjoy movie trailers as much again?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Read it and weep, Dixie Chicks. Shove it Bruce Springsteen. Put a sock in it Johnny Cougar Mellencamp. Because, in a refreshing change of pace for the entertainment industry, Kid Rock is telling CMT Insider via People Magazine that entertainers should stay quiet on matters political.
How many times have you seen the uninformed blather of some goof from Hollywood, or some crank from the music industry filling your TV screen or oozing from your radio? How many low brow maestros have had your eyes rolling when they imagine themselves to have some prescient insight into matters of politics? Apparently rock singer Kid Rock is signing onto your piquancy because he has said that singers should just shut up about politics.
Continue reading “Kid Rock: Entertainers Should ‘Keep Their Mouths Shut on Politics’”
-By Warner Todd Huston
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A few weeks ago, I published my first review of Tony Carey’s new Planet P album titled “Levittown.” In that review I made no bones about the fact that I hated it. I felt it was entirely anti-American, especially in context with today’s tumultuous times. I felt the political ideology underlying the lyrics was a sad, boring holdover from 1960s hippie culture, a blast from the past that seemed to have missed everything that has happened in the last 30 some years and one that certainly ignored the war that “radical” Islam had launched against America and the west since its biggest victory on 9/11. But since I wrote that review I have had cause to doubt my initial interpretation. In fact, I have realized that my reaction was based more on my own prejudices than in a closer examination of the album on its own merits.
So, here is my mea culpa. I have to admit that the true context and purpose of the album might have flown right over my head and I allowed my prejudices take over to fill in the blanks.
First of all, I have to say that I was not very proactive in linking “Levittown” with the previous album, “1931” (from 2003). I vaguely knew they form two parts of a trilogy, but I just didn’t take enough time to study the progression from one to the next. Taken together, they present a sort of history lesson of human made misery (is there any other kind?) and, of course, a warning of human stupidity. That, I did get, but what I didn’t get is that Carey wasn’t positing that this was only a fault found in western civilization. His is a story of human failings, not solely western ones. This trilogy was also supposed to be semi-autobiographical, so it is natural that it be set in the west of his experience. I was not aware of the semi-autobiographical intention with this project until now, though.
Before I go on with my changed impression, I feel compelled to reveal the prejudices that caused me to break bad on this one the first time ’round.
Continue reading “How This Music Flew WAAAY Over my Head at First”