Andyland, USA

7:00 PM: Meeting called to order, pledge of allegiance held.  7:05 PM: The source of the squeaking sound was determined to be the science class pet ferret loose in the ceiling—Mr. Fiveash called to deal with situation.  7:08 PM: Overwhelming majority votes to defund high school chorus trip to New York City.  7:09 PM: Overwhelming majority votes to fund water polo team trip to Disneyland.  7:15 PM: Meeting opened up to questions from parents.  7:17 PM: Concerned parent asks PTA “Why are we teaching science to our children? Don’t you understand you are placing them in league with the devil?”  7:18 PM: Citizen who supports the question asked by the parent speaks out of turn, demands to know the size of the PTA Chairperson’s hands.  7:19 PM: Awkward silence falls upon the room.  7:25 PM: Bored with the meeting, one PTA board member asks if it would be possible to postpone the rest of that day’s business, and play w...

I have some beginnings and endings to talk about this week. One of the last of the great MGM musicals, and the beginning of a love affair. New blu-ray releases of more classics from the golden era from Warner Archive. Fred Astaire & Cyd Charisse in “Silk Stockings” (not to be confused with the 1990s cable series), and Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall in “To Have and Have Not.”  “Silk Stockings” is a 1957 MGM musical, one of the last of the studio’s famed musicals, and itself taken from a Broadway show based on the 1939 MGM film “Ninotchka.” With a score by Cole Porter, “Silk Stockings” was made at a time when the movie musical was becoming out of fashion with moviegoers. An event that would start an identity crises for MGM, who made their bread and butter on musicals.  This makes the second pairing of Charisse and Astaire on screen, having first appeared together in 1955’s “The Bandwagon”--one of my favorite MGM musicals. I should also point out th...

I was cleaning in the kitchen the other day,  listening to one of those “90s Throwback Playlists” on the internet. As I was scrubbing up the coffee mugs, “Barbie Girl” came on. “Ohhhhh yeahhhhhhh” I said to myself in a high pitched tone of Middle School days. The song ended, I set all my dishes on the drying rack, and I went on with my day. I went by the grocery to pick up some coffee--the most important ground food in the world. As I walked into the store, I could hear, just faintly in the background “Come on, Barbie! Let’s Go Party!”  “Huh, well isn’t that something!” I thought to myself. There wasn’t any clear reason for the song to come on, the music changed abruptly to top 40 Country right afterwards--I lost count of how many times I heard the words “Truck” and “Lake.” “That’s a rather odd fluke” I thought, as I loaded the twelve cases of coffee I purchased into the car. After taking the coffee home, I went out into the world again, this time to meet with frien...

I am so excited this week that I get to talk to you about something I’ve been wanting to discuss in these pages for quite a long time. I’ve got a look at more goodies from Warner Archive this week, including their new blu-ray of 1982’s comedy “Victor/Victoria.” First off, I want to talk about the thing that is simply one of the most bizarre items to have ever come out of a major motion picture studio. So strange, you may not even believe me when I tell you about it.  What is this strange thing I want to tell you about? Some odd little horror movie or low-budget sci-fi flick someone conned Columbia pictures into making? Nope. I’m talking about something that was actually quite popular for a year or two. Between 1929 and 1931 MGM made a series of nine short films known as The Dogville Comedies. Directed by Zion Myers and Jules White—who would both go on to work for years with The Three Stooges—The Dogville Comedies are short parody films of popular movies of the day. Only th...

This week I have two Elizabeth Taylor films making their debut on blu-ray from Warner Archive. 1950’s “Father of the Bride,” and 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Taylor being the link that bonds the two films, as both are radically different from one another. Considering the pedigree that follows “Virginia Woolf” around, you might be surprised that this was the first time I actually saw the film. First, I’ll talk about the original “Father of the Bride.”  If you’re of the same age range as I am, I’m 31, then odds are good you watched a number of Steve Martin films growing up, and are familiar with the 1991 remake of “Father of the Bride,” which is a really good film in it’s own right, and one of the better remakes to have come out of Hollywood. I actually had no clue that ‘91 film was a remake till I came across the middle of the 1950 original on TCM one day, and kept thinking “Why does this look so much like ‘Father of the Bride?’”  Released by MGM, th...

That’s really not much of a title is it? I suppose I could have been far more clever in titling this week’s column, but the truth of the matter is my excitement is such that the title above is the only one that truly suits the text of this week’s discussion. Let me bring everyone up to speed. If you have been a longtime reader of this column, if you know me in real life, if you have ever interacted with me in anyway in which music has come up, then you know that I am a huge fan of The Monkees.  The Monkees are one of my favorite bands, and this year marks their fiftieth anniversary! So many cool and wonderful things are happening to mark this, in addition to the new album there’s a tour, and a super awesome deluxe blu-ray box set of the TV show that also has their film “Head” as a bonus feature. As I sit here thinking about it, I’ve bonded with more friends over love of The Monkees than any other band. Seriously. Right, onto the new album! “Good Times!” is the name of ...

I finally slept last night for the first time in a couple of days. For a handful of nights I’d wake about three hours before I normally do, putter about the house for an hour or so, then fall back asleep, then wake up again at my usual time—only feeling groggy. Insomnia is nothing new to me, I usually have a solid bout of it about once or twice a year. This is a significant improvement from when I would go for months without sleeping well. Insomnia also runs in my family.  Sometimes I find I can’t quite get settled in bed into a position that I find comfortable. Other times, it’s simply a case of my brain not wanting to settle down for the night. That was the culprit of the current go about with insomnia. The same thing was happening every night. As I would climb into my cozy bed, then close my eyes, I would hear the same thing over and over in my head.  It was a piece of music instantly recognizable from my childhood, and the childhoods of others from my genera...