Andyland, USA

    I was familiar with director Edgar G. Ulmer’s 1945 bleak noir “Detour” in name only. The film was from PRC, a poverty row studio that specialized in low-budget, bargain basement B-films. “Poverty Row” is a term used for studios of the classic Hollywood era that did just that—low-budgets with no name stars. As with most movies released by PRC, “Detour” is in the public domain, which is why I’ve seen the title in the countless budget bin DVD releases of Noir films that people have gifted me over the years—often with prints that were rough to watch and missing frames.     However, that changes with a new blu-ray edition of “Detour” from The Criterion Collection that features a stunning 4K digital restoration of the film made by The Motion Picture Academy and The Film Foundation, with funding from The George Lucas Family Foundation. The film looks stunning, and I was especially happy to see one of the bonus features showing the years-long effort into restoring t...

   This past December I took a short drive down to Knoxville to see a 16mm screening of the seminal Film Noir “Out of the Past.” The movie was at Central Cinema, a really cool indie theater that opened up last Fall down there. Before the film, there was the added bonus of silent comedy shorts from Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd. Before the program began, the gentleman hosting it asked those gathered who their favorite of the three were.       The majority of the group was all in for Keaton, with a few for Chaplin, and much to my surprise, I was the lone member who cited Lloyd as his favorite. That changed that day, as the Lloyd short that played—and I forget the name of it—got a huge reaction from the crowd. It was a lot of fun seeing Lloyd on the big screen for the first time, and also with an audience. Though Lloyd is my favorite of the silent comedians—with Keaton at a close second—I still haven’t seen a great deal of his existing fi...

    As February comes to close I bring you a look at two recent releases from Warner Archive, both of which cover two quite different kinds of material. First up is a blu-ray of “The Blue Knight” the 1973 TV mini-series that pioneered the concept of “Novels for Television” and stars one of the greatest actors of the screen, William Holden. Then, Warner Archive brings us a double feature DVD with two versions of the stage mystery “The 13th Chair.” One version is an early talking picture from 1929, and the other is a late ‘30s version with a number of familiar faces.       Based off Joesph Wambaugh’s novel of the same name, “The Blue Knight” was a “major television event” (when was the last time you heard that phrase?) broadcast by NBC in November of 1973. The TV movie/mini-series starred William Holden, making his first major appearance on TV in years, alongside an amazing cast that included: Lee Remick, a VERY young Sam Elliott, and future Mrs. Peacock ...

December 25 Dear Diary,     Here we are, Christmas day! My wife and I have had a wonderful Christmas! We had a marvelous meal and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. We're doing something different, however, we're going to roll our gifts out over the 12 days of Christmas. Should be exciting, and perhaps let that Christmas spirit last longer. Today I was given a beautiful pear tree, with a partridge on the top of it. The cat is having a fit over the bird, and I'm trying to figure out where in the yard to put the tree.  December 26 Dear Diary,     Today my wife gave me two turtle doves, they're getting along just fine with the partridge. I didn't really ever think I'd have any birds in my lifetime, but now I have three. They're pretty, and they sing well. The cat drools when he walks by them. We're keeping them as far away from him as possible, I have to run to PetSmart and buy bird feed.  December 27 Dear Diary,...

    During the golden age of Hollywood, one studio held the monopoly on horror films. That studio was Universal, who between the 1920s and the 1950s released a steady stream of films featuring some of the most popular and iconic monsters in movie history. Seeing the success Universal was having with their horror offerings, other studios would occasionally take a shot at trying to grab some of the horror going audience.       Warner Brothers’ 1946 horror/mystery film “The Beast with Five Fingers” was that studio’s only attempt at anything in the horror genre during the entire 1940s. Headed by a cast that included Robert Alda, Andrea King, and Peter Lorre—in this last film for the studio—“The Beast with Five Fingers” is an adaptation of the short story of the same name by W.F. Harvey. I don’t know if there’s any real connection between “The Beast with Five Fingers” and “The Hands of Orlac,” but one can’t help but wonder if the latter inspired the former e...

    The 1990s is considered to be a golden age for TV animation. Spearheaded by the 1992 debut of Nickelodeon’s animation line up, TV cartoons changed. Gone were the shows designed to sell toys, “Transformers,” “GI Joe,” replacing them were a new wave of creator-driven shows that were smart, funny, and all innovative in their own ways. Growing up in this era we had no clue that we were so lucky to have an insane amount of creative shows for us to watch, it just seemed like “these are the shows that are on right now.”      By the ‘90s, Turner Entertainment had bought animation giant Hanna-Barbera. The studio had been struggling for a decade to produce a hit show, under new leadership, TBS would get its first cartoon and the legendary studio would see a new wave of shows start that would give the famed brand a much-needed boost. The first of these shows was “2 Stupid Dogs” that premiered in 1993. Created by Donovan Cook, the series focused on the adventur...

Hello, it’s me. I’ve thought about us for a long, long time. OK, apologies to Todd Rundgren—but hello. How are you? It’s been a while. You look well, you haven’t changed. Is that a new haircut? Looks great on you! Yes, The Loafer was away for a while. It looked like it wasn’t going to come back, but now it’s back! Where have I been in the time since The Loafer was gone? Oh, I’ve been around, but let me fill you in on what’s been going on in the last month or so since we saw each other.   When The Loafer first closed up shop I sat around on my couch for about a week. I had a steady diet of cheese whiz and chips, laying around all day watching old episodes of “Sale of the Century” on YouTube. After this phase of ennui passed, I knew I had to do the humane thing, it was time to let Batteries Not Included roam free. I packed the column up into the back of the car and drove to my aunt’s farm upstate. I opened the hatchback and said “Go on, git! You’re free now!” Te...