Shatter

 Time to recognize my brother for his acting in 

Shatter (2022)

Shatter

Madness Has Many Faces.

SYNOPSIS: A small-town detective must follow the cryptic clues of an escaped schizophrenic patient to solve a bizarre murder only to unveil a revelation even more bizarre than the crime itself.

YEAR PRODUCED: 2020

RUNTIME: 91

GENRE:  Horror >> Psychological,   Thriller,  

RATING: NR

DIRECTOR: Chris Schwartz

WRITER(s): Chris Schwartz, Donovan Schwartz

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER(s): Chris Schwartz

PRODUCER(s): David Wigfield

MAIN CAST: Bob Strouse (Detective Matthews), Mercer Bristow (David Willard)

OTHER/SUPPORTING CAST: Joseph Veltre (Matthews Partner) Rod Egan (Chief) Scott Geiter (Dr. Vandenberg) Orris Knepp (Bruce Willard) C.J. Ramser (Chet) Julie Ufema (Miss Carly)

COMPOSER/ORIGINAL MUSIC: Chris Schwartz, Matt Ware

Watch the trailer here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igNphe9mBK8

And if you have Amazon, you can rent or buy it here.

Holiday Movies

 Sorry folks, you are not going to see the most frequently cited flics in this list.  Most IMHO are garbage.

So here is my list of best holiday flics that are timely and worth aa watch..  All G rated too.

Christmas in Connecticut.  This 1945 film is a good one.  Love abounds and some great acting too.  The sleigh ride is timeless.

It happened on Fifth Avenue.  This 1947 film is a great story and one appropriate for any time.  Good manners encourage good things.  An important message. Especially for Vets.

Miracle of 34th Street.  Also in 1947 this one is a personal favorite.  Had to watch it every year.  It has Santa too (or is it?)  It was redone, but not quite the same.

Remember the Night. Released in 1940, this another classic love story around the holidays.  Justice prevails but it reminds us that sometimes we don't get enough love.

Scrooge.  Out in theatres in 1951 and later, this is my first introduction to the famous story, A Christmas Carole.  A classic.  Spooky enough too, but as we all know good times are found ahead.

Well, that is my list, find them on streaming channels and enjoy with family and friends and a big bowl of popcorn.  Happy Holidays.

Pinkham Notch

 Worked for room and board at Pinkham Notch between 13 Sept and 17 September in 1974.

(Carter Notch)

Arrive 7:15pm after long day. The following days I rock climbed, went to Gorham and south to see Limmer's Shoe Factory (should have ordered a pair, but oh well), EMS and saw 3 Musketeers at movie theater.

One spectacular thing is that I saw the northern lights.  Here I a shot I got in Iceland forty years later.

To the naked eye, the lights look silver, but when photographed I got the green.

Film Tourism with Don Dohler

So, I have tried not to become a couch potato during this pandemic, but in the last year or so I became aware of Baltimore film director Don Dohler.  He was also a publisher and many of his magazines and movies are freely available on the Internet Archive.

Over the past couple of days, I watched his horror film called Fiend.

I watched it to see if I recognize any of the locations.  For the most part no, since may scenes were shot at Moray Court.

But I did recognize Popular Grove Church.  I have relatives there.  I also have a photo on Google Earth of the church.

The film was release in 1980 and I was living in the area.

Night of the Living Dead

Film Tourism.

That is when people visit the sites represented or used in films.  I know Turner Classic Movies offers tours on both coasts so you can ride a bus and see all the important scenes of your favorite movies.

But Evan's City may not be on list, unless of course you are attending the Monster Bash in Pittsburgh, PA.

Bring a friend.  Remember you don't have to out run the zombie, you just have to out run your friend.

Here is the NYTs review  (3 Dec 1968) when the film came out.

The Green Book Revisited

Now that the Hollywood movie has provided an account of car travel for African Americans in the 20th century, we are reminded that free travel is still not available for people around the globe.

You may recall I blogged about the Green Book before where I provided a short PowerPoint Slide Show with references. So you can search for more material on the copious subject.

For instance, another Blog also reports on the Green Book (date 17 June 2019).

Now what about today?

Since some American States has denied some rights to their citizens, out of protest, no public funds are available for public sector employees to travel to those states.

Consider this debate about the upcoming Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, ASCP conference in South Carolina:

"We write to engage you in a discussion of great importance regarding our upcoming conference hosted by Clemson University (in Greenville, South Carolina, October 24-27, 2019) as well as decision-making regarding future conference locations. On April 2, the California Attorney General placed South Carolina on a list with nine other states where California employees cannot travel on state funds, due to South Carolina’s discrimination against the LGBTQ community in adoption and foster care (https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887). The ten states include Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas."

The bottom line here is how to deal with the ethical issue.  

Kanopy rocks

Forget Netflix.  I mean, the streaming choices on Netflix are beginning to look like the choices we used to have in the Mom and Pop video stores of the 1980 and 90s.  Most films on Netflix Streaming, seem to be the direct to video choices.  You know, the titles that nobody wants and ended up in the Bargain Bin selling for a buck.

Kanopy, on the other hand is great and FREE!  You sign up via the local library, and since I have a university account, I have access.  Talk about choices!  More than the public domain stuff you get on other streaming services and NO COMMERCIALS.  Oh yeah, tons of documentaries and educational titles too.

Wow.  Maybe I will watch Eraserhead today.

Icarus

Watched an interesting documentary last night called Icarus.  Suggested by the NY Times, it is a fascinating expose in cycling doping that moves into perhaps the largest corruption in Olympic sports. Filmmaker Bryan Fogel is fortunate that Netflix picked up the distribution.  Don't have Netflix?  Try a one week free trial and include this title in your binge watching.

Singin' in the Rain

Saw this classic on the big screen last week as part of a TCM initiative to bring films to audiences at movie theaters.  You can't beat the BIG screen.

At first I wondered if the film was wide screen but according to the ad, "This film will be shown in the same aspect ratio as when it was originally released in cinemas."  There seems to be some debate on the subject though.

In any case, it was fun.

RIP Draclula

Sort of combining dark or fright tourism with film tourism, we lost one of the greats this week.

Christopher Lee dies at age 93.

His many Hammer films in the 1950s and 60s, renewed interest in horror films during a period of weakening censorship.  Mr. Lee went on to star in comedies, a Bond movie and more recently The Lord of the Rings.

See Sir Lee's extensive filmography at imdb.com

Rachel Carson and Vincent Price

What do these two have in common?  Well, both have a birthday today May 27!

When one thinks of Rachel Carson, we think of her contribution to the environmental movement.  She was not the first, think John Muir and others, and she is not the last, think May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, but she did bring awareness to human's exploitation of our environment.

But where does Vincent Price fit into this.  Perhaps not for the environment, but instead entertainment on the fringe.  Think House on Haunted Hill, or The Tingler.

What a pair to celebrate a birthday!

Where do Americans watch Movies

ESRI has this cool interactive map showing movie interest.

Spring time Movie and Food Drive

This week, we are hosting the annual GARP Movie and Food Drive. Showing the classic international sci fi film "Latitude Zero", we hope also to collect canned goods for the local food pantry.

Tuesday 10 April 2012, 8 pm in the Ely Campus Center at Westfield State University.

Can't make it? Start collecting food for the annual US Postal Service food drive in May. Contact your local Post Office for details.

Rainy Day Recreation

So I am a wimp sometimes. I used to go outside in any kind of weather. In fact, the wetter, the colder, the better. Ok, maybe not the wet stuff.

And summertime meant prime backpacking time. Now I prefer to hit the trails in the fall, when the temperatures are milder and there are NO bugs!

Anyway, the purpose of this particular blog is to highlight the Classic entertainment available today on Turner CLASSICS Movies (TCM).

Where else can you wake up to The Manster, followed by The Killer Shrews. Too bad I am doing a road trip today. (I got these films on DVD besides).

You might want to catch The Green Slime at noon Eastern. This one I have on 16mm!

Movie Night at WSC and Food Drive

My Recreation Geography Class is

Conducting a food drive to benefit the local

Westfield Food Pantry.

Enjoy the cult classic "Reefer Madness"!

Thursday April 29, 2010

8 PM on the Westfield State College Green

Please bring a non-perishable food item to donate!

Quality Entertainment with Starman

no, not that Starman, but the real good one that you can catch a glimpse into with this YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM3s-abWLSc.

Wikipedia notes "Super Giant (スーパージャイアンツ Sūpā Jaiantsu^?, literally translated as "Super Giants") is a fictional Japanese superhero featured in a successful series of serial-like tokusatsu short feature films produced by Shintoho Company, Ltd. (the non-union branch of Toho). He is also known in Japan as Giant of Steel (鋼鉄の巨人 Kōtetsu no Kyojin^?), is known in America asStarman, and known in France as Spaceman."

Anybody with bad guys looking like the picture can't be all that bad!