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Showing posts from June, 2021

Elvira and Vincent Price Meet in New Comic & Exclusive on Indiegogo!

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From Dynamite Entertainment Two titans of terror collide in Dynamite's latest spooky comic book series, ELVIRA MEETS VINCENT PRICE! For super fans of the two icons, Dynamite, Elvira herself, Vincent's daughter Victoria Price, and artist Juan Samu have all teamed up to present a stunning limited edition variant cover of the first issue, and it's only available on Indiegogo right now! "Vincent was the consummate horror icon, who was beloved by millions of fans. And, yours truly was the biggest fan of them all!," said the Mistress of the Dark herself. "Back when this Mistress was just a 'Miss,' Vincent introduced me to the wacky world of Hollywood horror. His films and television shows were essential viewing for late night creature feature fanatics." Victoria Price added, "My father loved Elvira. His face always lit up when she was around. And he felt a true kindred spirit, through the love of all things scary. He was an icon of the horror genr...

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Returns to Television

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 This past Sunday my wife and I stumbled upon reruns of the classic TV show Wild Kingdom (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) on the RFD network. We had both grown up watching the program so we were delighted to watch back to back episodes.  My impression of the show really highlights just how great educational and documentary programing actually was some forty and fifty years ago, Modern shows simply can't compare. In the one hour of Wild Kingdom that we watched we both learned more about animals than we had in any television program since. We actually saw several species of animals that we had never heard of and discovered facts about more common ones that we never knew. It's no wonder that our generation grew up to be much smarter than the ones who followed.  Check this out:    That's actually one of the episodes we watched.      And that was the other. I'm sure that you learned a lot about animals like we did. In later episodes host Marlin...

Disney Tries To Go Woke By Renaming Boba Fett's Slave 1 Spaceship

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 You would think that Disney would be tired of pissing off Star Wars fans, but they aren't. It was revealed that Disney was trying to covertly rename Boba Fett's famous spaceship Slave 1 and hoping nobody would notice. Well once again the studio demonstrated that they don't understand  Star Wars or it's fans (with the exception of Rogue One and The Mandalorian). Star Wars fans notice EVERYTHING, even stuff you try to hide. They are tenacious. So when you put out a new Lego model called Boba Fett's Starship only about a million people are going to notice. Yes, Disney renamed the Slave 1 to Boba Fett's Starship. Now, why would they do that?  Well it does have that offensive term 'Slave' in there. Honestly this crap has to stop! How many nasty emails did the company receive from people who were offended by the name of Boba Fett's ship? That's right ... zero, but as is the case with just about every major company in America, they were scared senseles...

New Flagship Red Sonja Series Launching This September

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 From Dynamite Entertainment (Press Release) Few comic book creators have such diverse skills and worldwide passionate followings as writer/artist Mirka Andolfo, and she's bringing that energy to the She-Devil With a Sword for a new series debuting this fall! "Red Sonja is an extraordinary, multifaceted character, and I loved her from the first moment," said Mirka Andolfo. "When I was asked to try to make my own version of her, I immediately accepted." In Mirka Andolfo's Red Sonja #1, she kicks off a new arc "Mother," touching on themes that fans of Mirka's other works starring strong female characters will immediately recognize and latch onto. The story begins with a village burning to the ground, set aflame by the dreaded Three-Eyed Shezem. Sonja arrives to find only a single survivor, a young child with mysterious white tattoos. As they set off on an arduous journey through frigid snow plains and thick forests, the new companions will face a...

Flashing Back To 2007 When I Got To Photograph And Actually Touch Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder

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This comes straight from the Monster Island News Archives! Back in 2007 I had the privilege to visit the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at California Science Center in  Los   Angeles . During that visit I got to interact with several props from the original Star Wars trilogy. Today I am reposting my photos of Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder along with some production notes that were published back in the day. Enjoy! Oh, and most people don't know that C3PO was actually driving it in the movie, Charles Lippincott - "The landspeeder was a big problem. Ultimately John Stears got a tri-wheel vehicle and completely redesigned it. I some shots it really looks as if it's floating on air. There was no problem with tire tracks because it was rarely used with the wheels." Lippincott continues - "The problem was always that we couldn't use a hovercraft because it would have tossed up a cloud of sand and caused all sorts of hell." In ma...

Music For A Saturday Afternoon: Jammin' The Blues (1944)

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I had just finished watching a wonder documentary on the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival called Jazz On A Summer's Day on TCM when I then treated to an amazing short film called Jammin' The Blues.  Check this out: Jammin' the Blues is a 1944 American short film in which several prominent jazz musicians got together for a rare filmed jam session. It features Lester Young, Red Callender, Harry Edison, Marlowe Morris, Sid Catlett, Barney Kessel, Jo Jones, John Simmons, Illinois Jacquet, Marie Bryant and Archie Savage.  Here is the trailer for Jazz On A Summer's Day: You really need to check that out if you get a chance. It looks like that may have been the greatest music festival ever. What a time that must have been to be alive.

Retro Saturday Morning: Jabberjaw (1976-78)(ABC)

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 You may think that a cartoon about a talking shark may have been a little over the top, but in an era where there was already a talking dune buggy and a caveman that solves crime a great white with a Brooklyn accent that's a drummer for a teenage rock band didn't seem all that weird. Actually Jabberjaw is a lot more Curly from the Three Stooges than I remembered. Let's find out who Jabberjaw really was: Jabberjaw found it hard to get respect in a society where "shark ejectors" (robots that would guard various buildings or cities against sharks being allowed to enter) were commonplace.  Okay, wait a second, there were so many sharks running around on dry land that mankind had to build a robot police force to keep them out of buildings?  I guess that explains this: That really is a problem ... continue. These robots, as well as unpleasant treatment from others, frequently prompt him to utter some variation of his catchphrase (borrowed from the comedian Rodney D...

Fantastic Photos From Fantasy Films: Tina Cole - Playboy Bunny

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Over the past few months I have been watching a lot of the classic sitcom My Three Sons while I've been getting ready for work. During that time I have to admit that I have become a fan of actress Tina Cole who played Katie Douglas on the show. Today I decided to share a rare photo of Tina as a Playboy Bunny. Tina never actually was one of Hugh Hefner's Bunnies or posed for his magazine but she did sing at one of the chain of Playboy clubs. Though she never was a bunny she certainly had the figure for it. Bio: Christina Yvonne Cole (born August 4, 1943) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Katie Miller Douglas on the sitcom My Three Sons (1967–1972). She previously had a recurring role as Sunny Day in the detective series Hawaiian Eye (1963). She was also a member of the Four King Cousins, a subgroup of the King Family Singers. In 1963, she played the minor (uncredited) role of Ruth Stewart in Palm Springs Weekend, a spring break party film set...

Images Without Context: Living The Good Life In Outer Space Edition

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 Check Out: Images Without Context: Brave New World Edition Images Without Context: Black Lagoon Edition Images Without Context: Monster Island Edition Images Without Context: Classic Movie Monsters Edition Images Without Context: Star Wars vs Star Trek Edition Images Without Context: Imperial Fleet Edition Images Without Context: The Monsters Are Coming Images Without Context: Welcome To The Space Age! Images Without Context: Space The Final Frontier