For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I am the one who helps you."
Isaiah 42:13
Isaiah 42:13
"We have too many intellectuals who are afraid to use the pistol of common sense." Samuel Fuller.
Take A Look At All The Good Stuff On This Site
Remembering DJ Vista: Thanks for the video and the music. R.I.P.
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For the past several years my go to site for 80s New Wave and Punk music has been DJ Vista. It became a part of my morning routine when after I got my coffee I'd proclaim "Time to check out some DJ Vista." DJ, to my perception, didn't look the part of a sterotypic youtube dee-jay spin meister. But what stood out was his mixes and matching videos were production gems. He would insert himself in the right hand corner and he'd be swaying and moving to the music. Whenever he was really getting into it he'd lip synch to the song. DJ Vista brought synergy to his videos and I found that unique. His enjoyment of what he was doing added to my own enjoyment. His videos were the epitome of a labor of love. And thousands of viewers loved him for it.
A few weeks ago I was shocked and saddend to learn DJ had taken his own life a week before Christmas. He left behind a loving family and a beautiful young daughter. Such a tragedy. A true tragedy. This man brought so much joy and happiness to thousands of others and yet, for whatever reason, that same joy and happiness was missing from his own life. Suicide, it is said, is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Easy to say I know. But had he just managed to stay on just a little longer, been able to carry on through whatever depression he had who knows but the Lord what might have happened. There were scores of followers who expressed their joy and love not only for what he did but for DJ himself.
I still listen to his music. I still say, "Time for a litte DJ Vista." It's such a shame to take God's most precious gift. But at least his family and his daughter and when she marries her children will know that he was loved by thousands, and his legacy will continue.
I thank DJ for the great work he did. I cannot help but think of him.
R.I.P. DJ. and thank you for making this old man's life a bit more enjoyable. Check out one of the clips and check out his youtube page. Listen to New Wave the DJ Vista way; the best way.
A few weeks ago I was shocked and saddend to learn DJ had taken his own life a week before Christmas. He left behind a loving family and a beautiful young daughter. Such a tragedy. A true tragedy. This man brought so much joy and happiness to thousands of others and yet, for whatever reason, that same joy and happiness was missing from his own life. Suicide, it is said, is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Easy to say I know. But had he just managed to stay on just a little longer, been able to carry on through whatever depression he had who knows but the Lord what might have happened. There were scores of followers who expressed their joy and love not only for what he did but for DJ himself.
I still listen to his music. I still say, "Time for a litte DJ Vista." It's such a shame to take God's most precious gift. But at least his family and his daughter and when she marries her children will know that he was loved by thousands, and his legacy will continue.
I thank DJ for the great work he did. I cannot help but think of him.
R.I.P. DJ. and thank you for making this old man's life a bit more enjoyable. Check out one of the clips and check out his youtube page. Listen to New Wave the DJ Vista way; the best way.
MOVIE REVIEWS
GONE IN UNDER SEVENTY MINUTES
They say time is money, time is of the essence, tide and time waits for no man, there's no time like the right time and baby the right time is now. The point being is just because we might be short of time or, per the Guess Who, got got got no time, doesn't mean we can't watch in less time than it takes to watch the last ten minutes of an NFL game a good movie. Below are a few of them that run under seventy minutes.
Detour: 68 minutes-A classic. Many think it's one of the greatest noirs of all time. I wouldn't go that far but it is very, very good. For the most part it's a two character film but one happens to be Ann Savage and thank goodness for that. Her performance is one of the best of any femme fatale.
Among The Living: 67 minutes--It borders Southern Gothic as much as noir. Alfred Dekker plays twins and since one is schizophrenic you could say he plays three roles. Susan Hayward is a knock-out. Put this on Noir Alley or Noir Avenue and give it a better print. Follow Me Quietly: Here come da Judge? Say what? He's a serial killer who strangles his victims from behind only when it rains. He says he has been anointed to rid the earth of the vermin, the evil, or any reasonable facsimile thereof. All this in only sixty minutes! Double Deal: 64 minutes-Marie Windsor admits that she's public domain and to have Ms. Windsor as public domain should be enough reason to watch, but there's more. .There's also a monkey who, with a better agent, might have had a sterling career in films. There are oil wells. And there's Richard Denning. The Threat: 61 minutes-Charles McGraw is the threat in this fast paced movie. Felix Feist directed a few other noir/crime films, and once again we see the professionalism of a man who knows his craft and the bottom line.($$$ for studio heads). |
Hell Bound: 69 minutes-This is an excellent B movie. There are a number of characters and a complex plot yet it works like clockwork. Margo Woode stars with John Russell, June Blair and Stanley Adams. There's a lot of creativity in this film and it shows especially the ending where the bad guy get's his just dessert.
Behind Locked Doors: 62 minutes-This film should be taught in film schools as a primer on how to make a low budget film. It helps if one has the talent of Budd Boetticher who directed this about a private eye who for love and money gets admitted to a funny farm to find a missing judge (what's with these judges?) Excellent cinematography as well. The Devil Thumbs A Ride: 62 minutes-This movie is pedal to the metal from start to finish. It stars Lawrence Tierney who cracks this classic line when looking at the photo of the gas station attendant's daughter "By the look of those ears she's gonna fly before she walks." And he gets meaner as the film continues! The Hoodlum: 61 minutes-This is bona fide text-book on how to make a low budget B movie. It's Mr. Tierney again. He plays Vince Lubeck who may be the biggest crumb-bum of a louse in filmdom. And how he makes his poor mother suffer! He should be shot. Killer's Kiss: 67 minutes-A Stanley Kubrick film shot on a frayed shoe-string of a budget. This film stands out on its own and not merely as a look into the genesis of a giant in the industry. The excellent cinematography was by Mr. Kubrick. Some great scenes. |
QUICK MOVIE REVIEWS
Short visceral reactions to some of the movies I've recently watched.
click link for all of the quick/flash reviews
Stations West-1948 Dick Powell plays a fed who goes out West to investigate gold shipments being robbed. Jane Greer is the bad guy's moll and she runs a saloon. (What else?"His Marlowe schtick falls flat. Robert Conrad would do the wild West government agent much better in The Wild Wild West television show. much better years later. Jane Greer is wasted, Raymond Burr tries his best. It's best to remember and re-visit the three stars in Murder, My Sweet, Out Of The Past and Too Late For Tears.
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The Last Seduction--1994-A long time neo-noir favorite and another neo-noir classic by Director John Dahl (Red Rock West being the other) that I revisited. At times it dragged but the last five or six minutes is very intense. The story and dialogue could have come from a Jim Thompson novel. Good performances all the way around. Linda Fiorentino is pure evil, Peter Berg plays the male chump to perfection. It has a nice, subdued and not over-done jazz score. The revisit only reinforced my opinion that this is an excellent film and Ms. Fiorentino is easily among the best of all the femme fatales in Hollywood.
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MOVIE REVIEWS
Murder, My Sweet, was the first, and best of the Philip Marlowe films. It incorporates noir elements with those of the detective/mystery films that preceeded film noir. It is literally a beginner's template for the genre.
A film with a private eye as protagonist starts out with several points against it; the detective is not going to be doomed to a fate he can’t escape; he is on the right side of the law and will invariably bring the bad guy to justice. He is usually too smart to be taken in by the femme fatale, and there will be an ending where at the very worst he is no better off than when he started. Click to read the rest of the review. |
Act of Violence far more than any film noir emphasizes the stress of returning veterans.Frank Enley (Van Heflin) is a pillar of his community with a lovely young wife Edith (Janet Leigh) and a toddler son. The community knows him as a decorated bomber pilot and former P.O.W. They do not know that he is a coward responsible for the deaths of ten fellow P.O.W.s.
For a trope listed as one of the genre's most significant, there is very little of post-war trauma to be found in film noirs. Act of Violence is an exception and the best example of post-war trauma. Click to read the rest of the review. |
The more crime/noir films I watch the tougher it is to find one worth my time to write a review. So, when Female Jungle opened with a blaring saxophone, a hot female getting out of a cab in front of an empty bar and then getting murdered across the street I thought to myself, 'so far so good.' Suffice it to say 'so far so good,' made it all the way to the end.
We first see Lawrence Tierney leaning outside the back door of a bar literally three sheets to the wind wondering how he got there and then being ripped a new one by his superior. Female Jungle is a bona fide, relatively unknown film that I definitely recommend. Click for the full review. |
Johnny Mack Brown-1904-1974. All-American HB at Alabama, Cowboy Actor. When my Dad was a kid growing up on E. 113th in NYC, he wanted to be a cowboy and Mr. Brown was his favorite. This is for you, Dad. Miss you.
Robert Praino. Born in Manhattan, grew up in Hackensack, living in Gulfport.