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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Elia Kazan's Boomerang



Elia Kazan was one of Hollywood's greatest directors and also known as a bit a rat for giving out names in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee. One of the names he mentioned was John Garfield, whose career took a dive after the hearings. Oddly enough, Garfield stars in a movie called They Made Me a Criminal.

But enough of the dark side, there's a ton to admire about Elia Kazan, including s2 amazing Marlon Brando movies - On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire. But a few years before that, He made this gem about political corruption, money and the legal system titled Boomerang. It stars Dana Andrews, Lee J. Cobb, and Jane Wyatt. Also look closely for the writer Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible) who appears in the line-up of suspects for a few seconds. He was also married to Marilyn Monroe, after Marilyn and Jolting Joe DiMaggio broke up.

If drama doesn't do it for you, try some comedy. Check out a new arrival from The Addams Family called Lurch's Grand Romance, where Lurch (Ted Cassidy) falls in love with Morticia's old school chum, Tina Trivia. Morticia, played by Carolyn Jones speaks a lot of French in this episode.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Poll Dancing Mishaps



There's a part of me finds great joy when the major media outlets look like monkeys, and yesterday the MSM pulled a mondo sized flub. We were told time and time again, that Barrack Obama had already won New Hampshire. It was a done deal. Mrs. Clinton was toast. And on and on until yammering knuckleheads got red in the face, yada yada. What can I say other than - get a life. It was fun to see Huckabee turn into Huck-a-who? Is it just me or is the polling commentary really annoying?

Now, go turn off the talking heads and grab a cold beer. If you want to check out the Poles, that is, something Polish that is interesting, may I suggest a few titles here in the library. 1) Knife in the Water, an early work of Roman Polanski that is in Polish with English subtitles. A good film, with a very tense romantic creepy group of people on a boat. 2) Escape from Sobibor, one of the best stories you propably never heard of. It is a tale of human courage and triumph in the face of total evil and hellish circumstances. Stars Allan Arkin and Rutger Hauer. 3) Circus of Fear, starring Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee, who plays a Polish lion tamer from the circus. And finally - though not Polish in origin, check out Fake News, which is part of the Dubious Lampoonery section. It seems appropriate and should be a gentle reminder that news often gets it totally wrong.

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