Movie Review: Jailhouse Rock (1957) directed by Richard Thorpe Vince Everett (Elvis Presley) is a nice enough young man, even if he maybe spends too much time in bars. But once he loses his temper, he doesn’t know when to stop. When another patron at the bar starts abusing a woman who was hitting on Vince,… Continue reading Movie Review: Jailhouse Rock
Tag: show business
Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 5
Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 5 by Naoki Urasawa Note: This review contains SPOILERS for earlier volumes of Asadora! It is 1964, and the Tokyo Olympics are about to begin. But there has been a sighting of “that thing”, a gigantic creature of unknown origins, in the vicinity. If it can’t be driven off, the Olympics… Continue reading Manga Review: Asadora! Volume 5
Manga Review: Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 1
Manga Review: Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 1 by Emi Mitsuki A few years ago, when small talent agency Parthenon Productions was just starting out, Megumi Ayase was their breakout star. Company manager Shingo Tachibana led her to believe that they’d work together to make Parthenon a success. And they did. But… Continue reading Manga Review: Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 1
Anime Review: Kodocha Volume 6: Sana’s Bombshell
Anime Review: Kodocha Volume 6: Sana’s Bombshell Sana Kurata is not your average sixth-grader. She lives in a mansion with her prize-winning author adoptive mother, and is an accomplished child actress, regularly appearing on the show “Zenjiro’s Kodomo no Omocha.” Pretty glamorous stuff. But sixth grade is not going well because the boys are acting… Continue reading Anime Review: Kodocha Volume 6: Sana’s Bombshell
Book Review: Heller with a Gun
Book Review: Heller with a Gun by Louis L’Amour King Mabry has a reputation. Some of it’s earned. He indeed is a fearsome man when holding a gun, having killed eleven men “not counting Indians.” But he’s at pains to point out that those men were all armed and facing him at the time. Mabry’s… Continue reading Book Review: Heller with a Gun
Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1
Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1 edited by Cory Sedlmeier As has been mentioned on this blog before, by the late 1940s, superheroes had become passe in comic books. A handful continued to be published over at National Publications (DC) on a regular basis, and there was the odd minor publisher title,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes 1
Book Review: Enchantment Lake
Book Review: Enchantment Lake by Margi Preus Francine Frye isn’t a detective. She played a detective on TV. On a children’s show. For a few episodes. But that still makes her the closest thing to a detective Francie’s eccentric aunts Astrid and Jeannette know. So when a series of perfectly explainable but statistically improbable deaths… Continue reading Book Review: Enchantment Lake
Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By
Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By This 1946 musical, filmed in glorious Technicolor, is loosely based on the life of songwriter Jerome Kern (Robert Walker). It opens with the opening of Showboat, the famous Oscar Hammerstein play he wrote the music for. After several numbers, we skip to the end of the performance. Mr. Kern… Continue reading Movie Review: Till the Clouds Roll By
Movie Review: The Duke is Tops
Movie Review: The Duke is Tops (1938) Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper) is a show producer who has a star act, Ethel Andrews (Lena Horne), who is also his sweetheart. Their current show, “Sepia Scandals” is doing very well in the small Southern cities it’s playing. A big-time East Coast agent wants to put Ethel on… Continue reading Movie Review: The Duke is Tops
Manga Review: Skip-Beat! Volumes 1-2-3
Manga Review: Skip-Beat! Volumes 1-2-3 by Yoshiki Nakamura Kyouko Mogami and Shoutaro “Shou” Fuwa grew up together after Kyouko’s mother largely abandoned her. The Fuwa family runs a chain of traditional Japanese inns, but Shou didn’t want to go into that business, partially because it is the proprietress that is the face of the inn,… Continue reading Manga Review: Skip-Beat! Volumes 1-2-3