Around the Blogosphere This Week
...There are many good Thanksgiving weekend sales of interest to classic film fans, including at the Warner Archive and McFarland Books sites.
...Coming to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber in April 2021: BATTLE HYMN (1957), starring Rock Hudson, Dan Duryea, and Martha Hyer.
...Also coming from Kino Lorber in 2021: THE PINK JUNGLE (1968), starring James Garner and George Kennedy. I'm not familiar with this one at all.
...If I'd only known when my kids were collecting them: An unopened first edition set of Pokemon cards just sold at auction for $360,000.
...The latest "foodie" documentary I'm enjoying on Netflix: CHEF'S TABLE: BBQ (2020).
...Thanks to Williams-Sonoma, fans of THE MANDALORIAN can order Baby Yoda's favorite snack...for a steep price. (And no, I'm not talking about the frog eggs...)
...New cookbook coming from Nigella Lawson in April 2021: COOK, EAT, REPEAT: INGREDIENTS, RECIPES, AND STORIES.
...I need to check out MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE (1947), starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. This review by Caftan Woman makes it sound quite fun; I didn't know Alan Ladd has a cameo! Happily I picked it up on Blu-ray in a recent sale at the Kino Lorber site.
...Notable Passings: David McCrea, the second-born of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee's three sons, passed away on November 13, 2020, two days before his 85th birthday. David was the father of Wyatt McCrea, who has done so much to preserve the family legacy at McCrea Ranch...Sandy Dvore, who designed title sequences for many TV series including THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, THE WALTONS, NORTH AND SOUTH, and SPENSER: FOR HIRE, has died at 86...Bill Murray's older brother Ed, whose experiences as a golf caddy helped inspire CADDYSHACK (1980), has passed away. The film was cowritten by another of the five Murray brothers, Brian Doyle-Murray; Doyle-Murray also appeared in the film along with his brother Bill.
...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my November 21st roundup.
Have a great week!
posted by Laura @ 10:00 AM
6 Comments:
The stars are aligned for you to enjoy My Favorite Brunette.
The news on passings is sad indeed.
The Brubeck album sounds like a must-have.
It worked out perfectly, Caftan Woman, that I recently picked up that Hope movie and then read your fun review!
There have been a number of really interesting CD releases of late (I have my dad to thank for pointing some of them out to me, including this one!). I'm playing the reissued Felix Slatkin "Season's Greetings" CD mentioned in a recent column as I write this.
Best wishes,
Laura
Thanks for the heads-up on the Warner Archive sale. I get emails from the WB Shop but they never seem to promote the Archive. I'm looking to add a few more titles to my library (not as Christmas gifts--is that too selfish?)
The Brubeck album sounds interesting. I found that Slatkin album on YouTube and intend to listen to it soon.
I received sad news yesterday that I wondered if you'd heard: ClassicFlix is ending its rental service as of December 31. Even though I should still get two more shipments, I have 400+ titles in my queue, some of which I may never get to see now. I am happy to have been a subscriber for nearly the past seven years, especially since that's where I first discovered your reviews.
Hi Seth! I always buy myself some DVDs at Christmas LOL. I do almost all of the Christmas gift shopping for our family so I consider it a little reward for taking care of that aspect of Christmas. :)
I did hear about the ClassicFlix rentals ending, thanks for making sure I'd heard. I'm honestly surprised it kept going as long as it did, only servicing existing customers in more recent years. Definitely sad news for folks like you who were able to see so many movies thanks to their service. I'm really glad you found my reviews there!
FYI ClassicFlix also announced yesterday that they would no longer be using Twitter to publicize information about their releases; those interested are invited to sign up for their email updates or check out "The Latest" at their website.
Best wishes,
Laura
I was looking for piano Christmas music a couple years ago and I was surprised to see Dave Brubeck released a Christmas CD. I bought that and an Oscar Peterson Christmas CD. Well, sorry to say that "A Dave Brubeck Christmas" CD was quite a disappointment. As all of the supposedly familiar Christmas songs he played were unrecognizable except for a few notes on 2 of the songs. It seems Dave let his free-style jazz side all out as he ignored the melodies completely. A couple songs are alright, but the rest of the album, well, if you're looking for non-Christmasy stuff that sounds like just a series of haphazard off notes hit here and there, it's for you.
BUT, the good news is that "An Oscar Peterson Christmas" CD was great. Every song just as I was hoping the Brubeck CD would have been. Each song played in a relaxed yet still they were all very recognizable Christmas classics.
By the way, if you're looking for an excellent sounding full stereo sound lush orchestra CD of instrumental Christmas music there's a new remastered CD of "Christmas Carols" by Mantovani. The stereo on this is great. The new sound version was put out by Collectors Choice. It's on Amazon too. Merry Yuletoons to all.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on some Christmas music, Lee. I have an older CD release of that Mantovani CHRISTMAS CAROLS CD which I've enjoyed very much.
Best wishes,
Laura
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