Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet...

...Happy Advent! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. As I mentioned last weekend, I had an unusually heavy work schedule earlier this month. That was immediately followed by a major computer crash to start Thanksgiving week! All my important things were safely backed up, but anyone who's been through a computer changeover -- which is probably everyone -- especially when it's unexpected, knows how much work it is setting up a new computer! That work has included trying to reconstruct the links I'd saved under a Chrome tab for this roundup which were lost in the crash. Things should be getting back to normal here soon.

...Upcoming 2023 Blu-ray releases from Kino Lorber Studio Classics include IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958) and THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI (1954). Recently announced Kino Lorber release dates: MARCO POLO (1962) starring Rory Calhoun for February 7th and WHITE WOMAN (1933) with Carole Lombard for February 14th.

...The big entertainment news of the past week was the very sudden Sunday night replacement of Disney CEO Bob Chapek with past CEO Robert Iger. (The stunned reactions from fellow Disney fans on Twitter that evening were very entertaining!) I have mixed feelings -- it's important to remember that while Chapek has made dubious decisions, Iger started the ball rolling for many things which are currently problematic, including Disney+, which is leaking money. We'll see how things play out.

...On a lighter Disney+ note, the brand-new THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL (2022) is a zany delight. Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) decide to cheer up Peter (Chris Pratt) at Christmas...by going to earth and bringing back Kevin Bacon!

...Agatha Christie's play THE MOUSETRAP, which has had a continuous theatrical run in London for seven decades, will be arriving on Broadway for the first time in 2023. This year's Christie-like movie mystery, SEE HOW THEY RUN (2022), was a period piece centered around THE MOUSETRAP; my review of the film may be read here.

...Recent CineSavant Blu-ray reviews by Glenn Erickson at Trailers From Hell include WARNING SHOT (1967) from Viavision/Imprint, EL VAMPIRO NEGRO (1953) from Flicker Alley, and Kino Lorber's French Noir Collection.

...This week Jessica reviewed UP IN ARMS (1944) at Comet Over Hollywood. I saw that film, which stars Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore, countless times on local TV growing up and have always had a soft spot for it.

...Amazon has announced plans to release eight to ten theatrical films each year.

...A new documentary, 'TIS THE SEASON: THE HOLIDAYS ON SCREEN (2022), coproduced by Tom Hanks, debuts on CNN on November 27th.

...For years I've used the "reference version" of IMDb for desktop, which has enabled me to easily research via easy-to-read pages packed with information and low on graphics. I'm dismayed that the reference version appears to no longer be available for actors and other filmmakers, though at the moment it still exists for the films themselves; instead there are giant graphics and the actual information is now hidden behind cascades of dropdown menus. It's rather like the way Turner Classic Movies ruined their website a couple years ago, changing it to slow-loading giant pictures and graphics to look "pretty" on phones but making it hard to have much content on the screen. For the first time ever I'm now sometimes using Wikipedia in order to easily eyeball credits lists. It's a shame that such an incredibly important reference site is being destroyed in this manner.

...Notable Passings: Mickey Kuhn, who played Beau Wilkes as a little boy in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), has died at the age of 90. It's believed he was the last surviving featured player in the film. Other memorable roles included Kirk Douglas as a teenager in THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946) and the younger version of Montgomery Clift's character in RED RIVER (1948)...Irene Cara, who starred in FAME (1980) and sang the memorable title song, has died at 63.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my November 12th roundup.

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