Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Great news: THE PUPPETOON MOVIE VOLUME 3 is now available in a limited edition Blu-ray.  The set contains 28 George Pal shorts. The previous sets were terrific, and Volume 3 should arrive in my mailbox this Monday. The Cartoon Research site has complete details on the contents.

...Good news from Turner Classic Movies: On August 1st Ben Mankiewicz announced on Twitter that Genevieve McGillicuddy has been rehired to run the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival. Although the network's future remains an open question, it's encouraging that David Zaslav of Warner Bros.-Discovery was willing to change course and rescind some of the disastrous firings which I recounted here in June. Maureen Lee Lenker has a very thorough overview for Entertainment Weekly regarding what's been going on at TCM.

...Coming soon on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber: IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958) -- with three separate commentary tracks!

...And coming from VCI: STELLA MARIS (1918), starring Mary Pickford. Dawn of the Discs shares details.

...Hallmark Media CEO Wonya Lucas is stepping down at the end of the year, and I suspect this is good news. Although last Christmas season had a number of strong TV-movie offerings, 2023 has been a singularly unimpressive year for Hallmark movies, some of which have not seemed like a good fit for the Hallmark Channel. 

...Glenn Erickson's latest Trailers From Hell reviews include the Ranown Westerns Criterion Collection set. Glenn's colleague Charlie Largent has reviewed Kino Lorber's new SOUNDIES set, which I'll be reviewing here at a future date.

...For jigsaw puzzle fans: Last week I ordered a terrific 1500-piece puzzle featuring Mickey Mouse posters.

...I'm very much looking forward to Foster Hirsch's new book HOLLYWOOD AND THE MOVIES OF THE FIFTIES this fall. I recently came across an interview Hirsch did with Rachel Bellwoar for ComicCon.com. It's great to hear he's working on a companion volume on films of the sixties!

...J.B. Kaufman's "Movie of the Month" is Tom Mix in THE BIG DIAMOND ROBBERY (1929), now available from Undercrank Productions.

...Coming from Thomas Nelson in October: THE INS-N-OUTS OF IN-N-OUT BURGER: THE INSIDE STORY OF CALIFORNIA'S FIRST DRIVE-THROUGH AND HOW IT BECAME A BELOVED CULTURAL ICON. The author is company owner Lynsi Snyder, whose grandparents founded the company.

...Leonard Maltin has a new column, "New and Notable Books for Summer 2023." I always love his book columns!

...Actress Marjorie Reynolds was born in Idaho on August 12, 1917. In honor of her birthday, here's my look back at her career.

...Notable Passing: I was very sorry to learn of the recent death of the great composer and conductor Carl Davis at the age of 86. Davis's many accomplishments included scoring THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN (1981) and the 1995 TV production PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Davis scored many silent films, and in 2014 I was privileged to see him conduct the orchestral score for WHY WORRY? (1923), starring Harold Lloyd, at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

...More Notable Passings: Model turned actress Shelley Smith has died at 70. She appeared on the short-lived TV shows THE ASSOCIATES (1979-80) and FOR LOVE AND HONOR (1983-84) and appeared regularly on other TV shows throughout the 1980s...Actress Sharon Farrell has passed on at 82. She was seen regularly in films and television for over 30 years, with her movie credits including MARLOWE (1969)...Director William Friedkin has died at 87.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my July 29th roundup.

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