How 'Dallas' Won the Cold War

I barely remember this series and I became a fan much later on when this show aired on the network now called SpikeTV when they used to be TNN (The Nashville Network). Anyway apparently this show played a role in beating back Communism in the 1980s...

Let us now pause in somber tribute to the 30th anniversary of a momentous -- and shockingly unremembered -- turning point in the long twilight struggle between communism and capitalism. An event every bit as important as the Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate, Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down this Wall" speech and Yakov Smirnoff's defection to the West.

We write, of course, about the debut of "Dallas," the 13-year soap opera that shook the world.

Yes, April 1978 was the first time our nation turned its lonely eyes to Southfork Ranch, the winningly diabolical genius of J.R. Ewing (as played by Larry Hagman) and Victoria Principal's high-waisted pantsuits. It was the booze-and-sex-soaked caricature of free enterprise and executive lifestyles that proved irresistible not just to stagflation-weary Americans but viewers from France to the Soviet Union to Ceausescu's Romania.

"Dallas" wasn't simply a television show. It was an atmosphere-altering cultural force. Lasting nearly as long as recovering alcoholic Larry Hagman's second liver, it helped define the 1980s as a glorious "decade of greed," ushering in an era in which capitalism became cool, even though weighted with manifold moral quandaries. Beginning with the famous "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger at the end of Season Two, "Dallas" was either the highest or second-highest rated show in the United States for a half-decade, showing up in Abba songs and Ozzy Osbourne videos, spinning off the mega-hit "Knots Landing" and inspiring such book-length academic analysis as French academic Florence Dupont's "Homère et 'Dallas': Introduction à une Critique Anthropologique."

After a long hip parade of unironic countercultural icons such as Luke of "Cool Hand Luke" and Randle Patrick McMurphy of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Dallas" created a new archetype of the anti-hero we loved to hate and hated to love: an establishment tycoon who's always controlling politicians, cheating on his boozy wife and scheming against his own stubbornly loyal family. But no matter how evil various translators tried to make J.R. and his milieu ("Dallas, you merciless universe!" ran the French lyrics added to the wordless theme song), viewers in the nearly 100 countries that gobbled up the show, including in the Warsaw Pact nations, came to believe that they, too, deserved cars as big as boats and a swimming pool the size of a small mansion.

Read the whole thing! Via Instapundit.

Matrix Brothers to open a studio in Chicago

From the Sun-Times today...

The reclusive Wachowski brothers, two of Chicago's creative sons best known for their Matrix movies, have found an equally unassuming North Side spot to edit their projects.

City officials say a post-production studio will open in what has been known as the Ravenswood Studio, 5645 N. Ravenswood, just north of Bryn Mawr.

Late last year, Andy and Larry Wachowski, who grew up in Beverly Hills -- the South Side neighborhood -- approached Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) about the vacant North Side building in his ward.

"Actually, they came in to see me. [They] wanted to talk about what their plans were and that there were no impediments or prohibitions to putting it there," O'Connor said.

"They did say that they had had a fairly good search going on and this place fit their needs very well, and that they wanted to be in Chicago and on the North Side in general. . . . They said they loved the idea of doing work in Chicago and being in Chicago, and that was enough for me," he said.

"I did ask for a small part in one of their upcoming projects, but I don't think that will happen," the alderman quipped.

The brothers couldn't be reached for comment. But the city's building department records show that permits were pulled in recent months for interior renovations, a new roof, roof-mounted equipment and window replacement, according to agency spokesman Bill McCaffrey.

It is not clear whether the Wachowskis were able to use the studio -- where crews continue to work -- to finish their upcoming film "Speed Racer," an update of the 1960s cartoon out next month.

Perhaps Chicago can be a media mecca of sorts as New York and LA are at this moment.

I don't know how this is possible

Movie Reviews

I didn't think this blog could be anywhere near post-grad, but then some of these trinkets online doesn't always reflect the quality of the content. lol!

Another film on the needs list

Cooley High.

I don't think I have ever seen this movie all the way thru. Just now on Turner Classic Movies, a channel I don't normally get at home, I saw the last two or three scenes of this movie. The one actor you might know from this film is Lawrence Jacob Hilton who many of you might know from Welcome Back Kotter.

Anyway, this movie was set in 1960s Chicago. I started paying attention when I saw a scene on the Chicago L. Dude was on the train with some girl and then he tells her that he had to get off the train. He's frantically trying to find his buddy it turns out.

Just one this, his buddy was getting beaten by some thugs. Beaten within an inch of his life literally. The number 1 thugs kicks him telling him to get up, but then realizes this "turkey" ain't gettin' up. After the other two hoodlums run away so does the number 1 thug. And dude finds his friend, the beating occurred under some dark L tracks.

Anyway I don't want give away too much of the ending. But I enjoyed the retro (at least for that time) soundtrack full of 1960's MoTown hits. Well this film was based in the 1960s. Surely this movie was a departure from 1970s blaxploitation.

If I don't find this film, perhaps you will!

Jon Pertwee - Kung Fu Fighting!

Clips of Jon Pertwee engaging in some fight scene during his time as Doctor Who with background music from a classic 1970s songs. It's both hilarious and exhilarating.

More than Just a Timelord

A tribute video to the seventh doctor played by Sylvester McCoy. Having seen a few of the seventh doctor episodes of Doctor Who, I'll just have to admit most of these episodes aren't that bad. It was just unfortunate that they couldn't eke out another season of Doctor Who for McCoy beyond 1989 and we would see the seventh doctor briefly at the beginning of the 1996 FOX TV movie called appropriately enough Doctor Who.

1940s animated Superman

An old Max Fleischer cartoon with animation unrivaled until the 1990s saw the production of Batman the animated series. I often compare the animation seen in this 10 minute cartoon short with what I would see in the Batman, Superman, and JLA series of the last decade. If you can I would expect that you would find these series, especially Batman on DVD.

A documentary - American Beer

Well it's not often that I will talk about a documentary here. This one is worth buying and I hope that in the future I can discuss more documentaries. Especially those of a more light hearted nature. Anything more serious I would put over at It's My Mind.

In any event, let's talk about this documentary. I'm not a beer drinker but for the past few months I've been interested in this idea that people can brew their own beer at home. They choose not to drink a Coors, Budweiser, or even Miller. Those are the mainstream beers out there.

Of course beyond those there are much smaller brewers out there. Some of them you might see at your local supermarket, liquor store, or bar. In other instances some of these brewers might operate their own bars or they may operate a brewpub. Essentially some brewers own a restaurant and they serve their own "homegrown" beer.

This is what American Beer is about. These smaller brewers who had a passion for beer and turned it into a moneymaking enterprise, even if they're not exactly millionaires. It could be concluded that some of these craft or micro-brewers are taking advantage of a market that just doesn't like the beer provided by the more mainstream brewers.

To be sure I haven't had a beer from a craft/micro-brewery. Though I do think about it, besides I can always find my way to Goose Island and have their craft brew when I get the first opportunity. What I do know is that I've had a Bud-light and a Coors and while I drank them I didn't have a great love and this documentary makes me even more curious about how much different these craft brews are.

This movie was a lot of fun to watch. These guys take a road trip from coast to coast from Maine to Washington state. They sampled beers from 38 breweries in 40 days. They interview these businessmen and women who own these breweries. They tour these breweries even taking a look at the oldest brewery in the United States, D.G. Yuengling & Son. This brewery is so old, these intrepid guys literally tour some underground caves where once upon a time they would store the brews before the time of refrigeration.

Some breweries are very well run and they almost look like major league operations. There are those that aren't but they might still be able to get the job done. Most of these brewers started off homebrewing with most having jobs one was a foreign journalist and another was in the computer industry and another still used to be a police detective. They all left their respective occupation/professions to become brewers.

I won't give too much away but this is a great road trip style documentary. Perhaps there might be other roadtrip style documentaries out there. Maybe one wouldn't want to watch a documentary touring bakeries or what not, but surely one documentarian can actually do one about visiting historic sites around the nation.

I would suggest though that you buy this documentary when you get the first opportunity. I don't know if it's available in a video store near you, but surely you can trust the internet to provide you with this documentary.

I'm in a James Bond mood now!!!

I haven't written a lot of reviews lately! I want to change that but watching movies hasn't interested me in a while. Not sure why but I want to change that.

Also ever since I discovered Doctor Who, I've been writing almost non-stop about Doctor Who or even about sci-fi in general. I don't want this to be a genre blog I want this to be more well rounded.

I did do a Bond film, Casino Royale. Of course I saw the film itself on the now fabled TV-Links website though I do have it on DVD now! Still I just got into a For Your Eyes Only mood and then I went back to the legendary Sean Connery. One of my favorite Connery Bond film believe it or not is From Russia with Love.

So anyway it'll take me some time but I want to get back to this blog's roots. The other movies that I have reviewed overtime of course can be seen in the sidebar. Most of them are great movies.

Some are period pieces. Some is mostly for entertainment and I'd think you would enjoy it. Others are just good movies worth watching and I'll allow you to make of them as you will.

Star Trek:Enterprise Intro

Personally I love this show, although many Star Trek fans will lament how this series messed with continuity. There are certainly some things I didn't agree with but I thought this was a worthwhile experiment. I was disappointed when after 4 seasons this series was cancelled.

While this post was titled Star Trek: Enterprise, I still refer to this series as simply Enterprise. Enterprise was this series' original title until the third season when Star Trek was added to it. Now I want to just go out and find a DVD set since the series isn't even running in syndication anymore these days!

Oh and this intro is an intro I liked better than the one used during the first two seasons. The tempo if much faster than the slower pace of the tune of the first two seasons. It feels a lot more optimistic than it did in the first two seasons. Almost as if the crew of the starship Enterprise is a lot more confident about their mission!

More comic book superhero news

According to Gaper's Block Merge Chicago native and R&B singer Common will play Green Lantern in an upcoming JLA feature film.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Intro

Yeah that last post when I said a little something about the musical soundtrack. Well this was part of what I'm talking about. I hope you love it too!

Siskel & Ebert Review Batman Mask of The Phantasm

I bought this movie on VHS a few years ago. I finally got a chance to see this movie having missed it the first time around. It seems it was out one week then the next week it was out of the theaters.

I was a fan of the animated series that aired on FOX usually during the week. I was often able to watch this program after school. It intrigued me because of the animation.

I still didn't think this was the true Batman. I don't think I ever knew about the Time Burton Batman movies, either Batman or Batman Returns. The animated Batman that I saw circa 1992-93 was much more serious than watching Adam West or Burt Ward from the 1960s.

When I finally saw the movie I enjoyed it. The film soundtrack was top notch and atmospheric. The intro chilled my soul in the worst way.

I'll also give one important distinction about this movie, near the end of the film you would catch me sobbing. I'll just leave it at that. The plot wasn't the best, but it's still an enjoyable movie.

Great animation and the superhero is broughtback to his more human elements. Did you know Batman/Bruce Wayne had a girlfriend once upon a time?

Check it out and watch with your children! Especially if you look at the review by the late Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.

Wrath Of Khan: The Battle of the Mutara Nebula

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan is one of the finest movies ever. I haven't seen this film in years but since there is a new Star Trek movie coming out this year. I really look forward to watching some of the movies I have in my collection. You will enjoy the music in this clip.

This is without a doubt one of the best scenes in the movie. Kahn vs. Kirk. Reliant vs. Enterprise. The battle damage inflicted. The missed shots. Even the leadership qualities and abilities. It's really something!

Blaxploitation at its worst

I'll have to admit this trailer has a very catchy background song but I was taken about when I saw the title of this movie. It makes me want to see it more!

Doctor Who - The War Games - final scene

The Doctor is finally caught by the Time Lords. He and his companions Jamie and Zoe attempt to make a final escape before they are stopped by the Time Lords. Jamie and Zoe are sent back to their respective time periods with their only memories of the Doctor being their first adventures with him.

The Doctor of course has to meet his punishment. His intereference during his adventures in time and space has the Time Lords changing his appearance, being exiled to Earth, and the secrets of his Tardis taken from him. This is how we left the character most would refer to as the Second Doctor.

Enjoy!

Star Trek: Under Construction

Check out the 11th Star Trek movie's official website and it has a trailer that should have been shown already at another film by JJ Abrams, Cloverfield. Abrams is also responsbile for the new Star Trek movie and I seriously look forward to future promotions and the movie itself. It'll be great, I hope!

TrekMovie.com has a review and video of a teaser trailer

Last night they just have a teaser of how the Enterprise might look in the movie. You can check that post out here. Otherwise you can read what they say about the trailer here. Almost a year until the film itself is released and they already are releasing trailers at least out there in Hollywoodland.

If you want to know what I think. I really enjoy the Star Trek sounds and seeing the old-brand new Enterprise. It was really great seeing it under construction. Hopefully in the months ahead we'll see a little more!

Star Trek TNG Intro

This is the intro to the very first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It started airing 20 years ago and by the time I knew this program even existed I was already halfway thru its very fifth season. As a result almost everyday from Monday thru Saturday my TV was tuned to WPWR Channel 50 at 6PM for old episodes during the week and a more current first run episode at 6PM on Saturdays with a rerun of the episode or previous episode at 10:30PM Sundays.

After that episode aired I could also get a taste of the original Star Trek that would air directly after TNG on Sunday night. Over time I grew to love the origianl Star Trek more than TNG, but if it wasn't for TNG I wouldn't have likely gotten into Star Trek.

Future James Bond Collectibles with Ira Gallen

From 1995 Ira Gallen, responsible for of my favorite websites as of late TVDays.com that provides old films from the past, talks about James Bond products in time for the latest Bond movie, Goldfinger. TVDays has a YouTube account where you can see some of these vids including the one embedded in this post.