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Early French Pulp Fiction Findings
Here are some tidbits pertaining to early 20th century French pulp fiction in translation. A month or so ago, I found a used copy of a book by Gaston Leroux entitled DOROTHY THE ROPE DANCER, which I...
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Nine Years A Blogger
My calendar tells me that it was nine years ago today when I had the sudden and suddenly acted-upon brainstorm to launch Video WatchBlog. According to Blogger's archive (which I fear may have lost...
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Reviewed: TOPKAPI (1964)
I have a potent childhood memory of seeing the trailer for Jules Dassin's TOPKAPI at my neighborhood theater, where I remember being similarly impressed by the otherworldly sights offered by the coming...
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Book Report: THE WORM & THE RING by Anthony Burgess
Finished reading Anthony Burgess' 1970 revised version of his 1963 novel THE WORM AND THE RING last night. This is one of his most difficult novels to find; the original British edition was withdrawn...
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Reviewed: SEE NO EVIL 2
Sylvia and Jen Soska, promoting their new film before they could say what it was.I'll say it straight up: I think the Soska sisters - Jen and Sylvia, the Twisted Twins - are the most positive and...
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Translating Arsene Lupin: An Interview with Josephine Gill
As a collector of French pulp fiction of the early 20th century - by which I mean the novels of Gaston Leroux, the adventures of Fantomas by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain, the exploits of Judex...
View ArticleRIP Michel Parry (1947-2014)
A sad and much too early farewell to Michel Parry, the devoted Belgian celebrant of le fantastique who has now succumbed to cancer at the age of 67.Mike was an irreplaceable source of knowledge and...
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This Week's Film Notes - From My Facebook Page
Wow. DARK SHADOWS episode 1198. The last episode for so many characters, including - or so the DS Wiki tells me - Barnabas, Julia, Angelique, Elizabeth and so many others, though the repertory players...
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With The Lub: Michael Lennick (1952-2014)
One of my dearest friends, Michael Lennick - writer, director, producer, cameraman, editor, visual effects designer and mensch (a word he taught me) - has sadly left us away at the age of 61.Donna and...
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DR. KILDARE, Season One - My Diagnosis
I recently finished watching the first season of DR. KILDARE (1961-62) on Warner Archive Instant, the first time I'd been able to view the show since my vague memories from childhood - therefore, for...
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Mary Dawne Arden (1933 - 2014)
Best remembered as Peggy, one of the loveliest of the "sei donne" in Mario Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE [Sei donne per l'assassino, 1964], actress, model and entrepreneur Mary Dawne Arden passed away...
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RIP Michel Caen of MIDI-MINUIT FANTASTIQUE
There they are, the twenty-four issues that redefined what genre film journalism and criticism could and should be. The first eleven issues were digest-sized, printed on pulp paper, and as thick as...
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Giorgio Ardisson (1931 - 2014)
It saddens me to report, so soon after the passing of Mary Dawne Arden, the death of another prominent player in the films of Mario Bava. The Facebook fan page Peplum Eternity is reporting that Italian...
View ArticleResponse to the VW Digital Archive
Merry Christmas!For those of you who don't know, the VIDEO WATCHDOG Digital Archive - all 176 issues - was published the other day. Subscribers via our Indiegogo campaign should have received emails...
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Goodbye 2014
2014: a year of extremes. Death loomed large and came as near as it dared, at least this time around, taking admired colleagues like Something Weird's Mike Vraney, my uncle Jimmy, our little girl...
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Hello 2015 - A Step Forward In Time
Donna and I saw in the New Year as we saw in the New Century: by watching George Pal's 1960 classic THE TIME MACHINE, which made its Blu-ray debut in 2014. I'd heard some quibbles about the Turner...
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Appreciating THE SCREAMING SKULL (1958)
Prefatory note: Be warned that SPOILERS are unavoidable in the following discussion and I have not avoided them.Alex Nicol's THE SCREAMING SKULL, for which I could find very little love to reward my...
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RIP Lesley Gore (1946-2015)
It's ironic to think that Lesley Gore - an important pioneer in the maturation of the pop song, who died of cancer this morning at the age of 68 - was always most famous for a song that she recorded at...
View ArticleDiana's Diadem - In Color
Previously circulated in a somewhat longer black-and-white cut called THE DIADEM, DER GOLDENE SCHLUSSEN ("The Golden Key") is the shorter - and tighter - color version of a short film that Diana Rigg...
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Daniela , è che voi ?
Could I have discovered an overlooked final screen appearance of Italian actress Daniela Rocca (DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE, CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER, ESTHER AND THE KING, THE GIANT OF MARATHON)?This...
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