It's a Mohammed Monday!

THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

Musical Monday with Fu-Schnickens

We try to mix a little education with the entertainment these parts. So, on this Musical Monday, we bring you a rap video from the early 1990s that answers a question you didn't even know you wanted answered: What is a True Fuschnick?

Click below, sit back, and prepare to be schooled!

Um... okay. Maybe we over-sold the educational value to that video... but it IS a very entertaining bit of rap from the early 1990s. (1992 to be exact, and the third single from what would prove to be their biggest album -- their debut album, "F.U.: Don't Take It Personal.")

You can read about the group's history at Wikipedia by clicking here. (Among the groundbreaking they can be credited with was defining a trail that the longer-lasting Wu-Tang Clan would soon follow.)

They don't make 'em like this anymore!

How to Get Killed in One Easy Lesson (1943)
Starring: Stephen McNally, Barry Nelson, and an Anonymous Narrator
Director: Anonymous
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A captured Japanese sniper explains how American soldiers make themselves easy targets.

I've had to sit through many, MANY training films and video presentations over the years... and very few have been as entertaining as "How to Get Killed in One Easy Lesson". Maybe if they were, I wouldn't feel like going to "training" was such a waste of time.

Take a few minutes out of your day to watch this WW2-era short film... maybe you, too, can learn how not to be seen! (I wonder if someone working on "Monte Python's Flying Circus" might have seen this film as a very young man? There are several similarities between it and some of the more famous sketches on the show.)

Fanny Friday

 

"Flapper Fanny Says" (later just "Flapper Fanny") ran as a single-panel daily cartoon from January 26, 1925 until June 29, 1940. The series was part of a wave of popular culture that focused on the flapper look and lifestyle, and it was created and initially drawn by Ethel Hays (1925-1930), then Gladys Parker (1930-1935), and finally Sylvia Sneldman (1935-1940).

Flapper Fanny will be appearing here at Shades of Gray, on every other Friday for the foreseeable future. We're kicking things off with the very first "Flapper Fanny Says" cartoon, although future weeks will bring a random selection of Hays' run on the strip (which was very Art Deco in style and consistently featured a flapper cartoon and a witticism), Parker (whose work on the series was more what in line with what is traditionally thought of as a comics strip format), and Sneldman (who combined elements of both her predecessors and increasingly drew upon an expanded cast of characters that had been introduced by Parker).

You can read a little more about the publishing history of Flapper Fanny here. 

Happy birthday, Emily Blunt!

Actress Emily Blunt turns 40 years old today. Here's a celebration in pictures!

It's National Cat Day (in Japan)!

Feb. 22 (2/22) is National Cat Day in Japan. This day was chosen by the nation to celebrate the greatest animals on planet Earth, because the date (2/22) sounds to Japanese ears like a cat meowing--nyan-nyan-nyan, which "two-two-two" in Japanese.

Here are some pictures of ladies and their pussies in observation of this very special day!

 
 

Where are the dancers?

On International Dance Day 2022, the ballerinas ran off into the wild. We're trying to keep track of them, and we'll try to bring you updates on the last Wednesday of each month until International Dance Day 2023. Here's what some of them have been doing recently:

Sarah found herself (which is fitting, since we are posting on 2/22).

Miko found what may be the Stairway to Heaven...

... while Sydney may have found the Highway to Hell (at the Bridge Over Troubled Waters).

But there's no doubt that MacKenzie and Zarina found themselves further from home than anyone else: They ran into a group of short guys and tagged along for a trip to Mordor.

A 120+ year-old movie that's still fresh

The Brahmin and the Butterfly (aka "The Butterfly's Chrysalis") (1901)
Starring: Georges Melies and an anonymous dancer
Director: Georges Melies
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A sorerer (Melies) uses magic to create a beautiful winged woman by enchanting a giant caterpillar... but things don't go quite as he planned.

 "The Brahmin and the Butterfly" is one of my favorite shorts from early special effects wizard Georges Melies. It's a little goofy, a little creepy, the effects are pretty good even by modern standards, and it's got a story with a twist. All in about two minutes!

What's more, I think the story will resonate with modern audiences. Take a look and let me know if you agree! (The version I'm providing below features a modern score done specifically for this film, which makes watching it even more enjoyable.)

Musical Monday with New German Cinema

Singer/songwriter Jessica Weiss, who has been the face and voice of UK-based band Fear of Men since 2011, recently unveiled a solo project. Check out the first video released in support of it below... and enjoy the ethereal spookiness! (I don't think I've enjoyed a song of this genre as much as this one since C'est la Mort in the early 1990s.)

Firearms Friday with Raquel Welch

Born in 1940, Raquel Welch was an international cinematic sex symbol and genre-film superstar for a decade from the mid-1960s through the waning years of the 1970s. Whether it was spy thrillers or spy comedies, science-fiction adventures, or historical actioners of questionable accuracy--from the American Wild West to the French pre-revolutionary period through the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth alongside girls in fur bikinis, Welch could be counted on to bring sexiness and lots of personality to her roles.

As the 1980s dawned, Welch's career shifted focus from the Big Screen to the television where she often produced and starred in movies tailored to her talents. She also turned herself into something of a cottage industry, serving as the spokesperson for numerous beauty products and appearing in comedies as "herself".

With the turn of the century from the 1900s to the 2000s, and Welch entering her 60s, she remained a gorgeous as ever and standing as the very definition of "aging gracefully". In 2017, at the age of 77, she played her last major role as a supporting character in the 10-episode Canadian television series "Date My Dad".

Raquel Welch passed away on February 15, 2023, following a short illness.

A big welcome to our new sponsor!

Is this how you deal with annoying relatives or guests who overstay their welcome?

 If so, be aware that murder is illegal, bodies are hard to dispose of... and that we know someone who can offer you a better option! We're proud to announce a another sponsor who makes it possible for the Shades of Gray team to bring you all the great content you find here!

Check out this sort ad, visit their shop, or give them a call! See if they can't improve YOUR life!

Wonder Woman Wednesday

It's the day after Valentine's Day... and Wonder Woman is wrapping things up.

 

 

A dream of soul mates in black and white

I've rarely come across a more perfect short film to offer up for your viewing pleasure on Valentine's Day than this one. I hope you enjoy it!


Black and White (2021)
Starring: Chastity Cofield, Skylar McNamee, and D.W. Moffett
Director: Daniel Otero
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Can dreams become reality? Do soulmates exist outside of dreams? A young man (McNamee) and woman (Coefield) discover the answers to those questions.

Musical Monday with Mariah Carey

 

With Valentine's Day coming up, we thought we'd bring you a romantic song... well, a sort-of romantic song. It's more of a break-up-and-moving-on song, especially when taken in context of the mini-movie music video that goes with it. (And we really like this music video, because we like the ones that tell stories rather than just show musicians standing around playing instruments and singing.)

Plus, it's always good to be reminded that it's okay to play Mariah Carey songs when it's not Christmas time.

I Stay in Love (2008)

Starring: Mariah Carey and Andrew Karelis

Director: Nick Cannon

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

It's a Mohammed Monday!

 

THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

 

The Scottish Play, Retold

At some point during the mid-1950s, writer/artist Mort Meskin created the following retelling of Shakespeare's "MacBeth". Meskin's version moved the action from 11th century Scotland to 20th century America, and replaced the competing clansmen with gangers. Enjoy this rarity (and click on each page for a larger, more easily read version).

 
 
 

 

For more obscure (but fascinating) comics and art, check out The Bristol Board.

'Knife in the Water' is a great first feature film

Knife in the Water (1962)
Starring: Jolanta Umecka, Leon Niemczyka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz

Director: Roman Polanski

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A businessman (Niemczyka) invites a hitchhiker (Malanowicz) to spend the weekend with himself and his wife (Umecka) on their small yacht. The two men soon begin to compete for the woman's attention and to engage in a rapidly escalating battle to prove who is the most macho.

"Knife in the Water" is in a category of movies that I generally can't bear to watch: It's a story of people in a cramped space who tear each other apart on a psychological level for no reason other to tear each other apart. The better the acting and cinematic craftsmanship, the more uncomfortable the film is for me to watch. 

For example, I recognize "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966) and "Boys in the Band" (1970) as some of the very best movies I've seen, but they are not films I would watch again unless I have to for some professional (or blogging) reason. Everything about both pictures is excellent and that's what makes them so hard to watch.

I don't like watching people tear each other apart for no reason other than to tear each other apart, especially when there isn't a character that I can cast as the villain of the piece. I watch movies for the entertainment, not to watch suffering for the sake of suffering. This is the same reason why I couldn't stand those "torture porn" films that were all the rage during the early 2000s.

With all that said, I recognize "Knife in the Water" is well-acted and well-filmed. Polanski (and/or his director of photography) did a brilliant job framing scenes so even when the characters were on the deck of the boat, with an expansive horizon ahead, things felt claustrophobic even though the surroundings were open and airy.  

Similarly, the acting is universally excellent--generally restrained and in perfect keeping with the slow burn of the film's story. The calm demeanor of the characters, coupled with the way they are clearly trying to get under each others skin, along with the knowledge that none of them have anywhere to escape to when the inevitable explosion of rage happens.

The pacing of the film is immaculate almost up the very end... and perhaps even at that point. It felt to me like the aftermath of the eventual confrontations, as well as the lead-up to the film's cryptic ending felt like it dragged a bit. I don't know if that sense was just my reaction to the conflicts in the film mostly having been resolved, or if it was my unfulfilled expectation that there would be an additional twist.

"Knife in the Water" was Roman Polanski's first feature-length film, and it shows that he had a great eye for framing scenes from the very beginning, as well as pacing the story for maximum building of tension. As mentioned above, he doesn't quite manage to deliver a solid ending--we can see how much he improved as a storyteller in the similarly-structured "Cul-de-Sac" a couple years later--but this is still a very well-mounted film. It's also a fine example of what a talented filmmaker can do with a limited budget, and it's worth examining by would-be filmmakers to this day.

Checking in with the Moon Girls

The researchers at the Shades of Gray Observatory have captured another image of a Moon Girl making sure everything looks right in the night sky! 

Musical Monday with Little Simz

In 2015, British actress and rapper and photographer released the first single for her debut album "A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons". That sentence represents the sum total of what I know about her and her work, but based on what you'll find if you click on the video below, I think you'll probably be looking her up to see what else she might have to offer. (I know I'm going to see if she's made more videos suitable for a future Musical Monday!)

Dead Body (2015)

Starring: Little Simz

Director: Jeremy Cole

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

(One word of caution, especially for Americans: If you're not used to certain British working class accents, you might want to follow along with these printed lyrics as the video plays.)

Elmo Aardvark Strikes Again!

Here's another installment in the "Adventures of Elmo Aardvark" by the great cartoonist and painter Milton Knight. Enjoy!

To Be Continued?

Only time will tell!