Christmas is Coming!

June Marlowe wants to make sure you're ready!

Musical Monday with Starcrawler

We can all agree angels and Christmas go hand-in-hand. Since the video for "She Gets Around" features an angel, it must be Christmas appropriate, right?

Starcrawler is a rock band based out of L.A. It was founded in 2015 and is fronted by rail-thin singer Arrow de Wilde. Their songs have a hard-rock edge to them with creepy undertones, and the videos that come with the singles mostly play like mini-horror films.

Check out the video for "She Gets Around" (not to mention the song itself), below. (It's not very Christmas-y, just in case you happen to be super gullible.)

You can watch more Starcrawler videos at their website by clicking here.

It's a Spider-Woman Sunday

Some portraits of the greatest Spider-Woman of all, Jessica Drew!

The Growing-Up of Emma Peel: Part Six

Click on the panels for larger, more easily read versions.

Be Very Quiet--Tom & Jerry are 'Rabid Hunters'

Rabid Hunters (1932)

Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors

Directors: John Foster and George Stallings

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Tom and Jerry (together with their faithful hound and horse) go hunting.

"Rabid Hunters" is an slightly-above-average entry in the Tom and Jerry series. It starts a bit slow, the music is generally unremarkable (except for the variations on the predictable use of "A-Hunting We Will Go"), and a few of the gag sequences go on for too long, but at about the halfway mark, all weakness is left behind and the cartoon careens with ever-increasing zaniness toward its conclusion and a nonsensical but very funny plot-twist.

In what could be a drawback or a plus, depending on your tastes, "Rabid Hunters" is one of the episodes in this series that feels like it was squarely directed at kids. The gags, while amusing for the most part, are accurately described as juvenile with no double meanings or commentary beyond what is right there on the screen  It's another example of the inconsistent tone of the series, with some episodes being directed squarely at kids and others at a more adult audience. The straight-forwardness of the jokes here doesn't hurt anything, but they are a sign of the overall lack of thought given to who the Tom & Jerry cartoons were made for.

One interesting detail in "Rabid Hunters" is the rabbit who turns the tables on Tom & Jerry in the second half of the film. He may seem familiar to those who have seen early Bugs Bunny cartoons--or even later ones. An assumption might be made that the Van Beuren Team was "borrowing" from others yet again (as they did when Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Felix the Cat clones appeared in some of their efforts), but this may be an instance where they were borrowed from, since "Rabid Hunters" predates the first appearance of Bugs Bunny by roughly seven years.

Take a few minutes to check out Tom & Jerry on the prowl, right here from this very post! 

Christmas is Coming!

Jane Russell is helping us decorate our Christmas tree here at Shades of Gray this year. How are your Christmas decorations coming along?

Happy birthday, Georges Méliès!

On December 8 in 1861, Georges Méliès, the father of movie special effects and first person to make sci-fi and fantasy films, was born. Join me in celebration by enjoying this 1901 masterpiece of sci-fi/fantasy and dark humor.


The Man with the Rubber Head (1901)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A scientist creates a living, inflatable copy of his head. Why? Because he can!

"The Man with the Rubber Head" probably had audiences in 1901 gaping open-mouthed and then oooo-ing and aaah-ing and laughing. Even now, nearly 120 years later, this goofy little special effects spectacle  is very entertaining. (Interestingly, the only thing that doesn't work for me is the make-up job on the scientist's assistant. There doesn't seem to be a reason for him or her to be wearing such an obvious mask.)

I encourage you to take a couple minutes and enjoy the silent movie madness of Méliès, right here!

Musical Monday with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

It's December 2020, so it may be tricky to get the Christmas Spirit going... but we're going to give a try. Here's Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with an old-timey sounding song about loving Christmas time. We hope this helps!

Happy Birthday, Paula Patton!

Born on this day in 1975, Paula Patton grew up across the street from the 20th Century Fox lot, and, according to her parents, she enjoyed playing make-believe games as a child. So... it seems she was destined for the life of an actress from the outset.

Patton made her screen debut in "Hitch" (2005) and has been splitting her time between appearing in comedies and thrillers, but she also made an excellent detour into sci-fi with the 2017 ABC limited series "Somewhere Between".

Patton's next film is currently in pre-production. With the working title of "Tibouron", it's a wilderness survival thriller about stranded campers and shark-infested rising floodwaters.

The Growing-Up of Emma Peel: Part Five

Click on the panels for larger, more easily read versions.