The Avengers: The Danger Makers

The Danger Makers (1966)
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Nigel Davenport, Douglas Wilmer, Adrian Ropes, Moray Watson, Fabia Drake, and John Gatrell
Director: Charles Crichton
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A retired highly respected general is killed while apparently recklessly joyriding on a motorcycle. Two of the British government's top investigators, John Steed and Emma Peel (Macnee and Rigg) are charged with determining if its connected to other strange accidental deaths and mishaps that have been befalling retired British army officers and soldiers.

This is one of the more serious-minded episodes, from the subject matter, how it's treated, and how the story involving it and surrounding it unfolds. What comedy we find here is generated by interactions between John Steed and John Steed involving friendly ribbing or assumptions of danger where there isn't any.

One of the most interesting aspects of the episode is that most of its villains are also victims. I don't want to give away some of the key plot-twists, but this episode and the threats that Steed and Peel face are ultimately borne from a group of soldiers that are unable to adjust to life off the battlefield, because they are suffering from various degrees of PTSD. In this way, society, with its expectations of what a soldier and a warrior is and must be, has failed them, but they are also subject to nefarious manipulation the the story's worst villain. It's something that's treated with a level of somberness and seriousness that's rarely seen in this series, and the final minutes of this episode feel weighty and intense as a result.

Although Patrick Macnee gets more screen-time, this is Diana Rigg's episode in many ways. Steed and Peel conduct parallel investigations, each with their own cover story and each of them uncovering important parts of the mystery as the trails they are following converge, but almost every scene that Rigg appears in during this show is full of great writing and acting, weighty symbolism, and thrilling action. (Although you know as a viewer that there's no way a main character is going to die during just another episode of a series like "The Avengers", I am certain that you will find yourself on the edge of seat as Emma Peel undertakes the potentially lethal initiation to join the ranks of the Danger Makers.

And speaking of Emma Peel... she's once again wearing some of the character's signature outfits that make her seem more real than many television females: That leather catsuit and those weird white boots with the stripe on the middle. You can see her wearing them in the picture used to illustrate this post. (I don't know if these recurring wardrobe items were a sign of budget limitations, intentional on part of the costumers, or because Diana Rigg liked wearing them, but I appreciate the repetition. Of course... it could be that this goes on in many shows and I just noticed it here.. because those boots are just so dumb-looking and yet she keeps wearing them!)

"The Danger Makers" is one of the great episodes in a great series. It is definitely worth your time to check out.

The Unifying Theme with Emily Ratajkowski

Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski is visiting us to demonstrate the unifying theme of Shades of Gray.

Of Wolves and Girls in Hoods: Van Beuren

One thing you could almost always rely on the Van Beuren Corporation for was cartoons that featured weirdness for no apparent reason other than be weird. The quality of their storytelling, and the technical quality of the animation in their features varied wildly--sometimes even within the same cartoon--but they almost never failed to be weird.

Case in point: Their version of "Little Red Riding Hood", which was released as part of their Aesop's Fables anthology series. In true Van Beuren fashion, the cartoons released under that heading rarely had anything to do with Aesop's fables, which is why it's not terribly surprising that they included a Little Red Riding Hood adaptation in the mix. No, what's surprising is how far afield the creators went with this adaptation. It starts straying from the original fairy tale with a little Jazz Age satire... and then spins out of control from there. It is easily one of the most memorable Van Beuren effort... and oh so weird!

(As an added bonus, this seems to be another instance of one of those Mickey and/or Minnie Mouse look-alikes that eventually caused the Walt Disney Company to file suit against Van Beuren Corporation.)

Red Riding Hood (1931)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors
Directors: John Foster and John Bailey
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

(This post was presented during Red Riding Hood Month at Shades of Gray. Click on the "Little Red Riding Hood" label below to see all the entires in this series.)

Musical Monday with Amy Winehouse

Tuesday, September 14, would have been singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse's 37th birthday. Sadly, she passed away in July of 2011 after losing a years-long struggle with drug addiction and alcoholism. Today, we remember her and her art with "Back to Black".

Bones Coffee's Wunderbones

I recently ordered the Fall Favorite Sample Pack from Bones Coffee Company, along with one of their logo-sporting mugs because I dropped and shattered one of mine recently (it was empty; no coffee was harmed in the making of these posts). My main motivation. though, was to get a sample pack of the new Frankenbones blend for review during October... but an unexpected included item (unexpected just because I didn't notice it) was the Wunderbones blend.

Nine of ten Bavarians say Wunderbones should be served in beer steins.
The tenth was passed out because he drank beer instead of coffee.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: WUNDERBONES

More so than many other Bones Coffee flavored blends, I came to Wunderbones not knowing what to expect. The name and the cartoon of the company's mascot wearing lederhosen and holding a beer stein invoked the idea of Oktoberfest, so I imagined this coffee could taste like anything from beer to pretzels to wienerschnitzel to sauerkraut. The package did establish it's a medium-roast, so that's a good start...

This review is based on a 4-oz. sample pack of the blend. When I opened it, the pre-ground coffee smelled faintly of pretzels, so I thought the mystery of what this coffee would taste like solved. I then got to thinking what pretzel-flavored coffee would taste like and if this could possibly be any good? The Bones People have previously shown that I shouldn't doubt them, so I hoped they'd come through on this one, too.

As this blend brewed, there wasn't any aroma aside from the coffee itself, and the same is true of what was the pot and mug once I poured it. When I took the first few sips, the coffee had a tangy, slightly salty flavor to it. It was very faint, and it reminded me more of the chai tea drinks I sometimes get from Starbucks and eateries I frequented back before the Covid Times. I guess that could be a beer-like flavor?

Honestly, I couldn't tell what this coffee was supposed to taste like, other than tangy and salty. So I check the Bones Coffee website to see their intent was. And, sure enough, the blend was supposed to taste like coffee and salted pretzels. 

I wasn't sure that they'd gotten it right. I confess that I didn't make the effort to get pretzels and a cup of unflavored coffee and dip them in it. I may be dedicated to bringing you all informative and entertaining coffee reviews, but I'm not THAT dedicated! 

So--if you drink this blend straight, you'll detect a faint taste of something tangy, plus salt. The saltiness lingers in your mouth as you drink this blend, and it's a very nice aftertaste that mixes well with the coffee flavor. It's interesting, but it's not what Bones was shooting for.

That is until you add some additional ingredients and that's where the Wunderbones started to get a little weird. It's happened before that adding milk or creamer, or drinking the blend cold, changed or expanded flavors--and it happened here, in spades.

First, when I drank a hot cup with unsweetened almond almond milk, there was no significant change. As expected, the coffee flavor and the spicy saltiness both retreated, although that pleasant salty aftertaste remained almost as strong as before. But then, when I made a cup mixed with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, the coffee taste retreated but the flavor of pretzels and  salt grew more intense and disearnable. It was pretty much what I imagined a pretzel dipped in coffee should taste like... only not disgusting. In fact, it was the opposite of disgusting. Once again, Bones mixed flavors that worked beyond my ability to imagine them. The flavor also remained relatively stable as it cooled--although the saltiness grew more intense, it did not grow overwhelming nor did it seem out of place like it did with a similar effect in the Sinn-O-Bun blend. Still, you don't want to let your cup of Wunderbones sit for too long; it should be consumed while hot.

With that comment in mind, how does Wunderbones do when iced? Surprisingly well!

When consumed cold and over ice, the salted pretzel flavor that Bones Coffee wanted for this blend is front and center! There was even a strong sensation of salt lingering on the lips, just like there would be if you ate a salted pretzel. It had been present when the coffee was hot, but it took time to build; not so when it's iced. Interestingly, when I added the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, it washed out rather than enhanced the pretzel taste. The saltiness remained strong, though.

The Wunderbones blend seems work best when chilled and over ice, since you get the full salted pretzel experience without needing to add anything. If you don't like iced coffee, you need to drink it while hot with just a little creamer or sweetener added.

September 11, 2001

On this day, 20 years ago, psychotic assholes flew two hijacked airliners full of civilians into the main towers of the World Trade Center, which were also full of civilians. (A third civilian plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth slammed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against the hijackers.)

Scum who join groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS and Hamas and the Taliban and the IRA and other terrorist outfits who pretend they are motivated by anything other than the desire to murder and maim, deserve to die. Those who make excuses for them and defend their actions deserve to come down with the worst kind of incurable cancers and die slow, painful deaths.

The Avengers Dossier, Page Eighteen

Here's another mini-profile of a supporting player from "The Avengers".


PATRICK ALLEN

In "The Thirteenth Hole", Patrick Allen is a golf pro who is keeping a dark secret.

Patrick Allen was born in 1927 to tobacco farmers in what is now Malawi, but spent his teenaged years and early 20s in Canada, having been evacuated to there because of World War 2. After briefly studying medicine, he turned to acting. His earliest professional roles were in radio plays and doing voice overs for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, but in 1952, he moved to Hollywood and subsequently appeared in bit parts in movies and television series of various genres, including Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder".

Allen moved to England in the late 1950s where he joined the Shakespear Memorial Company in Stradford-on-Avon while also steadily working as a voice actor on radio, doing voice-overs for television series, and appearing on-screen as policemen, military officers, and other authority figures or villains of every stripe.

Over the course of his busy career, Allen acted in some 150 television series or made-for-television movies, including playing two different characters on "The Avengers", one in Season One and one in Season Four. He also appeared in dozens of stage productions and countless radio plays. No matter how big or small the role, Allen could always be relied upon to give the part everything he could. His distinguished voice  led him to serve as the Master of Ceremonies for 14 years at the annual West London Christmas concert, Advent in Knightbridge. During the 1970s, he was also the narrator heard in a series of disaster- and nuclear war-preparedness films produced by the British government, and his voice was later sampled from these by Frankie Goes to Hollywood on a mix of their hit song "Two Tribes".

Allen worked up until shortly before his death at the age of 79 in 2006.

The Milla Jovovich Quarterly

Coming Soon to Amazon Prime: 

A Bold Re-Imagining of a Television Classic!

Milla Jovovich is Lt. Columbo in "One More Thing..."

Silent action film 'A Beast at Bay' holds up

A Beast at Bay (1912)

Starring: Mary Pickford, Alfred Paget, Edwin August, and Henry Lehrman

Director: D.W. Griffith

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

After a young woman (Pickford) is carjacked and subsequently abducted by an escaped convict (Paget), her boyfriend (August) gives chase along side the prison guards.

"A Beast at Bay" is a clear display of the command that D.W. Griffith had on filmmaking and how he may even have been ahead of his peers in his methods and approaches. The acting, the pacing, the way scenes are staged and framed... almost everything about this film holds up nicely and it almost feels like it could have been made yesterday in a couple of places. This might even be a film that someone who says they think silent movies are dumb or boring or dusty relics can enjoy. It might even make them change their minds.

The film wastes no time getting underway (which is good since it only runs about a 1/4 of an hour), with action and tension from the get-go, switching back and forth between the parallel stories of a convict's escape and a spat between two young lovers. By the time the storylines intersect, viewers have a clear sense that Mary Pickford's character is facing real danger from the menacing bad guy played by Alfred Paget. This is not a mustache-twirling melodramatic villain, but one who feels far more real and who oozes dangerous evil and violence. There's a scene where, if Paget's character hadn't been interrupted, he would have undoubtedly has raped his young prisoner; the sense that is where things were headed was just as clear and horrifying as any 1970s exploitation film, or the slightly more modern revenge genre. It's rare that I have that sort of visceral reaction to a silent movie, because the acting is usually so stylized and overblown--but, as I've noted in previous reviews of Griffith's short films, he was far better at getting more naturalistic performances from actors than his contemporaries. This is one of the big reasons his films have stood the test of time--especially his short films.

The only point in the film where I initially snickered a bit was when the hero and the prison guards try to catch up with the carjacked maiden by commandeering a locomotive and go steaming down a track parallel to the road. "Seriously," I thought to myself, "why not just get a car?"

Then I remembered it was 1912 when this film was made, and it is clearly set in a rural area. The car driven by Mary Pickford's character was probably the only one for miles around at the time the chase began.

And so I was back to not really having anything negative to say about this nice little action film. D.W. Griffith was a visionary pioneer who helped lay the foundation for cinematic story-telling, so it's perhaps not at all surprising that his films can still be exciting to present day viewers. And while I watch mostly old movies these days, so I am perhaps more prone than most to find them exciting, but I really do think there might be enough here to appeal to more "normal" viewers, too.

Check it out my clicking below. Tell me if you agree or disagree in the comments section.

 

Princesses of Mars, Part 38

The Princesses of Mars want everyone to know that they support the right of citizens to own and bear arms. They also want everyone to know that they're not afraid to use them in self defense or against tyrants.