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The Avengers: A Sense of History

A Sense of History (1966)

Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Patrick Mower, Nigel Stock, John Ringham, and Jacqueline Pearce

Director: Peter Graham Scott

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

John Steed (Macnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) go undercover at an elite university to find who murdered a leading economist by shooting him in the back with an arrow. They discover a plot to shape the economic future of a united Europe by murdering key politicians and researchers. But which scholars are involved, and who is the mastermind?

I am torn when it comes to this episode. There are things I really like and there are things I can't stand.

On the one hand, I love the set-up and the nature of villains, from how they're characterized, to what motivates them, and through to the plot twists and turns of who the mastermind behind the plot truly is. I also loved the way one cliffhanger resolved into another cliffhanger as the episode reached its climax during a masquerade ball.

On the other hand, the mix of the sinister and the goofy stereotypical Sixties Youth Culture that embodies the student group at the heart of the episode gets tiresome quickly. It becomes downright annoying once it's clear how wrong-headed they are in their destructive beliefs--I just wanted Mrs. Peel to punch each of them in the mouth as soon as it they opened them--but maybe it's a combination of the passage of time and my own worldview that's causing that reaction, or maybe those characters were just supremely annoying. (They're in the same mold as the villains in "A Touch of Brimstone", but far more irritating, partly because their evil here is flavored with wholly undeserved self-righteousness.)

I also felt like the writers wasted too much time on the hipster evil of the young set. This is an episode with a really convoluted plot and a story that is slightly over-stuffed with characters, and some of it doesn't reach its full potential because of the writers belaboring certain social points. 

 

The student group was so annoying to me that I almost rated this episode at the low-end of average (which is a Five of Ten Stars here at Shades of Gray), but as I thought about it, the witty banter between Steed and Peel, plus the Robin Hood puns and sly references scattered throughout, turned my attitude toward "A Sense of History" (even if one of them was a bit forced and nonsensical plot-wise). Emma Peel crossdressing as Robin Hood in short-shorts also went a long way to improving my outlook... 

All things considered, this isn't a terrible episode, but it's far from one of the best. (The end-of-episode gag with Steed and Peel driving off on a motorcycle--with Peel driving and Steed in the sidecar--is, however, among the best of those.)

The Unifying Theme with Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba is here on this Picture Perfect Wednesday to demonstrate the Unifying Theme at Shades of Gray.

Felix the Cat Breaks the Fourth Wall

Comicalamities (1928)
Director: Otto Messinger
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Felix the Cat and the Animator break the Fourth Wall for seven minutes straight, giving Felix a new girlfriend and sending him to the bottom of the sea in the process.

If you've been around this blog for a while, you know how fond we are of humor that breaks the Fourth Wall. There's some of it in almost every Felix cartoon--over the course of his adventures, he detaches his tail and turns it into a flute or a club, or any number of things--but "Comicalamities" goes further into that territory than any other Felix cartoons I've watched yet.

Like the Koko the Clown films by the Fleischer Bros., "Comicalamities" mixes live action and animation. Also, like in the Koko 'toons, Felix knowns he's a cartoon character and that he can, with the help of the Animator, manipulate and alter his world to fit his needs. Unlike Koko, where the relationship with the Animator is frequently adversarial, he is at Felix's beck-and-call and always helpful. 

There is very little about this excursion into strangeness that I don't like. In addition to the Fourth Wall antics--which I won't comment on because it would ruin the fun to not experience them cold--there are some nice visual puns in this film, with the scene of oysters resting on the seabed being my favorite among them. The only complaint I can think to mount against it is that I find the ending rather disturbing. It's probably the bit in the film that makes the most sense, but I still found it borderline horrific.

I've embedded "Comicalamities" for your viewing pleasure. Take a look, and if you disagree with my estimation (or if you agree), feel free to let everyone know in the comments section. (Also, maybe you can tell me what's going on with the Animator pouring ink into the ocean. Is he making it thicker so Felix can climb out? Is he making it darker so the creatures chasing Felix can no longer see him? I don't understand that scene.)

If you enjoyed that, maybe you need to treat yourself to some DVD collections of Felix cartoons that have been curated by film restorer and historian John Carpenter? They are tons of fun!

Musical Monday with Mariah Carey

Today's musical selection is a pretty and romantic song that was written and performed by Mariah Carey. It's got an equally pretty and romantic video. I hope you enjoy it.

While watching the video, I wondered if the girl played by Mariah Carey had been rescued from a shipwreck by the handsome, shirtless lighthouse keeper, or if she was some kind of mermaid, or something else was going on. When I went to capture an image to illustrate this post with, a story formed in my head--or, rather, the underlying threat present in THIS story came back into my mind. 

With that in mind, here are screen shots from the "My All" arranged to show a sirens doing what sirens do with the lighthouse keeper.

THE SIREN OF DEVASTATION POINT

What was the lighthouse keepers fate? What do you think? Tell us a story in the comments!

Bones Coffee's Strawberry Cheesecake

In the 35 years I've been foisting my opinions regarding movies, music, comic books, and, lately, coffee, upon the world, I have never set with the intent of writing a negative review: Even when I was a kid just getting started, I never had time to waste time on things I knew are going to suck. 

For this reason, I was hesitant to add Bones' Strawberry Cheesecake blend to the line-up of flavored coffees to review in this space. I'd had good luck with other blends I'd felt dubious about (like the Maple Bacon blend), so perhaps I'd be surprised by this one, too.

Here's April Bowlby enjoying a big mug of coffee. We should follow her example!

Well... I was surprised by this blend from the Bones Coffee Company in a few different ways... but none of them were happy surprises.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

This review is based on another 4-oz, pre-ground sample pack that I ordered straight from Bones. The package says that it's a medium-roast, and I'll have to take its word for it, because I could not taste any coffee at all in the resulting brew.

While I had initially thought that I could recommend this as a coffee drink for people who don't like coffee (as I did with the Peaches and Scream blend), I cannot even do that. The main reason is because the name on the package implies the resulting brew should taste like Strawberry Cheesecake, but I'm not sure WHAT it's supposed to taste like.

And that was the first unpleasant surprise, because there's a strong aroma of strawberries when the bag is opened, when the coffee is brewing, and as you pour it from the pot and into the cup. But when you drink it? There's no cheesecake flavor, there's no strawberry flavor--except as a faint aftertaste following several swallows--and whatever the flavor is, it completely overpowers the flavor of the medium-roast coffee it purports to be. It's also so sickly sweet, it's barely palatable. Once it's cut with Unsweetened Almond Milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer--and that undefinable sweetness ends up cut back, or diluted, a bit--the strawberry flavor, with a little cheesecake mixed in, is recognizable and grows stronger as you finish your cup. In fact, you eventually end up with so strong a strawberry flavor in your mouth that you're going to find yourself reaching for some water or perhaps even some mouthwash.

The blend doesn't get any better at room temperature or over ice. It may even get worse, as the saltiness that emerged in the Sinn-O-Bun blend shows up in the Strawberry Cheesecake blend when it is chilled and poured over ice as well. It's not as severe as it was with the Sinn-O-Bun blend, but it's there. The overpowering sweet flavor remains, but when I added unsweetened almond milk to the mix, it became tolerable. Iced, the blend even seemed to taste a little more like cheesecake, but strawberry was still dominant. And, just like when it was hot, the strawberry taste builds and seems to coat your mouth as you drink.

I would like say that this is Bones blend for people who don't like coffee, but it's not even that. It's more a blend for people who like drinking snow cone syrup straight from the bottle. I really can't recommend it.

The only good thing I can say about this blend is that it has neat picture on the package. Although... even that I'm not exactly sure what to make of. Is it some sort of reference to 1970s drug trips? Is it a reference to the Twilight Zone? (I think I'm going with the latter... because that might be the place where the Strawberry Cheesecake blend is tasty.)

--

BONUS BONES COFFEE REVIEW (sort of): COSTA RICA

Another sign of how intense the flavoring of this coffee is can be observed in the fact that my coffee maker smells of strawberries. I've rinsed out the pot and it, but it still smells of strawberries. My first thought was to just water through it without any coffee to clean it... but then I hit on the idea of brewing some non-flavored coffee (I've some Kenyan and Costa Rican in cupboard, from  Bones even) and see whether it picks up some of the strawberry flavor residue while cleaning out the coffee maker. Maybe I'd end up with a Strawberry Cheesecake blend that isn't so troublesome? (And maybe I don 't have to buy a new coffee maker.)

I decided to give it a try. I made six cups of coffee from what remained in the sample pack of the Costa Rica blend from Bones Coffee. I had ordered it as part of the "World Tour Sample Pack" before I hit on the idea of these review posts. But, I had enjoyed the previous cups very much--as I had expected to. I have found that in the past I have liked coffee that's been labeled as Costa Rican. Also, a friend once brought packages of what the locals made and drink themselves, and it was even BETTER than what gets exported. In fact, I think it may have been the best coffee I've ever had.

But, the Bones Costa Rica blend had put me in mind of the great coffee my friend brought me. It's a medium roast that was just as smooth and that I feel should satisfy even the picky coffee snobs out there. I drank it hot with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, and  I even drank a cup with just Stevia added. Each was great. I did not try it cold or over ice.

So, how did the Costa Rica blend fare when I ran it through my my Strawberry Cheesecake-tainted coffee maker? It's a little hard to say...

Linda Darnell looks like she may doubts about this experiment...
But the coffee must be consumed!

I could not smell any strawberries as the coffee brewed--just the usual wonderful smell of coffee. without adding anything. I drank the first cup without anything added, and I think I detected just the faintest hint of something sweet aside from the great and smooth taste of the Costa Rica coffee. That could just be psychological... I will never know for sure. Whatever the case, it tasted great, and it got even better when I added unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Even when used to clean a coffeemaker, the Costa Rica blend from Bones is fantastic.

I drank the rest over ice, first straight, and then with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer added. It was as good as I expected it to be. Although I haven't subjected the Bones Costa Rica blend to the same steps I've done to other coffees I've been formally reviewing, I think I can safely recommend it to anyone who likes a good cup of coffee.

The Strawberry Cheesecake blend may have been bad, but the unflavored Costa Rica blend is very good! And, as an added bonus, my coffeemaker and pot no longer reek of strawberries!

The Avengers Dossier, Page Twenty-Two

Many of Britain's top film and television actors of the 1950s and 1960s can be seen guest-starring in episodes of "The Avengers." Here's another brief look at one such guest-star.

THORLEY WALTERS

In "What the Butler Saw", character actor Thorley Walters was an bulter with a ruthless streak, one of the 150 characters he portrayed in film and on television.

Thorley Walters was born in 1913, the son of a clergyman. With his parents' blessing, he pursued a career in acting. After brief experience in the theatre (where he mostly appeared in supporting roles in Shakespearean plays, but also had a few starring turns as romantic leads), he turned to films in 1935 and never looked back.

Walters' early film career was spent in low-budget comedies where he almost immediately found a niche playing comic parts, and he was more often than not a featured player. Filmgoers may not have immediately known his name, but they relied on him to make them laugh during the war years and throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

As he aged, Walters became a familiar face in horror films, historical dramas, and literary adaptations. He had supporting roles in some of the best films from Hammer--among them being "Frankenstein Created Women" (1967) and "Vampire Circus" (1972)--and he made an excellent Dr. Watson in four different, completely unrelated Sherlock Holmes adaptations--including the awful "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" (1962)--and he appeared in several different adaptations of John Le Carre novels, both on television and on the big screen.

During the 1980s, Walters almost exclusively played incompetent law enforcement officers and bumbling government officials on television, with recurring roles on series such as "Strangers" (1980 - 1982) and "Bulman" (1985 - 1987) (where he played the character off Bill Dugdale on both series) and "Crown Court" (1975 - 1984). He continued working right up until shortly before his death in 1991 at the age of 78.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

On this Wonder Woman Wednesday, we bring you pictures of our favorite Amazon engaging in some of the most unusual superheroic deeds she's been called on to perform.

First up, since the early 1950s, she has regularly volunteered to help clear mine fields.

She sometimes fills in for her friend Nancy down at Kadie's Bar.

She is also dedicated to confiscating illegal drugs from the kids and dealers and then destroying those drugs before they can ruin lives.

Finally, she often volunteers to clear the skeletons and zombies out of the Shades of Gray offices. You wouldn't believe the number of them that either remain behind, or who show up late and refuse to leave, whenever Peculia or Betty Boop & Bimbo stop in for a visit or a party.

'Tip Jar' is a great homage to silent comedies

Tip Jar (2016)
Starring: Josh Blaylock, Ellary Porterfield, Amy Johnson, Robert Dill, Richie Stephens, Clinton Jones, and Matthew Arnold
Directors: Freddie Wong and Matthew Arnold
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

It's World War II. A bartender (Blaylock) who just wants to close the bar and head to the Fun Fair, gets caught between a beautiful Allied spy (Porterfield) and the four Nazis (Dill, Johnson, Jones, and Stephens) charged with retrieving the course-of-history-altering military secrets she has stolen.

"Tip Jar" is a modern-day silent movie that attempts to capture and replicate the feel and frenetic pace of the greatest Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd shorts. I think it does so mostly successfully, capturing the tone of a 1920s silent comedy via the acting, the general positioning of the camera, and the execution of the slapstick-style action during the second half of the film.

If I were to nitpick this film, I could say that there were a few too many close-ups for the director and cinematographer to have effectively emulated the sources that inspired this effort--and the thought did enter my head, but I immediately dismissed it as both a nitpick and stupid. This is a modern film, so it is entirely reasonable that it uses some elements of modern cinematic language to draw in viewers; especially since every shot in the film is well considered and spot on.

Another nitpick I had is that some of the stage-fighting in the slap-stick routine could have done with a little more practice, since it was obvious that some of the blows weren't connecting. However, as the film progressed and I discovered that the main character's fight against the Nazis was one single, long take, I became forgiving of a couple minor missteps. From time-code 9:40 and lasting until 12:40, there are three minutes of non-stop physical comedy and fighting--and it's at a very rapid pace and very funny. There are big-time filmmakers who could learn from watching this (just like they could learn from watching the films that inspired "Tip Jar".

I also need to mention that "Tip Jar" is a perfect example of why silent movies need to have scores written specifically for them, or the cues that were suggested for use by the original producers should be used, rather than the all-too-common practice of just adding random classical or jazz recordings to them. The action and humor in this film is greatly augmented by an original soundtrack by Igor Neirovsky, and I think I would have assigned the film at least one fewer stars without it.

If you have 15 minutes to spare, and if you want to add some cheer to your day, you need to check out "Tip Jar" by clicking below.

Musical Monday with ZZ Top

A pretty waitress is abducted by a monster that is part man, part hamburger, so it's interstellar heroes ZZ Top to the rescue!

In November of 1991, a music video was released to promote ZZ Top's single "Burger Man". Today, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of a fantastic homage to indie 1950s monster movies and sci-fi flicks.

If you're like us, you once believed that "Sharp-Dressed Man" was the greatest ZZ Top music video ever released. However, if you're like us, you will have your mind changed once you watch "Burger Man". (And even if you're not like us, but a regular visitor to this blog, we think this will at least put a smile on your face.)

Burger Man (1991)
Starring: ZZ Top, Jimmy Pelish, and uncredited actors

Director: Adam Bernstein

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars