It's a Fantastic Friday!

Why? Because we've got four more portraits of the Fantastic Four, the First Family of Comicdom!

One does not simply walk into Mordor...

... but if one is wearing pointe shoes and a leotard, it's entirely acceptable to dance on in.

Alice strikes out in the cartoon big league

Alice in the Big League (1927)
Starring: Lois Hardwick
Director: Walt Disney
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Alice proves herself to be the worst baseball umpire in Cartoonland.

A few weeks ago, I posted a review of "Alice's Wonderland" (1923).  In it, I commented that I hoped the "Alice" series would improve over its 50+ episode run. By sheer chance, I recently came across the final entry in the series. Titled "Alice in the Big League" in was released in 1927. It was once considered a lost film, but now there are several different versions available on YouTube.

That said, I can't really recommend it. It's like Disney and his animators stretched three-four minutes of material to fill the eight-minute running time with looped animation, by pounding gags to death, and otherwise delivering a product that makes the Van Beuren output from around this same time absolutely brilliant and the conceptually similar "Out of the Inkwell" series from Fleischer the product of the gods themselves.

 
Although the animated characters aren't as creepily lifeless as they were in the early "Alice" episodes--their eyes aren't quite as dead here as they were in "Wonderland--the degree of integration between the live-action footage and animation has not improved at all. It might even have gotten worse. Take a look at the still used at the top of this post and then look at this one: 

You'd think Alice would be somewhere behind the pitcher mound in the long shot of the game, but she isn't. Even worse, the animators drew a shadow for the soap box the pitcher is standing in, but not one for Alice. This persistent continuity glitch annoys probably more than it should, but it's the most glaring sign that this series probably never came close to "Out of the Inkwell" in quality. Even the film's final moment--where Alice flees cartoon characters enraged by her bad calls--is sloppily done.

On the positive side, I found the various visual gags relating to baseball amusing, and, if the various sequences hadn't be dragged out beyond all reason, I think I would have loved the variety of ways the cartoon characters cheated at the game. Naturally, Alice never called them on the cheating though; all of her calls for of the "umpire, are you blind?!?!" variety. Also, a little more effort appears to have gone into the crowds than in early episodes, and I previously mentioned that the characters didn't seem quite as dead inside as those in the first installment did. But I'm not sure if the visual gags and slightly better animation are enough for you to devote eight minutes of your life to watching this weak effort. The only people I could recommend this short film to are those committed to watching EVERY available "Alice in Cartoonland" film, EVERY baseball-based comedy, or those who love baseball gags so much they thought the "NUELOW Baseball Special" equal parts funny and informative. (Actually, and this might be perceived as arrogant and self-serving, but I think this booklet by L.L. Hundal, Sam Hamm, and myself is far funnier than "Alice in the Big League". Some of the same gags are even implemented better in our product than in the cartoon.)

As mentioned above, "Alice in the Big League" was the final entry in this series. Maybe there was less effort put into this one than others for that reason, so there might still be some better ones between the very first "Alice in Cartoonland" and this last one. I will be watching a few more to find out.

 I am hoping that I DO find some better installments of the series. Although we don't get to see much of Lois Hardwick, who plays Alice in the one, we do see enough to give me the impression that she's a better actress than the original Alice. 

If you want to judge the quality of this cartoon for yourself, or want to watch a film that was once considered lost, it's embedded below for easy viewing!

The Milla Jovovich Quarterly

It's Summer... and Milla Jovovich is going places! She's getting started by putting one top down and another top on!

Taking pictures can be deadly

Black and White (2017? 1987? ???)
Starring: Bobby and Nikitha
Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A celebrated photographer (Bobby) receives a mysterious camera that literally captures life through its lens. 

"Black and White" is an interesting flick with a strong Twilight Zone vibe. It ends on a serious cliffhanger and every single mystery that arises as it unfolds remains unanswered, without even the slightest indications of what the answers might be. Normally that would bug me to the point where I'd knock the rating a Star or Two but in this case the film moves swiftly and is filled with enough tension throughout that the lack of answers at the end didn't bother me all that much. In fact, this is one of those films that stirred my imagination, and I would love seeing a sequel. I might even make a post about how Bessie Love came across an enchanted camera and took it out of the hands of evil-doers.

With that said, this film is also a bit of a mystery in and of itself. I was unable to track down any history on it through my usual half-assed research, so I can't tell if it's a film that dates from the 1970s or 1980s, or just is made to look like it due to the technology that's featured. If it is a period piece, it's quite well done, with only one major possible slip-up that I noticed. (I know that the Bobby character uses the 35-milimeter camera different than I recall doing in several ways. I can't say if this is the crew and actor having limited knowledge of how such cameras actually worked, or if I just had different habits.)

Why don't you take a few minutes and check out this mysterious little film. I think you'll enjoy it!

Happy birthday, Priyanka Chopra!

Born in 1982 to Indian military doctor parents, Priyanka Chopra was educated in a variety of international boarding schools, including one in Boston. Although she initially was planning to enter a career in criminology, by 2000, Chopra turned a growing sideline as a beauty queen and a model into a full-time career.

In the early 2000s, Chopra swiftly rose to be counted among India's most popular actresses, and during the 2010s, she became increasingly visible on the international stage. In the U.S., she is best known as Alex Parrish in the television crime drama "Quantico" (2015-2018). 

 

In recent years, Chopra has been splitting her time between India and the U.S., making projects for production houses in both countries. In 2018, she married musician Nick Jonas and they have one child together. 
 
Today, July 18, it's Chopra's birthday. She's turning 40, and we're celebrating by posting a few pictures!

Coffee Beanery's Blueberry Cobbler

Welcome to another Sunday and another coffee review here at Shades of Gray! We may soon be coming to an end of this as a weekly feature, as our resident caffeine fiend is running out of interesting blends to try and write about. (But if anyone out there wants to make suggestions for him to try, let us know in the Comments Section!)

A Boy in Blue enjoying coffee! (It might even be blueberry flavored!)

 
COFFEE BEANERY: BLUEBERRY COBBLER

The foundation of this flavored blend is a perfect and mild medium roast. The blueberry flavor is strong but not overpowering, and there are hints of vanilla coming through, like the icing on a blueberry cobbler. This blend was so smooth that I could have consumed it black, so those out there who take their coffee like that with possibly a little sugar, juice, or creamer added will enjoy it, I think.

When I mixed this coffee hot with Unsweetened Almond Milk, the blueberry flavor grew stronger and became an absolute delight. The drink also took on a creamier flavor, which made it even better. I also tried it with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. Not unexpectedly, the hints of vanilla combined with the vanilla flavor of the milk and brought it more strongly to the fore, but blueberry still dominated. With both kinds of milk, the flavors remained pleasantly stable and very tastily mixed with that of coffee as the drink cooled to room temperature.

When I tried this blend with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, it, well, super-creamy in nature. The flavors of blueberry and vanilla really popped, and the cinnamon that the sell-copy promised would be present also crept in. It was nice hot and it remained so as it cooled to room temperature. 

This blend also worked well when iced. Going in, I wondered if the mild flavor profiles would end up being too washed out when the drink was consumed chilled, but this was not the case. Although it was a little too bland when I tried it black, the flavors of this blend re-emerged perfectly fine once I, in turn, added the milks and the creamer. 

Hot or at room temperature, I liked this blend best when mixed with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. Iced, the flavors came through best when it was mixed with the Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. In all modes in which I tried this blend, the coffee flavor was present to a greater or lesser degree, waxing and waning with the other flavors but never being drowned out. I personally liked this blend best iced with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk , but I enjoyed it no matter how I tried it.

If you want a mild and sweet flavored coffee that will go great with breakfast or an afternoon snack, I think this might be what you're looking for. If you really like blueberries, there's an offering from Bones Coffee that has a stronger Blueberry taste than this coffee.

In the U.S., it's National Ice Cream Day...

 ... and we're celebrating at Shades of Gray!

Spacegirl Adventures, Part Twenty-four

What Has Gone Before: Spacegirl is on the verge of escaping her pursuers, but then everything gets quiet. Too quiet...

To Be Continued...

It's International Nude Day!

It's the holiday where folks here at Shades of Gray let it all hang out -- International Nude Day!