Review: 'The Bad Seed' Blu-ray

In 1954, William March published a book about a child who kills not because she's an invading alien, like the kids in The Midwich Cuckoos, or because she's the antichrist, like the kid in The Omen, but because she's entitled, covetous, and completely immoral, like Donald Trump. Because of its all-too-human monster, The Bad Seed was a genuinely scary novel, and with its tight storytelling and clearly defined characters, it was ripe for adaptation into an equally chilling movie.

 The problem was it was a little too ripe. Producer/director Mervyn LeRoy should have sat on The Bad Seed until Hollywood was ready to make a picture about children killing children without pulling punches. Instead, Warner Bros. rushed it into theaters in 1956, forcing LeRoy to defang March's tale with camp eight years before Susan Sontag even got a chance to define the term.

Review: 'The Star Trek Archive: 100 Objects and Stories from the Final Frontier'

Star Trek has been granted longevity that few franchises could ever dream of because it was smart, well-written, had a specific point of view, and was full of memorable, lovable characters. But, like all enduring sci-fi works, it was also full of stuff. Just as Star Wars had its lightsabers and landspeeders, Star Trek had its phasers, tricorders, Enterprises, tribbles, and pointy ears. 

Review: 'Forbidden Planet' Limited Edition Blu-ray

There have been many, many Shakespeare adaptations, but one of the most creative picked up the relatively obscure Tempest and plopped it down on some distant planet in the future. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that screenwriter Cyril Hume or director Fred Wilcox ever copped to the origins of Forbidden Planet, but come on! You have a mad genius daddy and fetching daughter living in isolation only to have a crew of travelers invade their paradise and turn their relationship upside down. Daughter wants to make off with one the ship's captain. Daddy wants to rain down holy hell by commanding the elements. Sure Shakespeare probably never considered an interstellar angle, nor did he conceive of a zany animated Id Monster or Anne Francis in a series of miniskirts short enough to get his play banned in Spain, but the parallels are undeniable.

Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500: #50 - 26

Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's got the munchies from 50 to 26...

50. Nazz- "Forget All About It" (1969), in which if you haven't got time to rest then take the record off now... NOW!!

Review: 'Muddy Waters At Newport 1960' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Series)

The Newport Jazz Festival had always had a somewhat rocky history. A lot of (racist) locals didn't want a jazz fest in their neighborhood. This sometimes made it difficult to find a venue. Certain musicians took issue with the choice of performers, feeling that there should be more of a focus on artistry than luring in punters with popular entertainers, some of whom didn't even play jazz. Nevertheless, the NJF went down without too much incident from 1954 through 1959, and provided the music world with such transcendent events as Dizzy Gillespie's 1957 appearance and the classic 1959 concert film Jazz on a Summer's Day.

Review: John Lee Hooker's 'The Real Folk Blues' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Edition)

Earlier editions of Chess Record's Real Folk Blues series had been singles compilations. John Lee Hooker's installment of 1966 was a freshly recorded clutch of nine songs that flew in the face of the series' name. There's little folky about Hooker's steamy, electric blues numbers, several of which he stretches like he's burning midnight oil at some wee-hours club. He starts at full fire with the enthralling "Let's Go Out Tonight" and barely lets up from there. Even when he brings the tempo down a bit on things like "Stella Mae" and "You Know and I Know" or way down on "Peace Lovin' Man" and "I Put My Trust in You", the band sounds uncontainable and Hooker sounds infatigable. Only on the closing track, the gorgeously serene "The Waterfront", does he truly relax, sounding like he's still playing as the staff finally starts placing chairs atop tables for the night.

Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500: #75 - 51

Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's picturing itself in a boat on a river from 75 to 51...

75. The Pretty Things- "S.F. Sorrow Is Born" (1968), in which S.F. Sorrow is born.

Review: Muddy Waters's 'Muddy, Brass & Blues' (Chess Acoustic Sounds Edition)

With his third proper album, Muddy Waters shifted into very different territory, which was signaled to anyone who bothered to look at the record's title. Waters fattened his usual arrangement with a beefy horn section for Muddy, Brass & Blues. The prominent brass and woodwinds, plus the way producers George Barge and Ralph Bass pumped Willie Smith's drums and Calvin James's electric bass up in the mix, give the record a soul flavor, though the songs stick close to the blues formula. 

Review: 'Looney Tunes Collector's Vault-Volume 3'

Looney Tunes shorts have been repackaged and repackaged on DVD and Blu-ray, and it can be a real task trying to make sense of the various golden collections, platinum collections, showcase collections, spotlight collections,  collector's choice collections, and on and on. There's a lot of overlap, although many of these sets will also draw in fans of animated wise-assery because they offer some unique cartoons. 

Review: 'The Hammer Horror Omnibus'

Hammer horror was always more about aesthetics and the enthralling presence of the studio's big stars than story. What is Hammer without all of that crimson house-paint blood, those lush Victorian sets, the decayed Gothic castles and cemeteries, and the enthralling presence of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee?