Cardinal Richelieu (1935) & Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay! (1948)

dvdcover

It is a wonderful, wild time to be a physical media fan. Streaming services seem more and more to be pushing the new in favor of the old. They spend billions of dollars making new movies and television shows while ignoring the incredible, wonderful, often beloved films in their catalog.

But there are numerous niche Blu-ray labels putting out incredible-looking, and supplementally loaded old (and often obscure) films. I love it.

A few years back I reviewed a couple of these old and very obscure films that had just come to DVD. The historical drama Cardinal Richelieu (1935) and comedy Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) (best known now for being Marilyn Monroe’s debut) are not particularly good films, but I’m glad that got a true physical release.

You can read my full review here.

The Deep End (2001)

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I love crime thrillers but I’m the first to admit they aren’t always realistic. Detectives make unbelievable leaps of logic to solve the crime, and seemingly normal people suddenly turn into superheroes when they or their families are threatened.

The Deep End is a film that puts a normal, average housewife (played by the always wonderful Tilda Swinton) and then puts her into an extraordinary situation. But she doesn’t instantly become an amazing crime fighter, she behaves like a normal person would. Dealing with blackmailers – coming up with the cash they are asking for – becomes just another task on his long list of “to-dos” for the day.

It is a very good movie and you can read my full review here.

Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt & Don Henley – Avila Beach, CA (10/13/96)

Capps For Congress
10/13/96
Avila Beach Resort
Avila Beach, CA

8th Row Center: Nyquist Omnis >Sony TCD-D7
DAT Master Transferred: Tascam DA-30 >HHb CDR 800 PRO Via Analog i/o,
CD Masters >FLAC (Level 8) Via xACT
FLAC Tags Via xACT 2.53

Recorded, Transferred, FLAC’d, Tagged, & Front-Cover Artwork By Oldneumanntapr

Jackson Browne

  1. I’m Alive
  2. Looking Into You
  3. Your Bright Baby Blues
  4. In the Shape Of A Heart
  5. For Everyman
  6. The Pretender
  7. The Barricades Of Heaven
  8. World in Motion (w/ Bonnie Raitt)

Bonnie Raitt

  1. Country Road
  2. Home
  3. Love Me Like A Man*
  4. Big Road*
  5. Shadow Of A Doubt
  6. Nick Of Time
  7. Kokomo Medley@
  8. My Opening Farewell@
  9. Thing Called Love@
  • w/Tom Ball On Harmonica
    @ w/Jackson Browne

Don Henley

  1. Through Your Hands
  2. Learn To Be Still
  3. I Can’t Tell You Why**
  4. Democracy
  5. It’s Not Easy Being Green
  6. Love Will Keep Us Alive**
  7. The Boys Of Summer
  8. Take It Easy***

Timothy B. Schmit Lead Vocal**
Jackson Browne Lead Vocal***

OldNeumanntapr Notes:

Capps For Congress benefit. The complete line-up was Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan, John Trudell & Bad Dog, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley.

To provide a bit of political history for this show, in 1996 Walter Capps was running for the 22nd District of California and this show in Avila Beach was a campaign fundraiser. Capps was once again running against Andrea Seastrand (she won the previous election and was based in the adjacent Shell Beach, so this show had an appropriate setting). Capps won the seat in November, but he sadly passed away in October 1997. His seat was held by his widow, Lois Capps, ever since when she won a 1997 special election (although her district is now known as the 24th District due to redistricting). The seat is now held Salud Carbajal.

For the Jackson Browne set, “I”m Alive” cuts in as he is playing his guitar. For the Don Henley set, “Through Your Hands” fades in before the first verse begins. There is some mic noise (mostly between songs) and there is occasional audience noise (talking, screaming, clapping along).

This show took place at the same venue where the Avila Beach Blues Festival was held every year until recently. I had friends who were volunteering at this show and they brought my blanket in for me and placed it front and center, about 8th row. I couldn’t ask for a better spot!

Please support the artists by buying their official releases and merch.

Do NOT Convert To MP3.
Enjoy! Share freely, don’t sell, play nice, don’t run with scissors, etc. 😉

Asleep at the Wheel – San Luis Obispo, CA (03/11/00)

Asleep At The Wheel
3/11/00
Recreation Center
California State Polytechnic University
San Luis Obispo, CA

FOB: (8th Row Center), Nyquist Omnis >Sony TCD-D7 DAT Master
DAT Master Transferred: Tascam DA-30 >HHb CDR 800 PRO Via Analog i/o
CD Master >WAV >FLAC (Level 8) + Tags Via xACT 2.37

Recorded, Transferred, FLAC’d, Tagged, & Front-Cover Artwork By OldNeumanntapr

  1. Cherokee Maiden
  2. Route 66
  3. Roly Poly
  4. Goin’ Away Party
  5. Big Ball’s In Cowtown
  6. Red River Valley
  7. Jumpin’ At The Woodside
  8. Georgia On My Mind
  9. House Of Blue Lights

Opened for Bob Dylan. You can download his set here.

OldNeumanntapr Notes-

This was the first time that I’d seen/recorded Asleep At The Wheel. They put on a good show and were a good opening act. This show has been traded individually a couple of times but never uploaded.

DO NOT Convert To MP3!
Enjoy! Share freely, don’t sell, play nice, don’t run with scissors, etc. 😉

Fargo (1996)

bluray

I’ve talked before about how I went to see Fargo in the theater when it first came out. About how I went in blind, knowing nothing about it, and came out loving it. I saw it three times in the theater, bringing new friends each time.

When it came out on VHS I remember my local video store had this big cardboard cutout of the film. It had a tag, or maybe a critic quote on it stating that it was a really good thriller or some such thing. I remember being surprised because I thought of it as a comedy – a dark, pitch-black comedy, but a comedy nonetheless.

Of course, it has thriller elements, and that probably is its biggest genre. But I realize that the Coen Brothers have a warped sense of humor, one that perfectly fits mine.

I love that movie, and I still think it is hilarious. I picked up a Blu-ray of the film in 2014 and wrote a review for Cinema Sentries.

Bela Fleck – San Luis Obispo, CA (05/10/98)

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
5/10/98
Cuesta College Auditorium
San Luis Obispo, CA

Nakamichi CM-300s w/CP-1 Cardioid Capsules (On T-Bar)->Sony TCD-D7,(7th Row Center)
DAT Master Transferred: Tascam DA-30 >HHb CDR 800 PRO Via Analog i/o,
CD Masters >FLAC (Level 8) Via xACT 2.35
FLAC Tags Via xACT 2.48
(Recorded, Transferred, FLAC’d, Tagged, & Front-Cover Artwork By OldNeumanntapr)

Disc I:

  1. Intro
  2. Zenergy
  3. Labyrinth
  4. Almost 12
  5. Huckleberry Row
  6. My Life *
  7. Throwdown At The Hoedown
  8. Futureman Solo
  9. Big Country

Disc II:

  1. Commonality
  2. Communication (no lyrics)
  3. Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo
  4. Sleeping Dogs Lie (Bela Solo)
  5. Shanti ~
  6. Over The Wall ~

Encore:

  1. Sinister Minister

~ Acoustic tracks, Vic on Cello & Futch on percussion box

OldNeumanntapr Notes:
Taping was allowed at this show but I asked not to bring in my microphone stand, so the Nakamichi’s had to go on a T-Bar and be hand held throughout the show. The old Cuesta College Auditorium had such great acoustics, having been built on the old campus during World War Two.
Sadly, it was deemed not to be worth retrofitting for earthquake standards and is slowly falling into decay. I included a photo that i took of the building in 2018.

Do NOT Convert To MP3.
Enjoy! Share freely, don’t sell, play nice, don’t run with scissors, etc. 😉

Maverick: The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons

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Maverick, the television series, ran for several seasons in the late 1950s to the early 1960s. It starred James Garner (amongst others) as a wise-cracking, woman-chasing gambler in the old west who gets in lots of trouble every episode. In 1994 they made a movie out of it starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner. I’ve seen the movie multiple times. Every few years I put it on thinking that I like it. Every time I’m disappointed. The cast is charming and the story isn’t bad, but something about it just annoys me.

I probably ordered this DVD set misremembering how much I liked the movie. The series isn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t for me. You can read my full thoughts here.

Master of the House (1925)

blu cover

I wrote my review of Carl Theodore Dreyer’s Master of the House in 2014. I admitted then that I had not seen many silent films and struggled with how to watch them. I’ve seen quite a few more now, but I still struggle with them.

When the story is full of excitement and intrigue, and when the camera is used in interesting ways, I can get into a silent film. But when it is more of a family drama, and when the camera stays pretty static my mind tends to drift.

Dreyer uses his camera well, and the set design is impeccable, but I found the story rather dull and struggled to get through it. You can read my full review here.

Superman: The Silver Age Newspaper Dailies, Volume 2: 1961-1963

comics

The thing about writing for Cinema Sentries is that you sometimes get access to oddball things besides Blu-rays. They’ve connected with the Library of American Comics who put out these really beautiful hardback books of old comic strips and the like. Sometimes I ask for a copy and then review it.

I’ve never read much of Superman in the comics. He’s not a character that interests me all that much. But I found this collection of newspaper comic strips of his to be quite fun. Silly, and ridiculous, but fun.

You can read my full review here.