KELSCI'S NOSTALGIC BLOG

Labels: royal dano, terry o'quinn, whit bissel, willam daniels

The other night on the FX-HD channel I watched the 2009 Star Trek film. The two things I liked was the cast which mimicked the orginal series characters to a tee though I was not impressed all that much with Chris Pine(his father was the captain in CHIPS).

The only part of this mishmash story that was credible was the appearance of Lenoard Nimoy as Spock who was sent back in time by the Romualan villain because Spock was inadvertenly responsible for the destruction by RED MATTER that consumed the planet Romulus. This villain in the future to get even with Spock destroys the planet Vulcan with red matter.

I found the rest of this story to be uncredible in all its facets The movie lacked the finesse of the original series and next generation movies.

This film did win actors ensemble awards which overall it deserved. One thing I do not understand was the death of Spock's mother. In the original series she was alive with his father, Sarak. Am I missing something.

The razzle dazzle special effects seemed overblown as against the tv series. Let's take STAR WARS. George Lucas made revisions over the older films by updating certain special effects which should have been left alone and not needed since it was my belief that the films were perfectly edited to begin with(Episodes 4,5 and
6). True that Episodes 1,2, and 3 had access to advanced special effects but they did not seem outrageous and blended in perfectly in the whole series.

Labels: STAR TREK-2009, STAR WARS MOVIES

In 1952, I was in Miami Beach. I was 6 years old. One day, an older boy who lived in the building took me to a theater on Miami Beach. That day we saw a Tarzan movie but then I saw something else. They played FLASH GORDON 1936 and FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS. I was particulaly impressed by one piece of music used in the latter serial. It actually orignated from THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. This piece can be heard at the following:

SILVA RECORDS; THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN; TRACK 7,FEMALE MONSTER MUSIC. There is only one problem with this musical piece on this CD. At 2:58, the segment is played once and not repeated like a coda in music. So in effect, on my favorite piece of all time there is an error.

Fortunately, the above is played correctly on the following:
CHILLER-Telarc-Track 11-THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN- 1:44 to conclusion.

I would almost call the next piece a tie with the above. I first heard it around 1962. Channel 11 in New York City used to play THE THREE MESQUITEER westerns at 11 am every Saturday. One particular theme caught my attention and is my favorite from Republic Pictures.
VARASE SARABANDE-SHOOT 'EM UPS-Track 19-ANXIOUS MOMENTS

My third favorite piece of music was composed by Ikura Fukube. I do not know if there is a CD out with his sci-fi music containing this piece. The piece of the main action theme from THE MYSTERIANS. It is possible to get a video and music recording on youtube. I was able to get the music by letting a computer program separate the music from the video and convert it to both a MP3 and Wav file.

While not necessary my favorites, these two next pieces I think are the most popular recogized pieces today and for many years. Number one is the STAR WARS theme by JOhn Williams. Tied with STAR WARS but a vocal as well as a stand alone piece of music is OVER THE RAINBOW sung by Judy Garland.

Both Universal and Republic studios in the 1930s had a host of great music that accompanied many of their films.

Labels: over the rainbow, republic pictures, republic pictures music, star wars theme, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTINE, the three mesquiteers

Some months back, I watched THE WIZARD OF OZ on either TBS or TNT in high def. I had read that the print of this film was remastered from the original negatives. When I watched the film, I thought the picture quality was awful. The new stereo soundtrack however was awsome to say the least to a film that was made a year before FANTASIA which was the first multi-sound stereo film made. I could hear the cyclone going from my left to my right speakers. Well done, Warners on the sound, not so on the picture.

A few nights ago, TBS played THE WIZARD OF OZ. Well, this looked more like it. It felt like the film was made yesterday with its digital restoration. Much of the film looked astounding particularly at the witch's castle. The "melting scene" was more superb than it ever was. The costumes of the monkeymen and guards at the castle were stunning in detail and color. If this is the print that went onto a blueray disc, it should be astounding. On top of that was that fine re-done mono into stereo soundtrack which I believe is 5.1 on the Blueray disc. Warner's; you really did a great job on this one.

Labels: 4K RESTORATION, THE WIZARD OF OZ, WARNER BROS

Labels: action adventure, buster crabbe, FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS, sci-fi, science fiction, SERIALS, UNIVERSAL SERIALS

I was watching Dr. No the other day. On the island that Bond(Sean Connery) is investigating, his two companions exclaim that there is a "dragon" on the island. Bond exclaims that there are no such things as dragons. Later that night they all meet up with the "dragon" which is a tank with some flame throwers.

Well, there was a movie called DRAGONHEART that had a talking dragon in it. And guess who was the voice of the dragon; Sean Connery.

Labels: DR. NO, DRAGONHEART, dragons, Sean Connery

Labels: buster crabbe, commando cody, commando cody rocketship, flash gordon conquers the universe, flash gordon rocket ship, howard and theodore lydecker, the wing

I am transferring my Flash Gordon series recordings onto dvd-r; whatever I have of them. The last 6 chapters of the 1940 series was shown without interuption by a local station here in the mid 1980s. The transfer except for some minor "tearing"here and there came out very good with excellent audio on the dvd-r. I used my Panasonic 1275 for that recording and it was a great machine. I plan to transfer TRIP TO MARS but that will be involved because some chapters for some strange reason had buzz when there was a blaze of white light in the film on one or two chapters. The AGC on the machine did not handle something properly or there was a signal overload from the station. I am also missing chapter 4 because I did not get up to record it the night that chapter was on. I do however have the dvd set from Hearst and I might dub some chapters in where my recordings were not well taken but I have to have the patience to do so.

One thing that did occur was that I sent a postcard into the host of the late night show explaining the music titles. That I recorded as he gave me credit for that. Ah Ha, Flash Gordon notoriety, and I deserve it.

Labels: FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS, SERIALS, UNIVERSAL SERIALS

I have been transferring my video tape recordings to dvd-r. In 1982, I had my first vcr into service for a hum problem, a Panasonic 1275. For 4 weeks, I rented some kind of a Sharp vhs vcr. Videowise it was not as good as the Panasonic but fortunately audio wise, the linear audio was quite clean and distortion free. I have just tranferred the only recording of OVERLAND STAGE RAIDERS that I was able to tape onto dvd-r the other day and it came out pretty good. Better than nothing. The film was shown in "pieces" from a obvious 35mm print(the other looked like 16mm from NTA) but came out hazy from REPUBLIC PICTURES THEATER that was shown in my area for some 6 months or so. I am not going to bother any more with that recording though it was recorded in vhs hi-fi.

Labels: overland stage raiders, republic pictures, the three mesquiteers

The Power Rangers series is over with RPM whose ending was not really spectacular. I did not think it was the best of the series either. I do think its special effects were fabuloso though. ABC network is starting with the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episodes which should entertain a new generation of fans. This production company however and TOEI did not ever get the recognition it deserved for the special effects and creativity of the costumes, artwork, art and computer effects that went into these shows. I thought the tongue in cheek dialogue of the villainious looking "monsters" was humourous and entertaining. Essentially, the Power Ranger series had its own "signature" sort of resembling "stuff" from Lucasarts, but different too. So I say "good bye" to the Power Rangers production company for entertaining me all these years.

Labels: action adventure, art work, computer effects, costume design, creature effects, power rangers, sci-fi, sciene fiction, special effects

So far, this series really stinks. I do hope it improves. Some other Power Ranger series have also started off on the deep end and ended quite well, but RPM really needs a OVERHAUL.

One thing that the production company company for Power Rangers has never been acknowledged for at least in my knowledge; for its visual, optical, and special effects. In addition, costume design and monster designs have never been recognized as well. That is too bad.

Labels: costume design, creature effects, monster effects visual effects, movie monsters, optical effects, power rangers, sci-fi, special effects

This series is turning out to be a nice show. To the producers of this series, great goings. I like the idea of going down to three Rangers. The music is great especially the oriental themes. Someone was watching the way Republic pictures did their serials to some degree. It is also amazing how you people come up with these storylines year after year and bring intrigue and multiplicity into the scripts. Great going. Love the designs of the monster characters as well. Love the tongue and cheek dialogue as well, too.

I have added this entry on 11/9/2008 as this series is still going on. This series has just been nothing short of fabulous for a Power Ranger series doing just what I said in my first paragraph. It is quite amazing how this series does such great special effects and costume designs of the mosters year after year and series after series. What creativity!!. I also listen to this series in Dolby Prologic 2 Movie. Outdoor scenes fill the room with very natural sound in all speakers completely around the room. There is alot of ambience in many scenes as well and music surrounds my room with these shows. The overall surround sound could be better, but it is not bad at all. The color photography is first rate and has been since the inception of the power ranges series. The actors in just about all the series have been great and in this series have just been fine with RJ stealing the show as well as Kelson Henderson's voice of Flit the fly. Of course there are always some group of monsters that have some kind of "power" greater than the last group that were eliminated but that is the fun of these shows. Great going; producers of the Power Rangers. GREAT.

Labels: action adventure, movie monsters, power rangers, sci-fi, sciene fiction

RED RIVER RANGE is one of the series of THE THREE MESQUITEERS westerns. The first time I saw this picture was on WPIX ch 11, in NYC in the 1960s. My father was turning on ch 11 as he must have seen these film in his early teens in the theaters during the late 30s. The music and sound caught my ears so I started to watch this series. I do not remember the print quality that was shown at that time, but tv stations as far as I know were using 16mm prints.

The next time I saw this movie was over cable on TBS one Saturday morning during the late 80s or early 90s. It appeared to be a "decent" quality 16mm print with decent sound quality.

Well, on Jan 13, 2007 in the latter part of the morning AMC premiered a print of this film. This print was drop dead black and white gorgeous with the nifty RCA recorded hi-fi sound that Republic Pictures used in the 1930s. This is one of the best OATERS of the series with the fabulous music of Willam Lava, a combo of adventure and comedy that only Republic could do, and John Wayne at his finest(IMHO he was the best in this B series over all the A films he made). If you are a fan of this series, keep a watch out for a repeat of it.

Only a few things marred the presentation:

There has been recent audio dropouts on all the cable stations that I receiver from Comcast. It is a Comcast problem or a satellite problem. I have been on cable since 1978, and have never experienced this particular problem.

The ususall Logo and commericals that AMC has that they once were a logo free and commerical free station.

Either the video tape that was presented to AMC had a defect that caused pixelation or the heads of their digital vcp need a cleaning.

One or two scenes repeated a part of themselves for a second or two.

I would like to see a 35mm digital mastered print of OVERLAND STAGE RAIDERS.

When this series first started out this year, it seemed like a dud. I am happy to report that this series is up to snuff with the best Power Rangers series produced. Great pyrotechics, visual,computer and miniature effects in this series. Excellent color cinematography as well. The production companys on this project appear to know what they are doing.

On Sat, May 6,2006, I was channel surfing when I hit AMC. They were playing an old western that I could not seem to indentify. As I countinued viewing, it turned out to be a 1936 western with John Wayne. I had never seen this one before. I thought it might be a Republic Pictures western. Some of the music that I was familar with played here and there throughout the film, music I usually associated with Republic Pictures. I had never seen KING OF THE PECOS. I thought it was a darn good B western. I thought it might have been made alittle bit earlier than a similarly styled John Wayne Repubic Pictures western called THE LONELY TRAIL. One of the actors in PECOS was in TRAIL, so I looked up his history on the IMDB which seemed to verify my thinking. These two movies would make a good double feature. I have scene TRAIL on AMC. Both pictures look like they were digitally mastered in both video and audio. The video was excellent on both. The sound was good on PECOS and very good to excellent on TRAIL.

The first one involved President Kennedy's asassination. I believe however that his asassination was an event in the space-time continuem that was not supposed to occur. I do not know what turn the society of the USA and for that matter the world would have been had he lived. My sixth sense still tells me that this was not meant to be.

The second incident involves 9-11 and the World Trade Centers. This was another event that should not have occurred. The space-time continuem seems out of whack from this one too. Just my feeling on these two incidents.

Once upon a time, in the 1930s, Republic Pictures made a series of westerns under the banner of THE THREE MESQUITETEERS. This was a trio of cowboys who rode the range, hearded cattle, and fought for good against evil. All this was done against of comadre of lucious musical scores in these films. One of the characters, Stoney Brooke was played in a few of these films made in 1038 and 1939 by John Wayne. I think that these low budget quickies were his best movies. The trio reminds me a bit of THE THREE MUSKETEERS characters one sees in those movies. Tonite, I pulled out a tape and watched from 1939,THREE TEXAS STEERS and WYOMING OUTLAW. "Outlaw" featured a star, Don "Red" Barry, who was great in this nifty little oater. Barry in this and later westerns he made reminds me alittle of James Dean. I really cannot express myself in giving a description of this series of films. You have to see some of the films to understand. Either you like them or you do not. Although the series ran I believe to 1943, I only care for this series through 1939 and featured the two primary characters, Stoney Brook and Tucson Smith played by Robert Livingston, John Wayne and Ray "Crash" Corrigan. You can find out more about the series by visiting the website; http://www.the old corral. Some of the fabulous music in this series can be found on a CD called SHOOT EM UPS.

I was staying the winter in Florida in 1951-52 due to my brother's ill health. An older boy took me to what was my first movie theater experience that I could recall on Miami Beach. I saw a Tarzan movie that I have determined to be one that starred Lex Barker. I also saw Flash Gordon-1936 and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars-1938. I was enthralled with the sound effects and music of these films. All this music still remains my favorite today. I like one particular theme that really comes from the movie THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. A few years later, I saw FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE on television. I was obsessed up to a few years ago with these films, looking for some way to cheaply own them. The advent of the vhs vcr helped those matters to some degree and I do have many complete chapters recorded from all three series. These films would eventually be more signifcant then they have been made out to be over the years due to their influence on George Lucas. Their influence has built a film,audio/video,visual and sound effects empire created by this man. Surprisingly, I do not own the DVD box set of these three films. My health is such that I am not too interested and obsessed with all this science fiction, audio/video hoopla as I use to be. If one is interested in science fiction films, the Flash Gordon series is a must see to really understand historically what took place in the cinema.

Actress Jean Rogers from Flash Gordon and Julia Thayer from THE PAINTED STALLION.
Three other women that I met in my lifetime; Judy Harwin, Toby Hecht and I do not remember her first name but her last name was Kraw. They were all lovely and had something that gave the urge and desire to mate with them.

I just finished the last chapters of THE PAINTED STALLION. The similarities between these two shows even though made 68 years apart is the big hoopla that takes place in their last episodes leading to the downfall of the villains. In STALLION, the villains die; in S.P.D. they are incarcerated. The heroes in STALLION are the Power Rangers of the range under the guise of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and Kit Carson to name a few.

I started watching this show when it premiered in the early 1990s. It is now going into its "upteenth'' series. It is basically a formula show that in such a way, each show is basically the same as the previous one, yet with all the chapters that have been made, there is something diversly entertaining about it. I am not as crazy about the current series that have been running as opposed to the original MMPR production, but it is nice escapism. There are nifthy special effects that have gotten even better from series to series. On some episodes, I thought the effects were dazzling to say the least. Basicially this series has elements from kung fu movies,Godzilla movies,Ultraman,The Mysterians,Battle in Outer Space, Gamera and name not what. I have to say that Toei is a pretty nifty studio, sort of like Toho, but exceeded in some areas over Toho. I have liked all the actors who have portrayed villains and rangers alike. One however can admire Jason David Frank who played Tommy in MMPR which brought him a certain kind of fame and his reemergence in Power Rangers Dino Thunder as Dr. Tommy Oliver.

I am finding that blogsurfing on blogger.com is quite interesting. I am actually "traveling" all over the world reading about other peoples thoughts and ideas. Where and when I can, I leave comments. I believe that blogging is quite good for those who blog. It is like a kind of emotional release to write about one's thoughts on an infinite number of subjects that comes to ones mind. It is a kind of psychotherapy. Blogging also acts as a website of a sort which is easy to update and maintain. My brother's website is always under construction while I have two blogs on this site that are already full of content. Very interesting.

Tonite I watched some chapters on DVD of Episode 1, THE PHANTOM MENACE. It is not unusual for me to pull out some DVD or VHS tape to watch something when there is nothing to watch on regular television. I have a 5.1 channel surround system. 5.1 systems are capable of reproducing the matrixed EX and ES sixth channel phantomly if set up properly. Mine does. The Pod Race is really something in discrete surround sound to listen too. My 5.1 system is a budget system consisting of 4 minimus speakers two of which of been modified with piezo tweeters on the top of the cabinets with brackets and two replacement 4 inch woofers from Parts Express. Now the tweeters will not blow. The woofers do blow at times but they are cheap to replace and there is not too much work to replace them. The center channel is made up of a Garrard D'Appolito design that was sold some years back as a pair of main speakers. It works fine,has great tone, and coordinates very well with the Minimus speakers. The receiver is a Sherwood 6095R. Some years back I had bought two 10 inch raw subs at Radio Shack on a closeout. They sat in my closet until I decided to place them into two Marantz Imperial 6 speaker cabinets. They have worked out fine as passive subs in conjuction with being powered by the power amp. section of a 40 watt per channel Nad intergrated 3040 amp. Sub bass is not going to floor you with this sub setup but I have balanced it so that the bass is located from the action of all five satellites speakers which is what a sub system should do. So I essentially have a 5.2 system that IMHO works very nice for movies and music. The last three Star Wars epics sound great. There are other DVDs that sound great too.

Some years ago I was able to tape 11 of the 12 chapters of the 1937 Republic Pictures serial THE PAINTED STALLION. I watched a few of the chapters tonite. I loved the rawness and gritiness of chapter 5. This serial is part of the family that led to the updated type "serials" that encompasses the STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES films. I like this serial very much; I cannot really describe it, one has to see it to appreciate it. You will never forget the sound of the whistling arrow that is shot from "the riders" bow. That reminds me that I must someday post a thought on the IMDB about this film because there is such a flagrant historical inaccuracy; the cast are using repeating 6 shooters which in no way existed during the error of Jim Bowie and Davie Crockett.

Damm, I have a little shrine to the upper right of me of the late Judy Harwin, my girlfriend of 14 years. Tears come to my eye when I look at it.

I just updated my profile and interests.

CONTACT: kelscientific@hotmail.com