Category Archives: The Big Screen

First Motion Picture Theater

Posted on June 19, 2017 by James| Comments Off on First Motion Picture Theater

The first motion picture theater was called a nickelodeon because admission was a nickel.

It opened in McKeesport, PA on June 19,1905.

Posted in On This Day, The Big Screen

Kermit the Frog

Posted on June 17, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Kermit the Frog

Posted in Humor, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television), Toys

Anniversary of Jurassic Park

Posted on June 11, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Anniversary of Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park Poster

June 11, 1993

Wikipedia Link

Posted in On This Day, The Big Screen

Farewell, Batman! (Adam West, RIP)

Posted on June 10, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Farewell, Batman! (Adam West, RIP)

Adam West (September 19, 1928 – June 9, 2017)

Adam West, (born William West Anderson) the ardent actor who managed to keep his tongue in cheek while wearing the iconic cowl of the Caped Crusader on the classic 1960s series Batman, has died. He was 88.

West, who was at the pinnacle of pop culture after Batman debuted in January 1966, only to see his career fall victim to typecasting after the ABC show flamed out, died Friday night in Los Angeles after a short battle with leukemia, a family spokesperson said.

West died peacefully surrounded by his family and is survived by his wife Marcelle, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Batman debuted at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, 1966, a Wednesday.  The cliffhanger episode would be resolved the very next night — Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!

The series, filmed in eye-popping bright colors in an era of black-and-white and featuring a revolving set of villains like the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Joker (Cesar Romero), Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and Catwoman (Julie Newmar), was an immediate hit; the Thursday installment was No. 5 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1965-66 season, and the Wednesday edition was No. 10.

Posted in Because I Can, News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Anniversary of WarGames

Posted on June 3, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Anniversary of WarGames

In 1983,

A Computerized Voice Asked You…

Shall We Play A Game?

Wikipedia Link

YouTube Link

Posted in On This Day, The Big Screen

Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans

Posted on June 1, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans

Posted in Because I Can, Humor, Music, The Big Screen

Happy Birthday, Clint Eastwood!

Posted on May 31, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Happy Birthday, Clint Eastwood!
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. (May 31, 1930 - )

Clinton “Clint” Eastwood, Jr. (May 31, 1930 – )

Clint Eastwood is an American film actor, director, producer, composer, pianist, businessman, investor, and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide.

Wikipedia Link

Read more »

Posted in The Big Screen

Anniversary of Star Wars

Posted on May 25, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Anniversary of Star Wars

Star Wars

May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opens with an intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theaters.

Wikipedia Link

Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Big Screen

RIP Roger Moore

Posted on May 23, 2017 by James| Comments Off on RIP Roger Moore

Roger Moore in 1983’s ‘Octopussy,’ his penultimate film as James Bond.

Sir Roger George Moore KBE (October 14, 1927 – May 23, 2017), the handsome Londoner who portrayed James Bond in seven films (1973 – 1985) with a cartoonish, cheeky charm and probably for a bit too long, has died. He was 89. He is also known for playing Simon Templar in the television series The Saint (1962 – 1969).

Moore took on the guise of the superspy in Live and Let Die (1973) and stayed for The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985), which hit theaters when he was nearly 58. He said it was his choice to leave the franchise.

A message from his children read, “It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father, Sir Roger Moore, has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer.”

Posted in Because I Can, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Happy Birthday, George Lucas

Posted on May 14, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Happy Birthday, George Lucas
George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. (May 14, 1944 – )

George Lucas is an Academy Award-nominated American film producer, screenwriter, director and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the epic Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones.

Wikipedia Link

Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

May the 4th Be With You

Posted on May 4, 2017 by James| Comments Off on May the 4th Be With You

May the 4th

Posted in Because I Can, Humor, The Big Screen

Anniversary of Miracle on 34th Street

Posted on May 2, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Anniversary of Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle on 34th Street (also titled The Big Heart in the UK) is a 1947 film which tells the story of a gentle old man, working as a Santa Claus at Macy’s department store in New York City, who contends that he is the real deal.

Miracle on 34th Street

Wikipedia Link

The film was released in theaters May 2, 1947.

 

Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Big Screen

A Tribute To Carrie Fisher

Posted on April 14, 2017 by James| Comments Off on A Tribute To Carrie Fisher

Posted in Because I Can, The Big Screen

RIP Don Rickles

Posted on April 6, 2017 by James| Comments Off on RIP Don Rickles

Don Rickles
(May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017)

Donald Jay “Don” Rickles was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Best known as an insult comic, he also acted in both comedic and dramatic roles on film.
After toiling in relative obscurity for years as a more conventional stand-up comedian, Rickles unwittingly discovered his biggest laughs came when he turned the tables on his hecklers. His career then skyrocketed after he insulted the hot-tempered Sinatra, who normally did not take kindly to such treatment.
When the superstar singer and actor walked into a Miami Beach club in 1957 where Rickles was performing, the comedian greeted the “Chairman of the Board” from the stage: “Make yourself at home Frank. Hit somebody.” Sinatra roared — with laughter.
With Sinatra’s endorsement, Rickles began his comedic assault on people famous and not so famous — Jews, Asians, African Americans, the Irish, Puerto Ricans, red-headed women, short guys, you name it — with tremendous results. He referred to stupid people as “hockey pucks,” and in 1959, he signed for his first Las Vegas appearance, in the lounge of the Hotel Sahara.
In 1985, when Sinatra was asked to perform at Ronald Reagan’s second Inaugural Ball, he insisted that Rickles accompany him for a comedy routine. Rickles, naturally, did not spare the president (“Am I going too fast for you, Ronnie?” he asked) and considered that performance among the highlights of his career.
Rickles honed his reputation in numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts that ran on NBC from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. The specials provided a perfect venue for Rickles to unleash his caustic brand of humor on such visiting dignitaries as Sinatra, Reagan, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Sammy Davis Jr. and Mr. T.
Johnny Carson provided Rickles a late-night stage by making him one of The Tonight Show’s most-frequent guests. On one memorable moment in 1968, Rickles cozied up to a half-naked Carson during a sketch with two Japanese female masseuses and said, “I’m so lonely, Johnny!” Carson threw him in a bathtub. More recently, he was a regular guest on Late Show With David Letterman, in which the CBS host treated Rickles like royalty.
Rickles intermittently played in movies, highlighted by Kelly’s Heroes (1970), where he co-starred with Clint Eastwood as Sgt. Crapgame, an Army black-marketer who had no compunction about cutting favorable deals with the Nazis.
He also played opposite beach bunny Annette Funicello in such movies as Pajama Party (1964) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), appeared as a Vegas casino manager in Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995) and voiced the cranky Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story films.
Rickles and his wife, Barbara, often vacationed with deadpan comic Bob Newhart and his wife, Ginnie.
 
“He was called ‘The Merchant of Venom,’ but in truth, he was one of the kindest, caring and most sensitive human beings we have ever known,” the Newharts said in a statement. “We are devastated, and our world will never be the same. We were totally unprepared for this.”
 
Rickles died on April 6, 2017, of kidney failure, in his home in Los Angeles.

 

Posted in Because I Can, News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Happy Birthday, Jerry Lewis

Posted on March 16, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Happy Birthday, Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis (March 16, 1926 – )

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Thank you, Jerry, for many laughs throughout the years.

Posted in Humor, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Anniversary of Sound of Music

Posted on March 2, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Anniversary of Sound of Music

On this day in 1965, The Sound of Music was released in the United States.

March 2, 1965

March 2, 1965

Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

RIP Bill Paxton (Game over, Man… GAME OVER!)

Posted on February 26, 2017 by James| Comments Off on RIP Bill Paxton (Game over, Man… GAME OVER!)

William “Bill“ Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor and director. He appeared in a number of films, including The Terminator (1984), Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), Predator 2 (1990), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), and Titanic (1997). He also starred in the HBO series Big Love (2006–2011) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. Paxton died on February 25, 2017, due to complications of surgery.

Paxton is also one of only two actors to have been killed onscreen by an Alien, a Predator, and a Terminator, an honor he shares with Lance Henriksen.

 

Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Rebel Base

Posted on February 18, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Rebel Base

Posted in Gadgets, Humor, Music, The Big Screen

RIP Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch)

Posted on February 7, 2017 by James| Comments Off on RIP Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch)

Richard Lawrence Hatch (May 21, 1945 – February 7, 2017) was an American actor, writer, and producer best known for his role as Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, and also as Tom Zarek in the 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica.  He starred as Jan Berry in Deadman’s Curve as well.

Posted in News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Mike Connors, ‘Mannix,’ Dies at 91

Posted on January 27, 2017 by James| Comments Off on Mike Connors, ‘Mannix,’ Dies at 91

Mike Connors (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017)

Mike Connors (born Krekor Ohanian) was an American actor best known for playing detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series, Mannix. Connors’ acting career spanned six decades; in addition to his work on television, he appeared in numerous films.

Connors died just a week after being diagnosed with leukemia, at the age of 91.

Wikipedia Link

Posted in News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)