Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...Leonard Maltin's 2011 MOVIE GUIDE is now out. Leonard talks about the GUIDE's history in an interview. I wish Steven Scheuer, who is mentioned in the interview, had kept up his own guide, as I really enjoy comparing his thoughts with Maltin's.

...It's probably no secret that Another Old Movie Blog is one of my favorite classic film blogs, considering how frequently I link to Jacqueline's posts. Her fascinating piece on the sinking of the Andrea Doria is a great example of why I enjoy her work. It's a great bit of history. I had no idea actresses Ruth Roman and Betsy Drake (Mrs. Cary Grant at the time) were on board. Roman had a particularly scary time of it as she was separated for a period of time from her three-year-old son during rescue operations.

...At Thrilling Days of Yesteryear Ivan lists his Top 10 favorite Bob Hope (non-ROAD) movies.

...Ivan also recently reviewed the classic TV Western THE LAWMAN, starring John Russell and Peter Brown. I've never seen it and have set it to record in my DVR from Encore Westerns. Now I just need time to watch it!

...John DiLeo writes on the great Marge Champion at ScreenSavers. More on Marge Champion here from last fall.

...I came across a nice essay on John Ford's WAGON MASTER (1950), which I reviewed earlier this summer.

...Last year I enjoyed THE FARM CHICKS IN THE KITCHEN. Coming next month: THE FARM CHICKS CHRISTMAS: MERRY IDEAS FOR THE HOLIDAYS. If Christmas cookbooks are coming soon, can new Christmas CDs be far behind? What a thought in August!

...Libraries have more DVDs than Netflix?

...Is baseball scorekeeping a dying art? I like to keep score at games; I find it helps to focus my attention on the game. I had a great-aunt who used to keep score at home while listening to Vin Scully on the radio!

...I enjoyed reading "Evolution of a Classic Film Fanatic" at Comet Over Hollywood.

...Blast from the Past: Lindsay Wagner's THE BIONIC WOMAN is finally coming to DVD. Those readers who weren't kids in the '70s may think the premise sounds goofy, but Wagner and costar Richard Anderson made it work. It's going in my Netflix queue for my own kids.

...Royal watchers may enjoy hearing the news that Crown Princess Mary of Denmark is expecting twins in January. Mary and Crown Prince Frederik have two older children, Christian and Isabella.

...Lou Lumenick has info about the "Critic's Choice" series on Turner Classic Movies in October.

...Scott Johnson at Power Line recently turned his attention from politics to movies and wrote about Preston Sturges' CHRISTMAS IN JULY (1940), which was reviewed here in 2008.

...Reviews, reviews, and more reviews: THE HARD WAY (1943) reviewed by Rupert at Classic Movies Digest...SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) reviewed by Keelsetter at TCM's Movie Morlocks blog...THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (1932) reviewed by John DiLeo at Screen Savers.

...Glenn Erickson's DVD Savant page has recently had technical issues, but he's making up for lost time with a bunch of new reviews, including The Kim Novak Collection, TROUBLE IN THE SKY (1960), and DARK CITY (1950).

...Maybe the Secretary of Education would like us to forget about parents and families altogether? He wants 12-hour school days, and lots more of them.

...Attention Chicago Film Fans: Noir City: Chicago 2 comes to the Music Box Theatre August 13-19. I'm totally jealous that Robert Siodmak's FLY-BY-NIGHT (1942), starring Richard Carlson and Nancy Kelly, is screening in Chicago. I've wanted to see it since reading about it in a Noir City program earlier this year. A bit of the Noir City description online: "Shifting with Hitchcockian aplomb between risque romantic comedy and shadowy suspense, Siodmak stuffs two features’ worth of set pieces into the sprightly 74-minute running time...more screwball than noir, but a delight from start to finish!"

...Good news for Southern Californians: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association recently donated $75,000 to the struggling film program at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Have a great week!