Summer Blockbusters - are you ready?
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

Well, we have less than a week to go before Memorial Day, which is the traditional start of summer here in the United States. And, as always, Hollywood is ready to roll out its so called blockbusters -- are you interested in any of them?

Some early releases include the remake of Irwin Allen's The Poseidon Adventure, now known simply as Poseidon and this weekend's The DaVinci Code.

Memorial Day weekend will see the opening of the third (and probably last) X-Men sequel - X-MEN: The Last Stand.

The following weekend (June 2) sees Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in The Break-Up. June 6th sees yet another remake release - The Omen. June 9th sees Disney's latest animated feature Cars.

June 16th sees the latest in the Fast and Furious series with The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift; the Lake House (which actually has an interesting premise) also releases that day.

At the end of June, we'll see the latest in the Superman saga with Superman Returns.

Whew - a busy first month of summer and I only touched a fraction of the films releasing in June! Personally, I'm looking forward to Superman Returns and the X-Men.

Are you looking forward to any of this summer's blockbusters? If so, which ones? How about all the remakes being released this year - are you for or against it? Let us know - leave a comment before you surf off!

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Tags: blockbusters, superman returns, x-men, memorial day

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Waiting for the Wizard...
Mood:  not sure
Topic: Non-Sport Trading Cards

Welcome back!



I'm sitting here waiting for the Wizard....of OZ, that is. Well, more precisely, my Wizard of OZ trading cards box from Breygent Marketing. This set promises to have a TON of goodies - from sketch cards to "cut signature" cards (from Judy Garland and Jack Haley) to prop cards (including Yellow Brick!), this set has it all! How about a rare card containing either a piece of Dorothy's dress or the Wicked Witch's hat?!? This set has it!

I have an odd relationship with the Wizard of OZ - I don't conside myself any sort of OZ groupie, but yet I have a ton of OZ related stuff - from the movie on every major media format (VHS, DVD, DVD collector's set, laserdisc) plus a book about the Wizard! I think I might even have one of those Franklin Mint collector's plate (not sure on that one though)! Yet, like I said, I don't consider myself an OZ groupie (what do they call OZ fanatics?). I guess it goes back to my childhood - all these things OZ bring back a warm fuzzy feeling.

Do you have a childhood "warm fuzzy" that you seem to collect blindly? Let us know by posting a comment before you surf off! And don't forget to subscribe to our RSS/Atom feed (see links on the left) - with my erratic postings, an RSS feed is the best way to stay on top of Tony Island Blog!

Thanks for checking my blog!

Tags: wizard of oz, judy garland, breygent marketing, jack haley, yellow brick road, dvd

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Blogger's Block
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

As you can tell from my entry title, I've hit a bit of a roadblock -- where do I go from here? Should I post yet another DVD review? Discuss some thoughts I've had about changing America for the better? Discuss Willie Harris' game ending "caught stealing" second base out? How about some football tidbits? I haven't posted anything about the New England Patriots - even after the NFL draft a few weekends ago. From everything I've read, they made some decent picks. I think the RB and WR they chose in the first two rounds look impressive. Now let's hope their college skills can be used professionally.

Do you think NFL football is America's version of ancient Rome's gladiator games? They don't have the deaths, though they do have the injuries. Your thoughts?

Do I keep posting even if I get no feedback? Do I ever stop complaining? Find out next time....on Tony Island blog!

Feel free to post some ideas for future blog entries -- tell me which current entries you like best and which I can do without.

See you soon!

Tags: red sox, writer's block, new england patriots, better America, DVD reviews

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DVD Review: Call Northside 777
Topic: DVD Review

Welcome back!

So far, most of my DVD reviews have been rather ho-hum...the movies themselves have been good for the most part, but nothing to get overly excited about either. I would definitely recommend renting them at the least.

Call Northside 777 (James Stewart) falls into the "wow - that was good!" category. Based on a true story, Call Northside 777 opens with a narrator explaining life in Chicago in 1932. Lots of underworld violence has resulted in many policemen being killed in the line of duty. We see one such murder of a policeman take place in a deli which was a front for a speakeasy.

Fast forward 11 years -- the editor of a Chicago newspaper sees a small personal ad that catches his attention. It's offering a $5000 reward for any information regarding the murdered policeman from the film's opening scene. The editor assigns one of his reporters (James Stewart) to check out the story behind the ad. The ad leads to a middle-aged scrub woman, Tillie Wiecek, at a Chicago building. There, Stewart finds out that Tillie has worked for the past 11 years to save for the $5000 reward. Her son was imprisoned for the policeman's murder and she believes her son is innocent. Stewart dashes her hopes that the money will lead to anything substantial.

Ready to kill the story, Stewart returns to his editor, who has other ideas. Instead of killing the story, he encourages Stewart to follow it some more. Without spoiling too much, Stewart goes on to help the jailed man and possibly set him free -- I won't say if he succeeds, so that you will rent it yourself and find out!

I really enjoyed the film - it was interesting to follow the twists and turns to the final resolution. And since it's based on a true story, it was even more interesting. It's probably slow by current day standards, but I didn't think so. Stewart gives a wonderful performance as do several of the other peformers - a few of which you may know if you watched a lot of '70s TV. :)

I'll give this 4 of 5 stars!

Have you seen Call Northside 777? Do you enjoy "based on a true story" films? Post your comments and let us know!

Till next time!

Tags: james stewart, jimmy stewart, film noir, fox, chicago, gangsters

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Fiction: The Cycle
Topic: Fiction

Welcome back!

I thought I'd share a little piece of fiction I wrote oh-so-many-years-ago for a high school assignment. It's still kind of fun to read.....let me know what you think! It's not Shakespeare, but what is these days? :)

I'll be back to my regular postings next time!

---

The Cycle

Edenville was a typical American town. As a matter of fact, towns like it were spread all across the globe...

**********************************************************************************

The meat clever floated effortlessly through the air to its destination.

"No! Please, please, stop it!!" pleaded the officer. He moved backwards towards the wall, frantically waving his hands in front of him. "Nooooo......!!!!"

The cleaver plunged into his chest. The lifeless mass slumped to the floor as blood spurted wildly, staining the surrounding furniture.

Quint moved toward the body, laughing almost uncontrollably. He dipped his finger into the fresh blood and scrawled the words "devil?s domain" on the wall. He licked his finger clean and left.

**********************************************************************************

"The third mysterious murder of a police officer within the past two days continues to puzzle police. A police spokesman says detectives are working on the assumption that these recent murders are in some way related to the mysterious murders of seven policemen three months ago.

In international news, the Falkland Islands war...."

Clyde clicked off the television and turned to the small congregation of black-robed businessmen seated on benches.

"Brothers," he began, "we are beginning to win our war. The Lord Devil himself shall rule the world, as was meant to be."

"Amen," came the response.

"Let?s be seated."

The men moved to a large, circular glass table and sat at their respective seats. Clyde brought forth a large black book and opened it to a section of chants.

"Almighty Devil, hear us. You have given us prosperity; we have sacrificed for you. Help us."

The group began to chant. From the middle of the table, a bright red light began to form. From the depths of the light, a face appeared and then a body. The men bowed their heads in respect.

"You have done well, my disciples. But, you are not alone in this conquest."

With a sweeping motion of his hand, the sacrificial altar on the far wall disappeared. In its place a viewport appeared. On it, pictures and news reports from around the world appeared in a massive collage. The reports told of murdered officials from the local level up to and including the national level. The viewport disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. The altar reappeared in its former place.

"Tomorrow, my disciples, the world shall be ruled by me. Tomorrow our work shall be over. The day of salvation is near!!"

The image disappeared.

**********************************************************************************

Mass-slaughter occurred on the day of salvation. The resistors were torched and killed. The world was in the Devil?s hands!

The Creator looked upon His world in dismay.

"The non-believers have won. I have tried; my Son has tried, but they refused to believe."

"Father, you must save them for they are one with us."

"You are right my Son."

**********************************************************************************

"Devil, you have had your last laugh."

"No! You shall never destroy me! The people believe in me and through their strength, I live!"

With that, the Creator raised his hands and brought forth a force unknown in power. The Devil took the force and then delivered his own force.

This continued for forty days and forty nights.

And in the end, there was nothing.

The devil grew weak and fled to another dimension.

The Creator looked about.

He raised His hands and created a world in six days and on the seventh day, He rested. And on this world He created the animals and the plants. And then He created man.

"Perhaps this species will listen," He commented as He looked about.

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DVD Review: Oliver Twist!
Topic: DVD Review

Welcome back!

I recently viewed Roman Polsanski's Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens' story of an orphaned boy attempting to survive19th century London. I thought it was very well done - the acting was top-notch with the sets wonderfully re-creating 19th century London.The overall atmosphere was very Dickens-ian.. The story is condensed from the original source material - necessary since the original material is about 300 pages! So, some of the twists and turns of the original have been elminated or changed to fit the set of characters presented here (ie, they used the core set of characters from the book thus minor characters and their roles in the plot were eliminated or given to the characters used here).

I didn't realize that Fagin was played by the wonderful Ben Kingsley! That's how good he is and how good the makeup/atmosphere is. 9 year old Barney Clark did a fine job as Oliver while 14 year old Harry Eden makes a fine Artful Dodger.

The DVD has several special features - including behind the scenes featurettes with Polanski and a small piece on Barney Clark.

I'll give this one 3 of 5 stars.

I would also highly recommend Polanski's The Pianist. The story follows a Polish Jewish pianist as he attempts to survive the horrors of World War II. The film is fairly depressing, but it too is wonderfully presented with the ending providing inspiration. Another 3 of 5 stars!

Have you seen Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist or The Pianist? Then share your thoughts with others by leaving a comment using the link below.

Until next time -- be safe! And don't forget to subscribe to our RSS feed!

Tags: roman polanski, oliver twist, the pianist, world war 2

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Earn a $1.00!!
Mood:  blue
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

OK - so this is a sign of desperation...but I really want to know if anyone is reading my blog! So, to promote my blog, I'm going to give away $1.00 to the FIRST (and only the first!) blog reader to leave a COMMENT! That's right, follow the simple rules below and earn $1.00!

1) Leave a coherent comment - full sentences, punctuation, etc - to any PREVIOUS entry (NOT THIS ONE!)
2) NO SPAM!
3) Have a PAYPAL account that accepts US dollars!
4) Leave a valid email address so I can contact you.

That's it! I'll contact the first person to leave a comment to any previous entry in my blog (as of today, there have been no comments at all!)

And get this -- you could earn another $1.00 by finding my OTHER Tony Island blog!! That's right - I have two Tony Island blogs on two different hosts - find the other one and earn another $1.00!

Tags: paypal, 1.00

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Itchy eyes!
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

I'm sitting here scratching at my eyes - they're itchy due to all the pollen in the air. We've had some rain here today and I had hoped that would help reduce the pollen floating around. It did during the day - I wasn't scratching my eyes and my nose wasn't as stuffy...but tonight is slightly different. While the nose is fairly dry, the eyes are making up for it! Yikes! It seems that the night is almost as bad as the day - I wonder if pollen is being sprayed at night? I dunno.

According to Pollen.com and weather.com, the alergy alert for my immediate area is HIGH. Great! Itchy eyes galore. Pollen.com does say that Thursday - Saturday should be medium - whew!

Speaking of Pollen.com, I was going to direct you to my home page and let you check the alergy alert for your area - but they declined my request to add their Alergy Alert script to my Web site. Why, you ask? Well, it's quite simple - they claim I don't have a Web site....hmmmmm...click the link above and tell me if I have a Web site or not! :)

Of course, it is possible that there was a glitch when they went to verify my Web site's existence, but...I DO have a Web site (and a blog, too!).

I'm trying not to take any OTC medications right now - it's mostly at the "feels like a cold" stage - if the allergice reactions get any worse as the spring wears on, I'll check into something at my local CVS.

Do you have allergies? Are they servere or mild? Seasonal or other? Are you on prescription or over the counter medicine? Share your thoughts with us before you surf away!

Tags: pollen, itchy eyes, runny nose

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Still reading!
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

As I mentioned in my last post, I picked up a copy of Blogging for Dummies -- and am still slogging thru it. It's a really good read and most likely I'll read the whole thing cover-to-cover!

Not to sound like a shill for the "Dummies" publisher, but I do enjoy their books - mind you, I haven't read a lot of them, but they are useful to get a good, quick grounding on a particular subject. I remember buying the HTML for Dummies book a few years ago - it was a good breezy read and got me up and running in no time. I do like the light hearted manner in which they are written - the interesting thing being that they are mostly written by different authors, so I assume maintaining that light-hearted approach takes some effort on the editor's part.

The only problem I find with them is that they don't make great reference books after you have the material down pat (ie, when you're ready for the next level). But for going from novice to beginner, they're good.

I'm thinking of checking the ones for baseball and football to increase my knowledge of those games (though you really get a good education watching over 100+ baseball games and 30+ football games per season!) And even though I'm Catholic, I am thinking of checking the one on Catholicism - never can know enough about your own religion (of course, if I find blogging is a sin, I may have to stop :).

OK - well, I'll continue to read - will report back soon. I have some other stuff to share, too!

Have you used the "Dummies" series or the competition's "Idiots" series? If so, which ones? Were they helpful? Would you consider using either series again for another learning session? Leave some comments - share your thoughts - we can all learn from each other!

Tags: blogging for dummies, football, baseball, catholicism

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I'm back!
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

I'm back, too! Took a small breather from posting - a chance to recompose myself (no pun intended!) and figure out where Tony Island Blog is headed. I also picked up a copy of Blogging for Dummies (really, I did!) - so hopefully that will give me a better handle on this blogging thing!

I wasn't sitting around either - I watched a few DVDs, some of which I'll mention in more detail next time.

And....I indulged in my guilty pleasure by watching CBS' "Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar" on Tuesday night! Did you see it? If so, post your comments!

OK - this was just a quick post to let you know I'm alive.

Thanks again for stopping by - don't forget to leave a comment before you surf away - and add our RSS feed to your RSS reader!

Tags: Dynasty, Joan Collins, Linda Evans, John Forsythe

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Small Break
Topic: Rants and Raves

Welcome back!

I'm going to take a small break from my semi-regular posting - I should be back on Wed May 3 -- can you believe it's May already?!?!

Take a look at some older posts - post some comments - let me know you're out there!

See you soon!

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About Non-Sport Trading Cards
Topic: Non-Sport Trading Cards

Welcome back!

Do you remember "Wacky Packages" from the 1970's? How about "Garbage Pail Kids" from the 1980's? Pokemon from the 1990's? Or Yu-Gi-Oh from the new millennium?? What do all these products have in common? They're all examples of popular non-sport trading cards (technically Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh are CCG trading cards).

Non-sport trading cards (aka bubblegum cards or entertainment cards) cover a wide range of subjects - from TV/movies to art to CCGs (collectible card games). My personal interests cover TV/movies and art for the most part. I haven't gotten into CCGs (yet!).

I first started collecting trading cards as a kid (as most die hard collectors do). I had a small collection of various cards - some Space:1999 cards, a few Wacky Packages cards and some from the original Batman TV series. The only trading cards to survive that period of collecting are my Space:1999 cards - I lost the Batman cards (and with the unlikelihood of another set ever being released, I could kick myself!!) and probably stuck the Wacky Packages stickers all over my school books!

I had long put my non-sport trading card days behind me until 1997 when I happened upon a pushcart at my local shopping mall. There, I saw a pack of "Lost in Space" classic TV series from Inkworks -- I HAD to have them! There were two of my childhood loves in one product - trading cards and the tv series Lost in Space (I'm sure I'll be discussing LIS at some point here). How could I resist? That one little purchase started off a chain reaction of collecting trading cards -- and this time, I'm not throwing them away or sticking them on my school books! :)

I hope to share my enjoyment of non-sport trading cards with you over the next few years - until then, please take a look at my Web site - Tony Island - it has a (slighty outdated) listing of my non-sport trading card collection plus links to other non-sport card collectors along with some Space:1999 odds-n-ends.

Well, this is the last of the topic overview posts - starting Friday, we'll tackle some serious blogging! :)

Thanks for stopping by - and don't forget to post a comment by clicking the link below before you surf away!

Tags: non-sport trading cards, entertainment cards, bubblegum cards, wacky packages, space:1999, lost in space

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About Gerry Anderson
Topic: Gerry Anderson

Welcome back!

Today, I'm continuing the topic overviews, this time focusing on Gerry Anderson. Gerry Anderson is a prolific British television producer - I would compare him to American producer Irwin Allen - they both produced popular science fiction tv series that featured lots of explosions! But there the similarity ends as Gerry never got fully into the movies (he did make one live action film) and Irwin Allen never went back to TV series after moving to the silver screen.

Gerry's career started in the '50s and continues to this day - he has worked with puppets ("Supermarionation") and actors. Some of his works include:

Stingray (puppet series) - WASP patrols the seas to protect humanity from an underwater kingdom

Thunderbirds (puppet series) - the Tracey boys and their father rescue people in peril worldwide and in outer space.

UFO (live action) - a secret organization protects Earth from an alien invasion.

Space:1999 (live action) - the continuing adventures of a moonbase crew thrust into uncharted space after the Moon is ripped from Earth orbit by a massive muclear explosion.

The above is only the tip of the iceberg of Gerry Anderson productions. Over the coming months, I'll have reviews of many of his series for you. I hope I've sparked your interest in this prolific producer and that you will search out and view some of his many works that are currently available on DVD.

Thanks again for stopping by - take a moment to leave a comment - tell us your favorite Gerry Anderson production!

Tags: gerry anderson, stingray, ufo, space:1999, thunderbirds

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DVD Review: The Bostonians
Topic: DVD Review

Welcome back!

As you can see from the post title, this is yet another DVD review post! Most of the DVD review posts will be courtesy of my Blockbuster Online subscription - I get unlimited (one at a time via mail) rentals PLUS one free rental per week at my local Blockbuster store! It's a good deal - they have other packages for more out at a time, etc.

"The Bostonians (Christopher Reeve, Vanessa Redgrave)" is a Merchant/Ivory period piece based on the Henry James novel. Vanessa Redgrave plays a suffragette who meets up with a young suffragette orator. On the scene arrives Christopher Reeve as Vanessa's cousin. They vie for the love of this young woman. The film is rather dull and the underlying semi-lesbian relationship between the two female leads is a bit uncomfortable to view -- can't pinpoint why it is, but it just didn't sit right - Vanessa's character seems to be manipulating this young woman using their common goal of women's equality as a way to control here (she even pays off the young woman's parents to leave them alone!). Toward the end of the film, I did like the quirky characters but it's not something I can recommend you run out and rent.

I'll give it 2 stars out of 5 (average rating is 3). There are better Merchant/Ivory productions - stay tuned to this space for future reviews of some of these period piece classics!

Do you enjoy period piece/costume dramas? Or contemporary films? Let us know - and if you've seen The Bostonians or any other Merchant/Ivory film, tell us about it!

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to subscribe to our RSS feed -- and, as always, leave a comment before you click away.

Tags: bostonians, vanessa redgrave, christopher reeve, merchant/ivory, blockbuster online
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About Space:1999
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Space:1999

Welcome back!

In this first week of posting, I thought I'd introduce some of the topics I'll be discussing in my blog. Today, I've decided to introduce the epic 1970's British SF series Space:1999. As you can see from the photo above (a scan of the back cover of one of the novels), Space:1999 starred Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Barry Morse (first season only). The series centered around the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha ("Alphans") who had been thrown into the deep reaches of space after the Moon was ripped from Earth orbit by a massive nuclear explosion! Unable to control the course of the Moon, the Alphans were at the mercy of the Universe as they encountered alien worlds, alien beings and other oddities.

The first season was a serious look at the castaways' predictment and as such the stories were rather moody and dark. There were some light moments, but most of it was serious - as one would expect if you were careening thru space on an uncontrollable moon! The second season saw a sharp turn to a more action-oriented, lighter approach to storytelling. American producer Fred Frieberger was brought in to boost ratings -- his main contribution was to add an exotic resident alien known as Maya (Catherine Schell) who was capable of shape-shifting into any living creature. Unfortunately, the stories tended to play out where Maya would use her abilities to either save the crew or provide key information to help them out of the current predcament and then end on a "light hearted" note. Many fans were put off by all the changes (we'll discuss them in future blog posts) and ratings declined. The series was cancelled in 1977. It played sporadically in syndication during the 1980s and made a brief appearance on the cable Sci-Fi Channel in the early 1990s. It was left for dead until A&E released the entire series on DVD in 2001.

In the coming weeks, I hope to chat more about Space:1999 and hope that you chat about it, too! Just click on the link below and leave your comments!

Thanks and see you soon.

Tags: martin landau, barbara bain, barry morse, space:1999

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