Warner Bros is opening their film vault. Warner Bros has produced over 6,800 theatrical films but only a little over 1,000 films are available on DVD. Warner Archive is here to change all that, offering many unavailable titles for the first time on DVD.
And one of those titles is the 1939 film, On Borrowed Time. On Borrowed Time stars Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi and Cedric Hardwicke. Barrymore plays Julian Northrup, a wheelchair-bound grandfather, who with his wife Nellie, are raising their orphaned grandson, Pud. Julian is worried about his grandson's future and the scheming aunt who seeks Pud's custody and his inheritance. One day Mr. Brink, aka Death, arrives to take Julian "to the land where the woodbine twineth." Julian tricks Mr. Brink and confines him to the top of an old apple tree, giving him extra time to ensure a safe and happy future for Pud.
I saw this movie for the first time with my dad and I still remember how much we enjoyed it. It's a funny, sweet film. Sure it's corny and dated but it's still a gem. Few films have ever shown how death is a necessary part of life.
I live in Kentucky where few non-Hollywood movies ever play, so needless to say, I missed the opportunity to see the Swedish film Let the Right One In on the big screen. Instead, I read online reviews and anxiously awaited the DVD release. Let the Right One In quickly became one of my favorite movies with three viewings so far.
Let the Right One In is about a little boy named Oskar, who finds a friend in Eli, the strange girl next door who turns out to be a vampire.
Icons of Fright now informs us the subtitles on the DVD have been changed from the theatrical release, cutting out the dark humor and dumbing it down for American audiences (I've included a sample below but it's well worth the click to Icons of Fright for more examples). Screen captures show the two different subtitles and it does make quite a difference.
This is nothing new. Foreign films often have lines changed or slightly altered in subtitles and dubbing. Anyone who frequently watches foreign movies can avow to this fact. Asian films often even have misspellings in the subtitles.
It's frustrating to know you're not getting the movie that was intended, especially such a good film like this. Maybe one day a corrected version of the DVD will be released. Til then, guess I need to learn to speak Swedish.
Born in Cairo in 1940, Liz Brady (born Ray Fleurat) is a French yé-yé singer.
Between 1965 and 1967, she released four EPs: “Hey O Daddy O” (65),”Rien n’est perdu” (65), “Palladium” (66) , “Partie de Dames” (66) on Pathé and one EP on Decca “Le piano s’est tu” (67).
In 1968, she moved to Quebec and with her friend formed the duo “Les Scarabées” (The Beetles). They released several 45s among which “Puisque tu m’as quitté” et “Le cœur de mon pays” (Golden Album in Canada).
They disbanded in 1975 and Liz moved to Florida, continuing her singing career as Liza Brady while her friend released songs under the name of Martine Bee.
Thanks, Robyn!
I also received an anonymous comment with a link to a French website dedicated to Liz Brady along with a site where you can buy some of her vintage original records! A big thanks to my mysterious friend.
And of course since this is a post about Liz Brady, I can't resist the chance to post another of her videos. Enjoy!
Iri5 creates portraits of celebrities using cassette tapes. The series is called Ghost in the Machine and features Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and others.
I am an artist who specializes in using non traditional media… old books, cassettes, playing cards, magazines, credit cards… whatever I can find. It feels great to work with strange, older materials. Things that have a mind of their own. Most everything I use has been thrown away or donated at some point. Past its prime, like some of the finest things in the world.
The week's edition of Just Listen features The Tossers. From the Irish neighborhoods of the south-side of Chicago, The Tossers music is a mix of traditional Irish music and punk rock. Using traditional instrumentation like the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, tin whistle, bass and drums, The Tossers play Irish music like you've never heard it before.
You can learn more about The Tossers on their website and buy their music here.
I think this currency is only redeemable in the Cantina bar. Mark, aka Diablo2003, created these pieces of Imperial currency for the Star Wars Fan Days 2007 where he was a guest artist.
There's a lot of artwork out there most as posters, lithographs or prints so I wanted to do something different. While watching The original Star Wars I realized that talk of money is thrown around quite a lot but you never actually see it (other than Han flipping the bartender a coin after shooting Greedo). I thought it would be cool to design a piece of Imperial currency as I saw it. I designed it mostly after American money but used some European influences as well.
I hope Darth Vader can keep his money in this economy.
I thought I'd finish the week with one more post of Liz Brady. In this clip she sings 3 songs, with the music starting at the 0:52 mark. Again, if anyone can tell me more about Liz Brady, I'd really appreciate the information. Now turn up the volume on your speakers and click on the clip.
Update: Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas, who pulled out his eyes and ate one of them, was declared "clearly crazy but sane under Texas law." Thomas killed his wife and 4 year-old son, both were stabbed to death with their hearts were ripped out. Thomas then walked into the Sherman Police Department and admitted to the killings, saying God told him to commit them.
This week, the nine justices unanimously denied Thomas' request for a new trial.
"Although reasonable people might well differ on the question of whether (Thomas) was sane at the time he committed these murders or competent at the time he was tried, those issues were appropriately addressed by the defense, the prosecution, trial judge, and the jury during the trial," Judge Cathy Cochran wrote in her opinion. "This is a sad case. (Thomas) is clearly 'crazy,' but he is also 'sane' under Texas law."
Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown said the ruling ends the state phase of Thomas' appeal of his death sentence. That appeal began in March 2005 after Grayson County jurors convicted Thomas of killing Leyha Marie Hughes, the daughter of Thomas' estranged wife, Laura Boren Thomas.
Jurors also answered the special questions presented to jurors at the end of a capital case in a manner that caused Judge James Fry to sentence Thomas to death. Though prosecutors never tried him for their deaths, Thomas also admitted to killing Laura Boren Thomas and their son Andre Lee Boren.
In the days just after the March 27, 2004 murders, Thomas pulled out his own eye after quoting Bible scriptures in the Grayson County Jail. In December of 2008, Thomas pulled out his other eye and ate it while in a cell on Texas' death row.
"It is sometimes hard for people to understand that a person can be mentally ill, or as the Court of Criminal Appeals said, "crazy," and still be legally sane under Texas law," Brown said after hearing of the ruling.
"Andre Thomas knew what he did was wrong, and if the evidence supports that, and the jury finds that, he is guilty," Brown said. "Judge Cochran's opinion explains that very effectively. Many people in Grayson County don't care if he was crazy, insane, or anything else -- what he did to those kids and his wife deserves the death penalty," Brown said.
