#alan mandell

[moviesbabe]

"Have you talked to the rabbi?" A Serious Man (2009) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen

[addictivecontradiction]

Shortbus, 2006

[prettyboykaspbrak]

[reality-detective]

Don’t throw your banana peels out 🤔

- Dr. Alan Mandell

[kerenitychan]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

did a little redraw of those jumpscare haunted house pictures from back in the day with the gang! it's not much but it's honest work! (og under the cut)

[oldshowbiz]

The first episode of SCTV's final season featured a scathing parody of Alan Thicke's disastrous late night talk show Thicke of the Night - and Martin Short as Howie Mandel.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Little Monsters (1989)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I can’t believe this is the third time I’ve seen Little Monsters. The first time was in 2012. I didn't like it but my review was too short so I re-watched it AGAIN in 2016. I didn’t like it then either. In fact, I gave it a 0 score. Is the third time the charm?

After moving to a new house and new school, Brian (Fred Savage) is miserable. His parents (Margaret Whitton and Daniel Stern) are always fighting, he’s getting blamed for every random thing that happens around the house and his brother Eric (Ben Savage) keeps bugging him about monsters living under his bed. Then, Brian discovers there IS a monster living under the bed. His name is Maurice (Howie Mandel) and he loves to pull pranks.

The worst part of this movie is Howie Mandel. His character is so annoying you’ll reach for your torch and pitchfork seconds after he appears. He’s always talking, always trying to make you laugh, always moving and gesticulating. I won’t blame the actor. I’ll blame director Richard Alan Greenberg, along with writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott. The mantra must’ve been “If someone isn’t talking, the audience won’t be laughing”. They couldn’t have been more wrong. This film only contains one funny joke and to give credit where credit is due, it’s from Mandel. Nonetheless, you can’t stand him. He’s playing this imitation Beetlejuice - one of many we saw starting in 1989. I’ve only ever seen two fast-talking outlandish supernatural sidekicks that worked - The Genie from Aladdin and the aforementioned ghost with the most. Everyone else you want to beat to a pulp with a shovel before burying them in the backyard.

With the main draw being as pleasant as a dental exam, Little Monsters was instantaneously doomed but the problems don't stop there. This film is so mean-spirited you’ll wind up cheering for the villains and hating the heroes. Case and point is an extended scene in which Brian and Maurice travel from one house to another, pulling pranks on children while they sleep. They paint the walls, put plastic wrap on toilets, peanut butter on phones, etc. That doesn’t sound so bad but they shave a cat off-screen and then take revenge upon Ronnie (Devin Ratray), a bully who tormented Brian and his brother earlier. They put cat food in his lunch and replace his apple juice with urine. I know kids pretend that any yellow liquid is piss all the time. The difference is that in this movie, we see Maurice gulp down all Ronnie's juice so he can turn around (away from the camera) pull out his blue monster dick and fill Ronnie’s bottle. the movie goes too far, particularly since we get to see Ronnie attempt to wash down the taste of the cat food with it the next day.

Speaking of Ronnie, I feel like doing a bit of nitpicking. I mean, why not? This movie is mean. It deserves a bit of its own medicine. Here’s how his introduction works. Brian and his little brother are on the bus. After an argument (related to the mysterious pranks around the house), Brian tosses Eric's lunch out the window. That's when Ronnie enters. The lunch hit him in the head. Ronnie threatens Eric, Brian defends his little brother and after a quick verbal back-and-forth, Ronnie is humiliated and gets off the bus. Wait. What happened? Was Ronnie part of the route? Like was he supposed to be picked up by the sassy bus driver? Or did she just let him hop on randomly? Either way, I guess he walked the rest of the way. Eventually, the character returns for the final act when he is recruited as one of Brian’s allies against Boy (Frank Whaley), the monster world’s evil ruler. I know what the movie is trying to do. The idea is that Brian and his bully are setting aside their differences for the greater good. Maybe they’ll even become friends. Inside the movie though, this alliance means nothing. Ronnie doesn’t know Brian was responsible for the cat food and piss in his lunch. He's not "forgiving" anything.

I've become more invested than I should in a movie that doesn’t deserve to be remembered. Little Monsters is mean, gross and ugly. The monsters are unappealing and not even in a “they’re monsters, they should be kind of scary” kind of way. One look and you'll “No thanks”. In fact, you can skip the look. Just say “No thanks” to Little Monsters. (February 10, 2023)

[myvinylplaylist]

Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project (1983)

2023 Vinyl Reissue

Universal Music

[cannedbluesblog]

Canned Heat

[bigearblues]

Canned Heat_1970

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

Brian May says he wouldn't have released the upcoming Star Fleet Project reissue featuring Eddie Van Halen without Alex Van Halen's support.

In a new interview with Cleveland.com, May said he thought about releasing the newly expanded and remastered box set shortly after Eddie's passing in October 2020 but decided the time wasn't right. Here's an excerpt from Gary Graff's interview:

DO YOU VIEW THE BOX SET AS ALSO A TRIBUTE TO EDDIE IN A WAY?

MAY: “Yes, it is but I did hesitate. At the time when I was starting to think about it, it was just about the time Ed passed away and I just couldn't do it. I just didn't feel right about it. Then a few years passed and I got to talking to Alex Van Halen, who's a great inspiration and also a wonderful musician. Alex has become a trusted friend and I have enormous admiration for him. He's been through such a terrible time because, of course, the two brothers were completely inseparable. For Alex, it's like losing half of himself. So, I wanted Alex's blessing to do this 'cause I didn't want to do anything that felt distasteful.”

Earlier, May explained how Eddie became a part of the project:

IT'S ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR MORE EDDIE VAN HALEN PLAYING. HOW DID HE BECOME PART OF THIS?

MAY: “Ed I knew as a friend but l'd very seldom had a chance to hang out with him; l got very drunk with him one night, very ill-advisedy...but that's another story. (laughs) With Ed, I set him up. I wanted to hear what happened when you put Ed as a firework on a stage and lit the blue-touch paper and stood back to see what happens. I gave him that stage in the middle of the ("Star Fleet") song; that to me was the climax of the whole song, the bit where Ed steps forward and does his own thing, unfettered by anything. He steps in and it comes out completely out of his head—that's not an overdub, he just does it. Every time he does it, it's different, 'cause his brain's constantly creating new stuff, which to me is one of the great joys of the (box set). love to hear the different version of what he came up with. What an extraordinary, extraordinary player he was, just incredible.”

Brian May and Eddie Van Halen's Legendary 1983 SUPER SESSIONS are IN STOCK and shipping now at VanHalenStore.com! (Release date is July 14th)

ALL NEW MIXES of the ENTIRE 2-Day SESSIONS from the original multi-track recordings are now available in the COMPLETE BOXED SET of EVERYTHING RECORDED!

Star Fleet Project, the near-mythical, long-out-of-print mini- album recorded by Brian May and Eddie Van Halen, is finally reissued!

Recorded in 1983 with an all-star band that included session bass guitar ace Phil Chen, keyboardist Fred Mandel and then-REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer, the set has been fully remastered by Brian May, and will be reissued in full July 14th with a multitude of previously unreleased jams and outtakes. NOW SHIPPING!

[thebutcher-5]

Robots (2005)

Benvenuti o bentornati sul nostro blog. Nello scorso articolo abbiamo deciso di parlare, dopo molto tempo, di un regista straordinario che ha dato un enorme contributo al cinema, Sam Raimi, ma discutendo di uno dei suoi film minori, per così dire, ossia The Gift. Annie è una donna vedova con tre figli che ha un dono ossia la chiaroveggenza, un dono tramandato da sua nonna, che utilizza per…

[kerenitychan]

I have doodled more in whiteboard than I realised, have more , I adore all the lads to pieces, and also grunkle stan but not like THAT

[drspacepoodle]

Bri day - Star Fleet launch day

[oldshowbiz]

The Canadian Showbiz Mafia: Alan Hamel, Alex Trebek, Howie Mandel, John Ireland...