Aurora monster kit stuff

Another Slice Of Cheesecake...

With the content warning hampering the performance of A Slice of Cheesecake, ASOC now has a sister blog, Another Slice of Cheesecake! You can join in the fun here... http://anothercheesecakeslice.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: That site quickly fell victim to another content warning. I enjoy serving up cheesecake, though, so I've developed a third blog devoted to such. Simply titled Slice of Cheesecake, I hope to see you there! You can find it by going through my profile information. Thank you for your time, and God bless!

A Quick Look: THE LONGEST DAY (1962)

   This being June 6th, it would be error not to mention the anniversary of the D-Day invasion, which changed the tide of World War 2 and began the Allies toward Victory over the Nazis. The invasion was one of the most complex and secret operations of the War, and the President's radio address prayer when revealing the operation to the public remains one of the most stirring moments in the history of radio. Needless to say, in the 50's/60's era of huge WW2 epics like THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, the D-Day invasion was perfect for adaptation to the screen. The resulting film, THE LONGEST DAY, told in documentary fashion the events leading up to and during the military action which finally put the Nazis on the run. Darryl Zanuck's massive production enlisted the aid of what may be the biggest cast of international stars ever assembled into one movie. Just a quick pass for sample names brings up John Wayne, Red Buttons, Ray Danton, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Roddy MacDowall, Jeffery Hunter, Eddie Albert, and more than you could possibly name here. The sheer mass of established stars and soon-to-be stars is almost as incredible as the actual historical event which they come together to re-create. History, heroics, and intrigue make for a gripping saga regardless of the cast. THE LONGEST DAY remains one of the great War movies, and D-Day remains one of the key moments in world history.

The Kathy Ireland Conspiracy

   The A Slice Of Cheesecake blog has been repeatedly flagged for term violation, and yesterday was reclassified as strictly adult material. This is not because of content, however. These repeated reports all came from someone looking to cause trouble, apparently just because they don't like Kathy Ireland. Anonymity protection being what it is, I cannot block this guy ahead of time, or report him to Blogger command. He never tried to contact me directly with any legitimate grievance. His actions are evidently entirely because he thinks he's making trouble for Miss Ireland herself, directly! Who could take issue with Kathy?

A Quick Look: THE EGG AND I (1947)

   In 1947 the best-selling book The Egg And I was brought to the screen as a vehicle for Claudette Colbert, THE EGG AND I. In the film, she and husband Fred MacMurray move to the rural community of Cape Flattery, Washington, so he can follow his dream of being a chicken farmer. Much humor comes from the city gal's adjustment to life on a farm stuck largely a hundred years in the past. During all this, she has a suspicious eye on the much more modern lady farmer Louise Albritton, who really hits it off with Fred. The film, like the book, was a smash. It's basic premise later served as the foundation of television's Green Acres. Of course, the film's main contribution to pop culture was it's casting of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride to play hillbilly farm couple Ma and Pa Kettle. They became such a hit with audiences that Universal produced a sequel film titled MA AND PA KETTLE, which reversed the situation of THE EGG AND I somewhat by moving the hillbilly family into a futuristic model home (no doubt this was a partial inspiration for The Beverly Hillbillies, which in turn spun off of itself Green Acres). This in turn was a massive hit, and the studio would spend the next decade cranking out annual revisits to the Kettles. When Percy Kilbride left the series, producers tried to work around it with the last two entries, but audiences missed Percy. Marjorie's critically-praised inaugural performance as Ma, meanwhile, got her cast opposite Abbott and Costello for THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP, which remains one of the best western comedies of the era.

A Quick Look: THE CANNONBALL RUN (1981 - color) and CANNONBALL RUN II (1984 - color)

   My favorite moment with the late Sir Roger Moore. True, there were more compelling performances, but this perfectly captures the sense of self-parody humor Mr. Moore was known for. THE CANNONBALL RUN was the zenith of the cornball comedy car genre Hal Needham more or less created in the 70's, and caused box office sensation with through the highly repeatable SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. Bandit himself, Burt Reynolds, headlines an all-star cast in this slapstick road comedy based on an actual cross-country race. In fact, the souped-up ambulance is actually the vehicle Needham himself drove in the real race! Amid the Cannonballers is Roger Moore as a delusional Jewish heir who thinks he actually IS Roger Moore, and lives like James Bond! His car for the race is the Aston Martin Sean Connery's 007 drove, and it comes complete with all the gadgets. All of Needham's feel-good antics are here, from crazy stunts to cartoonish jokes to catchy theme songs. The cast is simply incredible, including the likes of Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Dom DeLouise, Farrah Fawcett, Jack Elam, Jamie Farr, and more -including a young Jackie Chan. Peter Fonda has a cameo as a biker, as you might expect. Breezy comedy still offers a moment or two of genuine acting for Reynolds, who was at the time one of the biggest stars in the universe (reportedly, his salary for the film was a record-shattering five million dollars). The film was a smash hit, and the even crazier and even more star-studded CANNONBALL RUN II was short in following. Sadly, Moore wasn't in that one.

   Rest In Peace, Sir Moore. We'll never forget you.

   CANNONBALL RUN II had something like three dozen star names! It was sorta the 80's generation version of IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD in that respect. Basically it starts as an even larger version of the first film, as dozens of cars enter the Cannonball cross-country road race to win a million dollar cash prize put up by Arabian Prince Jamie Farr. Gangsters become involved and kidnap the Prince, which puts a temporary halt on the race. Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLouise, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. go undercover to rescue him! Again, fun is the order of the day, and this is basically a huge cartoon. One could never mention everybody who passes through, but the roster includes such stars as Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, Tim Conway, Henry Silva, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors, George Lindsey, Sid Ceaser, Fostor Brooks, Abe Vigoda, Charles Nelson Rielly, Ricardo Montalban, Jackie Chan, Richard Kiel, Marilu Henner, Susan Anton, Catherine Bach, Doug McClure, Jack Elam, Tony Danza, Mel Tillis, it just goes on and on! Fortunately, I was able to tape this one from one of the movie channels back when I had a dish. I've long wished there'd been a third one, and apparently there was. CANNONBALL FEVER followed a few years later but quickly slipped into obscurity. This is probably because the only returning actor from the previous two was Jamie Farr and audiences saw the franchise as a Burt Reynolds property.

A Quick Look: A VIEW TO A KILL (1985 - color)

   My favorite Roger Moore Bond adventure was his last one, A VIEW TO A KILL. This one finds Bond teaming with a beauteous geologist to prevent microchip baron Max Zorin from destroying Silicon Valley with an artificial earthquake (ironically, an earthquake once hit my area WHILE I WAS VIEWING THIS MOVIE, though it was so mild that I wasn't even aware of it until the next day). This entry features what may be my single favorite piece of John Barry music, heard as Bond rescues Stacy from a building fire. It's one of those genuinely inspiring, no holding back on the reality of it, moments of heroism. Tanya Roberts is the girl, and she's absolutely scrumptious here. A bit less dreamy is Grace Jones as Mayday, but she makes the most of her seemingly limited role. It's Christopher Walken who steals the show as madman Zorin, the casually murderous, brilliant superman the result of Nazi experiments at the end of the War! Patrick McNee joins the fun as 007's fellow agent, and the two make a great comedy team within the context of a spy adventure. Moore makes his final outing as Bond a memorable one, and finally gets a title song that isn't a breathy lounge piece as had been the norm for the last several films. Duran Duran's "A View To A Kill" may remain the definitive Bond song of the 80's, and was one of the very last things the group did before splitting up!