Friday, May 31, 2019

DIRTY HARRY'S BIRTHDAY!

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930.

I must confess I never saw the celebrated TV show RAWHIDE, where Clint Eastwood became well-known; however,  I did read the Dell and Gold Key comics published around 1963, and had heard the fantastic theme song, expertly rendered by Frankie Laine.  But I missed the show's first run and I never could find it in syndication.

But my first encounter with the immortal Clint came with his first spaghetti western: A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and its subsequent sequels, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. The latter's main theme has been imbedded in my brain forever.

And since then, I jumped on the CLINT bandwagon never to get off!
The list of classic Clint Eatwood films is quite long. It's not necessary to repeat them here.
Suffice it to say, Mr. Eastwood has a very special place in movie history and no actor has yet come to replace him.



Long Live Dirty Harry!





Mort Drucker captured him beautifully in his MAD magazine parody of Dirty Harry:







His last film to date was 2018's THE MULE which earned $171.3 million at the box office, proving that no matter how old and ancient Clint may be, he still has a strong hold over his audience!
Today, my plan is to sit down and watch some of my favorite Clint Eastwood films, in honor of this great and everlasting movie icon!
Clint Eastwood: "Make my day!"





Tuesday, May 14, 2019

DEAD CELEBRITIES SOCIETY

It never fails: every time some celebrity dies, people begin to post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social network, photos of themselves with the deceased.
Okay, I can play that game too! 
Here's my all-purpose, generic photo with the deceased!

 Enjoy!



I can now fill in whatever the recently deceased celebrity's name was and let the world know I once met him/her!

Monday, April 29, 2019

THE REVERSE DORIAN GRAY EFFECT

Everyone knows all about Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY and the principle involved therein.  To wit, Basil Hallward paints his portrait and Dorian declares that he would give his soul if he could always remain young and the painting instead would grow old.
The wish is granted and Dorian pursues a life of wild abandon full of amoral experiences while staying young; meanwhile, his portrait ages and captures every sin.
Well, I've discovered it is more terrifying the other way around!

Yes! It's even worse to see your picture staying young and fresh while you slowly deteriorate and fall apart piece by piece!

Thursday, April 25, 2019

STAN & OLLIE Blu-Ray is here!

I finally got my copy of Jon S. Baird's film STAN & OLLIE starring John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy and Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel.
The film has its faults, no doubt and relatives of Hal Roach may have some issues with it but all in all, it's a wonderful film, very entertaining and lovingly assembled by everyone associated with the production. Highly recommended, I will surely enjoy it repeatedly for years to come.

I posted my review a few months ago.
You can take a look here:
https://ferllera.blogspot.com/2019/02/stan-ollie-movie_16.html



And if you like this film, you'll love even more this other DVD set:
                                     
                                             Laurel-Hardy-Essential-Collection

Monday, March 25, 2019

WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

                                                                The shadow knows!


(With a tip of the hat to Sergio Aragonés!)

Saturday, March 23, 2019

ANTONIO IS SEVEN!

Today is my grandson ANTONIO's 7th Birthday!
I can't believe it!
Time doesn't fly...it zooms by!


Friday, March 22, 2019

MORT DRUCKER!

Mort Drucker was born March 22,1929 in Brooklyn, New York.
His work and caricatures at MAD Magazine, beginning in 1956, soon became legendary.  Mort's artwork was the first thing that attracted me to Mad Magazine back in the Sixties, and I became an ardent fan of his drawings.  Mort Drucker's on-target depictions of celebrities were my inspiration to become a full time cartoonist.
Of course I never aspired to emulate him and my drawing style differs sharply from his, but he was the reason I kept buying Mad even into the 2000s even though I believed the rest of the magazine was going rapidly downhill.  When Mort ceased to submit his work to the magazine, I stopped buying it.
Anyway, happy 90th birthday to one of my heroes...the one and only MORT DRUCKER!










Sunday, March 17, 2019

You can celebrate ST. PATRICK'S DAY even if you're not Irish!

And of course there are many ways to remember St. Patrick's holiday which must include watching some great classic Irish-themed cartoons!
These two are my perennial favorites!

1951 - WEARING OF THE GRIN. Written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. The expressions on Porky's face make this, one of the funniest entries in the Merrie Melodies library!







 




1958 - DROOPY LEPRECHAUN - MGM-Hanna-Barbera Productions. Directed by Michael Lah.  Droopy's last theatrical cartoon is memorable for Spike, the Irish dog who's obsessed with catching a leprechaun! 








Opening scenes from DROOPY LEPRECHAUN:

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Monday, March 11, 2019

GIRLS! - (The Wonders of Photoshop)

                              This image may seem utterly ridiculous and impossible but...I can dream, can't I?