Hal Williams, who played Officer Smitty on Sanford and Son, Lester Jenkins on 227, and Harley Foster on The Waltons died on July 15, 2026, at the age of 91. Hal Williams was born on December 14, 1934 in Columbus, Ohio. He worked as a corrections officer and then a postal worker before deciding to go into acting. He made his television debut in a bit part in the special Swing Out, Sweet Land in 1970. that same year he guest starred on Dan August and That Girl.The Seventies would be a busy decade…
Disclaimer Previously… Deep Space Nine Season 1 Summary Conclusions Training and Professionalism Economics Science and Technology Design Health Care Academia Government, Law, and Corrections Religion Ethics Family Gender Roles Sex Race Relations and Nationalism International Relations Socialization Fashion History Stay Tuned… Footnotes Disclaimer In these posts, we discuss a non-“Free as in Freedom” popular culture franchise property, including occasional references to part of that franchise…
Who are you, and what do you do? I’m Michael Brough. I’m an artist. My main artform is video games: I often do all the parts myself (from design to drawing to programming to vocals to marketing) but sometimes collaborate. My current project is a collaboration with my wife Tara - a musician. I also dance and brew potions. What do you use to get the job done? I mostly work from home - though for a couple of years until quite recently I was sharing an office with a few engineers and architects.…
"Transformers" (2007), City Fight shot CF630, visual effects by ILMI was lucky to chat with the premier visual effects journalist working today, Ian Failes, for his Befores & Afters Podcast. Listen in Apple Podcasts or Overcast.Ian wrapped up his ILM series which also featured John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Janet Lewin, David Vickery, Ben Morris, Rachel Rose, Rob Bredow, Ben Snow and Hayden Landis talking about ILM's history. Ian recently wrote the book Industrial Light & Magic: 50 Years of…
By Ben Miller 13 feature films into his career, director Christopher Nolan has developed a string of touchstones for his films. You can expect an all-star cast, massive practical set pieces, underdeveloped women, stunning visuals, and clunky dialogue. With his new film The Odyssey, Nolan again delivers on everything you come to expect from a Nolan movie. This time, Nolan (a well-documented child of cinema history), decides to take his chances with a sword and sandals epic in the vein of Ben-Hur…
Walt Disney’s “Flywheel” diagram, describing its many internal promotional mechanisms, prepared for investors in 1957, resembles the classic form of the “it’s all connected” diagram. ▲ Disney Flywheel diagram (1957)
Australian director Gillian Armstrong(Oscar And Lucinda, Mrs. Soffel) grew up in Melbourne during the 1950’s. At that time there was still the widely held societal expectation that girls should grow up to become wives and mothers, and the few careers open to women included nursing and secretarial work. Armstrong wanted to follow a different path. She was inspired to become a film director. She studied filmmaking at the Swinburne Film and Television School, and then enrolled on a directors…
Netflix has a new Little House on the Prairie (2026-), adapting the semi-autobiographical novels by
Marlon Brando in The Fugitive Kind (1960) Vitals Marlon Brando as Valentine “Snakeskin” Xavier, guitar-playing drifter seeking redemption Mississippi Delta, January 1959 Film: The Fugitive Kind Release Date: April 14, 1960 Director: Sidney Lumet Costume Designer: Frank L. Thompson WARNING! Spoilers ahead! Background For National Snake Day on July 16th, let’s celebrate the famous snakeskin jacket that Marlon Brando wore as Valentine “Val” Xavier in The Fugitive Kind, adapted from Tennessee…
We watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Ghostbusters, today and I think that calls for a song... about calling people.[tuning up 80s synthesizer]♪ If there's something strangein your neighborhood ::aggressive jazz hands::Who you gonna call?Ghostbusters! ♬If there's something weird And it don't look good(There's a hole in this cake.)Who you gonna call?Ghostbusters! I ain't afraid of no ghost! Pretty sure that's a penguin... I ain't afraid of no ghost! Okay, who brought the dog? ♬If you're…
I have once again been reading a Mark of the Odd game, that is, a game descended from Chris McDowall's Into the Odd. This time, it's Eco Mofos!! from Copy/Paste co-op, written by David Blandy with art by Daniel Locke and editing by Iko. It has the curious feature of acknowledging inspiration from Mythic Bastionland, despite being released a year earlier, thanks to Chris McDowall's open development practices and early pdf releases, I assume. Eco Mofos!! is a post-apocalyptic "Oddlike", but…
★★★★: Returned to the frenetic pace of the first one, which I like. It dipped a bit, especially with so many flashback clips. But the story was good and it was a light, exciting watch. FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!
The good folks at Thermal Master have sent me their DV2 camera to review. As their name suggests, this is a thermal / infrared camera - they've specifically designed this for bird watching and animal spotting. Let's put it through its paces and see how it compares to the competition! Straight away you can see it is different from normal IR cameras - they tend to have a small fixed screen and a rubber button interface. This has a lush touchscreen which displays the thermal image and is used to…
Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin) is a newlywed, who’s just married Lila (Jeannie Berlin) and set off with her on his honeymoon in Miami Beach. But while there, he meets Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), the “woman of his dreams”. And despite his recent nuptials, he decides to pursue Kelly. ….Yeah, so this is a black comedy. But I think it’s also an early example of what we call cringe comedy today, where the humor comes from watching someone doing something socially awkward – or carrying through with a…
There’s a temptation to think Brazilian barbecue was invented by a marketing team in São Paulo who wondered how many different cuts of beef they could parade past a table before someone gave up. In reality, churrasco began about as far from polished city restaurants as you could imagine. Out on the pampas, the gaúchos – South America’s answer to the cowboy, only with better cattle – lived off the land and cooked what they had over open fires. There were no marinades or sauces; just meat, coarse…
Needful Things (1993)
Well, we just watched the 1943 version of Jane Eyre, based on the 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë. As you know, Jane Eyre (the character) is a strong-willed, free-thinking young woman in Victorian England who clashes with authority and potential suitors alike. She suffers no fools. There have been dozens of film adaptations of Jane Eyre, the first of which … Continue reading →
Watched LAURA and realised I want to read Laura. Vera Caspary is ace, going by her work on A LETTER TO THREE WIVES. Don’t know how her novel-writing stacks up against her screenwriting. I guess Preminger as producer was responsible for the casting — even though Rouben Mamoulian was originally slated to direct. Certainly Preminger […]
Sam Neill, known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park movies and appearing in movies from The Hunt for Red October (1990) to Event Horizon (1997), died on July 13, 2026, at the age of 78. Sam Neill was born Nigel John Dermot Neill on September 14, 1947, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His father was a New Zealander stationed with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. His mother was English. The family moved to New Zealand in 1955, where they operated a wine and spirits business. He…
Kim Novak was groomed to be the next Marilyn Monroe, then had the audacity to be herself instead. Her story is one of the most fascinating in classic Hollywood.
Salut les Parisiens ! J'ai besoin d'aide : Je monte à Paris le w/e du 25 pour acheter des trucs pour Folsom Europe. Est-ce que vous avez de bonnes addresses de magasins ? Cuir, latex, sport, pup, skin ou autre ! J'ai cherché en ligne, j'en ai trouvé, mais je me suis dit que peut être des kinksters sur place auraient des recommendations 🖤 (Booster c'est aidé aussi !) #paris #folsom #berlin #fetish #kink #gay #bdsm #pupplay #drone #gearhead #gayleather #puppyplay #gayskin #rubber #latex #queer
Movies Barbie (2023) D: Greta Gerwig. S: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, John Cena, Michael Cera. Director and co-writer Gerwig takes a doll Barbie (Robbie) into the real world to find her owner, whose sadness is spreading to Barbieland. Robbie’s disappointed how feminism and equality are going, but Ken (Gosling) is geeked for patriarchy. Always fun, usually smart, beautifully executed, with some outstanding musical numbers. Good to excellent performances abound. It’s a great…
It's Saturday Morning, and while you're waiting for TV to 'start', here's a collection of highlights from the archives including Bob Fischer and Chris Shaw on Looks Unfamiliar and thoughts on The Flashing Blade, Blue Jam and Zokko!...
The trailer for the upcoming Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2027) contains a classic investigation wall. ▲ Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2027), trailer ▲ Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (Naughty Dog/Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2027), trailer ▲ Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (Naughty Dog/Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2027), trailer
2026/07/15: Today Dona Lupa is receiving her biweekly (every 14 days) IV fluid therapy.
Mary Shelley must be rolling in her grave, what with two big-screen flicks interpreting her
Art by Bryan Hitch (Hawkman) and Stanley Lau (Supergirl) Back in February of 2019, the Hawkman series by Robert Venditti revealed a former life of Hawkman, and it wasn't just any random character. This character was Catar-Ol, a Kryptonian who was living on Krypton at the time of its destruction. He appeared in a few comics during the next two or three years, but he has not been seen since 2022. Still, he was given a pretty important background. Hawkman Vol. V No. 1 (August 2018)He actually made…
After 15 years of training by the mysterious Yun Tai sect, Yun Xiang leaves to seek revenge for his massacred family. What he lacks in martial arts skills, he compensates by his huge intellect and ability to manipulate people to fulfill his plans. On his journey, he meets several people who would become his friends: Shu Yanan, a fierce female warrior, Jin Biao a master swordsman for hire, Su Ming Yu, a rich kid with martial arts skills and dreams of wandering around the jianghu like a hero. As…
