Cowboy Church #269

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing The Lord is Counting on You. This song is directed heavily at the duo's younger fans and is about the importance of Sunday school. This is appropriate because Roy had long been an advocate for Sunday School. In the early 1940's the rules for the Roy Rogers Riders Club included "love god and go to Sunday school regularly." This rule is especially interesting considering that it was before Roy gave his life fully to the Lord. After that of course his support for Sunday school grew even stronger. One time when he and Dale where taking part in a rodeo at Madison Garden, Roy spoke to his audience, "I heard some kid say it is sissy stuff to go to Sunday school. Don't you believe him. Sunday school is for he-men."

This is followed by Dailey and Vincent with Don't You Want to Go to Heaven. 

Afterwards is Porter Wagoner and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet with I'm Going That Way. This comes from their 1968 gospel album, In Gospel Country. 

Next is Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys with Shouting on the Hills of Glory. This comes from the 1973 bluegrass gospel album, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys Sing Gospel Echoes of the Stanley Brothers. 

 Willie Nelson is of course everybody's favorite hippie-cowboy and up next is a very hippie-cowboy style song, The Troublemaker. This song points out that Jesus didn't simply fit the way many people try to conform him to be in their minds to fit their political and personal views and that hatred of those we don't agree with is something very unchristian. Though this song is in many ways very much of its time, there are ways in which it is still relevant to us today as we remember that Jesus Christ himself was countercultural. 

Next is The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1948 recording of The Touch of God's Hand. This song was written by one of the group's founding members (and one of my favorite songwriters), Bob Nolan.

Then comes Jim and Jessie with It's a Lonesome Road. This comes from their 1968 gospel album, The Lonesome Road. 

Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash (backed by The Carter Family and The Statler Brothers) with No Need to Worry. This version of the song comes from a televised 1971 concert in Denmark with Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins. 

Now for the 13th episode of The Lone Ranger TV series. 

The Exhibitor, 1956

Now for a message from the reverend Billy Graham. 

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

2 Let Israel say:

    “His love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say:

    “His love endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the Lord say:

    “His love endures forever.”

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;

    he brought me into a spacious place.

6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

    What can mere mortals do to me?

7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.

    I look in triumph on my enemies.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

    than to trust in humans.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

    than to trust in princes.

10 All the nations surrounded me,

    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

11 They surrounded me on every side,

    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

12 They swarmed around me like bees,

    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;

    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

13 I was pushed back and about to fall,

    but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my defense;

    he has become my salvation.

15 Shouts of joy and victory

    resound in the tents of the righteous:

“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!

16     The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;

    the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”

17 I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

18 The Lord has chastened me severely,

    but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;

    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord

    through which the righteous may enter.

21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

    you have become my salvation.

22 The stone the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

23 the Lord has done this,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 The Lord has done it this very day;

    let us rejoice today and be glad.

25 Lord, save us!

    Lord, grant us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

    From the house of the Lord we bless you.

27 The Lord is God,

    and he has made his light shine on us.

With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession

    up to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will praise you;

    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Resources Used

Angel Unaware by Dale Evans Rogers 

The Life of Roy Rogers by Charles River Editors 

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #282

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with the Terry Toons cartoon, The Golden Hen (1946). This short film stars Gandy Goose and Sourpuss. The goose and cat duo were teamed in a series of cartoons and like many of cartoon characters of the era, their voices were inspired by famous personalities of the time. Gandy Goose was based off the radio comedian Ed Wynn and Sourpuss is based off of Jimmy Durante. The two provide a great contrast with each other making their shorts still a lot of fun today. The film was directed by Mannie Davis. Mannie Davis was not only a prolific Terry Toons director, but he was also the big brother of Looney Tunes director Art Davis. 

Next comes the Merrie Melodies cartoon, I Like Mountain Music (1933). This short film is the first in a series of Warner Brothers cartoons where objects come to life in a store at night. Like many Merrie Melodies of the time, this cartoon was based off a song that Warner Brothers owned. The title song was written by James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon. These two also collaborated on such songs as Christmas in Killarney and Thirty-Two Feet and Eight Little Tails. James Cavanaugh was also a writer on the song You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You, which was a hit for both Nat King Cole and Dean Martin. 

Now for the Famous Studios cartoon, The Bored Cuckoo (1948). This short film was directed by Bill Tytla, a former Disney animator who had done some fantastic work on the Disney features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941). 

Up next is one of the best post golden age Looney Tunes cartoons, Box Office Bunny (1991). This short film played before the feature film The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1991) in movie theaters. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for the Fleischer Screen Songs cartoon, Little Annie Rooney (1931). Be sure to sing along with the bouncing ball. 

Next, we join Little Lulu in Beau Ties (1945). This delightfully cynical cartoon is one of my favorite Little Lulu shorts. 

Now for a charming Disney Silly Symphony cartoon, Lullaby Land (1933). Like most Disney films of this era, Lullaby Land benefits from a very strong cast of animators. Ham Luske animates the baby at home in his cradle and the baby and the dog with the Sandman. Art Babbitt animated the baby and his dog in the Land of Nowhere. Dick Humuer animates the baby with the matches and the Bogey Men.  As was often the case at this time Ben Sharpsteen lead a crew of junior animators, some of whom would go on to do great things. These junior animators included Leonard Sebring (medium close up of the parade), Roy Williams (bottles of castor oil; potty chair; curling irons), Louie Schmitt (baby and do playing leapfrog; baby breaking the watch), Ed Love (the knife and pruning shears; the scissors family; the fountain pens), Marvin Woodward (the baby and do watching a fight; the dog with a pincushion) and Bob Kuwahara (the flowers going to sleep). The story outline was done in March 1933. The layout work (by Charles Philippi, Hugh Hennesy and Ferinand Horvath) was done from April 10 to May 11, 1933. The animation was done from May 2 to June 27, 1933. The film was copyrighted on July 29, 1933. The negative cost of this film was $13,071.52. To show how these shorts film became increasingly more expensive to make, The Skeleton Dance (1929), Disney's first Silly Symphony's negative cost was $5,485.40. At the New York Radio City Music Hall Lullaby Land ran from August 31 to September 6, 1933, with the feature film One Man's Journey (1933) starring Lionel Barrymore. An issue of The Film Daily (dated October 6, 1933) stated, "United Artists worked out an effective tie-up with Gimbel Brothers and the Radio City Music Hall during the showing of Walt Disney's Silly Symphony, 'Lullaby Land' at the Music Hall. Gimbel's devoted a window display to a series of original drawings from 'Lullaby Land,' together with a blow-up in color of one of the scenes from the picture. This blow-up was used as a background for nursery merchandise. The department store also used a newspaper advertisement that was virtually an advertisement for 'Lullaby Land' and the Music Hall. 'Roxy' used several of the originals from 'Lullaby Land' in the Music Hall lobby, and a card calling attention to the display at Gimbel's. This marks the first time the Roxy has ever given a store credit in the lobby of the Music Hall." The film made its TV debut on an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 26, 1956. I never saw this cartoon as a kid, but I think it is quite possible it would have given kid me bad dreams. Hopefully you all sleep well tonight. 

Now to close with a song.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Movie Review: Pressure

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A- 

A wonderful WW2 drama. 

While there have been quite a few movies about D-Day, Pressure stands out as unique among them. That is because this film does not tell the story of the young men fighting. Rather it tells about the planning that went on before D-Day could happen. Doing this it focuses on an element of D-Day that most of us have never thought of before, the weather. When reading a history book, the idea of how the weather was such a deciding factor into this attack may not enter many of our minds. Because of this, the movie does what any film based off a famous historical event should do. This is to make us think about a part of history we are familiar with in a new light. I certainly did that here and for that I am grateful. 

Though Brendan Fraser is getting the most praise for his performance as Dwight D. Eisenhower is getting the most praise for his performance, this film has a fantastic cast all around. Andrew Scott as meteorologist James Stagg is very compelling and in one scene, he fully breaks your heart. Kerry Condon as Eisenhower's right-hand woman also deserves to be called out for her great performance. In this movie, you forget that you are looking at actors and feel like you are watching real history. 

Yet the real star of this movie is the writing. Director Anthony Maras (Hotel Mumbai) and David Haig (who wrote the stage play this was based on (and played Stagg in the play version)) crafted a wonderful script. This is a very dialogue heavy film, so if the script fell short the whole movie would fail. Luckily the script works marvelously. The dialogue is so good and compelling that you hardly think about how this war movie has so little action in it. The script also allows each of our major characters a chance to shine without ever distracting from the real story the movie is about. 

I know this may seem like a strange compliant, but I found the use of archival real war footage to be distracting. There was so much of a visual contrast between this footage and the rest of the movie, that it took me out of the film. It reminded me that the rest of the film was a movie and not real footage of the actual people, something I was able to forget about for most of the movie. 

All in all, this is an excellent film and a must watch for any interested in WW2 or simply a very well written and acted film.  

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A really fun adventure movie. 

This movie is a continuation of the Disney+ streaming series, The Mandalorian. Its TV origins are easy to see. Rather than some big event featuring a massive story, this feels like a multiple part episode of a TV show. This is felt by how this movie doesn't focus on a story involving the entire galaxy but rather simply on our two main characters. This does have its advantages though. It allows this film to focus more on being a fun adventure than feeling like part of a big saga. Because of this I had more fun watching this movie than I had at many recent Star Wars films. The original Star Wars was George Lucas' tribute to the old Flash Gordon movie serials and classic B-Westerns (with that in mind it is appropriate that wearing the Mandalorian armor (even if Pedro Pascal is providing the voice) in many scenes is John Wayne's grandson Brendan Wayne). This movie comes closer to capturing that feeling than any recent Star Wars movie has. As an adventure film, this movie is a lot of fun. The action scenes are top notch, and they actually manage to get more exciting with one. Each planet our characters visit is excellently designed, pulling you further into the world of the film. The filmmakers also know exactly when to use humor. There are some really funny moments here but there is enough space between them to keep the movie from becoming a joke itself.

However, the greatest thing about this movie is the relationship between the title characters. There is a father and son relationship between them that is actually really sweet. Because of this you care about these characters and what happens to them. This also allows the film to insert heartwarming and touching moments without becoming overly sentimental. 

I also want to praise this film for having Grogu be a puppet throughout rather than CGI. This not only makes the character feel more real, but it also gives the film an old school feel that is perfect for this type of old-fashioned adventure story. 

What keeps this movie from getting a higher grade is that the villains are very bland and forgettable. This is where the TV origins hurt the film. These are simple and forgettable villains of a week that may work in TV episodes but don't feel worthy of a feature film. This is especially true once you consider that this is from the franchise that gave us Darth Vader. 

While this may not be on the same level as the original trilogy, it is a fun adventure film that makes for a delightful trip to the movies.   

  

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011)

 

This direct to video animated film is perhaps the best Green Lantern movie. 

Unlike most of the direct to video DC animated movies, instead of telling one story, this is an anthology film. The connecting story has the Green Lantern Corps about to fight against the powerful anti-matter entity Krona. When new recruit Arisia Rrab is nervous and admits she doesn't feel worthy of being a Green Lantern, Hal Jordon tells her the story of Avra, one of the first four Green Lanterns and how he doubted his abilities as well. After this story, the two run into drill sergeant Kilowog and this leads to the story of Kilowog's trainer. After this story they run into Green Lantern Laira and Hal Jordon tells the story of her first mission. After this story the Green Lantern Mogo is mentioned, leading Hal Jordon to tell the story of Mogo. As the battle starts Arisia Rrab is told a story of former Green Lantern Abin Sur. 

By virtue of this film's format as a collection of stories about various Green Lanterns, it is able to accomplish what no other Green Lantern movie has been able to. That is to create a feeling of the film taking place in a massive universe. The scale of this movie is larger than life. By exploring so many different facets of this universe, the worldbuilding here is phenomenal. Like in the best sci-fi movies, the universe shown here feels completely real to its audience. After watching this, you will want to watch and read more Green Lantern stories to explore this world even further. At the same time, giving focus on so different many characters, helps us appreciate the Green Lantern Corps as a group of individuals as well as a powerful team. You see how each member brings something different to the table and how each individual is important to the strength of the Corps. 

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Besides just this each of the stories are very effective in their own right. Some of these stories are fun, some add to the lore of the Green Lanterns, and some are quite emotional. Yet each one does exactly what it sets out to do. My favorite of these stories is Laira's story, which mixes a real emotional story with great action. Speaking of great action this whole movie is full of fantastic action scenes. These scenes are larger than life and quite exciting. The connecting story is just as strong as the shorter stories, especially with how much of the threat the villain is. 

The segments The First Lantern and Abin Sur were directed by Christopher Berkeley. Berkeley has worked as a storyboard artist on many of these DC direct to video animated movies as well as some of the direct to video Scooby-Doo films. As a director he worked on such TV series as Godzilla the Series, Jackie Chan Adventures, The Batman and Ben 10: Omniverse. He also directed the direct to video movie, Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword (2009) and co-directed Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham (2023). 

The First Lantern segment is written by Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim. Michael Green is a prolific screenwriter. He has written for such movies as Green Lantern (2011), Logan (2017), Alien: Covenant (2017), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Call of the Wild (2020), Jungle Cruise (2021), Death on the Nile (2022) and A Haunting in Venice (2023). Marc Guggenheim has written for many DC comics TV shows including Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Vixen, Supergirl and Justice League Action. He was also a writer on the feature film, Green Lantern (2011). 

The Abin Sur segment was written by prolific and influential comic book writer Geoff Johns. 

The Kilowog segment and the connecting story were directed by Lauren Montgomery, one of my favorite DC animation directors. Lauren has worked as a storyboard artist on most of these DC Comics direct to video movies (and some of the Marvel ones as well) as well as such DC TV shows as Justice League Unlimited, Legion of Superheroes, Young Justice and Batman: Brave and the Bold. She may be the best director of these direct to video movies, having directed such films as Superman: Doomsday (2007), Wonder Woman (2009), Green Lantern: First Flight (2009), Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010), Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010), Batman: Year One (2011) and Justice League: Doom (2012). 

The Kilowog segment was written by Peter Tomasi, a prolific comic book editor and writer, who began working at DC in 1993. 

The connecting story was written by Geoff Johns and Alan Burnett. Alan Burnett was a very prolific and influential animation writer and producer who worked on such animated TV shows as The Smurfs, Duck Tales, Batman: The Animated Series, Freakazoid, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Ozzie and Drix, Krypto the Superdog and The Batman as well as many of the direct to video animated DC and Scooby-Doo movies. 

The segments Mogo Doesn't Socialize and Laria were directed by Jay Oliva. He directed many of the direct to video DC and Marvel movies as well as episodes of the great animated TV series Young Justice. He also worked as a storyboard artist on many superhero films, both animated and live action. This even includes such popular movies as Ant-Man (2015), Deadpool (2016) and Wonder Woman (2017). 

The Mogo Doesn't Socialize segment was written by comic book writer Dave Gibbons. Comic book writer Eddie Berganza wrote the Laria segment. 

This is one of my favorite direct to video animated DC movies. 

 

Movie Review: I Love Boosters

 

Michael's Movie Grade: D-

An unfunny and obnoxious satire.

In this film, a group of women rob clothing stores and sell the clothes they steal at discount prices calling it a community service. When a clothes designer insults them on TV, they set out for personal vengeance. 

This is a strong premise that is capable of being either a fun heist film or a biting political commentary. While there are moments of both shown here, they are ultimately drowned out by an overabundance of absurdist comedy. Making this worse is that none of the humor is actually funny. Writer/director Boots Riley's approach to comedy here is to simply throw everything including the kitchen sink at the audience. The result is a film that is bizarre and surreal but never actually funny. It seems like we are supposed to find these moments funny simply because of how weird and over the top they are. It sadly does not work this way, and I did not laugh once watching this movie. The audience in the theater with me laughed a few times but were silent through most of the movie. This is a problem when there is an absurd gag nearly every second. Neither is this comedy ever well utilized in the story or the political commentary. Often times humor can make a political point stronger by pointing out the absurdity of what is happening in the world. That is definitely not the case here. The absurdist humor has little to do with the political message and more often simply distracts from it. Sometimes it seems like just when the movie is actually going to say something worthwhile, it instead hints at something profound before going back to the unrelated absurdist humor. The few times it actually says something, there is no subtlety or nuance to the way the message is conveyed. 

Another major flaw of this film is that Boots Riley seems more interested in ideas than characters or story. It doesn’t matter if these are political ideas or ideas for gags, they still take precedence over telling a good (or even coherent) story or having engrossing characters. As such it is hard to muster any emotional connection to anything happening onscreen, 

I loved Boots Riley's first movie Sorry to Bother You (2018). That movie was smart, thought-provoking, funny and wildly funny. Sadly, his sophomore effort is none of those things.    

Cowboy Church #269

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Have You Read the Bible Today. It is important for each of us to read our Bible each and every day. The Bible is not just some book, it is the living breathing word of God. It is easy for our faith and Christian walk to become idle and stagnant and the easiest way for this to happen is to simply not read our Bible. Taking some time each day to read the Bible is the best way for our faith and our walk with God to continue growing and maturing.  This recording is the B-side of a 1955 Little Golden Record by Roy and Dale. The A-side was The Bible Tells Me So. 

This is followed by Dailey and Vincent with Moes Smote the Water. 

Afterwards is The Cox Family with There Will Be Singing. 

Then comes Ricky Skaggs with Won't it Be Wonderful There. This song was written by James Rowe in 1930. James Rowe had written thousands of hymns including some beloved classics like Love Lifted Me and If I could Hear My Mother Pray Again. This recording comes from Ricky Skaggs' 1982 album, Friends and Family. 

Next is the Sons of the Pioneers with their 1948 recording of The Touch of God's Hand. This song was written by one of the band's forming members and one of my personal favorite songwriters, Bob Nolan. 

Now for Johnny Cash with These Things Shall Pass. This song comes from his incredible 1959 album, Hymns by Johnny Cash. This was Johnny's second album at Columbia records. Earlier he had worked for Sun records where the producer Sam Phillips wouldn't let Johnny make a gospel album feeling gospel music was not making money in the way that rock and roll or country could. Johnny had dreamed of being a gospel singer for a long time, so he made sure to make a gospel album not long after leaving Sun. So, it is true to say that Hymns by Johnny Cash was a true passion project for John.

Today's musical selection ends with Hank Snow with Invisible Hands. This song comes from Hank Snow's 1965 gospel album, Gloryland March. 

Now for a message from S.M. Lockridge. 

Now for the 12th episode of TV's The Lone Ranger.

Psalm 57

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam. When he had fled from Saul into the cave.

1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,

    for in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

    until the disaster has passed.

2 I cry out to God Most High,

    to God, who vindicates me.

3 He sends from heaven and saves me,

    rebuking those who hotly pursue me—

    God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

4 I am in the midst of lions;

    I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

    whose tongues are sharp swords.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

    let your glory be over all the earth.

6 They spread a net for my feet—

    I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path—

    but they have fallen into it themselves.

7 My heart, O God, is steadfast,

    my heart is steadfast;

    I will sing and make music.

8 Awake, my soul!

    Awake, harp and lyre!

    I will awaken the dawn.

9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

    I will sing of you among the peoples.

10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;

    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

    let your glory be over all the earth.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.