Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Monday, January 19, 2026
Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
This direct to video animated movie marked the first feature film based on the DC Comics character, Green Lantern and predates the characters big screen debut in Green Lantern (2011).
In this film, test pilot Hal Jordan is chosen by a Green Lantern ring when Green Lantern Abin Sur dies. With this he becomes the first Earth inhabitant to become a Green Lantern. When he is taken to the Green Lantern Corps, the Green Lanterns from other planets are distrustful of him. Yet he is put under the watchful eye of Sinestro (from the planet Korugar), who trains him how to be a Green Lantern. However, Hal learns that Sinestro is planning to overthrow the Corps and 8), Hal must stop the villain.
This is a delightful sci-fi adventure. The worlds it takes us to are extremely atmospheric and believable. Even the worlds we only see for a short time are very well detailed and fun. The artwork is fantastic. The background art creates a larger than life feel that is perfect for this type of sci-fi story. The designs of the various beings are delightfully creative and fun. The action scenes are exciting and very well paced and animated. Hal is a very likable hero. Though he has a little bit of an ego, he in many ways is exactly what a hero should be. He is brave, smart, knows how to hold himself back and always does whatever he can to help anyone in trouble.
This movie benefits from a very strong villain. Sinestro is a complex and well written character. We understand where he is coming from and there are many points with which we are inclined to agree with him. Though his reasons are not evil, his methods are deplorable. We at first find ourselves on his side, until he tortures multiple beings in order to get information out of them. He strongly believes that any means are worth the ideals and those means get increasingly disturbing as the film continues. From this we understand how he transitioned from someone who felt disillusioned by the Green Lantern Corps to a full evil supervillain. He also works because he feels like a massive threat to our heroes.
Like many of these animated DC movies, this film has one major flaw. That is its length. At only 77 minutes, this film is much shorter than it should be. The start of this film is especially rushed. We barely get to see Hal in his civilian life. We also never get to see him get used to his powers. We see him get the ring and next time we see him, he knows how to use it almost perfectly. This short runtime also makes it so the rather large supporting cast remains underdeveloped.
This film's director was Lauren Montgomery, who 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), Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010), Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010), Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011), Batman: Year One (2011) and Justice League: Doom (2012).
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Cowboy Church #252
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing Sweet Hour of Prayer. Prayer is one of the important parts of a Christians life but it also something that many Christians don't spend enough time doing. I admit myself to having been guilty of prayer far less than I should. Yet talking to the God of the universe is an incredible privilege we have and one of the greatest blessings in our lives.
This is followed by Tex Ritter with I Leaned on a Man. Tex recorded this song on January 15, 1957, and it was released with Children and Fools as its B-Side. The song had appeared the same year in the western movie, The Big Land (1957) where it was sung by Bonnie Lou Williams, who was dubbing for Virigina Mayo. The song was written by Leonard Rosenman and Wayne Shanklin.
Afterwards is Mississippi John Hurt with Praying on the Old Camp Ground. He recorded this song on December 28, 1928.
Next, we join The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1949 recording of Cowboy Camp Meeting. This song was written by one of the group's founding members Tim Spencer.
Then comes Red Sovine with Where Will I Shelter My Sheep. This comes from his 1968 gospel album, Sunday with Sovine.
Afterwards is Tompall Glaser and Clint Miller with Glory Train to Heaven.
Now for Johnny Cash with Wings in the Morning. This wonderful recording comes from John's 1979 album; A Believer Sings the Truth. This was a double length gospel album and Columbia Records felt that such an album from John could never be successful. However, Columbia allowed John to release the album on its own and it was successful earning a spot in the Country Top 50. A shorter version of the album called I Believe would be released in 1984, which would feature a select few songs from the double album. A Believer Sings the Truth would not find its way to CD until 2012.
Today's musical selection ends with Susan Raye with Precious Memories. Though this is a sweet uplifting song, it was based upon a tragedy. In 1922, John Wright lost his five-year-old son. Wright would later say about this song, “’Precious Memories’ was born in the midnight hours as I bathed by pillow with tears, likewise all my songs came through life’s severest tests.” Though this is a very famous hymn, John Wright only received $36 for writing it. He would remain a janitor that was always struggling to make ends meet for his entire life. This version comes from the 1973 gospel album, Hymns by Susan Raye.
Today's movie is Headin' for the Rio Grande (1936) starring Tex Ritter.
Now for a message from the Reverend Billy Graham.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Saturday, January 17, 2026
What a College Student thinks about The Big Parade
King Vidor's The Big Parade (1925) is one of the great achievements of the silent screen and one of the greatest war movies ever made. It was a massive hit in its time, both critically and financially and it holds up incredibly well today. Why read about what I have to say about the film though? Why not instead read about what a college student of the 1920's has to say about it? It was the kind of production that appealed to the undergrad after all.
The following is from an issue of Screenland Magazine (dated May 1926). If you have trouble reading the following pages, click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
King Vidor is one of my favorite directors of all time. His films span many different genres, but he masters each one perfectly. Here is a page from a December 1925 issue of The Motion Picture Director that shows how appreciated him and The Big Parade were.
Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #264
Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Magoo's Three Point Landing (1958). This short benefits from some strong animation. Maurie Faigin animates the opening scene. Ed Freidman animates a lengthy scene (which is also one of the movie's highlights) were Magoo hitchhikes. Barney Posner also gets some great scenes animating Magoo driving through the airplane garage and arguing with the people therein, as well as the two pilots. Speaking of the two pilots notice that one is named Sully and is known for his "emergency landings." One of them also is voiced by Daws Butler doing a voice that sounds like The Huckleberry Hound Show's Mr. Jinx.
Up next is Mighty Mouse in The First Snow (1947). About Mighty Mouse, producer Paul Terry would state, "If you go back through history, when a person is down and there's no more hope you say, 'It's in God's hands now.' ... So, taking that as a basis, I'd only have to get the mice in a tough spot and they say, 'isn't there some one who can help?' 'Yes, there is someone; its Mighty Mouse!' So down from the heavens he'd come ... and lick the evil spirit, or whatever it was, and everything was serene again. It was a pattern-made thing." Mighty Mouse didn't always just protect mice though. In this film, he protects some bunny rabbits. In his landmark book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons Leonard Maltin writes, "Thus, any idea that was really good had to seem as if it came directly from Terry. So, when Klein proposed a spoof of the newly popular Superman character using a fly, Terry heard him out and dismissed the idea. A short time later he brought it up again, as if he conceived the whole thing, but in Terry's version the fly became a mouse." To be fair the idea of a super powered mouse is more endearing than that of a super powered fly.
Now for the Fox and the Crow in Foxy Flatfoots (1946). This short film was directed by Bob Wickersham, a former Disney animator who had worked on some of the classic Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons of the 1930's as well as some of the studio's early animated feature films.
For anyone interested in movie history, many of the Disney cartoons of the 1920's are essential watching. The reason for this is that many of them are directed by Walt himself. All of us know Walt Disney as a producer, a studio head, a TV personality and one of the movies' greatest ambassadors, however in these short films we get to see him in the director's chair. Next, we have one of the cartoons he directed, El Terrible Toreador (1929). This movie marked the second Silly Symphony cartoon and the first one directed by Walt. As with many early Disney films, this cartoon features many gags that go against the rules put in place in the later Disney cartoons. For instance, the later films would not allow body parts to detach or stretch to impossible lengths. Yet in this movie, both of those are common sights. There are also some somewhat risqué gags that wouldn't fit with Disney's later squeaky-clean image. Despite this only being the second Silly Symphony, the series already boasts an incredible cast of animators. Ub Iwerks (Walt's right-hand man and one of the main influences on the early Disney style) animates the bullfighting scenes and supervised the work of the other animators. Burt Gillet (who would go on to direct many great Mickey Mouse cartoons as well as The Three Little Pigs (1933)) animates the meeting of Carmen and Don Jose. Wilfred Jackson (who would direct some of the best Silly Symphonies and be one of the directors of features like Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953) and Lady And the Tramp (1955)) animates Carmen's dance. Les Clark (one of the best Mickey animators and one of Walt's nine old men) animates a close-up of Don Jose. Jack King (who would direct some excellent Donald Duck cartoons) animates Escamillo confronting Don Jose. Ben Sharpsteen (who would be the supervising director for Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941)) animates the introduction to the bullfighting scene. Animation for this film was done from July through August of 1929. The sound was recorded on August 12, 1929. The film was delivered in September 1929. The cartoon had its theatrical debut at the George M. Cohan (in New York) on September 13, 1929, where it played alongside the Frank Capra directed feature, Flight (1929).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Animation fans know director Friz Freleng as a master of timing and very few comedy cartoons have come close to the perfect comedy timing of his films. This can especially be seen in his cartoon, Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943). This in my mind is one of his funniest films and just a pure delight. Despite the title, this film does not have a parotitic theme or revolve around U.S. history. With the James Cagney feature, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) having come out the year before, this pun was probably just too good for the filmmakers to pass up. As I have spoken about Friz earlier look for a portrait of him in Porky's office. A review in The Motion Picture Daily calls this film a "Pleasant little subject." The following are Exhibitor's reviews from The Motion Picture Herald. "YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoons—This studio's cartoons lately seem to be either exiciptionally good or exceptionally bad. This is downright terrible. - W. Verricks Nevins, III, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred N.Y." "YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoons—Good cartoon, but where does it get its name? - Ralph Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesdale, W. Va." "YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoons - Average color cartoon. - E.M. Freiburger, Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla."
Next comes The New Three Stooges cartoon, Bee My Honey (1965). The Stooges voiced themselves in this TV cartoon.
Now for the Talkartoons cartoon, Sky Scraping (1930).
Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Punching Bag (1988). This is one of the shorts made for The Tracey Ullman Show before the animated family got their own TV series.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin
Friday, January 16, 2026
Movie Review: All You Need is Kill
Michael's Movie Grade: B
A true visual feast.
This anime film starts with a young girl, who dies with many others due to an unleashing of killer alien plants. She then wakes up and is forced to live the same day again in a Groundhogs Day type of situation.
First off, this movie is a true visual spectacle in the best sense of the word. Mixing hand drawn and computer animation, this film has a truly unique and exciting look. The designs of the characters and the world are full of pure creativity. The action scenes are some of the most incredible looking I have ever seen in an animated movie.
These action scenes are also very exciting. They are incredibly well paced and constantly build up to something bigger with each one, which keeps them for becoming as repetitive as they might with such a storyline.
The storyline may borrow from films we have seen before, but it offers some very clever and creative twists on these ideas, making them feel new and fresh.
The problem with this movie though is with its fast pace and short runtime, the characters (while likable) are too simplistic. We simply never get to know anything beyond surface level about them.
Despite some flaws in characterization, this is a fun, exciting and fresh movie.
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Movie Review: Is This Thing On?
Michael's Movie Grade: B+
An excellent dramedy.
This movie follows a man going through a separation from his wife. During this time, he tries his hand at doing stand-up comedy, which proves to be very therapeutic for him.
What makes this film work is just how real it feels. Director/co-writer Bradley Cooper (who also plays a supporting role in the movie) along with his co-writers Will Arnet (also the film's star) and Mark Chappell (who wrote the very fun comedic whodunit See How They Run (2022)) keep this movie quite grounded in reality. The main character doesn't just step on stage and become a massive success. He still keeps his day job and most of his performances are at open mic nights. This not only keeps the story grounded but it helps because this movie is not about the career of a stand-up comedian but rather how doing this helps him make it through a very hard time in his life. If people like his act is secondary to what is inwardly happening to the man on stage. Adding to how real this movie feels are the two main characters. Both these characters are extremely well developed with personalities that reach far beyond what we usually see in romantic films. Important for a movie like this the two characters (played by Will Arnet and Laura Dern) also work together extremely well. We completely believe their relationship. We understand and can see how these two fell in love, while also see and understand what is making them drift apart after all these years. How real the scenes feel between them makes many scenes feel uncomfortable to watch, as they leave a real emotional impact on the viewer. The whole movie has the feel of not watching a movie but instead getting a private peek into the lives of real people.
As a dramedy this movie is sporadically funny. Many of the stand-up scenes are truly hilarious. As crude as they get, they made me laugh quite a bit. However, once we get away from the stand-up stage, the humor falls flat much more often.
The weakest part of this movie though is the supporting characters. We barely spend any time with the kids and by the end we still don't know anything about them. The main couple's best friends are not very interesting and at times annoying. Whenever the focus drifted to them, I was hoping it would drift back away again soon. While I cared deeply about the main characters' marriage, these two's marriage never felt real enough for me to truly believe.
Despite any flaws, this is a deeply moving and quite intelligent movie.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Movie Review: No Other Choice (Eojjeolsuga eobsda)
Michael's Movie Grade: A-
A brilliant dark comedy from Korea.
This movie tells the story of a man who was fired from his job and is struggling to support his family. When he applies for a job in his field of expertise, he tries to kill all the other applicants so that he will certainly get the job.
What makes this movie work so well are the early scenes. Not only do they set up that this character has an idyllic life, but they also make the character very likable. When he loses his job, we empathize with him. As he descends into a darker frame of mind, it is done in such a gradual way that we are going through the emotions with him. This shows perfectly how there are people that are normal people that we would be glad to have as friends but who when the tide turns against them can show a dark side, we never knew they had. It also shows how corporate greed and the difficulty to make it in a money hungry world can so easily push these people past their breaking point. This makes everything here seem all too real and relatable. Yet director/co-writer Park Chan-wook is a master at dark comedy. To keep this movie from getting too disturbing to enjoy, he places a lot of that dark comedy throughout the film. Thus, we are laughing at the absurdity of what we are seeing, while we are also horrified by how real it is. This is shown perfectly in the first murder scene. As dark as the subject matter is, it is played almost as a slapstick comedy with how ineptly it goes. The dark subject matter makes our need to laugh all the more urgent and we laugh louder because of it.
Usually, these types of movies focus only on the main character while making that character's family bland and forgettable. Yet here the wife and kids are also very well fleshed out. This is especially true for the young daughter, whose storyline is surprisingly touching.
This film also benefits from a great ending that is in equal parts, disturbing, funny and touching.
This is another great movie from Park Chan-wook.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
As early as October 2011 (before the first Avengers film was even released), head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige mentioned that there were plans for a second Avengers movie. In May 2012 Head of Disney Bob Iger officially announced that the sequel was happening. In August 2012. it was confirmed the Joss Whedon would return to direct the sequel. About doing the sequel Whedon stated, "I have to make my movie assuming that people will only have seen the first one, or possibly not even seen the first one. I can't assume that everybody went to see Thor [The Dark World], Captain America [The Winter Soldier], and Iron Man [3] in-between. I have to go from one movie to the next and be true to what's happened, but not be slavish to it [...] The model I'm always trying to build from, my guiding star, is The Godfather Part II where a ton has happened in-between and it's a very different movie [from The Godfather], but you don't need any information: it's there in the film."
In this film, because of the events in the previous film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) create a program they call Ultron to keep the world safe from all threats. Ultron (James Spader) though takes on a robotic body and decides that Earth would be safer without humans in it. The Avengers (Downey, Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johanson, Jermey Reyner, Chris Hemsworth) must team up again to stop Ultron. Meanwhile Ultron convinces two super powered twins to help him, Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
This is an excellent film and one of the most underrated MCU films. What this movie does extremely well is to raise the stakes from the first film. The danger feels much more real and present here and therefore the suspense is also raised. The main reason for this is the main villain. Ultron is a truly wonderful villain. Not only does he feel like a major threat to our heroes, but he also is a very compelling character. The very premise of a program created by the Avengers taking on a life of its own yet becoming the enemy of the Avengers is already a compelling one. The way Ultron views the world and the Avengers is quite well-written. While his point of view is warped, you can still understand where he comes from. What also makes this character compelling is how it takes on characteristics of Tony Stark himself. His jokes and snarky attitude sound like Tony Stark because he was created by Stark. Frankly watching what is essentially an evil Iron Man makes for fun watching but it also gives us a greater understanding of the dark side of Tony. The twins he gets to help him, don't get enough screentime to develop as strong of personalities but they are very effective as threats. We can easily see how Scarlet Witch's powers can tear apart the Avengers from the inside and what she does to our main heroes obviously leaves emotional wounds that can't be healed easily. As well as this the movie also does a great job of exploring who our heroes are and what makes them tick. The characters are much more emotionally vulnerable here and this makes them feel much more real to us. The movie also does an especially great job of giving us a better glimpse of who Hawkeye is (as we didn't get to know much about him in the previous movie) and why a guy who shoots arrows is so important to a team that literally has a god on it. This movie also benefits from very strong action sequences that even top those in the first movie.
Unlike the previous movie where the humor hit constantly, here it is a bit hit and miss. There are moments here that are legitimately quite funny (I especially love the elevator joke towards the end). However, there are also times when it can fall completely flat. There are quite a few forced quips here that feel like they are simply there because they are expected. This makes some of the humor lose the natural feel it had in the first movie.
Chief among the flaws is that the romantic relationship between Hulk and Black Widow, doesn't work. It feels forced, bland and quite undeveloped. The plot also can rely too much on supposedly smart characters acting dumb simply because the plot says they should.
The movie was a financial success grossing $1.403 billion worldwide making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2015. On its opening weekend alone, it grossed $392.5 million making it the seventh largest ever opening weekend.
Critically it received quite mixed reviews. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Although this movie is effective moment to moment, very little of it lingers in the mind afterward. The ideal vehicle for our age of immediate sensation and instant gratification, it disappears without a trace almost as soon as it's consumed." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stated, ""Age of Ultron is a whole summer of fireworks packed into one movie. It doesn't just go to 11, it starts there. [Joss Whedon] takes a few wrong turns, creating a jumble when the action gets too thick. But he recovers like a pro, devising a spectacle that's epic in every sense of the word." Richard Rooper gave the movie three and a half out of four stars stating, "Someday, an Avengers film might collapse under the weight of its own awesomeness. I mean, how many times can they save the world? But this is not that day."
This movie introduced Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Quick Silver (although Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver had a tiny cameo in the post credits scene in Captain America: The Winter Solider (2014)) and Vision to the MCU. Ultron was first introduced to the comics in Avengers #54 (July 1968). In the comics he was created by Hank Pym not Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Vision was introduced in the comics not much later. He first appeared in Avengers #57 (October 1968) in the comics he was originally created by Ultron to trap the Avengers. However, he would have a change of heart and end up joining the Avengers. Him and Scarlett Witch would have a romantic relationship both in the movies and the comics. Scarlet Witch made her first comic book appearance in X-Men #4 (March 1964). Quick Silver also first appeared in the same issue. Though both Quick Silver and Scarlet Witch have strong ties to the X-Men, at the time this film was being made, 20th Century Fox had the film rights for the X-Men. Because of this for the MCU, their origin stories were changed to fit into a Marvel Universe without the X-Men. In the comics Quick Silver and Scarlet Witch joined the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965).
Resources Used
The Marvel Encyclopedia published by DK Books
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/avengers-sequel-comic-con-mark-ruffalo-249014/
https://web.archive.org/web/20140815052937/https://deadline.com/2012/05/disney-announces-avengers-2-in-development-268528/
https://variety.com/2012/film/news/joss-whedon-to-write-direct-avengers-sequel-1118057576/
https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18630302.html
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2395427/?ref_=bo_cso_table_18
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-avengers-review-20150430-column.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/avengers-age-of-ultron-251411/
https://web.archive.org/web/20150430020626/http://entertainment.suntimes.com/movies/avengers-age-ultron-marvel-humor-peril-comic-book-triumph/
https://www.reviewingcomics.com/marvel/avengers-1963/avengers-16/
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Movie Review: I Was a Stranger
Michael's Movie Grade: B
A very moving film.
This film from Angel Studios is about the plight of Syrian refuges through different stories that involve five different strangers. These strangers' lives all end up effecting others in profound ways, some positive and some negative. Though this movie is made by the Christian Angel Studios, it is not the typical feel-good sugar-coated Christian film that one might expect it to be. For the most part this film favors a sense of gritty realism. This even done to the point where different main characters speak different languages throughout, with English subtitles through it all. This may be alienating to much of Angel Studio's typical audience, who may not be used to having to read subtitles for so much of a movie. However, it does make this movie feel more real and adds much to its emotional resonance that way. Speaking of emotional resonance, this film is very throughout. The characters may not be the most complex but fulfill their job very well. We care about them and their plight. I will not give away any of the emotional scenes in this movie, but I will say that some will really have an impact on you.
Though this may not be an overtly Christian movie, you won't find a single bible verse recited nor any character giving their lives to God. However, it focuses on one of the most important Christian values, compassion for others. In today's climate this is a value that is more important than ever all over the world.
This movie does have the problem of trying to fit too many stories into too small of a runtime. This can make elements feel rushed and characters feel underdeveloped.
All in all, a very well-done film that leaves an emotion punch at times.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Cowboy Church #251
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Wings of a Dove. This recording comes from their 1973 gospel album, In the Sweet By and By. This song was written by Bob Ferguson in 1958. However, most music fans would first hear the song when Ferlin Husky recorded it in 1960. That version of the song was a major hit staying number one on the country charts for 10 weeks straight. Naturally after this many more country singers would record this song, including Roy and Dale here.
This is followed by Cristy Lane with Love Lifted Me. This hymn was written in 1912 by James Rowe and Howard E. Smith. Rowe's daughter would later state, “I can see them now, my father striding up and down humming a bar or two, and Howard E. playing it and jotting it down…The two huddled together, working line by line, bar by bar, composing this hymn in tandem.”
Afterwards is Washington Phillips with Mother's Last Word to Her Daughter. He recorded this tune on December 2, 1929, in Dallas Texas.
Next is The Sons of the Pioneers with He Walks with the Wild and Lonely. This song was written by Bob Nolan, one of the founding members of the group and one of my personal favorite songwriters. When in a 1979 interview fellow cowboy singer and songwriter Stuart Hamblen asked Bob what he thought the best song he had written was, Bob answered that it was quite possibly this song. He explained why stating, "The lyrics and the music were so perfectly wed that I just couldn’t improve on it."
Then comes Jerry Lee Lewis with He Looked Beyond My Fault. This recording comes from his 1971 album, In Loving Memories (The Jerry Lee Lewis Gospel Album).
Up next is Johnny Cash with The Fourth Man in the Fire. This song is based off of a story from the book of Daniel. Though this story takes place during Old Testament times many (including myself) believe the fourth man to be Jesus. While most of us will not be thrown in a fiery furnace, this song reminds us that there is no place that through every hardship in life, Jesus is always walking with us and watching out for us. In the liner notes for the Unearthed box set, Rick Ruben remembered this song being recorded, "I can't tell you much about the song except that again it was one that he liked, but I can tell you why it sounds like he's getting frustrated. We were working in my living room, and we didn't have any editing equipment or engineering person - I'm not an engineer - we were just rolling the tape, and everything was live. If you're in the studio and you're doing a song with a long-spoken intro, and you got the intro right but there's something wrong with the song, you wouldn't have to do the intro over and over every time you redid the song. We didn't have that kind of editing capacity at my house, which is why when Johnny says 'Are you going to keep the intro from the last take? It was good' and I say, 'We can't do that,' you can hear the frustration in his voice."
Today's musical selection ends with Patty Loveless singing Sorrowful Angels. This comes from her 2001 gospel album, Mountain Soul.
Now for a message from the Reverand Billy Graham.
Today's movie is Gangsters of the Frontier (1944) starring Tex Ritter.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #263
Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection starts with a truly classic Mickey Mouse cartoon, Traffic Troubles (1931). This movie is simply a wonderful little short. Much of this is due to the great cast of animators. Dave Hand, who would go on to be the supervising director for the Disney features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942), animates the opening scenes of this film, the tire rolling away and Pete pouring the "medicine" down the car's radiator. Les Clark, one of Walt's Nine Old Men and often considered one of the finest Mickey Mouse animators, animates the pig getting into the car and Minnie playing the accordion. Tom Palmer, who would later direct a few short cartoons for Warner Brothers, animates the cop getting angry at Mickey, Minnie climbing into the taxi and some of Pete's dialogue. Ben Sharpsteen, who later was the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941), animates the cop in traffic, Mickey parking the car, Mickey chasing the taxi and the car hitting the rock. Dick Lundy, future Woody Woodpecker and Barney Bear director, animates Mickey trying to fix his tire (including replacing the pump with the pig) and the car landing on the cow. Jack King, who would become possibly the finest Donald Duck director, animates the taxi in traffic, a close up of Minnie playing the accordion and Mickey actually inflating the tire with the pig. Johnny Cannon, who spent the majority of his career working uncredited on Disney shorts, animates the taxi going through the mud and Pete on the bicycle. Norm Ferguson, an animator who would help define the character of Pluto, animates some scenes with the pig inside the taxi, the taxi trying to dodge the bumps and the film's ending gag. An interesting note about this movie is that it was made pretty much at the same time, Floyd Gottfredson was making an adaption of it for the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip. He had done this before when he made a comic strip version of the Mickey Mouse short, The Picnic (1930). That was a rather straightforward adaption of the cartoon, while this comic strip story took more liberties with the source material. The comic strip adaption included a gag that was animated (by Norm Ferguson) for the film but dropped from the short before release. This was a gag involving a fireplug. If you are interested in reading the comic strip version yourself, it is included in J.B. Kaufman's fantastic article on this movie. This cartoon was directed by Burt Gillett. Gillet was one of the studio's major directors of the early 1930's. His cartoons include such classics as The Chain Gang (1930), Mickey's Orphans (1931), Flowers and Trees (1932), Trader Mickey (1932), Mickey's Good Deed (1932), The Three Little Pigs (1933), Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933), Playful Pluto (1934) and many others. Animation for this film began on December 12, 1930, and was completed on January 1, 1931. It was released on March 7, 1931. A famous story about the making of this cartoon involved a scene David Hand was animating. Walt kept telling him, the scene needed to be more exaggerated. This made Hand so frustrated he decided to show Walt, he would make it twice as exaggerated. Though Hand felt this might get him fired, this new animation was exactly what Walt wanted. This cartoon is one of the five viewable in the Main Street Cinema in Disneyland. In 1933, this cartoon was released on 16mm film, for home viewing. This 16mm film was silent and could rented for 75 cents. In his heyday (when this cartoon was released), Mickey was one of the popular movie stars not only with audiences but those working in the film industry as well. Silent movie queen Mary Pickford was an especially huge fan. In June 1930, she wrote Walt Disney to thank him for a replica of Mickey Mouse he gave her. She stated that with this replica her husband actor Douglas Fairbanks finally had a rival. She also complained to Walt about Mickey Mouse's screen appearances being too infrequent and asked Walt if he could speak to the mouse to speed up his work schedule. Another filmmaker who was a massive fan of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse was Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein, considered one of the most important directors of Russian cinema and a director who is still studied by film students today. Sergi wrote that Walt Disney's work was “the greatest contribution of the American people to art.”
Next comes the Terry Toons cartoon, The Lyin' Lion (1949).
Now for the Fox and the Crow cartoon, Be Patient Patient (1944). Though rather forgotten today, the Fox and the Crow were probably the most popular characters to come out of the Columbia cartoon studio. They were not only popular in these theatrical shorts, but they had a very successful comic book series (published by DC Comics) as well.
Now we will join our friend Toby the Pup in Down South (1931). While Charles Mintz was producing Krazy Kat cartoons for Columbia, he decided to create a separate series of cartoons for RKO, these starring a character named Toby the Pup. To head this series Mintz handed the duties to Dick Huemer, Art Davis and Sid Marcus. Dick Huemer had been a major contributor to the style of the Fleischer studio earlier and this is probably why these shorts have a Fleischer-type feel to them. Huemer, Davis and Marcus would later be the major creative factors for Columbia's Scrappy cartoons (also produced by Mintz).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for the New Three Stooges cartoon, Let's Shoot the Player Piano Player (1965). The Stooges voice themselves in this made for TV cartoon. The real Stooges also appear in the opening and closing live action segments. The live action segments would often be repeated even when the cartoon was new. Curly Joe DeRita felt that this hurt the show. He thought that people would see a live action segment they had seen before and assume the show was a rerun and change the channel not knowing the cartoon was new.
In the late 1930’s and early 40’s, Porky Pig was the star of Looney Tunes. It became a rule that Porky had to appear in every Looney Tunes cartoon while the same would not be true of the sister series Merrie Melodies. Because of this oftentimes in these Looney Tunes Porky would just make a brief cameo appearance. Case in point, A Coy Decoy (1941) which stars Daffy Duck and Porky only makes a brief appearance singing the great cowboy song Ride Tenderfoot Ride and delivering the final line. The song Ride Tenderfoot Ride was written by Johnny Mercer and Richard A. Whiting. Johnny Mercer also wrote another one of the best cowboy songs ever with I'm an Old Cowhand. Richard Whiting was a writer for two songs every Looney Tunes fan will know, Hooray for Hollywood and Ain't We Got Fun.
Now for the Happy Harmonies cartoon, The Old Mill Pond (1936).
Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Football (1987).
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
Mary Pickford: America's Sweetheart by Scott Eyman
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by David Gerstein and J.B. Kaufman
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mickey-mouse-movies-into-comics-2-traffic-troubles/
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
https://furinchime.com/2021/12/11/the-protean-cartoon-currents-of-animation-theory/
Friday, January 9, 2026
Movie Review: Father Mother Sister Brother
Michael's Movie Grade: A-
Another great film from director/writer Jim Jarmusch.
Jim Jarmusch's films are very much an acquired taste. Luckily, they are a taste that I acquired. Rather than focus on big, larger than life stories and dramatic twists, Jarmusch's movies often focus more on the small everyday moments that may seem mundane to us. With a lesser filmmaker such an approach to filmmaking would come off as simply boring. However, Jarmusch is a great observer of human nature, who notices all the little things that we might miss. Because of this for Jarmusch fans, his films help us see the beauty and the drama in the things we take for granted.
His new film is a perfect example of this. The movie tells three different stories each revolving around the theme of family members reuniting after not seeing each other for a long time. These are not your typical movie stories with huge obstacles, big climaxes or any sort of resolutions. Instead, they are very observant meditations on family. They capture all the little moments that come when we see those we haven't seen in a long time. These include the difficultness of starting conversations, the awkward silences, the constant offering of beverages and food, the exaggerating of the truth to make your life seem better and the car ride around a place that has greatly changed over the years. All of these are captured so perfectly that the film feels incredibly real to us. Though the movie may be dialogue heavy, like all of Jarmusch's films the dialogue is excellently written. It is very intelligent and insightful but at the same time so completely natural and real. The movie also benefits from a stellar cast that includes Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat, who all give great performances here.
While this won't make fans of those who don't like Jarmusch's signature style, it will absolutely delight fans of the director/writer.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Movie Review: Greenland 2: Migration
Michael's Movie Grade: C+
A decent post-apocalyptic thriller.
This movie offered exactly what I expected it to, no more no less. It is a rather typical thriller of its kind offering nothing that we haven't seen before. Yet admittedly some of this is done very well. The main characters are quite likable, if pretty basic. There is even a sweet family dynamic between them. The cast is quite good especially Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin. The action scenes are really fun and create a good sense of danger. Even if the story is basic, it moves quickly and is never once boring.
On the other hand there are many things that make no sense (how are the cars even running where is gas coming from), you can see everything that is going to happen coming from a mile away, there is the mandatory bland teenage romance and the CGI in the finale is horrendous in how fake it looks.
This is far from a great film, but it makes for a decent trip to the movies. Honestly isn't that just what you want from this type of movie.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Walter Woolf King on Stage, Screen and Radio
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| Motion Picture Daily, 1938 |
Walter Woolf King is best remembered today for his work with two of the movies' greatest comedy teams. He appeared with The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935) and Go West (1940), as well as Laurel and Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938). He is perfect as the villain in the two Marx Brothers movies, truly making us want to hiss at him whenever he comes on screen. Unfortunately, he is much weaker in Swiss Miss. This is not because of his acting but rather the role he is given. He is supposed to be the romantic lead in this film but the way his character is written makes him seem much more like a villain. Swiss Miss has some great comedic bits for Laurel and Hardy but whenever the attention drifts away from them, it becomes much less interesting.
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| Motion Picture, 1935 |
However, Walter Woolf King's career was so much more than these three films. He also appeared in such movies as Golden Dawn (1930), One More Spring (1935), Call It a Day (1937), Melody for Three (1941), Smart Alecks (1942), The Helen Morgan Story (1957) and Rosie! (1967). He also appeared in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Our Cook's a Treasure (1955), The Percentage (1958)) and three episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (The Dark Pool (1963), A Nice Touch (1963), Isabel (1964)).
King was also a quite successful stage actor, who was especially known for his baritone singing voice. Here is a list of some of the plays he was in and when they ran.
Florodora (Apr 05, 1920 - Aug 14, 1920)
The Midnight Rounders of 1920 (Jul 12, 1920 - Nov 27, 1920)
The Last Waltz (May 10, 1921 - Oct 29, 1921)
The Passing Show of 1923 (Jun 14, 1923 - Sep 15, 1923)
The Dream Girl (Aug 20, 1924 - Nov 29, 1924)
Princess Flavia (Nov 02, 1925 - Mar 13, 1926)
Countess Maritza (Sep 18, 1926 - Jun 25, 1927)
The Red Robe (Dec 25, 1928 - May 20, 1929)
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The Great Man (Apr 07, 1931 - Apr 1931)
Experience Unnecessary (Dec 30, 1931 - Feb 1932)
Red Planet (Dec 17, 1932 - Dec 1932)
Melody (Feb 14, 1933 - Apr 22, 1933)
May Wine (Dec 05, 1935 - Jun 06, 1936)
As well as appearing in movies, TV and stage, King also hosted the CBS radio show Flying Red Horse Tavern. Here is a 1936 article about that from Radio Mirror. If you have trouble reading the following pages click on them and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.
Resources Used
https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/walter-woolf-king-48149
https://lantern.mediahist.org/
All-New Super Friends Hour: The Protector (1977)
This is the first segment of the fifteenth (and final) episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest.
In this cartoon, Batman, Robin and Aquaman team up to stop a villain named The Shark who steals valuables from various ships with his immobilizer ray. He does this to keep ships from going out to sea and because of this he views himself as a protector of the sea.
This is an excellent episode. The use of fog out at sea creates a great sense of atmosphere and helps it stand out. Beyond this the background art (especially aboard the ship) is typically excellent. The Shark is a fun villain with a very memorable design and a great voice. His immobilizer ray is a good gimmick and makes him a believable threat to our heroes. The action is quite fun as well. The story is simple, but it is just the kind of simplistic superhero fun that I love.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
The Avengers (2012)
It is hard to overstate just how big of a deal The Avengers was to the climate of superhero movies. While hints of a big, connected Marvel Cinematic Universe were in place since Iron Man (2008), here is where it official came to fruition. Now that these characters from separate solo movies were now all appearing together in the same film with their storylines all intersecting, it was clear that the superhero movie would never be the same.
In this film, Thor's brother Loki (Tom Hiddleson) comes to Earth and finds the incredibly powerful Tesseract. With this new power, he tries to take over the Earth. Earth's Mightiest heroes, Captain America (Chris Evans, Black Widow (Scarlett Johannsson), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), must reluctantly team up to save the day.
This is everything a superhero movie should be. It is action packed, exciting, funny, larger than life and just incredibly entertaining. This movie is simply a blast to watch from start to finish. Even with all the has come after in the MCU, this movie has not lost any of its luster.
Yet as exciting and action packed as this movie is, what really makes it so great is the characters. Each of these characters are very well defined on their own. Even with the number of characters, not one of them is wasted. Each of the Avengers get their own chance to shine. Still, it is how these characters interact with each other that really stands out. Each of these characters has a well-defined relationship with each of the other characters. This makes each of them feel all the more real to us and makes us even more invested in these already great characters. Many movie fans have talked a lot about the humor in this film and quote comedic lines from this movie regularly. However, what makes this humor work so well is that it all comes so naturally from the characters. Through a lot of the funny moments, we even get a greater understanding of who these characters actually are. As funny and quotable as the humor is, it is never simply comedy for the sake of comedy but plays a role in telling the story.
The story itself is a rather simple affair. It is a basic good vs. evil superhero story that we all know. However, there is a reason that these types of stories have remained popular for so long and that is that they work. Sometimes a simple story thar is well told is exactly what we want from a movie and that is exactly what this film offers.
Another great asset to this movie is Alan Silvestri's score. Silvestri had previously scored Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and he even tops himself with The Avengers. His score is appropriately heroic and inspiring perfect for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The main theme he uses throughout has almost taken on the same legacy as John Williams' Superman theme and Danny Elfman's Batman theme. It is easily recognizable and captures the characters perfectly. About working on this film the composer stated, "I've worked on films where there have been a number of stars and certainly worked on films where there have been characters of equal weight in terms of their level of importance and profile in the film, but this one is somewhat extreme in that regard because each of these characters has their own world and it's a very different situation. It's very challenging to look for a way to give everyone the weight and consideration they need, but at the same time the film is really about the coming together of these characters, which implies that there is this entity called the Avengers which really has to be representative of all of them together."
Plans for an Avengers movie started as early as 2003. Movie producer, Avi Arad, first announced these plans in April 2005. By 2006, it was announced that individual characters would appear in solo films before the big crossover event would happen. With the success of Iron Man, a July 2011 release date was set for the movie. By March 2009 the release date was moved to May 4, 2012.
In July 2010, Joss Wheadon was officially assigned to direct the movie. At this time Wheadon was best known for his television work. He was the creator of the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly. About this casting decision Marvel Studio head Kevin James stated, "I've known Joss for many years. We were looking for the right thing and he came in and met on it [...] we want to find a director that's on the verge of doing something great, as we think Joss is." Wheadon himself was drawn to the film because of the dynamic between these characters. At the 2010 San Deigo Comic Con Wheadon stated, "these people shouldn't be in the same room let alone on the same team—and that is the definition of family." He elaborated on this elsewhere by stating, ""It goes back to the very first incarnation of The Avengers, it goes to The Ultimates, it goes to everything about it. It makes no sense, it's ridiculous. There's a thunder god, there's a green 'id' giant rage monster, there's Captain America from the 40s, there's Tony Stark who definitely doesn't get along with anybody. Ultimately these people don't belong together and the whole movie is about finding yourself from community. And finding that you not only belong together but you need each other, very much. Obviously, this will be expressed through punching, but it will be the heart of the film." Wheadon however was very unhappy with Zak Penn's (who wrote The Incredible Hulk (2008)) original script, which he felt lacked any real connections between the characters. Wheadon re-wrote much of the script. Though Wheadon ended up sharing a co-writing credit with Penn, Wheadon had fought for having sole writing credit.
This movie premiered on April 11, 2012 at Disney's El Capitan Theatre. The film earned $1.519 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing movie of 2012 and what was the third highest grossing movie ever at the time. Not only was it a finical success but it was also a critical one.
Resources Used
https://gizmodo.com/joss-whedon-says-captain-america-and-iron-man-wont-be-p-5595293
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/the-avengers-battle-of-new-york-joss-whedon
https://variety.com/2005/film/news/marvel-touts-par-s-hero-worship-1117921854/
https://www.superherohype.com/features/96489-marvel-studios-sets-four-more-release-dates
https://web.archive.org/web/20101008211821/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644849/20100730/story.jhtml
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/box-office-milestone-avengers-number-three-332331/
https://www.marvel.com/news/story/17069/alan_silvestri_to_score_marvels_the_avengers