Somehow two years have rolled by since the 2024 D23 Expo, and here we are again! Incredibly, it's time for the 2026 Expo . We had a wonderful time earlier today at the second-ever D23 Day at Disneyland. We especially loved the "Legends Cavalcade," a brief parade featuring a number of Disney Legends. I was excited to see Ming-Na Wen for the first time! It was very special to have the chance to meet…
There are several Forest Lawn cemetery locations in Southern California, including the beautifully maintained Forest Lawn Cypress , in North Orange County. Unlike the Forest Lawn locations in Los Angeles County, there are only a few entertainment-related personages buried in Cypress, but they are of significant interest. Cowboy star Ken Maynard is buried there, as I also noted in a 2025 Western…
One of my all-time favorite films, CRIME WAVE (1954), has just been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection. I first reviewed CRIME WAVE here in 2013 . I have rewatched it regularly over the years, most recently at the 2024 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival . I love everything about this film, which centers on a reformed ex-con named Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson). Lacey now has a pretty…
Thanks to everyone who participated in my Blog Anniversary Celebration Giveaway ! Several entries answered all five MAVERICK questions correctly. My husband printed out the email addresses of the entrants who got all answers correct, and I drew the winning email address out of a bowl. The winner, Devan, has been notified and responded with her address, so the prize will be headed her way this…
Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet... ...We have a winner for my bloggiversary celebration giveaway ! She has been notified. I'll be posting the MAVERICK quiz answers on Sunday. ( Update : Here are the answers !) ...August 8th is the birthday of Esther Williams, Rory Calhoun, and Richard Anderson. Please visit my photo-filled tributes to Calhoun here ,Williams here ,…
MACAO (1952), just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection, is, as the saying goes, "more fun than a barrel of monkeys." MACAO has always struck me as a bit in the shadow of HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951), the first RKO film starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell . HIS KIND OF WOMAN is a wildly entertaining ride, but the final act is frankly quite disturbing at times, mixed in with fun…
The colorful Randolph Scott Western COLT .45 (1950) was just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection. I reviewed this film in 2010 and really enjoyed returning to it via this beautiful new Blu-ray. It's not one of Scott's very best Westerns, but it's an entertaining and fast-moving 74 minutes with some interesting angles. Scott plays Steve Farrell, a Colt gun salesman who's attempting…
A few days ago I finally caught up with THE PELICAN BRIEF (1993), starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. I've always liked Roberts a great deal, and I enjoy Washington as well, but this film came out during a period in my life when I had young children and saw very few new-to-me films. Consequently there are still many films from that era which I'm only now seeing for the first time.…
It's August, which means it's time for the annual Summer Under the Stars month on Turner Classic Movies! As always, TCM's August festival started today, on the 1st, and runs through the 31st. During this month the regular franchises, including Noir Alley, Silent Sunday Nights, and TCM Imports, will have the month off before returning in September. As regular TCM viewers know, each day in August…
Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet... ...More good news from Kino Lorber Studio Classics: The Dark Side of Cinema XXVIII Blu-ray collection will be out in November! It will include the Dick Powell gem CRY DANGER (1951), which was previously released by the now-defunct Olive Films, and two rarities, the "B" CITADEL OF CRIME (1941) and Scott Brady in TERROR AT MIDNIGHT…
I especially enjoy films about aviation and airports, so last year when I heard about Indicator 's Region A release of OUT OF THE CLOUDS (1955) I promptly ordered it, despite knowing nothing else about it. A British film about an airport simply sounded good to me! It took a few months for the movie to work its way out of my "watch" stack, but I've now seen and enjoyed it. OUT OF THE CLOUDS is a…
This post focuses on three of the stars of the beloved TV series PERRY MASON (1957-66), who coincidentally are all buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills . The great character actor Ray Collins , who among other things was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, has the name of his PERRY MASON character, Lt. Tragg, on his gravestone. On a visit to Forest Lawn last year we were surprised to…
The second cemetery we visited on our May trip, following Carpinteria Cemetery , was the larger and nicely maintained Santa Barbara Cemetery . It has lovely seaside views. This visit was particularly special to me as the cemetery is the final resting place of one of my favorite actresses, Jeanne Crain . Santa Barbara is also where the great Ronald Colman has a remarkably beautiful and fitting…
This month Laura's Miscellaneous Musings celebrates its 21st anniversary ! A couple times in the past I've hosted July giveaways in honor of my "bloggiversary," and I decided to revive that practice this year. This year's giveaway has a theme honoring one of my favorite actors, James Garner, and my favorite TV series, MAVERICK (1957-62). The package of items I'll be giving away consists of the…
The Warner Bros. musical NIGHT AND DAY (1946), a biography of composer Cole Porter, has recently been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection. NIGHT AND DAY, like most '40s musical biopics -- including the previous year's Warner Bros. film RHAPSODY IN BLUE (1945) -- is a fictionalized telling of a composer's life. In the case of this biography of Cole Porter, NIGHT AND DAY is even…
Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet... ...Very good news this week: Hollywood's Cinerama Dome , which opened in 1963 and has been closed since 2020, will be reopened in 2026 by the Sony-owned Alamo Drafthouse chain. Alamo announced the Cinerama Dome will "retain its original name and branding." Particular kudos go to Ben Steinberg of Save Your Cinema , who has…
The British crime melodrama WALK A TIGHTROPE (1963) will be released on Blu-ray next week by Kino Lorber . Patricia Owens plays Ellen Sheppherd, an American living in London, where she's happily married to Jason (Terence Cooper), a businessman. One afternoon a grizzled older American, Carl ( Dan Duryea ), bursts in to their home and abruptly guns down Jason at point-blank range. Jason's friend…
I have a new Blu-ray review up at Classic Movie Hub ! In this month's Western RoundUp column I've reviewed THE MAVERICK QUEEN (1956), starring Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan , and Scott Brady. THE MAVERICK QUEEN has just been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics . This is particularly exciting given that, to my knowledge, the movie never came out on DVD in the United States, and…
The pre-Code Warner Bros. film THE KEYHOLE (1933), a melodrama with comedic overtones, will be released on Blu-ray next week by the Warner Archive Collection. I don't believe I'd seen this film since my first viewing in 2008 , during a time period when I was recording and watching as many Kay Francis films as I could! At the time of my first viewing I classed THE KEYHOLE as "somewhat odd but…
I've been gradually working my way through unseen John Wayne films, with the latest being REUNION IN FRANCE (1942). It's an interesting and somewhat unusual film from Wayne's early '40s career years. He had broken through to stardom with STAGECOACH (1939) but was still working his way up the career ladder in the early '40s. REUNION IN FRANCE, produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz at MGM, was one of…
As I've previously shared, we were among thousands of people in our area who were forced to evacuate our home for several days in late May. Although the uncertainty was difficult, we tried to make the most of the unexpected situation, finding that staying busy was better than sitting around worrying. After spending a couple of nights with our son and daughter-in-law, we left our cat in their care…
I've watched quite a number of crime and suspense films recently, so it seemed like perfect timing to finally catch up with a more recent film from my watch list, BLACK BAG (2025). I'd heard good things about this film about married spies, and it proved to be quite an entertaining, well-done movie. George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett) are married British…
The complete 2026 Summer Under the Stars lineup has now been announced by Turner Classic Movies! As regular TCM viewers will be aware, every August the network honors the work of 31 actors and actresses with day-long celebrations. Here's the list of stars to be featured in 24-hour marathons in August 2026: August 1: Doris Day August 2: Humphrey Bogart August 3: June Allyson August 4: Glenn Ford…
My recent viewing of French film noir led me to try a new release from Kino Lorber , VERTIGO FOR A KILLER (1970). Known as VERTIGE POUR UN TUEUR in its native France, the film interested me as it stars Marcel Bozzuffi, who appeared in SPEAKING OF MURDER (1957) and MAIGRET SEES RED (1963). One of Bozzuffi's best-known films is THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), in which he was prominent in the…
A few years ago I bought CAST A DARK SHADOW (1955), available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and Cohen Film Collection, when I spotted it in a sale. The impetus for my purchase was the chance to see another film starring the marvelous British actress Margaret Lockwood . As so often happens, until now I still hadn't watched it...as the saying goes, "So many movies, so little time!" But this weekend a…