Novembris!

It's an important month for us all. We all know that the fate of the free world hinges on the next American election for President. If we as a nation choose wisely as I anticipate we will, then stability will be maintained, and we can look to improvements. If otherwise, then we'll cross those bridges when they are required. I intended this past year to eschew large monthly themes and keep the blog more diverse. I've largely failed, and I won't try that anymore. I love themes. I just do. It structures both my reading, viewing, and my writing, and it's just fun to organize. Here are the themes for this month. 

I find Jack H. Harris to be a fascinating figure in vintage cinema. He was the man behind The Blob, a surprise hit from a truly independent outfit during the height of the monster-movie mania in the late 50s. He quickly produced two more sci-fi monster movies before fading away. He reappeared as a packager of other people's movies, sometimes with some of his input. He continued to show up as a producer mostly until 1991. There are thirteen movies listed in his filmography for which he was responsible for directly or indirectly, and I'm going to take a look at all of them this month. Some I've already reviewed over the years, and I'll get those reviews out and dust them and spruce them up. But many of these movies I'd never seen and more than a few I'd never heard of. I'll let his book Father of Blob help guide me. 

C.S. Lewis wrote a masterpiece for kids and the rest of us with his Narnia stories. The stories are intentionally a bit heavy-handed at times when it comes to Christian theological interpretation. But despite Aslan standing in for Jesus Christ in the mythic realm of Narnia, the stories can be read sans that, but don't get riled if I bring those elements up from time to time. I plan to read the books in their internally historical order and not in the order of publication, which has always been my default. I have also procured some of the companion book or two to assist in a deeper understanding of the Lewis saga. 

It was the perfect bonding of character and creator when Don Rosa took the reins of Disney's Uncle Scrooge. Rosa's detailed style proved ideal to craft the ultimate Scrooge story, the long and varied saga of The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. We first met Uncle Scrooge as a miserly old duck many decades ago in "Christmas on Bear Mountain" by the legendary Carl Barks. In Rosa's charming and expansive tale, we discover there's more to this duck than meets the eye. I've been waiting for the right time to take another gander at this modern classic and now seems a propitious moment indeed. 

Expect more Neal Adams material. I've spent the whole year of 2024 to this point showcasing his work and this month will be no different. 

And all sorts of other stuff as well. 

And as I mentioned before, we have an election we have to survive. If this doesn't go well, I might have to take to my bed, and all bets are off. 

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