Author: B A Walsh

Some of us are old enough to remember watching the Banana Splits Adventure Hour variety show when we were kids. The Banana Splits were actors in furry animal costumes who played in a band reminiscent of the Monkees. The animals were: Fleegle (a dog), Bingo (a gorilla), Drooper (a lion), and Snorky (an elephant). Each episode would have them singing their theme song Tra La La (One Banana, Two Banana) and having a meeting of the Banana Split Club; in addition there were a mixture of animated segments and the serialized live action segment Danger Island. The show ran from…

Stanley Donen, a notable director of iconic movies from Hollywood’s golden age, passed away on February 21 at age 94. He was a director and choreographer for Broadway shows and Hollywood films. Although films he directed included thrillers and romantic comedies, musicals were his forte and he was called “the master of the musical.” He is credited with transitioning Hollywood musical films to an art form where the songs were a more natural continuation of the story. He has 3 films on the American Film Institute’s list of 25 Greatest Movie Musicals, including the #1. Donen started his career as…

NECA revealed a number of toys at the recent 2019 New York Toy Fair, most of which were horror or sci-fi related, but there was one action figure that stood out from the rest: Bob Ross. Painter Bob Ross was the host of the instructional TV show The Joy of Painting which ran from January 11, 1983, until May 17, 1994. During each episode Ross would teach how to paint a landscape. Ross was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1994 and had to retire; he died on July 4, 1995 at the age of 52. The 8” tall articulated action figure…

The Angry Birds Movie 2 is a computer-animated film based on the video game that is scheduled for release on August 16, 2019. Now in the first teaser trailer for the film we get a glimpse of the new villain of the movie, Zeta (Leslie Jones). Zeta is a large purple bird who lives on a polar island that is home to a number of seals. Although her Ice Palace looks pretty in an opening montage set to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” we soon see that all of the snow and ice make things difficult for Zeta. Fed up…

There has long been talk of a sequel to Space Jam (1996), in which NBA great Michael Jordan interacted with animated Looney Tunes characters. It seems that the sequel will finally begin filming in a few months with LeBron James as the live-action lead. In an interview during NBA’s All Star Weekend he had this to say, “I’ve got Space Jam. I’m gonna be in Space Jam 2. We start filming that this summer.” Now Warner Bros. and SpringHill Entertainment have announced that the movie will premiere July 16, 2021. LeBron James will executive produce as well as star in…

There’s a new Colonel in town and he’s a robot! Or a Robocop to be more accurate. Colonel Robocop’s mission? To protect KFC’s top-secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. Don’t ask Colonel Robocop what the recipe is because in his words, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” The secret recipe was previously stored in a relatively safe safe in Kentucky. But that wasn’t safe enough for KFC. So, the company decided to upgrade security with Robocop, the ultimate law enforcer. Reprogrammed with a Prime Directive to protect the Secret Recipe, Robocop transported a triple-encrypted digital copy…

Vibrant animation dominates the moving final film in the trilogy. Whether it’s soaring through the clouds, traversing lush forests or encountering the fantastical neon Hidden World of the dragons it is breathtaking. But smaller details are also captured: hair ruffled by wind or leaves rustling in a breeze, the gleam in an eye, the track of a tear down someone’s cheek. While the plot follows a usual course: face the Big Bad, overcome some setbacks, and triumph through teamwork, the humor and energy of the film as well as its vivid look keep the viewer engaged. My showing was jam-packed…

HBO is kicking off its “What would you do for the throne” marketing campaign (#ForTheThrone) before the premiere of the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones on April 14. As they say on their website, “For seven seasons you’ve watched characters lie, bleed, and sacrifice for the Iron Throne. As the final season approaches, only one question remains: How far will you go?” In partnership with the American Red Cross, HBO is asking fans to show their devotion and Bleed For The Throne in the biggest blood donation promotion by an entertainment company in American Red Cross history.…

The recent trailer for The Secret Life of Pets 2 features Harrison Ford’s first ever animated voiceover role as Rooster, a gruff, no nonsense Welsh sheepdog. In the trailer Max (Patton Oswalt) and Duke (Eric Stonestreet) take a road trip to a farm where they meet Rooster and some other farm animals. Rooster maintains order on the farm and isn’t too pleased with the shenanigans of Max and Duke. Max in the trailer is wearing a cone, which based on his own trailer was the result of a visit to the vet. Other character-centric trailers give us clues to what…

If you weren’t already looking forward to the Fast and Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, now there is one more reason to be excited. According to Movieweb, showings of Hobbs and Shaw will also include the debut of a Jurassic World 3 short film. As Movieweb reports, a Mattel spokesperson at the recent New York Toy Fair said that there would be Jurassic Park toys for the Allosaurus and a new dinosaur, Nasutoceratops, and that “They’re gonna be featured in a live-action short pre-roll that’s going to play before the new Fast and Furious movie [Hobbs and Shaw] summer 2019.…