Blessed Are The Peacemakers

In recognition of the end of The Vietnam War fifty years ago today, here are some photos of a 1971 protest against the war that took place in Hazleton.  The photo above shows the protesters marching down Broad Street.  If you look closely, you can see the Jimmy's Quick Lunch sign.

Thank you to Silverpicker97 who shared these images on Reddit.

Come On Down And Meet Your Maker

Mike Peters
1959 - 2025
Welsh rock star Mike Peters passed away today after a thirty year battle with cancer.  The lead singer of The Alarm was 66 years old.

His band is best known for their singles Sixty Eight Guns, Strength, Rescue Me, Rain In The Summertime, and Sold Me Down The River, but the first song that comes to mind when I think of The Alarm is their 1984 homage to my favorite book, Stephen King's The Stand, which Mr. Peters co-wrote the song with guitarist Dave Sharp and bassist Eddie Macdonald.

Mr. Peters spoke about the origin of this song, titled "The Stand (Prophecy)" in a 2020 interview with Greg Prato of SongFacts, saying "I had this song that was like a folky version of The Magnificent Seven by The Clash...  and I thought I could take it into the folk area, and set the story of The Stand to the music of the A minor and G chords, and the E minor and the F. It was something that came about pretty fast...".

The Stand (Prophecy)

The Alarm (1984) 

Come on down and meet your maker

Come on down and make the stand

I have been out searching, and with the black book in my hand

I have looked between the lines that lie on the pages that I tread

I met the walking dude, religious, in his worn down cowboy boots

He walked liked no man on Earth, I swear he had no name

I swear he had no name

Come on down and meet your maker

Come on down and make the stand

Come on down, come on down

Come on down and make the stand

As I crawled beneath the searchlights

Looking through the floorboards of this life

I met Doctor Strangelove's cousin, he bore the marks of time

Hey, Trashcan, where you going, boy? Your eyes are feet apart

Is that the end you're carrying? Shall I play the funeral march?

Play the funeral march

Come on down and meet your maker

Come on down and make the stand

Come on down, come on down

Come on down and we'll make the stand

When I looked out the window on the hardship that had struck

I saw the seven phials open, the plague claimed man and son

Four men at a grave in silence with hats bowed down in grace

A simple wooden cross, it had no epitaph engraved

It had no epitaph engraved

Come on down and meet your maker

Come on down and make the stand

Come on down, come on down

Come on and make the stand

It's All In The Reflexes

Big Trouble In Little China

Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

The first film in the Master Carpenter Series that honors one of the greatest directors of all time was shown last night at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco

Big Trouble In Little China on the big screen is a hell of a fun experience.  I saw this on 35mm for the first time at a Tunnel Vision Tuesday screening in August 2021, and I'll probably come out to see it every time they show it at the Mahoning.

 

I had my first close encounter with the lot chickens while we were waiting in line for the gates to open.

Oh no... I've been spotted!

Actor Gerald Okamura recorded an introduction to the film that was shown prior to showtime, and it was one of the most charming and heartfelt intros that we've ever had on the big screen.  Mr. Okamura played the Wing Kong Warrior known to fans of the film as "The Golden Six Shooter".  I could listen to this dude share his memories of working on the film all day!

 

I saw Big Trouble In Little China for the first time when I brought it home as a VHS rental when I was a teenager, and it's one of the rare movies that I enjoy even more each time I see it.  I'm not sure if they got a better quality print or stronger bulbs for the dual Simplex projectors, but the picture seemed brighter and more vivid at this screening than it did back in 2021.

Loved By Thousands. Hated By Millions.

Death Race 2000
New World Pictures (1975)
My favorite Roger Corman flick is turning 50 years old today.  Death Race 2000 premiered on April 27th, 1975 to mostly negative reviews, including Roger Ebert who gave it zero stars out of five.  Some moviegoers value his opinion, but I think he's one very large baked potato.

You can stream this classic of cult cinema for free on Tubi.

A Screening That Made Us Shiver With Antici...

The Rocky Horror Picture Show / Shock Treatment
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
Arguably the most loved cult film in the history of cinema finally hit the big screen at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater on Friday and Saturday.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco

The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been one of the most frequently discussed films in our friend group when the subject turns to what we would book at the Mahoning if we could create our own weekend.  Some of the folks who I've spoken to suggested that it appear in the first half of a double feature with its theatrical follow-up, Shock Treatment.  Those people have gotten their wish.

Donnie was walking around the lot prior to showtime handing out some Rocky Horror currency.  I'm not sure where it's from, but I thought it was pretty cool.

There's an unofficial competition for the top score on the Ms. Pac Man machine.  Tom put up a pretty good fight, but the record still belongs to Rob with just under 200k.  I haven't gone for the top score yet, but I think this is going to become my new mission for the 2025 season.

 

There was also a costume contest on the photo stage outside of the concession building prior to showtime.  I'm not sure who won, but there were dozens of folks who showed up in pretty awesome costumes.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show hit the screen as the sun went down.  Seeing it on the big screen at the Mahoning was an awesome experience.  My dad is a massive fan of this film, which he discovered at midnight screenings while he was at Penn State in the late 70's.  I've seen it many times throughout my life, including with my dad in our living room when we lived in South Florida, and although I don't remember all of the callbacks, I definitely have committed all of the music to memory.

Speaking of the callbacks, one of the concerns that I had was that the fan participation aspects of the Rocky Horror experience would get lost with folks spread out across a large drive-in theater.  I'm happy to say that this wasn't a problem.  Throughout the entire movie, the callbacks echoed throughout the lot.  I can only imagine what the locals were thinking when they heard a few hundred people shouting "asshole" and "slut" from their kitchen window.

The second half of the double feature was the 1981 film Shock Treatment.  This is a quasi-sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show which is best known for being the movie that some have declared as being "even better than Rocky Horror".  I disagree.  In fact, I'd argue that stating that Rocky Horror is the better of the two films would be damning it with faint praise... like sitting at Thanksgiving dinner with your family and announcing that the meal is much better than what they served on the airline on your way there.

I'll give Shock Treatment credit for being ahead of its time in its depiction of reality television and for exploring a few other interesting ideas relating to mental health and celebrity obsession, but I don't think that these ideas are executed well.  It doesn't look great.  The songs are forgettable and kind of lame, especially in comparison to the music in Rocky Horror.  The acting performances are over-the-top, but not in a way that's fun or memorable.  The movie definitely has fans that would disagree with this assessment, but for me, the only reason I'd recommend that anyone watch this movie is to be able to say that you've seen it.  This was my second time seeing it, and I strongly doubt that there will be a third.

And that's a wrap on what I hope will be the first annual screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

...pation

How's Your 401k, Marty?

Sobrinski Financial Services billboard
Route 33 - Monroe County, PA

They're Not Going To Eat Off The Van Buren China

Mars Attacks
The Gap Theatre - Wind Gap, PA
The schedule for the next couple of months at The Gap is an impressive and eclectic mix of films across different genres, time periods, and countries of origin.  If I lived closer to this place, I'd probably stop in at least a couple of times a week.  In fact, I would have been here on Tuesday if I knew they were screening The Hills Have Eyes.  I'm kind of bummed out to have missed it.

Tonight's 35mm screening of the 1996 Tim Burton classic Mars Attacks was one that I couldn't miss.  It also marks the first time that I'm missing a Thursday Thread-Up screening at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater since the series began in May of last year.  They were showing a different movie from 1996, the Baz Luhrmann adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, which was a movie that I saw on VHS the year that it was released and really have no desire to ever see again.

Mars Attacks is based on a set of Topps trading cards which were first released in 1962 and have been re-released several times in the following decades.  I had some of the cards from the 1984 reprint series that I kept in a binder with cards from the 1988 Topps Dinosaurs Attack when I was a kid.  They were my favorite novelty cards other than Garbage Pail Kids when I was growing up, so I was pretty hyped up when it premiered as a major motion picture when I was 16 years old.  Despite my excitement, I didn't end up getting to see it on the big screen during its initial run in theaters, so this opportunity to see it on an original 35mm print was too good to pass by.  It's every bit as funny today as it was in the late 90's.

I may not be able to make it out to The Gap once or twice a week, but this definitely will not be my last visit of the season.

Enjoy The Freak Show

The United States has always been a pretty screwy place, but it's gotten completely unhinged over the past few years.  It feels like living in the first chapter of a dystopian novel, or in one of the flashback scenes from The Handmaid's Tale.  I'm not going to pretend that it isn't depressing, but its times like these that I try to remember the things that George Carlin said.

"When you're born in this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show.

When you're born in America, you're given a front row seat."

This interview from December 17th, 2007 does a good job at capturing what I've come to learn is my defense mechanism.  It's in this spirit of allowing myself to be a spectator and finding enjoyment in the freak show that I decided to see how Chat GPT would envision paradise for the driver of this truck based on the sticker that they placed on the driver's side rear window.

 

You know... maybe this artificial intelligence stuff isn't all bad.

Happy Earth Day

We found these stickers at the Hometown Farmers Market a few weeks ago.  I had completely forgotten about these, but I remember that they were something that was handed out to my elementary school class back in 1988.  I think there might have been a coloring book as well, but I'm not sure.

WWE Is In The Lucha Libre Business

My interest in pro wrestling has taken a nosedive over the past ten or fifteen years, but the announcement that the parent company of WWE has purchased the lucha libre promotion AAA has gotten me to sit up and take notice.  I'm not sure if this is a good thing, but it's definitely interesting.

Happy Easter

Luck Rabbit
Son Ai Toys
This mildly disturbing bunny was found at the Slatington Marketplace when we stopped there in January.

Woah.  Calm it down a little bit there, Luck Rabbit.  You can ching and dong all you like, but who's going to clean up all of that pee?

Rock Out With Your Hitchcock Out

Hitchcock Till You Drop

Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This weekend was what the start of what is very likely going to be an annual tradition at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Hitchcock Till You Drop was a two day tribute to the master of suspense, director Alfred Hitchcock.  His filmography includes over 50 full-length feature films, including five that received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and six for which Hitchcock was nominated for Best Director.  If this does turn into a yearly tradition, they could keep it going for many years before ever needing to repeat a film.

Before I get into the movies, we got to celebrate our friend Jen's 40th birthday on the lot on Saturday.  She, her husband Tom, and their son Jackson are one of the coolest families that we know, and it was an honor to be a part of their celebration.

Saturday was also the first meeting of the 2025 season for the Mahoning Book Club.  The subject was the 1952 short story The Birds that served as the inspiration for the Hitchcock film that was released eleven years later.  I'd offer an opinion of the story, but I forgot to read it, so I spent most of our meeting sitting quietly, nodding, and hoping that no one asked me anything (which they didn't).

Night One - Friday, April 18

The Birds / Rear Window

 

The first movie of Friday night was a 35mm screening of the 1963 film The Birds.  This was my first time seeing it, and while I thought it was enjoyable, it felt like the kind of movie that I'd expect to see on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.  Actually, it reminded me more of the 2008 M. Night Shyamalan film The Happening than a classic horror film in that it is sincerely trying to be terrifying, but it came across to me as an unintentional comedy.  It wasn't helped by a love story between Melanie (Tippi Hedren) and Mitch (Rod Taylor) that was about as convoluted as you can get.  When I learned about the director's disgusting treatment of Hedren during the filming of The Birds, it started to make sense.  It seems that the famed director had the sexual maturity of a horny 12 year old boy and a lack of respect for his lead actress who, quite understandably, was not receptive to the advances of a married senior citizen with the body of a walrus, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the romantic chemistry between his leads felt forced.

The second half of Friday night's double feature was the 1954 mystery thriller Rear Window.  This is another movie that I was seeing for the first time, and unlike The Birds, this is the kind of film that I'd expect from a director with the reputation of Alfred Hitchcock.  It's beautifully filmed, and it puts you in the shoes of the protagonist in a way that's as effective as any movie I've ever seen.

Night Two - Saturday, April 19

Psycho / Vertigo

The first movie of Saturday night was one of the greatest horror films of all time; the 1960 classic Psycho.  We saw this at the Mahoning for the first time when it was screened as the first half of the Janet & Jamie double feature on the second to last night of the 2021 season.  Seeing it come alive on the big screen blew me away as much this time as it did four years ago.

 

During intermission, Rob screened a 35mm print of a classic Tex Avery cartoon from 1949 called Bad Luck Blackie.  This MGM short was voted the 15th best cartoon of all-time in a poll of animation industry professionals in 1994.  It stars Spike The Bulldog as the bully of a small kitten, who is able to fight back after meeting a black cat from the Bad Luck Company.  When the kitten blows a whistle, the black cat appears to cross Spike's path and curse him with bad luck.  It's a pretty funny short that, to the best of my knowledge, has never played at the Mahoning before.  Click here to watch it on YouTube.

The final screening of Hitchcock Till You Drop was the 1958 film Vertigo.  It's widely regarded as being one of the greatest films of all time, but quite frankly, I didn't think it was very good at all.  I wouldn't go as far as to say that I hated it, but it doesn't come close to living up to its reputation.  The pacing is terrible with long periods of the film that seem like they drag on forever.  Also, while the love story told in The Birds felt convoluted and forced, the relationship between John and Madeleine/Judy in Vertigo was just plain asinine.  The one thing that this film has going for it was its visuals.  The shots were absolutely gorgeous, particularly the scenes in Ernie's Restaurant.  It's a shame they weren't used in a movie that told a better story.

And that's a wrap on Hitchcock Till You Drop.  Prior to the start of this weekend, the talk had been that this could become an annual event if it was successful.  Judging by the size of the crowd on both nights, I'm pretty confident that we'll be seeing this event return for years to come.

All Creatures Will Make Merry Under Pain Of Death

Flash Gordon
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco

The first Thursday Thread-Up of the 2025 season is one of my all time favorite movies based on a comic - the 1980 Mike Hodges cult classic Flash Gordon.

Flash Gordon premiered in theaters when I was five months old, so it's not something that I ever had the opportunity to see during its initial run in theaters.  It's one of the many movies that I got to see for the first time when I worked for Blowout Video when I was a teenager.  It's about as campy as you can get with performances and special effects that are over the top in every possible way, and it's a hell of a lot of fun!  The 35mm print that we got to see was a restrike from the early 90's and the colors were crisp and vivid.  This was an incredible way to kick off the second annual Thursday Thread-Up series.