Spooky Season At Zayre

October Sales Circular
Zayre (1987)
This page from a Zayre sales circular was shared by Dinosaur Dracula last month.

The highlight for me is the ad at the bottom left corner for Friday The 13th, Deadly Friend, Fright Night, The Believer, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, and Halloween on VHS for $16.99.

This is the candy that we all wanted to find in our bag after we were finished trick or treating... except maybe for the Smarties, which had about the same flavor as the packets of sugar on the table at the Blue Comet.  Also, I still say that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups tasted better when they came in a paper wrapper.

The Count Dracula Chocolate Flavored Candy at the top left of this part of the ad is the kind of thing that savvy kids would trade to their friends for their old boring Hershey and Snickers bars.  The package may be awesome, but they didn't usually taste very good.

Once in a while, there would be a seasonal goodie that you didn't want to give up, like these Alma Skull Crushers which oozed strawberry blood when you bit into them.  I don't think these are still sold in stores in the United States, but I was able to find them for sale on UK eBay and other online retailers under the name Hannah's Skull Crushers.

I was more of a rubber mask kid when it came to Halloween, but makeup was always a solid option.

These cardboard wall hangings sold for a buck and a half back in the 80's,  My grandmother used to wait and buy things like this when they went on sale after the holiday to put away for next year.  These old decorations are considerably more expensive when you can find them on eBay, especially if they're in good condition.

The last thing that caught my eye were these Halloween pinatas.  I can't say I ever remember seeing pinatas out for a Halloween party when I was a kid.  The witch in the center is giving off Viola Swamp vibes.

When The World Is Running Down...

Zenyatta Mondatta
The Police (1980)
The third studio album from The Police is turning forty five years old today.  Practically every song on this record was a hit, including Don't Stand So Close To Me, Driven To Tears, Canary In A Coal Mine, and Man In A Suitcase.

My favorite one of all, and probably my favorite song that the band ever put out, is the third song on the album.  When I listened to this song in my 20's and 30's, it reminded me of Roland describing Mid-World in The Dark Tower by saying that "the world has moved on".  When the pandemic began, and the effects of global climate change became harder to ignore in the years after the pandemic, it started to remind me of our world because all we can really do is make the best of what's still around.

When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around

The Police (1980)

Turn on my VCR

Same one I've had for years

James Brown on the Tami show

Same tape I've had for years

I sit in my old car

Same one I've had for years

Old battery's running down

It ran for years and years

Turn on the radio

The static hurts my ears

Tell me, where would I go?

I ain't been out in years

Turn on the stereo

It's played for years and years

An Otis Redding song

It's all I own

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

Plug in my MCI

To exercise my brain

Make records on my own

Can't go out in the rain

Pick up the telephone

I've listened here for years

No one to talk to me

I've listened here for years

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When I feel lonely here

Don't waste my time with tears

I run Deep Throat again

It ran for years and years

Don't like the food I eat

The cans are running out

Same food for years and years

I hate the food I eat

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

When the world is running down

You make the best of what's still around

Where The Sun Light Don't Shine

I'm not really sure where this Halloween witch came from.  It's possible that we picked it up form a flea market, but I don't remember buying it.  It's more likely that my grandmother made it when I was a kid, but I don't remember seeing it.  Maybe she manifested in our attic all by herself.  Who knows.

Wherever she came from, she's a pretty groovy decoration and we try to find a place to put her this time of the year.  It's made pretty well, with fabric for the hat and the dress and doll hair on her head.  She's also surprisingly heavy.

The witch's body is a bottle of Sun Light dish soap that's filled with sand.  The copywrite on the bottle is from 1992.  Whether this was made by my grandmother or by a flea market vendor, this little witch has been haunting people's homes at Halloween for 33 years.

I Wish I'd Stayed Asleep Today

The Head On The Door
The Cure (1985)
The sixth studio album from The Cure was released forty years ago today.

In Between Days
The Cure (1985)

Yesterday, I got so old

I felt like I could die

Yesterday, I got so old

It made me want to cry

Go on, go on, just walk away

Go on, go on, your choice is made

Go on, go on and disappear

Go on, go on, away from here

And I know I was wrong

When I said it was true

That it couldn't be me and be her

In between without you, without you

Yesterday, I got so scared

I shivered like a child

Yesterday, away from you

It froze me deep inside

Come back, come back, don't walk away

Come back, come back, come back today

Come back, come back, why can't you see?

Come back, come back, come back to me

And I know I was wrong

When I said it was true

That it couldn't be me and be her

In between without you, without you

Without you, without you

This Burger Doesn't Get The Boot From Me

Boot Burger
From The Boot - Ambler, PA
Before our double feature at The Ambler Theater for Rob's birthday, we all had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant next door to the theater called From The Boot.  I've been on a strict diet for the past three months, so this was a special treat.  Everything on the menu looked good, but I have a rule that if they make something that they've named after the restaurant, I have to try it.  That's why I got the Boot Burger, and it ended up being a good decision.  It was delicious!

I saw this on the drink menu and had to try it, and... wow.  This packs a punch!

Four Schwarbombs

Kyle Schwarber
Philadelphia Phillies (August 28, 2025)
In tonight's game against the Atlanta Braves, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber became the 21st player in the history of MLB to hit four home runs in one game.  He joins Ed Delahanty (7/13/1896), Chuck Klein (7/10/1936), and Mike Schmidt (4/17/1976) as just the fourth Phillies player in the history of the franchise to accomplish the feat.

South Jersey Times - August 29th, 2025

You And Me, We're Going Nowhere Slowly

The Big Street / Streets Of Fire
The Ambler Theater - Ambler, PA
Our friend Rob celebrated his 40th birthday with a 35mm double feature at The Ambler Theater.

This was my first time visiting The Ambler.  It's an absolutely gorgeous theater with a rich history.  It opened on New Years Eve 1928 as a Warner Bros theater.  It has been operated as a non-profit by its current owners since 2001 showing first run films digitally and vintage films on 35mm.

The first movie of the night was the 1942 Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball drama The Big Street.  I'd never heard of this one before, but it was pretty good.  Lucille Ball's character Gloria Lyons is a pretty horrible person in this story, but she's not the most vile character in the film.  That honor goes to Case Ables (played by Barton MacLane), who seems to get away scot free by the end of the film.  I don't want to say too much more at the risk of spoiling the plot for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it's a good story with some solid laughs throughout, and it will have you wondering what the hell is wrong with Henry Fonda's character that he puts up with so much.

 

The first movie of the night was on The Ambler's schedule, so it was open to the public.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a full theater.  It's nice to see that folks in the area support vintage films on 35mm.

The second movie was a private screening for Rob and his guests, and the title was a surprise until it hit the screen.  The movie ended up being Walter Hill's 1984 neo-noir classic Streets Of Fire.  This played at a Tunnel Vision Tuesday screening at the Mahoning back in August 2022.  I missed out on seeing it that night, and I've regretted it ever since because the trailer that they played in the weeks leading up to that show made it look like it was incredible.

If anything, the trailer understated how excellent this movie is.  This was the first time that I'd ever seen it, and I was absolutely blown away.  I keep a list of movies that I've seen on Letterboxd, and if you ever check out my rankings, you might notice that I very rarely give a movie five out of five stars.  Streets Of Fire is absolutely a five star movie in my book.  If you haven't seen it before, I can't recommend strongly enough that you check it out.

And that's a wrap on our first trip to The Ambler.  Happy birthday, Rob, and thank you for inviting us to your birthday celebration!

Go Get 'Em Champ

Raging Bull
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This year's Scorsese Sunday was the 1980 boxing biodrama, Raging Bull.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Last night's screening was the second time that I saw Raging Bull.  The first time was when I brought it home on VHS from Blowout Video when I was a teenager.  I didn't think too highly of it then, but it's a critically acclaimed movie, so I thought that maybe seeing it on the big screen in my mid 40's might help me to see what everybody else sees in this film.

Well... I got more out of it this time around, but the best compliment that I can pay Raging Bull is that I didn't hate it.  I thought it was okay, but not the masterpiece that I've been told that it is.  The only thing that stood out to me as truly impressive was the performance of Joe Pesci as Joey LaMotta.

I suspect that the folks who decided to adapt Jake LaMotta's memoir to the big screen were motivated to capitalize on the success of Rocky before the public's interest in boxing films faded.  Martin Scorsese took the project and decided to film it in black and white in an attempt to give it an artsy vibe.  There are a few exceptions to what I'm about to say, but modern movies filmed in black and white rarely impresses me as being worthwhile.  It feels like a gimmick that filmmakers use to gloss over a story that wouldn't be all that interesting without it.

I get it... I'm supposed to love this film.  I'm supposed to gush over how Martin Scorsese is a genius and how Robert De Niro is the greatest actor of our time, but the movie wasn't all that entertaining, and it didn't make me feel anything emotionally.  It wasn't a bad movie.  It just felt kind of boring, and I don't think I'd want to see it again.

I Remember... The Alamo

Pee Wee's Big Adventure / Big Top Pee Wee
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This weekend at the drive-in was dedicated to Pee Wee Herman with a double feature of the character's first two films showing on Friday and Saturday night.  I was at The Gap on Friday night for Mike's screening of Emperor Of The North, so I headed to the Mahoning on Saturday night so that I didn't miss the Pee Wee extravaganza.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by T-Bone & Aljax

I spent the first half of the pre-show working with Donnie at the front gate.  About an hour after gates opened, actress Diane Salinger pulled up.  She played Simone in Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  We didn't have any special guests booked for the weekend, so this came as a welcome surprise to everyone.

Virgil called for me on the walkie talkie about 15 minutes later and asked me to meet him at the stage outside of the concession stand.  I figured that he probably needed me to carry something or maybe help set something up for the photo op with Pee Wee's bike, but I was wrong.  Instead, I was called in to work alongside Ms. Salinger as her assistant for the evening.  That consisted of setting up her table for autographs, handling the cash and credit card transactions, and taking photos for people who wanted to take a picture with her.  She was very nice, and folks in attendance were excited to meet her.  She had a line from the moment she got settled in right up to showtime when she stepped into the projection booth to introduce the film.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure was the first film to hit the screen.  This was my second time seeing it on 35mm at the Mahoning.  They played it as a single feature on June 4th, 2023 and it was a big hit.  It did even better this time around with the sales at the gate pushing last night's double feature to being a sellout.

The crowd erupted in applause when our unexpected special guest was on screen.  Diane Salinger's character Simone is a waitress who Pee Wee becomes friends with on his cross country journey to recover his stolen bicycle.  She once again worked with Paul Reubens in Batman Returns when the two played The Penguin's parents.  My favorite of her performances was her role as Apollonia Bojakshiya in the HBO series Carnivàle.

The second movie of the night was the 1988 film Big Top Pee Wee.  I hadn't seen this before last night and always heard that it wasn't great, but I didn't think it was a bad for a kids movie.  It's a step down from the first film to be sure, but it's enjoyable on its own merits.

 

And that's a wrap on Pee Wee's Big Drive-In Adventure.

You Can Be A Meat Eater, Kid

Dazed And Confused / Emperor Of The North
The Gap Theatre - Wind Gap, PA
One of the cool services offered by The Gap is the ability to schedule a movie to be screened on 35mm at their theater.

My friend Mike took advantage of this service by booking one of his favorite films to play last night.  They happened to be playing one of my favorite movies prior to that, so we headed out a few hours early to make it a double feature.

Dazed And Confused is one of my favorite movies of all time.  We got to see it two years ago at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.  In all likelihood, it was the same 35mm print that we saw last night at The Gap.  There's just something special about this movie that draws you into its world and gives you an immediate connection to the cast.  I'm sure everybody who loves this movie sees pieces of their teenage self in one or more of the characters.

The second movie of the night, and the one that Mike booked, was the 1973 railroad-based action adventure film Emperor Of The North.  The story takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression and it features Lee Marvin as a hobo who's known and respected as A-1 by his peers, and Ernest Borgnine as the brutal conductor of the Oregon Pacific & Eastern Railroad who enacts lethal justice on any hobos who attempt to stow away on his train.

This isn't the type of movie that I'd ever choose to watch based on the description, but I'm glad to have had this opportunity to see it.  I wouldn't say that I loved it.  There were a few scenes that dragged on too long (and probably could have been cut altogether), but it was a pretty good overall with excellent performances from its two leads.

A Trip To Blackmoor

2025 Patreon Screening #5
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

Our friend Zack brought his dad out to the drive-in for the fifth Patreon screening of the season.

And, naturally, I had to get a couple games of Ms. Pac-Man in before showtime.

 

When the sun went down, we watched Carl's 35mm print of Russ Meyer's 1973 blaxploitation flick Black Snake, which had the alternate name of Sweet Suzy on the title card.  It was alright.  It's not really my cup of tea, but I thought it was good and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see it.

What's Black And White And Red All Over?

Reading Phillies program
August 21, 1985
I picked this up for a dollar from a table at the Hometown Farmers Market last March.  They made an interesting choice of printing the entire program in red ink, with the exception of the lucky number that could win a prize for whoever purchased this at the game.  There's no articles inside, but there are some photos, stats, facts, trivia, and some interesting advertisements for businesses that were in and around Reading, PA at the time.