Our Names Will Be Written On A Thousand Walls

Candyman
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
The first Sunday night of the 2025 season was an early 90's horror flick that kicked off a franchise, the 1992 TriStars Pictures film Candyman.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco

I'm glad to see that the commemorative tickets based on Andrew Kern's incredible banner art have returned for the 2025 season.

Gates opened at 5:00 for the annual Halfway To Halloween vendor market with thirty different vendors set up in the first few rows and around the concession building.

Prior to showtime, there was a nice tribute to Tony Todd who passed away five months ago.  The actor is best known in the horror community for his starring role as the title character in the Candyman franchise, but his career extended far beyond that series with prominent roles in movies such as Platoon, Night Of The Dead '90, The Crow, Wishmaster, and the Final Destination series.

Last, but not least, they screened an original 1992 35mm print of the movie that made Tony Todd a horror movie icon: Candyman.  It's been a long time since I've watched this.  I saw it for the first time in the mid 90's on VHS as a rental from Heights Terrace Video, and I'm pretty sure that I haven't watched it all the way through since them.  As is often the case, seeing it on the big screen at the drive-in gave me a new level of appreciation for this horror classic.

If You Want To View Paradise, Simply Look Around And View It

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory / The Wizard Of Oz
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
This weekend was the official opening of the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

Show banner designed by Andrew Kern

The traditional opening weekend at the Mahoning is a screening of The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on 35mm.  For the past few years, they've flipped the order of the films on Saturday night, which is the night that we were on the lot.

Actor Paris Themmen was in attendance on Friday and Saturday to meet fans, take pictures, and sign autographs.  He plays Mike Teavee, the television-obsessed Golden Ticket holder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  I've always gotten a kick out of this character because unlike Augustus, Violet, and Veruca, he's perfectly happy with his fate after misbehaving at the Chocolate Factory.  

The new black popcorn bucket for the 2025 season was available at the concession stand.  We picked one up on Thursday night, and it will be put to good use this season.  On Saturday night, my wife and I split an order of the special food for the weekend, which was the Wonka Fries.  These are hot crinkle cut french fries topped with a chocolate and caramel sauce and marshmallow goo.  They're a lot tastier than I thought they were going to be, but half of an order is more than enough.

This year marks our third time seeing Willy Wonka and The Wizard Of Oz at the drive-in.  It's been an annual tradition to mark Opening Weekend at the drive-in since long before we started coming here, and it never fails to draw in a big crowd of folks who spent the winter waiting for the drive-in to open, as well as people who are discovering this place for the first time.

 

Rob showed two cartoons on 35mm during intermission.  The first was the 1957 Woody Woodpecker short: Round Trip To Mars.  In this cartoon, Professor Dingledong builds a rocketship and attempts to use it to launch himself to Mars, but he ends up crashing back down to Earth where he attempts to capture Woody, who he believes to be a Martian.  You can stream it on B98.tv, which is a website that I've never heard of before today, so proceed with caution.

The second cartoon was from Rob's own collection, and it's one of the most well-known Merrie Melodies shorts of all time, the 1955 Chuck Jones cartoon: One Froggy Evening.  This short was the first appearance of Michigan J Frog, who would later become famous as the mascot for the WB Network in the 90's and early 2000's.  This is another one that I couldn't find on YouTube, but you can watch it on B98.tv.  I wish I knew enough about that website to recommend it because it looks pretty cool.  It seems like it's something built by fans of classic cartoons, but I haven't been able to find any information about who built it or when it began.

The second movie of Saturday night was the most watched and well-known film in the history of motion pictures: The Wizard Of Oz.  If you ever have an opportunity to see this film on the big screen, I highly recommend that you take advantage of it.  It's an experience that you won't forget.

 

And that's a wrap on Opening Weekend 2025.  There's a lot of awesome nights that have already been scheduled on the calendar for this season with many more that have yet to be announced.

She Thinks She Missed The Train To Mars

You'd Prefer An Astronaut
Hum (1995)
The third studio album from Illinois alternative rock band Hum was released thirty years ago today.

Stars
Hum (1995)

She thinks she missed the train to Mars

She's out back counting stars

She's not at work, she's not at school, she's not in bed

I think I finally broke her

I bring her home everything I want, and nothing that she needs

I thought she'd be there holding daisies

She always waits for me

She thinks she missed the train to Mars

She's out back counting stars

I found her out back, sitting naked

Looking up and looking dead

A crumpled yellow piece of paper, with seven nines and tens

I thought she'd be there holding daisies

She always waits for me

She thinks she missed the train to Mars

She's out back counting stars

Back On The Lot

2025 Patreon Screening #1
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
After 23 weeks, we are back at our happy place to kick off our fifth year coming to the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

They're have been a few changes made over the winter.  Sandy has a brand new shed outside of the concession building where t-shirts and other merchandise will be sold.  For reasons known only to her, Sandy seems gets upset when people call it a "shed" or a "shack" and prefers that people call it the Mahoning Merch Market, so I'll do my best to pretend that it's not a shed when I refer to it in the future.

The snack bar has also had a few changes, including the removal of the large table under the tv and the addition of a large drinks cooler near the register.  The VHS wall has also now been split with half of it now dedicated to sealed VHS tapes.  Some of these are new old stock.  Others are more recent releases, including some of the films on VHS that have been released by Shudder over the past few years.

Our first 35mm film of the season was the 1983 Filipino action flick: The One Armed Executioner.  I loved every minute of this movie.  It a film that tries like hell to be a Hollywood-style action blockbuster, and the sincerity behind it makes the cheesy acting performances that much better.  I'm hesitant to say that it falls into the "so bad it's good", not because it isn't good but because it's too well made to dismiss it as a bad movie.  This easily makes my top five movies that I've seen on the lot for a Patreon screening.

This isn't a movie that I'd recommend to everyone, but I thought it was great.  If you're interested, you can stream it on YouTube and Tubi.  The copy that has been uploaded to YouTube is more crisp, but it has a large "for preview purposes only" watermark at the top of the screen throughout the film.

If you want a much more competent review of The One Armed Executioner, it has been covered by Quentin Tarantino on his Video Archives Podcast.  Click play above to listen.

Rediscovering The Bomb

The Market: Antiques, Crafts, and Collectibles
Laurel Mall - Hazleton, PA
This store opened in the Laurel Mall in October 2024, but this was my first time stopping by.  It's sort of like Black Diamond or the Slatington Marketplace, but on a much smaller scale.  It's made up of vendors who rent space to display their merchandise, all of which you pay for at a single cash register in the middle of the store.

One of the things that I'm always on the lookout for in places like this are Garbage Pail Kids; specifically the ones that came out when I was a kid in the mid to late 80's.  These are getting pretty hard to find these days.  Topps brought the product line back in 2003, and they've produced dozens of different series over the past twenty years.  The new ones are alright, but I really don't have much interest in collecting these sets other than to buy the occasional sticker, like the ones that spoofed Bryce Harper and Joe Bob Briggs.

One of the vendors had a sign to announce to customers that they had Garbage Pail Kids for sale.  They were kept in three-ring binders in a locked case so I couldn't immediately see what they were, but based on the Funko Pop toys and other merchandise near the sign, I thought that the cards they had were probably from the 2000's.  But, I thought "what the hell" and asked the man at the cash register to unlock the case so that I could take a look at what they had, and I'm very glad that I did.

Not only did they have a good selection of Garbage Pail Kids from the 80's, but many of them were from Series 1 and 2 which I almost never find outside of a card show.  And right there in the center of the first page of the binder of cards was the holy grail: Sticker #8a - Adam Bomb.  It wasn't in gem mint condition, but I've never been picky about that sort of thing.  As long as the card isn't wrecked and the price is fair for the shape that the card is in, I'm in.  This one checked both of those boxes, so for the first time since the six year old me foolishly peeled this sticker and stuck it on the swing set in my grandparents back yard, I am the proud owner of the flagship card in the Garbage Pail Kids series.

I ended up getting these four cards from Series One and about a half dozen others from Series Two.  None of them are in fantastic condition, but you really couldn't beat the price.  The Geeky Gary card was 99 cents. There are ones on eBay right now in worse shape than this one that are selling for over ten bucks.  I don't think I'd ever pay collectors prices for these, but it's kind of fun to try to put together a full set just on what happens to pop up at yard sales, flea markets, and places like this store in the Laurel Mall.

He-Man And The Pierogie Omelette

The Freeland Diner
Freeland, PA
We watched a documentary on Pennsylvania diners last week, and it inspired us to make a plan to check out a few places that we've never been to before.  The first place on our list was The Freeland Diner.

My wife loves pierogies, so she had the Pierogie Omelette.  She gave me a bite of it, and it was delicious!  I was tempted to order this for myself, but I ended up getting something else that was equally outstanding.

I had the He-Man Breakfast with three eggs over easy, hash browns, scrapple, pancakes, Texas toast with butter and jam, a glass of orange juice, and coffee.  This is the kind of breakfast I could have every day.  We'll definitely be making this place one of our regular spots.

The Official Beverage Of The Easton Assassin

Larry Holmes Cream Soda
A-Treat (2025)

It doesn't get much more Pennsylvania than an A-Treat soda named after former World Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes.

This is a pretty darn good cream soda, but I wish they made it in sugar-free.

Hold The Phone, Ponce de León

The Woman In The Yard
Blumhouse Productions (2025)
The reviews that I've seen for The Woman In The Yard have been pretty brutal, but I didn't think it was bad.  It's probably not going to end up in any of my favorites lists, and I will agree that the trailer looked better than the film ended up being, but I found it to be a decent psychological horror flick overall.  I tend to struggle with movies that have a lot of dream and hallucination scenes where the viewer is left to question what is real and what is in the mind of the characters, but it's not something that they could have changed and kept the story intact.

Death Of A Unicorn
A24 (2025)
I've grown tired of the "horror comedy" sub-genre and think it's long past due for horror films to just be horror films, but I still had fun watching this.  It felt like parts of it were inspired by Ready Or Not and the Jurassic World trilogy, which is definitely not two things that I thought I'd be comparing Death Of A Unicorn to when I saw the trailer.  If you don't go into this expecting it to be a serious horror flick, you have a pretty good chance of enjoying this.

Boardwalk Season

Wildwood Boardwalk
Photo by John Margolies (1978)

Introducing The Amazing Rocket Head

Alien Lanes
Guided By Voices (1995)
The first Guided By Voices album to be released on Matador Records, and the band's eighth full length album overall, turns thirty years old today.

I first became aware of Guided By Voices when I was 15 years old.  There was a music store in my town called Gallery Of Sound that kept a box of magazines from previous months that went unsold, and customers were allowed to take anything from that box for free.  You didn't even have to buy anything, but you'd definitely get a dirty look from the old man behind the counter if you just showed up, grabbed an armload of magazines, and then left.  Ask me how I know.

Anyway, some of these magazines came with CDs that had a mix of tracks from different artists that were featured in that month's issue.  One of the songs on one of those CDs that I fell in love with instantly was The Official Ironmen Rally Song by Guided By Voices.  After hearing it for the first time, I wanted to discover more music by the band, and Alien Lanes was my first step into this rabbit hole.  Something about it hits me in just the right way.  Listening to this album feels like the audio equivalent of laying in a pile of blankets with a big cup of coffee on a snowy day where you're not obligated to do anything.

Let Me Have Just A Little Bit Of Peril

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
EMI Films (1975)
One of the funniest movies of all time is turning fifty years old today.

I don't know where I'd rank Monty Python and the Holy Grail in my list of favorite comedies, but it's definitely in the top ten.  If you've never seen it before, do yourself a favor and set aside 92 minutes of your day to laugh your ass off at the brilliance and creativity of this film.  It's available to stream for free (no subscription needed) on Tubi, Pluto, Plex, and The Roku Channel.

Batman Forever

Val Kilmer
1959-2025

Eating The Bungo

Bungo Choco Mochi
Orion (2025)
I was tempted to title this entry "...And Bungo Was His Name-O", but I went with this just to see what else comes up in the search results when you Google this post.

This little box of snack cakes was at the Union gas station that I stopped at on the way home from The Gap on Sunday morning.  They were being sold individually, so I grabbed one along with a cup of coffee that helped to keep me awake for the drive home.  I was originally going to get an energy drink, but the sign on the front door was too enticing.

I mean, how could I say no?

Bungo Choco Mochi are snack cakes that look like giant fluffy Goldfish crackers that are stuffed with a thick chocolate cream that sort of tastes like the center of an E.L. Fudge cookie.  I guess they're supposed to be filled with mochi too, but I didn't see or taste anything other than chocolate.  They're not terrible; maybe a little spongy for my taste, but I'd get one if I saw 'em again.