Cereal At Midnight

Let's take an in-depth look at the company Mill Creek Entertainment, the guys behind those massive 50-movie sets that seem to be everywhere. We look at the pros and cons of the company's business model, highlight their successes, and point out a few areas that could use a little improvement. This one's for fans of exploitation, horror, sci-fi, drive-in, martial arts, and cult classic DVDs, Blu-rays, and physical media. We also look at their box sets of Miami Vice, Knight Rider, Airwolf, That '70s show, Quantum Leap, and a few of their mega-movie sets including the 200-film Drive-In Cult Classics box set.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the Space Lounge, the hippest, swingingest corner of the galaxy where you can cozy up for a drink and check out some of the coolest music that lies far off the beaten path. If you've poked around this site, you might recognize that I'm obsessed with mid-century kitsch. From the late fifties to the early-to-mid seventies, the weirdest, hottest, strangest popular music ever was pouring out of the culture. Here in the Space Lounge, I'll be spinning lounge, exotica, surf, swing, and even unusual elevator records that are still cooler than the other side of the pillow. Expect the unexpected. Today I christen the Space Lounge and cut the cosmic ribbon to welcome you into the party. You can check your coat in the tiki closet and order a drink from the monkey in the fez. Prepare for blast off as we ride this rocket all the way back to the atomic age. Lift off after the jump...

The Legends of Luke Skywalker  by Ken Liu is one of several books that comprise the "Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, " a wave of fiction meant to build anticipation for the movie and give readers some clues as to what has been happening off-screen. They also introduce characters, concepts, and locations that will be important in the movie itself. The fiction books (there are also activity and coloring books) cover four different age ranges: adult, young adult, junior, and young reader. This book falls under the junior line, meaning it's probably geared toward pre-teens and early teens. None of that matters when you're a Star Wars fan eager to get your hands on fresh content, though, especially concerning a character that everyone wanted to see more of in the sequel trilogy of films. 

I've been playing a fair bit of Donkey Kong Country  lately on my SNES Classic Edition , and I've been struck all over again by what an amazing video game it is. Something I'd forgotten, though, was how beautiful the soundtrack to the game was (and still is), with a lot of different genres of influences going into the pot. The music for the game was composed primarily by David Wise with help from Eveline Fischer and Robin Beanland; Fisher's goal was to create music that would sonically refer back to great synthesizer scores of the past. He threw in some world rhythms and a bunch of African instrumentation, and the rest is history.

2017 is gone and 2018 is here! In the first vlog of the New Year, I go over my holiday haul and show you the movies, books, video games, and comics that I got for Christmas. There's action figure talk, some DVDs and Blu-rays, and even some quick thoughts about what's to come in the New Year.

The holidays may have come and gone, but I only just found this in stores. I was in a Target that I don't normally frequent, and I stumbled across an end-cap display with a few boxes of Quaker's Life Cereal in the "Limited Edition" flavor of Gingerbread Spice. The best part is that the box was on clearance for $2.11. So what if Christmas is over?! It's still a winter wonderland outside as I write this, and the idea of some tasty gingerbread in my breakfast bowl sounds amazing! I threw the box into my shopping cart and had a bowl mere minutes after I got back home. So what's the verdict on this seasonal cereal flavor?

I was watching some episodes of Filmation's  He-Man and the Masters of the Universe  cartoon and ran across this image, which I loved so much I just had to share. It's taken from the 32nd episode of season one, "Search for the VHO." In the story, He-man and Teela must save a researcher and his son who are trapped in the water off the coast of an island. This brings He-Man directly into the domain of Mer-Man, but Skeletor's flunkie has some help: A KRAKEN!

So here's a true story: I woke up in the middle of the night with all these The Last Jedi debates raging in my head and couldn't go back to sleep for at least an hour. I just lay there thinking about all the internet outrage over this divisive movie (that, as I write this, has just been named the highest-grossing film of 2017) and this article you're now reading began to crystalize in my head. I'm not sure I'll be able to put it together with the clarity that I had in the pre-dawn hours of the early a.m., but I'm going to give it my best shot. I hadn't planned on writing anything else about this movie, and I've been enjoying some time off for the holidays. Besides, neither the world nor the internet need another write-up about The Last Jedi . I can't imagine anything needing to be said that hasn't been already, but...here I go writing another piece on the movie. Part of why I feel it's necessary is because I was so glowing on the movie wh...

Infamous Alabama outlaw Bart Thrasher lived a short, violent existence, but his tale is the stuff of campfire legends. In the turbulent years following the Civil War, Bart Thrasher robbed, murdered, and terrorized Bloody Bibb County, making national news and reminding everyone that the dangers of the Wild West extended all the way to Alabama.

I won't beat around the bush: I absolutely love The Last Jedi . It was the movie that I've been daring to hope for, finally giving me faith that the Disney era of Star Wars can offer its own thing but still have the timelessness and emotional power that many of the other numbered saga films possess. I'm still too excited, even several days after watching the movie, to put together something tightly-written that would resemble a review, so bear with me as I get my thoughts down on how this movie delivered what I wanted...no, what I needed, and what Star Wars itself needed in order to MATTER to a new generation. More importantly, if you're skeptical of this movie, maybe I can shed some light on why I think this is the right step forward. I'm not an expert. I'm not a critic. I'm just a fan so excited about something that I have to write about it. The internet is a toxic place where honesty and respect rarely go hand in hand, but maybe, just maybe, I can bear ...

Disney's purchase of the film and television assets of 20th Century Fox is major news, and it comes at the same time that the FCC repeals net neutrality. Let's dig in and explore the long-term impact of these two major entertainment developments.

There are very few things that are as awesome as Star Wars, and I've accumulated a large, incredible, weird collection of the movies and TV shows over the years. Come join me for a tour of my Star Wars video collection as we celebrate the  magic of a Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away! Long live Star Wars!

Rolling Stones: ON AIR is a new collection that contains live performances recorded by the band for the BBC's various radio programs between 1963 and 1965. How does this collection stack up in the overall Stones discography? Plus, a further discussion of physical media and a small rant against Amazon!

  Baywatch  (2017) is one of the latest attempts by a major movie studio to rely on name recognition of a past property in hopes that audiences will support the movie out of familiarity. Recent other attempts at the same thing have included CHiPs, 21 Jump Street and its sequel, 22 Jump Street . Often times, these movies have only the thinnest of connections with the awesome thing that they're "based" upon, which begs the question "who are these movies for?" Anyone who watched the TV shows that provide inspiration for these movies will be unhappy because they are so tonally different, and younger audiences who didn't grow up with those old TV shows won't care because they have no emotional investment. Baywatch  bears almost no resemblance to the show that it takes its name from. Sure, there are very fit people in bikinis and tight trunks running on the beach, usually in slow motion. But that, along with a couple of character names, is the only connect...

This is not my video, but I'm posting it here because I love it and I think it deserves to be appreciated by as many people as possible. Fact #1: John Carpenter is the best. Fact #2: Doctor Who is also the best. YouTube's GeorgeCMusic decided to combine the two together and created something that is so awesome that I can hardly stand it. The marriage of seventies-era John Carpenter synthesizer with seventies era Doctor Who (think Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor) hits me right where I live. It's spooky in exactly the way that it needs to be and sounds JUST LIKE what Ron Grainer's classic Doctor Who theme would have sounded like if John Carpenter worked for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop circa 1978.

Your eccentric uncle is back for an open conversation about collecting physical media in a world that has moved to streaming services as a primary source of entertainment. How has the marketplace changed in the last ten years? In the last FIVE? What impact has this shift had on the sales, availability, and general public opinion of those shiny discs that now serve as drink coasters? Is Netflix the devil, or a savior? These are questions that scholars like Socrates and Plato debated to a draw, but we're going to see if we can answer them once and for all! Gather 'round and huddle up beside the fire with a bowl of your favorite cereal, because we're gonna dig deep into the debate, Midnight-style.

I hate having to write this.  Batman and Harley Quinn  should have been great. This movie reunites some of the people behind the now-legendary 1990s TV show Batman: The Animated Series  and clearly was intended to point directly to the iconic and groundbreaking cartoon adventures of the Caped Crusader.   To my memory, we haven't had a Warner Brothers animated Batman-specific movie directly connected to the '90s series in years.   Kevin Conroy returns here as the voice of Batman, but we're also treated to the return of Loren Lester as the voice of Dick Grayson, aka Robin/Nightwing. With many direct connections to the animated series, a spotlight on Harley Quinn, a character who is more popular than ever, and a story by Bruce Timm, the father of Batman: TAS,  what could possibly go wrong?

One of the things that continues to amaze me about westerns from the 1950s is that, despite the fact that hundreds (if not more) of them were made during the decade, each one feels unique and special with a different focus, tone, and style. Even westerns that star the same actors and film in the same locations manage to retain an individuality that never fails to impress me. Robbers' Roost  is another solid entry that helps to make the case that the fifties were the pinnacle of westerns on film. Furthermore, this movie comes from 1955, a year that I maintain is a very special one for movie fans. In fact, I wrote a ten-part series about the movies of 1955 over at F This Movie, highlighting how the films from that year represent a change in complexity and a deeper focus on more realistic characters. Consider George Montgomery in  Robbers' Roost . The actor plays our lead here, and we're introduced to him at the beginning of the movie when he walks in on a gang in a s...

Happy Thanksgiving to all! This year brings special cause for me to celebrate and be thankful, because this is the 100TH POST on this site. That wouldn't mean a thing without YOU.

It's only been a little over a year since its debut, but Stranger Things has become a massive pop culture phenomenon and an incredible success for Netflix. We've boiled that success down to three key factors that we believe are the secret to the show's popularity and achievements.

1992's Highlander: The Series  came along at just the right time. After Highlander 2 , the franchise (which was only two movies) was in the toilet and even the most passionate fans complained that the sequel had ruined something that was once fresh and cool. Along comes the TV show, which offers what is essentially a soft reboot. The syndicated series ignores the second movie altogether, instead choosing to go back to the things that made the FIRST movie feel so special, albeit with a few tweaks. Gone is any reference to another planet or any hint at alien technology. Gone is the futuristic slant and the high-concept premise. Instead, we return to the time of "The Gathering" when only a few immortals remain and must battle until to the death. The premise is its mantra: in the end, there can be only one. The series plays things close to "real;" the only fantastical elements within the series are the Quickenings that occur when an immortal is slain and a sort of...

  As far as your midnight movie plots go, there's nothing inherently unique about Trip with the Teacher . On the surface, this is your standard "mad motorcycle maniacs terrorize the innocent" plot, but it's done with so much style and at least one particularly stunning performance that it easily stands out against similar films. Brenda Fogarty ( The Beach Bunnies ) is a prim and proper teacher who is leading a handful of her female students (including Cathy Worthington in her debut) on an expedition into the desert to observe some Native American artifacts. Jack Driscoll ( Garden of the Dead ) is their bus driver, a stout man who is the spitting image of Sterling Hayden ( The Godfather ), circa 1957. Elsewhere in the desert, two motorcyclists, played by Zalman King ( Galaxy of Terror ) and Robert Porter ( Mackenna's Gold ), are broken down on the side of the road. Another motorcyclist happens upon them, played by Robert Gribbin ( Hitch Hike to Hell ), and when...

Check out this huge collection of DC Super Heroes action figures found at a yard sale! There are some old favorites here, as well some unique figures included that might surprise you!

Fort Massacre  is one of the many smaller westerns from the 1950s that features an excellent script, solid performances, and beautiful cinematography. The film was released by United Artists and was directed by Joseph M. Newman, the same guy who made the underrated sci-fi classic  This Island Earth.  The story follows the U.S. Cavalry's C Troop as they navigate Apache country after an ambush that left a number of their men either dead or injured. They're trying to get to their outpost 100 miles away while under constant fire from hostile natives. It's the same plot that could have been (and was) used for a ton of war movies, but the draw of Fort Massacre  isn't the story; the real beauty is watching these characters as they deal with what appears to be a no-win situation.

As I write this, I'm 99% positive that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is my favorite breakfast cereal. It ages with me well, offering a good whole grain base that's lightly sweetened and has a deliciously-balanced cinnamon and sugar coating that tastes great, even if it does leave a slimy film in my mouth like I've been licking frogs again. So when I finally decided to try its sister cereal, French Toast Crunch, it was with some hesitation (it looks like a big departure from CTC), but also a little bit of nervous excitement.  French Toast Crunch was originally introduced back in 1995 by the folks at General Mills and was around until 2006, when it was pulled from American store shelves (but remained available in Canada). But since everything old is new again, the folks at General Mills dusted off the idea for America in 2015, relaunching it nationwide where it still occupies valuable shelf space as of this writing. Before this review, I'd never tried French Toast Crunch. ...