Synapse Films to Release Special Edition Blu-ray of “The Kindred”

IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN, SYNAPSE FILMS UNLEASHES “THE KINDRED” SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY ON OCTOBER 25TH!

In the 25 year history of Synapse Films perhaps no film in the company's storied history had as long a road to shelves as The Kindred, which took many years and a lot of hard work to complete.  Now, The Kindred is finally unleashed on Blu-ray this October 25th with a stellar new 4K restoration of the complete, unrated version of the film, accompanied by plenty of extras, making it perfect monstrous viewing for Halloween 2022!

 

Academy Award-winning screen legends Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night; Duck, You Sucker) and Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire; Planet of the Apes) star in The Kindred, a chilling tale of a genetic experiment gone wrong… very wrong!

The Bookmobile

In the latest episode, Joseph and Mike talked about visiting the bookmobile.

In case you've never had the experience, here's what they looked like:

They could - and did - vary in appearance depending on where they were operated and who was funding it. Sometimes they were converted old school buses, but most often they looked similar to this fella. You can tell by the yellow and brown color scheme that this was most likely from the 70s.

As for the interior:

This is a view looking from the front towards the back.  You would check your stuff out at the little station in the very back.  Again, not every bookmobile was laid out exactly like all of the others, but this is a pretty good look at the general layout you'd see.

Did you ever visit your local bookmobile?  Let us know!

"Paperback Writer"

Episode #123

As a follow-up to the previous episode, Joseph and Mike discuss R.I.F. - the old Reading Is Fundamental program, going to the library, and paying visits to the beloved Bookmobile. New regular segment "Gift, Keep, Ditch" features foes of Godzilla, and there's even an announcement about a new contest for another free movie on Blu-ray!

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/whenitwascool/Uphill_Both_Ways_123_Paperback_Writer.mp3

Movie Review: “Ip Man: The Awakening” (2022)

“Someone must stand up to injustice!”

-by Mike Imboden

Right out of the gate I should state that I’m not a martial arts connoisseur and do not have a vast knowledge of the genre.  That’s not to say I’m clueless - I mean, I grew up watching various incarnations of “Kung Fu Theater” on TV (since it usually followed pro wrestling on TV back in the 80s), and I’ve seen plenty of films since then - so I’m mainly putting that out there so I don’t get lambasted if I state something obvious or incorrectly attribute one thing or another.  I also say that because, previous to this, I have not seen any of the Ip Man movies.  Nope - not any of the Donnie Yen ones (which I need to correct because I hear they are amazing), nor any of the others that came along trying to cash in on Yen’s successful run portraying the master of the Wing Chun style of fighting who also happened to be Bruce Lee’s teacher.

It might be because of all that that I liked Ip Man: The Awakening a bit more than it was worth liking.

Movie Review: “Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex” (2022)

Tribeca Festival Film Review: “Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex” (2022) 

by Joseph Perry

Many American rock music fans may only be familiar with British musician Marc Bolan’s band T. Rex as the act that had a smash 1970s hit with “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” but Bolan and his band’s popularity in their home country was huge, approaching that of The Beatles at their heyday. The new documentary film Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex and the accompanying tribute album of the same name should help introduce the history of this enigmatic rock star and his work to new listeners and those unfamiliar with his legacy, while showing the influence that Bolan had on rock musicians through the decades during his career and after his untimely death at the age of only 29 in 1977.

Movie Review - "The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue" (1974)

In 1968 with The Night of the Living Dead, George Romero ushered in the modern take on the zombie that all know today; shambling, bloodthirsty, and hard to (re)kill outside of a bullet to the brain.  Throughout the next decade until his sequel, Dawn of the Dead, landed, there were many similar, or at least like-minded entries in the sub-genre out of Europe. Jean Rollin’s Grapes of Death (1978), Bob Clark’s Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1973), and Jorge Grau's Living Dead at Manchester Morgue are just a few. Here in the latter, as the synopsis reads, "A strange twist of fate brings two young travelers, George (Ray Lovelock - The Cassandra Crossing) and Edna (Christine Galbo - What Have You Done to Solange?), to a small town where an experimental agricultural machine may be bringing the dead back to life! As zombies infest the area and attack the living, a bullheaded detective (Arthur Kennedy) thinks the couple are Satanists responsible for the local killings. George and Edna have to fight for their lives, and prove their innocence, as they try to stop the impending zombie apocalypse!"

Happy Father's Day!