And so it begins...

    I decided it was time to move my sporadic natterings off of MySpace and Facebook and into a larger venue - the blog! I've recently discovered several very entertaining blogs, and much as my in-depth study of the legend who is Joe Bob Briggs 20 years ago (!) led to my launching of the late, lamented (?) Mad Mike's Multitudinous Maniacal Movies newsletter (M5 for short); once again reading others' views on the movies, books, and TV shows I enjoy has gotten my creative juices flowing. M5 was sent out in hard copy form through that dinosaur called snail mail to a select few friends for 30 or so issues across about 2 years. Let's see if we can run this sucker a bit longer!
    One of the things I enjoy about some of the blogs I read is the hook, the format the review comes in that has specific repeated points in every review - stuff like "I learned while watching this movie that - " or movie notable totals that include items such as "explosions," "thunderstorms," and "actors who have appeared on Star Trek."
    So, for this blog the movie reviews will be posted in a new way for me - with a more structured format "inspired by" (ripped off from? you decide) some of the blogs I've been perusing. Up top is an ad slick I glommed onto from one of those blogs, a multi feature horror program that just happened to be playing at a drive-in my wife used to go to back in the day!
    Before we get to one of those new reviews (I'm still working out that structured format - and I better hurry - the first review is coming in the next 48 hours!) I think I'll kick this thing off with the very first movie review I ever got published, on May 3rd, 1984, in the McLeansboro (Il) Times-Leader. No hook, no format. Just a kid, a typewriter, and enough belief in his skills to take it into the newspaper office and present it for publication.

'Splash,'

a review by Craig Edwards

    Splash is definitely the comedy catch of the year. The story concerns Alan Bauer, a New York City wholesale produce market owner who is dissatisfied with his love life. That is, until he goes to Cape Cod, and has a chance meeting with the girl of his dreams.
    Bauer, played by Tom Hanks (of TV's Bosom Buddies), falls off a boat and is rescued by a beautiful blonde, Daryl "Blade Runner" Hannah, who quickly swims off.
    Alan goes back to New York, more depressed than ever. However, that blonde is no ordinary girl; she's a mermaid! And she goes looking for her new-found love in the Big Apple (growing a very curvaceous set of legs on land.)
    This inventive comedy was directed by "Happy Days" Ron Howard, who proved himself a very capable director with 1982's "Night Shift." The cast also includes SCTV's John Candy is a great performance as Alan's lecherous brother, and Eugene Levy (also of SCTV) as a not-very-nice marine biologist.
    Everyone in the cast is very good. Hanks is a very charming hero, and Candy and Levy are great laugh-getters, but as far as I'm concerned, Miss Hannah steals the show.
    Rated PG for some light adult humor, and a little inoffensive nudity, this unexpectedly poignant comedy is now playing at area theaters.

And that will do it for this go-round! As I used to sign off in that old M5 newsletter, Poke Me With A Fork, 'Cause I Am Outta Here!