The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on September 12, 2016

In 1921, director Fritz Lang, based in Germany, started on a run of films for the rest of the decade that would be hard to match. They are among the most renowned and influential movies made during that period. Here's the list: DESTINY DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER DIE NIBELUNGEN METROPOLIS...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on September 9, 2016

I'm fond of buying obscure movies at a cheap price because....that's what I do. One of my latest DVD acquisitions is the 1965 historical epic GENGHIS KHAN, which I purchased from Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers for $6. Earlier this year I wrote a post on the infamous John Wayne as...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on September 8, 2016

On this day in 1966, the television show STAR TREK premiered on the NBC Network. The show only lasted three seasons, but its overall impact continues to this day. Even those who have never seen an episode of it know what the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" means, or are...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 29, 2016

After a long, hot day at work, I came home to find out that Gene Wilder passed away. This one hits a little bit closer to home than most. WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is one of my top 100 favorite movies of all time, and I watch it...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 27, 2016

This is my contribution to the 2nd Ingrid Bergman Blogathon, hosted by thewondefulworldofcinema.wordpress.com. Today we live in a world of re-boots, remakes, and reworkings of classic and not so classic material. The Golden Age of Hollywood had its share of reworkings as well, particularly when it   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 25, 2016

I finally went and saw SUICIDE SQUAD. Is this the true breakout DC movie everyone has been waiting for? It's making a lot of money at the box office, true, but I think that is more due to the fact that there isn't much else out right now. It's an...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 22, 2016

Last Sunday I attended the 2016 Wizard World Chicago convention, along with my friend Paul G. Lyzun, who is the director of the esteemed documentary WITHOUT CHARITY. Our main purpose was to get Carrie Fisher's autograph, and.....well, that didn't happen. When Paul and I went to buy autograph ticket   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 9, 2016

On August 6, I attended the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention held at the Crown Plaza O'Hare Hotel (the same place that G Fest was held at a couple weeks earlier). Flashback Weekend is more of a "modern" horror movie convention--most of the autograph guests had appeared in thrillers from the...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 5, 2016

Whenever I participate in a blogathon I try, as much as possible, to write about a film or a subject that is not well-known. My pick for the Third Annual British Invaders Blogathon is certainly not a famous film--but it has a well-known cast, especially to those who are film...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on August 4, 2016

Blue Underground continues to mine the nuggets of bizarre cinema with their Blu-ray release of CIRCUS OF FEAR and FIVE GOLDEN DRAGONS. Both films were produced and written by the notorious exploitation showman Harry Alan Towers, and they both feature cult actors Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski. If   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 30, 2016

When it comes to the definition of "movie star", almost no one fulfills that better than Joan Crawford. Her decades-long movie career, her poor background, her various real-life romances, the numerous stories & legends about her personal behavior--it's almost as if her entire life was written by   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 24, 2016

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) is one of the great cult movies of all time, and now it's getting the super-deluxe treatment with a new Criterion Blu-ray. Criterion released CARNIVAL OF SOULS on DVD several years ago, but this upgraded version is a worthy purchase. When I started collecting movies during   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 17, 2016

If you have any interest in movies, books, or music, chances are you've bought the same film/book/album many times in different formats. If you are old enough, you've probably bought an album on vinyl...then 8-track tape...then cassette tape...then CD...and finally vinyl again, with that format comi   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 17, 2016

Yesterday I attended G Fest XXIII, held at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare hotel. G Fest is a celebration of Godzilla and all things kaiju (that translates to "giant monster", in case you don't know). The last time I went to G Fest was 2012--that was where I met the...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 12, 2016

In the mid-1950s, master special-effects animator Ray Harryhausen was involved in a number of low-budget black & white movies which featured a particular creature--THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, and 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH. 1956's EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS does   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 10, 2016

My good friend, independent filmmaker Joshua Kennedy, recently sent me a preview copy of his latest film, THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. The movie gets your attention right from the beginning with a very nice title sequence. We see a book resting on a table--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Return...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 6, 2016

Kino Studio Classics has come out with a Blu-ray of one of the most unusual of 1950s sci-fi flicks: THE MAGNETIC MONSTER. THE MAGNETIC MONSTER is unusual mainly for the fact that the "monster" is never really seen. A scientist, through his experiments with radiation, has developed a new element...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on July 2, 2016

A few weeks ago, Will McKinley tweeted a link to a Stephen Spielberg interview in which the director mentioned that he had "terminal nostalgia". Will went on to say that many of his classic movie buff friends suffer from the same malady. I also must admit to having terminal nostalgia--but...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on June 22, 2016

Kino Lorber has released on Blu-ray the 1934 German science-fiction drama GOLD. What makes this film important for movie geeks is the fact that it features Brigitte Helm, the legendary star of Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS...and you get to hear her speak! GOLD concerns the attempts of German scientist Pr   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on June 21, 2016

The Warner Archive Collection has just released John Ford's SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON on Blu-ray. This is a film that I'm sure most movie buffs already own on DVD, or at least a film they have seen several times. For this Blu-ray Warners had a new interpositive made from...   read more