Dexter Season Three

One of the best, coolest and most deviant series on television returns on September 28th. America's favorite serial killer is back, with a vengeance.

Robert Hazard 1948-2008

Philadelphia hometown hero and musician Robert Hazard passed away yesterday due to complications from pancreatic cancer. He would have been 60 later this month. The singer/songwriter will be greatly missed. In the 1980s he epitomized the Philadelphia music scene, ruling South Street at the Ripley Dance Club.

He became nationally known as the writer of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and also with his own ‘new wave’ one-hit wonder, “Escalator of Life.” It may have been a one-hit wonder for the rest of the world but folks in Philly had been hearing his music for years. His first EP, named after himself and his band, the Heroes, featured radio staples like “Change Reaction,” “Hang Around with You” and “Out of the Blue,” but these were all songs we all knew for years listening to WMMR and WYSP.



A song from that EP, a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind,” betrayed where Hazard’s heart really was, in the folk vein, a place he would return to more than a decade later. For the moment however he stayed and rode the rock and new wave to seeming success. Between Cyndi Lauper and the Hooters, Philly music was hot, so he followed.

A second, more commercial and nationally distributed album followed in 1984. Wing of Fire was an odd lot of music and lyrics, more rock than before, it was inspired by the film Blade Runner, a bold project from a bold man. Personally this was one of my favorite albums of Hazard’s, but critics didn’t agree. After a third try, Darling fizzled on the charts, Hazard disappeared for a time and returned to his country/folk roots. When he re-emerged in the late 1990s he was a new man.



With 2004’s Seventh Lake and Blue Mountain and especially 2007’s Troubadour he had established himself as a folk singer to be reckoned with. As a fan from the Ripley days I took great joy in rediscovering this wonderful artist. Seventh Lake includes my all-time favorite Hazard composition, “Route 666,” a haunting tune about the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

From rock ‘n’ roll to synth-pop dance music to heartbreaking folk, Robert Hazard was a music legend, and a Philadelphia icon. As he rides the escalator of life to its final destination, he’ll be remembered and missed.

She

This 1935 film means a lot to me and I’m really happy I finally got to see it. One of the few times my father took an interest in my writing was when he suggested I see this flick. It must have been at some point when I was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark or Star Wars, and he said, “If you really want to see a good adventure story, you should see She, the original, from when I was a kid.” At some point when I was older I picked up a collection of H. Rider Haggard novels, and I immediately devoured it. Asking my father about it however, I learned he’d never read the books, and had only seen the original film version of She.

Finding that version has been a long road. Even when I worked in video retail, it was considered a ‘lost’ film, with only sparse footage remaining. It was made in 1935 but was seen by a whole new generation in re-release, double-billed with The Last Days of Pompeii (also from ’35) in 1948. Recently restored by Ray Harryhausen, believe it or not, from a print that Buster Keaton had in his garage - it is now available on DVD. Oddly it was originally meant to be a color film but because of budget restraints done in black and white. The restored cut includes a colorized version that uses actual scenery and wardrobe orders to make the colors match the originals.

Now that I’ve seen it I know what my father was talking about. If he had ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark he might have marveled at the special effects, but the rest of it would be old hat to him because of She. The sets are amazing, especially the hall of the kings, and the dance number/ceremony that takes place there is breathtaking if dated. Max Steiner, composer for 1933’s King Kong, scored the terrific soundtrack, one of his best. Randolph Scott, mostly known for his cowboy flicks, is our hero in the mode that would later spawn Indiana Jones among others, and the startling beauty Helen Gahagan Douglass plays the title role. It was the only film appearance for the Broadway singer who later became a Congresswoman.

She was adapted by Ruth Rose (the writer of King Kong) from the Haggard novel, and produced by the legendary Merion C. Cooper, father of Kong. The action is a step above that of the time, no simple movie serial with a budget is this. The saber tooth tiger and avalanche scenes are great. This is one of the great adventure flicks of not only its time, but, dare I say it, all time. Highly recommended.

Wonder Woman Animated

While we're waiting for the Joss Whedon Wonder Woman film or that Justice League movie, neither of which may ever see the light of day, here's the trailer for the new straight-to-DVD animated Wonder Woman flick:



It's from the same folks who brought us Justice League: The New Frontier and Gotham Knight and stars "Felicity"'s Keri Russell in the title role. Also cast are Alfred Molina as arch-foe god of war, Ares, and the sexy Rosario Dawson as Diana's rival Artemis. The DVD is set for release in February 2009.

The Cleveland Show

My first question, knowing the workings of Seth MacFarlane's mind after several seasons of "Family Guy," is - Is this for real?



"The Cleveland Show" is supposedly coming to Fox for mid-season. I guess it's a matter of when it's done if it's even being made. It promises to be more of the same, from the folks at "Family Guy."