The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 - Looking For A Cinematic Needle In A Haystack Of Failure And Mediocrity

     This was a rough year for the genre.  Notable new releases were few and far between, as evidenced by how widely I had to cast my net for recurring features like Noteworthy On Netflix.  I did find a few gems, though, so hope springs eternal.

     Speaking of Noteworthy On Netflix, that feature made two appearances in 2014.  Both were rounded out with a heavy dose of older movies, but that's okay.  A good movie is a good movie, regardless of how old it is.  Most of the newer releases this year were covered in the recurring Pre'Ween feature Diary Of A Movie Watchin' Madman, owing to the fact that I tend to stack up newer releases to gorge on in October.  Both of these recurring features became a little more in depth this year than they'd  been in the past.  I'm getting long-winded and self-indulgent in my old age.

Noteworthy On Netflix - 1/9/14

Noteworthy On Netflix - 7/18/14 - Digging A Little Deeper Than Usual

Diary Of A Movie Watchin' Madman Vol.II, Part 1 - Bride Of The Madman

Diary Of A Movie Watchin' Madman Vol.II, Part 2 - Revenge Of The Madman

    That wraps up The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014.  I promise I'll try to do better next year.  In the meantime, my sincere thanks to everyone who continues to visit the Dog Farm.  Best wishes for the new year and beyond, and I'll see you on the other side.

The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 - Obscurities From The Bargain Bin And The Best Thing Roger Ebert Ever Wrote That Wasn't A Movie Review

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970) - Cinematic history that will never repeat itself...

     Spring of 2014 saw the third iteration of the Movies At Dog Farm live event, a screening of movies programmed by yours truly hosted periodically at the real world Dog Farm in Timberville, VA.  This time we watched an assortment of flicks often deemed "guilty pleasures" - a term I absolutely loathe - that included The Sentinel (1977), Starship Troopers (1997), and Saturn 3 (1980).  The movie that served as this year's tentpole however was a groovy little number called Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970).

     The appeal of Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls is almost impossible to convey to anyone who hasn't already seen it, but I did the best I could with the post Movies At Dog Farm III - Guilty Pleasures, Now 100% Guilt Free - Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970).  For the record, the screening of this Roger Ebert penned oddity directed by renowned boob man Russ Meyer was well received.

     Much earlier in 2014 I posted the year's only addition to the ongoing Dog Farm recurring feature Best Of The Big Lots Bargain Bin entitled It (1967) And The Shuttered Room (1967) - An Obscure Best Of The Big Lots Bargain Bin Double Feature.  It was the first time I ever captured my own screen grabs.  Apparently these two movies are indeed obscure enough that I simply couldn't come up with any pics that suited me otherwise.

It (1967) And The Shuttered Room (1967) - An Obscure Best Of The Big Lots Bargain Bin Double Feature

 Movies At Dog Farm III - Guilty Pleasures, Now 100% Guilt Free - Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

     Please join me again next week when The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 continues.

The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 - Another Piece Of My Childhood Lost And Classic Horror Under The Stars

The Dixie Theater in its heyday (Photo by Jack Coursey)
 

      I don't make my way to the theater as often as I once did.  Discs, downloads, streaming, and a decent home theater have rendered it largely unnecessary.  I still possess a lot of fond theater related memories, though, and I was lured out twice this year by old movies and nostalgia. 

    The first circumstance was bittersweet, as it involved one of my favorite old haunts being shut down for the final time.  Movies At Dog Farm Remembers...The Dixie Theater In Staunton, VA was an account of my last trip to one of the preeminent theaters of my youth to see a screening of Jaws (1975) on closing day.  I was surprised by how many vivid memories that trip called forth.

     The second trip to the theater was a much happier one.  I ventured out to a drive-in about an hour away for a special screening of Halloween (1978) and Night Of The Living Dead (1968).  Diary Of A Movie Watching Madman - Pre'Ween Horror Under The Stars is an account of my first visit to a drive-in in over twenty-five years.

 Movies At Dog Farm Remembers...The Dixie Theater In Staunton, VA

 Diary Of A Movie Watching Madman - Pre'Ween Horror Under The Stars

     There's more to come next week when The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 continues.

The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 - Jaded Horror Fans And The Ever Changing Face Of Home Video

Potential chewed up wads of Dog Farm content

     Some of my favorite posts here at the Dog Farm come about when I have absolutely no idea what I want to write about and just start typing.  It's like throwing a wet wad of gum under the couch  to see what dirt, dust, and fur collects around it.  Obviously, some of those dirty, dusty, fur covered gum wads were bound to make their way into The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014.

     The first of those - What Do You Do When The Scary Dies? - came about when I contemplated that very question while sitting in front of a blank laptop screen.  I didn't really come up with an answer, but I did manage to chew on it long enough to come up with a post.  Coincidentally, this was also the first post of 2014.  Right out of the gate this year I had nothing to say.

     The second post, Horror Movie Advocacy - You've Gotta See This Movie Because It Earns My Own Personal Seal Of Approval, was born of an even more circuitous train of thought.  I had just ordered some movies for Halloween, and I found myself wondering why I no longer purchased movies as frequently as I once did.  That ultimately lead to a sort of ad hoc history of home media formats.  That wasn't really the destination I initially had in mind, but it was a pretty good place to end up.

What Do You Do When The Scary Dies?

Horror Movie Advocacy - You've Gotta See This Movie Because It Earns My Own Personal Seal Of Approval

     Please come back next week when The Dog Farm's Best In Show 2014 continues.