CONELRAD Alert News Wire

Wiseman's MISSILE Doc Finally Available on DVD

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:18:26 GMT

The master documentarian Frederick Wiseman's catalog of groundbreaking films is finally being released on consumer DVD. Wiseman, perhaps best known for the mental hospital expose TITICUT FOLLIES (1967), also directed the fascinating MISSILE (1987). MISSILE follows the 4315th Training Squadron of the Strategic Air Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where Air Force officers are trained to man the Launch Control Centers for the...

MAD MEN Returns to AMC on July 27th

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:18:48 GMT

In case the massive promotional campaign eluded you, the second season of the brilliant Cold War-set advertising drama MAD MEN premieres Sunday night (7/27) at 10PM / 9 Central on AMC (that's right, it is on basic cable because the alleged geniuses at HBO passed on the show). MAD MEN follows the professional and personal lives of the creative staff of the fictional Sterling-Cooper advertising agency in the early 1960s. If McMann &...

Maestro of Sound, Tony Schwartz, Has Passed Away at 84

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:41:13 GMT

Tony Schwartz, the maestro of sound who helped create the legendary 'Daisy' spot for the Democratic National Comittee in 1964, passed away at his Manhattan home on Saturday (June 14th) according to the New York Times obiturary that was posted earlier today. He was 84 and, according to the Associated Press, had been suffering from heart valve stenosis. The Schwartz family was very kind to have helped CONELRAD last year as we were researching our...

"The Invaders" Has Arrived!

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:58:42 GMT

The entire first season of Larry Cohen's brilliant TV show / Red Scare allegory THE INVADERS (A QM Production!) has finally been released (IN COLOR!) in a five disc set. Extras include an expanded version of the series pilot "Beachhead," original network promos, introductions to each episode by Roy Thinnes (architect David Vincent), and a commentary track by Cohen for the episode "The Innocent." If you're an INVADERS fan, help ensure that Season Two (the show lasted only...

Indiana Jones & the Mystery of the Atomic Cafe Sign

Fri, 23 May 2008 23:14:32 GMT

CONELRAD readers who have already seen INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL know that it has an incredibly "atomic" first act. And observant, obsessive viewers probably took note of the elaborate sign attached to a restaurant that an army convoy passes early in the film. This sign is either the original or a meticulous replica of the "Atomic Cafe" sign made famous in the 1982 documentary of the same name. According to Jayne Loader, co-director, co-producer and co-editor of THE ATOMIC CAFE, the original sign belonged to an actual diner in Arco, Idaho and...

Spoiler Alert: Harrison Ford is "The Atomic Grampa"

Sun, 18 May 2008 15:43:25 GMT

Now that the eagerly anticipated INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL has had its Cannes premiere, the reviews have started pouring in. The consensus is that while the film is not a calamitous failure on the order of George Lucas's STAR WARS prequels, it is not exactly the Second Coming either. Sorry nerds. The Guardian review leaks a set piece that sounds suspiciously like Mickey Rooney's wild predicament in...

After the Apocalypse: Rare Atomic Classics on TCM

Fri, 09 May 2008 13:53:34 GMT

Turner Classic Movies cable network screens rarely seen Atomic Classics FIVE and THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL as part of its After The Apocalypse program Friday May 9. Arch Obler's FIVE (1951), the first overtly "atomic" end-of-the world film, is a...

What? No Tea After World War III?!

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:19:21 GMT

Call it the Great Earl Grey Panic of 1954: Recently declassified documents provide evidence that British contingency planners were concerned that tea supplies would be rapidly exhausted in the event of an atomic attack on the United Kingdom. Read the brief news article here. If any of the fine blokes at London's National Archives would care to provide CONELRAD with copies of the "tea memos," we will post them immediately. In...

Father Knows Red: 24 Hours in Tyrantland on DVD!

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:43:58 GMT

On Tuesday, the fine folks at Shout Factory are releasing the first season of the classic Fifties sitcom "Father Knows Best" on DVD. The set features a number of extras, but none more anticipated by CONELRAD readers than the 1959 film that the cast made for the U.S. Treasury Department entitled "Twenty-Four Hours in Tyrantland." CONELRAD posted an...

An Empire of his Own: J. Edgar Hoover & ABC

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:06:40 GMT

The Hollywood Today website has recently posted an amazing four-part article by journalist David Robb on the secret history of the long-running ABC television crime series THE FBI (1965-1974). Mr. Robb's article is based on 5,000 pages of documents that were obtained from the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Mr. Robb has also interviewed a number of persons directly involved with the FBI-vetted TV series. We won't spoil what Mr. Robb has dug up, but we will say that anyone with an interest in Hoover,...