Singer-songwriter Steve Wynn, revered for his work with The Dream Syndicate and The Baseball Project, has unveiled an extensive 2025 European tour in support of his new memoir, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True (Jawbone Press), and Make It Right—his first solo album in 12 years. Tickets are on sale now.
A Night of Songs and Stories
This one-man show weaves together songs from Wynn’s career and readings from his memoir. Expect stories from 1960–1988, deep cuts, covers he’s never performed, plus tracks from Make It Right. Each show includes The Hot Seat, a brief Q&A with a special guest.
Sample Tour Dates
January 23, 2025 – Sunset Tavern, Seattle, WA
February 10, 2025 – Muziekgebouw, Eindoven, Netherlands
March 25, 2025 – The Moth Club, London, UK
April 9, 2025 – Monk, Roma, Italy
May 2, 2025 – CQAF, Belfast, Ireland
(See the full list of dates and venues in the announcement.)
The Memoir
I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True (Jawbone Press)
Chronicles Wynn’s path from a budding songwriter in the 1980s to the leader of The Dream Syndicate and beyond.
A candid account of indie labels, major tours, and rock ’n’ roll excess, ultimately revealing the redemptive power of music.
The Album
Make It Right (Fire Records) features guests including Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Vicki Peterson (The Bangles), and Linda Pitmon (The Baseball Project).
Tracks stretch from Wynn’s California roots (“Santa Monica”) to the Queens neighborhood he calls home (“Roosevelt Avenue”).
Track Listing
Santa Monica
Make It Right
What Were You Expecting
You’re Halfway There
Making Good On My Promises
Cherry Avenue
Then Again
Madly
Simpler Than The Rain
Roosevelt Avenue
Quote from Steve Wynn
“I can’t wait to bring A Night of Songs and Stories to Europe for my memoir and first solo album in 12 years. It’s my most extensive solo European tour yet, blending music with storytelling and a Q&A with special guests each night.”
Whether you’re a fan of The Dream Syndicate or just discovering Wynn’s music, this tour promises a memorable mix of songs, stories, and surprises from one of indie rock’s most enduring voices.
Fans of Ernie Kovacs are in for a treat this January. A once-lost final episode of the offbeat 1959–1960 game show Take A Good Look will stream for the first time in 65 years on the Clown Jewels YouTube channel on Thursday, January 23, at 7pm EST. The premiere features a live chat with Kovacs archivist Ben Model and Edie Adams’ son Josh Mills, who will answer questions in real time. Meanwhile, a curated “Featuring: Ernie Kovacs” playlist is already available on the Clown Jewels channel for those hungry for more classic comedy.
Brand-New Radio Comedy Album • Mayhem in the AM: The Lost Radio Comedy of Ernie Kovacs arrives on all audio platforms on Friday, January 24, 2025. • Previously lost, never-before-heard-since-original-broadcast material from Kovacs’ radio days.
New Distribution Deal • Kicking off a partnership between Ediad Productions (the Ernie Kovacs Estate) and Clown Jewels, a major legacy comedy imprint. • Additional unreleased and rereleased Kovacs audio/video content will roll out soon across digital, satellite, and physical formats.
“It still amazes me that in 2025, we’re discovering Kovacs material not heard or seen since it first aired,” says Joshua Mills of Ediad Productions.
Why Ernie Kovacs Matters • A true pioneer of absurdist and inventive early television, inspiring everyone from fellow ‘50s performers to modern directors and video artists. • Created unforgettable characters like Percy Dovetonsils and Uncle Gruesome, subverting TV norms with playful, surreal humor. • After Kovacs’ passing in 1962, Edie Adams preserved his vast body of work—networks were poised to discard the masters.
About “Take A Good Look” • A zany 1959–1960 game show hosted by Kovacs. • A rotating celebrity panel guessed guests’ identities through off-the-wall, pre-recorded comedy sketches. • Panelists ranged from Edie Adams and Carl Reiner to Mort Sahl and Janet Leigh.
Additional Info • DVDs of Kovacs classics are still available at the Ernie Kovacs webstore. • Clown Jewels will stream the newly discovered Take A Good Look final episode on January 23 (7pm EST) with a live fan Q&A. • Mayhem in the AM: The Lost Radio Comedy of Ernie Kovacs drops January 24, 2025.
Get ready for a double shot of Kovacs genius—both on your screen and in your headphones—as 2025 kicks off with brand-new vintage comedy from one of TV’s most inventive pioneers.
Western television existed before the Yellowstone universe. Today, we take a look at Warner Archive’s release of A Man Called Shenandoah: The Complete Series. Originally airing on Mondays on ABC, it was a short lived series about a man who couldn’t remember his true identity. Treated by a doctor and given the name Shenandoah, he roams the frontier hoping the find his true identity. Given that A Man Called Shenandoah barely lasted a season, the answers never came.
McCoy and Spock both starred on show before joining Starfleet
My favorite thing about old network TV dramas is seeing the sheer volume of guest stars. Cloris Leachman, Ed Asney, DeForest Kelly, Leonard Nimoy and even Martin Landau shows up in the series. If I’m not mistaken, I saw Scotty in an episode too! I don’t know if this was exciting in 1965, but by the end of the series it starts feeling like later era Smallville. You get a bit of fan service, there’s an out of place song and it’s onto next week. Not exactly thrilling, but I guess that’s why it got cancelled.
What I love about A Man Called Shenandoah is how much the lead’s actions mattered. He constantly screws up and sometimes kills the people who could actually resolve his quest. Other big shot shows like The Big Valley were fighting for survival, so I get why ABC was losing confidence in A Man Called Shenandoah rather fast. When you have stories based on resolving a quest, attention goes by pretty fast. People want quick resolutions in a way that films provide better than shows.
But, what Shenandoah improved as a film? There’s half a mountain of archival backlog of forgotten Westerns that tackled similar trappings and you’ve never heard of them. Hell, your grandparents and parents probably forgot they exist. So, what’s the resolution? When watching the series, you’ll see that they lost the way of the plot by the end of Disc 2. There are only so many new strangers Shenandoah can meet before someone is bound to do something that helps him. If you don’t do it, then you’ve just made Kung-Fu with a brain damaged white guy daring God to let the elements kill him.
The Space Race effectively killed the Western’s appeal
One of the things that never ceases to fascinate me is watching history change in our entertainment. As a comics nerd, we trace this switch over to DC’s Showcase series in the late 50s revamping its World War II era heroes with a Sci-Fi bent. Green Lantern now has ties to aliens, The Flash was created by a lab experiment gone awry and no new heroes were Western based. By the time Wagon Train died and A Man Called Shenandoah started, the Space Race was on and the kids were swept up in Beatlemania. For a generation that sat in front of TVs with cap guns and silver stars, they had now discovered pop music and martians.
In that sense, A Man Called Shenandoah was doomed to hold the attention of a migrated youth and it was too cliche to entice older viewers. Is the series well acted? Does Robert Horton carry the series and could’ve done more in future seasons? Of course to both, but sometimes a narrative grows too long. When you pick up the Warner Archive Blu-ray, you’ll notice two things. The first being the stunning restoration of the original camera negatives. The second being how half of the first season has utterly no point. They are side quests to side quests for our RDR2 players out there.
A Man Called Shenandoah was a victim of the time
A Man Called Shenandoah suffered from the zeitgeist. Meaning you couldn’t have a weekly programmer of watching an amnesiac stumble through the West learning clues for 5-6 years. At the time, this was a television landscape where only Gunsmoke was getting by in that regard. If you’re not familiar with Gunsmoke, imagine the comfortable bubble that The Simpsons has enjoyed for decades and then Gunsmoke’s appeal will make more sense.
The mid 1960s was a fascinating time in TV. The Golden Age had ended and the big revolutionary changes to American TV were about 7-8 years away. Lots and lots of major studios were moving out of TV, as newer entities were diving in at smaller and smaller budgets. The more things change, the most they stay the same? It’s funny to see parallels moving to the past and away from it. But, that’s the kind of thing that smacks you in the brain watching shows like this. The history is more fascinating than many episodes.
Robert Horton liked to sing
Robert Horton was a major theater actor before he landed Wagon Train over at NBC. Seeing the decline of the TV Western, Horton wanted to get back to his roots and away from the Western drama. That lasted all of three years, but A Man Called Shenandoah at least let him sing again! That’s got to count for something.
Horton’s story is very similar to many of the era. A theater act that goes to Hollywood does TV and a few movies. Learns what he doesn’t like and then learns he’s been a little typecast and returns to what works. He wasn’t quite a Rick Dalton, but he wasn’t super far off from there.
Warner Archive brings Shenandoah to Blu-ray
Warner Archive brings A Man Called Shenandoah with no special features. However, the A/V Quality is pretty sharp with a crisp 1080p transfer made from 4K restorations of the original camera negatives. It’s pretty stunning and comes with a crisp DTS-HD 2.0 mono track to support it. I dig it, but I only recommend a purchase to the big Western TV fans.
A Man Called Shenandoah: The Complete Series comes to Blu-ray uncut for the first time via Warner Archive. Pick it up at MovieZyng!
Listen Carefully is about that special kind of fear that comes from watching a baby. Many will start to tap dance around the gender and socio-political trappings of that issue. But, let’s be honest. Most men aren’t 100% comfortable with taking care of children. They can pick them up, drop them off, give them snacks and generally do basic pet care for them. But, when they are so young and fragile, it gets scary. Listen Carefully lives and dies by its ability to make that fear palpable.
Table of Contents
Sleep matters
Six month old Abby has been keeping her dad up. He’s also guilty, because he’s ripping off his bank job with a corrupted ATM card. Now, his wife has left and he might be hallucinating baby faced criminals stalking him. Suddenly, a voice speaks to him over the baby monitor. A mystery woman is extorting him for $250,000. If he doesn’t come up with it, he won’t see his baby daughter again among other bad things. What’s a poor dad to do on such limited sleep?
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been rewatching Eyes Wide Shut a ton in the last month, but the thematic overtones smacked me upside the head. Plus, it let me understand a lot of derision I heard from people that have seen both movies. Americans don’t handle ambiguity at all. I think it’s only going to get worse as the ability to understand subtext and that which goes unsaid is being forcibly removed from individuals in the education and workspace. But, why?
Screenshot
There’s no money in the observed life
Criminals feeling guilty for their deeds is as old as American Cinema. So making an indie film about a sleep deprived father hallucinating a response to his day-time crimes isn’t a typical. It’s how Listen Carefully anchors his fears around his own inability to protect his child. Even that isn’t reinventing the wheel. But, what Listen Carefully gets right is the panic and quick response actions people take when they’re trying to make sense of their life going wonky.
It doesn’t matter if it’s police intervention, a spouse finding out or a mystery voice appearing on a baby monitor. Fear, paranoia, unease and general stress can push the guilty into bizarre responses. Naturally, I dug getting to watch our lead break down and try to make sense of what is happening to him.
Screenshot
I’m impressed by the director
Ryan Barton-Grimley has done something I don’t see in a lot of modern indie directors. He takes the thread bare nature of indie cinema and started playing with the dreamlike nature that accompanies most fears. When you’re in a panic, you don’t see things rationally. Enemies come out of nowhere, the mundane becomes threatening and you go into problem solving mode. But you can’t solve problems when you can’t trust your reality and you may not fully have a grasp on the situation.
Smart and well-rested people can understand when things don’t make sense. However, stress and discomfort push already out of sorts people into an arena they can’t understand. Panic cinema is quite a feat to pull off, especially on a lower budget. But, damn if it just doesn’t come together in Listen Carefully.
Screenshot
Final thoughts on Listen Carefully
Films like Listen Carefully are an acquired taste, so you might see a lot of places not quite gelling with it. That’s typical, so make of that what you will. But, if you can hang with a film that doesn’t spell every little detail out for you, then check it out on VOD.
You Can’t Run Away from It is a mid-1950s musical comedy directed by Dick Powell and starring Jack Lemmon and June Allyson. Essentially a remake of the 1934 classic It Happened One Night, this film updates the story with songs and a lighter mid-century flair. While it didn’t eclipse the original’s legendary status, it has its own charm, thanks to the chemistry between Lemmon and Allyson.
At its core, You Can’t Run Away from It is both a product of its time and a tribute to an earlier Hollywood masterpiece. Dick Powell, having made his mark as an actor in 1930s musicals, brought a sense of stagey showmanship to the film. The comedic framework of a spoiled heiress on the run, crossing paths with a world-weary journalist, remains intact from It Happened One Night. But the decision to intersperse songs and lean into bright, mid-century Technicolor surfaces sets it apart.
Table of Contents
Comparing Road Trip Romance Remakes
The film’s greatest challenge has always been stepping out of the massive shadow cast by its 1934 inspiration. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert’s chemistry was legendary. Lemmon and Allyson craft a different dynamic—one fueled by Lemmon’s earnest comedic energy and Allyson’s chirpy musical style. The result is lighter in some ways, absent the subversive edge that Capra’s original had in the midst of the Depression era. Yet, for fans of mid-50s musicals, that lightness is part of the appeal.
It’s like Gable singing, but it’s Lemmon and some other people
While not an all-out musical extravaganza, the film features several numbers that highlight the banter between Lemmon and Allyson. These scenes generally serve as comedic interludes rather than plot drivers. Some critics felt they disrupted the narrative flow, while others saw them as charming. If you appreciate the lush orchestrations and stylized singing typical of the 1950s, you’ll find these sequences a pleasant diversion.
Dick Powell directs now!
Dick Powell, transitioning from his earlier acting days to a career as a director, took on You Can’t Run Away from It with the goal of recapturing the spark of Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night. The original film had charmed audiences with its screwball wit, so Powell and his team introduced musical numbers and fresh comedic beats to spin it for 1956 sensibilities.
Casting June Allyson as Ellie Andrews brought an established musical-comedy star to the role Claudette Colbert had made iconic decades prior. Jack Lemmon stepped into the Clark Gable role—albeit shaped to fit Lemmon’s unique comedic timing. Filming mostly took place in California, with sets that evoked cross-country bus rides, motel pit stops, and comedic misadventures. The project aimed to balance reverence for the original’s source material with a breezy, mid-century musical style.
Jack Lemmon’s Early Career
You Can’t Run Away from It falls during the period when Jack Lemmon was transitioning from supporting comedic roles to leading-man status. His signature timing and expressive reactions remain a highlight. You can spot the seeds of his later comedic brilliance in films like Some Like It Hot (1959), though here it’s tempered by a more conventional romantic-comedy structure.
You Can’t Run Away from It is Columbia smooth
Being a Columbia Pictures production, the sets and costumes reflect a polished studio-era approach. The cross-country bus rides and motel stops are rendered in bright hues, showcasing a Technicolor optimism that sets it apart from Capra’s original black-and-white grit. Dick Powell’s direction keeps the pace lively, although the script adheres closely to the blueprint established two decades prior.
Does it still have a following?
Over time, You Can’t Run Away from It has carved out a small niche. It’s rarely mentioned among the top musicals or top comedies of the 1950s, but it has a comfortable place as a curiosity—an example of Hollywood’s fondness for remakes and musicals. Lemmon completists often seek it out to see how he honed his comedic persona. Meanwhile, fans of June Allyson get another chance to watch her airy charisma on screen.
The Sony Blu-ray elevates this lesser-known gem, inviting a fresh look. In high definition, the film’s color palette pops, revealing set details and costume choices that were easily lost in older transfers. For folks who relish the charms of Golden Age Hollywood—even in second-tier or remake form—this new release is a welcome preservation effort.
You Can’t Run Away From It is now available for streaming and for purchase at MovieZyng
Between 1959 and 1971, Filipino filmmakers Eddie Romero and Gerry de León—together with Hemisphere Pictures marketing consultant Samuel M. Sherman—created The Blood Island Films, a quartet of outrageously schlocky horror treasures that still captivate genre fans. Beginning December 30, Severin Films will open pre-orders for a two-disc set containing all four films, each scanned uncut in 4K, featuring enhanced color and audio, plus over 8 hours of special features. This set will be exclusively available at the Severin Films Webstore.
The Films
TERROR IS A MAN
A disturbing riff on Island of Dr. Moreau starring Francis Lederer (The Return of Dracula).
Deemed “quite terrifying” by The New York Times.
BRIDES OF BLOOD
John Ashley (The Twilight People) and Beverly Powers (Speedway) star in this shocker teeming with violence, nudity, and a twisted take on marriage.
MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND
Starring John Ashley and Angelique Pettyjohn (The Curious Female).
Celebrated by Dangerous Minds as “one of the greatest, nastiest, goriest films of the 1960s.”
BEAST OF BLOOD
John Ashley returns with Celeste Yarnall (The Velvet Vampire) in “the most exciting and aggressive of all the Blood Island movies,” according to 1000 Misspent Hours.
Newly scanned from a 35mm print preserved by the Library of Congress.
Blood Island Package Details
Title: Fear in the Philippines: The Complete Blood Island Films
SRP: $39.95
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: English Mono
Closed Captions: English SDH
Region: Region Free
Runtime: 368 minutes
Release: Available for pre-order 12/30 exclusively through Severin Films
Official Trailer: Fear in the Philippines: The Complete Blood Island Films
Special Features (Over 8 Hours Total)
Disc 1
TERROR IS A MAN
Man Becomes Creature – Interview with Samuel M. Sherman
Dawn Of Blood Island – Interview with Co-Director Eddie Romero
Terror Creature – Interview with Pete Tombs (Co-Author of Immoral Tales)
When The Bell Rings – Interview with Critic Mark Holcomb
Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery
BRIDES OF BLOOD
Audio Commentary with Samuel M. Sherman
Jungle Fury – Interview with Co-Director Eddie Romero
Here Comes The Bride – Interview with Samuel M. Sherman
Beverly Hills On Blood Island – Interview with Actress Beverly Powers
Alternate Title Sequences (Brides of Blood Island / Jungle Fury)
Teaser, Trailer, Poster & Still Gallery
Disc 2
MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND
Audio Commentary with Horror Historians Nathaniel Thompson & Howard S. Berger
Audio Commentary with Samuel M. Sherman
Tombs Of The Living Dead – Interview with Pete Tombs
A Taste Of Blood – Interview with Critic Mark Holcomb
The Mad Director of Blood Island – Interview with Eddie Romero
Trailer, Poster & Still Gallery
BEAST OF BLOOD
Audio Commentary with Samuel M. Sherman
Celeste and the Beast – Interview with Celeste Yarnall
Dr. Lorca’s Blood Devils – Interview with Actor Eddie Garcia
Super 8 Digest Version
Trailer, Radio Spot, Poster & Still Gallery
How to Pre-Order
Stay tuned to the Severin Films Webstore on December 30 to lock in your copy of Fear in the Philippines: The Complete Blood Island Films. This set is your chance to own four uncut classics of monster mayhem in a new 4K restoration, loaded with rare interviews and extras that highlight the gory ingenuity of Filipino horror cinema.
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review]](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-13-770x433.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review]")
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 5](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-21-scaled.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 6")
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 7](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-20-scaled.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 8")
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 9](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-17-scaled.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 10")
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 11](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-19-scaled.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 12")
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 13](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-16-scaled.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 14")
![A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 15](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a-man-called-shenandoah-warner-archive-blu-ray-13-scaled.jpg "A Man Called Shenandoah (1965-1966): The Complete Series [Blu-ray review] 16")
![Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review]](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/listen-carefully-poster-770x1157.jpg "Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review]")
![Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review] 17](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Villians-come-in-all-shapes-and-sizes.jpeg "Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review] 18")
![Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review] 19](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Split-personality.jpeg "Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review] 20")
![Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review] 21](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Allie-is-unimpressed-with-Andy-scaled.jpeg "Listen Carefully (2024) [VOD review] 22")
![You Can’t Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review]](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-13-770x433.jpg "You Can’t Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review]")
![You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 24](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-18-scaled.jpg "You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 25")
![You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 26](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-6-scaled.jpg "You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 27")
![You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 28](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-2-scaled.jpg "You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 29")
![You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 30](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-14-scaled.jpg "You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 31")
![You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 32](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-13-scaled.jpg "You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 33")
![You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 34](https://andersonvision.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/you-cant-run-away-from-it-blu-9-scaled.jpg "You Can't Run Away From It (1956) [Blu-ray review] 35")
