Hello!

Here’s a well-documented bit of film production history that might appeal: an in-detail web page explaining the creation of a practical radio-control prop for the horror comedy  Gremlins  —  Gizmo’s Pink Corvette,  for his madcap midnight ride through a department store in snowy Kingston Falls.

Here in Los Angeles, any celebrity in a pink Corvette brings back memories of spottings of the ubiquitous Angelyne. But that’s another story.

In the article, photos document the construction and the shooting, and the multiple cars and Gizmos needed to support the workings of the radio-control prop. RC fans will be interested to see how much equipment could be crammed into a ‘Barbie Corvette’ toy.

It’s an unexpected extra laugh in the movie, but we didn’t guess how much work and planning was involved. The little article from ‘Gremlins.com’ covers the scene’s inspiration, too. Director Joe Dante was thinking of a gag in a WB cartoon, naturally.

 

Gremlins: Gizmo’s Corvette 

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We’re now beginning the second half of 2025, and I don’t know whether I want time to slow down or speed up … but I was eager to put up this poster-show of notable discs reviewed in the first half of the year. I’ll look at this grid of disc covers and think, “I didn’t get to see all of that one,” and follow that thought with, “Now can I find it?”

Last New Years’ I decorated a grid for 2024 with a photo of a disc shelf here at CineSavant Central … it proved popular. I like rummaging through titles on shelves, too. The image here can be blown up much bigger. I couldn’t get rid of the reflections this time, so it’ll be a quiz game challenge to read them all.

It’s one shelf of about 8 dedicated to film noir. Note that they’re two discs deep. All the horizontal titles need to be incorporated into the (non-existent) filing system. What do I do with older DVD versions … sometimes I want them to compare, as I just did with Danger: Diabolik. Does Tim Lucas back in Cincinnati really have some amazing system that allows him to find anything?  His place must now be more of a museum than the Ackermansion was.

The ‘favored’ titles for the first half of 2025: I could watch any of these, any time. For the last one I’d better be careful who’s in the house.

 

 

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson