Blogathon Bulletin

As a rule I don't announce review topics ahead of time, but this announcement is about more than just me. I'm going to be participating in two blogathons in upcoming weeks, joining fellow fans in honoring two great character actors and highlighting the range of their work.

First up this week is a blogathon dedicated to the versatile Yaphet Kotto, coordinated by The Goodkind over at the Lost Video Archive. He's been spotlighting Kotto already, but the blogathon begins in earnest on Monday. I'll be doing my part this Thursday with a review of Kotto's foray into slavesploitation in Steve Carver's Drum, the sequel to Richard Fleischer's infamous Mandingo. To make the occasion complete, and to note the passing of producer Dino De Laurentis, I'll have a review of Mandingo itself up in a little bit. Kotto is a key character actor of the Seventies, as this week's blogathon showcase should prove.

As November bleeds into December, horror and exploitation fans will mark the first anniversary of the passing of legendary Spanish horror man Paul Naschy, one of the last of his kind and all the more beloved for that. The commemorative blogathon begins on November 29, and is being organized by the high priest of Naschiania, the Vicar of VHS, and his liege, the Duke of DVD, at Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies. I propose to contribute at least one review for the occasion, having recently bought a Mill Creek box set with two Naschy films that will be new to me. The man also known as writer-director Jacinto Molina was an auteur in the fullest sense, a performer who took creative control of his career almost from the beginning. He invested his work with personality transcending conventional standards of quality in individual films, and the upcoming blogathon should reveal his career as a cumulative work of art.

I'll be watching and reviewing more movies apart from my blogathon duties, but I hope that my contributions to these collective appreciations lead readers to check out the full range of participating blogs and share their love for actors, action and movies.