From ingénue darling to legendary star of stage and screen, beloved songbird Judy Garland was at the height of her fame and popularity during the television run of The Judy Garland Show.  Now volume one, the first in a special collector’s set of 13 volumes coming to DVD, will be in stores July 28, 2009. 

The Emmy-nominated variety program ended its critically-acclaimed CBS-TV run after just one season (1963-64). Today, those 26 shows are revered by many as the entertainment icon’s finest work.  Singing then-new material as well as the classics expected of her, this is the legendary Judy at her peak.  Also featured in volume one of this 13-volume collector’s set is daughter Liza Minnelli, now a legend in her own right. 

Then just 17, Liza sings her off-Broadway hit “You Are for Loving” and displays her renowned ability as a dancer on “Put on a Happy Face.”  Liza and Judy shine in the duets “Together,” “We Could Make Such Beautiful Music Together,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” “Bye, Bye, Baby” and “Bob White”; and revive the “We’re a Couple of Swells” tramp characters from Easter Parade. 

Also featured in a dazzling display of song, dance and comedy are jazz greats Count Basie and his band and Mel Tormé, who perform solo and join the great Garland on such stunners as “I Hear Music,” “The Sweetest Sounds,” “Strike Up the Band,” “April in Paris” and “Memories of You”; folk singer Judy Henske; and series regular Jerry Van Dyke who trades quips with Soupy Sales. 

Judy also sings “A Cottage for Sale,” “Hey, Look Me Over,” “Liza,” “As Long as He Needs Me,” and “Come Rain or Come Shine,” a highlight of Judy’s 45-year career.

Restored and digitally remastered from the original masters, this dynamic diva will move you like no one else! Look for all 13 volumes, each featuring two hour-long shows.

Screenhead has 5 The Judy Garland Show: Volume One DVDs to give away.  Post your name and we will pick the lucky winners Monday, August 3, 2009.

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Disney’s A Christmas Carol  promotional campaign is gradually taking shape worldwide. The movie is adapted and directed by Robert Zemeckis.  

Take a look at the latest trailer in Italian. It’s kind of fun watching Jim Carrey speak Italiano as an old man.

The YouTube trailer quailty isn’t meraviglioso, but it might affect you so much that you want to have spaghetti and carne palla for dinner.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief teaser trailer debuted on AOL today. The movie is based on the book by Rick Riordan. The film is directed by Chris Columbus whose credit to fame includes Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets. I have to boost that I did work with Mr. Columbus on his not so famous movie 9 Months.

Logan Lerman stars as Percy Jackson, a boy who discovers that he’s the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods. Like the books the movie should play to the younger crowd, yet it appears dark. But First Showing reports that the movie is actually a comedy with Sean Bean as Zeus and Steve Coogan as Hades.

If the trailer doesn’t make it clear, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opens everywhere on February 12th, 2010.

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I get all googlied-eyed over these Disney featurettes  like The Princess and the Frog. The animated film is completely hand drawn, which is rare or a treat for us. I watched the featurette and I am marveled at how serene and artistic the crew talks of the film.

I love these characters for the title, although I am not sure which Asian characters.  Japanese or…? If anyone knows, please post.  But I love the poster design because it appears so mysterious and foreboding.  Similar in color and contrast compared to the German poster, but, in a way, more horrific.

Although this is the German poster of Rob Zemekis’ The Christmas Carol and I can’t read the words, I think this one is the best I have seen so far. I love the lighting and red-orange hues.  The candle flame is a very clever and artistic way of showing the ghostly feel of Charles Dickens’ story.

Amazing!  I remember playing this game as a kid and can’t believe that a story will actually come from this simple Atari video game. It looks like it will happen because Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game “Asteroids.” Matthew Lopez will write the script for the feature adaptation, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.

As I remember, the concept of the game was so simple.  A player controlled a triangular space ship in an asteroid field. The object was to shoot and destroy the hulking masses of rock and the occasional flying saucer while avoiding smashing into both. 

As opposed to today’s games, there is no story line or fancy world-building mythology, so the studio would be creating a plot from scratch. I can’t imagine what that story would be about that could keep an audience interest for at least an hour and a half.  But I guess, Universal is used to that development process because, according to THR, the studio is in the middle of doing just that for several of the Hasbro board game properties it is translating to the big screen, such as “Battleship” and “Candyland.”

Mrs. Mommy (21) is the winner of this pure Classic Sinatra II — You’ll love listening to Ol’Blue Eyes!

Classic Sinatra II showcases a selection of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ most loved recordings from his Capitol concept albums, including “Moonlight In Vermont,” “Pennies From Heaven,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” and “All Of Me.”  In addition, the set features four 1950s singles: “Love And Marriage,” “(Love Is) The Tender Trap,” “Learnin’ The Blues,” and “High Hopes.”  Plus a 1956 recording of “Memories Of You” and a previously unreleased recording, “This Can’t Be Love.”

Sinatra has sold more than more than 150 million albums around the world, and racked up 31 gold and nine platinum albums (including three that went multi-platinum), one gold single, and two gold and platinum videos in the United States alone. He is the only artist to chart in Billboard’s Top Ten for seven consecutive decades.

The winner is George (4) — congratulations!!!

The Last Days is part of special programming that airs on PBS stations in May and June 2009 (please check local listings).

The film stands as a vivid time capsule that captures an era in rock history when music had become a major industry and for some a huge headache. It delivers a gritty, behind-the-scenes look at the music business at a time when many artists were growing jaded by their success, demanding more and more. Disillusioned by the change, Graham decided to get out, pulling the curtain down with five days of concerts that ended on July 4, 1971.

In the end, the frantic preparations paid off with a host of marvelous performances from a range of artists who made up what was called “The San Francisco Sound.” Fillmore: The Last Days features highlights from all five nights, including songsby the Grateful Dead (“Casey Jones,” “Johnny B.Goode”); Santana (“Incident At Neshabur,” “In A Silent Way”); Quicksilver Messenger Service (“Mojo,” “Fresh Air”); Jefferson Airplane (“Volunteers”/”We Can Be So Good Together”); along with performances by Cold Blood, Hot Tuna, and Lamb. Author and original Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres wrote the liner notes for the DVD.

“Happy Trails to you, Until We Meet Again…”

Roy Rogers iconic is in the works to ride to the big screen as a film trilogy King of Cowboys that includes animated TV, interactive game and merchandising products. 

The concept is to introduce the franchise to a new audience while capitalizing on the millions of Roy Rogers fans worldwide by portraying a nontraditional Western of a family fantasy adventure with Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Trigger as the classic figures of America.   

Sounds interesting but hard to visualize as a fantasy, I can understand Rogers coming back as a cowboy similar to his traditional films and TV shows. With that thought, I am look forward to seeing how King of Cowboys develops.

Rogers personified the heartland and family values as the top Western box office star from 1943-1954.  According to Variety, Rogers made more than 88 films with Evans and Trigger; produced and starred in 100 episodes of his own TV show; and appeared on more than 400 licensed items, with 120 million comic books sold.