Winding down the Slammer

 I am winding down the Slammer as keeping it going is a little much at the moment and some people have reported that they can't even open the site anymore. Google is not helpful is solving that issue. I might post from time to time but my portfolio/work site will still be going and Ill post reviews, etc. there

Behemoth Blog

I am also retiring, or mostly retiring from my commercial work, and will be concentrating on my personal projects. It's been a couple decades here in the Slammer so getting out from fresh air might be good for me! When Donna lethal signed the site over to me I thought I could get more people to contribute but I am nowhere near as charismatic are her and blogs are out of fashion. 

28 Young Men (2026) directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese

 

This is a remake of a 2020 version I made in Cinema 4D and had a lot of technical restrictions that never sat well with me. There was no way the software and my computer could but 29 characters in a shot and even just moving them around, which worked as no one was going to count the men, was even more limited, since they could really move much or the app would crash. I do think it worked but lacked the look I wanted. 

This version made with Blender, I hope, is much more realized with more movement and a better, more detailed setting. Michael Z. Keamy and I were originally going to film this with live actors in Provincetown but getting 28 young men to cavort naked on a beach, even in P-town isn't as easy to put together as it sounds. So I went with animation and his great narration. The soundscape is simple. I added some seagull noises to round it out but otherwise it's unchanged. The structure is basically the same as well. I like the way I set up the shots but now everything looks better and has more going on in each shot. I gave the young men and the woman more character I hope. 

The Deadly Mantis (1957) directed by Nathan Juran

I kept seeing this film while switching channels for the 2 weeks and I finally decided to just watch it from start to finish. I have seen it before, more than once but it is much better than I remembered. At its heart it is a remake of sorts of "Beast from 20 000 Fathoms". The big bug is released from its Arctic suspended animation because of a volcano, not an atomic bomb, but the plot follows pretty closely to the classic Harryhausen movie. 

Will this movie change your life? No. Is it fun and pretty well done for a low budget 50s creature feature? Yes. The mantis is well done and the puppetry of the model sells it as a giant creature.  They made a 200-foot papier-mâché version and used a real praying mantis in others and they all matched up pretty well.  The praying manits is a very creeping looking bug and makes for a good giant monster. The scene with it in the Manhattan tunnel is a classic image.  

I will say the film drags at the start and takes too long to see the monster, unlike Beast from 20 000 fathoms where we see it right away. It still was a good watch and liked the creature enough to draw a poster for my monsters poster project. (see above)

The Whale God (1962) Directed by Tokuzō Tanaka

Daiei Film, who brought us the Gamera series of films, made this historical drama before the giant turtle made them famous and it's almost sad they didn't stick with this sort of movie. In many ways the story, which centres around a giant whale that returns to a small whaling village every year but escapes being killed and instead kills many of its pursuers, IS a kaiju film even if whales are real creatures. Its ability to best the whale hunters drives many of the villages to want vengeance to an extreme degree, and more and more of them are dragged beneath the sea by the now uncontrollable need to "best" the creature. The lead character  Shaki (Kojiro Hongo) whose father and grandfather were killed by the whale god goes as far as telling anyone who tries to leave the village as traitors. No one can leave until the monster is destroyed. 

I do hope readers will seek this film out, it's on Tubi for free at the moment. It looks fantastic, many if not most of the effects are really well done and are ins ervice of the plot. The whale itself didn't seem bigger than a normal whale, to me anyway, but it's a fearsome creature worthy of it's reputation. he actors are good in thier parts, Hongo is very compelling and grows as a character - but not out of his obsession. 

Keeping mostly spoiler free, there are some very uncomfortable scenes in this, such as a very disturbing rape, woman used as as bargaining chips and property and a population of people that have lost thier reason and sense of humanity. It's a serious film to be sure but also happens in a time and place we have evolved from.... or have we? 

Superman (2025) Written and directed by James Gunn

 

David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult are the main characters in this first James Gunn outing for DC comics. He does all the right things though the plot is still, like most of these films, over complicated. I like that Superman isn't all powerful and can be hurt and defeated so there are stakes not always present in other versions. I also like how naive he is in many ways, always taking the high road and believing saving lives is more important than politics. I don't think he is wrong and because he is Superman, he can afford to be that way. At one point the people of earth, or at least the city of Metropolis, turn against him because of Lex Luthor on a TV show. I would LOVE to say this is dumb but after seeing how easily people in the United Stated and elsewhere can be fooled into believing the most obvious con jobs, it sadly might ring true. 

There are far too many characters in this film, a DC hallmark but in this case they play well as more background characters and stay in service to the main plot instead of having a million plots and trying to make them all work together. Hoult I think is good but his talent is wasted  in a role that doesn't really bring anything new to the Lex Luthor character. Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern is a fantastic asshole and not like any other green lantern I know of. 

Crytpo the super dog could have been a terrible mistake and he is overused but so well done and I love dogs so much it wasn't a distraction for me. The James Gunn "banter" between characters is sometimes a little much and doesn't always land but again, it's work well enough to keep you engaged. It's no Gardians of the galaxy in that respect. 

I would see a sequel and other films in this new chapter for DC. Maybe they will have the right tone finally but as superhero movies are losing appeal at the moment, it might be a little late. 

Documentary: Brian Eno 1971-1977: The Man Who Fell to Earth

 

A long doc at 2 hours and 37 minutes, this goes through the early career of music legend Brian Eno. A non-musician at the start, he used flamboyance and technical skill to get attention and was lauded as a ground breaker. As time went on he shied away from the limelight more and more as a performer and worked on collaborative projects, famously a few with David Bowie and David Byrne, and moved into his own category of music he called "ambient". Its a fascinating study of a true artist. 

See it free on Tubi

Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) directed by Matt Shakman

 I did not have high expectations for this film. The look of it was interesting, an alternative Earth with 1960's aesthetics. Pedro pascal seems a weird choice for tall and angular Reed Richards (Mr. Fantasic) and marvel's superhero offerings seem to have run their course. I was pleasantly surprised. Setting the action on an alternative Earth freed it from endless superhero match ups and the world was pretty cool to look at. All the actors were good in the roles and it avoided most of the pitfalls that have turned me off these CGI spectacle driver films lately. I thought the cast gave some heart to the events and the story and managed to get through the "Reed feels guilt for the accident that transformed them all" we "we are all family" sentiments (well earned in this one) without feeling too trope heavy or superficial. It's not a deep film, it's a good one. Entertaining, light where it needs to be and about people you care about. There is, of course, a big fight at the end with the monstrous Galactus but they use guile and a team effort over just punching and brute force. I will definately watch a second one with this cast. 

Frankenstein (2025) directed by Guillermo del Toro

Based on the 1818 groundbreaking classic novel by Mary Shelley, the film stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz. All of them giving good performances. This well-known highly influential tale has been told over and over and never, like most book adaptations, comes close enough to the source material as it should. 

At 2 1/2 hours, this is a long film. It mostly looks fine, but it is too evenly lit for me, considering the subject matter and has a video game cleanness about it that takes away from the gothic horror of it all. If anyone can make a monster sexy, it's Guillermo del Toro and this version of Frankenstein's creature is pretty sexy despite being made up of bits and pieces of dead criminals and soldiers. Alordi has very expressive and kind eyes that show the character's inner goodness that has gone  south because of his mistreatment and uncaring creator. Isaac is wasted in this role and he tries to bring something to not well written role. We feel nothing for him or really any of the other cast members. 

The start of the film and introduction to Frankenstein and his obession to create life is too long and we never see anything that leads to understanding his motivations except on a superficial level. The sets look good but also, in my opinion, lack the imagination del Toro has put into other projects. We see only a hint of the deep themes of the book and the rearranging of the characters and introduction of romance plot(s) add nothing to the endeavour. The monster's tale part of the film is where it picks up and has some real heart in it but even then it misses the mark more than it hits it. There are several scenes that we should be crying from the events affecting the characters but it never gives us enough reason to care about them to reach that emotional place. 

It's not a terrible movie its just sort of meh from a talented director we expect more from based on a story that has never been truly told faithfully. The Branagh version is closer to the book with a very notable exception at the end. This version changes the story in superficial ways that take away from the genius of Shelley. 

The Abominable Snowman (1957) directed by Val Guest

This early Hammer Horror is about an expedition said to be about finding rare plants in the Himalayas but really about a secretive plan to capture a yeti for science.... and profit. The Lama is somewhat clairvoyant and not a dummy and knows what is really going on, including that another group is coming to enlist Cushing in their yeti hunt. The main actors are Peter Cushing, giving one of the only not great performances of his career, and Forrest Tucker from Auntie Mame and F-Troop fame. Cushing has a wife who is also a scientist but don't be fooled, she might as well be credited as "typical woman" for most of the film. 

Spoilers: 

There is some light drama on whether Cushing should go, lots of blatant rasism and a slow predictable hike up a mountain. No surprise that everyone but Peter Cushing dies at the hands of the abominable snowmen. The porduction is very low budget but handles it well and the yet costumes are pretty good. We only see an arm and a hand until the very end when a couple of them come out of the shadows for a moment. 

The filmis a little slow but not terrible. There are some strong points. One is the Lama is pretty much in control of the situation and never admits the local cyptids are real and makes sure the one survivor will tell the world they found nothing. The wife is a wasted character as she shows signs of being truly independent and strong at times, particulairy at the end but spends most of her time making suopper for "the men". The Yeti are not monsters, they are an endangered race with intellignce (and pyschic powers apparently) and when we see thier faces finally they live up to how they were described earlier in the film as not quite human, not quite animal but a look of wisdom about them. 

Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive | Full Documentary | American Masters | PBS

This new documentary on American Masters is yet another reason PBS is needed. It covers his life, starting with the myths about his death started by the obituary about him, published by one of his biggest rivals. Much of it stuck and shows the current trend of getting misinformation out before the facts and repeating it has always worked on the gullible public. 

They don't shy away from his faults but they also point out he created a persona that didn't really reflect who he was in his personal life. The recitations of some of his works are very well done and not read as horror tales for Halloween but as human stories with real emotion behind them. 

2 hours well spent watching. 

Faust (1926) directed by F. W. Murnau

Murnau's Faust is a masterpiece, like most of his other films. It’s not perfect and has some issues that many films of this era have when seen by modern filmgoers. Visual mastery is NOT one of those issues. I have long wanted to do some art based on this film but as you can see by the images in this post... what could I do that could compare in any way? The upper image shows how the movie influenced Disney's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence in "Fantasia". The lower image could easily be a painting by one of the great masters but it is a single image from the film. The quality and texture of the fim along with the lens choices and amazing compositions of Murnau look like paintings come to life. 

The story is well known and has been made a million times since. Mephistopheles makes a bet with the arch angel Michael that if he can turn a man as good as Faust then the earth will be his exclusive domain. He gives him the power to heal which does not go as well as planned, when Faust finds he cannot heal someone wearing a crucifix because these healing powers come esentially form the devil. He also gets his youth back and this is where the film starts to go a little wrong. Far too much time is spent on Faust basically whoring around and falling instantly in love, as Mephistopheles (played by the always fantastic Emil Jennings)  makes sure nothing end well. Jennings performance is scary at points and reminds me of Divne on other points as he infuses an over the top almost drag sensibility in the lighter sections. The director's film "The Man who Laughs" also suffers a bit from having a start that is impossible to top and movies inot a more traditional story that while still great isn't as engaging as the intro to the story. 

It's almost a 100 year old film but I won't spoil the end except to say I found it unsatisfying and a hollow victory. Won't stop me from watching this again and again though. 

 

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) directed by Jun Fukuda

Also called Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, this is an odd Godzilla movie in that the human part f the plot isn't so boring or beside the point. Godzilla only appears at the end and Mothra appears after Godzilla. Ebirah is a giant lobster who only shows u now and then, killing anyone who tries to leave the island run by an evil terrorist organization called the Red bamboo.  There is also a giant condor that comes out of nowhere and doesn't last long. The Mpthra worshipping native of a nearby island are slaves fo teh red Bamboo who have them making a yelloe substance that can stop Ebirah from attacking boats so the terroists cane come and go as they please. 

OK the human story is not exactly plausible but the characters are fun and interesting enough to keep you interested. The effects are not gratifying, some of the model work is super but the lack of realism has a certain charm. Some shots of the tiny singers who call Mothra are just dolls and on some of the boat senes, the ment rowing or dolls or even articulate puppets. It's super obvious and, like I said, charming. 

The bad guys are killed by Ebirah while making their escape but they have set an atomic bomb to destroy the island before they fled and our heros become concerned that it will killed Godzilla who saved them. Why? Godzilla is usally living off nuclear energy and jumping into the water wouldn't save him so close to the explosion if it was a danger to him. Don't watch a Godzilla movie, aside form the forst Godzilla minus 1 if you are looking to make sense of it! 

Ladies in Retirement (1941) directed by Charles Vidor

 

Ido Lupino plays a housekeeper trying to keep her two mentally problematic sisters from the madhouse. Since they are about to be kicked out of their current home she asks her boss if they can stay with them. At the amenities time her "nephew" rips off her boss, an old actress with a wild past and decides he can do the same to his aunt when she returns. 

Spoilers:

This was presented to me as a dark comedy in the vein of "Arsenic and Old Lace" but I don't think so. It does have light moments but it's more drama with some levity than anything else. Everyone in it is good in their roles, though except for the old actress, they are play terrible people. The actress tires of the two sisters who are quite a handful and wants them and Ida gone... so Ida kills her. The nephew shows ups, eventually finds out and tries to blackmail his auntie the killer. He is wanted by the police already. 

Since this is not a well know film, I won't spoil too many more details but I am not sure what the moral, if any there is. It's pretty good overall, though. The sets and matt paintings give it a great old horror film vibe and it looks amazing. The opening titles are fantastic! 

Masque of the Red Death (2025) Directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese

This project was suggested to me at a showing of one of my earlier animations. I did not think I could pull it off, the story has over 1000 people and a setting involving 7 rooms of various colours among other technically challenging aspects. After reading the story a few times more I decided it could be pulled back with less people and less room and still keep the tone and message of the story intact. 

Even so, it would mean animating more characters in several shots than I ever had before and involve some animal simulations I wasn’t sure how to pull off. Poe’s wordiness and descriptions were also pulled back partly to reflect the simpler setting but mostly to reflect how bad a narrator I am. I did enhance my voice a little to make it sound better. 

I used Make Human and Human Gen to create the characters. This made it feasible to make so many and also Human Gen can add clothes you make or buy in an easy way which I really needed for this project. One thing that Blender has in abundance is reasonably priced fantastic addons so my one man show looks better, I hope, than it would have totally on my own. 

It was rendered in EEVEE and compositing and colour work was done in Apple Motion while editing was done in Final Cut Pro. 

I did have issues with Human Gen here and there. A few characters suddenly had finger rigging  issues and I wish that plugin had more secondary facial controls like Make Human. It has much better skin and hair so it’s a question of which I could get the most out of. The robed figure was simply rigged withAuto Rig pro. Something I plan to use more in future. 

Not what is next except to get familiar with compositing in Blender. I would like to use depth maps and maybe motion  maps in Apple Motion like I used to and separate elements for better colour corrections. I will try and redo some older animations I think will be greatly improved over the Cinema 4D versions and decide on a new project as I go go through all of that. 

Birder (2024) Directed by: Nate Dushku

 

While there are some wonderful gay centric films out there produced by the community I am the first to admit they are few and far between between and instead there is a much larger number of amateurish low budget productions. Some of these use the low budget and lack of professional actors or crew to their advantage and come across as charming and some are first steps towards better films. Birder is low budget but is done very professionally with good acting and cinematography and it isn't vapid. There is a good amount of full frontal nudity and sex in but they don't come across as soft core porn and are used to show the openness of the situation and the characters. Sure the fact all of the performers are all young and attractive gets your attention but I liked how there was no judgement on sex or sexuality and it was all very matter of fact.

SPOILERS:

It would be impossible to talk much about this film without giving it all away so I won't try to avoid spoilers. The main character is visiting a clothing optional camping area with mostly but not all gay men. I had no idea what the plot of this was but it's clear from the first minute this guy is a serial killer. It doesn't come across as him punishing people for having sex, like many slasher films, but is portrayed more as a fetish he has. I am not sure that is any better a take. This guy single handedly strangles almost all of the other characters and he basically gets away with it. 

This is where I tell you I didn't like the movie despite some of its strong points. The writing I thought was weak. I couldn't believe this was all happening and despite the people at the campground being nice and enough, none of their deaths was particularly upsetting since they were not developed enough to feel much for them. Killing someone by strangling with your bare hands isn't as easy and quick as it looks in this film. The lead is supposed to be literally charming the pants off and the life out of the other campers but if I met him at a camp ground, I'd leave and warn everyone else he was a serial killer. I don't think it's the fault of the actors, I think its possibly the style of editing which lacks giving any sense of suspense. 

In the end the killer leaves after being found out by the ranger who he kills and heads off to another location. On the way he is cruised by a guy in a gas station bathroom, goes back to the guy's van and he himself is immediately made into a victim and the new killer tells him "no hard hard feelings...". I think we are supposed to be surprised but it was always what was going to happen I thought and it didn't feel like he was getting what he deserved for his murderous lifestyle. 

I expected a movie with so much explicit sex and murder to be more engaging. 

Le Vourdalak (2023) directed by Adrien Beau

 

It's hard to talk about this film without spoilers, it's has some interesting elements better experienced as a surprise. Spoiler free, this is a film about a nobleman finding shelter after being robbed on the road and getting caught up in a family's tragic story of death and horror. It is based on Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy's 1839 novella The Family of the Vourdalak. I had already read it before seeing this so I had an idea what was going to happen. It's mostly well acted, nicely filmed, slow and hypnotic with some scares and a villain that works when it really shouldn't. 

Spoilers

A vourdalak is basically a vampire and this movie is based on one of the oldest printed vampire stories. it follows much of the lore of the time it was written so its has some nice touches, like vampires eating their shrouds that add a creepier than normal feel to it. The grandfather leaves to fight in the war but warns the family that if he isn't back in 6 days, he has died and if he is seen again to reject him as he will have become a vourdalak. He returns just after the deadline and his son takes his emaciated body into the house despite the protestations of the family. 

The grandfather is a vampire like you haven't really seen in film. Sure he is a living corpse but he is also played by a life sized puppet. This should be comical but it isn't.. at all. It is done well but doesn't really hide that it's a puppet. It has charisma and does manage to scare the crap out of you a couple times. it does what traditional vampires did and begins to transform the rest of the family into undead creatures. 

The nobleman is seen as a dandy, at first. Over time he grows and we see more than a prissy rich guy but someone willing to combat the undead for the family that took him in. He is in love with the daughter but that takes a back seat when the grandfather goes after the young grandson. The film ends with a couple of surprises and strays from the original story but overall it is a good adaption. 

The father is played really well and the rest of the cast does too. The weakest link is the daughter/love interest. She is a too odd to get a sympathetic handle on. Vassili Schneider as the brother is another departure from the novella. He is sexually ambiguous in some ways, dressing like a woman at times but also strong when he needs to be. His family is accepting of him as he is and this normally admirable trait is definitely misplaced when the father accepts the grandfather back into the family. Being a vampire is a little beyond acceptance, in my opinion of course. 

The pace is slow but that helps the viewer accept what is happening and while there is some gore it's restrained. The filming is mostly subtle and natural. There is a night/day issue that crops up quite a bit and it's hard to get an idea if hours or days have passed. it's not a deal breaker as the story and actors really draw you in. 

The Picnic - 5 decades of the Million Year Picnic (2021,2023) directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese

 

This was a decade+ long project. Getting interviews and information was much harder than I thought. It was edited and re-edited quietly a few times: sometimes making it longer, sometimes shorter. Getting it shown anywhere was also difficult. I foolishly thought the place was such comic store legend I could get conventions and small festivals to show it. A couple a small festivals did end up showing but the place I really wanted it to play was the Brattle Theatre which is almost across the street from the store. That happened in July 2024 and those who went were good to tell me they liked it. Never got paid, sadly but at least it got it's day in that historic cinema. 

I would really love more people to see the film, the Picnic is and has been a fantastic, special place run by special people and is one of the last independent stores in Harvard Square. The original owner, Jerry Weist, was a ground breaker when he started the store and continued to lead the way when he left the store and started selling the original comic book art at Sotheby's elevating it as the original form of American art it was and is. I was the manager there in the mid-80s and still count my colleagues from those days as friends. 

Just another part of Boston(ish) history I don't want to be forgotten and I hope this makes people want to visit Harvard Square and see how wonderful this odd duck of place is and get captured by it's friendliness and charm. 

Devil Girl from Mars (1954)directed by David MacDonald

 

Nyah, a dominatrix looking alien from Mars is heading to Earth to capture some men to bring back to her home planet after " a devastating war of the sexes". Her ship is damaged and crashes to a location near the Scottish Moores where she tries to enlist  men at the local bar/inn. This, believe it or not is NOT a porn movie scenario... though maybe it should be. 

Patricia Laffan who plays the alien Nyah is the saving grace of this otherwise by the books low budget 50's sci-fi. The other actors are fine but their roles and dialogue betray the theatre origins of the project. I would be interested to see as a play if they camped it up a little more. Laffan is superior and condescending to the humans and is only concerned with her mission to get men to mars for breeding purposes. She is over the top but also give a lot with her knowing looks and calm demeanour. Her character is interesting in that she doesn't seem interested personally in mating with earth men. Earthling are like ants to her and  she does not fall into the trop of falling in love with one and changing her mission for him. She is on point the entire time. 

What is the point exactly, though? She crashed before getting London and her ship is repairing itself so she will be there in a few hours. She doesn't need to leave it or interact with the small group of people in the inn at all. If she had just waiting a couple hours and flown to London I don't her having any problems, looking as she does, getting any number of men to fly to Mars and be willing sex slave for a planet of dominant women. 

There are too many other characters I felt, most there only to fulfill plot points. The escaped killer is only there to be an acceptable sacrifice at the end, the worker is just there to be killed to show how cold Nyah is and the little boy is typically annoying and is there to be taken by the Martian to show so the reporter can be shown as a hero when he tried to exchange himself for the boy. The model looking for love in the Scottish Moores in winter is just a trope and she falls in love with the reporter in 15 minutes. Some of the character beats work but overall you don't really feel for any of them. 

The look of the movie and the invader do carry the film enough that it's fun enough to watch. I don't think I would rewatch it. I will watch a super cut of her throwing open the french doors in dramatic fashion the 150 or so times she does it in the film! 

Hundreds of Beavers (2022) Directed by Mike Cheslik

 

Hundreds of Beavers is a low budget independent slapstick comedy that heavily draws on cartoon action and settings with liberal nods to Buster Keaton among others. Only costing 150 000 $, it's brought in over a million. Pretty good for a film made by two friends with only the experience of making another black and white film called "Lake Michigan Monster" with similar techniques at this one for the much lesser sum of 7 000$! 

The entire movie is mostly special effects done with After Effects and it's very affective. The production reads as a cartoon and the characters are over the top. All the animals are either animated or actors in mascot costumes. To promote the film the director and main actors went on the road with a live show added to the cinema experience. 

The plot is appropriately more like a Warner Brothers short than a live action film. This  mostly works but 108 minutes is a little long to sustain such craziness. I can't say it doesn't succeed, because it does for the most part mainly from the energy the cast and crew bring to it. Ryland Tews as the Applejacks salesman whose business is destroyed by the actions of nearby beavers. This leads into an escalating conflict between him and the beavers and the stakes are made higher when he falls in love with a merchant's daughter but can't marry her unless he brings the merchant hundreds of beaver pelts. I don't think I'll try and lay out many beats of the plot as that will spoil it for new viewers and the comedy relies on how surpassing and outlandish it all is. 

I can 100% see where this will get old really fast for some people so it's not for everyone. I thought it was charming and fun to watch. Tews is a handsome, muscular guy that runs around shirtless in the winter snow a good part of the film so there's that element if the nonstop cartoon aspect gets old for you. I didn't laugh out loud but I did appreciate effort made and found it amusing all the way through. The act of getting this made on so little money with over 1 500 effects shots alone makes it worth a look! 

50 Years (2025 restored version) Directed by Vincent-louis Apruzzese

 Originally released in 2002 under the title "46 Years", "50 Years" is a recollection of memories and events as they relate to Ralph Hodgdon and Paul McMahon and their life-long love for each other. 

I revisited them 5 years after this was screened in Provincetown, Massachusetts and put for sale on Amazon as times had changed and the couple were able to get married on their 49th anniversary. It seemed right to do an additional interview after their 50th anniversary of the day they met and one year after they were able to get legally married. 

The restoration started in January 2025 when I discovered I had many, but not all the originals scans of the photos used in the film. My software also avowed me to take out the background music and improve the sound and more easily rework some edits. I still had the music done by David M. Puryear and was able to add it back in after the changes were made. 

Shot on Standard Definition video, before HD was a thing does limit how much improvement I could do on my own. I did clean up the titles between sections and updated the credits. I also had to take a break when Ralph got very ill and died in April 2025. Paul had passed in April 2011 and it was just too difficult work on. 

The 2020 version of the movie is for sale/rent on Amazon Streaming Prime Video.