Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Film • television

What Is So Nostalgic About the Classic Bond Movies?

Although modern times are full of convenience, there is still something almost inexplicably charming about certain eras past. And thanks to pop culture and the windows it provides us into the past, even many who were born not so long ago might find themselves longing for the “good old days” of simpler, “golden-era” western culture. And the James Bond franchise can inspire these longing feelings...

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Written by Baron von Swankenstein in Film

Korla Pandit – The Godfather of Exotica

Lounge Revivalists dream of romantic mystery. It’s why we buy all those Exotica and Space Age Pop records. We dream of idyllic unexplored islands or far-flung planets away from problematic modern lives. It doesn’t matter that those places couldn’t possibly exist. We need them to exist. And, with a dream and a good stereo, we hope to will them into existence. Korla Pandit was the...

Looney Tunes – Not Just Merrie Melodies

Watching a modern cartoon and then watching a vintage Looney Tunes cartoon is like eating dinner at burger stand in a town full of steak houses; there’s no comparison. In 1930 Warner Brothers Pictures released the first Looney Tunes cartoon. A decade later or so, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are fighting the axis and playing on African-American racial stereotypes. But let’s start from the...

What We Have Learned From James Bond
Written by Featured Post in Film

What We Have Learned From James Bond

Without a doubt the one film character to define the term “cool” is James Bond. With the twenty-fourth installment of the series, SPECTRE, due out later this year, it’s time to look at the biggest lifestyle contributions made by the greatest secret agent of all time as taught by, still the best Bond, Sean Connery. What to Drink Despite his Scottish heritage, Bond is never seen drinking Scotch in...

Monty Python And The Holy Grail – A British Film Icon

In what became one of the most iconic comedies in film history, the British comedy crew known as Monty Python takes on the legends of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Charged by God (who appears as a cartoonish animation in the clouds) to locate and obtain the Holy Grail, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) must gather a team of loyal knights to...

Ultra Swank Goes to the Sitges Film Festival

“Roll out the red carpet, spotlight on a dream, hip horary for Hollywood where stars are born to glitter and gleam.” Yes, glitter, glam, rubbing shoulders with stars and Champagne flowing like wine. Or so you’d think a film festival would be wouldn’t you? Well, this is not Los Angles, this is not London, this is not Cannes. Follow Ultra Swank as we head over...

Finding Dark Shadows in the Sixth Grade
Written by Patricia Greenwood in Television

Finding Dark Shadows in the Sixth Grade

In the spring of 1969 my family moved from the pastoral setting outside of Centreville, Virginia, a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Fairfax, a burgeoning suburb outside of Washington, D.C. A sixth grader at the time, transitioning from a country school to a more sophisticated environment was not easy for me and I found myself feeling like an outsider...

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