The Midnight Rider on Movies & Elections

Hollywood has no imagination

By: The Midnight Rider

We may be getting old but it seems that the only thing that Hollywood is turning out lately is remakes and reboots of TV series or other movies. Entertainment that we grew up on is being revamped, remade, updated or redone to entertain the new generation. Instead of coming up with new material, Screenwriters, Producers and Directors can just ay “hey, let’s redo “XYZ” that was on TV in the 80s. Or, better yet, let’s make a sequel to “XYZ.”

The first one that pops in my mind, we guess because of all of the hype for Captain America, Civil War, is Chris Evans played the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movie. It did well, so they had to do a sequel. Then Chris takes the lead role as Captain America. So, to further complicate matters, the Fantastic Four movie was redone. We are so confused.

Classic movies that we grew up with are being redone in today’s flair. Point Break is an example of that. We loved that movie. You had Keanu Reeves, the late Patrick Swayze and Gary Busey starring in it. It was an action movie with style. Then last year, it was redone. We have not seen the new one yet but part of my heart knows it will not be the same.

Another remake that comes to mind is the Punisher. Back in the early 90s, Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr started in the Punisher movie. As an action movie buff, we thought it was good. However, it didn’t do well in intake of money. The Punisher was redone with Tony Jane in the lead. We really liked that movie. John Travolta played a classic “bad guy.” So, what do they do? Make a sequel. It was named Punisher, War Zone starring Ray Stevens. We didn’t really like this one and it was supposed to be right up my alley as far as genre.

There have been some remakes of classic TV shows that turned out well. Miami Vice, the A-Team, or S.W.A.T. is the ones that come to mind first. These TV shows entertained us when we were young and now can entertain our children. We read recently that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is filming a remake of Baywatch. That should be interesting.

Now, we have to talk about sequels. Some sequels have been good, some bad. We think Lethal Weapon 2, and Die Hard 2 was as good as the originals. However, some companies make squeals that have nothing to do with the originals. There are 2 sequels to S.W.A.T that have nothing to do with the original cast. The 3rd sequel was so bad, we didn’t make past 15 minutes from the beginning.

In closing, let’s get some fresh material Hollywood. Develop new characters’ and movies so that our kids will call these movies classics. There is fresh ground to plow, just do it. Maybe in 20 years someone will be writing for Shoalanda Speaks about remakes and reboots of their movies.

P.S. As we were writing this, we just saw the trailer for the remake of the Magnificent Seven. Geez. Never mind, we will probably go see it.

Qualifying Municipal Elections: 2016

Well, qualifying for Municipal elections is over. Below is a list of candidates for each City or Town. Candidates in Red are unopposed. If it is in Blue, there is no one running for that spot.  There is more Red and Blue than Black. Sad, very sad.

Anderson

Mayor -- Jimmy Glass

Town Council

Place 1 -- Richard Belue

Place 2 -- Terry Haraway

Place 3 -- Open

Place 4 -- John Williams

Place 5 -- Kip Williams

Cherokee

Mayor -- Terry Cosby

Town Council

District 1 –- Kay Handley, Sandi Hendrix

District 2 -- Loretta Wallace

District 3 – Paul Norman

District 4: Tiffani Fuqua

District 5 – Rene’ Fann

Florence

Mayor – Lillie Mae Boddie, Susan Goode, Mickey Haddock, Steve Holt, Billy Ray Simpson

City Council

District 1 -- Yolanda Johnson, Kaytrina Simmons, Dave Smith

District 2 – Dick Jordan

District 3 -- David Bradley, Hermon Graham

District 4 -- Michelle Rupe Eubanks, John Hargett, Tom Wissert

District 5 -- Blake Edwards, Chase Holcombe

District 6 – Andy Betterton, Jim Fisher, Bob Hill

Killen

Mayor – Tim Tubbs

Town Council

Place 1 –- Ryan Blessing, Robert White

Place 2 -- Don Owens, Mary Ann Rippey

Place 3 -- Pamela Hardison, Connie Parrish

Place 4 -- Charles Glover

Place 5 -- John McGee

Leighton

Mayor – John Landers

Town Council

Place 1 -- Gladis Canty

Place 2 – Mike Gower

Place 3 – Lowell McKay

Place 4 – Andre McGhaee

Place 5 – Betty Jane Borden

Lexington

Mayor -- Sandra Burroughs, Tim Collier

Town Council

Place 1 – Wendell Gooch, Peggy McGee

Place 2 – Patrick Campbell, Carla McGee

Place 3 -- Phil Springer

Place 4 -- Ronald Mitchell

Place 5 – Belinda Michael

Littleville

Mayor -- Scott Howard, Phillip Pace, Gene Strait, Eddie Wilson

Town Council

Place 1 -- David McAnally

Place 2 -- Ronald Berry, Rodney McAnally Jr.

Place 3 –- Harold Malone

Place 4 –- Diana Young

Place 5 -- Jared Ergle, Donald Pennington

Muscle Shoals

Mayor -- David H. Bradford

City Council --

Place 1 -- Chris Hall, Don Terry

Place 2 -- Neal Willis

Place 3 -- Michael W. Lockhart

Place 4 -- Mike Price, Ken Sockwell

Place 5 – Daron Goodloe, Allen Noles

Rogersville

Mayor – James Haygood, Richard Herston

Town Council

Place 1 -- George Mason

Place 2 -- Colby Tucker

Place 3 -- Danny Jones

Place 4 -- Jonathan Newton

Place 5 -- Robert Clark

Russellville

Mayor -- Randy Bray, David Grissom, Donnie Horton

City Council

District 1 – David Palmer, John Thorn

District 2 -- Judy Miller, Ronney Murphy, William Nale

District 3 – Roy Cornelison, Gary Cummings, Dwight Jackson

District 4 – Arthur Elliott, Lanny Hubbard, Billy Patterson

District 5 -- Brent Caldwell, Jamey Harris

Sheffield

Mayor -- Ian Sanford

City Council

District 1 -- Ronnie Wicks

District 2 -- Sebastian Devaughn, Dewayne Roden, Gary Scales

District 3 -- Steve Nix

District 4 -- Mary Stevens, Penny Freeman

District 5 – Steve Stanley

St. Florian

Mayor -- Don Strait

Town Council

Place 1 -- Louis Stumpe

Place 2 -- Matthew Connolly

Place 3 -- Margarete Eckl

Place 4 -- Open

Place 5 -- Jamie Eckl

Tuscumbia

Mayor -- David Cole, Kerry Underwood

Town Council

District 1 – Katherine Logan, Robert Polk

District 2 – George Johnson, Geraldine Tompkins

District 3 – Dave Couch, William Foster, Tom McCormack

District 4 – Richard Coates, Paul Haley

District 5 – Mike Isom, Terry Willis

Waterloo

Mayor – Mel Grimes, Jerry McIntyre

Town Council

Place 1 – Allen Caddell, Jack Harris

Place 2 – Joan Farneman

Place 3 – Melony Carter, Don Raper

Place 4 – Chris Stricklin

Place 5 – Jeremy Simpson

Over the next couple of weeks, we will start making picks for the various elections.

Until next time…..

I am and always will be, the Midnight Rider.