Ray Morton
@raymorton1.bsky.social
Author, film buff. I write books about movies and stuff.
The release date for the updated version of my book KING KONG: THE HISTORY OF A MOVIE ICON is February 5, 2026. The 2005 chapters have been revised and updated and new chapters added for Jackson's KONG, the Legendary KONG movies, the Broadway musical, and much more. Preorder link in comments.
August 19, 2025 at 11:18 PM
The release date for the updated version of my book KING KONG: THE HISTORY OF A MOVIE ICON is February 5, 2026. The 2005 chapters have been revised and updated and new chapters added for Jackson's KONG, the Legendary KONG movies, the Broadway musical, and much more. Preorder link in comments.
Hi Folks,
The updated edition of my King Kong book was supposed to come out May 13, but has been rescheduled for fall. However, Amazon didn't change the listing and is saying its out of stock. It's not. It's coming and I hope you will love it.
I apologize for the confusion.
The updated edition of my King Kong book was supposed to come out May 13, but has been rescheduled for fall. However, Amazon didn't change the listing and is saying its out of stock. It's not. It's coming and I hope you will love it.
I apologize for the confusion.
May 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Hi Folks,
The updated edition of my King Kong book was supposed to come out May 13, but has been rescheduled for fall. However, Amazon didn't change the listing and is saying its out of stock. It's not. It's coming and I hope you will love it.
I apologize for the confusion.
The updated edition of my King Kong book was supposed to come out May 13, but has been rescheduled for fall. However, Amazon didn't change the listing and is saying its out of stock. It's not. It's coming and I hope you will love it.
I apologize for the confusion.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: The best screen version of a Tennessee Williams play, Brando in the role that made him a star, Leigh in one of her two great screen performances, and Kazan working at the top of his powers. And great work as well from Kim Hunter and Karl Malden.
May 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: The best screen version of a Tennessee Williams play, Brando in the role that made him a star, Leigh in one of her two great screen performances, and Kazan working at the top of his powers. And great work as well from Kim Hunter and Karl Malden.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: If you get it, you get it.
May 1, 2025 at 7:48 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: If you get it, you get it.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Very silly sex comedy from 1966 that contains a 5 minute slow motion sequence of Sharon Tate (in her debut film) in a bikini jumping up and down on a trampoline that (almost) makes it worth sitting through the rest of the movie.
April 25, 2025 at 3:05 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Very silly sex comedy from 1966 that contains a 5 minute slow motion sequence of Sharon Tate (in her debut film) in a bikini jumping up and down on a trampoline that (almost) makes it worth sitting through the rest of the movie.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Posting this for Easter -- a silent movie made the year my Dad was born and that made a huge impression on him when he first saw it in a religion class years later. It deepened his Catholic faith, which was an important piece of his life. The power of cinema. This is for him.
April 20, 2025 at 6:24 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Posting this for Easter -- a silent movie made the year my Dad was born and that made a huge impression on him when he first saw it in a religion class years later. It deepened his Catholic faith, which was an important piece of his life. The power of cinema. This is for him.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Happy Superman Day.
April 18, 2025 at 4:31 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Happy Superman Day.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Agnes Varda's 1962 Nouvelle Vague classic, told in real time, about a singer who spends two anxious hours waiting to learn he results of a medical test to determine whether or not she has cancer.
April 16, 2025 at 4:20 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Agnes Varda's 1962 Nouvelle Vague classic, told in real time, about a singer who spends two anxious hours waiting to learn he results of a medical test to determine whether or not she has cancer.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: THIS 1975 adaptation of Nathaniel West's novel is a sprawling epic: a vast portrait of the sad people living on the fringes of Hollywood in the 1930s.
It's a strange movie that begins in realistic fashion, then becomes more and more baroque before turning absolutely grotesque.
It's a strange movie that begins in realistic fashion, then becomes more and more baroque before turning absolutely grotesque.
April 11, 2025 at 4:15 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: THIS 1975 adaptation of Nathaniel West's novel is a sprawling epic: a vast portrait of the sad people living on the fringes of Hollywood in the 1930s.
It's a strange movie that begins in realistic fashion, then becomes more and more baroque before turning absolutely grotesque.
It's a strange movie that begins in realistic fashion, then becomes more and more baroque before turning absolutely grotesque.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Peter Weir's eerie thriller about an Australian attorney who takes on the defense of 4 Aboriginal men accused of murder and is drawn into the Aborigines' mystical culture and finds himself experiencing alarming premonitions that start coming true.
April 9, 2025 at 4:09 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Peter Weir's eerie thriller about an Australian attorney who takes on the defense of 4 Aboriginal men accused of murder and is drawn into the Aborigines' mystical culture and finds himself experiencing alarming premonitions that start coming true.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: RIP Val Kilmer
April 2, 2025 at 3:06 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: RIP Val Kilmer
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Sam Raimi's gonzo 1987 sequel to his 1981 debut. The first film was straight horror, but this is a horror comedy. The excess blood and gore is the joke. Humor is also generated from the dozens of ways the movie finds to beat the shit out of star Bruce Campbell.
April 1, 2025 at 3:12 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Sam Raimi's gonzo 1987 sequel to his 1981 debut. The first film was straight horror, but this is a horror comedy. The excess blood and gore is the joke. Humor is also generated from the dozens of ways the movie finds to beat the shit out of star Bruce Campbell.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: RIP Richard Chamberlain.
March 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: RIP Richard Chamberlain.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Sam Raimi's debut film -- one of the first "cabin in the woods" horror movies. Distinguished by Raimi's ferocious visual inventiveness, it's definitely a first film -- shot on 16mm with a creaky plot and amateurish acting, but damn if the thing doesn't work like gangbusters.
March 29, 2025 at 9:26 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Sam Raimi's debut film -- one of the first "cabin in the woods" horror movies. Distinguished by Raimi's ferocious visual inventiveness, it's definitely a first film -- shot on 16mm with a creaky plot and amateurish acting, but damn if the thing doesn't work like gangbusters.
Spent many happy hours here when I was in college (which was quite a few years after this picture was taken).
March 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Spent many happy hours here when I was in college (which was quite a few years after this picture was taken).
MOVIE OF THE DAY: This 1924 melodrama was the first film produced by MGM. It stars Lon Chaney as a circus clown with a tragic past. I saw it on Ch. 13 in the 70s and Chaney's brilliant pantomime performance broke my heart. With Norma Shearer and John Gilbert. Shadow-produced by Irving Thalberg.
March 28, 2025 at 3:45 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: This 1924 melodrama was the first film produced by MGM. It stars Lon Chaney as a circus clown with a tragic past. I saw it on Ch. 13 in the 70s and Chaney's brilliant pantomime performance broke my heart. With Norma Shearer and John Gilbert. Shadow-produced by Irving Thalberg.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Nifty horror film from 1971 about a lonely misfit who befriends an intelligent rat and soon assembles an entire army of rats who he trains and deploys to take revenge on the people who torment him. Tight, unpretentious and very effective. "Tear him up!"
March 24, 2025 at 3:49 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Nifty horror film from 1971 about a lonely misfit who befriends an intelligent rat and soon assembles an entire army of rats who he trains and deploys to take revenge on the people who torment him. Tight, unpretentious and very effective. "Tear him up!"
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Excellent documentary on the life and work of the maestro. Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, who is pretty much the house documentarian for Amblin and Lucasfilm. The best part is that it's filled with the music of the greatest composer in cinema history. Streaming on Disney +.
March 24, 2025 at 3:46 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Excellent documentary on the life and work of the maestro. Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, who is pretty much the house documentarian for Amblin and Lucasfilm. The best part is that it's filled with the music of the greatest composer in cinema history. Streaming on Disney +.
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Arguably the best of the early 1970s disaster films, a triumph of pre-Star Wars, pre-motion control special and visual effects. Featuring on of those all-star casts popular at the time. A solid entertainment, well-directed by John Guillermin with a great score by John Williams
March 22, 2025 at 3:50 PM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Arguably the best of the early 1970s disaster films, a triumph of pre-Star Wars, pre-motion control special and visual effects. Featuring on of those all-star casts popular at the time. A solid entertainment, well-directed by John Guillermin with a great score by John Williams
MOVIE OF THE DAY: The best American film of Hollywood's Golden Age. Also a great movie about American at its best: sacrificing everything to do the right thing. I thought it was important to highlight at a time when many are demonstrating behaviors exemplifyig America at its worst
March 21, 2025 at 3:30 AM
MOVIE OF THE DAY: The best American film of Hollywood's Golden Age. Also a great movie about American at its best: sacrificing everything to do the right thing. I thought it was important to highlight at a time when many are demonstrating behaviors exemplifyig America at its worst