My 5 Favorite “Undiscovered” Films

Jan 31, 2025

We all have those favorite movies—you know, the ones we love so much that we can’t wait to talk about them, only to be met with blank stares because no one else has heard of them. It’s frustrating. I’m always trying to spread the word about my favorites, even though it often feels futile.

But hey, that’s what blog posts are for, right? So here we are!

This is a collection of five of my favorite “undiscovered” films. By “undiscovered,” I simply mean they’re not widely known by the average moviegoer. If you decide to watch any of them, let me know what you think—and feel free to share your own list of hidden gems!

Uncle Frank

R 2020 1h 35m Drama

In 1973, teenaged Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis) leaves her rural Southern hometown to study at New York University where her beloved Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany) is a revered literature professor. She soon discovers that Frank is gay, and living with his longtime partner Walid “Wally” Nadeem (Peter Macdissi) — an arrangement that he has kept secret for years. After the sudden death of Frank’s father — Beth’s grandfather — Frank is forced to reluctantly return home for the funeral with Beth in tow, and to finally face a long-buried trauma that he has spent his entire adult life running away from.

Away We Go

R 2009 1h 37m Comedy

As they await the birth of their baby, a couple (John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph) travel across America in search of the perfect place to raise their family. During their journey, they share assorted misadventures and reconnect with old friends and relatives. The experiences and people they encounter help them define the word home on their own terms, possibly for the first time in their lives.

Interview

R 2007 1h 24 m Drama

Pierre Peders (Steve Buscemi), a political reporter, receives an unwelcome assignment from his editor: Write a puff piece on Katya (Sienna Miller), a sexy starlet whose love life provides plentiful tabloid fodder. The pair manage to alienate each other within minutes, then Pierre is injured in an accident, and Katya brings him back to her apartment. An unusual encounter unfolds for the jaded journalist and the woman who may not be as stupid as she seems.

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt

PG 2023 1h 32m Drama

A lyrical, decades-spanning exploration across a woman’s life in Mississippi, the feature debut from award-winning poet, photographer and filmmaker Raven Jackson is a haunting and richly layered portrait, a beautiful ode to the generations of people and places that shape us.

Danny Deckchair

PG-13 2003 1h 41, Comedy

After his girlfriend cheats on him, an unappreciated laborer floats away to a new life in a balloon-powered chair.

Death Of The Moon

Oct 25, 2024

Punky Moon was gettin’ married to Reba Anderson and there wuddn’t nobody less happy about that than Punky Moon.

Truth was, after he got engaged to Reba, Punky Moon fell in love with Willie Mae Snodgrass down at the feed store and now he was in a mess of trouble! The announcement was already in the paper. Reba had the ring, the dress… Punky didn’t know what he was gonna do. There wuddn’t no way out that he could see.

Finally he throwed his hands up in the air and said, “Shucks, I might as well just be dead!” Well! That might be about the best idea he’d had yet! If he’s dead, he don’t have to marry Reba! She won’t get furious and try to kill him, then he can run off far away with Willie Mae Snodgrass. Right then, Punky Moon decides to plan his own funeral.

First thing he has to do is get himself a coffin. Punky’s best friend in the world is Toad McAllister and Toad has a furniture workshop downtown. Punky figures Toad could make him a cheap wood coffin. He explains his plan to Toad and swears him to secrecy. Punky says heck, Toad can use scrap wood if he wants. The coffin only has to last a couple hours.

Punky believes there’s no better time to have his funeral than a week from now on Halloween night. Right by Baneberry Pond. People always say that spot is haunted by the dreaded Pond Wolf, so what better place for a funeral, right? Now, Punky has to get dead real quick. And that he does. Punky owns a small farm so he gets the word out that he’s been the victim of a tragic corn-shucking accident. Punky Moon has fallen into the shucker! And become a shuck-ee!

The news hits the town hard and all the town shows up for the funeral. Toad did an impressive job with the coffin there on the landing by the pond. Punky wears his wedding tuxedo: black coat with tails. He leaves the britches at home since nobody’s gonna see his lower half. He even slathers his hair with pig lard and rubs corn into it so it looks like he’s been in a shucking accident.

At the funeral, Reba Anderson sits right there in front, dressed in all black. Mercipa Skaggs shows up with her honey-glazed, sweet potato casserole as a gift to the deceased’s family. The ladies choir of the Paw Paw Holler Baptist Church starts humming “Nearer My God to Thee” and there ain’t a dry eye in the crowd.

Well, it’s about 39 minutes into the service when Punky Moon feels the first tickle on his left foot. He scratches it very carefully with his right foot. No one sees nothing! Soon, though, Punky feels a tickle on his right foot! And then another! And then another one on his left! Ain’t long before he feels about a billion little somethings crawling all over his legs!

This might be the perfect time to mention that Toad used not only scrap wood to build Punky’s coffin but also termite infested scrap wood. At the very moment the ladies choir of the Paw Paw Holler Baptist Church starts singing “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus,” Punky Moon stands up in his bug-swarmed coffin and starts a-yelling “They’re a-bitin’, they’re a-bitin’!” all-the-while dancin’ a pantsless jig in front of the whole town! The ladies choir of the Paw Paw Holler Baptist Church thinks Punky is being chewed on by the Pond Wolf and they start a-runnin’ and a-screamin’.

While he’s contortin’, one of the tails from Punky’s tuxedo jacket touches a candle and bursts into flames! Mercipa Skaggs believes she’s seeing a glowing ghost and she keels over, spilling sweet potato casserole all over the ground. The burnin’, gyratin’ Punky starts a-marchin’ through the casserole. His bare legs get slathered in honey-glaze. He stomps on an ant hill and angry ants declare war on the termites. They reenact the Battle of Atlanta right there on Punky’s upper thighs.

Everyone at the funeral’s a-hollerin’ like cats under a wagon wheel. It’s not long before the fire from Punky’s tuxedo jacket heats up the pig lard in his hair and all that corn starts a-poppin’ everywhere!

Reba Anderson takes one look at the half-nekkid, honey-coated, cootie-legged Punky Moon, all aflame and hoofin’ it, with popcorn exploding off his head and she faints right on top of Mercipa Skaggs! Punky Moon runs off and jumps into the pond, taking with him a lap full of termites, a head full of popcorn and all that honey-glazed sweet potato casserole, far down into the deep, haunted waters of Baneberry Pond.

Well. Folks around town never did see Punky Moon again. Not Reba nor Willie Mae Snodgrass at the feed store or even Toad. Did he get eaten by the Pond Wolf? No one knows what really happened to Punky. In fact, if you asked around, most people in the town woulda told you, “He might as well just be dead.”

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE – This story is under the full copyright of the author who gives permission for royalty-free performance/readings of the story for non commercial purposes. This story must not be changed or altered in any way without permission of the author. Any performance of this story must credit the author, Rick Baldwin. This story may not be reprinted without permission of the author.)

My Top 5 Favorite Female Vocalists (2023 Version)

Nov 21, 2023

I grew up with a mom who was a vocalist. While she may have once dreamed of singing professionally, life took her in a different direction—marrying young and raising seven kids. As a result, her singing career mostly revolved around church solos and waking us up for school with impromptu operatic high notes. My early exposure to music was shaped more by female voices than male ones, though I did hear plenty of Elvis and the country artists my dad loved. To this day, I find myself drawn to powerful, distinctive female vocalists—from Lucinda Williams to Jonatha Brooke to Kate Bush to Björk. I admire many, but today, I just want to share a list of my top five favorites. These are in no particular order because, frankly, I’m not in the mood to debate rankings. They’re all incredible, and if I had to pick one as the ultimate, it would probably be my mom.

Suze DeMarchi

Lead singer of Baby Animals, INXS, lots of other stuff.

Annette Strean

Lead singer of Venus Hum, Tin Finley, lots of other stuff.

Diana Krall

Solo artist, jazz virtuoso, lots of other stuff.

Ann Wilson

Solo artist, lead singer of Heart, no introduction needed.

Margaret Becker

Underrated solo artist, songwriter, producer, lots of other stuff..

The Specter of Red Dog Road

Oct 23, 2023

Over in Harlan, Kentucky, there’s an old backroad called “Red Dog Road” and you don’t never want to get lost on it. Locals will tell ya there’s all kinds of unexplained stuff on that road at night. They see strange, red lights flickerin’ tree to tree. Some hear footsteps walkin’ around on the road and on the leaves. Worst of all, a lot of people say they see the ghost of a haggard old coal miner, holding his lantern, just a-cryin’ and a-hollerin’ somethin’ fierce! Well, I’m here to tell you, all that stuff is true. I’m going to tell you the real story of the Specter of Red Dog Road.

One summer, Eldon Parkey did work for an old tobacco farmer just across the Tennessee border. The farmer paid Eldon a little bit and he also traded him some tobacco and gave him this red dog that showed up on the farm one day. That dog was meaner than a two-headed snake so the old farmer was more than happy to get rid of it. Eldon loved that dog. Took him home and named him “Red Dog.”

Eldon noticed Red Dog only had 38 of the regular 42 dog teeth. He figured the other 4 of ’em must still be in some poor fella’s hind-end ‘cause that dog would bite you just to see what you taste like! The story was, one bite from Red Dog would keep a man’s soul from gettin’ into heaven or hell. So, didn’t nobody ever want to pet him. Come to think of it, ain’t nobody ever wanted to pet Eldon neither. Eldon said, you know what? That’s the way he liked it!

Eldon was a coal miner and one day word got around town that Eldon found a hunk of gold when he was working underground. That kinda thing didn’t normally happen in Kentucky and anything valuable you found was supposed to belong to the company, but Eldon stuck that gold rock in his lunch pail and took it back to his house. He put it in a steel lock box and set that box right beside Red Dog’s bed. Wasn’t nobody gettin’ that gold.

Most people around Harlan knowed Eldon kinda had a big mouth and, sure enough, he starts to braggin’ in town that he was gonna be a rich man. He took to wearing fancy smellin’ lotion and tellin’ people he was fixin’ to buy a new milking cow and a shiny new pocket watch. Said he’d soon have a clean pair of britches for every day of the week!

Well, I reckon when R.T. Scoggins heard about it, he didn’t like it one bit. R.T. was the Foreman at the mine and he said that gold belonged to the mine! Eldon found it while he was on the mine’s time and on the mine’s property. According to R.T. that gold rock should be in a steel lockbox in the mine office! He decided he’d just better go take it back himself, in person!

So, one night when Eldon was at the church, R.T. grabbed his shotgun and a big ol’ tater sack and snuck over to Eldon’s place down in the holler. It was all dark but R.T. looked through the front window and scanned the room real careful like. He could barely make out the silhouette of Red Dog over in the corner on a blanket; that steel lock box sittin’ right next to him. R.T. lifted his shotgun… pointed it right at Red Dog… Red Dog didn’t move an inch. R.T’s finger squeezed the trigger… BOOM!

There weren’t no sign of Red Dog nowhere.

R.T. didn’t see any blood so he figured he musta missed him and Red Dog got spooked and run off somewhere. Seemed as good a time as any to make his move so R.T. ran into the house, grabbed that steel lock box and hightailed it out the door and into the night.

Well, y’all, I don’t have to tell you, R.T. Scoggins didn’t get 100 yards down the holler road when all he saw in front of him was a mess of red hair and dog slobber! I mean, Red Dog tore him up in ways ain’t no one ever figured out how to put back together. Some people said they found pieces of R.T. over into Tennessee, maybe even Virginia.

Of course, R.T. got more than just bit by Red Dog so he ain’t never gettin’ nowhere near the other side of heaven or hell. His soul ain’t doin’ nothin’ for eternity, ‘cept wandering around Harlan, Kentucky, a-cryin’ and a-hollerin’.

So, if you think you’re brave enough, grab your own shotgun and a tater sack and maybe you can get yourself a hunk of gold. Or… you’ll be keeping company for eternity with the shredded specter of R.T. Scoggins way out there on Red Dog Road.

A Hollywood Life Unattained

May 30, 2023

Reflecting on the missed opportunities of my early career as a Hollywood actor.

Not many people know I was the original James Evans on the hit 70s TV show, Good Times. Due to failed contract negotiations as well as my lack of a strong, masculine chin, I was quickly replaced by John Amos. It has taken over 40 years for me to be able to talk about it publicly without bitterness but, as they say, “time heals all wounds.” I always believed that to be true, until recently seeing those Jimmie ‘JJ’ Walker social security supplement commercials.Trigger warning!

In the early 80s, I was asked to star in a revival of Chico and the Man with Norman Fell, but, unfortunately, I was deep into drugs and alcohol and my mom wouldn’t let me. Hard to see it at the time, but that parental grounding saved my life. Wish now I hadn’t said such horrible things to my mom or sent those racy photos to Norman Fell, but we all learn and move on.

WOW! Just found this photo! Talk about a blast from the past! During the later years of M*A*S*H, the ratings were sagging lower than Harry Morgan’s décolletage, so the network started toying around with adding a second head to Hawkeye. They did a few test episodes and who do you think they contracted to play the additional head? Me of course! The idea was that the second head (which they considered naming “Headeye”) would serve as a kind of straight man for Hawkeye’s jokes. The head would occasionally talk him into terrible surgical decisions, resulting in the maiming and occasional loss of a patient. We all hated the idea and, as it turned out, so did test audiences. I was released after two unaired episodes and was ignored after proposing a concept where I would play Hot Lips’ third boob. Nonetheless, it was my most treasured Hollywood moment and provided the first role of my long career as cranial talent. As you might imagine, the cast was a dream to work with, with one exception. It’s common knowledge now but Jamie Farr forced all guest actors to shave their lines into his back and quote them while tracing each one with their fingertips. Sure, it sounds bad today but it was the 70s and everyone did it, so who was I to question? SAG has since added several actor protections because of that situation but you can Google it all for yourself.

You learn to grow thick skin in Hollywood but I’d be lying if I said this one didn’t hurt. Mindy Cohn was holding out for more money and threatening to quit Facts of Life so I was brought in as replacement. “Natalie” was the first role I ever felt “click” on a deep, Stanislavsky level. To my shock, I was promptly dismissed before shooting even a single episode and was instructed to never return to the studio. I missed the warning then but I certainly know it now. One did not tell Charlotte Rae “no.”

Last one from the “Hollywood Vault.” On an episode of Seinfeld titled, “There’s An App For That” I played Kramer’s cousin, Shlomo Simon. In this particular episode, I invent an iPad® app that forces everyone I point the device toward to see me nude. None of the cast could keep a straight face during shooting and, eventually, they had to bring in a body double. The episode never aired due to a lawsuit by Apple® (It would be another 15 years before the actual iPad® was invented), although the episode was accidentally released in the Icelandic Box Set, so good luck on getting a copy. Fortunately, an assistant director took the only surviving photo and gave it to me earlier this year after, apparently, carrying it around with her for several years. Also, Michael Richards, you owe me a chili dog! (Private joke. Ha ha!)

[This article first appeared in Okrabiscuit Humor Magazine April 1, 2016.]

New Exploitive Southern Reality Shows On Cable

May 30, 2023

Tick Jokes

Friday 2:00 AM on COMEDY 1 hr TV-14
Wannabe stand-up comics from West Virginia check each other for ticks after working an open mic night in a corn field.

Mug Wars

Wednesday 9:00 PM on FX 1 hr TV-14
Eight unemployed college students from Mississippi State University move into a gorgeous house they can’t afford and immediately discover it contains only a six pack of Coors Light and a bag of Funions. (Language, Violence)

Flea Market Dating

Daily 10:00 PM on TLC 30 min TV-PG
Two brothers, Larry and Skunk, search the magnificent flea markets of the south in search of love and long-term pokey-pokey. Complications arise when Larry admits he only dates little people and Skunk reveals he has secret feelings for Larry’s Dodge Dakota.

Veterans

Tuesday 11:47 PM on HIST 1 hr TV-PG
An intense drama focusing on the residents of a Confederate cemetery and their reactions when a group of northern, white, thirty-somethings show up, remove the Confederate flag, exhume and dress them as Trader Joe’s produce attendants. Pilot episode features the emotional soundtrack performed live by Kanye West, Bret Michaels and a lifelike hologram of Abraham Lincoln.

Catfish Wet Nurse

Sunday 4:00 PM on DISC 30 min TV-MA
From the town of Red Bank, Tennessee comes a family of fourth generation catfish fishermen who use only their man-boobs as bait.

Uncle Mom

Monday 8:30 PM on LIFE 30 min TV-G
Country superstar Kenny Chesney visits remote trailer parks in Kentucky dressed as everyone’s uncle, only to try to convince them he is also their mother. Special guest appearances by Tim McGraw, Dr. Phil McGraw, Quick Draw McGraw, Johnny Knoxville and Kid Rock’s dick.

Lard Queens

Thursday 12:01 AM on FOOD 30 min TV-G
Appalachian grandmothers compete for prizes and hair products by cooking traditional southern breakfast for a panel of celebrity judges. The winner is crowned “Lard Queen” after successfully triggering heart disease in show spokesman Mike Huckabee.

Hail to the Hick

Monday 9:30 PM CSPAN 3 hrs TV-MIA
A gang of octogenarians who congregate in a North Carolina barber shop and complain loudly about the policies of the President, get the opportunity to be the actual President of the United States of America for 24 hours. Laws are changed, immigrants are forced to leave and Gomer Pyle USMC is revived on Netflix. (May be offensive to Asian and Latino viewers.)

Ain’t Worth Shit

August 10:15 AM MTV 1 hr TV-14
A single, Florida dad’s parenting skills come into question while raising his half trans teen-aged son.

Whoops!

Friday 8:00 PM TVLAND 1 hr TV-PG
A rural, Virginia preacher dies and goes to hell and is torn between trying to pray his way to heaven or dancing nude with William Frawley.

[This article first appeared in Okrabiscuit Humor Magazine July 9, 2015.]

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