Masters of the Universe Movie: So, Nostalgia is a Weird Thing

So, there's a new trailer out for a He-Man movie.

And then I saw writer Chris Roberson said, over on Bluesky:

The goldilocks range for childhood nostalgia is such a weirdly specific thing. If you were too old or too young for something when it came out, forget it, but if you're in the right range, it's forever golden. For me, He-Man was silly kids stuff, but Thundarr the Barbarian is a timeless classic.

I was born in 1970 and was the PERFECT age for the Star Wars flicks as they were released, but I was five minutes too old for all of the 80s toy lines my slightly younger friends remember so fondly. And I was already hooked on imported anime series by the time the associated cartoons started airing.

And it really echoed my same thoughts.  Sometimes you can see why people are nostalgic for something - and while I *should* have been in that goldilocks zone for this property per Roberson's formula, I somehow never bit.

But I very much remember He-Man and the Masters of the Universe becoming a thing.  

In Septemberish of 1983, the cartoon debuted near the very start of the school year, and it meant I began on the wrong foot with my 3rd grade teacher.  I was listening to a classmate tell me about the show I hadn't seen yet - and so engrossed was I, I failed to note she'd started teaching.  It was how I got my name on the board for the first time that year.  But not the last time.

Damn you, He-Man.

But I did swiftly catch the cartoon, and was soon watching.  

That Christmas, I received a few He-Man figures as gifts, and bought myself the villainous Mer-Man myself shortly after - in no small part because I thought I should be into these toys and the show.  I determined Mer-Man was cool, no matter the line of toys, and spent my pennies. 

it was like looking in a mirror

But, frankly, in-hand, I thought the He-Man doll itself was grotesque, and didn't like looking at him.  He was my least favorite of the line.

Our guy was oddly proportioned, sporting a gigantic head with a face like a guy who just took it in the nuts - just before the nausea hits.  At least the villains were monsters and whatnot.

feet by Rob Liefeld, amirite?

The figures came with mini-comics with nice art, and that was my lesson in the right hand not talking to the left.  Clearly the people working on the comic talked to the toy-makers while the cartoon people decided to do their own thing, and nothing added up. Teela was sometimes the Sorceress, other times, just "girl" in the He-Man universe.  There was something about He-Man's sword being split in two that has really been lost to time.  Stuff like that.

But I do think my repulsion at the He-Man figure had a lot to do with my disinterest early on.  

When it came to the cartoon, I watched mostly because it was on when I came in the door from school more than that I liked anything about the show - which was clearly a weird mish-mash of borrowed ideas that defied any real world building.  And I just never thought of the heroes as characters - they were just, like, moving around on screen and were bland stand-ins with stilted animation.  It was a show where the villains were infinitely more interesting as a bunch of weirdos.  Most vexing - no one ever seemed to actually use their sci-fi tools or super strength or weapons thanks to TV guidelines.  At least the Transformers continually shot at each other, even if no one ever hit anyone else.  

With what I was led to believe was a lengthy backstory, somehow the stories were very wash-rinse-repeat.  There was no momentum.  One wondered why the heroes were always on the defensive and why they only had four poses.

In 1988 or so, I finally watched the live-action movie of Masters of the Universe when it came to VHS.  I thought it quite bad, even at that age.  The locale, the cheesy pairing with hep teens, the complete change of look for well-worn characters, etc...  It all screamed "we're embarrassed of this and want to do something else entirely".  

All I cared about was Meg Foster as Evil Lyn, because I was 13 and she sure seemed interesting (I'm 50 now, and still think I'm right about this).

But really, by fifth grade, I'd gradually lost interest in He-Man while still watching GI Joe and Transformers.  And - there were other shows tied to toy lines by this point.  Silverhawks.  Thundercats.  Hell, Jem and the Holograms.  And I'd watch, but was well aware these shows were quite bad by whatever rubric one develops as a kid and slapped together hoping to recreate the sales of other cartoon and toylines, and we knew it.

Eventually I started watching a little bit of baseball, WKRP and The Jeffersons instead.  I didn't give up on cartoons, and was an avid fan of TaleSpin, Tiny Toons and other shows through high school.  But didn't really think much about He-Man except if you had a reason to hold aloft a magic sword (usually a stick or broom) and shout "I have the power!"

Anyway, as I aged up, I've been wildly surprised by the staying power of all of these franchises.  He-Man, Thundercats, even Silverhawks.  And that my contemporaries tend to have fond memories of these things.  I guess all of them have had second go-rounds and shows and whatnot that I just haven't seen that kept these things going.  I did watch some of the Revelations thing on Netflix, but kind of lost steam.   

This isn't a dig at my contemporaries.  And, I assume, there's a generation or two younger than me who are very into He-Man despite coming to the property late.  It just feels weird to me specifically in that - I clearly like kid stuff I had nostalgia for.  I love me some DC and Marvel Comics, and I was watching Super Friends and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends pretty early on.  I can tie my interest in Zorro, The Lone Ranger and Tarzan to some cartoons more than any particular movie.  But in particular, I'm just always shocked by how, of all things, He-Man has stood the test of time.  It always felt to me like there just wasn't much there.

But people really like that dude, his roid rage and his furry britches. 

And when I say that, here's a $2,200 statue of He-Man and his cat.  People will pay that amount and own this happily.*

it's not uncool, but $$$

That said, I totally get that people imprint on something like that at a certain age.  Whether it's the comfort of seeing the same heroes defeating evil every day, a liking for the design and mythology, or that Teela seemed to be drawn with Monroe-like proportions - folks stuck with the shows and made it whole hobbies.  

Do I get excited by Castle Grayskull and Moss Man?  Not so much.  But I'll watch this movie streaming, I'm sure.  

I mean, it has Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn.

this I can support

*keep in mind, people pay way more than that for a ticket to a single sports game.  Everything is worth only what people are willing to pay.  I'll pay $50 for a vintage comic, but I'm guessing you won't.

Hallmark Watch: Frozen In Love (2018)

Watched:  01/21/2026

Format:  Hallmark

Viewing:  First

Director:  Scott Smith

Here in real life, we're prepping for a winter storm coming this weekend, and I knew I was planning to finish watching Mademoiselle Fifi in the evening, so we threw on this RomCom from Hallmark, Frozen In Love (2018).  

The film is not a Christmas movie, but the stuff Hallmark programs, post-holidays, to fill the winter months.  Yes, there is snow and ice and ice hockey in this movie.  No, I don't know anything about hockey.

Wise Watch: Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)

Watched: 01/21/2026

Format:  YouTube

Viewing:  First

Director:  Robert Wise

Our viewing of movies by Robert Wise continues with Mademoiselle Fifi, a 1944 movie, made during the darker days of World War II, using the Franco-Prussian War as a wispy-thin analog for the German occupation of France and a clear show of support for the French Resistance.  

This is Wise's first solo directorial effort, but you'd never know.  The movie seems assured of the handling of actors as it does of camera management and tone.  

The movie is intended as an odd propaganda - yes, stateside it would be seen as pro-French Resistance, but also would have informed Americans of what it means to be occupied, and how those under the bootheel may react in ways noble, practical and cowardly.  And, that some may not see much different day-to-day, or take advantage of cozying up to the occupiers.  I cannot assume this would have been very comfortable for movie go-ers who may have wanted to have less nuanced takes on the occupation.

Happy Birthday, Geena Davis

Hey!  It's the birthday of Geena Davis!  Who doesn't like Geena Davis?  

I believe my intro to Davis was as Larry in Fletch.  After that, she was just sort of omnipresent in movies.  But I decided she was *great* (post-Oscar win) when I saw Thelma & Louise and A League of Their Own within a year of each other.  

I didn't see a few of her bigger movies til well after the fact, but I can always say, along with Sigourney Weaver and a few others, if you say "hey, Geena Davis is in it", I'll watch it.  

Davis is less in the spotlight these days - the last thing I saw her in was GLOW, where she crushed it as a casino manager and former showgirl.  But she's not just doing the acting and producing thing (she's a very successful TV and film producer).  She founded the Geena Davis Institute.  

I think she's the right person to have started such an org, and their work is important, bringing research and spotlights to issues of "equitable representation in media" (from their website).  

Here's to Geena Davis - trailblazing and playing my favorite ballplayer in a movie.

Also, she once surprised Stuart at work.

Noir Thriller Watch: Diabolique (1955)

Watched:  01/19/2026

Format:  Noir Alley on TCM

Viewing:  First

Director:  Henri-Georges Clouzot

Diabolique (1955) hangs heavy over so much of cinema that, like many other films I've both finally watched - or still haven't seen (hello, Bicycle Thieves) - the very weight of it made it seem like homework instead of watching something for the sake of watching a movie.  

It also makes these movies difficult to write about.  I don't guess I'm ever breaking new ground, but when it comes to something with the gravity of this film, what's the point of writing about it, really?

But even I thought it was ridiculous I'd never seen Diabolique.  Spousal murder movies are part-and-parcel for noir, from probably before Double Indemnity.    

Anyway - TCM's Noir Alley programmed the movie, and what better way to frame the movie than with Eddie Muller's brand of bar room rather than classroom?  

The film is both familiar - it's been ripped off endlessly in the ensuing 71 years - and yet it remains unique and surprising in other ways.  A post-WWII France, still sorting itself,makes for an interesting locale.  The economic situation is still rough, and the occupation has left its shadow and scars.  It's also made in France and therefore the Hayes Code isn't so much a factor.  But I'd really point to the characters and performances.  Grade A stuff riding a Grade A script..

At a boys' boarding school - the principal is carrying on with a teacher with the full knowledge of his wife, a timid woman with a heart condition.  However, the principal abuses the teacher, and somehow - the wife and the mistress have fallen into a conspiratorial friendship.  Even as we meet them, they're planning how to kill the principal and make it look like an accident.

Vera Clouzot - wife of the writer/ director - plays the wife of the principal.  She is, frankly, stunning in a complex, conflicted role, asked to play so many things, and she pulls it all off brilliantly.  It's simply one of those roles that will never play as outdated and because of the legacy of the film, will keep Clouzot in the public mind despite having only three film roles to her resume (she passed 5 years later).

I don't know what to say - yeah, the movie met expectations.  Windy, twisty, unrelentingly tense...  and, of course, with an ending good enough that they ask the audience not to share the end with anyone right there at the film's conclusion - something I'm respecting here in 2026, and so I'm not discussing the film too much more.  

Anyway - that one is now checked off. 

Clouseau Watch: The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Watched:  01/19/2026

Format:  BluRay Disc

Viewing:  First

Director:  Blake Edwards

We've been having a hard time synching up of late, so Simon returned to Signal Watch HQ at 9:15 AM with this movie in hand.  

I am happy to say, I very much enjoyed The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), another installment in the Inspector Clouseau series of films starring Peter Sellers and directed by Blake Edwards.  

Taking off from the last film, it runs with the Herbert Lom character, former Chief Inspector Dreyfus, escaping an insane asylum and threatening the world unless they hand over or kill Inspector Clouseau.  In a way, this is the plot of Man of Steel, by the way.  

Recurring jokes recur - like Clouseau in terrible disguises, Kato attacking Clouseau...  but much like a Looney Tunes episode, it's all very welcome.  And the vibe is somewhere between Looney Tunes, Bond and prior Pink Panther films.  

Omar Sharif makes a bonus appearance, we see a *very* early Deep Roy appearance, and Lesley-Anne Down makes a convincing argument for herself.

All in all, recommended.  The jokes hold up, and even scenes that could be read as homophobic kind of aren't.  

Anyway, I'll keep it short because I hate explaining jokes, and the whole movie is a joke machine.  

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth "Bitsie" Tulloch

Happy b-day to Bitsie Tulloch, the actor who brought Lois Lane to life on the recent TV show, Superman & Lois.  If you haven't seen it - fix that now.

Tulloch brought exactly the vibe I was looking for in Lois Lane on a show I admit I was deeply skeptical of when it went into production.  But I happily watched all four seasons, and would have continued had WB not hard-rebooted their entire slate the past year.

Tulloch has had plenty of roles, including the lead on the entire run of NBC's show Grimm, but I'm always reminded - she's multi-lingual and a Harvard graduate.  No dummy, this Lois.  

Not sure what her next roles will be, but we'll certainly be paying attention.

Happy Birthday, Dolly Parton

Happy Birthday to singer, song-writer, performer, actor, philanthropist, movie producer, theme park mogul, and all-around American Icon, Dolly Parton.  Today, she turns 80.  

Here's her latest - a Dolly classic, but now with some friends aboard.  This version was released over this weekend, I believe:

"Up All Night" with Rhonda Shear is Back!

,

Back during some crucial years of my late high school and college years, I basically couldn't sleep.  Long after my folks had gone to bed on the weekend, I'd be up... all night.  And in those days, even cable channels went off the air or rolled over to infomercials. 

But the USA network, a sort of junk drawer of basic cable, knew some of us insomniacs were up for nonsense before we finally gave up and went to bed.  And every weekend, they gave us two or three movies on Fridays and Saturdays, with interstitials featuring pals to take us into the wee hours.  

a true symbol of America's golden age

JLC Regret Watch: Virus (1999)

Watched:  01/16/2025

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  First

Director  John Bruno

A while back, I read that Signal Watch fave Jamie Lee Curtis has at least one movie she made which she'll publicly drag.  Which made me curious.  And that movie was Virus (1999), a sci-fi schlock-fest. 

Having just sat through the hour and forty minutes of Virus, I am in agreement with JLC.  This movie is very, very not good.  

It's an alien-invasion film (on a boat!) where it feels like the movie is just abusing your willing suspension of disbelief while delivering scenes and sequences from other movies you've seen before and is daring you to keep watching.

Our plot:  a wave of candy-colored cosmic energy passes through the Mir Space Station, which, in turn, shoots a beam of candy-colored energy into a Russian science vessel.  The beam blasts energy around the ship while the captain is alarmed it's accessing the mainframe (boy we were worried about mainframes still in 1999) and we cut to a standard, post-Abyss rag-tag working crew of a tug boat in a hurricane.