DC's K.O. Event was, in fact, very dumb

DC line-wide events are very, very seldom any good.  And even if the main titles are worth reading, the ancillary pile-on is almost never worth the effort or cost.  At best the events have a decent starting point, but usually by the time you hit the end it's a confused mess of abstractions yelling at each other and forcing some new editorial mandate, and this was the long way around to get to, say, "now Superman *doesn't* wear shorts over his tights".  

The last big event I recall feeling particularly worth it or well written and which had a spectacular ending that DC absolutely flubbed, was probably Infinite Crisis or maybe, just maybe, just the Morrison issues of Final Crisis.  And I attribute my enthusiasm for those projects now to my general enthusiasm for comics writ-large at the time.  I don't know how they'd actually hold up.

Hey! Someone wrote a companion piece to my "Alamo Sucks Now" tirade

I very rarely remember which social media interactions wind up in following someone, or how conversations get started that lead to what would have - in the golden age of blogging - led to blog rings.  (Remember those?  They were neat.)

Anyway, in the past few months I came upon Library DVD Love, and it's been a Substack I get in my email box, and I give it a read.  

I'm at the age where I'm mostly just *curious* about what people are saying if they're a reasonable person talking on a topic I care about, be it movies, comics or baseball.  And that's because most conversation about any topic on the internet feels like it starts at an 11 and goes up from there.  Or, if the writer is going for a drier approach it's so in pedantic or in the weeds, it becomes homework to get through.  

Library DVD Love is that nice hit up the third baseline, just on the right side of the chalk.  Neither foul nor a pop fly.  A straight shot just past the baseman.  Maybe I don't always know what the hell this blogger is always talking about (I do not see *that* many movies), or maybe I don't agree, but in der clerb, we all fam.  

Anyhoo, I guess he's been reading this site, because he did post about my rant on the change in priorities at Alamo Drafthouse under new CEO/ shit-weasal Michael Kustermann.  

Always wild to realized actual humans are reading your writing.

Sunday post: Alamo Drafthouse and phones in theaters by twinsbrewer

Annoying phones in theaters, and a chain that used to care about it.

Read on Substack

By the way, no, I haven't been back.   It also seems that the Alamo is now basically selling frozen food?  

It sounds like Alamo is actively working to dismantle the culture and make it a place for casuals while still charging premium prices for an "Alamo experience".  Which, thanks, no.

Neo-Noir Watch: Gloria (1980)

Watched:  04/19/2026

Format:  Video on Demand/ YouTube

Viewing:  First

Director:  John Cassavetes

For some reason the algorithm has been asking me to watch this movie for years.  

I'm not really sure why the algo does this, but my YouTube TV will find a movie that it decides it wants to recommend, and then the movie will follow me around.  First among these has been Gloria (1980), and because I don't think I've ever seen Gena Rowlands be anything less than great and because Cassavetes' movies are, at minimum, interesting, I wanted to check it out eventually.  So, I guess, thanks, data?

On paper, the movie is deceptively simple.  An accountant for the mob (Buck Henry) has been skimming (and maybe doing other things) and is found out.   Knowing the enforcers are coming, he's trying to leave, but everyone in his family of five is scared and doesn't know what to do - his wife, their two kids and his mother-in-law.  All are resorting to their comfort and security measures instead of just getting the f out.

When neighbor Gloria (Gena Rowlands) comes by to return the sugar she borrowed in the middle of all this, they make her take the boy - aged 6 or 7 - back to her apartment.  Almost immediately, the mob shows up and kills the rest of the family.  Gloria tries to flee the scene with the kid, but the press is outside and snaps her picture with the son.  

Con Watch: The Sting (1973)

Watched:  04/18/2026

Format:  DVD from the Library

Viewing:  Second

Director:  George Roy Hill

The Sting (1973) reunites the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid team of Robert Redford, Paul Newman and director George Roy Hill for a 1930's period piece film about a small-time grifter who - when a grift leads to seeing the mob kill a friend - teams up with Paul Newman's veteran conman in order to pull one over on a mob boss played by Robert Shaw.

It's a clockwork script that has a steel-trap ending that's tough to beat.  The closest I can point to in structure from movies I was around for is probably the 2001 remake of Ocean's 11.  

There's not a ton of character building in the movie, the runtime spent on the execution of the long con - we don't even see the planning, just the Rube Goldberg plan in motion.  And that's plenty.  Redford gets the most screentime and characterization, but even that isn't exactly a script that makes you wonder how his character grew and changed.  What we see of who he really is feels a little thin, but that's not really the point of the film.  But Redford's charm and Newman's charisma can pretty much carry anything.

Disney Watch: The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

Watched:  04/17/2026

Format:  Disney+

Viewing:  First (that I can remember)

Director:  Jeremy Kagan

The other day I watched a bit from Colbert where he and Patton Oswalt discussed a dog actor named "Jed".  The connection was that Jed was the dog from the start of John Carpenter's The Thing, and he was a major character in The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) which stars Oswalt's wife, Meredith Salenger, who was in the movie at age 15.  

I've seen The Thing plenty, but had vague memories of seeing The Journey of Natty Gann once, when teachers wheeled in TV's as we prepared for our fifth-grade graduation at Spicewood Elementary in 1986.  My memory of *that* is everyone talking while I wanted them to shut up so I could watch the movie.  But it was not to be - and I don't think we ever finished it.

Anyway, I *did* remember the movie was not exactly a Pollyanna-type story, but it was well produced and Salenger was good.  Plus it had John Cusack, who I knew from comedies at the time.

Superman Day is April 18th

Saturday April 18th is Superman Day!

I'll be honest and say "I do not really think this is for me".  Because at League HQ, every day is Superman Day.  Something Jamie just has to live with.  

Superman Day is a promotion for people with an interest in Superman where DC and Warner Bros make available some neat things like comics, t-shirts and more.  

You can find those things at your Local Comic Shoppe.  Or hit up the DC Shop.  

With Supergirl coming to theaters this summer, of course it's a promotion not just for Super comics - the day is also a promo for the forthcoming movie.  

Look, I love me some Superman - and I hope you figure out how to enjoy the day.  But I also am kind of aware it's not exactly a holiday.  It would be nice if DC figured out how to do something aside from just sell some things with an extra stamp on the cover.  

Mostly it feels like they're saying "buy a thing" while they alert 99% of the world nothing special is happening for them locally.  Amazing this is the best WB can do.  Even a plastic Superman ring for the kids would be something.

Spaceballs Sequel En Route

 

Spaceballs is getting a sequel - 40 years later.

In late June 1987, I went to the Showplace 6 with a pal or two for a weekday matinee of Spaceballs.  And by the time Spaceball 1 finished passing by the camera, I was laughing so hard I was crying.  And I think it let up sometime about a week later when I quit saying "Lonestaaaaar...!" to myself.  And "because 'good' is dumb."

Since, it's probably my most-watched Mel Brooks movie alongside Blazing Saddles.  I mean, I was twelve.  I loved Star Wars and silliness.  

Everyone in the cast was on fire during that movie.  It made me a fan of Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga, I already thought John Candy and Rick Moranis were two of the funniest people on Earth, and it gave me respect for Joan Rivers, George Wyner and Mel Brooks.  Heck, it's the first time I ever saw generally-all-around-good-idea Brenda Strong.

In college, I got a Sharpie and wrote "Mr. Radar" on my "Mr. Coffee" individual coffee pot.  And, for my birthday Freshman year, we rented Spaceballs and watched it in the dorms.

It's just one of the greats in my book, and quotes from it fill my head as much as any other Mel Brooks movie.  "They've gone to plaid...!" is something I'll still say in my head when someone whips past me on the freeway.  When waiting for things to finish, I still whisper "come on, Schwartz...!"

Mel Brooks is 99 and has retained everything.  How involved he is with this new version, I don't know. He's involved, though.  Imagine having a career so long a movie you made in the 1980's is getting a sequel with the very grown child of  one of the original stars.  Yeah, Lewis Pullman is in this.

Will it be good?  I am sure.  Is it a little sad we've lost John Candy and Joan Rivers in the interim?  Absolutely.  But I think we can still have a great movie with new characters.  And, hey, we have so many more Star Wars movies and TV shows to spoof. Plus 40 more years of other sci-fi.

how *you* doin', Princess Vespa?

It's for the best Spaceballs didn't suffer the fate of so many 80's comedies that tried for sequels at the time - it was always diminishing returns.  But I'm glad we can take a new swing.  

And, hey, if I can have Zuniga *and* Rick Moranis back?  That's a very good thing.

  

Disney Watch: Zootopia 2 (2025)

Watched:  04/16/2026

Format:  Disney+

Viewing:  First

Director:  Jared Bush/ Byron Howard

I'm on record as a Zootopia stan.  I watched it initially on a plane to Helsinki and lost my mind when we landed and it cut off the last ten minutes and I couldn't watch the end til I got back home a week later.  I loved the ideas and characters, the world they built and the imagination and thinking that went into the jokes.  And, I liked the character arcs for Judy and Nick and how they played off of each other.  Good stuff.

Do I want to see the Zootopia-land in Shanghai? Yes.  Yes, I do.

Godzilla Minus Zero Teaser Trailer

 

Godzilla Minus Zero - First Look Teaser Trailer is GO!!!

that's muh boi

No idea what the story is, but so glad to see our heroes from Godzilla Minus One return.  I very much like these characters and am happy to spend more time with them.

Coming out in November.  Plan accordingly.

Noir Watch: Down Three Dark Streets (1954)

Watched:  04/12/2026

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  First

Director:  Arnold Laven

We're just going to slowly make our way through the Ruth Roman filmography, I guess.  

I had no idea what this was about, but it's a bit of 1950's pro-FBI propaganda.  It makes sure we, the citizens and tax-payers, understand how the FBI is working tirelessly on crimes big and small.  

When an FBI agent, a family man, is killed, Broderick Crawford is asked to pick up all three of his open cases to figure out which case was the one that got his pal murdered.  And, much as in real life, things move a lot faster now that one of their own was the victim.

The three cases are: