Music Watch: American Pop (1981)

Watched:  08/05/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Ralph Bakshi

Jesus.  Wish I'd seen this 30 years ago.  

Oddly, this movie was on TCM because it was a selection by actress Pamela Adlon, who was guest-hosting this film and Fame.  I don't know much about Adlon, but I think we could hang based on her description of her movie watching. 

A sweeping, multi-generational story starting with a turn-of-the-century Russian shtetl to the 1970's stages of American rock arenas, American Pop (1981) is a singular work of art.  I'm kind of pissed at whomever told me in the 1990's that I didn't need to see it.

Anyone with a love of 20th century American history, particularly pop culture (see the tag line for this blog) should give American Pop a spin.  It's a movie told in montage - but with mixed media, illustrated montage, combining cell animation derived from rotoscoped character work, stylized paintings, stock film footage, and more.  

Music Watch: 24 Hour Party People (2002)

Watched:  08/03/2026

Format:  Criterion

Viewing:  First

Director:  Michael Winterbottom

Somehow in the past two weeks, I was in a group chat (in theory about Texas football) where the folks were discussing 24 Hour Party People (2002), which I'd never seen.  Then, an artist I follow on socials was discussing it this last week. When I saw it was recently added to Criterion, I decided now was the time.

A while ago I took to watching some documentaries on YouTube (of varying professional quality) about bands I like, or liked once upon a time.  And it became clear that while I am aware of bands and some of their music, I sure don't know much about what it's like to come up in the British music scene.  You get a real feel for how small England really is sometimes with how the music scene there is treated like a popularity contest with winners and losers and how much bleed over there is between fan bases.  

24 Hour Party People covers the rise of the Manchester music scene, from the mid-70's to the early 90's.  I vaguely remember it coming out but in 2002, I was a busy bee.  And, frankly, a small film about a music scene I wasn't that into wasn't the biggest draw.

Spidey Watch: Spider-Man Brand New Day (2026)

Watched:  08/02/2026

Format:  Regal Cinema

Viewing:  First

Director:  Destin Daniel Cretton

Look, I'm respecting that the movie-advertising is asking that we not discuss this movie publicly on social media, so I'm doing what I can here.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS

Canon Watch: Addams Family Values (1993)

Watched:  07/31/2026

Format:  YouTube

Viewing:  Unknown

Director:  Barry Sonnenfeld

Absolutely one of my favorite comedies.  And, why, 30 years later people still talk about Wednesday Addams.  

Still, a movie where everyone is bringing something special.  

No real reason to say much about the movie today, so I won't.  But just give it a whirl and spot a pre-fame Tony Shaloub as a sailor in a bar, a Broadway famous Christine Baranski - just before she appeared in Cybill and was launched to media fame, as well as Nathan Lane as the desk sergeant, before Lion King made him a thing.  

It's unbelievable Raul Julia passed a year later.

Jamie reminds me we did a podcast on Addams Family.  

Monster Watch: The Black Scorpion (1957)

Watched:  07/31/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Edward Ludwig

Yall...  You're gonna be something less than shocked when I tell you that maybe a 1957 movie about kaiju-sized scorpions rampaging through Mexico is maybe not Oscar material.  But I will say it is entertaining as hell.  

The story is basically lifting Them!, which had just been a big success.   But in this case, the volcanos that erupt throughout Mexico this time crack open the earth.*  A pair of geologists, one handsome Mexican guy (Carlos Rivas) and one lantern jawed American (Richard Denning) race to the location to scout it out.  En route they come across a police car that's been wrecked - like inexplicably shredded - food still cooking and an abandoned baby.  They also find the police officer who is dead, his eyes wide open, and leaning against a wall.

With no idea what's going on, they head to the town with the baby, and everyone is in a panic.  Cowboys are coming in from the local ranches reporting the cattle are turning up dead.  Shit is bad, yo.

Spoilers:  there are giant scorpions running around who escaped their underground layer and seem to want mammal flesh.  

TV Watch: Ride or Die

Ride or Die was advertised as a light romp with the wacky idea that a housewife discovers her best friend is actually an assassin.  Twenty years ago, this has Sandra Bullock in it, and is a 100 minute movie with non-stop jokes that makes its money back with re-runs on TBS.  And, I'd argue, in the ads Amazon put out that was more or less what was sold.  And, fair.  The premise seems a bit of dark comedy.  Enjoy.

But the show pretty swiftly makes it clear - forget the ads.  This show has more in common with action-dramas of the past fifteen years than it does with late 00's-era comedies.  Sure, it has great comedic bits, but imagine my surprise as the comedy was pushed further and further to the edges, the inescapable result of 9 hour-long episodes based in a world of assassins, mob money and betrayals.  

It's not exactly The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, but it isn't trying to be.  Nor is it trying to be The Bourne Identity, John Wick or "a ballet of violence" for violence's sake.  When violence does break out, it's not just goofy fun.  People get very hurt and/or killed.

Neo-Noir Watch: Tequila Sunrise (1988)

Watched:  07/27/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Robert Towne

Tequila Sunrise (1988) was, to me, the sort of movie parents would go see whilst leaving the kids at home in those heady days of "they have fishsticks and can work the oven."  The film was advertised to adults, rated-R, and didn't look like a cop movie where our hero shot the place up and made jokes.  So my interest was muted.  Also, I don't remember having HBO when this likely aired and so I missed that window as well.

As a neo-noir, Tequila Sunrise feels positively old-school, like it should star Victor Mature and Richard Conte as opposite sides of the law who were boyhood pals and now find themselves at odds.  

Wait, that's Cry of the City.  Terrific film.

Happy Birthday, Hannah Waddingham

Today, July 28, marks the birthday of star of stage and screen, Hannah Waddingham.  

This year has been pretty good for Ms. Waddingham.  

She has starred in what appears to be a successful series for Amazon Prime, Ride or Die (our post on it will arrive after we've finished the series).  Threads tells me many people did not know of her before, and... welcome to where I've been living since, like, 2021.  

She's got a new season of Ted Lasso set to drop in August and a fanbase primed and ready.  Her Fox show, Krapopolis continues on (I catch it once in a blue moon).  And she's been announced as starring in one movie with Guy Pearce and a separate movie, promisingly titled Jason Statham Stole My Bike, with the eponymous action star.  

And, she's lent her voice to an animated project by Sir Paul McCartney - coming soon.  

Not bad.

Social media tells me she keeps popping up places like Wimbledon and at F1, and that seems like a pretty good way to live one's downtime.  I believe she's also found a suitor who she can stand next to in heels, and that's got to be a bonus.

Happy Birthday, Hannah Waddingham!

Island Watch: Eden (2025) / The Galapagos Affair - Satan Came to Eden (2013)

Eden (2025)

Watched:  07/25/2026

Format:  Library Disc

Viewing:  First

Director:   Ron Howard

This is a movie about living in a place that's pretty good, but the place suddenly gets overrun by people who read an article saying the place was cool.  Because the people who moved there, wrongly believing themselves cool (and therefore heirs to the cool place), bring their suckiness to the place - the transitive powers of their suckiness, large numbers and insistence on changing the nature of what made the place cool to begin with, make that place which was once cool now suck.  

Eventually the place sucks so much, helped along with the participation of government stooges hoping for money and glamour, things in the place become straight up bleak.  

In short, this is the story of Austin, Texas.

When Eden (2025) was released, reviews were kind of all over the place, but I was curious.  I don't tend to think of Howard as a director who does grittier movies about sordid topics like sex and violence.  The movie had a fascinating cast - Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Ana de Armas, Daniel Bruhl, Sydney Sweeney...  A movie requiring minimal FX, and where shit gets very real as people scrape for survival in what is now an infamously inhospitable living.  And turn on each other.

Neo-Noir Watch: Sea of Love (1989)

Watched:  07/24/2026

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Director:  Harold Becker

Sea of Love (1989) is very much what I think of when it comes to the notion of Neo-Noir.  Well, this and grittier stuff like To Live and Die in L.A.  

This movie is just before we moved into the 90's and neo-noir = erotic thriller for a lot of movies.  And I'd argue this movie probably put the notion of the erotic thriller into the skulls of some creators.  

This is a cop-finding-a-killer movie, and that initially had me not terribly excited.  But I'd always heard good things, and this movie has tons of talent in it that I dig, not least of which is Ellen Barkin.   And I'll be honest - as big as Barkin is, I'm shocked she wasn't everywhere after this movie.  

But, yeah, the movie stars Al Pacino as the cop hunting down our killer, John Goodman playing probably a full 15 years older than he was at the time (his adult daughter is getting married, and I think Goodman is 37 if he's a day in this movie).  Michael Rooker is in a bit part.  William Hickey shows up for a scene.  Richard Jenkins plays a detective who is now married to Pacino's ex-wife.  Christine Estabrook, one of those "that lady!" actors, appears.  And a pre-fame Samuel L. Jackson appears in an opening sequence.