LIVE WATCH WITH THE SIGNAL WATCH! NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD!!! FRIDAY - 9:00ish Central!

Night of the Living Dead (1968) is a movie everyone should have in their collection and/ or have access to.  It's got all sorts of copyright failures that mean everyone owns it and no one owns it.

This year is the 50th Anniversary, plus it's Halloween-time, so let's watch the movie that launched a 1000 imitators and a whole culture around re-killing dead people.

I was going to try to do a videoconferencing thing, but I've realized that everyone's TV's playing the movie out of synch is just going to be a nightmare, so until we sort out how to watch the movie together, we're still LIVE TWEETING.

• Movie:  Night of the Living Dead
• Time:  9:00 Central, Friday October 26th
• hashtag:  #getbarb
• to find me:  @melbotis

Where to watch:

• Amazon Prime
• Filmstruck (currently having a free trial)
• YouTube

We'll talk:

1. unpredictable effects of cosmic phenomena
2. why none of us care if Barbara gets it
3. how it's kinda nice all the zombies are dressed nice from their funerals
4. the complexities of what it means for a bunch of dead people to come back as proposed in this film versus other films
5. casting a Black lead in 1968
6. why one should always keep a good shovel around
7. brains: yes, delicious, but - also nutritious?
8. why Dawn of the Dead is also pretty spiffy
9. what is the most depressing element of this movie?
10. why I'd become a dictatorial monster inside of five minutes of a zombie apocalypse
11. what to do when you awkwardly run into a zombie who is someone you used to know

Cocktails:

Well, I'll be drinking, you can count on that.  But I'm not making any recommendations.  Both the Corpse Reviver and Zombie cocktails are delicious and require too many ingredients I don't have.  So, people, just do what you know.

Signal Watch Tweet Alive! ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK! FRIDAY at 9:00 Central!

We had a request from our Kansas City branch to get back into the Live-Tweet Business.

It's been a long time, and Stuart pitched one of one of the best movies ever produced by humankind.

The Movie:  Escape From New York
Available streaming at:  Netflix or for $2.99 at Amazon
Day:  5/12/2017
Time:  9:00 PM Central
Location:  Twitter
My handle:  @melbotis
Our hashtag:  #snakescape


If you've not seen this movie - it's directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing, They Live), in his 80's heyday, telling a tale of the dark future of 1997 (the movie was released in '81).

It stars Kurt Russell!  Lee Van Cleef!  Ernest "I'll be in anything" Borgnine!  Donald Pleasence as the POTUS!  Isaac Hayes as Post-Apocalyptic Isaac Hayes!  Harry Dean Stanton!  and Adrienne Barbeau (and all that that entails)!  Tom Atkins (you'll totally recognize him from the 1980's)!  And Frank Doubleday in my favorite performance of it's type, anywhere!!!!!

It's 1997, and the world is not going so well.  The President's plane is infiltrated by terrorists, and POTUS must make good his escape en route to a peace conference and prevent the escalation of an international conflict.  Unfortunately, POTUS' escape capsule lands him in the middle of New York City, which - in the context of the last 1970's was kind of a hellhole, and so by '81 it made some sorta-logical sense it would be walled off and turned into a maximum security penal colony.

Luckily for the US Government, they recently captured super-criminal Snake Plissken (who is NOT dead, thank you), so they send him in to retrieve our two-legged MacGuffin.

It.  Is.  Amazing.

Friday night!  9:00 Central!  Be there!

An Easter Short Film For Your Enjoyment

For your Easter melancholy/ mirth - here's a film shot by our own Paul T (it's less than 5 minutes. You've got the time.)

"I Remember When No one Knew What An Avenger Was!" Signal Watch Comics/ Sci-Fi/ Fantasy Gen-X Recollection Project - Call to Participate

Hey all!

If you've been considering participating in our Gen-X Nerd 1980's Recollection Project, we have some additional tools to do so.  (Basically, we're interested in your experience as a young nerd back when being a nerd could land you an atomic wedgie.)

We've had a pretty good response rate early on, so we started thinking a bit about possibly, maybe, one-day collecting the stories into an eBook or something. You know, for the people.

So, if you're trying to remember what we're up to - review the original post.

Y'all a diverse bunch and a better picture of what the comics/ sci-fi and fantasy scene was really like back in the day, so I'm hoping we can capture some of the pre-internet, pre-billion dollar movies world of nerddom here on these pages.

We've created some questions to get you going, but don't limit yourself to those points.  It's your story, tell it how you want to see it in digital print.

Click here for the questions.

But, I am asking that if you'd like to participate, you also make it semi-legit and make sure we're square in the future if we go the eBook route, I've got a release I'd like you to sign.  Sorry if it feels formal, but they beat it into us in film school to get those releases so we wouldn't have any confusion in the future.

If you're uncertain how all this works, I've got a couple of posts that will go up starting this week.  You'll see you're in good company.

If you'e got questions or want to participate, just email us here at The Signal Watch!

Collecting Memories Project: You Were Into Superheroes, Fantasy and Sci-Fi Before It Was Cool

If you're over a certain age, you remember a dark era in the long, long ago when superheroes were not cool.  Reading science-fiction, fantasy or comics got you labeled a "geek" and "nerd" in an era when those words were legitimate slurs, not a comment vis-a-vis "I have an interest outside eating and breathing".  There was a time when the average person on the street did not know the name of the company that published Spider-Man comics, was pretty sure there were only four super-heroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Spider-Fellow) and they had never heard of The Avengers.  Many people found it inconceivable that all comics were not just published by one company.  

Reading an article in Cracked.com was actually a pretty good reminder of what it was to bear the secret shame of your hobbies.  As I begin so many posts here:  "The kids will never know..."

When I came back to The Signal Watch after a hiatus, it was, in part, because I realized that when I felt like talking about comics and pop-culture, it was from a perspective of an elder statesman.  It's one thing to be young and full of excitement about comics and movies.  It's another to be older and have been around the block a bit.  And, of course, remember the time before a Comic-Con in every city, when being seen with a Superman comic would get you assigned "permanent virgin" status, when you only let folks in an elite inner circle know about your extensive knowledge of X-Men trivia, and - really - in a time when comics had no internet, and it wasn't necessarily a very social thing to do.

As much as I think of my experience as typical of comic nerds, there really isn't a typical experience.  Everyone's story is unique.  Not everyone was a straight white dude living in North Austin pedaling their bike to Ballard's gas station to grab some funny books, candy and soda on a summer afternoon.

Here's the thing:

I want to hear your stories.  

Fighting Cancer and a Chance at Prizes!

As we've been promoting in our sidebar this month, we're supporting Max's efforts to raise some dough for cancer research and treatment.

The way it works is - you donate to one of Max's charities of choice, email him the receipt, and you're entered into a raffle for a wide selection of comics-related goods.

Here's the instructions.  Clicky Click.

I have no idea if any of you guys are doing this.  I certainly hope you are.  It's a good cause, and you aren't just helping to make the world a better place, you've got a chance to win some loot.  And, hey, Max has gone to a lot of effort to make this both a good cause and fun.

A Short Stay in Houston: Old Pals, Work Stuff, a GOP Debate

This week I was in Houston for a short conference at which I presented.  A nice, friendly little conference we have once a year with folks that have known each other a while, and where new folks are usually made to feel very welcome.

I was staying at the hotel on campus, a Hilton commissioned by the late, great Conrad Hilton as part of the hotel management school at the University of Houston that bears his name.  During the conference, the candidates for the Republican party were slated to have a debate on the other end of campus, but CNN had set up adjacent to the library.  So, yes, yesterday I saw the back of Anderson Cooper's magnificently silver head.

Join Max in Kicking Cancer's Ass

I'm going to share this link with you here and again at the end.

Writer, blogger, reader and Austinite Max Romero is putting together a project I think you'll like.  I know I'm thinking about this pretty hard.  And, I ask you - both of my readers - to think about this as well.

Max is a cancer survivor and he's now about three years out from when he had surgery to remove the tumor.  To celebrate the past three years and pay it forward, Max is going to be collecting items from his readers, friends and family and he'll be raffling them off.  Proceeds, obviously, go to charity.  Quite directly.

JimD Returns to Blogging

I sense something.  A presence I've not felt since...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a young attorney, fresh from law school, suggested I try my hand at blogging.

I know Jim from our days at the University of Texas when we were both studying Film in the College of Communications.  Jim sat near me in our first screenwriting class, and while I have no recollection of why and how we started chatting, it seems it had something to do with comic books.  But I can't remember how comics came up.

We had an intensive writing class together the next semester, and that's when we started talking a lot, and thanks to email, our chatting continued through the end of the 90's after graduation as Jim continued his education about 90 minutes up I-35 at the famed Baylor Law School.

In 2002 or so, Jim launched a "blog" and suggested I do same.  "I've nothing to say," I protested, but in 2003, I joined Jim in the blogosphere.

End of the Year Lists and Whatnot

Ann Miller ringing in New Years 70 years back

It's December, which means "Best Of" lists are imminent.

After doing this off and on for almost 13 years, it's pretty clear nobody gives a damn what I think was the best of anything in any year, but I'd point you to Sound Affects as Gerry has started his countdown of his favorite albums of the year.  I know we've got more than one music snob in the house, so go over there and nod with him or shake your head in disgust.

I think the only new album I noticed this year was by Adele, and I'm pretty sure that even if I were in a deep coma since July and woke from it, I'd still be aware of Adele's new album somehow.

Please send me your own Top Ten lists of 2015 if you'd like to see them printed here (use that Contacts tab or message me on the social medias).  Make sure they're relevant to the site content and include a JPG or PNG for me to use with the list.

Again, I'm not sure I'll do anything like that.  More likely, I'll break down the numbers for My Year in Movies, and you'll either care or you won't.  I like numbers, so, there you go.

In the New Year, we'll be dropping that whole "blogging every movie we watch" business, but we'll keep it up in some respect.  I ran out of steam in October, which, happily, coincided with all my TV shows coming back on, and I don't blog those, so I've been enjoying the Not Blogging Movies All the Time aspect of my life.

We'll see what we morph into next year.  Hopefully you'll stick around.

I don't have any personal news, but in 2016, I hope to be pointing you guys to a new site by a friend of the blog, so we've all got that going for us (you're right.  It's Adele.  And she and I are best friends.*).



*this is not true, but I pretend it is.

MONSTER SQUAD! 2NITE (in, like, 1 hr, 45 min)

Hey, y'all.

It's been pointed out that I have not reminded folks enough that we're watching Monster Squad tonight.

Movie: The Monster Squad (1987)
Day: Friday, October 23rd
Time: 9:15 PM Central, 10:15 PM Eastern, 7:15 PM Pacific
Stream From: Netflix
hashtag: #wolfnards

Let's Watch "The Monster Squad" this Friday!

Movie:  The Monster Squad (1987)
Day:  Friday, October 23rd
Time:  9:15 PM Central, 10:15 PM Eastern, 7:15 PM Pacific
Stream From:  Netflix
hashtag:  #wolfnards

This Friday I'll be barreling across Texas in the afternoon to make it home in time for a screening of The Monster Squad, the 1987 adventure/ horror film.  It's a great Halloween, all-ages fright-fest with a post-Spielbergian depth to our suburban characters.

Note the Shane Black screenplay.  No, it doesn't take place on Christmas, but good question.

Who Wants to Live-Watch "Monster Squad"?

Stuart, who kicked off the whole Masters of the Universe live-watch, has pointed out that the 1987 horror/ adventure movie The Monster Squad is now on Netflix.

I'm going to go ahead and pitch the movie as our Halloween Live Tweet Meet-Up.

I'll propose October 23 at 9:15 Central Time for our meet-up point.  I'm travelling on the 16th and figure the 30th will be a little busy for folks with kids, so the 23rd is really the best compromise I can do.

If you've not seen the movie, it's about the mainstays of Universal Horror flicks descending upon a small town in California and the middle-school aged kids with whom they must do battle.  I have extremely fond memories of the movie from when I was a kid and when I saw it a few years ago at the Alamo Drafthouse with a bunch of the cast in attendance.

I'd love to do this one with you guys, mostly because we can all talk about how Jon Gries and Tom Noonan are totally underappreciated as actors.  Also, their makeup in this movie is pretty awesome.  Way better than it needs to be.

Follow PaulT as he watches 31 horror movies in 31 days!

PaulT (aka: PlacesLost) is watching and commenting upon a horror movie a day all October.  

Check it out over at his blog.

Anyone up for a "Masters of the Universe: The Movie" Live Tweet-a-Thon?

A few weeks ago Stuart alerted me to the fact that the 1980's He-Man live action movie, Masters of the Universe, was coming to Netflix.  He pitched a joint tweet-a-thon/ live-blogging of the movie, and I'm inclined to jump on this idea.

Now, I am aware that He-Man is something a lot of people take seriously, and it is something that I absolutely do not take seriously, so I expect this will be an interesting mish-mash of an evening if we do it.

So, if anyone wants to think about doing this, maybe even this coming Friday, say something in the comments.

A Trip to Metropolis II - Adventures in Superman-Mania

Had a SUPER fun day palling around with Stuart at the Superman Celebration in sunny Metropolis, Illinois.

For a review of my participation in Day 1, here's a link.

I arrived around noonish, and stumbled Stuart without really having to try.  I should also mention that fellow Austinite Tim Gardner was here for his 23rd Superman celebration with the entire family in tow.  Very nice fellow with a great family.

I realized I had not shared any pictures of Stuart, so here he is, showing off his immunity to Kryptonite.

Oh. Yeah. I have a Blog. I should maintain it.

I have a feeling posting is going to be light for, like, the next two weeks.  I got stuff going on.

"All good things, all good things" as Olaf might say.

Conference at work went well.  My presentation actually had attendees, which I appreciated (this has not always been the case).  And I'm wrapping up the week before taking off for a while.  And, of course, need to drop in and check on the Nephew tomorrow afternoon.  Make sure I wake him up and see to it his sleep schedule gets thrown.

Starting this weekend, Jamie and I are taking a vacation for our anniversary.  A long overdue vacation.  So, please, as I beg every time I take a vacation - do not break into my house and take my things.  

I am actually somehow more pale and likely to melt than our friend here

It does mean I have no idea when I'll be posting again for, like, almost two weeks between work and this trip.  I expect that somehow you'll muddle on without me.

In the meantime, you kids have a good time.  Take care of yourselves.  And check out Gerry's newish/ relaunched blog here at:  Strange Orphan Boxes

Gerry is wise.  He will be worth reading.

Signal Watch Reads: Action Comics #6

Action Comics #6
When Superman Learned to Fly
writer - Grant Morrison
penciller - Andy Kubert
inker - John Dell
colorist - Brad Anderson
letterer - Patrick Brosseau
associate editor - Wil Moss
editor - Matt Idleson

A half a week late, a geological period in superhero comic terms, I finally got to sit down and read Action Comics #6.  The issue is the sort of Superman comic that is going to separate the Supermen from the Superboys, and while I enjoyed the comic, it left far, far more questions than answers.

Frankly, I'm completely shocked that DC has chosen to release a story that is so clearly a nod to a different Superman as early as issue 6, and at first assumed this was part of what was considered a clever B-Plan on the part of DC with the ReLaunch should an artist fall behind.  But I wonder...  there's a lot of territory covered in the issue to answer questions, and its not like all of All Star Superman made sense as it was released until you had a chance to look at the overall picture Morrison was creating.

Signal Watch Reads: Star Trek/ Legion of Super-Heroes Crossover

To begin with:  I've been utterly compromised.

In order to retain whatever passes for journalistic integrity around here, I should mention that Saturday night I had a couple of cocktails with Ms. @Allisontype and her husband, writer of this comic, Chris Roberson.  Excellent people.  All the stories are true.

Also - ask them about their Halloween cookies.

I had intended to do my review of this book prior to the evening, and failed.

So, here's more of an informal discussion of what I'll say up front is a really fun comic.

I am totally okay with Phil Jimenez doing nothing but drawings of Uhura and Saturn Girl forever

Superboy and the Legion

I know we've got a dearth of Legion fans in the audience, but this cover made my day.