Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Octoberama! Fridays with Elvira!
Our final Friday with Elvira rolls into the station.
All these years later, who knew Elvira would make a bit of a return in the pop culture consciousness? I, for one, welcome her return for as long as she wishes to stick around.
Really, what better way to celebrate the spirit of Halloween than with a bit of spookiness, a lot of fun and a celebration of creature features, great and terrible?
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Octoberama! Superman and a Gallery of Not Really Spooky Supporting Characters!
You have to assume that the Frankenstein here was poor ol' Glenn Strange.
Gungan Style: The Internet Video That Sums It Up
Of late, you may have noted a slight change in tone around The Signal Watch.
I think this video more or less sums up my feelings as I head towards my tenth year* of blogging on comics and pop culture.
Give the video about 2 minutes before giving up on it.
*yes, 10 years in April of 2013.
I think this video more or less sums up my feelings as I head towards my tenth year* of blogging on comics and pop culture.
Give the video about 2 minutes before giving up on it.
Gungan Style (Gangnam Style Parody) - watch more funny videos
*yes, 10 years in April of 2013.
Happy Birthday, Pablo Picasso!
The artist was born this day in 1881. He lived to the age of 93. He is famed for his bullheaded nature.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
October Watch: Frankenstein (1931) and Bride (1935) Double-Bill!
I don't really keep a list around of "what is my favorite movie?" (I mean, go ahead and check out my recommendations at the tab above, but...) but the first two James Whale directed, Karloff-starring Frankenstein films are in the mix somewhere.
It's one of those things that is difficult to explain. And it's funny, because I am absolutely not alone in my admiration of these two films - but the folks who like these movies also seem to have a hard time putting feelings into words. Even the eloquent Neil Gaiman seems at a bit of loss, but I think he does as good of a job explaining the appeal of The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as you're likely to see.
Octoberama! Once Again with Ann Miller!
Let us head on toward Halloween with Ann Miller, black cats and pumpkins!
The Honest Truth About Why No Post and Mondo Gallery
I've already pre-loaded a number of October posts, and you'll get those for several days.
Sadly, now is one of those times that I'm terribly busy at work, and things like AWS going down don't make my job any easier. Especially when I'm flying to Denver in a week and a half to talk about why my organization uses AWS.
So, the bottom line is that I've been super busy. I worked Sunday night and I worked tonight when I got home. I'll be taking tomorrow night off, but then I'll be working again on Thursday, and then on Saturday and Sunday. Because: deadlines.
In the meantime, I'll try to provide some content, but I'm pretty busy, y'all, so bear with me for a couple of weeks.
I did make a trip during my lunch hour today to the Mondo Gallery in Austin. They're doing a show on the theme of Universal Horror Movies, focusing on Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, Creature from The Black Lagoon and Phantom of the Opera. As you may know, it is Universal Studio's 100th Anniversary, and, historically, their most enduring franchise includes those creature features, even if they haven't known what to do with them for quite a while.*
Sadly, now is one of those times that I'm terribly busy at work, and things like AWS going down don't make my job any easier. Especially when I'm flying to Denver in a week and a half to talk about why my organization uses AWS.
So, the bottom line is that I've been super busy. I worked Sunday night and I worked tonight when I got home. I'll be taking tomorrow night off, but then I'll be working again on Thursday, and then on Saturday and Sunday. Because: deadlines.
In the meantime, I'll try to provide some content, but I'm pretty busy, y'all, so bear with me for a couple of weeks.
I did make a trip during my lunch hour today to the Mondo Gallery in Austin. They're doing a show on the theme of Universal Horror Movies, focusing on Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Invisible Man, Creature from The Black Lagoon and Phantom of the Opera. As you may know, it is Universal Studio's 100th Anniversary, and, historically, their most enduring franchise includes those creature features, even if they haven't known what to do with them for quite a while.*
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Clark Kent Quits the Daily Planet - Just as I Quit Reading "Superman"
I'll be honest with you.
I wasn't going to pick up issue #13 of DC's recently relaunched Superman title, anyway. I really didn't believe DC could flail about any worse with the character than it seemed they were doing during periods of the Eddie Berganza editorship of the Superman Family of books in the 00's - back when continuity changed with every writer - or when DC seemed to be forcing year-long, family-wide, editorial directed stories upon the Superman books prior to the New 52.
A few months back I read Scott Lobdell was coming on Superman, and at the time I decided that would mark the end of my readership on the title. I'm not even worried about having a hole in my collection as comics from this era depreciate in value by 75% the minute you walk out the door, anyway, so it doesn't really matter for my collection. If I want to eventually read the comics or just fill the gap, I'll buy them in a bin at Half Price Books where someone will dump them a few months from now and it'll still be cheaper than buying them digitally.
In case you can't tell, I'm not just not a fan of Mr. Lobdell's work, but DC's direction - particularly around Superman - the character - which has been reflected largely in Superman - the comic.
Today it became news for some reason that Superman was going to quit working at The Daily Planet and start his own website or something. I guess. Something social media-y that the kids will relate to. Apparently he makes some speech about how the news business isn't just about sensationalism, its supposed to be about Truth, Justice and The American Way and then runs out the door crying.
I wasn't going to pick up issue #13 of DC's recently relaunched Superman title, anyway. I really didn't believe DC could flail about any worse with the character than it seemed they were doing during periods of the Eddie Berganza editorship of the Superman Family of books in the 00's - back when continuity changed with every writer - or when DC seemed to be forcing year-long, family-wide, editorial directed stories upon the Superman books prior to the New 52.
A few months back I read Scott Lobdell was coming on Superman, and at the time I decided that would mark the end of my readership on the title. I'm not even worried about having a hole in my collection as comics from this era depreciate in value by 75% the minute you walk out the door, anyway, so it doesn't really matter for my collection. If I want to eventually read the comics or just fill the gap, I'll buy them in a bin at Half Price Books where someone will dump them a few months from now and it'll still be cheaper than buying them digitally.
In case you can't tell, I'm not just not a fan of Mr. Lobdell's work, but DC's direction - particularly around Superman - the character - which has been reflected largely in Superman - the comic.
Today it became news for some reason that Superman was going to quit working at The Daily Planet and start his own website or something. I guess. Something social media-y that the kids will relate to. Apparently he makes some speech about how the news business isn't just about sensationalism, its supposed to be about Truth, Justice and The American Way and then runs out the door crying.
Monday, October 22, 2012
October Watch: An American Werewolf in London
I cannot begin to come to An American Werewolf in London (1981) objectively. I had to leave work fifteen minutes early or so to make the picture, and someone said "I've never seen it. Is it good?" (my co-workers are well aware of my love of movies like The Room, so my interest in a movie is not a sign of my belief in the film's quality).
I paused and said "You know, I don't really know. I've seen this movie a half dozen times since I was sixteen or seventeen, and I know I like it." And I suspect that's true for a lot of us who saw the movie when we were the right age to enjoy the horror, the comedy (it is a wickedly funny movie), the sex, and the rather pragmatic ending to the film. Like the better horror films, you don't really worry about the bad science, the faults in the make-up or effects (and this is Rick Baker so the effects were completely groundbreaking for 1982 and still look mostly terrific. @#$% CGI.) because its not about whether you can see the string on the bats or the seam in the creature's suit. In a weird way, as expensive as a creature feature could be to produce, it really is about the story.
I paused and said "You know, I don't really know. I've seen this movie a half dozen times since I was sixteen or seventeen, and I know I like it." And I suspect that's true for a lot of us who saw the movie when we were the right age to enjoy the horror, the comedy (it is a wickedly funny movie), the sex, and the rather pragmatic ending to the film. Like the better horror films, you don't really worry about the bad science, the faults in the make-up or effects (and this is Rick Baker so the effects were completely groundbreaking for 1982 and still look mostly terrific. @#$% CGI.) because its not about whether you can see the string on the bats or the seam in the creature's suit. In a weird way, as expensive as a creature feature could be to produce, it really is about the story.
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