Once again, Turner Classic remembers actors, directors, composers and so much of the talent that passed in 2012. Many names you'll know, even more you won't, but you'll be glad they took a moment for each of them.
Film. Comics. Sci-Fi. Superheroes. Pulp. Noir. History. Superman. 20th Century Archaeology.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Signal Watch Watches: I sort of watched "Hondo" and "The Mistle-Tones" and all of "The Blues Brothers"
I watched the movie Hondo, a John Wayne oater I hadn't seen since high school.
It's not my favorite movie, and if you're going to watch a western with John Wayne, this is one of them. It also stars Geraldine Page, who was apparently the wife of Rip Torn and a well known Broadway star. It's Apache v. the white folk with a bit more of a sentimental streak for the Apache, even as the movie ends with everyone agreeing "well, that's going to be about it for The Apaches."
By and large I recommend skipping this one and going straight to The Searchers.
I also watched parts of several Lifetime and Hallmark Channel holiday movies, but watched the better part of something called The Mistle-Tones, which was not very good. It did check off the boxes of an over-worked single person finding romance, someone who loves Christmas too much, a dead relative who also loved Christmas, Tori Spelling and one of the girls from Sister, Sister.
This morning I got up from going out last night and having a drink called an "Orange Whip". I was, of course, very excited about the Orange Whip, because for twenty years, thanks to this scene, I've wanted an Orange Whip.
Well, I drug myself out of my post-Orange Whip evening and found the 1980 classic The Blues Brothers playing on cable.
Blues Brothers is one of those movies that's probably not, technically, the best movie, but it's nonetheless a great movie. Terrific walk-ons from legends of American music, great gags, and the best car chase to ever occur in any movie, ever...
The deadpan delivery by Aykroyd and Belushi is legendary, and it's a terrifically quotable film. If you've not seen it, see it. f you've seen it, you know of which I speak.
It's not my favorite movie, and if you're going to watch a western with John Wayne, this is one of them. It also stars Geraldine Page, who was apparently the wife of Rip Torn and a well known Broadway star. It's Apache v. the white folk with a bit more of a sentimental streak for the Apache, even as the movie ends with everyone agreeing "well, that's going to be about it for The Apaches."
By and large I recommend skipping this one and going straight to The Searchers.
I also watched parts of several Lifetime and Hallmark Channel holiday movies, but watched the better part of something called The Mistle-Tones, which was not very good. It did check off the boxes of an over-worked single person finding romance, someone who loves Christmas too much, a dead relative who also loved Christmas, Tori Spelling and one of the girls from Sister, Sister.
This morning I got up from going out last night and having a drink called an "Orange Whip". I was, of course, very excited about the Orange Whip, because for twenty years, thanks to this scene, I've wanted an Orange Whip.
Well, I drug myself out of my post-Orange Whip evening and found the 1980 classic The Blues Brothers playing on cable.
Blues Brothers is one of those movies that's probably not, technically, the best movie, but it's nonetheless a great movie. Terrific walk-ons from legends of American music, great gags, and the best car chase to ever occur in any movie, ever...
The deadpan delivery by Aykroyd and Belushi is legendary, and it's a terrifically quotable film. If you've not seen it, see it. f you've seen it, you know of which I speak.
Saturday Round-Up
Yesterday I realized this week is going to be exceedingly nutty. We're finally seeing Lincoln on Tuesday, Thursday we've got tickets to see Louis CK, and Friday we head to San Antonio where, on Saturday, I'll be officiating a wedding.
Friday night we stayed in and didn't do much. I was tired, man. I wound up sleeping til very late in the morning. I did walk the dogs and then we headed down to where Northcross Mall used to be (I had no idea that place had just sort of disappeared).
We went down to go see Superman collector and purveyor of finer super-objects, Tim Gardner, at the Chemical Toy Fare. I picked up a really cool Superman clock and a handful of nice prints from Tim.
There, I also met Batwoman:
and Jamie spied a pretty fancy Batmobile.
It was a small fare, but reminded me a LOT of the "comic conventions" that we used to see in town back in the mid-80's when I was getting into comics. Two mid-sized rooms, tables set up and lots of people who know each other. Friendly, but not particularly crazy.
Also, we inadvertently and briefly met the actor who played the voice of John Redcorn on TV's King of the Hill. He's a very nice guy.
Last night we headed out for Violet Crown Social Club here in town for Mikey's birthday. Part of the East 6th Street scene that I'm a little too old for, but is still pretty welcome. If you're familiar with Austin's "6th Street", it's not really what it was 10-15 years ago. It's worth seeing, but it's different from what it was and not as much of a destination for music fans or even for just going to get a drink. East 6th doesn't really have a music scene, but it does have decent bars where you can get a seat and a cocktail.
Friday night we stayed in and didn't do much. I was tired, man. I wound up sleeping til very late in the morning. I did walk the dogs and then we headed down to where Northcross Mall used to be (I had no idea that place had just sort of disappeared).
We went down to go see Superman collector and purveyor of finer super-objects, Tim Gardner, at the Chemical Toy Fare. I picked up a really cool Superman clock and a handful of nice prints from Tim.
There, I also met Batwoman:
and Jamie spied a pretty fancy Batmobile.
It was a small fare, but reminded me a LOT of the "comic conventions" that we used to see in town back in the mid-80's when I was getting into comics. Two mid-sized rooms, tables set up and lots of people who know each other. Friendly, but not particularly crazy.
Also, we inadvertently and briefly met the actor who played the voice of John Redcorn on TV's King of the Hill. He's a very nice guy.
Last night we headed out for Violet Crown Social Club here in town for Mikey's birthday. Part of the East 6th Street scene that I'm a little too old for, but is still pretty welcome. If you're familiar with Austin's "6th Street", it's not really what it was 10-15 years ago. It's worth seeing, but it's different from what it was and not as much of a destination for music fans or even for just going to get a drink. East 6th doesn't really have a music scene, but it does have decent bars where you can get a seat and a cocktail.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Happy Hanukkah from The Signal Watch!
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| I can't source this image, but I dig it |
It's the Winter Holiday Season, and now's where the rubber hits the road and Hanukkah arrives!
I may not be Jewish, but a whole line of people who brought Superman into existence and oversaw him as a character for decades were most certainly Jewish. Joe, Jerry, Mort, Julie and many, many others. Superman most definitely has a Jewish heritage.
So, Happy Hanukkah to all of you who plan to light the first candle on the menorah tonight!
Some Super Links
As Snyder's Man of Steel approaches, images are released and the pop-culture wheel has turned a little, it seems people may not be quite as ready to immediately dismiss our pal, Big Blue. I'm beginning to wonder if the time might be right, and the approach of this movie resonant enough, that Superman could find a place in pop culture again.
I woke up this morning to two different articles about Superman on some favorite sites.
Cracked talks "5 Ways Superman is Shockingly Realistic According to Science".
IGN picks up on the thread Jake and I were discussing in "Hero Worship: Why the New 'Man of Steel' Poster Rules"
Here's Jake's post, "Man of Steel (of Nazareth)?"
I woke up this morning to two different articles about Superman on some favorite sites.
Cracked talks "5 Ways Superman is Shockingly Realistic According to Science".
IGN picks up on the thread Jake and I were discussing in "Hero Worship: Why the New 'Man of Steel' Poster Rules"
Here's Jake's post, "Man of Steel (of Nazareth)?"
Friday, December 7, 2012
On "Marvel NOW!"
I've had a few people write me and ask if I had thoughts on Marvel Now!, which I take as a good sign for Marvel since I don't remember anyone asking me any Marvel questions in, literally, years. But a bad sign, because nobody seems to know what this thing is.
For those of you not in the know, Marvel Comics - home of The Avengers - is starting a lot of their series over with a new #1 without feeling the need to reboot their entire universe the way DC did with the New 52, about 16 months ago.
DC immediately took a dollar share lead with the New 52, and all of Marvel's attempts to stop the bleeding with events like "Avengers versus X-Men" didn't really help. I still think a lot of DC's success had to do with slapping #1 on the covers more than any reboot, and their willingness to embrace digital delivery.
For those of you not in the know, Marvel Comics - home of The Avengers - is starting a lot of their series over with a new #1 without feeling the need to reboot their entire universe the way DC did with the New 52, about 16 months ago.
DC immediately took a dollar share lead with the New 52, and all of Marvel's attempts to stop the bleeding with events like "Avengers versus X-Men" didn't really help. I still think a lot of DC's success had to do with slapping #1 on the covers more than any reboot, and their willingness to embrace digital delivery.
Answering Your Questions - Part B
So, yeah. Questions! You asked them, I'm answering them.
Not many of you asked questions, so here goes.
Paul asks: Nachos?
SW: I will refer you to my upcoming monograph "Nachos!", due for print in 2014.
Randy asks: I have a deep fear that I like "Online Ryan", but not necessarily "Real Life Ryan" (as I've spent very little time with the carbon-based version.) How much alike are the two?
SW: I think what you're saying is "I probably wouldn't like you in real life", which... thanks, man. I needed that.
Not many of you asked questions, so here goes.
Paul asks: Nachos?
SW: I will refer you to my upcoming monograph "Nachos!", due for print in 2014.
Randy asks: I have a deep fear that I like "Online Ryan", but not necessarily "Real Life Ryan" (as I've spent very little time with the carbon-based version.) How much alike are the two?
SW: I think what you're saying is "I probably wouldn't like you in real life", which... thanks, man. I needed that.
Signal Re-Watch: Skyfall (2012)
Not much to say. I met The Admiral at the movies and we watched Skyfall, me for the second time.
I think on this go-round I got to appreciate a little more of Sam Mendes' direction and how taught the movie is as a Bond actioner. I pondered getting up and hitting the men's room, but there was never a place in the movie I thought it'd be all right and I wouldn't miss anything. That might be too much info, but it's a pretty good sign that I didn't want to miss 180 seconds or so of a movie I watched just a couple of weeks ago.
It's not a flawless movie, but, gosh, I still like it. It has a lot of the traditional Bond issues tied up in Bond's misogyny, and I'd like to see that tackled a bit differently just to shake things up a bit in a future installment, without inserting some Mary Sue she's-better-then-him-at-everything-wink-cute character.
I look forward to seeing who shows up as the next villain and what sort of plot/ issues we'll see in the next film. I don't see Daniel Craig's Bond in a Moonraker repeat or fighting dudes with submersible secret bases - but I think Mendes and Craig can put out a compelling Bond without going totally sci-fi.
Anyway, Connery will probably always be Bond in my head, but I am pleased that a new generation can think of Daniel Craig as "their" Bond. I'm a fan.
I think on this go-round I got to appreciate a little more of Sam Mendes' direction and how taught the movie is as a Bond actioner. I pondered getting up and hitting the men's room, but there was never a place in the movie I thought it'd be all right and I wouldn't miss anything. That might be too much info, but it's a pretty good sign that I didn't want to miss 180 seconds or so of a movie I watched just a couple of weeks ago.
It's not a flawless movie, but, gosh, I still like it. It has a lot of the traditional Bond issues tied up in Bond's misogyny, and I'd like to see that tackled a bit differently just to shake things up a bit in a future installment, without inserting some Mary Sue she's-better-then-him-at-everything-wink-cute character.
I look forward to seeing who shows up as the next villain and what sort of plot/ issues we'll see in the next film. I don't see Daniel Craig's Bond in a Moonraker repeat or fighting dudes with submersible secret bases - but I think Mendes and Craig can put out a compelling Bond without going totally sci-fi.
Anyway, Connery will probably always be Bond in my head, but I am pleased that a new generation can think of Daniel Craig as "their" Bond. I'm a fan.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Answering Your Questions - Part A
I'm off to watch Skyfall with The Admiral this evening, and then I've got a thing afterward. I think it's another night of no blog posting.
Rather than leave you with nothing, I thought I'd turn the tables. I have a small but regular readership. I put it to you guys to send me your questions, and I will do my best to answer them when I return to blogging.
Just post questions to the comment section, or email them to me at the contact link above, and I'll answer whatever you got.
The guidelines:
- I'll do questions of a personal nature up to a point, but be good. Don't embarrass yourself.
- Ask the question in a complete sentence.
- I don't read minds, so don't hint around. Ask whatever it is you want to know. (ex: If you want to know what design elements I like about the movie costume for Superman, do not ask "how do you think Cavill looks in the suit?". Ask "how do you feel about the design of the current movie suit for Superman?")
- You can submit as many questions as you want.
- I reserve the right to ignore or fail to respond to your questions. You can take my failure to respond however you like.
- Feel free to express your own opinion as part of a question, so I know where we're starting from (ex: I think sandals and socks are a sexy combination. How do YOU feel about this combo?)
Okay. So. Tell me about your mother.
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