Noir Watch: Pitfall (1948)

Watched:  06/21/2018
Format:  TCM Noir Alley on the DVR
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1940's

This was the second time I'd watched Pitfall (1948), an indie produced noir starring Dick Powell, Raymond Burr and Lizabeth Scott.

Koko the Gorilla Merges With The Infinite

We are sad to report that Koko the Gorilla has passed.

I first learned about Koko the Gorilla back in Elementary School.  For some reason, my class read an article on Koko, the gorilla who was learning sign-language.  She'd been raised by Penny Patterson, who taught her sign-language, and she'd develop a 1000 word vocabulary.

PODCAST: Jamie and I Talk "Justice League" (2017)!!!

Jamie humored me - and we watched Justice League (2017) and then she agreed to do a podcast.



Ryan welcomes a very special guest - Jamie, the light of his life - as they talk DC Entertainment's "Justice League", and Jamie works through her feelings about the movie. And Ryan maybe goes on a Kirby tangent.

Also available on
Stitcher
iTunes
PocketCast

Super-Comics Talk: Man of Steel # 2 and #3 (2018)

Man of Steel 2 and 3

Writer:  Brian Michael Bendis
Artists:  Issue 2 - Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Jason Fabok
              Issue 3 - Ryan Sook, Jason Fabok, inks pages 12-12, 15: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors:  Alex Sinclair
Letters:  Josh Reed
Associate Editor:  Jessica Chen
Editor:  Michael Cotton
Group Editor:  Brian Cunningham
Cover:  Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Alex Sinclair

Lynch Watch: Wild at Heart (1990)

Watched:  06/17/2018
Format:  Shout Factory BluRay
Viewing:  Not sure.  At least a fourth viewing.  But it's been at least 15 years.
Decade:  1990's

Marvel Watch: Thor | Ragnarok (2017)

Watched:  06/13/2018
Format:  BluRay (purchased)
Viewing:  Third
Decade:  2010's

I've already seen (twice) and talked about (once) Thor: Rangarok (2017), so the rest of this post is just me reflecting on what an excellent idea it was to cast Cate Blanchett as Hela.

Noir Watch: The Clay Pigeon (1949)

Watched:  06/12/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM (DVR)
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's

"Jurassic Park" at 25

Shortly after I graduated from high school, the first Jurassic Park movie hit theaters.  As a bonafide blockbuster hit, it made everyone a pseudo-dino expert (there are worse things), packed folks into theaters, made Sam Neill a bankable actor who sort of shrugged that off and went off to be Sam Neill, taught us that young girls imprinted on Jeff Goldbum as a sex symbol, made us all wonder where cliffs begin and end in dinosaur paddocks, and convinced me khaki shorts were an excellent look on paleontologists.

It's now 25 years on.  Yesterday, June 11, marked the release of Jurassic Park in the U.S.

Happy National Superman Day!

Apparently this is a thing.

and there ain't no Superman without Lois Lane. So.

Horror Watch: The Fog (1980)

Watched:  06/09/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's


Lately I've been having an ongoing conversation with Stuart about the tendency of critics to use the phrases "it's not really a horror film" or "but it's good" in discussing the horror genre when they want to get folks to at least consider viewing something made as a horror movie.  This thinking and talk offends the horror purists, but as someone who tends to think of the endless line of cheapo slasher flicks that lined the walls of video stores during his formative years - I kinda get it.  I understand the coded message: this is horror, but it's not going to just make you queasy and wonder why this is supposed to be a good way to spend 90 - 120 minutes of your life.

I'm of the firm belief that horror is a pretty good indicator that nobody goes to the movies for the same reasons (I usually get very little from horror, but I will have to be carried into a Katherine Heigl RomCom on one of those Silence of the Lambs dolleys).  Still, this does make me think a bit about how I talk about horror films - what I like and don't.

During the course of the chat, Stuart was stunned to learn somehow I'd never seen The Fog (1980), and I had no real reason I hadn't seen it and one convincing Adrienne Barbeau to suggest I absolutely *should* see The Fog.  It's not like I don't dig John Carpenter's other films I've watched - so I broke it up over a couple of nights as I was winding down in Bozeman.