The Signal Watch: 2025

Friday, August 1, 2025

Super Third Watch: Superman (2025) - the Score, Design, Plot Holes and Discourse

Watched: 07/30/2025

Format: Drafthouse

Viewing: Third!

Director: James Gunn

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

For More on the Movie:

This will be the last time I watch this in the theater unless it's out for a long, long time. Or if it gets re-released, I suppose. But I'm glad I saw it a third time. Seeing the same movie three times between the 8th and the 30th is a lot, friends, especially when you've spent considerable time writing too many posts on the film.

Good Golly

I didn't previously mention it, but I really liked how the movie handled Superman's language. Taking a page from Superman: The Movie having Clark say "swell", Superman is mid-kaiju-fight and still saying "golly" and "good gosh" and delivering it absolutely earnest?*

All this as our guy is getting walloped by a 10 story monster. Major points for Corenswet there.

It's a movie and a world in which people do swear (Mr. Terrific has a bit of a potty mouth - a sign of higher intelligence if the memes are to be believed) - so it's a delight to see the same Superman who just saved all those people muttering polite swears under his breath.

Ryne Sandberg Merges With The Infinite

Hall of Famer baseball player and beloved Cub favorite Ryne "Ryno" Sandberg has passed.

Sandberg played for the Cubs through the 1980's and 1990's, and during those days when I'd watch on WGN, he was one of the names I recall, even as a kid who knew nothing at all about baseball.

Sandberg was a Golden Glove second baseman, and was one of the best players the Cubs has seen since the heyday of Ernie Banks in the 1950's. He played until 1997, racking up all sorts of very baseball-ish records and stats, and was only the fourth Cub in the team's storied history to have his number retired.

For years, Sandberg sort of drifted around as all star players do in retirement, coaching, managing, trying his hand at baseball columns and whatnot. And, befitting his beloved position in Chicago, has been a goodwill ambassador for about a decade.

Sadly, he passed on July 28th at the age of 65.

Sandberg is just a beloved figure around The Friendly Confines, and he'll never be forgotten.

Apparently today is Hannah Waddingham's Birthday

I made a mistake a few days ago and believed that day was Hannah Waddingham's birthday. It was not. It is today.

So, happy correct birthday, Ms. Waddingham. We are happy to have an excuse to once again post a photo.

Ms. Waddingham is, apparently, in the new Smurfs movie. And makes a full denim outfit work. Who knew?

French Noir Watch: Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

Watched: 07/27/2025

Format: 4K disc

Viewing: First

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

So, there's a whole bunch of Criterion movies on sale on Amazon, and I wasn't doing much this weekend, so I got silly and justified the expense on this movie. Because.

Leave me alone. Sometimes I do things.

If you've never dipped your toe in French noir, or only watched Breathless, the French noir movement is fascinating as it's so clearly done with love for and homage to American noir (which the French coined - we just called them crime movies). I assume American culture was imported via Hollywood in the post-war years as American GI's rambled around Europe and France took a minute to get its film industry fired up again. But the American movies are refracted through the lens of a nation crawling out from occupation, and maybe contain the spirit which gave us Camus.

I mean, one of the French noir films I'd rec is called Elevator to the Gallows. Fate vs. freewill and existential dread hangs heavy on the minds of these movies - more so than American films mostly being about "don't pursue the wrong dame".

Le Cercle Rouge (1970) is a crime/ heist movie in which we're told at the outset, before we meet any characters "these people will come together, and it will go very badly, indeed". And, that is what happens.

Marvel Watch: Fantastic Four - First Steps (2025)

Watched: 07/27/2025

Format: Drafthouse

Viewing: First

Director: Matt Shakman

Well, nothing says "I am a cool dude" like showing up for a 9:00 AM screening for Fantastic Four by yourself. I don't know if 12-year-old me is dying inside or deeply impressed I'm still committed to the cause.

Fantastic Four is not a comic I read a lot. I very much enjoy the first issues by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, but kind of lose interest after that - though Mark Waid's run is mind-boggling. I do love the idea of the team as a bunch of science-adventurers more than just caped vigilantes,* and their individual personalities and the family dynamic. Also, my earliest memories include watching that jenky Fantastic Four cartoon of the 1960's the movie references.

I've never seen the Corman movie, but have seen the two 00's-era movies, and the 10's body-horror movie that was Fox's "edgy" take on the FF. The movies were uniformly not-good, no matter what your Millennial nostalgia brain is trying to Space Jam Fallacy you into believing.

Happy Birthday, Darlene Love

Happy 84th birthday to Ms. Darlene Love - one of the greatest vocalists of the past 84 years.

Ms. Love was maybe *the* voice that came out of Phil Spector's studio/ Philles Records - and a colossal force in American music, often when people had no idea whose voice that was on a record. She performed her own solo work, that of The Crystals, the Blossoms, The Ronettes, and performed with everyone from Elvis to Boris Pickett on The Monster Mash.

She's been in movies - she's Glover's wife in Lethal Weapon - and been on Broadway. Every year since the mid 1980's on Letterman she's been on TV singing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and it's a highlight of the holidays.

Personally, I saw her Christmas show at Austin's Paramount Theater - and it was the greatest concert I've ever been to, and I'll stand by that one.

Happy birthday, Ms. Love.

So, here she is singing a favorite version of a favorite song

Coen Watch: Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

Watched: 07/25/2025

Format: Peacock

Viewing: First

Director: Ethan Coen

Is anything more telling about what the Coen Bros. each brought to their team than that when the brothers decided to do independent projects, Joel Coen made a mannered and styled Macbeth and Ethan Coen made Drive-Away Dolls (2024)?

The mix of high-brow and low-brow - even Raising Arizona has thematic and nigh-poetic aspirations - was their hallmark, with ultra-specific characters, absurdist humor, and deeply human stories - culminating in the excellence of their track record over years and movies that had a stamp audiences recognized and sought out.

I was vaguely aware Drive-Away Dolls received very mixed reviews, and audiences were kind of irritated with it.

Which, no kidding. The movie isn't overly concerned with good taste or your politics or the horseshoe turn lefties online took into agreeing with the Catholic League about how movies are for perverts if they acknowledge sex and show blood with violence. Instead, this flick is an old-fashioned pulp crime comedy with a heavy layering of what turns out to be the sense of oddball humor that the Coens always brought, that apparently was Ethan Coen's contribution.

Happy Birthday to Hannah Waddingham

Happy birthday to Hannah Waddingham, who has had a busy year - and looks to return next year to TV screens as Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso Season 4.

Vroooom Watch: F1 - The Movie (2025)

Watched: 07/24/2025

Format: Drafthouse

Viewing: First

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Growing up in the US, racing has been mostly NASCAR, and I just never got into stock car racing. But Austin is, for vaguely shady reasons, home to an F1 track, and we all went from finding it weird to being kind of proud of it. It's not Monaco or anything, but it's a feature few other cities have. And, anyway, I started watching some videos about F1, and it is really neat. But I'm only aware enough of autosports to know that they are infinitely complex and I don't know how any of it works. But rocket cars go super fast and that is cool.

Something about the trailer for F1: The Movie (2025) had me sold. But I thought I'd probably see it at home on HBO eventually. However, SimonUK had seen it, liked it, and recommended I check it out, so we went together.

And, yeah, I dug it. Quite a bit, if I'm being honest. If I came to watch F1 cars zip around, it does that a lot.

After the movie was over, SimonUK stated "it's basically Top Gun: Maverick in cars, but... it works" and that is very correct. This movie is directed and written by the director of Top Gun: Maverick, Joseph Kosinski, so do your own math.

Fantastic Four - Prior Takes in PodCast and Blog!

We're as excited about Fantastic Four: First Steps as can be. But we don't see it until Saturday.

In the meantime, why not enjoy our prior discussion of Fantastic Four?

We talk Fantastic Four in 2005 in the pioneer days of blogging.

We talk Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007.

A few years ago, I joined forces with Danny Horn to discuss Fantastic Four!

and then we talked about the other Fantastic Four

Hulk Hogan Merges With the Infinite

Terry Bollea, better known by his wrestling nom de guerre "Hulk Hogan", has passed at 71.

Hogan, a consummate performer, helped the World Wrestling Federation go mainstream as the the WWF's programming found it's way across basic cable packages and onto late-night broadcast on NBC in the 1980's.

In a kayfabe world of heroes and heels, Hogan went from heel to hero, defeating multiple ethnically coded villains, like The Iron Sheik. He reigned supreme over the WWF, WWE and helped draw interest in wrestling to help it become the mega-industry it is today.

Through the 1980's, Hogan's persona was turned into a cartoon, Hulk Hogan's Rock'n'Wrestling - starring animated versions of Hogan and a clutch of other popular WWF wrestlers. Fun fact: Hogan's cartoon persona was voiced by TV star Brad Garrett.

There were dolls, figures, t-shirts and vitamins (the vitamins tasted awful).

As a kid, I wasn't really into wrestling but in 1989 a 14 year old me had $15 and accepted a last second invite to see WWF's second-tier when they came to town, and we had a snarky-teen ironic blast. So when Hogan came through in Spring 1990, I went with a bunch of buddies who were unironically enjoying wrestling. The episode we saw aired as April 28, 1990's Saturday Night's Main Event.

This is the Hogan match-up we saw. You may catch 1/2 second glimpses of me and my brother in the audience.

Hilariously, my brother was not planning to go and had no ticket, and we'd purchased floor tickets months before. Shortly after we arrived, I looked across the ring and there was my brother, standing with the homecoming queen. I was so confused - but I guess her dad had bought tickets and she knew Jason is up for whatever, and so there he was, Forrest Gumping his way through life.

My memory is that Hogan was obviously the best athlete and showman of the people we saw that night, and we saw errrbuddy. It was a long, long night as they recorded two or three shows worth of wrestling.

Prior to blowing up on TV, Hogan had done well in the ring and wound up as a minor villain in Rocky III. He would go onto have a TV show, Thunder in Paradise, and star in a series of very bad movies. And at the same time Ozzy was in The Osbournes, Hogan brought cameras into his house and started Hogan Knows Best. Which was canceled as the Hogan family kind of imploded.

In the years after, Hogan's life and career sort of spiraled. His wife left him for a guy who looked just like Hogan in his early prime. He was caught in a sex tape scandal. He became involved in ugly politics. I dunno.

It's unfortunate. For a while he was a curious everyman of an entertainer who appealed to kids and adults alike. The last decade and change, he's mostly been famous for being unpleasant. But at one point in my life, I owned an official Hulk Hogan bandana.

Happy Birthday, Lynda Carter

Happy birthday to patron saint of The Signal Watch, Ms. Lynda Carter. May her next trip around the sun be as glorious as every year prior.

I've never looked that glamorous in an office chair...

With her daughter, another talented vocalist, Jessica Carter Altman

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Ozzy Merges With The Infinite

Ozzy Osbourne, musician, occasional provocateur and Gen-X's metal-dad, has passed at 76.

Osbourne has been ailing for years, and only a few weeks ago played his final show, which was widely watched and discussed. The line-up was full of star power, and the concert was scheduled to be Osbourne's final show before retreating from the public.

Osbourne's work with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist was enough to make him a major figure in rock, but he also was prone to outlandish antics, all of which will be rehashed over the next few days. And, then, he and his family were early Reality TV pioneers with The Osbournes on MTV. which recast the prince of darkness as a fun, befuddled dad.

But, man, Ozzy could sing. Everyone else is still playing catch up.

You'll be missed, Ozzy.

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Superman 2025: High End Items

I own a lot of Superman stuff. And a new Superman movie is not helping.

But occasionally there's a licensing deal I don't quite get. And we get some curious high end items that I can't sort out "who is this for?" While others make a lot of sense for nerds.

Sillage Fragrance: $300

This is the item I would be least likely to buy. I also don't understand fragrances as evidenced by my lifelong use of Golden Dial and Right Guard. And I assume I smell like coffee and old books if you get up close.

The irony of this is that Old Spice is putting out Superman body spray for next to nothing. I bought it. It is.. .potent.

Watched: 07/19/2025

Format: HBO Max

Viewing: Unknown

Director: Jeannot Szwarc

With Superman 2025 out, it occurs to me it's been a while since I revisited some Super-Media - and I cannot tell you the last time I actually watched Supergirl (1984) from start to finish - ie: I always give up somewhere in the middle.

I always feel bad saying this, but the movie is a mess. And there's no one place to point the blame, but the culprit is neither Helen Slater nor Faye Dunaway. I don't know that you can even blame director Jeannot Szwarc, as this was the fourth Superman movie by the Salkinds, and he knew he was a hired gun. So, yeah, as with all things going wrong with the Super-movies from this era, I blame the Salkinds. But, without them, there would be no Superman: The Movie and Superman II. And likely without those movies, no Batman '89. And if none of that, then what...?

Life is complicated.

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

For More on the Movie:

This will be far from my final word on Superman (2025), but I think I should probably not go nuts on you people for too much longer by just circling the Super-drain. One last thought:

You just never know when your niche interest will go mainstream

In high school, the music I listened to was not exactly underground, but I learned to stay up late on the weekend and catch 120 Minutes on MTV. That was where I found my bands rather than watching music video blocks during afternoons after school. Imagine my surprise when the type of music I liked over in my corner suddenly became labeled "alternative" music and was playing on the radio and MTV next to, say, En Vogue.* By Lollapalooza '93 - frat dudes and sorority girls were standing next to me in sun-pounded fields instead of just moody kids and guys with scalp tattoos. It was... weird. But here we all were, enjoying Front 242 together.

Noir Watch: The Gangster ( 1947)

Watched: 07/15/2025

Format: TCM

Viewing: Second

You know what, I think I would just repeat myself - so here's my post on the movie from the first time I saw it back in 2018.

I guess I'll mention - this movie stuck with me in a way that really surprised me. I've almost purchased it on disc for a rewatch a number of times- even as recently as a couple of weeks ago - and then it was listed as part of Noir Alley's offerings on TCM.

I'm not sure it's the best movie in the world, but after seven years, it's one I thought about quite a bit, and that's not nothing.

Superman Second Watch: Superman (2025) - Part 2 - Characters

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

For More on the Movie:

So, this is my consideration of the casting and portrayal of some key characters in the film. I'm bringing my opinions as an avid Superman comics reader, who prefers certain portrayals - often tied to certain eras. But I'll be mostly discussing portrayals in the comics over the last two decades.

One thing that Gunn seems keen on doing is not re-imagining characters too much. Except when he does, and I'll get to that. But the default between Gunn and John Papsidera to go with types for archetypes. Which may be a bit different from what Sarah Hailey Finn has been doing at Marvel - to great success - which has been finding a personality that will be kind of what you expect, but with a spin. And that's how you wind up with Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk rather than a 6'2" weightlifter.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Doc Watch: Jaws @ 50 - The Definitive Inside Story (2025)

Watched: 07/10/2025

Format: Hulu?

Viewing: First

Director: Laurent Bouzereau

A victory lap for Jaws, this doc is an uncritical look at the movie on its 50th anniversary. And that's great! How many movies earn this?

There's interviews new and old, and despite the fact I think I've seen two prior Jaws documentaries, Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025) still manages to feel a bit fresh as it provides some new info but mostly how it contextualizes the movie in 1975, after, and now. Sure, there's the "making this was rough" parts of the doc, but more details abound and how much the film is now woven into Martha's Vineyard's shared history. How involved the whole island really was - I really didn't know until now.

Spielberg is one of *the* storytellers of the last 70 years, so of course he's captivating on camera and his stories about the movie during and after are engaging - and maybe even true.

Many who worked on the film have since passed, of course, but there's still many around - those who played kids are now aging adults. Lorraine Gary even appears. Dreyfus, always a problem child, is not in the film except as archival footage, which is odd as he's been touring for years to supposedly talk about Jaws (I think he's been canceled or something recently, so maybe that got him cut).

But the biggest delight is learning that Emily Blunt is a huge Jaws nerd. Who knew?

Monday, July 14, 2025

Regret Watch: Jaws - The Revenge (1987)

Watched: 07/13/2025

Format: Prime

Viewing: Second (god help me)

Director: Stanley Morgan

A while back, SimonUK and I podcasted this trainwreck. Over the past six years, I'd forgotten how truly terrible this movie is. Like - I don't understand how this is a studio movie with professional actors, and studio backing and intended for a human audience.

It's maybe not the worst movie I've ever seen, but.. for a studio movie? it's up there.

Jaws: the Revenge (1987) is a movie that admits - in movie, by way of recycled footage - that the only reason it exists is that they hope you liked the first one. But they have to admit, they do not know what this movie is about. Because if it's about a giant shark, they all know to stay out of the water. If it's about the lives of the Brody's, post-Martin Brody's untimely passing - no one asked or wanted to see it, and as a slice-of-life movie about mourning, they forget to be sad for the second half of the movie, and the movie instead gets very randy.

Waco Watch: Action USA (1989)

Watched: 07/12/2025

Format: Prime

Viewing: First

Director: John Stewart

After he'd recommended it to me twice, I took JAL up on his suggestion of this particular flick. I meant to watch this for the 4th of July, but we got busy, so here you go. My salute to America.

Action USA (1989) is probably the best high-action movie shot in Waco during the 1980's.

I very much remember Waco in the 1980s. It was, aside from Baylor, a town that had seen its best days 30 years prior and was not yet recovered from the economic turns of the 1970's and 80's. In a few short years, we'd have the Branch Davidian stand-off near here. And then, much later, Joanna Gaines would convince people Waco was the shit, which... TV is a powerful drug, y'all. Somehow, the second worst college town in Texas is now a tourist destination for people who like overpriced wooden spoons and mediocre football.

Anyway, it is always weird/ a delight seeing the landscape of my part of Texas in a movie. And buildings that still stand that I am a bit familiar with from a job I had ten years ago when I was in Waco a lot.

Superman Second Watch: Superman (2025) - Part 1 - Likes/ Dislikes/ Punk Rock Superman

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

Watched: 07/12/2025

Format: Drafthouse

Viewing: Second

Director: still James Gunn

For More on the Movie:

We've already posted on seeing Superman (2025) as an initial, kinda spoiler-light/ spoiler-free take that was really about how gobsmacked I was to see a Superman movie that actually cared about four-color comics and what Superman actually stands for.

While celebrating that the movie felt like a DC comicbook in that first post, I didn't get into the issues I had with the movie, because I wanted to make sure I didn't just miss something. I also didn't discuss the characters beyond our primary trio of Superman, Lois and Lex - plus Krypto. Or a few other things I figured I'd cover in a subsequent posts.

In this post, I really don't want to get too much into the social media stuff happening around this film, and, believe me... it is tempting. There is some incredibly disappointing stuff happening out there.

SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD

What did and did not work

So what didn't work (for me)

Super First Watch: Superman (2025)

Watched: 07/08/2025

Format: AMC IMAX

Viewing: First

Director: James Gunn

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

For More on the Movie:

Light spoilers ahead. We'll do another post or two on the movie getting deeper into details.

Well, kids. We made it. It's 2025, and we have a Superman movie.

We posted some details of our screening previously, right after Jamie and I took in the flick.

At the top - I'll say, a good portion of my life has been spent reading Superman comic books, watching Superman films, television, cartoons, etc... I've read non-fiction about Superman's storied history as a pop-culture figure and feel pretty confident in saying that I'm up to date on the character.

And, yet, it is very, very strange to see Superman come to the screen and feel less like an interpretation of Superman re-imagined for the big screen by people wanting to put their own stamp on the character, and instead get a movie that feels like someone took a really terrific event Superman comic run and said "this is what we're doing. On the screen. With a budget that's equal to roughly the combined GDP of Europe."

Super Watch: Superman (2025) - a pre review post

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

For More on the Movie:

This isn't the actual review. I'll start on that ASAP and get it done - don't worry! (Because I know how you worry, pals!) But I also don't want folks really reading what I have to say until the film has been out more than a few random screenings on a Tuesday.

We saw Superman (2025) at the AMC Barton Creek on Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 as part of an oddball promotion with Amazon Prime, Fandango and Superman I guess.

I'll say this: I really, really liked the movie. If all you want to know is if I think it's worth a viewing - sure. Go get a ticket.

Much as I went into Black Panther terrified this was going to go badly and then was just stunned by what I saw, this was that - only bigger. It may surprise you to learn I have a lot invested in Superman as a character.

It was also wild to walk into a theater full of people not just in Superman shirts, but sporting the S from this movie in large quantities. When you shop at one of the biggest comic shops on the continent and they *still* know you as "the Superman guy" it can feel like maybe you're the one person who likes the character. But holy cats, did the Superman fans come out of the woodwork tonight. The dudes in front of me were regularly quietly high-fiving.

Anyhow - I don't think this is just opening night hype.

Y'all go see my guy, Clark, and his cool friends.

Monday, July 7, 2025

Rock Watch: This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Watched: 07/06/2025

Format: Alamo

Viewing: Unknown

Director: Rob Reiner/ Marti DiBergi

SimonUK and I took in the re-release of This is Spinal Tap (1984) at the Alamo on Sunday evening.

I don't need to tell you what This Is Spinal Tap is, I hope. Apparently, The Drafthouse has signed up to host Fathom events, and this included the viewing of the new 4K restoration of the movie, but it's sort of America's original faux-documentary. It led directly to Christopher Guest's brilliant mockumentary* series and indirectly to the format of shows like The Office and Parks and Rec.

I have lost track of when and how I saw this movie the first time. I remember seeing it very young, and not really getting the jokes - minus the "it goes to 11" bit (I want to say as early as 1985 or 1986) but then seeing it again at the end of high school and absolutely getting it (maybe in 1992-93). By then, I'd had a subscription to Rolling Stone, so some of the references and gags - like the cricket bat - made more sense.

Watched: 07/05/2025

Viewing: a lot. Whole bunch of times.

Format: Max

Director: Richard Donner

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

In prep for seeing Superman 2025 on the 8th, I figured I owed the OG classic one more spin before settling in for what Big Blue has to offer us in our modern era.

To catch folks up, I saw Superman: The Movie (1978) during its initial release in December of 1978 or shortly thereafter. Maybe in Spring of 1979. But I'd certainly seen it in the theater with my dad and brother during that window when I was 3. I recall seeing it, as they were giving away gumball machines that were red or blue, and at that time, my brother's stuff was coded blue, and mine was red, so my parents could be even-steven giving us things, but we knew what belonged to who.

I think often of how spoiled we were as kids in the 1980s. One of my first movies outings was seeing Star Wars in the theater at age 2, and then all of the paraphernalia around the movie from toys to wall paper . To me, movies were just where mind-boggling things happened, and what was the point if you weren't seeing something amazing?

Happy Birthday, Debbie Harry

Today marks the 80th birthday of music and arts icon, Deborah Harry.

We're big fans here at The Signal Watch, and have seen Blondie twice to date.

Last week we were at my brother's house and my eight year old niece came out in a Blondie shirt, and I was like "hey, what?" Apparently she heard Debbie's solo effort song "French Kissin' in the USA" and was spellbound. The parents weren't thrilled with the content, but nonetheless, my niece knows a bop when she hears one. And, thus, two days later my SIL was at Target, saw the shirt, and bought it for B.

What a world when there's a kid's Blondie shirt at the Target.

I tried to school B on the superior drumming of Clem Burke via "Atomic", but I think she just wanted me to shut up.

Anyway, B and I have now bonded over Blondie. Happy birthday, Debbie. We hope you have a great one.

Monday, June 30, 2025

Jim Shooter Merges With The Infinite

A giant has passed. Jim Shooter, former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel from back when I started reading comics, legendary kid genius writer of Legion of Super-Heroes, and a personality larger than life - passed on June 30th, 2025.

For those who don't know, Shooter landed a job at 13 or 14 writing Legion of Superheroes stories after sending in a spec script to National Comics (before it was DC). He went on to write some of the biggest Legion stories there ever were before he was out of high school, making the Legion what we know today as distinct characters. But - he introduced the Fatal Five, Karate Kid, Shadow Lass and more. He killed off Ferro Lad!

As editor-in-chief at Marvel, he introduced Dazzler, Power Pack, GI Joe, Transformers and oversaw some classic work on X-Men, X-Factor, Avengers, Daredevil and other characters.

After Marvel, he founded Valiant comics, and worked for several comics companies over the years, including returning to DC for about a year on Legion.

In the heyday of Twitter, he did as some creatives did and began chatting with fans and sharing wisdom - until it became obvious it wasn't worth doing. It was nice while it lasted.

He meant a lot to me as the guy pulling the strings at Marvel when I first picked up Marvel comics. And again as an adult as I discovered Legion for myself - really only 20 years ago. To some of his own generation, he was a controversial figure. I don't care - in so many ways, Shooter was right. We're still reading the comics he oversaw and wrote, they're a lot of what has been turned into movies, and a generation of us came to comics under his watch.

You gave a lot of us mythology, stories and inspiration, and you'll be missed, sir.

2010's Watch: Bad Times At The El Royale (2018)

Watched: 06/29/2025

Format: Prime

Viewing: First

Writer/ Director: Drew Goddard

It's possible in fifteen or twenty years, this movie will be found and puzzled over as featuring folks who are now established stars, mixed with longtime stars. Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) features Cynthia Erivo in what I will say should have been a break-out performance and her entree into film stardom, rather than her having to wait until Wicked. She's clearly already a star. Lewis Pullman is here. As are Chris Hemsworth, John Hamm, Jeff Bridges and a not-50 Shades-ing Dakota Johnson.

But this movie came out and tanked. That's neither here nor there, but it has meant that it's not exactly on the forefront of people's minds as few eyes saw the movie in the theater and it's not found an audience on home video.

What's odd is that Metacritic comes in at a mid-range-ish 60, and the audience score is a generous 71. And yet... no one saw this.

However, maybe in the same way of The Last of Sheila from 1973, it will find an audience that will make sure it has a cult following. Or not. (I heartily recommend The Last of Sheila.)

Doc Watch: My Mom Jayne - a film by Mariska Hargitay (2025)

Watched: 06/28/2025

Format: Max

Viewing: First

Director: Mariska Hargitay

I don't watch Law & Order much, but for a while back in the 00's and 10's, SVU was the one I'd watch in re-runs. And Mariska Hargitay was hard to miss as the ultra-driven cop, Detective Olivia Benson. But it was probably in the 2010's that I figured out her parents were screen legend Jayne Mansfield and body builder Mickey Hargitay.

Mansfield is the stuff of Hollywood Babylon legend, following a career path that feels one-part Monroe, one-part Jane Russell. I've seen only two or three Mansfield movies, and she struck me as very good at what she did (I liked her a lot in The Burglar), but she and I don't cross paths much in my TCM viewing.

Once I knew about her parentage, I also never could quite sort out Mariska Hargitay's domestic situation, as I couldn't believe she'd even been born when Mansfield died in a car wreck in 1967. It seemed Mariska was a smidge older than I'd guessed (good genes, I guess) - but she was three at the time, and in the car when it happened. But, due to her age when Mansfield passed, Hargitay didn't have memories of her mother, and she wasn't raised by her.

The doc, My Mom Jayne: a Film by Mariska Hargitay (2025), is Hargitay coming to terms with who her mother was, learning who she really was away from the public, and embracing her relationship with the woman she never really knew.

90's Watch: The Cutting Edge (1992)

Watched: 06/27/2025

Format: YouTube

Viewing: Second

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

This is the second time I saw this movie, the first time being in the late 90's.

I mentioned I was going to watch The Cutting Edge (1992) to some dudes my age (heyo, Marshall and Paul) and we all kind of said what I think is true: this movie wasn't really aimed at us, we all saw it, and thought that if you're going to make this movie, this is pretty good.

At least that was my memory of it before watching it again.

And, yeah, it's still true.

I mean, it's got some very 90's vibes, but because of the era, it has a bit of that "we're adults and so we're going to act like (young) adults, not tall teenagers written for a Disney daytime show".

The basic plot is that D.B. Sweeney plays a hockey player who suffers an injury that will keep him from playing professionally. He's struggling in life when he's approached by the coach to be the partner for a difficult pairs skater (Moira Kelly!). Who can't keep a pairs partner. Because she's a raging B.

It follows the enemies-to-lovers thing that people seem to love (see: Jane Austen) which is not a spoiler because the poster had Sweeney and Kelley looking like they might make out right there.

The cast is small, but doesn't need to be huge. Terry O'Quinn plays Kelly's rich dad.

There's a pretty good conclusion to the film with characters having actual moments of self-actualization and whatnot, even if it's all swaddled in 90's sports-movie cheese.

I dunno. It's fine! I even kind of like it. If I were on a date in the 1990's, I would take Jamie to it and try not to say too much about Moira Kelly being dreamy.

Since I saw the movie the first time, I've watched countless hours of ice skating thanks to Jamie's abiding interest in the sport - and now I know that very little of what happens in this movie is how skating actually works. But enough works that it's not utterly broken.

My only other real note is that a girl from my high school class that I never spoke to or shared space with married D.B. Sweeney and was with him until what Google tells me was 2023. I kinda vaguely/sorta remember her when I look at her picture. She would not know me at all. It all works out.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Musical Watch: Wicked (2024)

Watched: 06/26/2025

Format: Peacock

Viewing: First

Director: Jon M. Chu

I am a huge fan of the OG Wizard of Oz. My second biggest regret about ending the podcast was not covering that movie before we put away our mics. In my opinion, Wizard of Oz is not just an important film, it's a key to American film and culture.

That said - I am fine with derivative works. Of course people want to explore this amazing world in which Wizard of Oz takes place, to consider and deconstruct and shuffle around the cultural icons of the movie, look into the characters, themes, etc... It's a bubbling well for interpretation, commentary and America.

Wicked (2024) came in riding decades of popularity as a stage show and soundtrack. Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith were launched to super stardom with the show and became fixtures. People who don't care about Broadway probably already knew two of the songs by osmosis before ever buying a movie ticket. It's one of the few 21st Century Broadway shows to break into the pop consciousness like 20th Century shows like Oklahoma!, Phantom, Cats or Les Mis.

This film adaptation did great at the box office and was at least an American phenomenon. It did fine overseas, but likely suffered from being an English-language musical about a play that probably hasn't been getting seen in Beijing, etc... quite yet. And who knows if they care about The Wizard of Oz in Lichtenstein?

But in the states, it made almost half-a-billion dollars. As the movie was released in late Fall, Christmas season 2024 was pink and green with the movie's merchandise and imagery everywhere. It was kind of neat.

Singer and performer Rebekah Del Rio has passed.

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Superman 2025: Making An Event

You can follow our posts on Superman at this link, and our posts on the new movie, Superman (2025) at this link.

If nothing else, I think WB/DC - and maybe the film industry - will come out of Superman (2025) remembering that movies used to be events. And, how to create events again.

It's been a while since I've seen a studio work this hard to make a movie something for which they've built anticipation and a desire to participate in by the public... make them want to see it on the biggest screen possible. Even if Superman doesn't make a billion dollars at the box office, which is may not, WB has fired up the engines of the machines that once brought people out to stand in line for the privilege of watching one of their movies. Right now it *feels* like it's working.

TL;DR: The Democratization of Film Discussion and Star-Based Rating Systems

Recently, I had a good convo with pal Stuart when, after seeing a mediocre star rating of a classic film, I shot off the snide line "We should only apply star ratings to new media. Sliding in in 2025 to give a 80 year old movie a 3 star review serves neither you nor the movie."

Stuart wisely pointed out that *of course* our ratings are subjective, transitory (will likely be different at a different time) and we cannot have the experience of those who experienced a movie in 1945. People are only able to give the rating they can give - and we cannot require homework of them to give a rating.

And, I agree!

Everyone is entitled to their rating.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and review. If I did not believe this, this blog wouldn't exist.

Certainly social media has made us all experts and put us all out there expressing our opinions whether the world wants our genius or not. These days, I'm primarily exposed to these opinions through BlueSky's #film feed, which is often linked to folks' letterboxd accounts. For buddies like Stuart, JimD, Howard, and JAL, I've even linked their letterboxd accounts right on the version of this page (and, yes, you, RHPT) you see on web browsers not viewed in mobile versions (look over there in the left menu bar, we'll wait). It's how I track their viewing and opinions as dudes whose opinions I personally value, even - or especially - when it's different from my own.

Obviously, I am included amongst the teaming masses howling movie opinions into the void. In no way is this blog special.

While I keep this blog more or less, really, as my personal film journal to track what I have and haven't seen (just this weekend, I found out I'd once seen the movie Red Dragon, which, if you'd held a gun to my head, I would not have said I'd seen) it's also very much me publicly sharing my opinions. And, also also - It's a record of how I personally view film.

In fact, I would think reading the blog, day over day, would give people an idea not just my opinion on film, but also give you some insight into who I am (and I am sorry about that. I know it's unpleasant). And, yet, I publish links from this blog to Facebook, Insta, Threads, Tumblr and Bluesky with every post. So it's not like I'm quiet about all this.

The subjective nature of the experience of viewing film is something they only sort of taught 30 years ago in film school, tilting wildly from auteur theory to death of the author in the same class and without trying to reconcile the two. I don't know how helpful it is to say "there is a mind behind a film, a vison and we treasure that beyond measure. But ALSO... It doesn't matter once you release it as the audience makes it their own and 13-year-olds who can't understand your movie count as much as folks with a PhD in the topic of the film and film itself".

I'm egalitarian as hell, but I'm not that egalitarian.

80's Watch: Flashdance (1983)

Watched: 06/22/2025

Format: Prime

Viewing: Second all the way through

Director: Adrian Lyne

If you want an idea of what a different world I was in as a kid versus where we are 40 years on, I think Flashdance (1983) is a pretty interesting test.

First, Flashdance was huge back in the day. It was referenced in other movies, on TV and elsewhere. The soundtrack had a couple of great songs (I still think Gloria by Laura Branigan is phenomenal). And though it was Rated-R, it wasn't unusual for my classmates to have seen it by 5th grade, thanks to HBO.

It's also not a very good movie, but people loved it at the time. And I don't mean the movie is problematic by 2025 standards (which it is), but because it just sort of wanders around for long stretches. Like, nothing is happening. People walk around. They goof. The plot refuses to move along.

Oddly, there's barely any conflict. It's a movie that pitches that if you believe in yourself, sorta, and don't really do the work, your new, rich boyfriend will buy your way into a dance school. Because nothing about Alex's path to an elite ballet school makes a lick of sense.

Noir Watch: High Tide (1947)

Watched: 06/22/2025

Format: TCM

Viewing: First

Director: John Reinhardt

This movie had the unfortunate combo of plodding pacing while feeling deeply convoluted. Throw in some off-brand talent and poverty row aesthetics, and it's not exactly one of the most polished movies you're going to see.

It's a bummer, because it feels like there's probably a good story or movie in here somewhere, but this probably isn't it.

There's just so many angles and storylines, and the movie runs only 72 minutes but has enough going on for something 45 minutes longer. It also uses the framing of "wow, this is awful. How did we wind up here?" with two of our leads in a car wreck at the beach, both trapped and waiting for the high tide to come in and kill them.

We flash back to a newspaper office with a tough editor, a weak-knee'd rich boy boss and our lead - who had been fired from the paper coming back to find out why his editor pal is making him the beneficiary on his high dollar life insurance.

There's multiple dames in play, gangsters, perturbed fired reporters. It's a lot. And it's kind of hard to care about forty minutes in as things just keep happening but it feels like the movie is spinning its wheels.

I just couldn't get into it. I wish I could say I did. But... alas.

Then, at the end, when they put all the pieces together, I was like "oh, that's actually really smart and cool". Alas, I just didn't maintain much interest to get me to that point. It's so short, I'll rewatch it soon to see if I like it better when I'm in a better headspace.

Pages

Friday, August 1, 2025

Good Golly

Monday, July 28, 2025

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Saturday, July 26, 2025

Friday, July 25, 2025

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Sunday, July 20, 2025

You just never know when your niche interest will go mainstream

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Monday, July 14, 2025

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Saturday, July 12, 2025

What did and did not work

So what didn't work (for me)

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Monday, July 7, 2025

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Monday, June 30, 2025

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Friday, June 27, 2025

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Everyone is entitled to their rating.

Monday, June 23, 2025

Sunday, June 22, 2025

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