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.

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.