Noir Watch: Brick (2005)

Watched:  04/24/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  third
Decade:  2000's

There's probably plenty to say about this movie, but I'm saving it for a podcast.

Epic Watch: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Watched:  04/15/2018
Format:  Alamo Ritz
Viewing:  6th of 7th
Decade:  1960's

Action Comics Hits #1000 and 80 Years of Superman

April 18 marks both the 80th Anniversary of the release of Action Comics #1 and the release of Action Comics #1000.

Short a few documents written by fellows in wigs and waistcoats, there are few things in Western culture, Pop or otherwise, with so profound an impact or as wide a legacy as this simple, brief story by a couple of young men from Cleveland.

Superman's first appearance was just one of several of different genres appearing in Action Comics #1 (this link is currently good and includes the first Superman story)   To revisit the story, every time I read it I find it shocking how much of Superman springs to life there in those first few pages - an assemblage of parts of other characters and science fiction concepts forged into something entirely new and its own.

Doomed planet.  Locomotives and bullets.  Lois Lane as a tough girl reporter.  The cape, the boots, the forelock.   A newspaper setting.  The dual-identities of Clark Kent and Superman, Lois' failure to recognize her co-worker.  Superman/ Clark's immediate attraction to Lois.  Righting wrongs.

Superman.

PODCAST: NathanC and Ryan talk Disney's curious 1980s - "The Black Hole", "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Never Cry Wolf"

Nathan Cone joins us to discuss what the heck was going on at Disney in the 1970's and 80's that led to The Black Hole, Something Wicked This Way Comes and Never Cry Wolf. It's a fun ride full of Disney history and rife with 80's-ness!




On Stitcher:

On Google Play:

Noir Watch: No Questions Asked (1951)

Watched:  04/08/2018
Format:  DVR from TCM's Noir Alley
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

PODCAST: Ryan and SimonUK watch "License to Kill" (1989)!

Watched:  04/07/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1980's (oh, so 1980's)


We all have our favorite Bond movie. SimonUK decides to die on the hill of "License to Kill" as Ryan hears him out. It's the 1989 "Bond goes rogue and goes after a Central American drug lord" Bond movie you've probably never seen and the second and final Timothy Dalton as our 00-agent.


SoundCloud:



Stitcher:


Google Play:
Click here to Google Play

Disney Watch: Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Watched:  04/05/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  Fourth
Decade:  1980's

Saving this one for a podcast

Inexplicable Watch: Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

Watched:  04/03/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming (included in Prime)
Watched:  First
Decade:  1980's

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......................

Disney Watch: Never Cry Wolf (1983)

Watched:  04/02/2018
Viewing:  Second or third
Format:  Amazon streaming
Decade:  1980's

We're saving this one for a podcast

Audrey Hepburn Watch: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Watched:  03/31/2018
Viewing:  third
Format:  TCM on DVR
Decade:  1960's

It's been a long time since I sat and actually watched Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).  Certainly more than a decade.  I am unsure if the movie still holds the allure for college-aged folk these days that it did in the mid-90's, but whatever was going on back then led to a catchy pop tune you're not supposed to like, but which is... fine? by white-boys-on-acoustic-guitars standards.  I saw the movie prior to the song's release, but I'll be honest - the song sorta made me want to rethink how much I wanted to advertise any feelings about the movie whatsoever.

Dog Watch: Isle of Dogs (2018)

Watched:  03/25/2018
Format:  Alamo South Lamar
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

Noir Watch: Crossfire (1947)

Watched:  03/23/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM/ DVR
Viewing:  Third
Decade:  1940's

Sci-Fi Watch: The Black Hole (1979)

Watched:  03/24/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  2 and 1/6th
Decade:  1970's

(saving this one for a podcast)

Today is Joan Crawford's Birthday

I noticed a lot of chatter online today about Joan Crawford and then that TCM was running some of her movies (I didn't watch them, I was doing other things).  Today marks the 113th birthday of Joan Crawford, born in San Antonio in 1905 but mostly raised in Jamie's hometown of Lawton, Oklahoma. 

I am happy to do what I can to be one of the folks who would like folks to remember Crawford for her long career, ever-transforming screen persona, and - frankly - stunning screen presence before she wound up in some campy movie in her final working years and was badly memorialized by Dunaway.

Even in not-great movies, Crawford is a force.  All that is apparently a shadow of what she was like in person, and I am sure she would have terrified me if I'd met her, but since seeing Mildred Pierce during college, still one of my favorite films, I've been a fan.  But there are still a ton of her movies I've yet to see. 

Anyway, happy birthday, Ms. Crawford.  I hope you're having a Pepsi somewhere among your fans and friends.

PODCAST: Simon and I talk "Big Trouble in Little China", "Buckaroo Banzai" and "War Games"

Buckaroo Banzai
Already covered

War Games
Watched:  03/17/2018
Viewing:  Fifth or Sixth
Format:  Alamo Drafthouse/ Village
Decade:  1980's

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Watched:  03/18/2018
Viewing:  Seventh or Eighth
Format:  Shout Factory BluRay
Decade:  1980's

Join SimonUK and I as we ponder some cult favorites of the 1980's!  And, boy howdy, do we go all over the map on this one.  But, mostly, we stay on task.

Noir Watch: Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Watched: 03/15/2017
Format: TCM on DVR (Noir Alley)
Viewing: First
Decade: 1940's

NEEDLESS TO SAY I AM EXCITED ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF A NEW GODS MOVIE

I dig Jack Kirby's New Gods and related Fourth World matter.

Noir Watch: The Big Heat (1953)

Watched:  03/10/2018
Format:  DVR from TCM (Noir Alley)
Viewing:  4th or 5th
Decade:  1950's

Thriller Watch: Charade (1963)

Watched: 03/07/2018
Format: DVR from TCM
Viewing: First
Decade: 1960's

Musical Watch: My Fair Lady (1964)

some day, we should do a deep dive into the work of illustrator Bob Peak

Watched: 03/04/2018
Viewing: Probably the fourth time
Format: DVR off TCM
Decade: 1960's