Actor Julie Adams Merges with The Infinite

Actor Julie Adams (often listed as Julia Adams), most famed for her part as "Kay" in 1954's Creature From the Black Lagoon has passed.

Sci-Fi Watch: Annihilation (2018)

Watched:  02/02/2019
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

I really, really wish I'd seen Annihilation (2018) without all the hype and teeth gnashing about "why aren't people seeing this?", etc...  Much like any movie with Oscar buzz, this sets the table for expectations 9 out of 10 movies given this treatment can't possibly match.

Super Watch: Reign of the Supermen (2019)

Watched:  01/29/2019
Format:  DC Universe Streaming
Viewing: First
Decade:  2010's

This week is becoming Steel-tastic as we return to a version of the Steel origin source material.

In 1992, DC Comics famously killed and resurrected Superman in a triptych of narrative arcs, , first downing him with Doomsday, then keeping Superman dead for a few months before bringing him back to save the day/ Earth.

It's a very 90's-tastic comic series, and your mileage will vary as you read it now.

Reign of the Supermen (2019) kinda sorta retells the story of the second two arcs post-Death of Superman as four new beings arrive on the global scene, all claiming some bit of Superman's legacy.  From back in Ye Olden Comicks Days, this is where we got Steel, Superboy (Conner Kent), Cyborg Superman and The Eradicator.  Surprisingly, over the years, these characters have endured unlike near any others spinning out of a major event, which is a testament to the solid core concepts each character embodied and how they fit into the DCU like puzzle pieces.

Outbreak Watch: Panic in the Streets (1950)

Watched:  01/27/2019
Format:  TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

I'd certainly heard the title of Panic in the Streets (1950), but had never paid the movie much mind.  It played a while back on TCM, so I loaded it up on the DVR for a later playback and am thrilled I did.  The movie is often listed as noir, but... aside from some aesthetic choices, it doesn't match my definition of noir, so I'm not labeling it as such.

Directed by Elia Kazan, the movie reflects his ability to shoot on location and make it mean something.  Here he exits LA and lands in New Orleans, filming along the industrial docks and twisting roads of the city, jumping from suburbs to the edges of the French Quarter.  Unfortunately, as the movie was 1950, it makes the location shooting feel like that much more of a lie as you only see Black people here and there, which in no way reflects the make-up of the city.

Still, you do get an immediacy to the film with the organic locations and settings, including sounds captured along the river or on the streets.

Oscar Watch: Black Panther (2018)

Watched:  01/25/2019
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  third
Decade: 2010's

Just getting in another viewing of the movie.  Still stunned by the world building, well-written characters with top-flight talent to bring them to life, and how the challenge of the "villain" informs the protagonist to be a better man and king.  First class storytelling, and in a superhero movie no less.  What it were that more of these superhero movies understood the power of a great ensemble script and cast.

As much as Star Wars or Harry Potter drops you in a universe and you fall into it immediately, so, too, does Black Panther.  Anyhoo...  here's to their chances on Oscar night, and I look forward to whatever they do next for a follow-up.

Noir Watch: Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Watched:  01/25/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM on DVR
Viewing:  4th
Decade:  1940's

Murder, My Sweet (1944) is a favorite and one of two Dick Powell movies that made me a fan.  Based on the classic detective novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (not yet a classic, obvs, at the time), this movie has as many or more twists and turns than The Big Sleep and maybe doesn't have the popping-off-the-screen chemistry of Bogart and Bacall, but Powell feels more like the Philip Marlowe of the books in my book.

Anyway, I promised not to write up every movie this year, and I'm sure I've written this one up before, so aside from adding that Claire Trevor's evening-look with her up-do is something else, I'll just give the movie a solid rec and what I love about Chandler boiled down to work in a movie.  Oh, and Mike Mazurki is pretty great.

Super Watch: Steel (1997)

Watched:  01/23/2019
Format:  Warner Archive BluRay
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1990's (oh, so 1990's)

Steel (1997) is not a good movie, but it's not exactly as terrible as memory of watching it on VHS at some point in the distant past had led me to believe.  It's also a reminder of how *bad* many of the DC movies have been since this period, from Catwoman to Green Lantern, to Batman v Superman.  This movie was filmed on a low budget with no faith in it, no major stars, and based on a C-List character who, really, is a carbon copy of Iron Man.  And, still, beat for beat, this movie makes more sense and flows better than Aquaman.

Doc Watch: Fyre Fraud (2019) - the other "Fyre Festival Fiasco" post mortem doc

Watched:  01/22/2019
Format:  Hulu streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

This post will make no sense unless you go back and read my post from yesterday on Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019) , the other documentary about this same subject that was released on Netflix earlier this month.  So, please do go and read it, because I'd prefer not to rehash a lot of what was covered in that post.

After my initial post and exasperation with the Netflix doc and spending most of the post leveling suspicion at the motives of the doc makers, Paul dropped a note to me saying "hey, I think people who are involved with Fyre Fest were involved in producing that doc", which... indeed they were.  Which confirmed all my worst suspicions and made me hate everyone involved even more, but at least made me feel less paranoid and crazy.

Doc Watch: They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

Watched:  01/21/2019
Format:  Fathom Events at Arbor Cinema
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010s

It's fascinating to see Peter Jackson turn his eye for detail and technical achievement to the discipline of documentary film-making.  In many ways, They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) could herald a new era of popular documentary as important as the narrative innovations of Ken Burns, which have become the de facto mode for serious historical documentary for those of us who watch PBS.  Frankly, from an historical/ accuracy perspective, I have a *lot* of quibbles with Jackson's approach - but we'll get to that after praising his achievements.

PODCAST: "Thor: The Dark World" (2013) - Avengers Chronological Countdown 8, w/ Jamie and Ryan

Watched:  01/04/2019
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  3rd
Decade:  2010's

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Jamie and Ryan finally get to - and keep it short - as they slog through the second installment of the Thor trilogy of films "The Dark World", which we thought was "Into Darkness", which was not the only "Star Trekkian" business we saw in this mess of a film that no one remembers and fewer people care about.
 

Avengers Chronological Countdown Playlist

MST3K Watch: Lords of the Deep (1989)

Watched:  01/18/2019
Format:  MST3K on Netflix
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's

A mash-up of The Abyss and every space station movie you've ever seen, with terrible acting, hilariously bad lighting and direction, set-design right out of a high school play and your two leads played by "that guy" from 1970's television and Felix's wife who gets killed early on in License to Kill.  And some adorably bad puppets.

The courage it took to make this on the heels of The Abyss is just... man...

Noir Watch: Lured (1947)

Watched:  01/17/2019
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940s

Anything with Lucille Ball pre-I Love Lucy is a weird watch.

I do not know what to do with Sexy Lucy.

Talking Heads Watch: True Stories (1986)

Watched:  01/15/2019
Format:  Criterion BluRay
Viewing:  6th or 7th
Decade:  1980's

PODCAST! "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" (1970) - It's a "New to me" extravaganza with AmyC and Ryan

Watched:  01/06/2019
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1970
Country of Origin:  Czechoslovakia

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We welcome you to join Ryan as he bears witness to a "new to him" movie as Amy brings a 1970 film from former Eastern bloc nation, Czechoslovakia! A meditation and tone poem on the transition from girlhood to womanhood - forces internal and external, allegorical and real, secular and religious. Vampires, live human bonfires, magical earrings and a polecat.

This movie has everything.





Music:
The Magic Yard - Luboš Fišer, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders OST


AmyC Cinema Select Series

Catching Up Watch: Ocean's 8 (2018)

Watched:  01/11/2019
Format:  Airplane
Viewing:  first
Decade: 2010

I dunno, guys.

Catching-Up Watch: BlackkKlansman (2018)

Watched:  01/08/2018
Format:  Airplane screen
Viewing  First
Decade:  2010's

PODCAST! Marvel Watch! "Iron Man 3" w/ Jamie and Ryan

watched:  01/02/2019
Format:  Amazon streaming
Viewing:  5th?
Decade: 2010's


We hit the post "Avengers" doldrums with Iron Man 3, a box office smash that just sorta, kinda works. Jamie and Ryan take a look the final Iron Man stand-alone movie and talk about how it fits in, how it didn't do what they wanted it to do, and seasonal superheroics.





Avengers Chronological Countdown

Krypto Awards: Worst and Best of 2018

It's been a few days since 2018 wrapped, so it's fair to call it a year and take a look over the list of movies we watched and name a few as outstanding and a few...  we'll still say "outstanding", just, you know, in a different way.  I'll mostly discuss "new to me" movies, of which I watched over 100 (my life is a shallow, meaningless parade of nothing-better-to-do).  This list might look different in a month, so, you know, this is what I think today.

You can see the complete list from 2018 here.  Check the tabs for filtering by categories.

As always, there were movies I had to go back and look up and say "what was that again?".  It happens.  But this is why I write them up.  There aren't that many "this is terrible" movies because I generally don't go to see movies unless I *think* they'll hit the mark for me, but fate is a funny thing and it happens.  Also, unless RiffTrax or MST3K is involved, I turn off movies I'm not enjoying, which disqualifies them from consideration.

With that - Let's consider this the "Krypto Awards" for 2018.

Did Not Like

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Watched:  01/05/2019
Format:  cable on DVR
viewing: first
decade:  2010's

A lot of this movie worked for me for what it was.  I suspect the less than amazing box office (a total domestic take of $9.6 million - no international numbers reported) for the movie may be attributed to the oddball place it found itself in, demographically.  Had this movie arrived in the early 00's, I think it would have been a $60 million or more earner, but the approach hails from the 90's and 00's - where the structure is utterly predictable, it's far more about what the movie hangs on that skeleton via gags and jokes.  The stars of the film and pop scene isn't really the focus of Gen-X'ers, and, to be kind, the view of Millennials re: pop music seems to be a hearty embrace, free from irony and with a big thumbs up to being marketed to.

But, yeah, if you're into Andy Samberg's brand of humor, this is that. For 90 minutes.  And there are so, so many cameos, many of which are almost funnier just based on the timing of when and how the star appears (hats off to Mariah Carey, in particular).   And, Tim Meadows, as always, the most underutilized, funniest guy in anything. 

This is in no way essential viewing, but Jamie watched it once and said "yeah, it's better than you think", so we watched it.  And, yeah, it did the trick for a second movie on a Saturday evening (especially after Thor 2).

Noir Watch: Double Indemnity (1944)

Watched:  01/04/2018
Format:  Noir Alley TCM on DVR
Viewing:  Unknown.  4th?  5th?
Decade:  1940's

Whole books have been written about Double Indemnity (1944), so I'll keep it brief while the more scholarly pursue it's winding journey through the souls of a couple of grifters.  And Eddie Muller's intros and outro's were, as ever, insightful, knowledgeable and refreshing.