The John Wick of the Ocean

There are some pretty amazing stories and movies of maritime adventure, and vengeful aquatic creatures, but when Dino de Laurentis released his version of a vengeful whale, the result was truly unique. Imagine blending the retribution of "Death Wish" and Moby Dick.

I watched "Orca" (1977) again recently, I realized how special the movie really was.

The scruffy Richard Harris plays a fisherman who angers and incurs the wrath of the deadliest killer whale - a whale whose anger has no bounds. As others have noted, once the vendetta against Harris begins after Harris inadvertently kills a pregnant wale wife, then pretty much everyone Harris knows or talks do gets killed.

Before the movie ends,this Orca Assassin has wiped out Harris' entire town. This whale is more dangerous and more angry than John Wick.

Revenge is a dish best served cold and wet.

A User Review on IMDB masterfully lays out the film:

The dramatic fight between Captain Nolan and the whale could have easily become silly, but it doesn't. The Arctic Circle is accurately represented as a cold place with many iceberg, some of which whales can thwack themselves upon catapulting middle-aged Irishmen forty feet in the air. Keep in mind, also, this was done without the use of computer graphics. Steven Spielberg did not even put the shark in Jaws until over halfway through the film. Why? To hide a machine so fake that I can only assume one of his children made it at camp. The mechanical killer whale in Orca is almost indistinguishable from the stock footage of killer whales continually played throughout the movie.

In 1977, how many directors were brave enough to shoot a killer whale jumping from one side of the boat, eating actor Robert Carradine, and landing on the other side? Just one, Michael Anderson. His bold choices along with screenwriters Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati (who both show an above average command of the English languages for native-born Italian speakers) make the film a statement not only about whale hunting and whale forgiveness seeking, but also about humanity. Charlotte Rampling's appeal to Nolan not to go fight the whale just because the whale wants revenge is not just about social protocols of how to make it up to the father of a whale baby you accidentally killed, but also an argument against the death penalty. Will Sampson's pointless death is an indictment of the senseless slaughter of tens of millions of Native Americans. When the whale knocks down Captain Nolan's house without any explanation of this whale became such a genius that he can not only knows to knock down structural supports but also can look up addresses in the phone book, it directly shows how our incursion into the world of nature is two-fold. Robert Carradine's tragic death in the film is social commentary on the probability of being eaten if you stand around on a boat being followed by a crazed killer whale. And probably also something about Vietnam, I assume.

And while most in Hollywood choose not to admit it, many have ripped off Orca. The dead baby scene in Trainspotting is suspiciously reminiscent of the dead whale fetus scene in Orca. The creepy quasi-romance between an intelligent female and a somewhat crazy violent child murderer is directly stolen by George Lucas for Star Wars: Episode II. The use of icebergs is blatantly co-opted by Titanic, and I have never heard James Cameron so much as thank Michael Anderson. And don't even get me started on Free Willy. Orca is a complicated story. If you only enjoy movies with obvious heroes and villains, this is not for you. The characters are conflicted. Very conflicted. Take for instance how the killer whale jumps for joy after biting off Bo Derek's leg. The whale shows both glee in his jumps, but also the pain of having lost his family and never being able to bring them back no matter how hard he fights those who took them from him. Like Batman. You see, the only thing black and white in this movie is the killer whale itself. While Orca does not now get the respect it deserves, in time people will realize its genius. Just as people did not understand gravity or continental drift, in time they will come to recognize Orca as the greatest cinematic achievement of all time.

Summer 2018 - They Live ... Again

Let's knock the dust of this page.

A reason for the long time between posts - I wanted it to be ignored for a while, forgotten even, so I had fewer concerns about who might read it. Job done!

On to business -

As a lifelong political observer, it has been a most fascinating time, though a sad one for the old U.S. of A. After surviving so many challenges of the most dire sort, it seems the worst folks imaginable are in charge supported by a very vocal minority of citizens who are demented by hatred and racism and self-aggrandizement. I can't say the prognosis is good - I'm afraid the old U.S. of A. is probably going to to get sicker before it gets better. 

An encore rally of the white-supremacist neo-nazis from Charlottesville have booked their next appearance - the national mall in front of the White House in August. Guest speakers to include........

Meanwhile, I've noted some true Weirdness worth noting - such as

 - - The use of foreskins from Korean babies as the base of a high-dollar facial treatment for rich white ladies (aka The Penis Facial). I hear The Idiot in Chief is a big fan.

- - America currently has the largest stockpile of cheese in over a century. Too much milk which is a part of the Idiot in Chief's Trade War stratagems. 

- - Finally! Robosuits are here!! (and remember, Robos can't unionize!!)

-- So for nearly 18 years now, every big-budget Hollywood box office hit feature agonizingly long and detailed scenes of giant skyscrapers collapsing into enormous billowing clouds of dust but no one is talking about the nation's recurring daydream of what happened at the World trade Center. Y'all are creeping me out.

- - Speaking of movies, check out the Daily Itinerary of the Killer in a Slasher Movie.

The Fans That Destroyed The Earth

Who should play the next James Bond?

Why should fans of 007 pick the next performer to play the role? Are they so scared in Hollywood or that lazy?

Too often the Internets gets blocked up with What Fans Want.

Well, if a Fan of some genre or media knows so much, why are they just Fans? Can't they get the jobs to make the stuff that gets Fans?

Fans churn out reviews of movies and tv and books that are old, new and unmade - like they're possessed, and yet it's always about someone else's works. Fans even make videos of themselves opening packages of what they are Fans of, and those videos have millions of Fans.

Perhaps we shouldn't have provided Internets space to Fan Fiction, Fan Movies and Mashups, just insane niches that feed Fan Entitlement. ("My Little Pony" has, for instance, expanded and distorted into a weird mix of Salvador Dali and Larry Flynt.)

I get it - we make things from the artifacts of our lives. I've done it, but not in any coordinated Fan Horde Attacks.

And the Internets is a machine that builds Fans. See this "Sexts, Hugs, and Rock'nRoll" article about the ongoing DigiTour of ... well, never heard of these folks until now so I'll call them Internets Idols:

"With full lips, Bieber bangs, and piercing blue eyes, Hayes has the unsalted-butter looks of the love interest on a CW show or the villain in a John Hughes movie. He dresses in the superficially alternative but fundamentally nonthreatening uniform popularized by Urban Outfitters and adopted by every (white) Cool Guy in every high school in America: jeans, skate shoes, graphic T-shirt or baggy tank top with the armholes cut low. He speaks slowly and indistinctly, with a soft North Carolina accent. He has beautiful teeth."

And all he (Hayes) does is make Fans.

Fan demands of casting and scripting are ridiculous, media makers use them for publicity, but it's too far - look what happened to the simple science fiction awards known as Hugos: a weird Fan Coup has butchered the proceedings.

You're a Fan of something? Great. Shut up. I'm working here. 

Hancock County Turns Sinister

Sinister Darkness, Hancock County's 2nd Annual Halloween attraction, is a non-profit event hosted by the Sneedville/Hancock Chamber and Community Partners, Inc. The attraction is designed, created, and staffed by community volunteers.

Dates of performances October 17,18, 24, 25, 30, 31 and November 1.

Times: 7PM till 10PM

Prices: Adults $10.00 Children 12 and under $5.00

Location: The Hancock County Farmers Market at the heart of Down Town Sneedville, TN.

Website: https://www.hauntedhancock.com

Located at the Hancock County Farmer's Market site, Sinister Darkness encompasses approximately 6,000 square feet of dark and winding corridors that integrate both 3-D and traditional haunt styling to provide you with a truly disorienting and terrifying experience. All proceeds from this event are donated to participating local fire departments and other non-profit community organizations.

Unboxing Videos Super Happy Wealthy Egg Surprise More More More

I noted some years back that folks were flocking to watch YouTube videos of the "unboxing" of numerous tech gadgets, phones and such. And from that, we can now view tens of thousands of video hours of folks opening packages and boxes of whatever you might wish to see.

Today, there's this woman named DisneyCollector on YouTube who has gotten over 93 million views of a video of opening some toy packages to reveal stickers and candy and maybe a toy here and there. With her own YouTube channel, it's estimated she is earning between 2 and 12 million dollars a year via ads on her page. A NYTime article ponders the trend here.

"YouTube in particular seems to have the ability to turn formerly unnamed, truly private little pleasures — the most insignificant of dopamine triggers — into rich, multichanneled cultures. Search “clean corn shuck,” and you will be surprisingly rewarded."

The writer of the article has a young child who loves watching DisneyCollector.

"Wouldn’t you rather watch a real Cookie Monster video?” I asked, after first watching it.

“No, no, Mommy,” my daughter said. “I like the toy. I like the hands on the toy.”

“Why?”

“Because I like it. A lot.”

Turn Left At Greenland - The Beatles and America

It's my earliest memory.

Watching The Beatles on TV on a Sunday in February 1964.

I was only three but this event was new, different. I can recall there was some yelling involved - my siblings were yelling and singing while watching TV standing up and jumping around. That was not they way we usually watched TV.

There had been some yelling before that too - some serious tension from my parents who did not think this Beatles thing on a Sunday of all days was good. It was bad.

Youth won out. My brother and sister and I watched it all.

My minister father really disapproved. And yet by the end of the 1960s, his hair was growing over his collar and his sideburns had gotten long. 

That night in 1964 quickly changed everything - music, clothes, politics, religion, family, fame, and much more. Billions of words have been written about every note, every song, every person linked to the band, and more arrive every day.

It's good - great even - to know I was there that night. To grow up listening to the music, waiting for new albums and new singles to get released. It seemed each release pushed at the limits of imagination. 

I've learned since that night how much work the band put into all they did. Work which changed how music was written, recorded and marketed. Business changed. Families changed. Lives changed.

Changing the world with music. It's a primal force, which many have tried to duplicate - none have.

50 years later, we all live in a world those four musicians remade. 

Your Own FOMO Makes You Twerk

Such immense fun this week seeing "news" readers and parents and noobs saying "Twerk", it's sooo 2010.

Even the folks at the Oxford Dictionary have gone all "Ball of Fire", hustling slang onto their pages, apparently due to their own FOMO (fear of missing out).

Some Wordsmiths, including me, go squee when slang hits the masses. Here's my advice: Don't derp at the omnishambles. 

Montana Zombies and Fashionable Fear

Someone hacked into local Emergency Broadcast Systems in Montana and Michigan to warn viewers that dead bodies were coming back to life as Zombies.

Not really surprising since Zombies are so fashionable these days. Not really surprising since Fear Itself is so fashionable these days too - we're pummeled with Fear at every turn.

Fashionable Fears arrive in a steady stream: schools aren't safe, guns are everywhere, not enough guns are available, snowstorms are named like hurricanes, nuclear weapons are everywhere, asteroids are zooming overhead, the world economy is collapsing, gay people are taking over, illegal immigrants are taking over, government-by-Obama is taking over, Obama was re-elected, drone strikes are targeting everyone, giant soft drink servings are illegal, diet soft drinks give you diabetes, there's no jobs, robots run factories, banks will rob you, the church is full of pedophiles, all sports are fixed, all athletes cheat, the wealthy are under attack, the poor are under attack, prisons are full, prisons are being emptied, the planet is melting, the planet is freezing, food is full of secret genetic mutations, water is poison, your phone/computer/identity has been hacked, you're being stalked by your ex, there's too much information, there's no information being shared, bullies are taking over, space aliens are taking over, you're too fat, you're too skinny, your neighbor is a doomsday prepper, Truth is out of style, you can't afford healthcare, everyone is addicted to prescription pills, radioactive tsunamis and mega-storms are being created by secret military weather machines .... the Apocalypse has begun ...

Fear is the fashion. Fear is a customizable brand.

Remain calm.

Remember, all you have to fear is Fear Itself.

The Rise of Donkey Milk

Things I learned from the Internet today: the most expensive cheese in the world is Donkey Cheese, made, of course, from the milk of a donkey..

The world's top-rated male tennis player, the Serbian-born Novak Djokovic, has apparently just  bought the world's supply of Donkey Cheese for a chain of restaurants he is opening. The year's supply is made on one farm in Zasavica, and costs anywhere from $500 to $2900 a pound.

Legends say that Cleopatra bathed in donkey milk, thinking is had youthful restorative properties, and aside from the donkey cheese, donkey soap is another much sought after product.

The Vast Legacy of Dave Brubeck

"One of the reasons I believe in jazz is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It’s the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born — or before you’re born — and it’s the last thing you hear.” -- Dave Brubeck

A legendary musician and a master of jazz, Dave Brubeck died today at age 91, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. Much will be written about him, now and for many years to come, and I wanted to instead showcase some of his music. (The 2010 documentary "Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way" produced by Clint Eastwood provides a most comprehensive look at his life and career for those wishing to know more about him and his vast influence worldwide on jazz and music in general.)

His 1959 album "Time Out" stands as one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, and the tune "Take Five" is immensely well known, though the composition is credited to saxophone player Paul Desmond. I think the first track on the album, "Blue Rondo ala Turk", is much more emblematic of Dave's style. The album grew from the Quartet's experiences traveling in Eastern Europe and the Middle East as ambassadors touring on behalf of the US State Department - Brubeck was captivated by the musical time signatures of the music from other nations, Turkey in this instance.

Some in the music world thought Dave's piano style and the Quartet's music was too extreme, others thought it far too tame. Thankfully, Dave and his colleagues followed their own Muse. His 1957 album, "Dave Digs Disney", was way too hip and way too square all at the same time - but his improvisations on classic Disney tunes are excellent, and today jazz inspired by Disney music is a genre all its own.

The 1961 album, "Time Further Out" is my own personal favorite. And the tune "Bluette" is a knockout, blending jazz and blues and evokes strong and subtle emotions. Thanks, Dave, for such a vast legacy.

Camera Obscura: Infinite Vampire Twilight ShlockFest Extravaganza and Emporium

Worldwide vampire obsessiveness weekend is upon us - suitable fare for a Black Friday Shopping Weekend During The Economic Collapse.

The finale of the Twilight series movie "Breaking Dawn Part 2" has emerged as such an enormous cornucopia of Weird that I had to make a special post about it. (Truth be told, I did a search of my blog for use of the word vampire and it came in at more than 30 posts, which means vampires have easily been 10% of this blog's entire output, which include these two of my own personal faves, A) Hot Vampy Sex Talk from the first movie and B) the Sarah Palin-Twilight Convergence)

Understand too, I am a deep-dyed fan of Bad Movies and Cinema Shlock and have forced many a friend to endure Something Awful. Big Budget Awful really stinks up the place, though. I recently watched the movie "John Carter" and it is merely Done Badly, whereas say, "Anonymous" was Stunningly Awful and made me Pity The Actors, and answered the question "What happens when the folks who made the alien-invasion 'Independence Day' investigate the world of William Shakespeare?"

But vampires? Hell, even I have written and produced my own vampire play, but it's sheer genius compared to the bizarre path the bloodsucking genre has taken in movies and TV. Example - this year we've had Abe Lincoln hunting vamps, while on Hulu the Korean TV series "Vampire Prosecutor" is gaining fame and I'm still searching for a copy of the short film "Davy Crockett Battles Kung Fu Vampires".

The hilarity of reviews are MUST reading, no matter what you might think of the movies/books/adoration/obsession. Some samples:

The Confused Notes Of A Twilight Newbie Forced to Watch Breaking Dawn Part 2:

"Is his face always like that? It's like he washed it with a powdered doughnut.

"Eww, now I get imprinting. He made that vampire baby the love of his werewolf life. Or something. It's kinda gross — definitely weird. And even more disturbing that those teenage girls found it so funny.

"T-Laut nicknames Renesmee "Nessie." K-Stew angrily shouts, "You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster." Is the Loch Ness Monster real in this world or was K-Stew making a joke? If the latter, why would Nessie be a laughable idea, while talking wolves are serious business?

"Vampires seem to not be affected by the weather, so why do they wear jackets and turtlenecks?"

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 is Completely Insane and Actually Worth Watching. Seriously

The Final Twilight Movie Is Like A Porn Film With Action Figures:

"It turns out that many vampires have X-men-esque superpowers on top of their default vampire superpowers. We already knew Alice could see the future, and some of the Volturi could read minds and create mental anguish, but now we find out that there are airbender vampires and electricity-shooting vampires and omega mutant vampires who can go all Dark Phoenix on your ass.

"The point is, there is a fight scene. A long, improbable, laugh-out-loud at the abysmal special effects fight scene, in which we discover that you can kill a vampire exactly the same way you kill an action figure. Just pop off its head! Boink! It comes off with no blood! Just a kind of SNAP just like plastic. Even if you never go to the theater to see this movie, I urge you to rent it at some point just to fast-forward to the fight scene so that you can see the weirdest thing ever."

Occupy: Sparkle

"It began when I read the first two books on my honeymoon in December 2008. My new wife and I listened to Twilight and New Moon on a road trip. We saw the first movie when we returned home, and a few months later we were divorced. I'm not saying Twilight killed my marriage, per se. I am saying there is a strong correlation between consuming Twilight content and no longer being happily married."

 Even The Actors In Twilight Hate Twilight

I have to say that I'll likely see this "finale" one day, but try as this current generation might, all this Vampire MashUp has been around for a long time. Even the old Hammer Horror folks stirred it all up in the early 1970s with the movie "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" which marks the arrival of the trope All Vampires Know Karate Because Dracula Did. (See the trailer for the movie here which has some NSFW images)

Indie film director superstar Jim Jarmusch is at work on his take on vampires in a movie set for next year, "Only Lovers Left Alive", starring Tilda Swinton, so even though vamps are being squicked out of all decency the darned things JUST NEVER DIE.

That's quite charming.

Otis Redding's "Tennessee Waltz" plus Al Green and Superpup

From the most impressive album, "The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul" comes a most memorable soul version of the country music tune "Tennessee Waltz", featuring Otis and backed by the legendary Booker T. and the MGs.

Reinventions in pop culture are often merely lost in time, even though they stand as unique creations all on their own. Another stunning example, is Al Green's super-soul version of the country ballad "For the Good Times", a Kris Kristofferson tune, which Al brings to vivid life in this Soul Train appearance.

Reinventions do not always succeed, yet the sheer brazen oddity of such creations stand out - for example, the immensely popular 1950s TV series version of the "Adventures of Superman" inspired some folks to create a TV show about ... um ... well, Superman had a dog named Krytpo in the comics, but these TV producers decided to make a show called "The Adventures of Superpup". A pilot episode was filmed, which you can watch on YouTube and it is uniquely bad and yet certainly memorable.

Superpup is secretly the mild-mannered reporter Bark Kent, working for the gruff editor Terry Bite and he's got a girlfriend named Pamela Poodle. And for some reason Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen is now Superpup's pal, but he's been transformed into a hand puppet mouse. Just check it out.

Just goes to show ya, reinventions and remakes have always been with us, some are wonderful and some too strange to be anything other than historical oddities.

What Happens Without Refs at Footbal Games?

Like many American football fans, the apparent debacle of unskilled referees visible of late is a perplexing and yes, even hilariously entertaining. But there's a dark side too -- I've been there on the field when the referees at a football game weren't really the referees, and witnessed the chaotic results.

This was back in about 1972 or so, at a high school football game between Monterey and Byrdstown, played at Byrdstown, TN. It was a time that when one said football field, the emphasis was often on the word 'field'. I had traveled with my father and the Monterey team to the game, and some confusion was evident on arrival.

With perhaps a half hour or less before kick-off, the coaches realized the sanctioned referees for the event were absent. Lacking today's immediate mobile phones connections, they decided to simply wait. Time ticked past and still no refs. More field side conferencing occurred. Concerned parents and boosters began to form up close to hand to observe and advise as needed.

I have no idea who came up with the suggestion - but it turned out to be a potent one. Sports-minded parents from each side would be selected to serve as refs. I have a hazy recollection of my dad assisting to create an orderly selection process. The coaches and attendant school staffers all agreed and the game was on.

It wasn't long before oddities began to occur, though the crowd seemed to accept it with good humor and warmth. But let's face it, in even the best of competitive games, the intensity of passions during a game (or pre-game or tailgate party or post-game rally or off-season depression) for many a sports fan are simply un-governable.

By the middle of the second quarter, derision and danger began to flow onto the field like a ominous spring thaw runoff. The players began to push the limits as the anger grew, the crowd all began to stand and glare at the event as if it were some shadowy stranger walking onto the lawn in a dim twilight. Somehow, my dad and I were both on the sidelines, a lot of folks were on the sidelines, on both sides.

There was a stumbling play and a massive pileup of players - and the yelling started. There was this nearly imperceptible shift as other players and even more folks in the stands seemed to all be moving forward yet my dad had begun a sort of sideways crab walk away from the crowd.

One player took off his helmet and swung it hard at another player. I recall thinking that this perhaps was not the time to be removing protective gear. And then everything gave way and the thaw became a flood of people running onto the field. My dad's crab walk transformed into his own end zone run as he grabbed onto my shoulder. We hit the gravel parking lot as the howls and shrill whistles reached a crescendo.

If memory serves, both teams had to register the game as a loss, there was some stern talk about 'knowing better' to continue with an unsupervised game, and never again did a game take place absent referees.

Yet, then, as now, the attendance at the following games seemed to rise notably. I sure wouldn't play a game that way. But I might be tempted to actually watch an NFL game this weekend.

100 Best Maniacal Laughs

A hearty rip of maniacal laughter is created by both the Good and the Bad ... and the Lunatic too. In the clip below, honors go to multiple entries from Nick Cage, Gary Oldman, Bruce Campbell and just about all memorable Disney villains. One of the best things about this 100 Best Maniacal Laughs in Movies - you'll probably laugh yourself while watching.

Lightsaber Battle 2011, plus Daffy Duck Heavy Metal Wizard

Call us/them Nerds, pop culture junkies, geeks, dorks, obsessive fans, or anything you wish - it does not stop them. I for one consider the first video below a bit of proof that folks in Manhattan are pretty cool - witness this year's annual Lightsaber Battle held in Washington Square Park.

Kids and adults join for a bit of silly White People behavior, abandon all worries of the world and I'm pretty sure only Americans would do this.




Nerd Alert Number Two:

What happens when the new Looney Tunes TV show takes the slobbering Daffy Duck, turns him into a wizard, complete with an elfish harem and a heavy metal theme song? (Again, more silly White People fun, but as a Nerd, I like it jes' fine, thanks.)

Tennessee Does Not Feel Perky

A snapshot survey of the state of Tennessee makes some grim observations - about 40% of the population is "stressed out", and the overall 2010 Well Being Index says Tennessee rates 10th in the top ten - as in the Ten States With Bad Well Being.

This survey breaks info down to city, state and Congressional district - and was created by the Gallup-Healthways group, which formed in 2008 to create information which would be given to "Every city, state, and congressional district face unique challenges and the granular level Well-Being Index data shed light on these area-specific issues, allowing leaders to build and shape policies and strategies to address the needs of their communities."

I have to wonder if it's all those "policies and strategies" created by our "leaders" that are the real cause of high stress and lousy well being?

Camera Obscura: Barbie Van Gogh, Dracula Dolls , Frankenstein Redux, and 'Plot Device'

Time to dig through the Pop Culture Trash Pile. (A word of warning - most of the names of the famous folk, both real and fictional, which follow are about people long born before 1998, so relevance is limited and I don't care 'cause I am an Ancient Creature born in the last century.)

1st Find - Marketing wizards of the Barbie-doll Empire turn to the world of Art for their inspirations with the release of a series of "collectibles", featuring the Mona Lisa Barbie. My favorite is the "Van Gogh Barbie" - which, really, should be a Ken doll, with one ear, a beard, and be wearing ratty clothes. Instead, this doll is just a generic glam doll wearing a dress that looks like a mangled "Starry Night" canvas. A Picasso Barbie would be fun to see - and should have a face that looks like this.

2nd Find - Director Francis Ford Coppola is headed to the San Diego Comic-Con in July with his newest movie, "Twixt", which he describes as "one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career". Starring Val Kilmer and Bruce Dern, it remains to be seen if it dredges up memories of Coppola's "Dementia 13" or the horror known as "Godfather Part Three". (Maybe we can convince Coppola to produce a George Romero version of "Night of the Living Dead Barbie Dolls."

3rd Find - Speaking of dolls and monsters, I was far more interested in the report that a new series of "collectibles" (don't say dolls!) in homage to the Hammer horror films set for release. We get Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt. Nerd Swoon!





4th Find - So, Frankenstein returns. This latest incarnation features actor Haley Joel Osment as one Victor Franklin, who seeks to reanimate the dead, in a film version of the graphic novel "Wake the Dead" and is being produced by former Guns 'n Roses guitarist Slash.

And if you are up early Saturday morning (or very late Friday) check out the broadcast on Turner Classic Movies of "Frankenstein Created Woman" starring Peter Cushing and one-time Playboy playmate Susan Denberg. While Susan plays several roles here in this bizarre sci-f reinvention, her voice was dubbed by another uncredited actress. Lots of background on the movie here.

TCM is also playing a rather sad Boris Karloff movie called "Frankenstein 1970", which was made in the 1950s and never makes clear why the year 1970 was part of the title. I suggest instead the rather fascinating "Dracula A.D. 1972" with Cushing and Lee once again facing off in the modern go-go dancing world of 1972.

5th Find - While reading about the oddity of singer Lou Reed's musical salute to Edgar Allan Poe, titled "The Raven" from 2003, I discovered a new movie about Poe is headed to the big screen next year starring actor John Cusack as Poe in a movie called "The Raven". The story follows Poe's last days as he trails a serial killer who mimics Poe's stories. It's being directed by James McTeigue, who made "Ninja Assassin" and "V For Vendetta".

6th Find - Something from this year and this week - a short film rips into the tired tropes of filmmaking and storytelling in "Plot Device". Enjoy!

Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

'We're Smarter Than Ever These Days!' - Miss USA Contestants Ponder Evolution

"We're smarter than ever these days so, I mean, why not teach everything and let people make their own decisions?"
- Kaylin Reque, 22, Miss Georgia

Let's ask players in a beauty contest if "evolution should be taught in schools" -- 'cause they represent ... um ... something .... which might or could or may be knowledgeing informationisms.

Superman Renounces U.S. Citizenship

In the landmark 900th issue of Action Comics, the magazine where Superman came to life, the iconic hero has announced he's renouncing his US citizenship - he is American no more. It follows his presence at a protest rally in Iran, where he joined the protest though he took no 'super' actions.

Of course, with the cost of that comic book at 6 dollars, I wish he'd renounce such high prices too. I've always been a comics fan, though when prices starting hitting 3 bucks a pop some years back, I stopped buying them. But I still like them for the most part - they are a fascinating collection of pop art and pop culture which has been constant in the country since Clark Kent, aka Superman, hit the stores in 1938 - and I do read them when I can.

And since comics are also a major source of movies too this is shaping up as a pop culture Event for Supes to chide the world for dividing and attacking each other on nationalistic ideals. (And a way to keep Supes comics selling and to appear popular and topical).

I'm sure the Controversialists of FOX News and such will wail and bemoan such an iconic change, even if it is just one of those "durned heathen funny books". Tennessee has a historic political tie to comic books, thanks to TN Senator Estes Kefauver's infamous Congressional hearings on them back in the 1950s. A Madisonville native, the Democrat senator was charged to probe the effects of comic books on young people and found, of course, they were horrible.

Action Comics number 900 would likely make Sen. Estes Kefauver's head explode.

(Personally, I sort of expected trouble for Superman when he donned a hoodie and started walking across America last fall - an Emo Superman is not a pretty thing.)

Pop Fiction has to change to keep up with Pop Culture - or it becomes dull. Even fictional heroics are defined by the times.

I never was a big fan of Supes - he had too few flaws and too much perfection to drive a storyline. I've been more of a Marvel Comics kind of guy - especially the X-Men, which has this nice subext about life for minorities.

More here at Wired

"In an age rife with immigration paranoia, it’s refreshing to see an alien refugee tell the United States that it’s as important to him as any other country on Earth — which in turn is as important to Superman as any other planet in the multiverse."

And here via a FOX News site:

"Besides being riddled with a blatant lack of patriotism, and respect for our country, Superman's current creators are belittling the United States as a whole. By denouncing his citizenship, Superman becomes an eery (sic) metaphor for the current economic and power status the country holds worldwide.

Fanboy meltdown!

(hat-tip to TGW for alerting me to this story)

Philip K. Dick's Dystopian World Taking Over?

"Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups...So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind."


It should not be surprising - but it is - that we seem to be truly inhabiting the dystopian world envisioned by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. His works explored perception, reality, paranoia, corporate worship, identity, computer technologies, constant surveillance, the mass marketing of tragedy, an emerging global polyglot society and so much more which seems to resonate so strongly with generation after generation. And today his ideas serve as a rich and fertile field for cultural exploration.

Reports are flying today of the rights being secured to create sequels and prequels a TV series and maybe a remake of the movie "Blade Runner" - which already exists as a 5-disc movie collection on DVD with all variant versions and documentaries. Producers seem to be aiming at creating movies within the world created in Ridley Scott's movie -- and already there are 3 novels based in the BR world from writer K.W. Jeter. And the Total Recall 2010 TV series also blended that movie and Total Recall (based on another PKD story) into a short-lived and rather awful TV show.

Really what they are aiming at is franchising writer Philip K Dick, whose works constitute nearly an industry unto themselves - witness this weekend's arrival of "The Adjustment Bureau" based on PKD's short story. an independent film of his novel "Radio Free Albemuth" is seeking a distributor, Disney has an animated feature in production based on "The King of the Elves", and apparently two films called "The Owl In Daylight", one a documentary, are being created as well. A look at 9 of the movies made based on his work so far is here.

Largely regarded as one of his best works, the alternate history of the world wherein the Allies lost World War 2, "The Man In The High Castle", is in production as a mini-series on BBC, spearheaded by Ridley Scott.

The number of new books, festivals, new films, music, and new collections of his work is so large it's more than impossible to list.

I've always enjoyed reading his work (and some of the movies) but I was always left with the great hope that little of his perceived futures would come to pass. He wrote of society endlessly deceived and deluded and controlled by great wealth and nefarious leaders, a hopeless and helpless humanity, yet one in which he searched for hope.

Some years back, a project was launched to create a functioning android with artificial intelligence was created using a model of Dick's face and speech patterns. It was beyond spooky and got stranger still when the head of this android was accidentally lost and went traveling via airplane to California.

The creators were adamant however and now are presenting their creation again, though work is still to be completed for creating an artificial intelligence for the android. A video sample of the PKD2 is quite surreal.

"Dick's fiction calls up our basic cultural assumptions, requires us to reexamine them, and points out the destructive destinations to which they are carrying us. The American Dream may have succeeded as a means of survival in the wilderness of early America; it allowed us to subdue that wilderness and build our holy cities of materialism. But now, the images in Dick's fiction declare, we live in a new kind of wilderness, a wasteland wilderness, because those cities and the culture that built them are in decay. We need a new American dream to overcome this wasteland."

• Patricia S. Warrick, Mind in Motion: The Fiction of Philip K. Dick (1987)