Halloween Viewing! Psycho, Dracula, The Conjuring, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde

MOVIE MADNESS

Psycho

                I don’t know how much I can add that hasn’t already said about this masterpiece, but I did watch it through new eyes with my daughter recently.  It was probably the best time I’ve had watching a movie.  Alexandria is 10, and loves non-fiction.  She knew about Alfred Hitchcock from the “Who Is/Was..” biographies aimed at kids.  She is a bit OCD about spoilers and wanting to know what she is getting into, so she asked me, “What is this about”?  “A woman steals money from her boss and runs away”, I replied as I started the movie.  I didn’t lie.

                I was then treated to an hour and a half of a classic by a master of the medium punctuated by some of the best commentary as she tried to work the movie out:

                ‘Oh, she’s so paranoid she goes Psycho!’

                ‘You dummy, the police are watching you.  He sees you buying the car…’

                ‘His mother did it!’

                ‘I know she’s his mother, but he shouldn’t cover for her.’

She got a pleasant surprise from the movie’s denouement, and I had a blast.

Dracula (1931)

                I sat down yesterday to watch some classic monster movies to get in the mood for tonight.  I sat down and watched Dracula because my daughter had called it boring.  We watched it about 6 months ago, and she said she liked it at the time, but since I fell asleep because it was later at night and probably my sixth time seeing it, I was hard-pressed for a rebuttal, so it was the first Halloween movie of the day.

                I enjoy the Universal monster movies, but I find a lot of them survive on nostalgia factor.  For me, horror has to work on a suspense factor, or it doesn’t work as a horror film.  That doesn’t mean they are bad, just, to this modern film lover, not scary.  Dracula has a lot going for it.  The set design is excellent.  The best acting in the film comes from Dwight Frye who delivers a truly creepy performance as Renfield, the highlights being his character being found on the Vesta and when he explains to Van Helsing he was asked to do ‘..what has already been done’.  The other standout is Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing.  It is no surprise that Lugosi’s best scenes are with the two of them , as I feel they elevate his game.  Lugosi is fine.  I can’t classify him as a great actor, but he certainly had a commanding presence which benefited his performance.  Todd Browning makes good use of edits and camera angles as special effects, my favorite being when they are used to make it appear as if Dracula has ascended the staircase, draped with a large thick web without disturbing it.

The Conjuring (2013)

My wife recommended this as a good scary movie for my daughter to watch, so the three of us tucked in.  It’s a good suspenseful thriller in the haunted house genre.  The plot if fairly typical: Family moves into a ‘new’ old house, strange occurrences start, family reaches out to outside expert for help, etc.  There are some really nice shots like a sheet in the wind taking a shape for a split second or a pair of hands in the dark that are on screen just long enough for you to process what you’ve seen and be scared/shocked by them, but they don’t overstay their welcome.  The only thing that deterred for me was that the film was set in the 70’s and everything was fairly period accurate, but the cinematography was too crisp and sharp for a film set in the time.  I actually think this would be better in standard definition than high definition.

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

                I reviewed the silent version here, and it is hard for me to review this version without comparing the two.  There are some story differences that are foundational.  Carew in this version is the fiancée’s father and not a colleague.  Therefore the impetus of the experiment is different.  Here Jeckyll is already obsessed with duality instead of it being fostered by Carew’s needling.  The music hall girl, named here as Ivey Pearson has a much larger part. 

                I found myself having complex feelings about this version.  On the one hand there was more plot and relationship building conveyed because of the advantage of dialogue to convey information vs. the silent version, but the silent version I believe had a more effective Hyde.  Frederic March is a fine actor, and I like Jeckyll  (pronounced JEEK-EL in this version which is really annoying)with his darker tones.  This isn’t a saint brought low; he experiences lust and rage, but suppresses it.  His Hyde however is really let down by the makeup.  It has a monkey-man feel and March plays Hyde that way.  His Hyde has no charm and is ugly from the beginning, no slow degeneration.  I found myself rolling my eyes are glancing at the clock when Hyde was on the screen.  I still think this is a film worth seeing, but the Hyde has no subtlety and the film suffers for it.

A Change In The Order

Inspired by Jon M Wilson’s recent Facebook discussion on his reading order, I’ve decided to change mine.  Historically, I’ve tried to read a few from each list, bouncing back and forth, while continuing to stay current on Modern DC/Marvel.  I get dissatisfied with this easily as I’m torn between how much attention each list gets.  Some of this is down to size.  A Golden Age book, if you read all of the features is about twice the size of a Silver Age book and three times the size of a Modern book.  This has been a problem because I’ve wanted to read the Silver Age work of DC somewhat in alignment with Marvel Silver Age, but wanted to do the work to get there.  Therefore, I’m putting the new reading order in place:

1.       Current DC/Marvel – 5 books

2.        DC Silver Age – 4 books

3.       DC Golden Age – 3 books

4.       Marvel Silver Age – 2 books 

5.    Fawcett Golden Age - 1-2 books

Not strictly binary like Jon’s, but my plan is to go 1-2, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4-5, etc.  I started it this weekend and it resulted in me getting through 15 modern books, 10 DC Silver Age, and 3 DC Golden Age. 

I’ve also added DC Silver Age to the rotation.  I’ve wanted to do it for a long time, but really struggled.  For one thing, I’ve wanted to read straight thru, but I know how long that will take.  Too many people are discussing too many things I want to dive in on, so I broke down and decided to do something about it.  But where to start?  That was the other thing.  Unlike Marvel which has a clear delineation, the DC Silver Age is harder to pin down.  There is the popular choice, Showcase #4.  But Martian Manhunter is a Silver Age character, and he appeared before that.  Captain Comet pre-dates Martian Manhunter.  However if I go back to the first issue of Strange Adventures, All-Star comics still has the JSA.  It made my head-spin.  I decided to invent my own Silver Age.  If I view the character as a Silver Age character, they are in.  If I don’t then they languish in the Golden Age until we hit their Silver Age start.  If it is an anthology title, I only read the feature that falls within the reading list.  As a guidepost, I’m looking to the Showcase Presents trades as a guide.  It works something like this: 

-          Most of the Funny Animal strips had a long run into the 60’s.  I treat them as Silver Age.

-          The Western titles, to me, are Silver Age books, especially since two of them replaced long-standing Golden Age titles.

-          The licensed books (Adventures of Alan Ladd, Bob Hope, etc.) I consider Silver Age

-          Tomahawk, to me, is a Silver Age character, so his strips from Star-Spangled Comics and World’s Finest are included.

-          Special consideration will be given to Superman and Batman since they have multiple Silver Age starts.  Since their first team-up in Superman #76 is considered a Silver Age tale, that month is when all of their strips (Detective, Action, Adventure, Superboy, Superman, Batman, World’s Finest) will get included.

 Coming Up: Expect something on funny animals, Funny Stuff in particular.  I have a soft spot for the funny animal genre because of how and when I was introduced to comics, and the Funny Stuff book has been some great reading.

 

After these messages, we'll be right back!

Blog Bits  No new content today, just a bit of housecleaning.  I've been pretty busy, so the posting has been sparse, and it is likely to continue like this for the next few weeks, we have my son's birthday this weekend, then fall break, then my daughter's birthday which won't leave much time for posting.  November will be a bit light as well thanks to a lot of travel for work, but I'll try to maintain at least a weekly schedule.  Next real blog post will probably be sometime the week of October 10th.  See you then.

Superman #6, Detective Comics #^^ (First Two-Face) and a mini-review of Inception

COMIC COMMENTARY


Modern Marvels

Superman #6: I've really enjoyed the "rebirth. Revamp" of recent DC books.  It feels like we are in a new renaissance of DC comics.  No where has this been more evident than in the Superman books.  This month's issue wrapped up the Eradicator storyline, sets up a new Superboy that is in its own way unique, and gives us the book's focus on Superman and his son.  Everything that was missing for the past 4 years that shows that this take is doing it right can be summed up in a single image:

Golden Age Greats

Detective Comics #66: When you list the upper-echelon of Batman's villains, Two-Face is always in the top 5.  So it was a pleasant surprise to get to his first appearance.  Almost everything we would think of as classic Two-Face is here: scarred face/scarred coin, basing crimes on "twos', you an even read the animosity between him and Robin here by applying a modern reader's sensibilities since Robin thwarts most of his attempts on Batman's life.  The solution of plastic surgery is mentioned, then discarded, as the only surgeon skilled enough is out of country due to the war.  The only notable differences are that his last name here is Kent, not Dent.  This was also notable for being a continuing story.  Early strips were modeled after newspaper strips, but other than a villain appearing to die or escape in one issue and come back in the next, this is the first time I think there has been a definitive "To be continued".  Also of note is a Boy Commando tale where a reporter from the far future has a mummy relate a wartime tale of a conflict between Nazis and the Boy Commandos in Egypt.  Yeah, I'll repeat that: a mummy tales a reporter in a space age future about a battle in WWII.


MOVIE MADNESS

Inception: I just watched Inception for the first time.  I found it to be really interesting and visually really creative.  I enjoyed it on its surface, but I think those trying to find multiple layers and readings on the film to parallel the multiple layers of dream presented in the film are trying to hard, and while many reviewers at the time tried to present it as an extremely complex narrative, I think on the whole it was relatively simple (but then multiple earths, timelines, etc. are my bread and butter so what do I know).  My really only complaint with this film was Marion Cotilliard.  I don't know if I've seen her in anything else, but she really grates on the nerves here as Mal.

Black Dragons, Black Panthers, and Podcasts

This one is an amalgamation of the past few days due to birthday celebrations and all-day work conferences.

COMIC COMMENTARY

Golden Age Greats 

All-Star Comics #12  The JSA, recently renamed the Justice Battalion splits up to save varying inventors and their inventors from the Black Dragon Society and are brought back together in the end to save Johnny Thunder and round up the leaders.  This is the same Black Dragon Society that was name-checked in the recent Atom strip in All-American on-sale the same month.  I noticed that the Sandman strip was not by Kirby and Simon which is unusual for the normal art team to not do their character's All-Star installment.




Silver Age Spotlight

Fantastic Four #52  Reed and team are lured to Wakanda to by King T'Challa in order to prove his readiness for something.  Lee and Kirby have been on a role since the beginning of the Frightful Four trilogy round #36.  This is the first one that wasn't bad, but hasn't lived up to its recent peers, especially the stellar #51.  I think what lets it down for me is Lee's dialogue.  The Panther is mister smug pants, "Ha, Ha I'm so smart and better because you can't defeat me because I laid traps."  Its bit like Kraven and Spider-Man.  Let me prove I am your better by ensuring a less than even playing field.  The story also ends abruptly for T'Challa to tell why he really wants them here in a forced cliff-hanger.  I really like that Black Panther has the classic full face mask here and not the Avengers half-mask.  I thought it was a more recent design aesthetic, but I should have trusted Kirby's design sense to have come up with it first.

PODCAST PROPS

Give Me Those Star Trek #1 The Cage click here to download Siskoid and Gene Hendricks examine the Star Trek Pilot, The Cage and muse what it might have been like if that was the Pilot that went to series.  A strong debut for the podcast.  My personal opinion is that it would have been a lot more serious Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea type of show and lasted 2-3 series.  I just don't think the type of cast would have allowed for the type of stories that made Star Trek a classic.

Film and Water Podcast: High Fidelity click here to download The episode makes me want to watch this movie.  I think I saw the latter half one night on cable when I woke up in the middle of the night one night.  It was also intersting to hear Rob have a guest on who had the same appreciation for the film, but who had different interpretations and take aways from different scenes

Palace of Glittering Delights: Enterprise  click here to download Andrew Leyland covers a recent watch-thru of key Enterprise episodes in honor of the 50the anniversary of Star Trek.  I've never seen Enterprise and this makes me want to check it out.  I think it would be interesting to watch it as kind of a Trek continuity order (ie watch Enterprise, then Star Trek TOS, then Star Trek Animated. etc.).  I do agree with Andy about the unsuitability for older shows to be binge watched, and I've started mixing and matching nights of TV from old series for fun and variety.

Also, I've listened to Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men episodes 103-105.  I may discuss them in more detail later, but I wanted to focus on some shows that haven't received as much coverage from me.

Podcast Reactions (Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men and Fantasticast

PODCAST PROPS

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men #101: I’m Not Bad, I’m Drawn That Way click here to download

Jay and Miles look at the Gossamyr storyline from New Mutants.  This storyline I have a particular relationship with because this was where my subscription to New Mutants kicked in.  After a few years of getting the Sears Marvel packs for Christmas from the annual Sears Wish List Christmas catalog, I asked for subscriptions one year to all of the X-books running at the time.  Honestly, it was a bit of a letdown and led to some buyer’s remorse.  Luckily it was followed by Inferno and a great Asgard storyline.  My recollection and read of Gossamyr was different from Jay’s.  The take presented on the episode was one of a creature from a manipulative society who couldn’t help but repeat learned behavior and didn’t understand what was wrong.  I think Gossamyr was explicitly and propsefully playing the New Mutants against each other and knew exactly what she was doing.  While I agree that it was tragic, I think there was some irony in Gossamyr seeing her family fall prey to a physical manipulation and exploitation to mirror the emotional manipulation she was bringing against the team.

The Fantasticast #195: Fantastic Four #155, Battle Royale click here to download

There is no such thing as a bad Fantasticast episode.   Andy and Stephen are about 100 issues ahead of my Marvel Silver Age reading, but I always make sure to listen when a new episode drops.  They touched a bit on how underused Medusa feels during this period.  I think it is because of a fundamental problem with the character on this particular team:  She brings nothing to the table except for gender.  I don’t mean that to come off as sexist, but once Reed stops keeping to the lab worrying and agonizing over Sue she doesn’t have unique skillset.  It’s like the tropes in RPGs and multi-player videogames that themselves were influenced by comics.  To make a workable unit and give everyone a chance to shine, everyone needs a unique skillset.  It’s normally some variation of the following: strong person, technical person/utility player, stealthy person, skilled fighter/stealth, long distance blaster, healing/defense.  Now look at the FF:  Strong person?  Thing.  Technical person/utility player: Reed and to a lesser extent Sue and Johnny with the versatile ways they use their powers.  Skilled fighter? Ben Stealth? Sue Long Distance Blaster? Johnny with Sue to a lesser extent Healing/Defense? Sue.  Each is good at multiple things but stands out in one thing.  Medusa?  She doesn’t replace the function Sue played re: defense and stealth.  She isn’t as strong or as good of a fighter as Ben and she isn’t as versatile as Reed.  Once Sue is reintroduced and Crystal marries Quicksilver, she stops being the confidant of the male characters, and they do nothing to make her relatable to any female readers that might exist.  She has no relationships, no background other than being an Inhuman [which never revolves around her], nothing.  She is literally there just to fill a fourth spot.

    Oh, and Colorforms, sweet, glorious Colorforms, the little semi-magnetic clings you could create scenes with on a little easel.  The easel would have a backdrop, and there would be clings of characters, props, and sound effects.  Colorforms and Shrinkydinks made up a good bit of my childhood.