Zen Archer

"Charlotte Sometimes" by The Cure.

Supergroups:

"Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith

"From The Beginning" by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

"The Whirlwind" by Transatlantic

I believe Tribble's largely right here. HBO tends to follow the UK and Japanese models where seasons are more likely to be 13 episodes (or even six, depending). If memory serves, the last Sopranos season was split up over the course of the year.

Anyways, the last thing I saw was Columbo Season 5 on DVD. Six movies, including an excellent one featuring Janet Leigh and a rather weird one directed by Patrick McGoohan. 

Three overrated rock bands:

 

The Doors

The Eagles

CSN (and sometimes Y)

Three overrated rock bands:

The Doors

The Eagles

CSN (and sometimes Y)

Goin' back to the '50s....

"Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price

"Johnny B Goode" by Chuck Berry

Peggy Sue" by Buddy Holly

Just some mold that's proving to be a bear to get rid of. Some on the vents too. The walls don't seem to be seriously damaged.

What to jettison - Doc's trilling (always seemed one of the sillier aspects even in the pulps)' date=' the polar fortress (yes, Doc had it before Supes - but only we know that), any science that's been seriously superseded. The rather clownish personas of various of the five - not make them super-serious, but [i']show[/i] that these people are some of the finest minds in the world, and have them act like it. Humor doesn't have to be a brick through a plate glass window.

What to keep - Doc himself. A product of revolutionary levels of training and physical and mental stimulation, wealthy, and dedicated to the greater good of mankind, a true hero. If you can capture that essence, you're off to a good start.

Doc's possession of advanced technology, much of it his own construction. In fact, this is even easier to do today, with our greater knowledge of what does and doesn't work, and why. Have Doc's private aircraft use pulse-jet technology in the '20s. Let him and the Five use small, concealable walkie-talkies while everyone else uses either massive, backpack mounted stuff or even field telephones.

Make the villains believable. No, he doesn't want to take over the world - but his scheme to make millions will kill hundreds, and he doesn't care. The modern hero is defined to a certain extent by his opposition - so also make them quite palpably evil.

 

Well, there is something cool about the road not traveled science. This could THE dieselpunk move. Unfortunately, that distinction wouldn't sell many extra tickets and could inflate the special effects in big way. So maybe it best to leave that road not traveled not traveled.

 

The recent DC Doc Savage comic did a very good job fleshing out and adding depth to the Fabulous Five. The movie could do worse than take cues from it for their portrayal.

 

One of the problems I can see the movie Doc Savage running into, is the desire to give him a motivation. Doc Savage's reason work to improve the world and to fight evil isn't explained. At the time, I guess people didn't feel a need explain why a person would want stop the bad guys and help those in need. I'm think now the desire would be to explain it. Show how his Uncle Ben died because of his self-centered behavior or some such. I'm not sure whether audiences really demand this or not.

What will be interesting is if they address the whole issue of Doc's secret hospital, where he performed blatantly illegal operations on criminals that removed their criminal tendencies.

To address another point above, if Black intends to set his movie in the '30s, then he may to have to jiggle their backgrounds if he wants gender and racial diversity in the Five, since four of them were high-ranking US military men during WW1.

Thanks.

They came back for the dehumidifiers today, and cleaned and refixed the affected areas of the carpet.

The walls are my problem, evidently. So is putting everything back where it belongs, but I don't mind that part and felt bad they had to move so much stuff in the first place (I hadn't known how far the water had spread).

Two Jackie Chan films: Twin Dragons and Dragon Lord. Both are slight but enjoyable, and each has at least three impressive action sequences.

So.

While I was away at Charlotte - or perhaps starting sometime before - the AC of the guy in the unit above me clogged, sending Lord knows how much water down to the carpeting and padding in the bedroom I sleep in, and the bedroom that I use as my storage locker.

Nothing is ruined, but there's a fair bit of mold and damp I'll be cleaning up tonight. May as well, since I won't get any sleep over the sound of the dehumidifiers.

Inevitably, I see a variation of the "diplomatic immunity" process being used here.

The Lone Ranger must speak with perfect grammar' date=' he can't kill anyone and he can't win against hopeless odds. [/quote']

 

I don't have a problem with the first two of these. The third is negotiable.

 

However, can a pulp movie and more particularly a Doc Savage movie that respects its source material turn a profit? Or is the audience for such films too small to support the budget that is necessary to do one right? What do you think, pulp fans?

 

I think it's possible. I tend to agree with Sundog. I also think that Pat Savage should play a bigger part in any film that gets made, and that a lot depends on the casting.

Heroescon was a lot of fun - one of the best comics shows I've been to in quite a while.

A few years back, two different publishers released hardcover collections of men's pulp covers. The story titles alone were lurid and evocative enough to inspire adventure ideas.

Heading out to Charlotte for Heroescon in a few hours. I can't sleep, but it's a nice can't sleep.

"Road Runner" by The Modern Lovers

"Red Barchetta" by Rush

"Flirtin' With Disaster" by Molly Hatchet

I've got a pretty old copy of that Doc biography - the Tarzan one too. Pretty interesting books.

I read recently that the director of Iron Man 3 wants to do a Doc Savage movie. I wish him luck.

Dynamite is also publishing comics starring the Green Hornet (written by Mark Waid) and The Black Bat, as well as a Shadow:Year One mini written by Matt Wagner. There's also a mini-series event called Masks featuring all the before mentioned characters plus The Spider, a new Zorro, and Golden Age comic characters The Black Terror and Miss Fury. The latter also has a new comic but the first issue was enough to turn me off entirely.

The results, IMO, have been decidedly mixed. The Green Hornet book has been great so far, and the Black Bat shows promise. The Shadow books are hit and miss, Masks is mediocre and I dropped the Spider some months back.

Laughing Stock by Talk Talk on repeat. One of my favorite records ever.

My standard response would be "Who do you want?". Because, really, it's up to you. If you want aliens to inject Foxbat with something that provides total Life Support, go for it.

I didn't enjoy Demon Knights, but I REALLY liked Dial H. So that's going to clear a spot on my pull list whether I like it or not. I was enjoying Threshold, but was worried it wouldn't last.

I kinda knew Dial H was too quirky to last, so I guess I should be glad we got as many issues as we did. Threshold I knew was doomed.

The other announced cancellation was Legion of Super-Heroes, a book I gave up on some time ago. Unlike the others, though, I presume it'll be back in some format sooner than later.

Comic-related crankiness: Three DC books I was rather enjoying - Demon Knights, Dial H, and Threshold - have been cancelled. And as usual, the crybaby wing of the Internet blames the company as opposed to the lack of audience support.

In sports news, the Washington Capitals have let me down again. Props, though, for the run that got them into the playoffs to begin with.

Working through Mission:Impossible Season 2.

Peter Graves has joined as Jim Phelps, which shifts the cast dynamic a bit as he was far more available for filming than his predecessor Steven Hill. Pretty solid overall, though there are a few bits where it's clear the intricate maneuvering is covering for sub-par plotting.

Coming soon to off-off-off-Broadway: Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics and book by Guillermo Del Toro:

South Pacific Rim