Friday, September 30, 2022

Your Friday Video Link: Matt Smith, Today Show Weatherman

Greetings and salutations! 'Tis I, the  Dave-El biding you hail and welcome unto mine blog,  I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You!

As your arrival upon mine blog has coinciding with the arrival of Friday, that means it's time for...

YOUR FRIDAY VIDEO LINK! 

Today's spotlight falls on actor Matt Smith.

Much beloved for his starring role on Doctor Who.

Much acclaimed for his role as Prince Phillip on The Crown.

Receiving much notoriety for his role as Prince Daemon Targaryen on House of the Dragon

But are any of these noteworthy roles set to prepare you for Matt Smith's latest challenge?

I present unto thee... Matt Smith, Today Show Weatherman!  




Thursday, September 29, 2022

Hurricane Ian

Well we've got a hurricane heading our way.

Yesterday, Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida as a category 4 storm, just a smidge off of being a 5. 

Which is bad. 

The current track of the storm is expected to take it into Charlotte and then up the middle of North Carolina right over ye olde Fortress of Ineptitude in a couple of days.  

The current expectation (and hope) is that Ian will have spent most of it's energy and be a tropical storm by then.

For a detailed on the spot analysis of this storm, here is our intrepid report for the I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You Weather Center.


 

Stay safe, everybody.  

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

21st Century Hitler

Currently I am working my way through a documentary called The U.S. and the Holocaust, a look back at all the shit that Adolph Hitler and his regime was doing to the Jews starting in the 1930's and how the United States was doing fuck all about it.  

I'll delve into some of the details of this documentary in a future post (which will be awhile, this documentary is over 9 hours long). 

But what struck me was how much of the rhetoric and actions of depraved men from nearly half a century ago seems heartbreakingly relevant today.   

You would have Hitler at this rallies, ranting and rambling about how he has suffered and that means the people of Germany have suffered and targeting Jews as the outside force, the other who is the cause of such suffering.  

And the crowds gathered in joyous supports of these rants and ramblings with dutiful salutes of fealty and loyalty. 

If all of this sounds like a newsreel from Germany in 1938, it is also distressingly similar to events that took place on September 17, 2022 in Youngstown, Ohio.

There's Donald Trump ranting and rambling about how he has suffered at the hands of others who hate him and thus hate America and thus hate his supporters.  

As the crowd cheered and applauded, members of the crowd raised a stiff-armed salute to Trump reminiscent of the "Heil Hitler" salute of Nazi Germany. 

The one-finger salute reportedly stands for “Where We Go One We Go All” — a saying in the far-right QAnon conspiracy movement.   

During an interview on Friday, September 23rd, Hillary Clinton could not help but draw the comparison of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.   

Hillary Clinton had this to say: "I remember as a young student, you know, trying to figure out how did people get basically drawn in by Hitler. How did that happen?” 

“I’d watch newsreels and I’d see this guy standing up there ranting and raving, and people shouting and raising their arms. I thought, ‘What’s happened to these people?’” 

“You saw the rally in Ohio the other night: Trump is there ranting and raving for more than an hour, and you have these rows of young men with their arms raised. I thought, ‘What is going on?’”

Clinton was hardly the only one to see similarities between the rallies of Trump and Hitler.

Retired U.S. Army General Barry McCaffrey made a similar observation about the Ohio rally:  "The crowd is similar to a Nuremberg rally in 1936."   

“A lawless Trump in office in the 2024 election would slide us into autocracy and deny our Constitutional safeguards. This is our greatest danger as a nation since 1860.”

Trump brought his hate and anger show to Wilmington NC last weekend where event staffers were apparently worried about the whole Nazi similarity thing. Staffers were urging people in the crowd to please not do the one-finger salute.  

Well, that might've quelled the Nazism in the crowd but Trump was still up at the podium with his usual litany of grievances and trying to make his struggle also the crowds. A blow against Donald Trump is a blow against America and the crowd is America. Everyone else is not.

There are risks to comparing Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler. Hitler does have history on his side what with starting a war that consumed the entire world and committing genocide against the Jewish community.  Whereas Trump never did anything quite that bad, right? 

But there was a time when Hitler had not done anything quite that bad either. But every step Hitler took towards his delivering action on his hatred of Jews that was not challenged or stopped gave him leave to become that bad. 

We dodged a bullet when the insurrection of January 6th failed to deliver the results Trump wanted.  And we dodged another bullet when the various other schemes (ex: false electors) did not come to fruition. 

But the gun is still loaded. Even if Trump himself is denied the White House in 2024, the movement behind has power to continue his message of hate and anger and people (like Ron DeSantis) more than willing to take that movement to secure power for themselves at the expense of the further erosion of American democracy.

History is most definitely cued up to repeat itself.   


Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Tuesday TV Touchbase: She-Hulk & Stargirl




Andrea and I have been following She-Hulk: Attorney At Law over on Disney+.   

Now depending on who you ask, this is show is clever and entertaining or an unmitigated disaster.   

No surprise here but the latter group are mostly dudes. 

Personally, I think She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is clever and entertaining.  

Unlike WandaVision which started off as a surreal parody of classic sitcoms, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is, in fact, a situation comedy. 

What happens when a young attorney named Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) gets infected with cousin Bruce Banner's gamma irradiated blood and turns into a tall, super strong green female Hulk? 

For starters, her tall, super strong green female Hulk isn't a rampaging rage monster. She has a had a life time of being angry and learning how to control that anger just being a woman. The upshot is Jen is better at controlling her anger than Bruce ever was and can turn into her Hulk persona at will.

The media dubs this tall, super strong green female Hulk as "She-Hulk" which is a name Jen abolutely loathes but is forced to fight for it when super powered internet influencer Titania (Jameela Jamil) trademarks the "She-Hulk" name for her line of beauty products.   

Jen is able to win back the rights to the "She-Hulk" name in court by proving she chose to use that name before Titania registered her trademark. Jen used She-Hulk for a dating app. Jen's witnesses for her defense are the scumbags she dated from that app as She-Hulk. It's humiliating but she wins the rights to a name she didn't want.   

The only law firm willing to hire an attorney who can turn into a Hulk is Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway (GLK&H) but they don't want Jennifer Walters, they want She-Hulk to be the face of their superhuman division.  All Jen wants to be is a lawyer but she has to be She-Hulk to do that?  

As you can surmise, this is not a show that lends itself to super hero slug fest that some dude-bro fan boy might expect. (She-Hulk does kick Titania's ass in a brief bout in episode 6.)  

But what drives this show are the characters forced into absurd situations.  For example, Wong (from Dr. Strange) makes a memorable guest turn where he needs to sue a stage magician who is misusing a sling ring to make portals, one of which drops a tipsy party girl into Wong's home. Madisynn (yep, that's how she spells it) becomes Wong's girlfriend somehow. Her pet name for him? "Wongers." 

The upshot is that She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is not for everyone. Me, I'm having fun watching this show having fun with the characters and situations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is it's own  thing. If it's not your thing, then fine.  

Meanwhile, Andrea and I are halfway through the 3rd season of Stargirl.  The theme for season three is "Frenemies" as Courtney and the gang try to cope with the super villains in Blue Valley who may be actually trying to be better people or may be up to sketchy shit. Really, it could go either way.

The season opens with the return to Blue Valley of Steven Sharpe, AKA The Gambler. Sharpe says that he too is seeking to make amends for his criminal past and to make contact with his long lost daughter Rebecca. At the end of the season's opening episode, the Gambler has been murdered.

Whodunit? 

Could it be Crusher Crock (Sportsmaster) or Paula Brooks (Tigress)? Both are living next door to Courtney living life like it's a "Leave It To Beaver" episode. 

Could it be Cindy Burman (Shiv), daughter of the evil Dragon King and now allegedly trying to be a better person and member of Courtney's Justice Society?  

Could it be Dragon King? Dude's supposed to be dead but c'mon, it's a TV show based on a comic book. Death is not necessarily the end when it comes to comic book characters.

Also not beyond suspicion is Sylvester Pemberton, the erstwhile Starman who was among the original Justice Society members massacred by the Injustice Society. Pemberton shows up alive on Courtney's doorstep and looking for his Cosmic Staff.  Sometimes Pemberton seems like a good guy who only wants to do what's right; but there are other times when Pemberton is straight up "coo coo for Cocoa Puffs".   

In some ways, Stargirl is suffering from the same pacing problems that plagued Naomi earlier this year, trying to sustain a plot threat over a season that should be resolved in a third of the time.  

I just remembered Mr. Bones who made an unexpected appearance at the end of season 2 and threatening to be a force to be reckoned with hasn't been seen or referenced yet.  The writers really need to move things along. I hope there isn't some expectation of holding things for a 4th season.  Since Stargirl is a show on the CW, one should not assume there will be a 4th season. Or even a CW.  

OK, that's a wrap for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.

Coming up in a future post, we'll take a look at Quantum Leap, both classic and new.  

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  

Monday, September 26, 2022

Doctor Who: The Power Is Still On?

Up until recently, all the news related to Doctor Who concerned whatever Russell T Davies is up to for 2023 rather than what Chris Chibnall was up for his big finale with Jodie Whitaker for 2022. 

All we know about the big Doctor Who special celebrating the BBC's Centenary was that it would be 90 minutes long coming our way in October and it's gonna be epic.

And that nugget of info came from...  Russell T Davies. That's right, we heard more from RTD than from Chris Chibnall about Chibnall's own production.

Whatever embargo there was on Doctor Who's Centenary special lifted a bit last week with the release of a new issue of Doctor Who Magazine that announced the title of the special would be "The Power of the Doctor".  

 


And we know about the cast joining Jodie Whitaker for her last go round as the Doctor.  In addition to the Doctor's current companions Yasmin "Yaz" Khan (Mandip Gill) and Dan Lewis (John Bishop), classic companions Ace (Sophie Aldred) and Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) are set to make a comeback. 

Sacha Dhawan's Master is also confirmed to return, along with the Cybermen and the Daleks. 

Jemma Redgrave will be reprising her role as Kate Stewart and Jacob Anderson will be returning as Inston-Vee Vinder. 

Here we have Yaz, Teegan, Ace, the Doctor and Kate Stewart. 


Here we have Jodie in the recurring orange space suit that I seriously hopes gets fumigated between regenerations. 



Jodie's Doctor will be regenerating in this special but regenerating into who is a big question.

While Ncuti Gatwa has been cast as the 14th Doctor, we've seen David Tennant on the set of Doctor Who doing whatever the hell RTD is up to for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary. 

Could Jodie regenerate into David Tennant (with a classic Tennant look of shock and an accompanying "What?")?   

Well, we will have to wait until...

Damn it! Something else we still don't know.  We know the special is coming in October but there is no release date as of yet. 


Sunday, September 25, 2022

Cinema Sunday: On The Town

This week's Cinema Sunday takes us back to 1949 to a 1949 Technicolor musical about 3 sailors who hit New York City looking to see the sights, get laid and some other third thing.




This week we present  On The Town starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller.  This film is also the directorial debut of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen before they would go on to direct Singin' In the Rain.  


Three US Navy sailors – Gabey, Chip, and Ozzie – begin their shore leave, excited for their 24 hours in New York. While riding the subway, Gabey (Kelly) falls in love with the picture of the monthly "Miss Turnstiles," whose name is Ivy Smith. He imagines she must be the most sophisticated kind of celebrity to be named "Miss Turstiles". And he makes it his mission to find her.

Chip (Sinatra) does not have to go looking for love. Love throw itself at him in the form of Hildy (Garrett), a New York City cab driver.  

Ozzie's own quest for love resolved with an encounter in museum with leggy anthropologist Claire who is played by leggy actress/dancer Ann Miller. Claire is attracted to Ozzie because of his resemblance to Cro-Magnon man. Which is because Ozzie is played by Jules Munshin who had a passing resemblance to Cro-Magnon man.  

The "Boy, This Did Not Age Well" Department

There is an extended musical and dance number early in the film in the museum where Ozzie and Claire first meet. It's a very clever and intricate piece of choreography but this is the awkward part, it involves our characters dressing and behaving like various indigenous people from around the world. Watching a group of white people acting like people from "primitive cultures" is a bit off-putting.

Since Gene Kelly is behind the camera, the film has a surreal dreamscape dance sequence. If you've seen An American In Paris or Singin' In The Rain, you know the drill: a fever dream of a dance scene where you wonder what drugs Gene Kelly was taking.  

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department

Betty Garrett is Brunhilde "Hildy" Esterhazy, the sex mad cab drive with an overheated mad on for Frank Sinartra's Chip.  And if a young woman with a burning passion for Frank Sinatra's character seems a tad familiar, it's because Betty Garrett played the same damn role in Take Me Out To The Ball Game.  

A strong part of On The Town's New York vibe is Gene Kelly's insistence that some scenes be shot in New York City, including at Columbus Circle, the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Bridge and Rockefeller Center.

Basically there's not much more On The Town than what I said in the opening paragraph,  just a story about 3 dudes hitting New York City looking to see the sights, get laid and some other third thing.

As our principals run about New York City, getting into and out of trouble, falling into, out of and back into love,  On The Town is basically a love letter to the city that never sleeps where anything can happen and anybody can meet anyone.   

In 2006, On The Town ranked No. 19 on the American Film Institute's list of Best Musicals. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Me, I thought On The Town was OK. I think I wanted there to be more stakes for our trio of sailors.  But maybe that's asking too much.

Sometimes it's enough of an adventure to watch 3 guys run around New York City to see the sights, get laid and some other third thing.   


Saturday, September 24, 2022

It's Saturday #8 (The End!)

IT'S  Saturday.

IT'S  September 24th.

IT'S   the end of the world as we know it

IT'S   the end of the world as we know it

IT'S   the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!

IT'S finally the end of "It's Saturday!"  

IT'S  the last time you'll see this on a Saturday!  


IT'S  the end of this!  

IT'S  about damn time!    

Friday, September 23, 2022

Your Friday Video Link: Old Glory Robot Insurance

Howdy!  Howdy!  Howdy!  Dave-El here and where is here? It's my blog,  I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You!

Since we are in that sweet spot between Thursday and Saturday, what humans call "Friday", it's time for...

YOUR FRIDAY VIDEO LINK! 

A new season of Law and Order kicked off with the venerable Sam Waterston as New York City District Attorney Jack McCoy.

But as iconic a role as Jack McCoy is, it is not Sam Waterston's best work.

That distinction belongs to his role as spokesperson for Old Glory Insurance.  




Thursday, September 22, 2022

Super Heroes Vs. Bad Grammar

Last week, I mentioned I was reading DC's latest "world's will live, world's will die" crossover epic, Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths. 

The precipitating event leading into the Dark Crisis was the death of the Justice League.

We can't forget about this tragic event as we are constantly reminded:

"The Justice League Are Dead!"

"The Justice League Are Dead!"

"The Justice League Are Dead!"

Except....

Does anyone but me have a problem with that sentence.

The Justice League is not plural. It is a single entity,  a group, an alliance, however you want to define it. 

There was a Justice League. 

There was the Justice League,

The term "Justice League" is singular. 

The subject in this sentence...

"The Justice League Are Dead!"

...is singular. 

But the verb in this sentence...

"The Justice League Are Dead!"

...is plural.   

The subject (Justice League) is not in agreement with the verb (are).   

The correct grammar for this sentence would be...

"The Justice League Is Dead!"

Bad grammar is the knife blade to the heart of drama.




Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Swimming While Black

 I wish I could say I was surprised by this by I am not. People perpetually live down to my lowest expectations.   

When Disney provided every one a first ever glimpse of 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, the reaction has been disheartening to say the list.

No, people are not distressed that Disney is once again going to the well of turning an animated feature to a live action movie. Disney's lack of originality is not an issue here.  

The bug up a lot of ignorant butts is that the part of Ariel the Mermaid is being portrayed by Halle Bailey who is black.

Super racist fuckers are working overtime to come up with reasons why Ariel can't be black.  

For example, ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a Danish story, therefore Ariel should be White.  Yes, the story was written by Hans Christian Anderson of Denmark and first published in 1837. The same story that describes  Ariel and the rest of her mermaid kin as living “far out in the ocean” at the “bottom of the sea.”

In other words, not Denmark. 

Get a load of this damn argument: Mermaids are a European mythological figure and therefore Ariel should be White.  

Europeans do not have a god damn monopoly on mermaids. East Asian and Oceanic folklore has a lot of stories of underwater kingdoms and merpeople. 

So Mermaid does not equal European. 

Also not all Europeans are white.    

OK, apparently casting Halle Bailey as Ariel will cause all your copies of the animated Little Mermaid to be erased? 

Making Ariel Black is ruining childhoods and changing the character. 

Your copy of The Little Mermaid still exists. Geez! 

Our racists fuckturds also bring science into this. Or try to.  

Mermaids live under the sea and therefore would not have dark skin.

Let's have  far-right pundit Matt Walsh do the heavy lifting on this bullshit. "From a scientific perspective, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have someone with darker skin who lives deep in the ocean.” 

So undersea creatures can only have pale skin? 

Nobody mention that to the manatee which decidedly does not have pale skin. I mention the manatee because a lot of mermaid myths arose from ancient sailors spotting manatees and describing them as mermaids. 

Also of overriding importance to all these arguments: 

The Little Mermaid isn't real.   


Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Hacks and Kevin Can F**k Himself


Last week, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy returned to launch new seasons. Wheel made some minor updates to the graphics and set with an emphasis on the color blue.  Pat Sajak is once more physically interacting with the contestants after 2 years of distancing due to COVID. 

Despite the breathless enthusiasm expressed by Pat and Vanna for the show's 40th season, I can't help feel some tiredness from our beloved duo.  And Pat in a recent interview has made it clear his time as host is close to the end.  

On Jeopardy, Ken Jennings is now introduced as host and seems to be particularly bolstered by the return of a studio audience which had been gone for 2 years due to COVID.  

Ken did run into a controversy when one contestant was allowed to change an answer and another was not. The incidents were not identical but the trolls were out in force calling for Ken's head for the perceived lack of fairness.  

A few weeks ago, I wrapped up the second season of Hacks on HBO Max.  The aging diva of comedy Deborah Vance has been unmoored from her residency at the Palmetto Casino in Las Vegas. Vance hits the road to break in a new act that she is sure will put her back on top.  The new act is co-written by Ava Daniels.  It is a relationship complicated by the lawsuit Deborah has against Ava for violating her NDA with that invective filled email Ava sent at the end of season 1.  

When Ava first met Deborah at the start of season 1, Ava had zero chill for Deborah's aging ego driven white privileged abusive arrogance.  

When Deborah first met Ava, Deborah had no tolerance for Ava's  anxiety driven self righteous angry arrogance.  

Over the course of 2 seasons, Deborah and  Ava have grown in fits and starts to a mutual understanding of where the other is coming from and a mutual affection for one another.

Even if Deborah doesn't drop the lawsuit until the final scene of the final episode of season 2.   

The season ends with Deborah recording a television special based on her new act which is absolutely killing it with audiences thanks to Ava's insights. 

Ava is suddenly in demand as a writer and Deborah lets her go so Ava can take advantage of her moment. Ava for her part doesn't want to go, preferring instead to stay with Deborah. 

Jean Smart as Deborah Vance is an extraordinary character, the epitome of someone who is hard to love but damn it once you do, it's hard to let go as Ava discovers by the end of season 2.

So Kevin Can F**k Himself is back for it's 2nd and final season. So what happened with Neil's discovery of Allison's plot to kill Kevin? 

OK, SPOILER: Neil tells Kevin. 

OK, not so much of a spoiler: Kevin isn't listening. Kevin is too self-aborbed to listen to his alleged best friend.   

Non-sitcom Neil is a very sad character. 

As you know, the premise of the show is that when Kevin is on screen, the format of the show switches to sitcom with the garish lighting and the canned laughter. In season 2, we find out it switches to sitcom for another person. 

In a flashback to the funeral for Allison' dad, the show switches to sitcom when her mom shows up. Played by Peri Gilpin (Roz from Frasier), Allison's mom engages in the same passive aggressive insulting shit that Kevin does to her.  The same flashback episode shows how Allison first met Kevin and how she found his antics... charming? And if Patty's eye-rolling at this meet-cute was any more severe, her eyeballs would pop out of her head into Neil's ears.

It seems Patty was crushing on Allison when they first met. 

Yeah, I said it.  

Anyway, we're halfway through. How will this end? Will Kevin ever exit sitcom world to see Allison for how she really is in the real drama world?  Right now I have no clear expectation for how any of this is going to end up.

OK, that's a wrap for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.

Coming up in a future post, we've got She-Hulk and Stargirl.  

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  


Monday, September 19, 2022

Assholes On Parade

If somebody asks you "Hey, did you hear what that Republican asshole did?", your response will need to be, "Could you be more specific?" 

There are, in fact, so many to choose from.  

We've got a veritable parade of assholes.   

Florida Gov. (and ASSHOLE!) Ron DeSantis had 50 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard in order to stick it to the libs!  Apparently the migrants were lied to about where the plane was taking them and nobody bothered to tell anyone in Martha's Vineyard they were coming.  

While a lot of people thought DeSantis was a pulling a cruel and inhumane political stunt,  Fox News host (and ASSHOLE!) Tucker Carlson was just positively giddy with "happy happy joy joy"  about DeSantis sending immigrant-filled planes to Martha’s Vineyard.  

Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, Texas Gov. (and ASSHOLE) Greg Abbott sent dozens of  asylum-seekers to the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Rep. (and ASSHOLE!) Marjorie Taylor Greene was accused of kicking a teen activist outside the Capitol on Thursday in an incident captured on video which Greene posted to her Twitter account. While most people might think an elected official kicking an 18 year old citizen is a bad thing, Greene thought this was something to brag about.   

Last week there was a House Oversight hearing on climate featuring Raya Salter, an energy justice lawyer who serves on the New York State Climate Action Council. She spoke to the impact on climate by the petrochemical industry and the negative environmental impact on communities that are poor and predominantly people of color.   

But Rep. Clay Higgins (and ASSHOLE!) was not buying Salter’s testimony and demanded she answer the following:  “Everything you have – your clothes, your glasses, your car you got here on, your phone, the table you’re sitting at, the chair, the carpet under your feet – everything you’ve got is petrochemical products.  What would you do with that? Tell the world.”

Even as Salter endeavored to answer this rather open ended question, Higgins continued to talk over her, yelling at her and bragging about his religious background. 

Higgins later tweeted about the exchange, calling Salter an “unhinged climate activist.” So Higgins talked over her and raised his voice to her but SHE is the one who is unhinged?

Hey, we can't have "Assholes on Parade" with addressing the biggest one of them all.  

On his Truth Social platform, ASSHOLE Donald Trump reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words “The Storm is Coming." 

In QAnon lore, the “storm” refers to Trump's final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television. Trump followed that up on Thursday with a statement that if he is indicted for his role in having classified documents at his Mar-A-Lago, there would be “big problems” like we've never before seen.

Given Trump's open embrace of QAnon rhetoric, that sounds like a threat of violence to me.  

Of course, just like a good mob boss, Trump did not say "violence", he just said "big problems".  

Donald Trump is an asshole.

And sadly he is not alone. 



We are, alas, surrounded by assholes.  

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Cinema Sunday: Some Like It Hot

Last week's Cinema Sunday looked at a film called The Children's Hour. Because of LGBTQ+ themes involved, the film's approach to the subject of a same sex relationship was curtailed, muted and forced to endure a tragic ending in compliance with the Motion Picture Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays Code. 


This week's Cinema Sunday post is about another movie with LGBTQ+ themes (in this case, cross dressing) where the producers of the movie said "Fuck the Hays Code" and was made with out the approval of the code.  

That movie is Some Like It Hot, a 1959 American romantic comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.



While the Hays Code remained in force through the mid-1960's, the commercial and critical success of Some Like It Hot without imprimatur of the code was seen an early harbinger of the code's slide into irrelevance.   

Our story opens in Prohibition-era Chicago in February 1929. So it's colder than a witch's big toe.  In a speakeasy owned by gangster "Spats" Colombo are a pair of musicians just trying to earn a buck and just get by: Joe (Tony Curtis), jazz saxophone player and an irresponsible, impulsive ladies' man and his pal  Jerry (Jack Lemmon), an anxiety plagued  jazz double bass player. 

"Spats" Colombo's joint gets raided by the cops and ol' "Spats" ain't too happy about that so he takes out his anger with a Tommy Gun on the informant who ratted him out.

Unfortunately, Joe and Jerry are in the vicinity and witness the hit. 

 Even more unfortunately, "Spats" Colombo witnesses Joe and Jerry witnessing the hit. 

Joe and Jerry flee before "Spats" Colombo can have a conversation with them with his Tommy Gun but they can't stay out of his reach forever.  

Fortunately, Joe and Jerry have a way out of town.

Unfortunately, that way out of town involves Joe and Jerry having to dress up as women named Josephine and Daphne so they can join Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators, an all-female band headed by train to Miami.

On the train Joe and Jerry befriend Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), the band's vocalist and ukulele player.

Sugar confides to "Josephine" that she has sworn off male saxophone players, who have taken advantage of her in the past. She hopes to find a gentle, bespectacled millionaire in Florida.

Once in Miami, Joe concocts yet another disguise, wooing Sugar as gentle, bespectacled millionaire Junior, the heir to Shell Oil. ("Junior" also sounds like Cary Grant.)  

Meanwhile,  actual millionaire Osgood Fielding III is persistently pursuing "Daphne".  Joe convinces "Daphne" to actually date Osgood so "Junior" can use Osgood's yacht as part of his seduction of Sugar.  

"Daphne's" date with Osgood goes too well. Osgood asks "Daphne" to marry him. And Jerry is so caught up in his role, "Daphne" says yes.  

Meanwhile, "Spats" Colombo and his cronies have shown up for a mobster conference... er, a meeting for "Friends of Italian Opera", yeah, that's the ticket.    

Joe and Jerry see "Spats" and decide it's time to go on the run again.  

Joe has "Junior" break up with Sugar but he's starting to feel bad about his deception of Sugar and breaking her heart.  So he goes to say good-bye to Sugar with one last kiss... while he's dressed as "Josephine".  

The film ends with Sugar chasing after Joe - "Josephine" - "Junior" and joining him in a boat piloted by Osgood with "Daphne" by his side.  Osgood's chattering away about his plans for the wedding and "Daphne" is trying to shut him down gently but nothing is working.

Then Jerry takes off his wig and announces, "I'm a man, Osgood!"  

Osgood with a smirk replies, "Well, nobody's perfect." 

Which is the best movie ending ever.  

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department

As Osgood Fielding III, Joe E. Brown is the epitome of "that guy who was in that thing" with at least 54 films to his credit.  Brown was in Show Boat (1951) as Cap'n Andy Hawks which we covered in this Cinema Sunday post right here.   

In the part of Rosella (who played fiddle) was Grace Lee Whitney. Yep, Yeoman Rand from Star Trek


















I want to take a moment to talk about a performer who is NOT what I would call "that person who was in that thing". The part of  "Spats" Colombo was played by George Raft who is most famous in film history for being that guy who was NOT in that thing.  

Raft was most known for his  portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. His casting as "Spats" seems to be spot on in that regard.  

But movie stardom went to George Raft's head and he thought he knew better than the movies studios what movies Raft should make.  Among the lead roles Raft declined included High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), All Through the Night (1942) and reportedly also Casablanca (1942). All these parts went to Humphrey Bogart which propelled him to superstardom.   

With a reputation for being difficult to work with and with an unerring penchant for turning down roles in hit movies, Raft's star began to dim and the offers began to dry up, reduced to supporting roles wherever he could find work. His role as "Spats" in Some Like It Hot was Billy Wilder throwing him a bone.     

Some Like It Hot is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning for Best Costume Design. 

In 1989, the Library of Congress selected it as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

And it is a reputation that Some Like It Hot so richly deserves.  It is a very funny, delightful movie. 

And if you don't agree?

"Well, nobody's perfect." 

Saturday, September 17, 2022

It's Saturday #7

 


IT'S  Saturday.

IT'S  September 17th.

IT'S  ...well, quite frankly enough of this nonsense!  '

IT'S been damn 7 weeks of this fuckery! 

IT'S  getting on my god damn nerves, every damn week with this stupidity!!! 

IT'S  not funny anymore if it was every funny!!! And I swear by all that is holy and unholy if the next thing on this blog is.....


IT'S  A PILE OF BALLS! 

IT'S  A PILE OF BALLS! 

IT'S  A PILE OF BALLS!

IT'S  ALWAYS GOING TO BE A PILE OF BALLS!!!!! DAMN MOTHERFUCKING PILE OF BALLS!!!!! ARGGGHHHHH!!! 

IT'S  got to be the end of this!  

IT'S  more than I can take.  

Friday, September 16, 2022

Your Friday Video Link: This One Time At Band Camp

Greetings! I'm Dave-El and this is I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You.

Since it's Friday, it's time for...

YOUR FRIDAY VIDEO LINK! 

Today's clip is from a movie I've never seen but this is a bit from I really find amusing. 

Since school is back in session with it's attendant football games which means marching bands on the sidelines, it's time to explore what those band members learned over the summer...

...this one time in band camp. 

Take it away, Allyson Hannigan! 



Thursday, September 15, 2022

Hey Kids! New Comics!

For the last two weeks, I've done posts about Golden Age artists Lily Renee and Matt Baker. This week's comic book post is about something recent.

What comics am I reading right now?

My pull list at Acme Comics is pretty slim at the moment due to trying to manage my expenses and quite frankly my changing tastes in comic books.

I'm still following Batman which recently saw new writer Chip Zdarsky take over the title with a pretty strong opening storyline involving the Penguin and a new villain called Failsafe. Jorge Jiminez is back on the art which is a good thing; he's my favorite modern Batman artist.  

Art by Jorge Jiminez

I'm also still reading I Am Batman, the monthly series written by Academy Award winning screen writer John Ridley that features Jace Fox as Batman. 

I found the opening issues of this series to be bit wobbly with inconsistent art.  But Jace Fox moving out of Gotham City into New York City has revitalized my interest in this series. And artist Christian Duce is a major find for this series.


Art by Christian Duce

I am also reading Dark Crisis which recently rebranded itself as Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Writer Joshua Williamson does excellent character work with a sprawling cast but I'm not quite sure what the through line for the actual plot.  In the aftermath of the death of the Justice League, Deathstroke is leading a massive Secret Society of Super Villains to rise up against all the surviving heroes on Earth for the purpose...  well, apparently just to stir shit up.  That does seem to Deathstroke's marching orders from Pariah.  

Daniel Sampere is an excellent choice for artist, perfectly capturing a variety of characters from street level to cosmic powered.  

art by Daniel Sampere


I am also reading the mini-series Justice League vs. the Legion of Super Heroes (which I assume takes place before Dark Crisis.) 

Brian Michael Bendis's take on the Legion has been admittedly frustrating. Legion by it's very nature has a sprawling cast and Bendis when he relauched Legion about 2 years ago decided to reinvent every one of them. All at once. Which means his Legion run has been a bit of a mess. Which is a shame as he really has some really cool takes on some classic Legionnaires.  His version of Triplicate Girl has been particularly fascinating.  

So adding the entirety of the Justice League to the mix is a recipe for disaster. And the first couple of issues were a slog to get through.  But as the series reaches it's denouement, Bendis has found his groove and I'm quite enjoying this exploration of the DC Universe. When you have a time travel epic that brings in the Golden Age Justice Society of America and Jack Kirby's Kamandi, the Last Boy On Earth, well, you have my attention. 

JL vs. LSH also benefits from an artist well suited to the task of juggling a "cast of thousands" with Scott Godlewski who has a very clean line and is very good with expressive faces.  


Art by Scott Godlewski 

I'm not entirely sure but I might have a potentially valuable comic with Justice League vs. the Legion of Super Heroes#5. My copy was printed with double covers. I wonder how many others were printed like that? Printing glitches like that can make a comic more valuable.  

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Hypocrisy In Action

One of the talking points for Republicans in seeking to overturn Roe V. Wade was that the issue of abortion should be left to the states.  

In the aftermath of the actual overturning of Roe V. Wade, states have been running full tilt to see who can restrict or ban abortion faster. 

But apparently states are moving too slow for Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who introduced a bill to institute a nationwide ban on abortion. 

The operative word there is "nationwide". 

Republican hypocrisy in action!

After years and years of seeking to undermine Roe V. Wade by casting the issue of abortion as a matter for the states, Graham introduces a bill to set restrictions on abortion at a national level beyond state control. 

Among those happiest with Graham's move to further restrict a woman's control over her own body are Democrats which just lights more of a fire for their constituency to come out and frickin' vote in this fall's mid-term elections.  

Graham's legislation has no chance in the current Congress of going anywhere but if the Republicans gain control of the House and the Senate this fall, such further restrictions could pass and become the law of the land.   

Republicans are split. There are those who already see their party on the wrong side of a losing issue this November and quite frankly do not know why Graham is making a bad situation worse.

But there are those who see this as a galvanizing effort to the re-energize the evangelical Christian base who got what they wanted with Roe V. Wade overturned. Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet! 



Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Tuesday TV Touchbase: What We Do In The Shadows

 


What We Do In The Shadows finished up it's 4th season. Unlike the end of the 3rd season which shook up the status quo, the 4th season ends with the status firmly... er, quo.

Over the course of the season, Baby Colin (also known as the baby that crawled out of the corpse of the dead Colin Robinson) grew into puberty and eventually returns to being the adult Colin Robinson we used to know, despite Lazlo's efforts to make him interesting. 

Colin Robinson remembers nothing of the year Lazlo spent raising him from Baby Colin to his restored form.  

Without the musical talents of Baby Colin or any other comparable entertainment to act as a draw, Nadja's night club goes belly up.

The reset to the status quo is addressed on screen by Guillermo: "Nothing ever changes."  

Highlights of the season: 

"Private School" where the vampires have a meeting with the headmaster of a private school to enroll young Colin. Constant and repeated mind wipes to change the narrative of who are Colin's parents is rife with hilarity. And risks of a stroke which is what the headmaster suffers after having his brain rapidly rebooted over and over.

In "The Wedding", Nandor makes a wish to the Djinn to have his wife Marwa like whatever he likes. Among the side effects of that wish is Marwa making out with Guillermo. 

"Go Flip Yourself" is a fun experiment, an episode done like a home renovation show.  It's an hilarious reinvention of the show, similar to Lazlo's turn as Jackie Daytona back in season 2.   

Point of criticism: Marwa deserved better. Jealous of Guillermo's British boyfriend Freddie, Nandor wishes for the Djinn to turn Marwa into a duplicate of Freddie.  Then Nandor sets Marwa-Freddie free to explore the world. Which results in Guillermo losing his Freddie to his own duplicate. Funny ha ha, I get it. But that means Marwa is denied being herself and is forever just a replica of another person.  I'm not comfortable with that on so many levels. 

So the 4th season ends where everything was. Colin Robinson is Colin Robinson again. Nadja doesn't have her night club any more. 

As Guillermo says, "Nothing ever changes."  

Unless he changes it.  

Taking all the money that he had embezzled from the club, Guillermo  gives the money to vampire Derek at the convenience store, asking in exchange that Derek to turn him into a vampire.

What reason would Derek have to say no? 

Could this be real change for Guillermo?

We'll have to wait until season 5 of What We Do In The Shadows for an answer. 

Next week, I'll look back at the second season of Hacks. And at some point I will chat a bit about the return of Kevin Can F**k Himself .   

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  




Monday, September 12, 2022

Queen Elizabeth II

 I suppose I should put down some thoughts about last week's passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

On one hand, she was beloved by millions,  a calm matronly center of a world often seeming to be spinning out of control.

On the other hand, she was seen as a relic of an outdated system, a monarchy no longer needed or wanted.

Whatever one's views of the monarchy, it's my perspective that since it exists and someone has to be at the top as king or queen, Elizabeth II was a good person trying to make the most of a situation she did not seek out or want.

She only became Queen when her father the King died. And her father was King only because his brother abdicated to be with his girlfriend.  

What I know of Queen Elizabeth II (and not just from episodes of The Crown), she ruled with compassion even if she wasn't always certain how to express that. She sought to rule fairly within the conventions set forth by law and tradition, even if such "fairness" might cause pain for her family such as her sister or her children. 

From what I know of Queen Elizabeth II, her goal in every situation was to do the right thing although alas the outcome did not always align with that goal.

Which only goes show that Queen Elizabeth II was only human after all.   

So what of the monarchy? Even under questions of it's relevance, value and it's legacy, the monarchy has endured for these many decades out of affection and respect for Queen Elizabeth II.  

That may all change with King Charles III.  

Which is a weird thing to type: King Charles III. 

Billions of people were born into a world where Queen Elizabeth II was the head of the British monarchy and never knowing anyone else in that role.

History has changed in ways perhaps more fundamental than the passing of the crown from her head to that of her son.  

Floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth in Ballater, Scotland

And just in case you think I'm taking this way too seriously for someone who is not a resident of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth, here is the updated Royal Line of Succession for the House of Windsor.




Sunday, September 11, 2022

Cinema Sunday: The Children's Hour

Today's Cinema Sunday looks at a film that is kind of tricky to write about.

On one hand, it is a landmark American film on the subject of homosexuality.




On the other hand, it is hobbled by the production codes of it's time to address homosexuality in very muted and oblique terms towards an almost inevitable tragic end.

Today's subject is The Children's Hour, a 1961 American drama film directed by William Wyler. 


Former college classmates Martha Dobie and Karen Wright open a private boarding school for girls. After putting him off for two years, Karen has finally agreed set a wedding date with her fiancĂ© Joe Cardin.  

The relationship between Martha and Karen is the subject of some discussion between the girls at the school.  They can't help but notice that Martha seems extra irritable when Joe is around. One might assume that Martha is jealous of Karen for finding herself a fella.  But what if Martha is jealous of the fella for finding Karen? 

It's an idea given some credence when one of the girls happens to spy the two women in an embrace and kissing.

The "embrace" is a quick hug and the "kissing" is an even quicker peck on the cheek that Karen gives a stressed out Martha. 

But it is from such tiny acorns the sprawling tree of scandal can grow. 

Which brings us to Mary Tilford, a spoiled child who is always up to sketchy shit and bullying her classmates.  As such Mary is always in trouble with Karen and Martha and it's just not fair they're always picking on her.

So Mary runs away to her wealthy, influential grandmother Amelia Tilford and convinces grandma to take her out of the school because of what's going on there between Karen and Martha.  

Amelia buys Mary's bullshit and not only withdraws her from the school but is on the phone to all the other parents and grandparents who have girls in the school.  

Karen and Martha are gobsmacked by the sudden and complete decimation of their student body with no clue as to why until one parent finally tells Karen why.  

Karen and Martha challenge Amelia Tilford that they are not in any "unnatural" relationship. But Mary refuses to back down from her scandalous lie and Amelia refuses to back down from her belief in her granddaughter.  

The upshot is the boarding school is an empty shell and the reputations of Karen and Martha are ruined.

On pondering why Mary would choose to tell THAT lie, Martha confesses to Karen that perhaps there is some truth to it and admits that she has been in love with Karen for years.

Karen offers that Martha is just confused about her feelings, but Martha tearfully insists it is love.  

Then Amelia is presented with evidence that her precious granddaughter was lying and offers to be make a very public retraction of her statements about Karen and Martha as well as a large financial restitution. 

But all of this is a bit too late as Martha hangs herself in her room.

The film ends with Karen attending Martha's funeral and silently walking away while Joe watches her.

Martha's fate is sadly inevitable in an American movie under the sway of the restrictive Hays code. On the subject of homosexuals, they were to be portrayed as either reprehensibly criminal and suffer accordingly for their crimes or just be sad, lonely and pathetic and suffer for the sin of being homosexual.

While Karen tries to disavow Martha's confessed feelings by saying she is confused, one can almost sense the wheels turning in Karen's mind, perhaps considering her own feelings about Martha. She did put off Joe for two years but finally acquiesces to a wedding date only because Karen was ready to have a baby.  

I think the sad truth as Karen leaves Martha's funeral and walks away from Joe and the other attendees that maybe she could have loved Martha in turn. But it's too late now. 

Because of production code restrictions on what could and could not be said relating to the subject matter,  The Children's Hour has to rely a lot on the performances of Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.  As Karen, Hepburn's performance is sensitive and understated but still remains emotionally expressive as she copes with the scandalous accusations, the loss of the school and Martha's confession of her feelings for Karen.  Shirley MacLaine's role as Martha is well played, her irritation with Joe, her affection for Karen, the anger at the false accusations and her tearful admission that the lies weren't all lies.   

As much as we hate Mary Tilford, gotta give props to Karen Balkin for her portrayal of this coldly manipulative brat.  

The Children's Hour is a hard movie to write about.  It is a wonderfully acted drama that tackles a subject that America in 1961 was not ready to confront.  But it ends in a fatal tragedy that did not need to be except for the demands of a small minded and restrictive code of "morality" that prefers death as an outcome over truth and happiness and love.   

It's hard to shut off that part of the brain that in 2022 knows that with a little more understanding, Karen and Martha could've found their way to a long and happy life together.  




Countdown to Christmas 2024: Sexy Times!

  Welcome to another edition of Countdown to Christmas 2024 which is fueled by rage, frustration, anxiety, depression and just a good old pl...