Superman Is Back To Basics

A few years ago, writer Brian Michael Bendis left Marvel for DC to write Superman where he made some... changes. 

 Groundbreaking or questionable, your mileage may vary.

One was to age up super son Jon Kent to a young adult.

And another was for Superman to decide the whole secret identity didn't make sense. 

So he told the whole world Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same.  

Then Bendis left Superman and other writers sent our Man of Steel into SPACE to deliver SPACE justice to SPACE people oppressed by SPACE monsters of SPACE evil.

In SPACE!   

On Earth, Jon Kent took on the mantle of responsibility to protect the planet as....

No, not Superboy.

Or Superlad or even Superman Jr.

Nope Jon Kent was SUPERMAN!  

And he's gay! 

(OK, technically Jon Kent is bi-sexual but that's how corporations hedge their bets. Yeah, he likes boys now but he could like girls again. You never know. But seriously, I think Jon's had one boyfriend and zero girlfriends so...gay.)    

Now comic books are always changing up the status quo in some kind of dramatic "things will never be the same again" way.

Until the time comes 'round as it inevitably does to get "back to basics". 

Kal-El of Krypton, mild mannered Clark Kent, the O.G. Superman is back. 

And somehow his secret identity will be restored. 

And Jon Kent will be relegated to emergency back up Superman.  

In the case of Superman's identity issues, I was never on board with the whole let's tell the whole world who he really is. Yeah, I understood Clark's whole ethical dilemma about asking the world to trust him when he's lying to that same world about who he really is.  But that twisted logic forgets why Clark Kent is integral to who Superman is, a connection to humanity, to understanding his limits. 

But going back to basics also shows the problems with making changes to promote diversity.   

The Atom becomes Asian Ryan Choi.  Back to basics means dull white guy Ray Palmer is the Atom.

African American John Stewart is Green Lantern. Until it's back to basics time and it's back to regular old white guy Hal Jordan. 

We've got ourselves a female Thor. Then back to basics brings back Thor Odinson.

African American Jim Rhodes is Iron Man. But then it's Back To Basic time! And it's Tony Stark back in the armor again.  

It's not that back to basics is in and of itself bad. But when you move forward with something new, a new version of a character that looks like the changing world around us but then go back, well, it can be a slap in the face of comic fans who finally saw themselves in the role of a super hero.

Now I have to admit to be a bit of an old stick in the mud and kind of want Superman to be disguised as Clark Kent, a mild mannered reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper.  

But to regain what we lost, we should not have to lose what new discoveries we found as we move forward.   

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Interview With The Vampire

So a few weeks back, I watched the season finale of Interview With The Vampire.  

Wait! The season finale... already? After... hold on let, me count?

Seven? Really? Seven episodes counts as a season? 

SEVEN?!?!?

Uh oh! Time for 

OLD GUY RANT ALERT! 

Seven episodes for a season of a TV show? Why in my day, dagnabbit, a TV show would make 26 episodes for a season!  Well, some of them episodes may have been CRAP but jumpin' jehosaphat, them 26 episodes got made, by gum! 

Now some young whippersnappers make all of seven episodes and they call that a season?

Why these kids today!  

<and it kind of goes on for a bit from there>

And that was your....

OLD GUY RANT ALERT! 

OK, where were we? Oh yeah....

So the first season of Interview With The Vampire ends on a powerful and dangerous note. Claudia is well into her third decade of her vampire existence but trapped in the pre-pubescent body of a 14 year old and she is angry, frustrated and most of all has had it with Lestat's shit. 

Louis is also at his wit's end with Lestat's behavior but their romantic and sexual bond still exerts a strong control over Louis. So Claudia proposes to be done with Lestat once and for all.

She's gonna kill him. 

The elaborate plan to kill Lestat seems to go awry when it's revealed that Antoinette, Lestat's human female lover turned vampire, has been following Claudia and knows the plan. 

But not all of it and Lestat dies. 

Instead of dumping his body in the incinerator, Louis deposits Lestat's body into a old trunk which is taken to the city dump.  

Nearly 90 years in the future in the year 2022 during the interview with Louis, Daniel Malloy accuses Louis of still be enthralled by Lestat, leaving his body in a pile of garbage swarming with rats is a chance for Lestat to recover. 

In the present, Malloy gets a surprise revelation. Louis' familiar, Rashid, is in fact a vampire named Armand, a vampire over 500 years old with the power of flight and to resist the light of the sun. 

And that is where we leave things at the end of season 1.

Jacob Anderson as Louis and Sam Reid as Lestat are providing some first rate performances but a shout to Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy. As the interviewer in 2022, there's not a lot for Molloy to do with most of the action occuring in the early 20th century but Bogosian more than holds his own with his brief moments on screen, calling Louis on his bullshit and his efforts to gloss over certain uncomfortable facts.   

And enough can't be said about Bailey Bass as Claudia, a vampire trapped in the body of a pre-adolescent 14 year old girl. Bass navigates the complex currents of Claudia's character, her early girlish enthusiasm at being a vampire (she's absolutely giddy over picking out her own coffin) to the evolving rage at her tormented state, growing in intelligence and wisdom but confined to a body that will forever mark her as a child. 

The dark malevolence on display as Claudia plots Lestat's downfall and destruction is a wonder to behold.  

By the way, I recently caught some of the Interview With The Vampire  movie and although I did not see all of it, I feel comfortable making the assessment that this new TV series is the superior production.  

And that is that for the Tuesday TV Touchbase this week.

Next week we touchbase on the latest season of The Crown. 

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. 

Guess Who Came To Dinner?

Last week, our granddaughter Rosie came home to visit from college last week for Thanksgiving along with her emotional support human, our daughter Randie.

It was a pleasant visit from Rosie and I am glad she brought her emotional support human with her or else the Christmas lights wouldn't be up here at the ol' Fortress of Ineptitude. 

So thanks, Randie.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable visit from Rosie and Randie and I am pleased to report free from anti-Semitism. 

Unfortunately, not all homes with dinner guests last week could make that claim.

Yep, we're looking at Donald Trump and his perpetual side show down in Mar-a-Lago. Apparently Li'l Donnie invited Kanye West to dinner.  Kanye has run afoul of sponsors and social media for his anti-Semitic remarks and decided what this dinner needed was MORE anti-Semitism. 

So Kanye brought Nick Fuentes with him. Fuentes heads up a political movement based on white supremacist and anti-Semitic views. He was at Charlottesville in 2017, spouting off his messages of hate and bigotry. He's held events attended by Republican Congress people, promoting beliefs and policies centered around his bigoted philosophy.  

Some Republicans have called into question Trump's dinner guests.  

Chris Christie said it shows an “awful lack of judgment” by Trump that, when combined with other transgressions, make him an “untenable general election candidate for the Republican Party in 2024.”

Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, called Fuentes “human scum” and urged Trump to disavow both men.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for a leader that’s setting an example for the party or the country to meet with an avowed racist or anti-Semite." 

Representative James Comer of Kentucky said that Trump “certainly needs better judgment in who he dines with.”

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented that  “Anti-Semitism is a cancer. We stand with the Jewish people in the fight against the world’s oldest bigotry.”

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel had this to say on the matter: “As I had repeatedly said, white supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican Party."  

I need to note that both Pompeo and McDaniel offered their respective criticisms without mentioning Donald Trump by name. I guess even with all this mess, they're still scared of this fucking moron for some reason.

Even Li'l Donnie himself seems to realize he's in a shit storm, trying to distance himself from Kanye ("a troubled young man") and disavowing even knowing who Fuentes is.  

Which of course is bullshit. Fuentes has been effusive and consistent in his praise and support of Donald Trump and really, that's all that matters to Li'l Donnie. 

Thankfully we had no such issues with out guests last week. But just to be clear, Rosie the Dog condemns anti-Semitism in all it's forms. And that also includes her emotional support human and everyone here at the Fortress of Ineptitude. 

Y'all be good to each other, OK?    

Cinema Sunday: The African Queen

Cinema Sunday turns it's attention to a classic 1951 adventure film directed by John Huston starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. 

Ladies and gentlemen, here is The African Queen.

Two people make a hazardous journey up a jungle river in Africa during World War I to take on a German warship.

The end.  

Wow, that was a short post. I guess there's not much else to say.

...

...

...

OK, let's be serious a moment. There is a lot more going on than just "2 people travel up a river".  There are reasons why  The African Queen was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1994 and the Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."  

The notoriety and esteem The African Queen has earned hinges on the stellar performances of Bogart and Hepburn.    

Katherine Hepburn is Rose Sayer, a very prim and proper sister to her brother  Samuel, a straight arrow British missionary in German East Africa.  They are so caught up in their fervent devotion to their good Christian work that they're not aware that there's a World War going on. 

Until the war rudely intrudes on the African village where the Sayers have their mission. German colonial troops burn down the village and herd the villagers away to be pressed into service. During the assault on the village, Sam is injured and subsequently dies. 

Rose is left alone, unsure what to do. 

That's where the African Queen comes in. 

Helmed by Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart), the African Queen is a small steamboat, a cobbled together relic that delivers supplies to villages up and down the river. Charlie's coarse casualness is in marked contrast to Rose's controlled reserve but she has nowhere else to go. Rose agrees to accompany Charlie on the African Queen. 

Charlie figures to take the African Queen to somewhere hidden and safe and wait out the Germans.  The British ain't coming any time to soon to save them what with that large German gunboat, the Königin Luise, patrolling a large lake downriver.

Not content to wait out the war, Rose proposes a plan of action, to convert the African Queen into a torpedo boat and sink the Königin Luise.   

Charlie's reaction to this plan can be summed at thusly: "What the fuck?"

OK, this is a movie made in the 1950's under the Hays production code. So no, he does not literally say "What the fuck?"

But...

Yeah there are empty oxygen tanks on board along with some dynamite and yeah, he could convert these items into torpedoes but....

There's a lot of shit in the way between where they are now and the lake where the Königin Luise is. Like rapids and waterfalls and creatures that would like to eat them and German army patrols and....

And even if they could get down the river, could they actually get across the lake to the Königin Luise and successfully ram the African Queen into the gunship and assuming it would do any significant damage and...

And...

And...

"What the fuck?"  

Rose is insistent they proceed despite the odds and damn if Charlies ain't too happy with the Germans anyhow so damn it, let's turn the African Queen into a bomb! 

Charlie expects Rose will lose her nerve as they encounter obstacles as they head down the river.

But she does not. 

After one particularly harrowing passage down some especially violent rapids which devolve into a water fall wherein the river does not kill them despite it's best efforts, Rose and Charlie fall into an embrace and kiss each other. 

The next scene finds the pair referring to each other as "darling" and "sweetheart" so we may assume they had sex. 

Again, we must remember this is a movie made in the 1950's under the Hays production code so the sex can only be assumed now. 

But damn it, they're in love now.  

And Rose still wants to blow up the bloody German gunship! 

But they are in love now and have so much to live for.

So...

So...

"What the fuck?" 

So the mission continues.

Suffice to say so much continues to go wrong and friggin' Charlie and Rose nearly die.

And more things go wrong and friggin' Charlie and Rose nearly die. 

And even more things go as friggin' wrong as possible and friggin' Charlie and Rose nearly die. 

What pray tell will become of Charlie and Rose.

Please remember this is a movie made in the 1950's under the Hays production code. So... 

Spoiler alert: there is a friggin' happy ending for friggin' Charlie and Rose.  

Surprise: the Germans kind of help. 

The "That Person Who Was In That Thing" Dept.

• Theodore Bikel is the First Officer of the Königin Luise.  Bikel was Zoltan Karpathy in My Fair Lady and more importantly to my mind, he was also Sergey Rozhenko, Worf's human adoptive father on Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

The African Queen is a fun and endearing movie propelled by the performances of two actors at the top of their game. Bogart and Hepburn are excellent as we watch Charlie and Rose evolve over the course of their perilous journey.  

Songs For Saturday: Fleetwood Mac

 

Birthday month concludes here on Songs For Saturday as we spotlight bassist John Graham McVie, co-founder of the legendary band Fleetwood Mac.  John was born on this date, November 26th, back in 1945. 

First up is "The Chain", an iconic track from Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album, a song co-written by McVie.   

Next up is an early Fleetwood Mac track with a strong base and rhythmic  hook, i"Hypnotized".   

And that is that for this week's Songs For Saturday.

Beginning next week, Songs For Saturday will feature songs of the holiday season.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.     

Your Friday Video Link: DC Song 'n' Dance- Part 1: Peacemaker

For Your Friday Video Link today, it's time for the heroes and villains of the DC Universe to get musical! 

From last year's acclaimed HBO Max series by James Gunn, it's time for...

A little song! 

A little dance!

A little violence in your pants?

Wait! What? 

OK, that rhyme got away from me there. 

Here is the opening theme from Peacemaker!

Naps

Since today is Thanksgiving, let me take some time to share what I'm thankful for.

Naps.

When I was a child and was told I had to take a nap, I couldn't wait to be a grown up and nobody would tell me what to and I would do whatever I want.

Now I am a grown up and all I want to do is nap. 

After I work all week, the thing I look to most during the weekend is taking a nap. 

The sweet spot for my best nap is Saturday at 3:00 PM.  

Any time I have off from work, I just give in and crash in the middle of the day. 

I am thankful for naps.  

The Fire This Time: Colorado Springs

It was a Saturday night in Colorado Springs and Club Q was humming to the beat of young people just out to have a good time.  It was time for the Saturday drag show, a dance party and more was on tap for the LGBTQ+ community that turned out for a night of fun and entertainment.

Anderson Lee Aldrich had other plans. 

Plans that involved a semiautomatic rifle.  

Before he was done, Aldrich had killed 5 people and injured 25 more.  

It was a toll of tragedy and death that could've been much worse except for the quick thinking and sharp reflexes of a club attendee who was able to subdue the attacker.  

If this seems distressingly familiar, the attack on Club Q echoes the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. 

And if this seems distressingly frequent, well, it is. The attack on Club Q was the sixth mass killing this month.  

As I write this, details about Anderson Lee Aldrich are a bit sketchy but what we do know is pretty disturbing.  

It seems that Aldrich was able to legally purchase his semi-automatic rifle despite a record of previous run ins with the police.  

Violence against the LGBTQ+ community is sadly not surprising.

Political extremists have seized upon anti-LGBTQ+ messaging nationwide as a tactic to rile up voters to raise campaign funds and gain political power.  Right wing candidates spent at least $50 million on political ads attacking LGBTQ+ rights and transgender youth with anti-trans and anti-equality ads ran in at least 25 states, spreading falsehoods about gender-affirming care and transgender children.   

It is a constant drumbeat of hostility that creates an environment where someone thinks they can solve the "problem" of LGBTQ+ people with a gun.  

In the aftermath of the assault on Club Q, there is an effort to offer the message of "love over hate". Even in the face of tragedy and death, good people still seek to assert the positive.

If only the message of hate wasn't so damn incessant and so loud.  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Jeopardy

 

Jeopardy is buckling under the weight of excess.

Let's talk about the prime time series, Celebrity Jeopardy.

It's designed to fill 13 weeks of prime time real estate on ABC's schedule. 

For three weeks, there are three quarter final games which each produces a winner. In the 4th week, those 3 winners play again for a semi-final round.

Then the cycle repeats itself 2 more times.

Then the 3 winners of the semi-finals will meet for one last match to win $1 million for their charity. 

Each one of these games is an hour long with 4 rounds of play: Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy, Triple Jeopardy and Final Jeopardy. 

It feels like slogging through Sheldon Cooper's Campaign For North Africa board game from Big Bang Theory. 

We're 2/3 the way through this.  Ike Barinholtz and Wil Wheaton have won their semi-final rounds.  Both have benefited from taking the game seriously with strong buzzer skills and actually knowing shit. 

Other celebrities have made embarrassing spectacles of themselves leaning too hard in their expected role as "celebrities" to make the games entertaining. Hasan Minhaj was especially bad at trying too hard to be funny and "entertaining".  

Meanwhile, bloated excess has found it's way to the mothership. The syndicated daily Jeopardy is finally wrapping up it's championship games after 5 (yep, count 'em, FIVE!) damn weeks. 

For two weeks, we had the 2nd Chance Tournament featuring players who had the misfortune of being ground up in the gears of playing against Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider, Mattea Roach and other long term champions.  Those two weeks produced 2 finalists who won berths in the Tournament of Champions.

Which didn't do a damn bit of good.  Those two finalists wound being ground up in the gears of playing against  long term champions in the quarter finals. 

But at least they didn't have to face Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach who were given a bye from the quarter finals.  

The trio did an exhibition game that gave them a chance to practice their skills before the semi-finals. It was a fun game, far more entertaining than any episode of Celebrity Jeopardy.

It also featured a very funny faux pas from Ken Jennings.  He was explaining what the 5 clues in a just completed category had in common when someone shouts to him from off stage. Ken looks up, realizes the category was NOT completed with still 1 clue left and exclaims, "Oh shit!" 

Moving to the semi-finals, only Amy survived to the finals. Matt had a serious shot at advancing except for an explicable bet of $0.00 in Final Jeopardy. Well, Matt's loss was Sam Buttrey's gain, allowing the much beloved winner of the Professor's Tournament to advance to the finals with Amy Schneider and Andrew He.  

Talking about this previous appearance on the show, Sam noted how people online though Sam looked like Steve Martin.  Sam appreciated the comparison because not only is Steve a gifted actor, comedian and writer but he is also known as "one of the most handsome men in the world!"  

The finals is a best of seven competition with the first player to reach 3 wins becoming the winner of the Tournament of Champions. 

Thanks to some really gutsy Daily Double bets, Andrew scored 2 wins. Amy survived for a couple of wins. Any one of them could've brought this to an end on Friday but dang if Sam didn't score his first win. Look, we all love Sam but damn, I'm ready for this to be over. 

After 1 whole week of this, the Tournament staggered into a 6th day yesterday into what everyone was expecting to be a tension fraught affair and with everyone on the edge of their seats. 

If I'm on the edge of my seat, I may fall off from exhaustion. 

Thank God, Amy Schneider got the win bringing this interminable Tournament of Champions to an end.  

Look I like Jeopardy all right but I think recent weeks from the main show and it's prime time cousin have proven one can have too much of a good thing.

And that is that for the Tuesday TV Touchbase this week.

Next week, I will cover the season finale of Interview With the Vampire.  

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.   

The Fix Was Always In

Previously on 

I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You 

(6 months ago)...

from Monday, May 9, 2022,  The Fix Is Always In

A draft opinion on abortion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito indicates a majority of justices are ready to vote to over turn Roe V. Wade, the half century landmark case that grants a woman's national right to an abortion.  

As we saw a few months later, the Supreme Court did indeed overturn Roe V. Wade following the script of the draft opinion. The specifics of the case before the Supreme Court did not matter one damn bit. The conservatives on the court were of the mind set that Roe V. Wade was going down, bitch! And there ain't nothing you can do about it.

The revelation of the draft opinion back in May was the result of a leak to the press. On the subject of the leak...

more from Monday, May 9, 2022,  The Fix Is Always In

While most people are concerned about the partisan implications of Alito's leaked memo, Washington DC is more obsessed with who leaked it.  

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has a theory:   

“It is very, very likely a law clerk for one of the three liberal justices.” 

Here's what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had to say on the subject:  “By every indication, this was yet another escalation in the radical left’s ongoing campaign to bully and intimidate federal judges and substitute mob rule for the rule of law."   

At the time, there were NO indications on who the hell leaked Alito's memo. 

One theory was that the leaker was a conservative on the court, trying to coerce all five conservative justices to remain in line and stay firm behind the plan to take down Roe V. Wade. 

Also at the time, Chief Justice John Roberts announced an investigation into the leak but nobody's said jack shit about it since then.   

But the story of that leak from earlier this year gained some renewed attention with the revelation of an earlier leak in 2014. 

This involved the 2014 case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby where Hobby Lobby didn't want to include birth control in their employees health care benefits because it was against their religious convictions.  The court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of Hobby Lobby.  

The decision was not a surprise to Hobby Lobby as one of the justices leaked IN ADVANCE how the court was going to rule.

And the leaker was....

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.   

Of the three branches of government, the legislative branch is the one that is supposed to be above and beyond political considerations. The facts decide the case, not political ideology.

With the allegations of Alito working hand in hand with parties supportive of Hobby Lobby in the 2014 case and the leak of the opinion to overturn Roe V. Wade this year, we're seeing decisions being made in advance of a case and it's attendant facts and a Supreme Court justice taking a side. 

None of this is news to anyone even peripherally aware of the Supreme Court's activities of late. The idea of the Supreme Court as an impartial arbiter of the law and the constitution is put to the lie.   

Cinema Sunday: Blazing Saddles

Today Cinema Sunday takes a look at what is considered one of the funniest movies ever made. 

It also considered one of the most controversial movies ever made. 

Let's time travel back to 1974 for Blazing Saddles.  

The plot (such as it is) is this: In 1874, a new railroad under construction through the American west will have to be rerouted to avoid quicksand.  The new path for the railroad will take it right through the town of Rock Ridge.

Making Rock Ridge worth millions to attorney general Hedley Lamarr if he can get the people who live there to leave town.

Various efforts to scare them out with rampaging thugs ("leaving women stampeded and cattle raped") don't work so Lamarr comes up with a way to make the people of Rock Ridge want to leave.

For their protection, he sends them a new sheriff.

A black sheriff. 

Say hello, Bart. 

"Hello!"  

The good simple folks of Rock Ridge have... issues with having a black sheriff.  Or as one kindly old grandmother puts it, "Up yours, n****r." She will come around and bake him an apple pie.  

With some help from an alcoholic gunslinger known as Jim the Waco Kid, Bart strives to overcome the townspeople's hostility. 

Bart defeats Mongo, an immensely strong, dim-witted thug using an exploding candygram like Bugs Bunny.  (Complete with Looney Tunes music.)  

Lamarr sends German seductress-for-hire Lili Von Shtupp to seduce and destroy the sheriff of Rock Ridge. That plan falls apart when Lili falls hard for Bart. 

From Mongo, Bart & Jim learn Lamarr's interest in Rock Ridge is because of "where choo-choo go". More than this, Mongo knows not for as the man himself says, "Mongo only pawn in great game of life." 

Hedley Lamarr has had enough and puts the call out for an army of the worst scoundrels throughout the west including "Methodists" to launch a final vicious assault to drive the people out of Rock Ridge. 

Bart has a plan. 

He leads the town folks and a gang of railroad workers to build an exact replica of Rock Ridge for the army to attack. The army of criminals is on its way and the plan needs a bit more time for the fake Rock Ridge to be complete.

Bart has a plan for that. 

Enter the toll booth for the Governor William J. Le Petomane Expressway. "Somebody go back and get shit ton of dimes!" 

Out in the wide open plains of the American West with no obstacles on either side of the toll booth, each thug goes through the toll booth one at a time. 

The thug army rides into the fake Rock Ridge and gets mostly taken out by a series of dynamite blasts. The rest of the gang gets into a fist fight brawl with the towns people and railroad workers. 

It's a brawl that bursts out of the fake Rock Ridge into a neighboring movie set filming a Busby Berkeley musical number.  

The fight makes it's way to the studio commissary for a food fight.

The epic battle spills out of the Warner Bros. film lot onto the streets of Burbank. 

At Mann's Chinese Theatre, which is showing the premiere of Blazing Saddles, Bart and Lamarr have a final showdown. 

With the citizens of Rock Ridge safe once more, Bart and Jim leave for "nowhere special" for new adventures.  Outside of town, they get off their horses into a waiting black limousine that drives them towards the western horizon and out of this movie. 

And that my friends is a very surface level look at Blazing Saddles. There's way more than the preceding summary covers. 

Director Mel Brooks pounds hard on the 4th wall through most of the movie until the last act where he basically says "4th wall? We don't need no stinkin' 4th wall!" and obliterates it. 

Anachronisms fly around with reckless abandon. 

• The railroad workers crooning Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You." 
• Lamarr's henchman declaring "What in The Wide World of Sports is going on here?"  
• The Count Basie Orchestra playing "April in Paris" out on the plains greeting Sheriff Bart as he first rides to Rock Ridge. 
• Addressing his criminal army, Hedley Lamar reminds them that, although they are risking their lives, he is "risking an almost certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor!"
• The constant confusion of Hedley Lamarr's name with 20th century film actress Hedy Lamarr. 

Apparently, Hedy didn't think this running joke was really all that funny and sued Warner Bros. for $10 million. The suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed nominal sum and an apology to Lamarr for "almost using her name". Brooks said that Lamarr "never got the joke".  

The film is also rife with all sorts of issues that would be regarded as "politically incorrect" today. The most prominent of these issues is the use of the "N-word".  

Even in the early 1970's, Mel Brooks was sensitive to use of this word.  The people who do use the N-word are usually portrayed as ignorant. 

The old lady who says it to Bart later apologizes for it as a sign of her appreciation for what Bart is doing to help the town. (She still asks Bart not to say anything to the rest of the town about her speaking to him and bringing him a pie.) 

Hedley Lamarr as the big bad of the movie views himself as erudite and sophisticated and never uses the word. Lamarr's chief henchman Taggart is a vile and vulgar man who does use the word to express his anger, fear and stupidity.  There appear to be some guidelines of who does and does not use the N-word. Mel Brooks said he received consistent support from co-writer Richard Pryor and star Cleavon Little. 

Besides there's a lot more to be offended by one is of a mind to be offended by things. 

• Mel Brooks in dark make up as a Native American chief. 
• There are some jokes about rape. 
• Mongo punching a horse.   
• The very, very effeminate portrayal of the very, very obviously gay dancers in the Busby Berkeley musical number.   

So there is a lot to be concerned about from a modern perspective. 

There are also a lot of laughs in this movie. A joke doesn't quite land? Don't worry, another will be along in a minute. 

A lot of the success of Blazing Saddles rests with it's star, Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart. Little brings a lot of wit and sophistication to his role, deftly moving from comedy to straight man in this madhouse of a movie. 

And Gene Wilder provides perfect support as Jim the Waco Kid, part broken down gun fighter, part serene counselor to Bart's battles to save Rock Ridge despite it's racist residents.  Wilder and Little make a great tag team duo in this movie.  

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

• Slim Pickens (Taggart) was Major T. J. "King" Kong in 1964's Dr. Strangelove.
• Harvey Korman (Hedley Lamarr) was a Mel Brooks regular, appearing in other Brooks films like High Anxiety. His best known work was in the cast of The Carol Burnett Show where Tim Conway kept trying to make Korman break character.  
• Madeline Kahn (Lili Von Shtupp) was another Brooks regular appearing in  Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety & History of the World, Part I. She was also in the movie version of the board game Clue and had a memorable turn in What's Up Doc?. 
• Alex Karras (Mongo) was a former football player who would go on to play the adoptive dad on the ABC sitcom Webster. 
• David Huddleston (Olson Johnson) would go on to star in The Big Lebowski.  
• Liam Dunn (Rev. Johnson) was the judge in What's Up Doc?. 
• John Hillerman (Howard Johnson) would go on to star as Higgins in the original Magnum P.I. series.   

And now...

The "It's That Person Who Was Already In This Movie" Department

Mel Brooks appears in three on-screen roles: 

• Governor Le Petomane
• the Yiddish-speaking Native American chief
• an applicant for Hedley Lamarr's thug army, an aviator wearing sunglasses and a flight jacket. 'Cause a Western has to have an aviator, right? 

He also has two off-screen voice roles:

• one of Lili's German chorus boys during "I'm Tired".
• And as a grouchy moviegoer.   

In 2006, Blazing Saddles was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Roger Ebert described Blazing Saddles as a  "crazed grab bag of a movie that does everything to keep us laughing except hit us over the head with a rubber chicken. Mostly, it succeeds. It's an audience picture; it doesn't have a lot of classy polish and its structure is a total mess. But of course!"  

I can't improve on Ebert's assessment. Yes, there are elements that may not have aged well and offend modern sensibilities but it does deliver on it's mission, to make people laugh.  

Songs For Saturday: Marvin Gaye & Smokey Robinson

Birthday month continues here on Songs For Saturday as we spotlight a couple of songs written by  Warren Thomas "Pete" Moore who was born on this date, November 19th, back in 1938. 

First up is a classic Motown R&B tube Moore co-wrote with Smokey Robinson called "Ain't That Peculiar" by Marvin Gaye. 

Also Moore co-wrote with Robinson "Going To A Go Go" as performed by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.   

Sadly, Warren Thomas "Pete" Moore passed away in 2017  on this date, November 19th. Yep, dude died on his birthday.

Next week, Songs For Saturday celebrates the birthday of John McVie who put the "Mac" in "Fleetwood Mac". 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.    

Your Friday Video Link: Mitch Hedberg

For Your Friday Video Link, here is a comedy routine from 1998 featuring Mitch Hedberg. 

Mitch explains why photos of Bigfoot are blurry.  

Florida Man

Tuesday night, Donald Trump announced his intention to run for President in 2024. 

It made the front page of the New York Post.

"FLORIDA MAN MAKES ANNOUNCEMENT, Page 26" has got the best burn on Li'l Donnie.

There was a time when the Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post was all in for Donald Trump. 

Now? Eh, not so much.

Fox News was carrying Trump's announcement live Tuesday evening. 

For awhile.

Then Sean Hannity and his buddies took time away from Trump's speech to talk among themselves, checking in to see if Donald said anything interesting. 

He didn't. 

It should be noted that no one of any importance was in attendance during Trump's big announcement. Not even the most obsequious of sycophants in Congress were there. 

Hell, there's some question if Donald Trump was there.

Li'l Donnie was dull, listless, mumbling through the usual litany of grievances. To Trump, the worst insult is to be called a "loser". Coming in a close second is to be called "boring". 

So...

This motherfucker of a loser was boring. 

Of course Donald Trump really doesn't want to do this. 

But as always the case with Lil Donnie, pride goes before the fall. 

He already made a big deal that he was going to make a big announcement on November 15th.  His ego would not permit him to back down, even in the aftermath of the poor showing for the Republican Party in last week's midterm election by Trump endorsed candidates.

(While the Democrats will have control of the Senate, the Republicans did manage to squeak by to take control of the House. Despite the slim margin of victory, expect Republicans to act like they won in the landslide and have a mandate to fuck shit up.) 

Trump also thinks running for President and being President will protect him from the shit storm of legal woes heading his way for so many, many reasons.  

I think Florida Man is in for a majorly rude awakening.  

Kevin Conroy, the Best Batman Ever

Under my never ending diatribe that "the wrong people keep dying", I was saddened last week by the news that Kevin Conroy passed away at the age of 66. 

Kevin's biggest and arguably best role was Batman. 

In the great argument of who is the best Batman in TV and movies, most people will debate the merits of Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and ad infinitum. 

But true Bat-fans understand that at the top of the list of Batman performers was Kevin Conroy. 

Kevin was the voice of Batman and Bruce Wayne on Batman: The Animated Series that debuted in 1992. Riding on the wave of Batmania that began with the 1989 Batman motion picture directed by Tim Burton, this animated series was notable for it's dark tone, mature writing and complex themes.  And bringing this version of Batman to life was Kevin Conroy. 

Kevin's Batman voice was low and rumbled like thunder but was clear and easily understood. (Yes, that's a dig at Christian Bale.) His Bruce Wayne voice was brighter, friendlier.  

Kevin's voice work was so perfect for Batman, he continued to provide the voice for Batman in other DC animated projects like Justice League Unlimited and video games like Batman: Arkham and Injustice.  Kevin also provided the voice for an older Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond.  

Kevin Conroy portrayed Batman longer than any other actor.

Kevin Conroy was an out gay man. He wrote a story for DC Comics' 2022 Pride anthology, called "Finding Batman".  It was a emotionally raw and powerful tale of his life and experiences as a gay man and how those experiences related to his approach to portraying Batman and Bruce Wayne.  

Click here for Mark Evanier's post about Kevin which includes a link to a free edition of the DC Pride book including Kevin's story.

Kevin Conroy was a good man with an incredible talent who brought our childhood hero to life like no one else could .   

Tuesday TV Touchbase: Quantum Leap

Last week, Andrea and I watched the fall finale of the new Quantum Leap. The last episode before the series returns in January saw Dr. Ben Song leap into a teenage boy who along with 3 other young friends are are escaping from a camp in 1996. The camp uses various means of torment and torture to help "cure" young people of drug addiction, mental depression and being gay.  So it's a real nasty place and these 4 kids are risking their very lives to escape.  

Hologram Addison tells Ben that all 4 kids are destined to die unless Ben talks them out of escaping. Except that ain't gonna happen as that camp is a really bad place. So Plan B is go forward with the escape but somehow stay alive despite being lost, dwindling supplies and suffering injuries.  

Thanks to one of the kids being inhabited by a time traveller from the future with an invisible hologram companion, the young people escape, the camp is exposed for the snake pit it is and Ben leaps to his next adventure.

But not before remembering one more crucial detail. 

Everyone at Project Quantum Leap have been trying to figure out why Ben made the unauthorized leap in the first place. It was a mystery to Ben as well, his memories messed up by the quantum accelerator.  But bits and pieces of his past are starting to come back to him, including remembering why he took on this quest into the quantum accelerator.

To prevent Addison from being killed. In the FUTURE! 

In the original Quantum Leap, time travel was limited to the past and only along Dr. Sam Beckett's life time.  In the new series, we've seen Dr. Ben Song already break one of those restrictions by visiting times well before he was born. 

Could the next limitation involve a visit to... the FUTURE? 

We'll have to see what the second half of season 2 has to bring. 

On thing I was at first a bit critical of was the amount of time spent away from whatever life and time Ben has leaped into by checking in with what's going on in the present at Project Quantum Leap. But I've gotten a bit more welcoming of those cutaways since it gives us more time to spend with Dr. Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park), the project's artificial intelligence chief architect. Ian is super smart and also neurotic and snarky. Like the actor who portrays them, Ian is non-binary which is not a big thing to Ian's project partners which is cool. 

I kind of wish Ian could be Ben's holographic companion. Although Addison does seem to be loosening up in the role, willing to have some fun at the expense of Ben's latest predicament, much like Al would have some fun with whatever situation Sam Beckett leapt into.

Still up in the air is whatever role Sam Beckett will play in the new series. While the character is frequently name checked buy the new crew, Scott Bakula as gone on record as saying he is absolutely not coming back for the new series. Which may be true. But remember Andrew Garfield was also adamant he wasn't going to be in the last Spider-Man movie.  

The good news is Quantum Leap has apparently caught on with NBC upping the episode count to 18. It's good to see a TV show on network television getting some attention.  

And that is that for the Tuesday TV Touchbase this week.

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. 

The Red Wave That Wasn't

OK, it's Monday and normally the Monday post is for me to rant about some damn thing or another going on in the world or politics or some damn shit.

I suppose some commentary on last week's mid terms may be in order.  

Here's something we do know. Whatever gains the Republicans made last week, it fell short of their expected "red wave". 

For weeks leading up to election nights, Republican pundits were on Fox News and other right wing outlets touting how the Republican Party was not only going to win in November, they were going to win SO BIG like a big honking red wave sweeping over America. 

To be fair, there were some things working in their favor.

1. Historically, the party in power in the White House and Congress tends to get its butt kicked in the mid terms. 
2. Voters tends to not be kind to the party in power when things are rough on the home front.  Run away inflation was a major head wind for the Democrats.
3. CRIME! Crimes rates have ticked up a bit. Except in Republican political ads where crime rates have SOARED into the stratosphere! You're probably being murdered RIGHT NOW and it's a Democrat's fault! 
4. The fix is in! Look, Republicans have been redistricting and gerrymandering like crazy for years and thought they had things pretty well locked up.  They would win big because they simply couldn't lose. 

Despite all those advantages, the red wave was more of a red trickle. 

Yeah, the Republicans may take the House but it's gonna be close. So why didn't the Republican Party win big? 

1. FEAR!  Republicans have usually had a lock on motivating people with fear (CRIME is OUT of CONTROL! If you do not want to be MURDERED by DEMOCRATS, you better vote for us!)  But the Democrats had their own message of fear.  With the overturn of Roe V. Wade and Republican efforts to restrict abortion rights, Democrats could point to the very real possibility of a dystopian theocracy that would change The Handmaid's Tale from fiction to documentary. Nothing less than the fate of democracy and freedom were at stake.
2. STUPIDITY! A lot of Republican candidates were in races that easily could've been slam dunks for the Republican Party. Those races turned into slim margin wins or losses simply because the Republican candidates were... stupid.  Of course these candidates were there not for their skills or talents in leadership but for their devotion to Donald Trump and his big lie of 2020 election fraud.    

The stupidest of Trump's handpicked candidates was Hershel Walker who in a typically red state like Georgia was came up short to Sen. Raphael Warnock. 

Unfortunately, the mid term election nightmare is not over because neither Warnock nor Walker crossed the 50% mark needed to avoid a run off.  

So there is that to look forward to. 

It should be an embarrassment that the Warnock vs. Walker race was as close as it was given just how distressingly poor a candidate Walker was. Oh God he is so stupid! 

Speaking of stupid... Donald Trump. 

The guy whose biggest insult is calling someone a loser and whose biggest fear is being a loser is a loser again. 

Under Trump, Republicans lost control off the House in 2018 and lost the Senate and the White House in 2020. Whatever gains Republicans make in 2022, they will fall short of expectations under Trump.

There are some Republicans now openly voicing the idea of hitching the fate of the party to a petulant, unintelligent, unstable man child may have been a mistake.

Oh, you think?  

As I write this, the political landscape in Washington is still in flux. Maybe by the time time this posts on Monday, that will change.  

Whatever happens, Republicans did not get what they were expecting. And it's on their dumbass to not have seen this coming. 

Cinema Sunday: Mutiny on the Bounty

Today's Cinema Sunday takes a turn back to 1962 for an epic version of Mutiny on the Bounty.  The story is based on the real-life mutiny led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh, captain of HMAV Bounty, in 1789. 

In 1787, the Bounty sets sail from Britain for Tahiti under the command of Captain William Bligh (Trevor Howard) to collect a shipload of breadfruit saplings and transport them to Jamaica.

The plan is to see if the breadfruit plants will thrive in Jamaica and provide a cheap source of food for slaves.

Bligh is a flinty old bastard whose motto is "Cruelty with a purpose is not cruelty, it is efficiency."

Bligh wants to reach Tahiti ahead of schedule by attempting the shorter westbound route around Cape Horn. 

Everyone tells him this won't work.

Bligh order this route to be taken anyway.

It doesn't work, the Bounty cast about by storms and rough seas.  The shortcut puts the ship behind schedule. 

Bligh makes up the lost time by pushing the crew harder and cutting their rations.

In other words, the beatings will continue until morale improves.

First Lieutenant Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando) serves as second-in-command and is privately disgusted by Bligh's dismissive and cruel treatment of the men under his command. But Christian is first and foremost a good officer and will not act or speak out against his commanding officer.

Until Bligh does one damn cruel thing too damn many.

On the voyage to Jamaica, to atone for the lost time due to Bligh's error of attempting to go around Cape Horn, Blight attempts to bring back twice the number of breadfruit plants and reduces the water rations of the crew to water the extra plants.

Bligh's cruel and heartless edict to restrict the crew's access to water results in the deaths of crew members and Christian has finally had enough.   

Christian takes command of the ship. 

Showing more mercy to Bligh than Bligh ever showed for his men, Christian sets Bligh and the certain crew members still loyal to Bligh adrift in a longboat with navigational equipment. 

Long story made short: Bligh makes it back to England where there's a trial where a bunch of old white men in wigs declare that Bligh is not guilty in the matter of losing his ship in a mutiny but maybe it was a mistake for him to be a captain of a ship in the first damn place. 

Meanwhile, Fletcher Christian tries to come to terms that he is a renegade captain of a stolen ship with an outlaw crew. 

And he can't. 

Christian decides to return to Britain and testify to Bligh's wrongdoing. His men have other ideas and their decision does not end well for Christian or the Bounty. 

The 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty certain looks good.  Filmed using the Ultra Panavision 70 widescreen process and partly shot on location in the South Pacific, the movie makes use of bold colors and a vast canvas. The scenes in Tahiti are a gorgeous spectacle. 

In terms of acting, Trevor Howard's turn as Captain Bligh is particularly chilling with the casual nature of Bligh's arrogance and his cruelty to his men. Bligh's detached and blithe attitude towards his men is worse than any histrionic mustache twirling villainy.

The most challenging performance to process is Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian as a seagoing Hamlet, pensively pondering Bligh's misguided leadership and his cruel treatment of the crew but doing nothing about it, more of an effete sophisticate than a seasoned sailing professional.  

Things are not helped by Brando questionable English accent.

In the narrative of Mutiny On the Bounty, Fletcher Christian should provide a solid moral center. Brando's Christian is more of an oddity than a captivating leader of men.  

Quite frankly, Marlon Brando was miscast in the role of Fletcher Christian. Which is not the first time that particular issue has come up in a Cinema Sunday review. In our post on Guys and Dolls from September 13, 2020, the role of Sky Masterson destined for someone like Gene Kelly or Frank Sinatra went to Marlon Brando based solely on him as a big box office draw. 

Brando's rep as an actor's actor who could also fill theater seats carried a lot of weight, a one-two punch to bring both prestige and dollars. Even if the role wasn't quite right for him. 

Fletcher Christian in Mutiny On the Bounty was another such role. 

It didn't help matters than apparently Marlon Brando was in a pissy mood during much of the shoot.  Apparently Brando had certain ideas how the movie should be made and director Lewis Milestone had a different view.  

Originally, Carol Reed was the director but after 3 months of shoots in Tahiti, Reed stepped down for reasons ranging from poor health to just being fricking tired of fighting everyone to get the movie made his way.  

Lewis Milestone took over thinking this would be an easy gig except to find after three months of shooting, all anyone had to show for all that work was one 7 minute scene.  

And Marlon Brando was behaving very badly.

And I haven't mentioned to 372 times the script was re-written. OK, 372 is an exaggeration but the script went through many changes by many hands. 

Ultimately, the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty could not deliver on its promises, panned by critics and bombing at the box office. Marlon Brando's one-two punch did not bring either the prestige or the dollars the studio was fervently hoping for.  

What did I think? Well, it looks good, both the beautiful tropical paradise of Tahiti and the gritty details of the harsh life aboard the Bounty.  

Ultimately though, Mutiny on the Bounty is a victim of style over substance, a potentially strong story undone by a ponderous pace and questionable acting choices.  

Mutiny on the Bounty is something more suited to look at and less so to experience.