Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post: Wicked (Part 1)

After Thanksgiving dinner, we absconded from the Fortress of Ineptitude to go see the film adaption of the smash Broadway musical Wicked.

"We" being my wife and I along with our son and his fiance.    

(Rosie the dog stayed home. She stubbornly refuses to accept anyone other than Kristin Chenoweth in the role of Glinda.)  

I went into to this movie with some working knowledge of the source material. It is ostensibly the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, who she is and how she came to be. And the concept that perhaps people are not who we expect them to be. 

Which is brings us to... Wicked: Part 1.  

Wicked: Part 1 is based on the Broadway stage musical.

Which was based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire.

Which was based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Which was based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

And people say there are no original ideas.   

Wicked: Part 1 begins at the end. 

Glinda arrives by pink magic bubble to confirm for the residents of Munchkinland that the stories are true: the Wicked Witch of the West is dead!

Man are the Munchkins psyched about that! They break into song and dance while someone pulls out a massive wooden effigy of the Wicked Witch to set fire to.  

Glinda seems a bit... reserved, disassociated from the festivities around her. 

Which tees up the movie proper as we get the story of the origin of the Wicked Witch of the West. 

Say hello to Elphaba Thropp.   

She was born green.  

She's disowned by her father who is not in fact her father.  (Her mother had an affair with a travelling salesman.)  

She's abused and bullied as a child as she begins to present erratic displays of her magical abilities.  

Elphaba arrives at Shiz University to see off her paraplegic younger sister Nessarose.  An inadvertant display of Elphaba's magic gets the attention of Madame Morrible, the Dean of Sorcery, who offers to make Elphaba as her only student to study magic.

And then there's Glinda. (Or Galinda. It's a thing.) 

She's pretty and sweet and so very used to getting her own way which includes a private suite at Shiz.  

Madame Morrible makes Elphaba Glinda's roommate. 

And they immediately become best friends and no, they do not but eventually they get there.  

I'm not going to venture into the weeds of this nearly 3 hour long movie to explore the twists and turns of the plot, the minutia of story details that brings Elphaba to her power and to her destiny as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Elphaba does nothing wicked.  

She vows to stand against others who are. 

But it is propaganda, malicious lies that will make the Kingdom of Oz know that the green skinned woman in the black cloak is the Wicked Witch of the West. 

Wicked: Part 1 ends with Elphaba breaking loose from the surely bonds of Earth to the anthemic epic show stopping song "Defying Gravity".   

Wicked: Part 1 looks gorgeous, the set designs that build the world of Oz are nothing short of astonishing. Costuming is completely on point.  

And the performances.  Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda more than live up to hype. They bring their respective roles to life so very well through word and song. I'm not expert enough to tell you why but I can emphatically say they do not suck.  

Also on hand are Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Ethan Slater (Broadway's Spongebob Squarepants) and Bowen Yang (most of the really good sketches on Saturday Night Live.) 

Also popping up for cameos from the first Broadway production of Wicked are original Elphaba and Glinda actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.    

Michelle Yeoh may have questionable singing skills but when she goes into cold hearted ass kicking mode as Madame Morrible, she can't be beat. 

If there is a weak link in the acting chain, it would be Jeff Goldblum.  The Wizard follows the rote outline of a standard issue Jeff Goldblum smarmy character.  Still, the Wizard is an unscrupulous and deceitful con man so maybe Jeff Goldblum as Jeff Goldblum is what we need here, maybe, who knows.  

Let's talk about the ending.

There isn't one. 

Well, it right there in the title: Wicked: Part 1.

What pray tell is the suspense for Part 2 when Elphaba's fate is spelled out at the very start of Part 1 even before the credits roll. 

Director John M. Chu (In The Heights, Crazy Rich Asians) wanted "Defying Gravity" to be a big uplifting moment before delving into the darker stuff that follows in Act 2 of the play. 

So Wicked the movie gets 2 installments.  

So what's next except the inevitable. 

Unless...?

I have opted to avoid reading about the play or the book to try to preserve some suspense about the movie. But I have theories. 

About the role Elphaba needs to play in a kingdom turned against her... 

Tomorrow, it's a 2nd edition of Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post as we go back to the beginning: The Wizard of Oz.   

Your Friday Video Link: Bonjour Hi!

I watched the episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Charli XCX  and I did not remember this weird sketch about a French Canadian morning show.

Because it only appeared during the dress rehearsal and was cut for time from the actual broadcast. 

Which is a damn shame as I found this sketch to be very funny. 

Your  Friday Video Link is....   BONJOUR HI!!

Your mileage may vary but I really like that sketch, particularly Charli XCX as the American culture correspondent. 

Your BONUS Friday Video Link....

Bill Hader talks to Seth Meyers about an SNL sketch that did not make it past dress rehearsal.  

Happy Thanksgiving

The purpose of this post is to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

So....

Happy Thanksgiving.

And that is all.

_______________________________

OK, that wasn't supposed to be all. 

My manager at work asked us to contribute to a group power point where we would extoll upon what we are thankful for.   

So I made an edited version of what I submitted.  (This version leaves out specific references to my job.)   

Which like a big ol' dummy, I sent to myself as a PDF.

Which was a format that could not be uploaded to the blog.

My son Dean was visiting and couldn't get it to work.

Dean's fiance Aspen was able to figure it out (YAY!) but what I sent over was this (DUH!). 

Yes, the middle part is compressed and blurry has hell which is the whole joke.   

I was able to provide a photo of our dog but for the three principal humanoids in our family, well....

I didn't have a photo.  

Well, I am thankful for my family.

And I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

And that is all. 

____________________________

AMENDED 12/2/2024

Here are the graphics I created for work.  

Comic Books From November 1974

By the end of 1974, I was pretty much into my comic book habit. This was not a passing fancy but a commitment. I was at the spinner rack with whatever spare change I had to buy my new comics from DC. 

Here is a sample of some titles that were on sale fifty years ago.

Action Comics #444 was not a good time to be a super hero. Green Lantern is dead and Superman killed him?

What the hell?  

OK, Superman did not kill Green Lantern and Green Lantern isn't dead.   

Maybe Black Canary is not so lucky? 

"Tell Green Arrow that Black Canary is dead and we did it slow!"

What the hell, man! I'm only 11 years old! That's some cruel shit to pull on a kid like me! 

Spoiler: Black Canary is NOT dead!

Back to the cover of Action #444 and notice the price is 25 cents! 

Just the previous month, comics were 20 cents! 

What the hell, man! I'm only 11 years old! That's a whole extra nickel!

Costing a bit more was DC's line of 100 page spectaculars. 

Detective Comics #445 presents the 2nd chapter of the "Bat-Murderer" storyline where Batman has been framed for the murder of Talia A Ghul.  

It was Len Wein's last writing for DC before moving over to Marvel to write Spider-Man. Len would return to DC in 1978 to write for Batman again.  

DC's hot artist of 1974 was Mike Grell. Besides his work on the Green Arrow back up in Action Comics and the Legion of Super Heroes in Superboy, editors would plug Grell in wherever they could and here he winds up drawing a new solo adventure of Robin, the Teen Wonder

In between these 2 new stories, this issue of Detective features an eclectic mix of reprints. Being a young reader and new to DC, these 100 page issues provided an excellent and cost effective way to learn more about DC's history.  This issue  featured Star Hawkins (Private Eye....in the FUTURE!), Roy Raymond (he would solve mysteries on his TV show),  Elongated Man (pliable super sleuth) and from the Golden Age of comics,   Doctor Mid-Nite.   

Also in the 100 page format was Superman Family. Prior to 1974, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl had their own solo titles.  Jimmy's title was changed to Superman Family and these solo stars had to share rotating space in the new lead feature while anchoring a mix of reprints.   

I remember this issue for that provocative Lois Lane cover.

What the hell, man! I'm only 11 years old! I'm too young to notice these things. 

Wonder Woman #216 was part of the series where various members of the Justice League were monitoring Wonder Woman after she had a crisis of confidence and... it was a whole thing. (I'm not sure that storyline has aged well.)   

And hubba hubba, get a load of that gorgeous Black Canary and....

What the hell, man! I'm only 11 years old! I should not be noticing that she's hot! 

Well, that's gotta be worth an extra nickel.  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: St. Denis Medical, Night Court and High Potential

 

This week making it's Tuesday TV Touchbase debut is St. Denis Medical, a mockumentary style sitcom about overworked doctors and nurses working at an underfunded Oregon hospital.

Blame endless promos that aired during the Summer Olympics on NBC for bringing us here but so far, the show is worth our attention.  

Allison Tolman is Alex, a recently promoted supervising nurse (a little more money, a lot more work) who is our focal point as she tries to manage an eclectic group of nurses and doctors and whatever damn crisis is happening today.  As much as Alex wants to get home to her kids at the end of the day, she is frequently curtailed into staying late.

My favorite character is Ron (David Alan Grier), a curmudgeonly physician who is too old and too tired for such things as hope and positivity. When he was asked if he was happy with a specific outcome on some crisis, he replied, "Happy? I am NEVER happy. I will allow I may be satisfied with an outcome but happy? No!"  

(Andrea observed I have said that same thing myself and she is right. I will own that.)  

I'm not sure we needed another mockumentary show but it does make sense for someone to document the work of those who try to help people in need despite the odds.

(Seriously, why is that documentary crew still following the vampires around on What We Do In the Shadows?)

St. Denis Medical is off to a strong start with some genuine laughs and some real heart felt emotion.  

____________________________

New Night Court is back for a 3rd season.  I wrote before I wasn't sure if we were going to stick around because the show just wasn't that funny.  

Season 3 started off on a strong note and lot of that owes to adding Wendie Malick to the main cast as the new assistant D.A. Julianne Walters.

Julianne had appeared in seasons as a career criminal intent on getting revenge on Dan Fielding for prosecuting her years ago. 

So she's a lawyer now?

The machinations that get her from the prosecuted to the prosecutor provides for a lot of laughs as well as a surprisingly poignant moment when Dan realizes Julianne really does have the background to be an attorney and is really trying to make a better life for herself that does not involve fucking around with Dan's sanity. 

Unless she's still fucking around with Dan's head. 

___________________________

High Potential reached the half way point of it's first season and it's still engaging our attention.  

Morgan may be super smart and observant as hell, seeing stuff other people miss but she can be fallible and unlike other TV detectives who are super smart and observant as hell, Morgan is empathetic with the victims of crime and even on occasion their perpetrators. 

This annoys Detective Haradec who has the job of overseeing Morgan in the field. But over the course of 7 episodes, he's beginning to appreciate the results of Morgan's unorthodox approach. Even if he is loathed to admit it.  

Morgan and Haradec have really good chemistry together but I hope the writers can avoid the obvious route of a romantic pairing. (The French show on which High Potential is based has paired up these two.)   For now, I think it's enough just to have the two of them claw their way to a mutual status of "like" and "respect" without introducing sex into this. 

The ratings and reviews for High Potential have been very good and I'm sure ABC would love to add to it's 13 episode order for season 1 but production has shut down while Kaitlin Olson is shooting her other show, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and whatever scenes she needed for in Hacks.  

I worry that the paucity of episodes and the gaps between them may dull enthusiasm for this show.  

______________________________________

Next week on the Tuesday TV Touchbase:

About damn time! The return of Outlander! 

And a mid season report on Brilliant Minds.    

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.  

 

Oh No! It's One Of... THEM!

Republicans in Congress are in a kerfuffle of a tizzy of a snit that one of THEM walks among them.

You know, THEM! 

Uh, giant mutant spiders?!?! 

No,  THEM!!!

Donald Trump warned us about THEM! 

You send your cute little boy to school in the morning.

"Good-bye, son. Have a good day!" 

Then they come back home that afternoon as a girl!

You know....

THEM!

Donald Trump ("All hail and glory to the Great Leader!") tried to warn us and now we have one in Congress! 

One... what?

You know, one of ... THEM!!

Well, I agree, having a giant mutant spider in Congress would be a problem. 

Well, I want to hear from the giant mutant spider myself.

Well, I am not an expert on biology but I'm pretty sure that is NOT a giant mutant spider.

I do declare that is Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat who will be the first transgender member of Congress.  

She seems like a perfectly calm and reasonable person to me and...

Wait! Calm?

AND reasonable?!?

Holy fuck! 

No wonder Republicans are scared of her! 

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution to prohibit House members and staffers from using single-sex bathrooms other than those corresponding to their “biological sex,” which the rule does not define.

Mace said she's "not going to let any man tell her who is or is not allowed in a women's restroom". 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she would “fight” any trans woman who tried to use the women’s restroom near the House floor, adding “I shouldn’t have to, but, you know, it’s pretty aggressive for biological men to be invading our spaces for women.”

What did Speaker of the House Mike Johnson have to say?

“We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people. I believe it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect.  The chamber will accommodate the needs of every single person.” 

Well, that's nice. Vague but nice.  A little ducking and weaving to avoid dealing with this mess but I get it.

Then Mike Johnson called a press conference to make sure we understand what side he is on.

“I want to make a statement and be very clear. I was asked a question and I rejected the premise because the answer is so obvious. For anybody who doesn’t know my well-established record on this issue let me be unequivocally clear: A man is a man and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.”

Then he repeated the bullshit he said earlier about dignity blah blah blah.  But he made his position very clear.

He was against.... THEM! 

No, not giant mutant spiders. 

Republicans are high on anti-trans sentiment after Donald Trump's campaign spent millions on TV ads accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of being for “they/them.”

I know it played well in North Carolina.

Personal statement: if you have a child who is transgender and you still voted for Donald Trump, I have a little question for you.

Lean in closer. 

Closer.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!"  

By the way, what exactly is the bathroom situation on Capitol Hill?  

• There isn’t one big bathroom that all 435 House members have to share.
• Each lawmaker has a toilet in their own personal office in the buildings that surround the Capitol. 
• There are also the usual gender-segregated bathrooms in hallways throughout the Capitol complex, including ones by the House floor that members sometimes step out during votes to use. (Marjorie Taylor Greene slips in the ladies' room to light up a cigarette and gossip about boys. "I'm so glad that grody Matt Gaetz dropped out! He was so gross!")  

So the Republicans in Congress have made bullying their newest member a priority because she dares to be one of...

...you know...

THEM!

Side note: In case you didn't get the joke,Them! is a 1954 black-and-white science fiction film about giant mutant spiders. I wrote about it here.  

Doctor Who Is Classic!: City of Death

 We are just a month away from the new Doctor Who Christmas special so until we get to new Doctor Who, let's take a look back into the long ago past in what we call the classic era of the show in a recurring series of posts I call...

Doctor Who Is CLASSIC!

Today's post is about a highly regarded tale of the 4th Doctor that sends the TARDIS to Paris and pits the Doctor and his companion Romana against an enemy from outer space using time as a weapon.

Welcome to....  "City of Death"!   

The story is a credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym for David Fisher who pitched the original idea, producer Graham Williams and a major re-write by series story editor Douglas Adams.  

Yes, THAT Douglas Adams who gave us Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.   

As Adams told the tale, "Graham took me back to his place, locked me in his study and hosed me down with whisky and black coffee for a few days, and there was the script."

Adams' influence of twisty plots and humorous dialogue is keenly felt through out this story.  

"City of Death" actually goes on location to Paris, a rare thing for a TV show bound to the BBC TV studios and the occasional rock quarry.  Taking the show to Paris was an expensive enterprise so by God we're going to get shots of Paris in the show with lots of padding.

• Feel the excitement as the Doctor and Romana wait for the subway!
• Thrill to the adventure as the Doctor and Romana ride the subway! 
• Experience the anticipation as the Doctor and Romana walk the streets of Paris!
• Feel the rush and the risk of danger as the Doctor and Romana run across the streets of Paris!

If Tom Baker and Lalla Ward did anything while in costume while in Paris, it was caught on film and put it in the damn episode. The BBC put good money into this trip to Paris and God save the queen, the BBC was gonna see it on screen.  

Speaking of costumes, the show's costume designer wanted to put Romana in some kind of silver cat suit outfit but Lalla Ward opted for a school girl motif which she thought was a bit of innocent fun only to find out later that "grown women dressed as school girls" is a sex fetish thing. 

The Doctor and Romana stumble unto a plot by Count Scarlioni  to steal the Mona Lisa.   

This is no mere museum art heist caper. 

The theft is to finance experiments in time travel. 

And Scarloni is an alien called Scaroth who wants to use time travel to go back in time and stop the remainder of his race from being blowed up real good when they came to Earth over 400 million years ago. 

An explosion that began the existence of life on this planet. 

Yes, I can spot the time paradoxes in Scaroth's plan a mile away but just shut up and enjoy the story. It's a good one. 

The Doctor and Romana team up with Inspector Duggan, a veritable bull in a china shop type of police detective who is investigating a plot to steal the Mona Lisa.  The Doctor frequently has to admonish Duggan not to punch people or break things.   

A moment to talk about the Doctor/companion dynamic. It's a bit off the norm in that the companion is not some poor dumb uninformed human so the Doctot can provide needed exposition to. Romana is a Time Lord and while she lacks real world experience, she got better marks at the Academy on Gallifrey than the Doctor.  

And if you feel there is some more than just Doctor/companion chemistry going on between the Doctor and Romana, well, Tom Baker and Lalla Ward were dating. 

Sometimes. 

Sometimes not. 

It was an on again/off again thing.  

Scarloni was played by Julian Glover which was a pretty big get for Doctor Who. Glover was a classically trained actor, a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and performed many times for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has a long and varied filmography that includes roles in Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.

And the museum patron regarding the TARDIS as a work of modern art is none other than John Cleese.  

While I really enjoy "City of Death", Doctor Who fandom was not so kindly disposed towards the story at the time, decrying an over reliance on humor and "buffoonery".  

Sometimes fandoms take themselves way too seriously.  

For me, "City of Death" is a great entry from the classic era of Doctor Who.  

Next month....

NO Doctor Who Is CLASSIC for December.

But there will be a Doctor Who Is NEW as we welcome this year's Christmas special, "Joy To the World".  

Dave-El's Weekend Movie Post: Broadway Melody of 1936, 1938 and 1940!

Today’s edition of Dave-El’s Weekend Movie Post is about not one…  not two…  but THREE (yes, count ‘em, 3!!!)  movies!

• Broadway Melody of 1936!
• Broadway Melody of 1938!
• Broadway Melody of 1940!

 

These films have NOTHING to do with the original Broadway Melody film that MGM released in 1929. (The FIRST all singing, all dancing, all talking musical!)

 

These films also have NOTHING to do with each other. 

 

All of them star Eleanor Powell but as a different character in each movie. 

 

Broadway Melody of 1936!

Powell is Irene Foster, a young ingenue who is the high school sweetheart of Broadway producer Robert Gordon and she hopes that for old times sake, he might give her a shot a Broadway show.  Robert has a show he’s ready to launch and he thinks Irene would be perfect for the lead.  But Lillian Brent has other plans. Lillian is a young and very rich widow who has sunk a lot of money into this show and she thinks that earns her right to have the lead role and not risk the new play on a young ingenue no one’s heard of.  

 

It looks like Irene Foster is on a train  back home but Robert's secretary has a scheme that will put Irene in front of an audience and proves she can be a star.

 

There’s a sub plot with Jack Benny as a radio gossip monger (a parody of Walter Winchell) who keeps poking at Robert Gordon which keeps getting the reporter punched in the face but his audience keeps growing. 

Broadway Melody of 1936 was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. 

Broadway Melody of 1938!

Powell is Sally Lee, a young ingenue who hopes to get her chance to star in a Broadway show.  Steve Raliegh catches her song and dance skills and what a coinkidink, he’s a producer with a show he’s ready to launch and  Sally would be perfect for the lead.  But Binnie Barnes has other plans. She’s sunk a lot of money into this show and tells Stecve to not risk the new play on a young ingenue no one’s heard of and fire her.     

 

There’s a sub plot about a horse and Sally helps get it into a race. The horse wins and there’s enough dough to finance Steve's show and to tell Binnie she can blow and Sally Lee gets to be a star!

The film has a most notable performance by a young Judy Garland of "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)", a tribute to Clark Gable which turned the teenage singer into a Hollywood sensation, leading her being cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.  

As with the previous film, Broadway Melody of 1938 ends with a major elaborate dance sequence with Eleanor Powell at the center including a bit with her in a gender bending tuxedo.

Broadway Melody of 1940!

A bit of a change up! Eleanor Powell is Claire Bennett, a big star of the Broadway stage.  The up and comers in this story are two male dancers Johnny Brett and King Shaw played by Fred Astaire and George Murphy.   

A talent scout pegs Johnny as a pretty hot dancer and a perfect partner for Claire's next show.  But a case of mistaken identity causes King to be mistaken for Johnny and he gets cast to star opposite Claire.   

King let's "Johnny's" success go to his head as he parties late at night which makes him late for rehearsals and even misses an actual performance due to being drunk. The shows goes on when real Johnny subs in for fake Johnny.  

Which is a real treat for Johnny as he is in love with Claire and to finally dance with her is a dream come true. And Claire is taken with the real Johnny in a way she never felt for the other Johnny.  

In a drunken jealous rage, King shoots Claire and Johnny before dying in a hail fire of bullets when cornered by the cops! Well, I didn't see that coming! 

I kid! I kid! This is NOT that kind of movie! 

King realizes Johnny is the better dancer for the show and the better man for Claire and all ends well. 

Broadway Melody of 1940 lacks the wild energy of the the two previous entries and poor Eleanor Powell gets put on the back burner of her own movie series.  It's a perfectly serviceable Fred Astaire movie with Eleanor Powell as a perfectly fine co-star but I think Eleanor deserved better.   

Eleanor is not the star of the film's climatic dance sequence and no tap routines while wearing a tuxedo.  

That being said, the scene where Astaire and Powell dance to Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" is considered by many to be one of the greatest tap sequences in film history.

Broadway Melody of 1942!

There is NO Broadway Melody of 1942 but there was supposed to be with Eleanor Powell co-starring with Gene Kelly.  After a few days of rehearsal, the project fell apart with no reasons given but given what I know about Kelly's prickly perfectionism and his diva like need to always be in control, I can guess. 

Eleanor Powell was an extraordinary talent who was greatly admired by her peers at the time.  Fred Astaire felt intimidated by Powell, considered the only female dancer ever capable of out-dancing Astaire.  

Sadly, Eleanor Powell only made a half dozen more films after Broadway Melody of 1940.  

Clips of Eleanor's extraordinary performances in the That's Entertainment compilation series renewed interest in this classic film star and her amazing gifts as a dancer.  

Your Friday Video Link: Train Watching in Flagstaff AZ

Back in October, I posted an edition of Your Friday Video Link that was a live feed from the train station in La Plata, Missouri. 

Today's link is further down the line in Arizona.

In Flagstaff to be exact.  

I have spent way too much time watching this feed waiting for trains to go by.

The big attraction is Amtrak #3, the Southwest Chief, the passenger train that connects Chicago to Los Angeles.  

I have drawn Andrea into this... thing, whatever it is.   She will sit up with me my well past our respective bed times waiting for the ol' # 3 to pull into Flagstaff.  

We're not the only ones.  The chat on the right side of the screen is filled with rail aficionados waiting for the train.  

It's on my bucket list to take a trip by train across at least part of America.  

Today's edition of Your Friday Video Link: the train station in Flagstaff AZ.

Blog Classic: The Narwhal Post

Apropos of absolutely nothing, here is a post that originally appeared on Friday, November 13, 2015

The Narwhal Post

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You Entertainment and Dave-El Productions Inc. are proud to present (because we're staring at a blank screen and feeling well and truly fucked to come up with any ideas)...

The Narwhal.  

Here are some facts about the narwhal. 

The narwhal, or narwhale (Monodon monoceros), is a medium-sized toothed whale and possesses a large “tusk” from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada, and Russia. It is one of two living species of whale in the Monodontidae family, along with the beluga whale. The narwhal males are distinguished by a long, straight, helical tusk, which is an elongated upper left canine. 


And here are some lyrics to a song about the narwhal. 

Narwhals, Narwhals
Swimming in the ocean
Causing a commotion
'Cause they are so awesome

Narwhals, Narwhals
Swimming in the ocean
Pretty big and pretty white
They beat a polar bear in a fight

Like an underwater unicorn
They've got a kick-ass facial horn
They're the Jedi of the sea
They stop Cthulhu eating ye

Narwhals
They are Narwhals
Narwhals
Just don't let 'em touch your balls
Narwhals
They are Narwhals
Narwhals
Inventors of the Shish Kebab

Narwhals
They are Narwhals
Narwhals
Just don't let 'em touch your balls
Narwhals
They are Narwhals
Narwhals

Here are some more narwhal facts.

Narwhals are medium-sized whales. For both sexes, excluding the male’s tusk, the total body size can range from 3.95 to 5.5 metres (13.0 to 18.0 feet); the males are slightly larger than the females. The average weight of an adult narwhal is 800 to 1,600 kilograms (1,800 to 3,500 pounds).

That's enough narwhal facts.

And this is the end of the blog post about the narwhal. 

The American Kakistocracy

The rapid descent into the American Kakistocracy continues.

 

As I posted last Wednesday, a kakistocracy is a democratic government under the leadership of the worst people possible.

 

Which Donald Trump is determined to bring about. 

 

As loyalty to Trump is more valued than any relevant experience or skill, the American Kakistocracy is inevitable.

 

Naming Matt Gaetz to be attorney general is scraping the bottom of the barrel.  Gaetz resigned from Congress rather than face the outcome of the bipartisan ethics committee looking into accusations that Gaetz engaged in sex trafficking under age girls.  This is the guy Li’l Donnie wants to be the chief law enforcement officer in the country?  

 

And there is a level below the bottom of the barrel where Trump found Robert F Kennedy Jr lurking.  Trump is nominating the notorious anti-vaxxer (and all around crazy person) to be in charge of health and human services.  

 

Is there sub strata in the dirt where RFK was found because Donald Trump wants to put Tulsi Gabbard in as Director of National Intelligence.  Gabbard is a pro-Russian Putin apologist who never met a conspiracy theory she didn’t like.  

 

Everyone seems to be holding to the guideline Donald Trump Jr espoused: “We don’t want anyone who thinks they know more than my father.”

 

The relevant experiences or skills of his appointees are of secondary concern to Donald Trump as he expects to rule through fiat and just executive order his way through whatever he wants to do.  The Supreme Court said he can do whatever he wants so who cares if his cabinet has any working knowledge on how to do their jobs as long as they do what Li’l Donnie tells them.  

And the Republicans are ready to make that happen.  Check out this clip.

Tuesday TV Touchbase: The Penguin

 

I finished up The Penguin last week and it was epic.

Forget what you know from the comics.  This show has nothing to do with this incarnation of Oswald Cobblepot.

In The Penguin, thin dapper Irish actor Colin Farrell becomes the pudgy, scarred Brooklynesque low level henchman Oswald Cobb for the Falcone crime family.  

Following the events of the 2022 film The Batman (oh my God! Has it really been three years?!?!), the poor sections of Gotham City are a no man's land caught in a struggle for power between the Falcones and the rival Maroni family.    

Over the course of the series, Oswald Cobb finagles, lies, murders, manipulates, betrays  etc etc etc to pit the families against one another and live long enough to pick up the pieces and become the king of crime in Gotham City. 

Sofia Falcone may have something to say about that.

As much as Colin Farrel deserves every accolade possible for his incredible performance as the erstwhile Penguin, attention must be paid to the remarkably outstanding Cristin Milioti.  

Cristin has a wide ranging filmography of TV and movie roles but I know her best as Tracy McConnell in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.  Or if that name doesn't ring a bell, "the mother" in that show's final season.    

Which does nothing prepare you for her role in The Penguin.  

Sofia Falcone goes from being a pampered Mafia princess to being tortured, broken and abandoned to a 10 year stint in Arkham Asylum for murders her father committed.  Her father and everyone in the Falcone family attest that Sofia is mentally ill and is the psycho murderer known as "the Hangman". 

After the death of her father in The Batman, Sofia is released from Arkham.

Sofia Falcone did not go into Arkham a murdering psycho bitch but she comes out as one.  

She slaughters the Falcone family and sets her sight on getting revenge against Oswald Cobb for his role in her betrayal. 

That blood lust to see Oswald suffer will prove to be her undoing.  

Cristin Milioti deserves some kind of Golden Globe or Emmy recognition for her work on The Penguin. 

I hope it doesn't get overlooked because it's a "comic book" show.  

I've seen too many genuinely great performances in shows like Doom Patrol or Superman & Lois get passed over for recognition because of the dismissive attitude towards movies and shows based on comic books.  

The Penguin does draw on a deep well of mythology set forth in Batman comics but this series is an epic tragedy, almost operatic in it's scale that defies it's source material.

The Penguin has more in common with The Sopranos than it does with Detective Comics.  

There's so much about this show I did write about here. Oswald Cobb's motivation to do anything, to win the respect and love of a mother who is never going to give him what he wants.  This drives so much of the drama and the tragedy of this series.  I'll leave it wiser heads than mine to parse that minefield but it's heartbreaking to watch. 

And Oswald's mentoring young Victor, building a relationship that is akin to a father/son dynamic, you want it to survive with both of them in a good place at the end. 

SPOILER! Victor does not survive. Which was pretty much a given from the get go but how he meets his fatal fate destroyed me. 

Oswald Cobb may be the main character of this series but it in no way makes him a hero.  He is a monster. He is absolutely the villain.  

And that image of a bat shining against the cloudy Gotham City sky is an omen of the fate of all villains in this town.

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Next week on the Tuesday TV Touchbase:

St. Denis Medical 

the return of new Night Court 

and a mid season report on High Potential.    

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.