Time to get the butterfly nets…

For those who think all I ever do when I talk about politics is slam Republicans, here goes some equal time.

From Ed Mazza and presented on the (oh so liberal) Huffingtonpost.com, a report about a DC lawmaker and his… strange… statement regarding the late winter storms we’ve been having.  The lawmaker, Trayon White, is a Democrat…

DC Lawmaker blames winter storms on Jewish bankers who control the weather

I mean, where do you start here?  The lawmaker later on apologized for his statement but… come on, how does one simply apologize when making a statement that’s that alarming and the people this lawmaker represents just let it go at that?

Sheesh.

There’s been a joke going around that the election of Trump proves we’ve entered into some kind of bizarro alternate universe.

I’m beginning to think this isn’t much of a joke anymore.

Michael Fleisher, R.I.P.

The name may not be terribly familiar even to those who have followed comic books, but writer Michael Fleisher, who I just found out yesterday had passed away on February 2nd, was an amazing talent who left behind at least two series of stories I absolutely love.

The first, and probably his best, work ran only some 10 issues/stories.  While I lament the fact that it lasted such a short period of time, in retrospect it might have been just long enough.  These stories featured the Spectre, a character who to that point was never terribly well written even though he’d been around since the “Golden Age” of comics.  Mr. Fleisher made him a vengeful spirit who gave evil doers their just -and often very icky- reward.  The stories were found in Weird Adventure Comics and drawn by the always amazing Jim Aparo…

Image result for jim aparo spectre

Image result for jim aparo spectre

Image result for jim aparo spectre

His other great series lasted a much longer time -over a dozen years!- and many, many issues, and involved DC’s western anti-hero Jonah Hex.

Image result for jonah hex comic book

While Mr. Fleischer wasn’t the man who created the character, he was the one who handled him the longest and, in my opinion, offered the best take on him as well.  Jonah Hex has gone on to appear in his own -not very good- movie as well as on DC’s TV shows on the CW.

Perhaps the most fascinating story Mr. Fleisher wrote regarding the character appeared in the book presented below, Jonah Hex Spectacular.  Within this issue we learn the ultimate fate of Jonah Hex and it ain’t pretty.  Years later other writers at DC would return to the story and present a happier ending, but I like the grim one.  It’s somehow fitting…

Image result for michael fleisher jonah hex

Later on, Michael Fleisher would be bad mouthed in an interview by noted sci-fi author Harlan Ellison and in The Comics Journal.  In that interview and among other things Mr. Ellison stated Fleisher, based on some of his works and especially his Spectre stories, was a “lunatic” (he would offer other derogatory descriptions, some even more foul mouthed).  Mr. Fleisher sued for defamation and eventually lost the case while Mr. Ellison claimed the things he said were in jest and not meant to be taken seriously.  Regardless, the interview and the subsequent lawsuit effectivelly spelled the end of Mr. Fleisher’s career in American comic books.

He would leave comics completely by 1995 and after doing some stories for the British comic series 2000 AD.  His later career was spent in studies and college and he was 76 years old at the time of his passing.

Tonight I’ll have to go through my books and re-read some of those Spectre and Jonah Hex stories.

For those intrigued by what I’ve written above, the Spectre stories were collected in a TPB called The Wrath of the Spectre

Image result for the wrath of the spectre comic

As for his Jonah Hex stories, DC released two black and white (and 500 some pages long) Showcase volumes which feature quite a bit of Mr. Fleisher’s material…

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Image result for jonah hex showcase volume two

Again, if you’re at all intrigued by what I’ve written above and curious to read some of Mr. Fleisher’s stuff, get these three books.

They’re that good.

The Presidio (1988) a (very) belated review

I’ve always been kinda/sorta fascinated by the works of director Peter Hyams.  While he may not be a terribly well known director, he’s made some pulpy films that have lingered in my mind over the years.  They may not always be the most original works, they do have their interesting elements.

Among the many films he’s directed is the Mars landing conspiracy thriller Capricorn One, the remarkably not all that bad 2010 (a sequel to the classic Stanley Kubrick directed 2001: A Space Odyssey), and two of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s better movie outings, Sudden Death and Time Cop.

Mr. Hyams also made two films with Sean Connery, the Alien set/visuals-inspired and High Noon story-inspired Outland and The Presidio.  Here’s the trailer to The Presidio:

I have to say up front: Unlike the many Peter Hyams directed films I mentioned above, there was little I recalled about The Presidio, which I only saw once many, many years ago.  The things I remembered about the film were a) Meg Ryan looked really attractive and b) the characters played by Sean Connery and Mark Harmon were constantly arguing.

Anyway, fast forward to a few months ago and the film was airing on some cable channel and I recorded it to my DVR.  It lingered there, recorded but unwatched, until yesterday when I had a little bit of free time and decided to give the film a go.

The first thing that struck me about the film, and you can catch glimpses of it in the above trailer, is the appearance of Jenette Goldstein as the victim of a murderer -this happens quite literally in the movie’s first few minutes so I don’t feel its a terribly big spoiler- and that sets off the movie’s story.  I point her out because she’s only a couple of years removed from her role as Private Vasquez in Aliens and, because she’s dressed in military green, still looks very much like that famous character.

Anyway, so we have her mysterious murder within the Presidio, the famous San Francisco military academy, and that in turn leads to Mark Harmon’s detective Jay Austin meeting up with Sean Connery’s Lt. Col. Alan Caldwell, the head MP of the Presidio and the man in charge of the case there.

The two have, we soon find, a history.  Austin used to be an MP under Caldwell and at some point he broke from the academy and became a police detective.  He doesn’t care for Caldwell much and the feeling is mutual.

However, because the murder occurred on the Presidio’s grounds, of course the two are eventually forced to partner up.  And it is when Austin heads to Caldwell’s home that he finds the man’s daughter, Donna (Meg Ryan, natch) and the attraction is instant.

Things move on and the conspiracy is eventually exposed but the fact that I couldn’t recall much of the film all these years later becomes more evident as I watched it.

To be blunt, the film isn’t all that good, even though it features a typically strong Connery performance, a charismatic turn by Ms. Ryan, and a so-so turn by Harmon.  I can’t be too harsh regarding Harmon as his character is pretty one note as written: Brash and handsome, handsome and brash.  What may be interesting to some is to see Mark Harmon play essentially a younger, brasher version of his character on N.C.I.S.

The story turns out to be a rather uninteresting one with one “big” surprise regarding one of the ancillary characters that is so obvious that even newborns should see it coming (though, of course, our leads didn’t).

Worse and especially early in the film it seemed we were jumping forward, story-wise, to the point of near incoherence.  I feel like there were scenes missing which were meant to elaborate on Donna and Austin’s relationship.  Perhaps they were filmed and clipped from the final cut or perhaps they were dumped in the screenwriting stage, but nonetheless there were times it felt like I was missing something.

For example, there is a scene which suddenly occurs where Austin and Donna are at an officer’s/military dinner and her father is at another table, seething as he watches them.  Donna acts up and provokes Austin into a fight.

There is no lead up to this scene -either that or I fell asleep for a moment or two and missed it.  One moment Austin and Caldwell are investigating the murder and suddenly they’re all at that military party and Donna’s acting like a crazy person.

A little before that scene there is one where Austin and Donna are walking on a beach and Austin very clumsily states his love for Donna, noting how he’s come to feel this way after seeing her all this time.  At that point in the film I believe we only had them together twice, the first time they “meet cute” and then when they first go out!

Weird, huh?  As I said, I get the feeling there was more to the whole Donna/Austin relationship but romance was torpedoed in favor of action/mystery.

Anyway, I can’t recommend The Presidio, even to hard core Peter Hyams (there are some of you out there, no?), Sean Connery, Meg Ryan, or Mark Harmon fans.  There simply isn’t enough “there” there to justify the time.

Too bad.

Assorted (political) musings…

…you’ve been warned!

Based on many of my political comments, one can rightfully surmise I don’t think much of “President” Donald Trump.  This feeling has extended into the Republican party and that’s because, IMHO, the party has been moving more and more toward having just such a Frankenstein’s monster of a leader for many years now.

The fact that so many prominent Republicans, the pundits in print and on TV now shake their heads and wonder what happened to “their” Republican party amuses and saddens me.

For example, I’ve written before that I liked what Michael Steele, ex-head of the Republican Party, had to say about the hypocrisy of Evangelicals in the way they looked away from all the dark moral actions Mr. Trump, noting that from now on they shouldn’t ever have anything to say about morals to anyone.

Kudos for that statement, Mr. Steele, but I have a long enough memory to remember when he was in charge of the Republican Party and during that time he said plenty of stupid crap that, sadly, has led the party to the point where it now is.

Another guy who laments where the Republican Party currently sits is Steve Schmidt.  His comments, whenever he appears on political shows, is sober and there is a genuine lamentation of what has become of the Republican party.  He has no kind words at all to say about Trump and wonders when any of the Republicans in office will finally stand up to him.

Based on these comments, he is another Republican I find myself in agreement with, but, again, there’s that pesky little memory of mine.

Wasn’t Mr. Schmidt the man who ran John McCain’s presidential campaign?  You know, the campaign that eventually gave us Sarah Palin?!

Yikes.

Anyway, my point is not to rub all these people’s noses in their past, though frankly those who so lament the state of the Republican Party and the “presidency” of Trump should really, really look hard in the mirror as he didn’t just come out of nowhere.  He was, I feel, part of a long and torturous process that took years to become realized.

Having said that and despite all the dark news regarding the current political state of the nation, I find myself of late remarkably optimistic.

It’s been said that the Great London Fire of 1666. a great tragedy that took the lives of many and destroyed much of medieval London, nonetheless allowed much of the city to rebuild from scratch and better than it was, perhaps leading to eventual greatness.

So too it feels with the state of the current Republican Party.

Yesterday in a special election in Pennsylvania there was a special election in what people have long considered a Republican stronghold.  The election, to be sure, means little as whoever wins stays in power only until November, when new district lines come into effect and an election will again be held throughout the state.

However, at this moment and at this time and thanks to now declared illegal gerrymandering, the district where this election was being held, as I mentioned before, was considered a “lock” for Republicans.  In the presidential election, Trump won by 20 percent over Clinton.

And yet, as of today it appears the Democratic challenger, Conor Lamb, has apparently won the election.  His margin of victory is razor thin, amounting to a little over 600 votes, but considering where the election was held, this can’t be a happy day for Republicans in general.

Mind you, I’m not anti-Republican.  I’m old enough to have *gasp* once been on the fence regarding party affiliation, one of those independents who could at times be for a Republican candidate as easily as I could be for a Democratic candidate.

Things changed, for me, during the Clinton years.  During this time the right wing, frankly, began to scare me.  I don’t like guns and scratch my head at this country’s fascination with them.  I like social services such as the police, fire-fighters, infrastructure workers, and scratch my head at the need to keep offering tax breaks to the rich when we need revenue to build and maintain the structure of this country.  Further, I want the government to fund science and technology.  I want more public transport and better schools.  All these things require tax money and while I hate seeing my salary go this way, the reality is that the investments have paid off.

Even worse, I hated, hated, hated the way many Republicans kept going after candidates on the other side as if theirs was a moral imperative.  They pursued Hillary Clinton for years over Benghazi yet they feel there is no more to investigate regarding Trump and Russia?

Wow.

Anyway, the election in Pennsylvania, whether it stands or not (there are calls by Republicans for a recount, something I can’t blame them for given the very close results), could well be the best example of how things just might be changing.

Today there’s a big protest from school kids regarding gun control, and suddenly, after far too long, it appears maybe people are finally starting to wake up to the fact that having such lax, pro-NRA elected officials in office may not be such a good thing.

After going so far over the bend with someone like Trump, could it be that the pendulum is finally swinging back?

Sketchin’ 55

The luminous Carole Lombard had a stellar career which began in 1921 and during the silent film era.  She would successfully make the transition into “talkies” and made many successful films, including the 1936 comedy My Man Godfrey.

In 1939 she married Clark Gable.  On January 16, 1942, Carole, her mother, and 20 other people were flying back to California -Carole Lombard having completed a war bond rally in Indiana- when their plane went down outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. All aboard the aircraft perished and Mrs. Lombard was dead at the age of 33.

Channel Zero: No End House (2017) a (mildly) belated review

Currently in its third season, the Sy-Fy (its still hard to write it this way!) series of mini-series’ second “season”, consisting of the six episode No End House, had the following intriguing trailer…

Originally published on the creepypasta website and distributed over the web, Channel Zero takes some of the more popular short stories posted and makes them into these mini-series.

No End House concerns a group of late teens (out of high school, just into college) who hear about the “No-End House”, a horror themed home that appears in random places throughout the world and which one enters and encounters six scary rooms before exiting.

But… do you ever exit?!

We start with Margot Sleator (well played by Amy Forsyth) who has had a recent tragedy in her life.  Her father (played by John Carroll Lynch, also quite good) recently died and she’s become something of a recluse, living in her home with her mother but, in the year since his death, not venturing out much.

Her best friend Jules (Aisha Dee, again, quite good) arrives in town after spending a year in college and re-connects with Margot.  She tries to get Margot out of her depressive fog and the two venture out to a nightclub.

There, they meet up with old school friend J.D. (Seamus Patterson, also… well, all the actors are pretty damn good in this film) and acquaint themselves with Seth Marlowe (Jeff Ward).

While Margot originally doesn’t want to stay, she’s attracted to Seth and changes her mind.  The foursome talk about all kinds of things, including the legend of the No End House, which is rumored to be stationed in their very town.

Few know exactly what No End House is about, other than the fact that it appears in random towns and those who enter it go through six scary rooms before emerging outside.  The experiences are vague as each person apparently experiences a different thing.

The four head out of the club and find No End House and enter… and then things change.

I don’t want to give too much away here but suffice to say that entering the No End House is a hell of a lot easier than exiting it, and what one finds within is eerie and life-threatening.

The series is quite creepy, offering interesting revelations about the various characters before reaching its climax.  Who is good and who is bad?  What does one gain and what does one lose upon entering the No End House?

Further, the acting, as I stated above, is uniformly good while the cinematography, sound effects, and editing are top notch.

As for the writing, most of the questions one has regarding the No End House are answered by the end.

Most, not quite all.

Worse, while the series goes on for six approximately 45 minute long episodes (the extra 15 minutes were for commercials, of course), it felt at times the story was being dragged out longer than it should have been.

One of the bigger problems I had at the very end is that I’m left with no real answers as to what the No End House is, and that wound up bothering me perhaps more than it should have.  Is it a force of good or evil or is it just “there”, corrupted by those who enter it?

In the end, I find myself in a very curious position.  While I like almost everything about the series, by the end it felt like a) it went on longer than it should and b) the answers given/the story told were interesting but didn’t constitute a world-shattering product.

When all was said and done my reaction was: “Eh… it was ok” and that’s hardly a ringing endorsement.

Still, there is stuff here to like and I don’t want to give the impression the whole thing was a waste of time.  Perhaps the problem lies in me and I was expecting more than I got and therefore was disappointed.

Still, it is what it is.  No End House is a handsomely mounted, well-acted, and for the most part well written mini-series that nonetheless ends with more of a whimper than a bang.

Sketchin’ 54

So the other day I’m wasting some time online and find the novel Are You In The House Alone?: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999 by Amanda Reyes and, to make a long story short, I picked that sucker up quick.

The book deals with TV movies of this period of time, including some favorites like Steven Spielberg’s Duel, the wild William Shatner/Andy Griffith Pray For The Wildcats and assorted other films I recall seeing way back when on TV and, frankly, recall very fondly.

The subject of this piece is self explanatory, the excellent Dan Curtis (Night Stalker) directed, Karen Black starring (and, in the case of the picture, Richard Matheson written) Trilogy of Terror.  A great trilogy of tales of terror/horror with the standout being the final tale, presented here.

Eh… I remain skeptical. The fate of Emelia Earhart, part three

One of the great mysteries of the 20th Century revolves around the ultimate fate of pioneering female aviator Amelia Earhart.

As I’m certain most people out there know, in 1937 she attempted to be the first female aviator to fly around the world.  However, in early July of that year she disappeared over the central Pacific and, since then, no one knows what has become of her.

Last year there was an intriguing -though ultimately proven very false- “discovery” that she might be in a photograph discovered in the U.S. archives and taken years after her disappearance (I wrote about that here and the fact that it was very quickly proven false here).

Anyway, the latest bit of news involves a re-examination of bones found in 1940, three years after her disappearance, and on a South Pacific island named Nikumaroro, some 400 miles from Earhart’s intended route.  Rachael Leah in an article posted on Salon.com reports on this:

Scientist says bones found on Pacific Island belonged to Amelia Earhart

Here’s the thing, though, and I know I’m spoiling the article but, hey, it is what it is:

The bones found in 1940 have long ago disappeared.  The person who found them who originally examined them thought they belonged to a man but measurements were taken and those notes still exist.

Going by the notes and the measurements within them, anthropologist Richard Jantz in the journal Forensic Anthropology determined that…

The data revealed that the bones have more similarity to Earhart than to 99 percent of individuals in a large reference sample.

How did Mr. Jantz come up with this?  By using photographs and the actual clothing of Ms. Earhart to come up with detailed measurements of her size and then compared these measurements with those of the bones found on that island in 1940.

Now, I grant you this: It is a very strong statement to make that the bones found on that island have such a strong similarity to Ms. Earhart.

However…

The fact remains that the actual bones are long gone and we have to assume the measurements used are indeed very accurate (there is no evidence to suggest they are or aren’t).

I feel, though, that with only those measurements as a guide and not the actual bones to examine we’re speculating an awful lot.

Not to degrade those who found and examined the bones back in 1940, but they believed at the time that the bones belonged to a MAN and not a woman.  If they did indeed belong to a woman (or, as Mr. Jantz speculates, Amelia Earhart herself), is it possible other errors were made back then, too?

And if so, it feels like quite a leap to assume we may indeed have her bones.