#67
Malcolm in the Middle
Title: “Boss of Me”
Written and Performed: They Might Be Giants
TMBG originally wrote the chorus for a Philadelphia radio contest, using lines like “Who’s gonna guess the dead guy in the envelope,” before adapting it for the show (Google)
The song is a great fit for the tone of Malcom in the Middle, with its wild and chaotic sound.
January 12
It was 1942 when this movie came out and it was a brutal satire of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in an extremely funny, dark comedy, To Be or Not to Be.
According to IMDB, “During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier’s efforts to track down a German spy.“
I was surprised to see the opening credits include Jack Benny, who I knew of as a comedic performer from his radio and television show. I did not know that he was also an actor starring in movies. Benny was truly excellent in this film, and he played against Carole Lombard. The pair worked well together, having a wonderful charm and surprisingly solid chemistry. Their comedic timing was spot on and the dialogue of the film was remarkably clever and entertaining.
It is sad to note that this was the final film in the career of Carole Lombard as she was killed in a plane crash one month after the release of the film.
The film, having been released in the middle of World War II, took its shots at the Nazis and the Gestapo, as well as Hitler himself. It was very funny when the head of the Gestapo kept yelling for Schultz, as it brought me memories of Hogan’s Heroes.
It was very funny as well with all of the “Heil Hitlers” going on when everyone would meet. Such ridiculous fun I had to join in.
It did have several moments where it felt like the movie was going to abandon the comedy and turn into a more action centered film, but it never completely gave up the witticisms. Every moment Jack Benny was on screen, the film was hilarious.
Robert Stack was great as Lt. Stanislav Sobinski, which kicked off the entire story. Other actors in the film included Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwell, Sig Ruman, Stanley Ridges, Tom Dugan, Henry Victor, and Charles Halton.
This is an amazing movie, especially when considering when it was made, and I enjoyed it very much. I watched it on HBO Max.
#68
The Facts of Life
Composed By: Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring & Al Burton
Performed: Gloria Loring; Charlotte Rae (only season 1)
Spun off from Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life was very successful. Thicke and Loring have done many themes for TV in their careers, believing that the TV theme song is important and a lost art.
January 11
It is Sunday night and I have finally gotten to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. It has been a busy weekend of movies and completing season one of Agents of Shield. There is a lot of good stuff this weekend, but I had to make sure there was time to finish reading the comics from this week.
I finally got my Ultimate Endgame blind bags from eBay. I picked up 10 of them and did decent with the copies. I got the Peach Momoko cover, the wraparound cover, the Skottie Young cover, the Wasp 1:50 incentive, and the Cafu variant. I also got a few duplicates that I had already gotten, including three of the Spider-Man/Wolverine covers. I also picked up a blank blue line variant. Fortunately, none of my books were damaged, which a lot of the Ultimate: Endgame books were. Marvel should not put the A cover inside the blind bags, as I have seen some people get multiple copies of that issue. The Mark Spears blind bags were much better since there were more variety inside them.
Books this week:
X-Men #23. “Assassin” Written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Tony Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony Daniel, Mark Morales, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The future Cyclops’ mind takes roto inside the past Cyclops body, and he tries to kill Doug before he becomes Revelation. Doesn’t work.
Amazing Spider-Man #19. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Pepe Larraz. Cover art was done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. I also picked up the variant cover with art by Lee Bermejo (Bronze Medalist). Peter and his space crew prepare to face off with Hellgate in an attempt to get Peter back to earth. We will see how things go.
Hank Howard: Pizza Detective in The Two Hollywoods #1. Written by Robert Venditti with art by David Lapham. Cover art was done by Alex Maleev. Another fun, new book from Bad Idea, Hank Howard is a private detective who seems to specialize in cases involving pizza. Huh? I do love me some noir, which this fits perfectly.
Wolverine #14. “Silver and Snow” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine meets up with Silver Sable in the wilderness of Canada to help a couple of mutants stay free. This draws the attention of Alpha Flight!
The Twilight Zone #3. “The Relic” Written, drawn and cover art by James Stokoe. A futuristic post-apocalyptic tale in the style of the classic TV show. This was my least favorite of the Twilight Zone issues from IDW so far, but I do love the black and white layout.
Deluge #3. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Marika Cresta. Cover art was done by Riley Rossmo. The prisoners of the flooded prison have more to worry about than water. They are being attacked by the creatures that are in the water… and they are frightening. Deluge ahs been a great book so far for Ignition Press.
Blue Falcon & Dynomutt #5. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Pasquale Qualano. Cover art was done by Lucio Parrillo. I believe this was the final issue of Blue Falcon & Dynomutt, which upset me. I have been enjoying this book and I love the new take on the Hanna-Barbera characters.
Absolute Batman: Ark M #1. “A History of Arkham” Written by Scott Snyder & Frank Tieri with art and cover art by Joshua Hixson. We get a comprehensive history of Arkham Asylum in the Absolute Universe. This was a fascinating book to read and gave us a real intriguing story.
Batman #5. “Date Night” Written by Matt Fraction with art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. I also picked up the 1:25 variant cover by David Aja (Silver Medalist). Bruce Wayne and Dr. Annika Zeller are on a “date” (depending on whom you ask) but they are being pursued by a new villain named The Ojo. This is a fun book with no appearance by Batman.
Spider-Man: Noir #4. “The Gwen Stacy Affair, Part IV” Written by Erik Larsen with art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Simone Di Meo. Someone has taken away Peter’s super powers and has been dressing up as Spider-Man and being more violent.
The Monster and the Wolf #2. Written, drawn and cover by Mark Spears (Cover B- Gold Medalist). I ordered this from Keenspot directly, and I got it in the mail late this past week even though it technically is not released in comic shops until next week. I do love the Monster books from Spears.
Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #6. Written by Greg Rucka with art by Nicola Scott. Cover art was done by Nicola Scott and Annette Kwok. This heist book concludes with this issue as Cheetah and Cheshire are able to show off how complex they had made their plot. Every time you thought it was done, there was a twist. Nicely written.
The Phantom #4. Written by Ray Fawkes and art by Russell Olson. Cover art was done by Freddie Williams II. The Phantom is shot. Can he make it to safety and still survive? Only with a little help from his friends.
Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #6. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Van Randal. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Federico Blee. Gwen is hoping that her new band can win an upcoming Battle of the Bands. Why are there always super villains around?
Nova Centurion #3. “For the Corps” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alvaro Lopez & Matteo Della Fonte. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg. Richard Rider has been fun in this series so far. I have always like Nova and this has been giving him to me in a new and exciting manner. I am still unsure about time and continuity, but I am trying not to let that bother me.
Absolute Superman #15. “In Blue” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Superman is trying to do everything he can to help the people of earth. Not only that, but he is reading poetry to Ra’s Al Ghul. Oh, and Brainiac is walking around. That can’t be good. Superman is in his new blue suit too, while he is sucking up wildfires.
War Wolf #3. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Marco Perugini. Cover art was done by David Talaski. Bruin returned from the spaceship after all of the aliens retreated. He was able to parlay that story into a senator-ship and political power. But what really happened on that ship? Mad Cave has another good book going.
Other books this week: Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #4, Ultimate X-Men #23 (A & B covers), Marvel Rivals: The Cities of Heaven #1, Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #4, and Arcadia #2.
Quick Hits: Starting off this week with a new series from Dark Horse called Devil on My Shoulder #2. It is brutal and violent revenge tale that has been very entertaining so far. Absolute Green Lantern #10 is out this week. It has been picking up steam a bit after struggling to keep my attention. This is still decent, but one of the lower of the Absolute books. Knightfight #3 picked back up after kind of losing me last week. This week was much more engaging than the whole weird Clayface stuff from last issue. Ultimate Wolverine #13 has a brutal fight between Wolverine and Ursa Major. It is a battle that was way more graphic than many of the Red Band series. We have a new issue of Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia #2. Not sure what Batman is doing in this issue with some of his choices. FML #7 is back after a LONG hiatus. I hate it when independent books take such a long break between issues. It is nearly impossible to keep up any sort of momentum. FML #6 came out September 3, 2025 making it about 4 1/2 months between issues. Godzilla Kai-Sei #6 had two covers for me this week. I picked up one of its covers that was an homage to Superman #75. It was a cool cover. Eat Your Young #5 came out too, with the violent struggle within a family to survive.
Spoilers
“Providence”
“The Only Light in the Darkness”
“Nothing Personal”
“Ragtag”
“Beginning of the End”
Season one of Agents of Shield was wrapped up tonight as the storyline with Hydra and Shield came to a conclusion.
The truth behind Ward being part of Hydra came to light and he teamed up with Garrett, Raina and Deathlok to try and recreate the GH-325 that was used in TAHITI.
Lots of cool stuff in these episodes:
January 11
I Used to Be Funny is a different type of comedy. It is definitely a dark comedy, one that would fall into the dramedy category, and it is a tough watch, because it deals with a couple of serious subjects that you would not expect in a normal comedy. It is handled with a deft hand and directed beautifully by Ally Pankiw.
According to IMDB, “Sam, a stand-up comedian struggling with PTSD, weighs whether or not to join the search for a missing teenage girl she used to nanny.“
That synopsis does not truly fit with the movie I just watched, and that is a good thing. Do not go into I Used to Be Funny with any preconceived notions because it hits harder as it revealed its actual story through the movie.
Rachel Sennott played Sam Cowell, who was a stand-up comedian and nanny. Sennott got her own start as a stand-up comedian as well, before moving along into an acting career. She does a really solid job in this movie, not only with the witty dialogue, but with the dramatic moments too. She had several serious moments in the film and she was extremely believable in each one.
There were some challenges in the narrative with a non-linear storytelling aspect. It was unsure at times when I was not sure what time it was, and you had to really be thinking about when it was.
Other than that, this was a really solid film that was both funny and traumatic. I pulled it up on Netflix this morning to watch it.
Spoilers
Death By Lightning
“Party Faithful”
After the second of four episodes, James Garfield has been elected President of the United States.
The series has been flying at a pace that has been both breakneck and thrilling. Today’s politics are in no way like this. It is a welcome pace.
The first part of the episode focuses on Chester A. Arthur being lined up as the vice-president candidate and we get a good look at the personality and troubles of the man. Great performance from Nick Offerman during this episode.
Will-be assassin Charles Guiteau continued to show his delusional state as he wormed his way into the graces of Chester Arthur. Arthur was able to rid Guiteau of the people chasing him because of his theft of money from his sister and it only elevated Guiteau’s delusions all the more.
Garfield is being shown as a true honest man and a man who believed in what was right. They showed him meeting with a contingent of black leaders, swearing that their rights was the most important policy facing the country. Garfield preferred to campaign from his front porch.
The show also showed us how news spread differently at this time when Garfield’s wife, Crete, only found out about the nomination when the reporters began showing up on her front lawn. News did not fly across the planet like it does today.
The second episode of Death By Lightning is another winner and I am excited to see where this historical drama goes next.
#69
The Drew Carey Show
“Cleveland Rocks”
Written and composed: Ian Hunter
Performed: The Presidents of the United States
The cover of the song “Cleveland Rocks” by the Presidents of the United States became the regular theme of the show from 1997 and remained until the end of the show. The energy of the song was a perfect match for the show. Drew Carey was from Cleveland and the song’s homage to the city appealed to the star.
Spoilers
“Yes Men”
“End of the Beginning”
“Turn, Turn, Turn”
Hail Hydra!
The Agents of Shield TV program caught up with the MCU movies as the episode “Turn, Turn, Turn” came out the week after the release of Captain America: Winter Soldier, which revealed that Shield had been infiltrated by Hydra from the start. It was a massive change in the status quo of the series.
Agent Garrett was revealed to be, not only be Hydra, but also the Clairvoyant. The first half of the season was kind of wrapped up with this block of episodes.
Lady Sif (Jane Alexander) made an appearance in “Yes Men” to take on Lorelei. I am guessing that the show kind of made Lorelei and the Enchantress amalgam with this character. It was good to see Sif again.
Mike Peterson was back, fully designated as Deathlok. He turned into quite a handful too.
Seeing Grant Ward turn and shoot the other Shield agents and Victoria Hand was still shocking. It just felt like it came out of left field and I wonder when he became aware of his character’s duplicitous nature. It seemed as if he were loyal to Coulson and had real feelings for Skye, but having nobody in Coulson’s team a part of Hydra would have seemed weird. It certainly wasn’t going to be Fitz or Simmons. With Coulson out, the only choices were Ward or May. It was fun too when the show was trying to make May look like the traitor, but I am glad that they did not make her the Hydra sleeper agent.
With Shield destroyed in the MCU, everything changed for this series, and this was the start of the switch. Poor Skye just got her official Shield badge and now it is gone.
Spoilers
“The Demon in the Snow”
Those poor ghoul Elvis impersonators. They did not last long against a drugged up Lucy.
I know that was a strange sentence, but that is what happened in Fallout’s fourth episode. After having a drug treatment for several days to heal her up, Lucy found the dark side and brutally killed a bunch of Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas. Even the Ghoul couldn’t help but be impressed.
However, we also wind up face-to-face with the creature that we saw in a flashback with Cooper. After looking it up, I guess it is called a Deathclaw, which had been created by the US government as super soldiers (why don’t they ever knock that off. I mean, only Steve Rogers is worthy enough).
In that flashback, I kind of thought it was the reason Cooper turned into a ghoul, but maybe I did not understand the scene correctly. Either way, this thing is intimidating. Even drugged up Lucy was taken aback by it.
Meanwhile, Maximus revealed that he had killed Xander over a bunch of kids who were ghouls (there were normal kids in that group as well. I am not sure why he omitted that part) and set off a horrible fight between the differing sides. Maximus and Thaddeus (who had been pretending to be Xander inside his mech-suit) escaped as the war escalated in the background between the Brotherhood of Steel and the Commonwealth.
I have not been sure about what is happening back in the Vault as pertains to Vault 32. This is a story arc that I am having a hard time following.
Spoilers
“Nobody Gets the Fleece”
Big episode this week…
I kept expecting the episode to end during several of the cliffhangers, but it went through to a spot where our foursome prepared to ride the hippocampi and pursue Luke.
I do hope Percy is able to step to the forefront in the last couple of episodes of the series because it does seem like all of the supporting characters are having moments this season with Percy kind of being in the background.
I remember being unbelievably shocked with how much I enjoyed Greenland back in 2020. I think it even won the Year in Review Award for the Best Surprise (That is called the Gomer). I had not expectations that a Gerard Butler end-of-the-world film would be good at all, and I loved it.
Which meant that I had more expectations for the sequel, Greenland 2: Migration. While it was not a bad movie, the sequel was considerably lesser than the original and has several problems.
John Garrity (Gerard Butler) had gotten his family, wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and son Nathan (Roman Griffin Davis), to the bunker in Greenland just before the comets struck the earth. This movie started by letting us know that the comets wiped out 75% of the human race and destroyed much of the planet. However, the bunker that they had been living in for the last five years was beginning to crumble and the survivors had to scatter to try an escape the dangers of the environment.
They had heard rumors that the impact crater of the original comet was a location where life had sprung forth and that it was where people could restart their lives. John and Allison decided to attempt to find their way to the crater, which was in France.
This was a much more common post-apocalyptic film than the original one was. As the family worked their way toward France, the surrounding were the typical backdrop you would see in The Walking Dead (without zombies) or The Last of us (without any creepy critters). The idea that humans would be the worst things about a post-apocalyptic world is once again at the center of the themes of Greenland 2.
I kept feeling bad during the film for Nathan as it seemed like there would be no young girls his age for him, but the film nicely took care of that.
There were some good moments in the film, though many of them felt too coincidental or forced. Everything kept happening to this family on their trip. Still, it could have been much worse. It is nowhere near as good as Greenland, but I did not hate watching it.
3 stars
Killer chimp. What more do you need?
Primate is a new horror film out in January where a family, who had a pet chimp, gets mauled by it after the chimp, named Ben, gets rabies.
That was about all the story of the film.
There are so many slasher movie tropes in this movie. A group of young people are trapped in an isolated house with their crazed chimp, and the chimp murdered many of them, in very gruesome and gory ways.
We had so many slasher movie tropes here including: cell phones not charged, stupid choices when faced with any decision, car issues with keys, a killer that can make its way around the house easily, the isolated house, and a group of characters that the audience would like to see killed off.
All this was in play in Primate.
The chimp looked pretty good. It was basically a practical effect and the kills were very gory that made sense. There was one involving an obnoxious boy in a bed that was specifically brutal.
Slasher movies always are tough for me because how stupid the characters always seem to be. That bothers me, but if you can get past that, the film was okay. It is certainly a simple film, but that is not a bad thing. It succeeds in what it sets out to be, without being anything deeper than that.
It does have a lot of tension in the execution of the chimp stalking and attacking its victims. There are a lot of white knuckle moments in the film which provides a great mood for the audience.
If you go to see Primate, go in expecting a tense film without anything resembling a plot or deep character depth. It has some fun, gory kills and a good looking chimp.
3 stars
When I was trying to decide which genre to use this January in the Genre-ary, I was worried about comedies. One reason I was worried about choosing comedy as the Genre-ary gerne was because when comedy movies go wrong, they can be really tough to watch and I did not want to watch a month of terrible movies.
Super Troopers is exactly the kind of movie that I was worried about.
According to IMDB, “Five Vermont state troopers, avid pranksters with a knack for screwing up, try to save their jobs and out-do the local police department by solving a crime.”
I really disliked watching this movie. There were some funny moments, but I have never been a big fan of stupidity as comedy.
Juvenile dialogue and characters that were, in no way, even slightly believable as police officers. There was little story in the film and the characters were some of the most obnoxious and unlikable characters that I have seen in a long time.
There was a movie where this could have been funny, but this was not it. I grew to dislike this movie more as it progressed and it is why I really was not anxious to watch a bunch of comedies. I hope there are more good ones to come because I can’t take a month of this.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 