Superman's association with the U.S. flag and patriotism dates back to his beginnings in the late 1930s and 1940s.
In the 1940s, Superman was depicted in comic book covers as a morale booster for U.S. troops fighting in the European and Pacific theaters of World War II.
This association continued in the 1950s with the opening of the Adventures of Superman television show. The show's opening depicts a resolute Superman (George Reeves) standing in front of the American flag.
In 1953, Adventures of Superman's producers made a special episode, "Stamp Day For Superman" that was donated to the Department of The Treasury. In this episode, not shown on television, Superman tells elementary school children of the virtues of buying Savings Stamps to help their country.
The photo below from "Stamp Day For Superman" shows Superman with the U.S. flag and the word "citizenship" in the background. Would this Superman renounce his U.S. citizenship? Not likely!
Christopher Reeve's Superman also continued with this association. In Superman 2, the Man of Steel returns the White House's flag and pole to the Executive Mansion's roof after defeating three Kryptonian Phantom Zone criminals.
The comic books of the Modern Age also depicted Superman as an American patriot. The comic book cover at right of Superman unabashedly patriotic was produced after DC Comics re-booted the Superman character (along with other super-heroes in their stable) in the late 1980s. And the one below left is a more recent cover.
These images only scratch the surface. There are many more such depictions of Superman's patriotism. With all this ingrained imagery over the years, it is small wonder why the reports of Superman renouncing his U.S. citizenship in Action Comics #900 has some people upset. That's why it is tricky business to tamper with an iconic character.
One final point.
One of Superman's abilities is a super-intellect. Granted, even one with a superior intellect could get frustrated over some government policies. Rather than get angry and renounce his citizenship, he would shrug it off and logically figure that administrations come and go and policies change with each administrative change. He would also use his influence to get the ones he disagrees with changed. A person with his super-intellect would not act rashly and renounce his citizenship. It comes off as some politically correct internationalist bullplop. I wonder if DC's writers even considered this.
When Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster created Superman, they created a quintessential American icon.
The term "Truth, Justice and The American Way" is synonymous with the character.
Rocketed to Earth as an infant by his parents, Jor-El and Lara, to escape the planet Krypton's destruction, the child's rocket landed in middle America and was raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent. The baby, Kal-El, was raised as Clark Kent with wholesome middle American values and became the champion of justice and the defender of the weak and oppressed.
When Clark Kent reached manhood, he moved to the city of Metropolis to begin his career as a Daily Planet news reporter and as Superman. Thus began an American icon, recognized throughout the world.
DC Comics, co-owner of the Superman character with the heirs of Siegel and Shuster, is publishing Action Comics #900. In this anniversary issue, the story has Superman fed up after a clash with the federal government.
Says Superman, “I am tired of having my actions construed as instruments of US policy.” He plans to make his announcement before the United Nations: "I intend to speak before the United Nations tomorrow and inform them that I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship."
Messing with an icon is tricky business. And this has become a controversy already. It is like having George Reeves standing in front of the United Nations flag, not the American flag, to many people.
"Besides being riddled with a blatant lack of patriotism, and respect for our country, Superman's current creators are belittling the United States as a whole. By denouncing his citizenship, Superman becomes an eerie metaphor for the current economic and power status the country holds worldwide," Hollywood publicist and GOP activist Angie Meyer told FOX411's Pop Tarts column.
In the same article, Superman's publishers defended the storyline:
"Superman is a visitor from a distant planet who has long embraced American values. As a character and an icon, he embodies the best of the American Way," DC's co-publishers, Jim Lee and Dan DiDio said in a statement to FOX411.com. "In a short story in ACTION COMICS 900, Superman announces his intention to put a global focus on his never ending battle, but he remains, as always, committed to his adopted home and his roots as a Kansas farm boy from Smallville."
Still, would Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster approve of this?
Before people get upset over this, one thing to remember: in comics, nothing is ever permanent. A character may get killed off, but quite often is brought back to life in another storyline. Sooner or later, Superman will reclaim his American citizenship.
Also, while everyone is aghast over this tampering with Superman's iconic American image, keep in mind that Clark Kent is still an American citizen.
UPDATE: A friend emailed this message (don't know if he read this blog post yet):
George Reeves never would have renounced his citizenship!
Today is a pretty damn good day, not only because I have just finished a 3-day working week (oh, the fabulous joy!), but I'm also gearing up for a girly sleep-over with a few of my oldest & best friends. I may not be a teenager anymore, but I still totally adore sleep-overs. Stuff clubbing, I'll take movies, popcorn, my ladies (and maybe a little bubbly) any day. Speaking of which, I better get going! Enjoy!
Hopefully my GPS tells me the right way to go. I'm pretty friggin' terrible with directions. If I don't post anything tomorrow, send out search parties! I might just be half-way around Australia by then. My parents know that I'm not really joking right now, haha.
Above, Godzilla and King Kong go after each other while demolishing Atami Castle in the process.
Over at the Classic Horror Film Board (CHFB), there is currently a topic in the Japanese Giants section titled, "Was KING KONG VS GODZILLA especially loathed in monster fandom?"
One thing about G-fans (or fanatics of any genre), there's always disagreements (some heatedly) amongst them. The subject of King Kong vs. Godzilla is one of those that brings up the passion level.
King Kong vs. Godzilla was released in the U.S. by Universal Pictures in June 1963. It as a heavily-edited version that inserted American actors to "help" with the narrative. Unfortunately, those edited-in scenes actually marred the movie. The original Japanese version plays out better as the satire it was intended to be.
I first saw King Kong vs. Godzilla at the Balboa Theater in Los Angeles in the Manchester-Vermont shopping area with my parents and friends. We sat in the balcony (photo left). I was nine-years-old at the time. It was paired with John Wayne's Donovan's Reef. (This was the subject of my first G-FAN article, by the way.)
While my parents and us kids laughed at the mangy King Kong suit, we were still greatly entertained by the movie. It was my first Godzilla movie to be seen on the big screen.
The premise of the thread, "Was KING KONG VS GODZILLA especially loathed in monster fandom?" really doesn't have any legs as there was no "fandom" back in 1963. Maybe a few monster elites didn't much care for it (Forrest J. Ackerman was one, so maybe that's why he came up with the phony "two-endings" tale), but to younger teens and pre-teens (and some adults), King Kong vs. Godzilla was good, mindless entertainment. If anyone "loathes" the movie, it is mainly by revisionist fans of today. King Kong vs. Godzilla still remains the boxoffice champ (by number of tickets sold) of all the Toho-produced Godzilla movies.
As an adult, I still find it fun and entertaining, but I now prefer the Japanese version.
A few side notes:
Back in 1972, I was perusing the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner's sports section and on page two, there was a doctored photo of King Kong and Godzilla in a boxing ring wearing boxing gloves. It was to hype KABC-TV Channel 7's airing of the movie. That got me wanting to see it again.
Some of the locations in King Kong vs. Godzilla are covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. They include Atami Castle, Diet Building, Mt. Fuji and Ginza (interestingly, the overhead tracking shots of Ginza are only in the American version).
The Balboa Theater still stands, but it had been converted into a mosque and is now up for sale. The theater opened in April 1926. It was once part of the Fox-West Coast Theater chain.
Above, Godzilla and King Kong go after each other while demolishing Atami Castle in the process.
Over at the Classic Horror Film Board (CHFB), there is currently a topic in the Japanese Giants section titled, "Was KING KONG VS GODZILLA especially loathed in monster fandom?"
One thing about G-fans (or fanatics of any genre), there's always disagreements (some heatedly) amongst them. The subject of King Kong vs. Godzilla is one of those that brings up the passion level.
King Kong vs. Godzilla was released in the U.S. by Universal Pictures in June 1963. It as a heavily-edited version that inserted American actors to "help" with the narrative. Unfortunately, those edited-in scenes actually marred the movie. The original Japanese version plays out better as the satire it was intended to be.
I first saw King Kong vs. Godzilla at the Balboa Theater in Los Angeles in the Manchester-Vermont shopping area with my parents and friends. We sat in the balcony (photo left). I was nine-years-old at the time. It was paired with John Wayne's Donovan's Reef. (This was the subject of my first G-FAN article, by the way.)
While my parents and us kids laughed at the mangy King Kong suit, we were still greatly entertained by the movie. It was my first Godzilla movie to be seen on the big screen.
The premise of the thread, "Was KING KONG VS GODZILLA especially loathed in monster fandom?" really doesn't have any legs as there was no "fandom" back in 1963. Maybe a few monster elites didn't much care for it (Forrest J. Ackerman was one, so maybe that's why he came up with the phony "two-endings" tale), but to younger teens and pre-teens (and some adults), King Kong vs. Godzilla was good, mindless entertainment. If anyone "loathes" the movie, it is mainly by revisionist fans of today. King Kong vs. Godzilla still remains the boxoffice champ (by number of tickets sold) of all the Toho-produced Godzilla movies.
As an adult, I still find it fun and entertaining, but I now prefer the Japanese version.
A few side notes:
Back in 1972, I was perusing the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner's sports section and on page two, there was a doctored photo of King Kong and Godzilla in a boxing ring wearing boxing gloves. It was to hype KABC-TV Channel 7's airing of the movie. That got me wanting to see it again.
Some of the locations in King Kong vs. Godzilla are covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. They include Atami Castle, Diet Building, Mt. Fuji and Ginza (interestingly, the overhead tracking shots of Ginza are only in the American version).
The Balboa Theater still stands, but it had been converted into a mosque and is now up for sale. The theater opened in April 1926. It was once part of the Fox-West Coast Theater chain.
There once was a time when I was in e-love with Uffie. And Zooey Deschanel. And blah, blah, blah. But alas, no more. These days there's only room for Florrie. I mean, listen to "Begging Me." And watch the video. Notice any flaws? No, of course not. God, it's all so perfect. Know what's embarrassing? My propensity to fall deeply in love with any girl that can sing, DJ, paint, whatever. Seriously. Any girl with any sort of skill whatsoever, game over. But yea, Florrie wins.
Written By: Ken Hulsey Sources: Avery Guerra / Robert Hood
Ohio based Mitch Teemley and the folks over at Moriah Media are about to lampoon one of the largest movie franchises ever, a iconic movie series that the great Mel Brooks never had the stones to take on himself. I am, of course, talking about the "King of Monsters" ...... Godzilla.
Okay, I know what your thinking. "Wow! Hold on lawyer alert! Legal team ready......ATTACK!!!!
Over the past several years Toho has shown that they are more than happy, and willing, to sue anyone that produces anything that remotely resembles their beloved monster. This time, surprisingly, the famed Japanese movie company has given their blessing at having "Big G" parodied by an American film company ..... more on that in a moment.
Teemly has a script at the ready for "Notzilla: Duke of the Monsters" a script that has already gained a lot of attention when it made it into the final round of the Worldfest Contest, one of the largest screenplay competitions in the world.
After the screenplay was so widely praised Teemly actually stuck it under the nose of Toho to see if they had any interest in developing it into a film.
The film maker explains, "Actually I offered the project to Toho not long after I wrote it. They weren’t interested in spoofing their own films, but wished us well. Parodies are not plagiarism; if they were, Saturday Night Live would have been shut down 35 years ago! Notzilla will not feature any footage from Toho films, nor will the monster be a visual copy of Godzilla."
Understanding why Toho may not want to lampoon their own monster Teemly then set his sights on making the film here in America with a big budget and with any luck a major studio behind him.
He adds, "Notzilla is intended for mainstream release (we have serious interest from both the majors and large indie distributors), and Moriah Media is for-profit company, by the way. A Fox Searchlight analyst estimated a $40 million North American box office gross; international box office is expected to exceed that. We are actively seeking completion funding!"
That's a lot of greenbacks!
Teemly knew that if he wanted to get a studio to take him seriously he would have to produce something visual to go along with his beloved screenplay. A teaser trailer was in order!
Check out the great clip that Moriah Media produced!
But wait .... that's not all!
Teemly then set out to get some "star power" for his "Notzilla" film and landed Patrick Warburton, who you may remember from the spoof superhero series, "The Tick". Just like when Franklin J. Schaffner landed Charlton Heston for a "talking monkey movie" no one was interested in called "Planet of the Apes"Teemly hopes the presence of Warburton will add credibility to his production and ultimately aide in getting the backing he needs.
The film maker notes, "Patrick Warburton is attached to star. I wrote the lead role of the “brilliant young American scientist”, Dr Dick Harvard (who’s actually not very brilliant nor very young) for him. All of the other leads are Japanese.
"Notzilla" has not yet been filmed. We are in the midst of capitalization and are using the teaser to generate investor interest. I appeared as a guest at G-Fest in Chicago last year and read segments of the screenplay to a very enthusiastic crowd. We’ve lined up some crack crew heads: Production Designer Robert Harbour designed sets for Heroes and X-Files; multi-Emmy winning Director of Photography Jeff Barklage shot the teaser; Oscar-nominated producer Melissa Godoy is also attached to oversee production."
Here is the story:
In the future (1975), “brilliant young American scientist” Dr Dick Harvard (played by not-so-brilliant and not-so-young Raymond L. Suave) leads a team of crack scientists in atomic testing (no one knows why) near Yomama Bay. The unexpected result (these scientists don’t watch enough B-pictures): a prehistoric egg is shaken loose, after being exposed to massive amounts of radiation. Of course.
Dick’s mentor, “brilliant old Japanese scientist”, Dr Nissan Toyota, succeeds in hatching a dinosaur! But then it escapes, and begins growing at an alarming rate. Of course.
Dr Toyota wants to save the creature. But Dick is certain it will attack Tokyo. “Because that’s what always happens”. The two split up. Dick goes off to build his atomic molecule blaster, which he admits will leave a radioactive cloud over Tokyo for fifty years (“but after that you’ll never even know it was there”), while Toyota seeks a gentler alternative that will keep the monster alive.
Notzilla attacks Tokyo. Sort of. Actually he’s on a lark, playing with the miniature city, reversing toy trains, eating plastic soldiers, running a touchdown with a blimp under his arm. He parties hard while thousands of people run screaming in the streets (actually a couple dozen of the same people run screaming over and over again).
The army, led by General Buzz Kurosawa (George Takei—Star Trek, Heroes), is powerless to stop the monster (though Kurosawa, an amateur filmmaker, does get some great footage). Dick completes his controversial molecule blaster. He’s about to use it when Dr. Toyota shows up with his alternative device. In a rage, Dick accidentally turns the blaster on himself, resulting in his own over-the-top death scene—which schlock actor Raymond L. Suave had hoped would result in an Oscar nomination. It didn’t.
Toyota’s device stops Notzilla, but does not kill him, leaving the creature free to defend Tokyo from other latex monsters in the future!
- also -
"Notzilla" purports to be a restored print of a 1966 Japanese film, a long-lost classic of the genre. It begins with a special “anniversary release” prologue in which Rudy McBernstein, president of Great Big Impressive Pictures International, introduces viewers to the 1966 masterpiece, "Notzilla, the Duke of Monsters", the last film ever to feature American TV star Raymond L. Suave (Patrick Warburton).
How can you not love that?!
Teemly adds, "Notzilla is a classic monster movie spoof with heart—it makes a gently teasing statement about cultural arrogance. Also … reversing the trend toward raunchy, R-rated parodies, Notzilla is a family-friendly PG film with positive values. It’s clean enough for grandparents to take their grandkids to … and hip enough for college guys to drag their girlfriends to. Everyone will love Notzilla!"
Everyone should .... and if they don't they should be taken out in the desert and ...... wait ..... I got a little worked up there .... sorry.
Here are some bullet points that Teemly wants everyone to know:
The expected budget is $1.5 million. There’s a complete package (Investors Memorandum and Business Plan) available for any potential investors out there. It’s a great opportunity; they expect return on investment in the 1,000 to 2,000% range.
They’re looking at a 2012 shoot and a 2013 release.
No, there are no other daikaiju, aliens, or creatures. Notzilla is basically a spoof of the original one-monster flicks (Godzilla/Gojira, Mothra, Rodan, Gamera, etc.), rather than the “versus” films. It’s in colour, of course, widescreen, and utilizes a single Anglo-American actor in a lead role as did a number of the Toho films.
All f/x will be suitmation and miniatures, since Notzilla purports to be a film made in the pre-CGI era. Other vintage f/x will include rear-screen projection, robotics, and cheezy practicals—shaking the camera, for example, to indicate an explosion.
Here some stills from the promo trailer and a couple of sketches of the monster:
Written By: Ken Hulsey Sources: Avery Guerra / Robert Hood
Ohio based Mitch Teemley and the folks over at Moriah Media are about to lampoon one of the largest movie franchises ever, a iconic movie series that the great Mel Brooks never had the stones to take on himself. I am, of course, talking about the "King of Monsters" ...... Godzilla.
Okay, I know what your thinking. "Wow! Hold on lawyer alert! Legal team ready......ATTACK!!!!
Over the past several years Toho has shown that they are more than happy, and willing, to sue anyone that produces anything that remotely resembles their beloved monster. This time, surprisingly, the famed Japanese movie company has given their blessing at having "Big G" parodied by an American film company ..... more on that in a moment.
Teemly has a script at the ready for "Notzilla: Duke of the Monsters" a script that has already gained a lot of attention when it made it into the final round of the Worldfest Contest, one of the largest screenplay competitions in the world.
After the screenplay was so widely praised Teemly actually stuck it under the nose of Toho to see if they had any interest in developing it into a film.
The film maker explains, "Actually I offered the project to Toho not long after I wrote it. They weren’t interested in spoofing their own films, but wished us well. Parodies are not plagiarism; if they were, Saturday Night Live would have been shut down 35 years ago! Notzilla will not feature any footage from Toho films, nor will the monster be a visual copy of Godzilla."
Understanding why Toho may not want to lampoon their own monster Teemly then set his sights on making the film here in America with a big budget and with any luck a major studio behind him.
He adds, "Notzilla is intended for mainstream release (we have serious interest from both the majors and large indie distributors), and Moriah Media is for-profit company, by the way. A Fox Searchlight analyst estimated a $40 million North American box office gross; international box office is expected to exceed that. We are actively seeking completion funding!"
That's a lot of greenbacks!
Teemly knew that if he wanted to get a studio to take him seriously he would have to produce something visual to go along with his beloved screenplay. A teaser trailer was in order!
Check out the great clip that Moriah Media produced!
But wait .... that's not all!
Teemly then set out to get some "star power" for his "Notzilla" film and landed Patrick Warburton, who you may remember from the spoof superhero series, "The Tick". Just like when Franklin J. Schaffner landed Charlton Heston for a "talking monkey movie" no one was interested in called "Planet of the Apes"Teemly hopes the presence of Warburton will add credibility to his production and ultimately aide in getting the backing he needs.
The film maker notes, "Patrick Warburton is attached to star. I wrote the lead role of the “brilliant young American scientist”, Dr Dick Harvard (who’s actually not very brilliant nor very young) for him. All of the other leads are Japanese.
"Notzilla" has not yet been filmed. We are in the midst of capitalization and are using the teaser to generate investor interest. I appeared as a guest at G-Fest in Chicago last year and read segments of the screenplay to a very enthusiastic crowd. We’ve lined up some crack crew heads: Production Designer Robert Harbour designed sets for Heroes and X-Files; multi-Emmy winning Director of Photography Jeff Barklage shot the teaser; Oscar-nominated producer Melissa Godoy is also attached to oversee production."
Here is the story:
In the future (1975), “brilliant young American scientist” Dr Dick Harvard (played by not-so-brilliant and not-so-young Raymond L. Suave) leads a team of crack scientists in atomic testing (no one knows why) near Yomama Bay. The unexpected result (these scientists don’t watch enough B-pictures): a prehistoric egg is shaken loose, after being exposed to massive amounts of radiation. Of course.
Dick’s mentor, “brilliant old Japanese scientist”, Dr Nissan Toyota, succeeds in hatching a dinosaur! But then it escapes, and begins growing at an alarming rate. Of course.
Dr Toyota wants to save the creature. But Dick is certain it will attack Tokyo. “Because that’s what always happens”. The two split up. Dick goes off to build his atomic molecule blaster, which he admits will leave a radioactive cloud over Tokyo for fifty years (“but after that you’ll never even know it was there”), while Toyota seeks a gentler alternative that will keep the monster alive.
Notzilla attacks Tokyo. Sort of. Actually he’s on a lark, playing with the miniature city, reversing toy trains, eating plastic soldiers, running a touchdown with a blimp under his arm. He parties hard while thousands of people run screaming in the streets (actually a couple dozen of the same people run screaming over and over again).
The army, led by General Buzz Kurosawa (George Takei—Star Trek, Heroes), is powerless to stop the monster (though Kurosawa, an amateur filmmaker, does get some great footage). Dick completes his controversial molecule blaster. He’s about to use it when Dr. Toyota shows up with his alternative device. In a rage, Dick accidentally turns the blaster on himself, resulting in his own over-the-top death scene—which schlock actor Raymond L. Suave had hoped would result in an Oscar nomination. It didn’t.
Toyota’s device stops Notzilla, but does not kill him, leaving the creature free to defend Tokyo from other latex monsters in the future!
- also -
"Notzilla" purports to be a restored print of a 1966 Japanese film, a long-lost classic of the genre. It begins with a special “anniversary release” prologue in which Rudy McBernstein, president of Great Big Impressive Pictures International, introduces viewers to the 1966 masterpiece, "Notzilla, the Duke of Monsters", the last film ever to feature American TV star Raymond L. Suave (Patrick Warburton).
How can you not love that?!
Teemly adds, "Notzilla is a classic monster movie spoof with heart—it makes a gently teasing statement about cultural arrogance. Also … reversing the trend toward raunchy, R-rated parodies, Notzilla is a family-friendly PG film with positive values. It’s clean enough for grandparents to take their grandkids to … and hip enough for college guys to drag their girlfriends to. Everyone will love Notzilla!"
Everyone should .... and if they don't they should be taken out in the desert and ...... wait ..... I got a little worked up there .... sorry.
Here are some bullet points that Teemly wants everyone to know:
The expected budget is $1.5 million. There’s a complete package (Investors Memorandum and Business Plan) available for any potential investors out there. It’s a great opportunity; they expect return on investment in the 1,000 to 2,000% range.
They’re looking at a 2012 shoot and a 2013 release.
No, there are no other daikaiju, aliens, or creatures. Notzilla is basically a spoof of the original one-monster flicks (Godzilla/Gojira, Mothra, Rodan, Gamera, etc.), rather than the “versus” films. It’s in colour, of course, widescreen, and utilizes a single Anglo-American actor in a lead role as did a number of the Toho films.
All f/x will be suitmation and miniatures, since Notzilla purports to be a film made in the pre-CGI era. Other vintage f/x will include rear-screen projection, robotics, and cheezy practicals—shaking the camera, for example, to indicate an explosion.
Here some stills from the promo trailer and a couple of sketches of the monster:
The ever present net scout Avery Guerra turned me on to this wonderful bit of fun animation called "Abominable." Actually it's a great combination of computer animation combined with live actors.
"Abominable" is the handy work of Lamson To and Joseph Won who put the short together as a school project.
Here is the synopsis:
Up on a distant snow covered mountain, an Evil Hunter of mythical creatures sets his sights on a Baby Yeti, but is soon meets his demise when he comes face to face with Daddy Yeti.
A Sasquatch on skis? Looks like the Canadian Olympic team has a new member? There goes our chances for the gold. Can you imagine having to face off against Bigfoot?
We are having a large moving sale! Tons of stuff has got to go!
We will have many items including our 5 piece colonial style bedroom set ($600). I will be parting with most of my Star Wars, Star Trek and Comic Book collections (highlights below) We will have clothes, nick-knacks and other antiques as well! Air Hockey Table!
Near University High School and UCI / Culver and Harvard / just follow the signs
Time: Saturday April 30th from 8am to 3pm
SW Items:
Figures are $3 each - or $100 for the whole lot (38 figures at $3 each = $114, you save $14 dollars this way!)
Red Cards
1. Lando Calrissian 2. Luke Skywalker (Long Sabre) 3. C-3P0 4. Han Solo 5. Tie Fighter Pilot 6. Chewbacca 7. Luke Skywalker (Dagobah)(Long Sabre) 8. Han Solo (Hoth) 9. R5-D4 10. Yoda 11. R2-D2 12. Tusken Raider (Closed Hand) 13. Death Star Gunner 14. Princess Leia Organa
ndividual prices or $110 for the whole group (7 pieces would total $145)
1. Land Speeder $10 2. Luke Skywalker w/ Tauntaun $10 3. Tie Fighter (Red Series) $15 4. Star Destroyer - Electric (Rare) $30 5. Endor Attack Playset (Rare) $20
Comics Include - Early Action Comics, Amazing Spider-Man, X-men, Iron Man
Included is Fantastic Four #12, Voted by wizard as one of the top 100 comics of all-time $400
So Jamaica. I was a bit late to the game. But then I heard "I Think I Like U 2." Game changer. But naturally I fell behind again. Like way, way behind. "Oh word, y'all made a video for this? Over a year ago? Great." But yea, it's great. So-Me videos are always fabulous, but this one's different than most. (Or at least different than most of the ones I've seen.) And it's better for it. That's all the disjointed rambling I can muster up today. Enjoy the video:
Grindhouse films were low-budget horror and exploitation films that were very popular in the 1970s. Today thanks to film makers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez a whole new generation has been exposed to this type of movie entertainment. Likewise a brand-new generation of film makers have set out to bring the genre back to life with a series of new films produced on a shoe-string budget with buckets of fake blood at the ready and actresses not afraid to bare it all when the script calls for it .... and it always does.
Thes clips are meant to tantalize, titillate and possibly traumatize the viewer. The will also probably make you say "WTF".
(Above) The trailer for Redwing Films "Killer Biker Chicks"
Killer Biker Chicks are hot women who live out in the desert and flirt with sex,drugs,rock&roll and murder.
These are the girls your mother warned you about.
The second trailer for James Baack's latest film "The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot." A film that is sure to delite horror movie fans and anger cryptozoologists!
A preview clip of Benjamin J. Heckendorn's "Lizard of Death."
"Destined to be Ingested" follows a group of yuppies who get lost in the South Pacific on a cannibal-infested island. Featuring stunning cinematography and standout performances by Suzi Lorraine and Troma veteran Bill Weeden, it's a low-budget horror film of epic scope.
The trailer for David A. Lloyd's "The Legend of Viper's Hill"
The trailer for David Hayes sequel to "The Beast of Yucca Flats" entitled, "Return to Yucca Flats: Desert Man-Beast."
Trailer for the horror film "Walking Distance" starring Shannon Lark, Debbie Rochon, Adrienne King ad Reggie Bannister
A group of guys who play a game using GPS deep in the woods find more than expected, a half-human monster.
This ones got everything Aliens......that gopher from "Caddyshack"....and a bionic Bigfoot
Keeping in line with my new feature about bands that are really "lighting my fire" these days comes today's entry on the Liverpool (UK) based Zombina and The Skeletones. The Skeletones are an amazing group that takes a tongue-and-cheek musical journey into everything that makes classic horror and sci fi so great. Listen to these titles, Staci Stasis, Frankenlady, Nobody Likes You When You're Dead and for you Japanese sci fi fans, Astroboy.
Here is their bio from Wikipedia:
Zombina and the Skeletones are a horror rock band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1998 around the nucleus of vocalist Zombina and songwriter Doc Horror. The majority of their tongue in cheek lyrical content deals with themes of horror and science fiction, yet their musical style is upbeat and pop oriented, with elements of garage punk, doo wop and hard rock. Due to their apparent obsession with B Movies and black humour their fanbase extends to the gothic rock, deathrock and psychobilly scenes.
Zombina met Doc Horror in 1998, fast becoming friends and started a band called The Deformed, producing a demo tape; "No Sleep 'Til Transylvania", in early 1999. This tape featured songs that would later become Zombina and The Skeletones staples; "The Grave... And Beyond!", "Braindead" and "Leave My Brain Alone"; and established a strong B-Movie informed horror theme recalling the early efforts of The Misfits and The Cramps.
In 2005, Zombina and The Skeletones were a featured unsigned band on BBC Radio 2. They have also toured the UK with bands such as The Damned, The Misfits, and The Meteors.2006 saw the band headlining Lumous Gothic Festival, Finland. Then in 2007, Wave-Gotik-Treffen (Wave-Gothic-Meeting) in Leipzig, Germany.They have been featured in the UK magazine, Bizarre, and played live at the 2008 "Bizarre Ball" in London. They were scheduled to appear at Abertoir, the Welsh Horror Festival, and performed as part of the festival.
Listen to Zombina and The Skeletones tracks via Amazon.com:
Zombina and The Skeletones music videos:
Zombina and The Skeletones Photos:
Lyrics - Astroboy
I heard the news today It seems like such a shame The rocket ship is waiting To take you away
Set apart from me Across the galaxy And though I cry You just won't stay
The heavens are open for the lucky few All my life I'll never find another love like you
There's no reason for Your going away I never even gave you Cause for complaint
You said you'd see me 'round But I won't take it lying down But you'd never know 'Cause you're in space
Remember what I always say? That I'd rather lie down and die than let you fly away But now you've gone and thrown away all our dreams Just remember, out in space, nobody can here you scream
The heavens are open for the lucky few All my life I'll never find another love like you Another love like you I got the astronaut boyfriend blues
Classic Frankenstein in detailed and enormous 1:4 scale!
Monster-sized Frankenstein!
The classic Frankenstein Monster has been immortalized in many mediums and sizes, but when it comes to action figures… DST has the Big Daddy! This "Monster-Sized" Frankenstein Monster is the largest action figure ever made of the classic Universal Monsters icon, standing a monstrous 18-inches tall and featuring over 26 points of articulation for plenty of monster mayhem and posing. The Frankenstein Monster is captured in all his gory glory, decked out in an authentically detailed full cloth outfit and featuring a movie-accurate likeness. Window box packaging.
You may or may not know that I am cheating on The Boyfriend with my treadmill. That confession aside, since The Boyfriend's parents gave us the treadmill two months ago I have lost four kilograms. But the way that I feel about it got me thinking about my relationship with my weight & health/fitness, and how it has changed in the last few years.
When I was 17 I weighed the most that I have in my life. When I was 20 I weighed the least that I have in my life. I am now sitting comfortably in the middle. I have been every clothing size between an 18 and an 8, but this is the only time that I have felt completely at home in my body. My weight loss first started when I had an operation on my jaw not long before I turned 18, and I was put on a liquid diet for two months. Eating is a tiring venture when you are recovering from surgery, so I ate a lot less in recovery than I did before my operation. Then, I started exercising in order to burn off all the extra energy I had from laying around the house all day. I was surprised by all the things that my body could do, and all the ways that my muscles worked that I didn't know about before that.
But it all went a little pear-shaped after that. I noticed that people complimented me more every time I lost more weight. People seemed to pay more positive attention to me. It seemed like I suddenly made new friends, suddenly got invited to parties, suddenly had guys wanting to ask me out. When I moved out of home to go to university I lost more weight. I also met the man who would turn out the be the love of my life, absolutely loved the subject I was studying, and aced every assignment/exam/project that came my way. I don't know how, but I came to attribute all these things to my weight, instead of my confidence levels. I became determined to lose more weight, because if thing started going well when I started getting skinnier, then I just had to keep on getting skinnier, right? When I was at my very skinniest, I felt like I was waging a war against my body. Every push-up, every squat, every lunge was me attacking my body and willing it to be just a little bit thinner. I really and truly believed that as long as I kept being a size 8 that nothing bad would ever happen to me.
Then, I hit the beginning of the major depressive episode that would eventually spur me to start this blog. I lost my motivation to study, to exercise - hell, to even get up in the mornings. I lost my part-time job, and The Boyfriend lost his full-time job. There were days when The Boyfriend had to drag the sobbing mess that was me out of bed, pretty much dress me, and drive me to my university classes so that I would actually end up going. I fell out of love with the subject I was studying. But again, rather than seeing these things as the result of depression, I believed they were happening to me because I had let myself gain weight. I believed that I deserved the way that I was feeling because I had let myself gain weight. Unlearning that association was one of the hardest things I have ever done - even harder because after going through that period of depression, I had to learn to take care of myself again.
I think the biggest thing that worked in my favour was that I wanted to get better. I wanted to be happy again, even when I couldn't muster the energy (or care factor) to simply shower. I think I'm doing well now - or at least, I'm on the right track. Repairing yourself after these things takes a long, long time. You have to relearn how to care about your health & your personal hygiene. You have to relearn how to tell if you like, or enjoy something. You have to learn that, even once you've learned these things, some days you just won't be able to remember. But in learning these things, I have also learnt a new appreciation for my body. My body can do amazing things. It can take all my terrible treatment, and it can recover. It can hold all the pain & suffering of depression, and it can help pull me through it. Even when I absolutely hated my body, it still did everything it could to keep me healthy and happy.
These days, I like to think of my body as my partner instead of my enemy - I'm trying to work with it, instead of against it. If my body feels restless, then I do some exercise. If that exercise doesn't make it feel good, then I find a different type. If a food makes me lethargic, or upsets my stomach then I don't eat it. If I find my body really craving something in particular, then I let myself have it. I go to bed as soon as I feel tired, and get up when I don't feel like sleeping anymore. I fill my fridge with all different types of fruit, and then pick whatever my body feels like in the morning to take for lunch. Now that we're working in tandem, I don't see how I could have ever hated my body, or blamed it for the things that were going wrong in my life. Shit happens, and it happens all the time. Sometimes it happens for a reason, sometimes it's just random chance. But, however shits' going down, and despite the struggle to get here, loving my body for exactly the way it is is much easier than hating it for the way it isn't. And, as far as I'm concerned, so long as my body feels fit & healthy, the weight part doesn't really matter anyway.
When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1932 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The film was shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects.
The Colossus of New York (1958) is a science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié. It starred Ross Martin, Otto Kruger, John Baragrey, Mala Powers and Charles Herbert.
Jeremy Spensser (Martin), the brilliant young scion of a family of scientists and humanitarians, is killed in an automobile accident. His death occurs on the eve of his winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and he leaves behind a wife (Powers) and young son (Herbert). Jeremy's father, noted brain surgeon William Spensser (Kruger), is distressed that his son's gifts will be denied to Mankind. He conceives a plan to give Jeremy's excellent mind another chance to benefit humanity by transplanting the brain (which he has revived and kept on life support) into an artificial, robotic body. William convinces Jeremy's brother, Henry, to assist with the process in secret, but there are unforeseen complications and the huge cyborg they've created is kept in seclusion for nearly a year. The massive metallic creation is superhumanly strong and damage-resistant, a possibly dangerous combination under the control of anything but the gentle Jeremy. However, lacking reliable sensory apparatus and deprived of normal human contact, Jeremy's mind begins to lose its humanity, and his focus changes from simply being a secret laboratory assistant to finding his wife and son at any cost. As Jeremy loses control, the machine develops other powers including the ability to conduct and transform energy, and Jeremy's mental confusion leads to the cyborg conducting a rampage through New York City. Only the presence of Jeremy's son is able to focus Jeremy's self-control, long enough for the cyborg to teach the boy how to destroy the "colossus".
The film is noted for its haunting minimalistic piano score composed by Van Cleave.
Attack of the Giant Leeches is a low-budget 1959 science fiction film from American International Pictures. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, produced by Gene Corman, and the screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film is in black and white, and runs for 62 minutes. It was one of a spate of monster movies produced during the 1950s in response to cold war fears; in the film a character speculates that the leeches have been mutated to giant size by atomic radiation from nearby Cape Canaveral.
King Kong vs. Godzilla is a 1962 Japanese science fiction/monster film produced by Toho Studios. Directed by Ishirō Honda with visual effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, the film starred Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, and Mie Hama. It was the third installment in the Japanese series of films featuring the monster Godzilla. It was also the first of two Japanese made films featuring the King Kong character and also the first time both King Kong and Godzilla appeared on film in color and widescreen. Produced as part of Toho's 30th anniversary celebration, this film remains the most commercially successful of all the Godzilla films to date.
Bonus Clip!
Here is some test footage shot by stop-motion special effects master, Ray Harryhausen for an film that never got made entitled, "Elementals".
