From the Couch Hole: Did They Get You to Trade Your Heroes for Ghosts?

Previously on FTCH, Parthenope was in Manchester by the Sea with twisted queso. The third-floor flat parasite said, “I’ll be your song”. This week is all about keeping up and getting ahead so that next week’s Comic Con trip is as low stress as possible. I’ll leave behind something for you to read next Sunday while I’m eating my fave foods in San Diego. This week there was a long goodbye at the Institute and I wish you were here. Then 28 years later, there was a rebirth of Summer Breeze on Jurassic World. Remember, FTCH is for well qualified lessees.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) (Directed by Gareth Edwards): “Survival is a long shot” – Dr. Loomis. Five years since Jurassic World Dominion (2022) hasn’t cured the “This time we’ll be able to get near the dinosaurs without getting killed” dream. I’m reminded of the sixth, seventh, and beyond sequels to the slasher films of the ’80s and ’90s. This series is comfort food for people who like to imagine new and interesting ways for people to get eaten by dinosaurs. Director Gareth Edwards knows all about monsters, having helmed Godzilla (2014). The pursuit scenes are very well done with some actual suspense. Every scene where characters stare out to sea or cut their way through dense jungle, the movie comes to a halt. There’s a scene in the jungle where I swore that King Kong was about to burst through the brush. That’s all that’s left for this franchise now. Godzilla vs. King Kong vs. Jurassic World. Scarlett Johansson can carry almost any film, but the script is holding her back in a way that it doesn’t in the Marvel movies. In the end, I came to see dinosaurs eat people and I got just what I paid for.

Buy Godzilla (2014) Blu-ray

• The Institute – “The Boy” (2025) (S.1 E.1) (MGM+): “I have this dream and I’m standing on the edge of an abyss, and it’s full of all the things I don’t know.” – Luke. Comparing this show to Stranger Things (Netflix) is lazy, and other than being mostly teen focused, there isn’t nearly as much in common as you would be led to believe. Instead it has the feel of taking place in the same universe as Firestarter. The elements of children with telekinesis or telepathy, a secret shadow government organization, a rural Maine setting, and a B-story of a misunderstood loner all fit comfortably in a Stephen King adaptation. They’ve aged up most of the children to take the edge off their torture. Mary Louise Parker should have made a good villain, Ms. Sigsby, but the dialog comes off way too cheesy. The book was pretty interesting. This adaptation lacks the budget and production it deserves. I would have liked to see this first episode unfold more deliberately, like the book. The pacing leaves me concerned for the way the rest of the series will play out.

Buy Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here CD

• Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here” (1975) (from Wish You Were Here): “So, so you think you can tell / Heaven from Hell? Blue skies from pain?” Those first few seconds are simple and magical. Fans of Pink Floyd (I count myself in this group) tend to treasure this song. How often have Waters and Gilmour worked together so beautifully? The dual meaning of the distance that the group was feeling as they became more a part of the record industry machine and their blame of the system for bandmate Syd Barrett’s breakdown are represented perfectly in the lyrics.

• The Long Goodbye (1973) (Directed by Robert Altman): “Fifty grand. You must run into a lot of luck, Mr. Wade. Most guys lose their undies when they play for those kind of stakes.” – Philip Marlowe. Based on the Raymond Chandler novel, which is notoriously complex, it’s written by Leigh Brackett who already adapted a Chandler novel for The Big Sleep (1946) and is known for adding scenes that aren’t in the books. That’s all surrounded by the direction of Robert Altman, who is known to treat a script like more of a suggestion. Elliott Gould’s version of Marlowe is an interesting man-out-of-time story. He’s a 1953 character in a 1973 world. His only friend is his cat, and it doesn’t seem to be a two-way street.
  
  Marlowe is approached by a playboy friend to take him to Tijuana late one night. The friend’s wife turns up dead and his friend commits suicide in Mexico. That’s the plot on the surface. There’s so much more going on outside of that, as is common in most film noir. The film is not approachable in any traditional way. The motivation of every character is suspect. The good guys have a bad side and the bad guys have a bad side. The film itself is often filmed from what feels like the wrong distance. I found myself wanting the camera to get closer, go through a door, look another direction, or overall to do a better job of telling me the story. Somehow, it ends up working as an indictment of the film noir in current society. It doesn’t work out to be Marlowe in 1973, even your cat runs away. I would say this is for advanced fans of Altman only.

Buy The Long Goodbye Blu-ray

• 28 Years Later (2025) (Directed by Danny Boyle): “Remember we must die.” – Spike. The trailer effectively used the 1915 recording of Rudyard Kipling’s “Boots.” It’s more muted in the film, but the themes of marching on are present. About the Boer Wars, it’s about the madness of war when soldiers just keep moving forward. “There’s no discharge in the war!”
  
  I was surprised to find that this franchise was going to throw a “coming of age” entry into the mix. Somehow, three decades into the Rage virus, the story absolutely works as a story of love, death, and parenthood. Moving the story out of London to the rich landscape of Northumberland was a great move by writer Alex Garland. The film maintains its zombie roots, even introducing a new and interesting version called “Alpha.” There are lots of elements of this film that shouldn’t work, and yet they do with the exception of the Swedish soldier. There was a message trying to happen there that felt shoehorned and thankfully was short lived. The film is led by young Spike (Alfie Williams) who functions as our Dorothy Gale, leading us with wonder through the strange mainland full of brilliant colors. The ending leads into the sequel and ties up the beginning, but by that point I was already satisfied with the themes being sewn up.

Buy 28 Days Later / 28 Weeks Later Blu-ray

Best of the Rest

• Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” hits people on an emotional level. It’s been adapted for so many different genres. I was going to pick just one cover that I love. I couldn’t decide between Wyclef Jean’s hip hop and reggae-influenced cover and the Tangerine Dream electronic cover that feels like it should have been featured in a 1982 film. Wyclef might be slightly ahead because I do love his voice.

• Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #13: California Raisins “Lunchbox” (1986): “Raised in that California sunshine.” I can’t deny their popularity. They started with Marvin Gaye and seven ads later, they were a wrinkled Michael Jackson. They had their own toys, lunchboxes, and more. I didn’t find it clever beyond the claymation which looks pretty smooth here. I certainly wouldn’t rank it this high.

• Nike Football has a new series of ads. The first thing you should know is that by Nike Football, I mean soccer for those of you in the United States. These ads don’t shy away from some edgy humor. The laughs are top notch, and I hope they have the guts to apply these to American Football.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• Sunday Morning Tuneage from 8/30/2009, as was usual for that time of year, I was totally beat from six long days at work and was looking forward to a quiet day at home. Caleb had his first football game on the day before of what would be seven years more of fall days sitting in the stands for me.
  
  My #97 Top TV Show of All-Time was Mythbusters (Discovery) (2003-2018). Busted, plausible, or confirmed. I would not include shows like this in a current ranking, so I declare it busted. Reality or documentary shows would need their own Top 100 list. I love this show, and it would rank highly on another list. It would air another nine seasons after my initial ranking. I loved their appearances at Comic Con. These are so filled with science that they are remarkably rewatchable.
  
• BEST SPORTCASTERS OF ALL-TIME (2009)
  • 10. Howard Cosell
  • 9. Jack Buck
  • 8. Bob Costas
  • 7. Dick Enberg
  • 6. Harry Caray
  • 5. Bob Ufer
  • 4. John Madden
  • 3. Keith Jackson
  • 2. Ernie Harwell
  • 1. Vin Scully
    
• BEST SPORTSCASTERS OF ALL-TIME (2025)
  • 10. Al Michaels. I think he’s only doing Thursday Night Football (Amazon) now. I associate him with ABC Sports for decades. Just a comfortable voice, although a bit Muppet-y. Amazing that the “Miracle On Ice” voice is still active.
  • 9. Dick Enberg. A man of many sports, I think of him as a Rose Bowl guy during my youth. Later in life he was a fixture at seemingly every Olympics. I can’t say “Oh my!” without attempting an impression of him.
  • 8. Keith Jackson. There isn’t even a debate in my mind who was the best College Football announcer of my generation. That voice itself might be the best of the bunch. “Whoa, Nellie.”
  • 7. Bill Raftery. It took me decades to warm up to “a kiss off the glass” guy. He really came into my world when he was paired with Jim Nantz and Grant Hill. He is the voice of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
  • 6. Brent Musburger. “You’re looking live . . .” The man was everywhere for a couple of decades. He was hosting NFL Today (CBS) and still doing basketball games, horse racing, and auto racing. He coined the term “March Madness”, was fired by CBS and then became the voice of college football for a whole new generation on ABC/ESPN.
  • 5. “Doc” Emerick. Hockey is a difficult sport to excel at broadcasting. This is my favorite by far with his extensive knowledge of hockey history and expansive vocabulary. He was the hockey voice for nine Olympics for NBC.
  • 4. Howard Cosell. There wasn’t anyone else like him, and there hasn’t been anyone like him since. I remember him from Monday Night Football (ABC), but it was his boxing calls on Wide World of Sports (ABC) that really set him apart.
  • 3. Pat Summerall and John Madden. I know that Summerall was really good at golf announcing, and I can hear him talking Masters even now. He did so many U.S. Opens for tennis that I can’t remember who else did it other than him. But I can’t think about the NFL announcing for the Nineties and beyond without these two complimenting each other. They were both great on their own, but as a duo there just wasn’t a more comfortable announcing team for every big NFL game. Summerall alone did 16 Super Bowls.
  • 2. Bob Costas. Forty years on NBC, and he seemed to be their number one for every sporting event. I remember lots of his basketball calls, but he’s still best at baseball because it lends itself to his encyclopedic knowledge of the game.
  • 1. Vin Scully. “And look who’s coming up” is how my favorite Scully at-bat description starts. I was lucky enough to live five years in Southern California and hear him on a regular basis. Before that, I loved when he did a national broadcast because he brought so much background knowledge of the game and players. His style can’t be duplicated.

Buy Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story book

1975 in Review

• July – Avengers #137 (Marvel): “Married! Married! Mantis I was expectin’– though an intelligent tree for a groom came outta left field– But Wanda and the Vision took me completely by surprise! That synthezoid’s sly, boy!” Cover by John Romita. Art by George Tuska. Written by Steve Englehart. Swordsman and Mantis are gone. Vision and Scarlet Witch are on a honeymoon. The Avengers are turned down by most of the previous members and so they have open tryouts at Shea Stadium.
• July 20 – The last Pogo comic strip ends a 26-year run since the series started. Creator Walt Kelly has been dead for two years.
• July 31 – Rolling Stone covers the payola indictments of the previous month. Kenneth Gamble of Gamble-Huff Records and Clive Davis of Arista Records were indicted of providing as much as $25,000 to disc jockeys and radio personnel to promote their records. The fallout is that disc jockeys have the power to determine what records they play mostly turned over to program directors.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“How I wish, how I wish you were here
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground, what have we found?
The same old fears, wish you were here.” – Pink Floyd