From the Couch Hole: Good Times I Remember

Previously on FTCH, the Continental Op was called in because on September 5, somebody somewhere was infected. The real pain was finding loaded s’mores at the scene. This week was the semi-return of winter and the dog days of winter, if there is such a thing. It’s that time, now that my basketball assignments are over where I start to think about Spring Break and summer trips. This week it was the old days in Woe’s Hollow for a different man and Post Malone Oreos. There was a presence on a kneecap that turned out to be Dr. Pepper Blackberry. Remember, FTCH is preferred 2:1 over Campbell’s Clam Chowder.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Presence (2024) (Directed by Steven Soderbergh): “There is an excellent man inside of you, Tyler. I would love to see him soon.” – Chris. The conceit of the film isn’t a secret. We watch the film through the eyes of a “presence” in the house. It’s more difficult to tell you what the purpose of the film is beyond that. It’s easy to just say it’s a ghost story. That’s denying the experience of viewing the film. There are two main threads – following a family with a complex history where the clues are dealt out very inconsistently and trying to use point-of-view clues to determine who is the presence we are viewing the movie through. The film hands out some symbolic clues like the family named “Payne” and the daughter being called “Blue,” that only muddy expectations. Soderbergh is a talented director and only a few directors could pull this off. I did end up appreciative of the uniqueness of the presentation. It has the feel of a big budget episode of Black Mirror, especially as the two threads converge at the last minute in a way that would make O. Henry proud.

Buy Out of Sight Blu-ray

• Severance – “Woe’s Hollow” (2024) (S.2 E.4) (Apple+): “Marshmallows are for team players, Dylan. They don’t just hand them out.” – Milchick. The team wanted to see the outdoors, so for their ORTBO (Outdoor Retreat and Team Building Occurrence) they are transported to the alternative set of Lost (ABC) complete with a waterfall and a seal in place of a polar bear. In typical Lumon fashion, they don’t get what they want exactly. Walking out of the elevator to wake up in the middle of a frozen lake in a grey, frozen world that’s as white with snow as their hallways, is a nice way to tell them that the outdoors isn’t as wonderful as their expectations. The more interesting concept for me was if Lumon isn’t just dealing with an “innie” and an “outtie” but are they cloning people (that would explain the sheep) as we see alternate versions of our main characters. This episode doesn’t help answer questions for people who want more closure, it does add extra levels of conspiracy and mythology. I hope it doesn’t come back to bite them.

Buy Chicago VIII Expanded & Remastered CD

• Chicago – “Old Days” (1975) (from Chicago VIII): “Memories / Seem like yesterday.” After veering into the world of almost jazz fusion on the last album, Chicago sounds like Chicago again. James Pankow wrote the song, and he’s responsible for the tremendous horn arrangement on the single. Peter Cetera sounds wonderful on the vocals although the story is that he never liked the lyrics. There isn’t much else to the song except that when it comes on in the car, you better roll down the window because I’m about to crank the volume.

• Kneecap (2024) (Directed by Rich Peppiatt): “Every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom.” – Arlo. Music teacher, JJ (DJ Provai) hooks up with “low-life scum” Moglai Bap and Mo Chara (also as themselves) to create a dynamic Irish language hip hop group, called Kneecap, that makes a political statement just by rapping in their native language. Formed in 2018 as the Irish Language Act was being pushed in Ireland to put Irish on par with English as the language of the country, their “real life” existence was political in nature. What caught me off-guard was that when translated to film in 2024, this is a story about finding your own voice. It’s funny, but not a comedy. It’s dramatic, but not a melodrama. The actors play themselves in a way that is endearing and real. The message is to be true to who you are and where you came from. It’s a story of youths who stayed true to their own experiences despite being threatened with their lives. I enjoyed this film much more than I thought I would based upon the trailers.

• A Different Man (2024) (Directed by Aaron Schimberg): “Oh my friend, you haven’t changed a bit.” – Oswald. Edward (Sebastian Stan) is an aspiring actor who is severely disfigured. He undergoes a radical treatment and when he is healed of the disfigured face, he literally and figuratively becomes a new man. That is, until a perfect role comes up where he needs to be the man that he had been. I don’t know what I was expecting. It’s a moral tale of what happens when you get what you want to be. His next-door-neighbor, playwright Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), is unlikable in the frustrating way that as a viewer you keep looking for what Edward sees in her. Oswald (Adam Pearson) stars as an actor who actually has the same disfigured face. He is the illustration that beauty is more than skin deep. The messages were conflicting, and I wanted to love the film that I only ended up liking. Do yourself a favor and go watch the similar plot of Seconds (1966) with Rock Hudson, which takes the same type of story and turns it into a science fiction, psychological horror film.

Best of the Rest

• It wasn’t the best or the most clever of the batch of commercials. Yet, I don’t know if I had more of a smile on my face for anything else. It’s just nice to see my Muppet friends again.

• Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #34 – Wilkins Instant Coffee “Cannon Shot”: The Muppet ads started with Wilkins Instant Coffee. The Booking.com ad is pretty tame compared to what the proto-Kermit and proto-Rowlf are doing here. It’s some dark humor for an advertisement for coffee. These are pretty groundbreaking. The one singled out is at 2:05 of this collection of ads. If these hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t have the Muppets I love today.

• Budweiser went for the feels with their Super Bowl ad. Their neighbors across the hallway went for straight-up comedy. Upon further consideration, the Bud Light folks may be the winner. Post Malone, Shane Gillis, and Peyton Manning to the lilting voice of Huey Lewis, bringing on all of the Back to the Future (1985) vibes. Having lived in a neighborhood with a cul-de-sac, it was always the end of the cul-de-sac that could party.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• On the Sunday Morning Tuneage from 6/4/2007 to 7/12/2009, I ranked my 100 Favorite Films of All-Time. I did one per week with the arbitrary rule that they had to air on television that upcoming week. It ended up being a pretty representative list in retrospect. A few were ranked out of order, but I stick with that list for that point in my life. The 2009 stats check out.
  
  6 – Alfred Hitchcock films.
  5 – Steven Spielberg films.
  4 – Stanley Kubrick films.
  4 – Billy Wilder films.
  
  I’m going to attempt the impossible over the next 20 weeks. I’m going to use that old list as a template and rank five films a week, without planning it all out ahead of time. Remember, these are “favorite” and not necessarily “best” movies. Enjoy critiquing me along the way.
  
  2025 Running Stats (#81-100)
  • 2 – Directed by John Hughes
  • 1 – 1920’s
  • 1 – 1940’s
  • 1 – 1950’s
  • 3 – 1960’s
  • 3 – 1970’s
  • 4 – 1980’s
  • 5 – 1990’s
  • 2 – 2000’s
    
• FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL-TIME (2009)
  • 85. The Apartment (1960)
  • 84. Babe (1995)
  • 83. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
  • 82. Pulp Fiction (1994)
  • 81. Goodfellas (1990)
    
• FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL-TIME (2025)
  • 85. Rashomon (1950): Kurosawa has so many influences on cinema that it’s hard to even know where to start. This film created its own genre. I’d say that’s a good reason to love it.
  • 84. Magnolia (1999): Paul Thomas Anderson surprised me in this film. I had dismissed it for no other reason that it having a role for Tom Cruise. When I finally saw it, I was blown away by the script.
  • 83. Carrie (1976): De Palma drew up the blueprint for how to adapt a Stephen King novel. By virtue of this success, he also inadvertently gave the author more juice to keep writing whatever he wanted.
  • 82. The Great Escape (1963): Director John Sturges understands that some films don’t need to be overtly political or full of messages. Sometimes my favorite films have a rewatchable quality like this one.
  • 81. Pulp Fiction (1994): For the past few years, I have debated where this film sits in my favorite films. I considered moving it in both directions. I could argue for it to be as high as #20 if I think of how much it influenced my movie viewing in the ’90s. I could put it down another ten spots if I think about how little I’ve thought about watching it again this century.

Buy Rashomon (The Criterion Collection) Blu-ray

1975 in Review

• February – Amazing Spider-Man #141 (Marvel): Cover by John Romita, Sr. Written by Gerry Conway. Art by Ross Andru. “Then — it’s finally happened! I’m cracking up — Peter Parker is — insane” – Peter Parker. Spider-Man has some hallucinations after driving through some mysterious fog. He’s still dealing with the death of Gwen Stacey, and he thinks that Norman Osborn is still alive. At the time, there was no way, until it happened in 1996.
• February 14 – The San Diego Conquistadors beat Dr. J and the New York Nets in 4OT by a score of 176-166. It would remain the highest scoring NBA game until 1983.
• February 16 – The Cher Show (CBS) debuts on Sunday night. Among other songs, she performs “Bennie and the Jets” with Elton John. She’s featured on this month’s Esquire and Vogue. The show would last until January 1976 when Cher was reunited with Sonny Bono and their show was reconstituted.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“Take me back
To the world gone away
Our good memories
Seem like yesterday
Old days (on my mind and in my heart to stay)” – Chicago