From the Couch Hole: Now You’re Moving in High Society

Previously on FTCH, the hot fuzz was looking for Shaun of the Dead who escaped on a lifeboat. The wild robot tasted the chocolate-brownie truffle ice cream and said, “It’s alright.” This week was a little chaotic both nationally, and there were some reorgs with my company that have brought about some changes too. This week the adventures of Tintin were meeting with Baby Jane for Chex cereal. Scott Pilgrim vs. Jaws was better than “I Love Lucy” for the Goode family. Remember, FTCH is available the next day on Hulu.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Peter Benchley – Jaws (1974) (Doubleday): “The past always seems better when you look back on it than it did at the time. And the present never looks as good as it will in the future.” I read this book finally. I’m getting prepared for next year’s 50th Anniversary theatrical release of Jaws (1975). This book falls into a very small bucket of films that are vastly superior to their source material. I’m still trying to fathom that the shark wasn’t the symbolic monster of the film. The book makes Brody an insider, a man raised in Amity. The theme of the first half of the book is that of a troubled marriage and marital fidelity. Spielberg’s choice to reflect the fear of Big Government in the wake of Watergate as symbolic of the shark attacks on our sense of safety, creates a much more satisfying story. Quint gets his moment as Captain Ahab in both versions, but his voice in the book is more of a greedy fisherman than that of a wounded war veteran. It was like reading a first draft of a film that later is radically worked into a masterpiece. Bring on the movie next year.

Buy Jaws paperback

• Ghosts U.K. – “I Love Lucy” (2021) (S.3 E.4) (BBC): “If you’d have told me 400 years ago that, one day, I’d be watching my decapitated body having an affair with a 60-year-old dead woman, I’d have said you were mad.” – Humphrey’s Body. I haven’t watched Ghosts U.S. (CBS) yet, but I find it hard to imagine it will be as entertaining as this original. The best thing about this show through three seasons is how much the cast likes each other. There’s an expansion of the ongoing story this season with the appearance of Lucy as Allison’s possible half-sister. It’s just disruptive enough to add some needed drama instead of repetition of the comedic scenes. The ensemble cast is well balanced in the script. The ghosts each have their moments. At the end of each episode, they are watchful and kind to each other. It’s unorthodox on most levels, but this sitcom is as wholesome as they come.

Buy Rod Stewart Body Wishes CD

• Rod Stewart – “Baby Jane” (1983) (from Body Wishes): “You and I were close in every way / Don’t time fly when you’re loving and laughing”. This song is catchy and a nice time capsule of the summer of 1983. There’s no other person it belongs to other than my friend, Kalee. She adored this song to a fault and the single was on heavy rotation on the record player. No one else was allowed to singalong to it other than her. The lyrics are a little odd. I think it’s about a guy who has had a girlfriend join high society and he’s giving her the “I’m fine without you.” That’s secondary to just some fun memories of that special summer.

• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) (Directed by Edgar Wright): “We are Sex Bob-Omb and we are here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff.” – Scott Pilgrim. This film is only two cast members and one ice cream cone away from being the fourth film in the Cornetto Trilogy. Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel was the perfect jumping off point for Edgar Wright to show off his skills to get future MCU films. This isn’t superhero, but the anime-meets-videogame esthetic gives off just the right vibe. Like the manga-inspired graphic novel, the film is visually inspired over dialog. The criticism of this film can’t be that the plot moves too slowly. You could take apart the lack of character depth and motivation. That would be missing the point of a videogame or a movie influenced by videogames. Wright never disrespects the genre. We didn’t realize in 2010 that this wasn’t an outlier but a harbinger.

Buy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Blu-ray

• The Adventures of Tintin (2011) (Directed by Steven Spielberg): “You care about something, you fight for it. You hit a wall, you push through it. There’s something you need to know about failure, Tintin. You can never let it defeat you.” – Captain Haddock. This film accomplishes something that very few films can manage. It is a sum of its parts. Instead of being a mishmash of influences, the viewer can appreciate the touches of all the creative voices. Steven Spielberg has the biggest voice as director, and he brings a love of the Herge-written source material and the Indiana Jones sense of adventure. Peter Jackson’s sense of character design and use of CGI is well balanced against Spielberg. Writing by Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat bring a unique British sensibility to the humor that sets this movie apart. There are parts of the film, especially before the action moves to Morocco, that have auspices of an Edgar Wright-directed film. This still holds up as one of Spielberg’s triumphs as a director. The film was created to be seen in 3-D, but today on my 2-D television, the mark that each creator put into the film turned it into one of my favorite caper films of the decade. Herge would approve.

Buy The Adventures of Tintin Blu-ray

Best of the Rest

• Apple spent the Olympics trying to hit us in the feels. They’ve returned to comedy for the M4 Chip ad, with still a nod to the Olympics fever, which I think has subsided a bit. The use of Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be” and the Olympic gymnastics/skater style announcing is clever. I chuckled a few times.

• We might be a couple of weeks past Halloween, but I had this “9 Facts About Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven“ saved and I wanted to get it out now instead of waiting for next year. In a nutshell, Poe was dirt poor before the poem, he was dirt poor after the poem and it’s still a beloved poem. The new one on me was the the talking raven was taken from Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge (1841).

• Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #45 – Nike “Munoz”: It’s hard to downplay how important this was in 1995 for inclusivity in Nike advertising. No major company was including HIV-positive people in their advertising. This broke from a long tradition of Nike using recognized sports stars. The Ric Munoz ad with the simple “HIV Positive” screen accomplished what a good commercial should. It made you remember the ad.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• On the Sunday Morning Tuneage from 5/24/2009, it was Memorial Day weekend and I was burned out from a super busy May at work. Baseball was still finishing up, but I had the weekend off to see Night at the Museum (2009). My #52 Favorite Move of All-Time was The Deer Hunter (1978). This Michael Cimino film was one of a very few on this list that I had only watched twice before ranking. It’s an amazing story that was originally set after WWI, but Cimino turned it into a great exploration of the troubles experienced by Vietnam veterans. The summer television season was in full lame mode with Million Dollar Password (CBS), John & Kate Plus 8 (TLC) and Mental (Fox). There was one new show that had me curious.
  • The Goode Family – “Pilot” (S.1 E.1) (2009) (ABC): “…nothing brings a mother and daughter closer than shopping at a high-end organic grocery store.” – Helen Goode. Mike Judge had created Beavis & Butthead (MTV) and King of the Hill (FOX). ABC had missed out on the latter and wanted their own Judge. This satire is far ahead of its time, as can be said about most of Judge’s work. The Goode family is the liberal opposite of the conservative Hill family. The comedy is structured around the Goode family who is obsessed with being environmentally conscious. Other than references to Obama, the Pussycat Dolls, and the Octo-mom, this show could be completely contemporary. How have we not moved forward since 2009? A wonderful voice cast of Mike Judge, Linda Cardellini, Julia Sweeney, and Nancy Carell tops off what should have been a long-running series. Instead, it lasted 13 episodes and was unceremoniously cancelled. Stupid ABC. They should have asked WWAGD (What Would Al Gore Do).

1974 in Review

• November – The Incredible Hulk #181 (Marvel): “But if Hulk’s enemy is little man’s enemy… then little man is Hulk’s friend!” – The Hulk. Cover and art by Herbert Trimpe. Written by Len Wein. One of the most valuable comics of the decade. This will run you anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 depending upon the condition. The first full appearance of Wolverine is still a magical moment for fans. This story was the basis for the animated Hulk vs. Wolverine (2009).
• November 5 – The mid-term elections were great for the Democrats in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. They took a two-thirds majority in the House with 291 seats out of 435 at the time. The Senate majority would increase to 61 to 37 over the Republicans.
• November 4 – Sports Illustrated: The Oklahoma Sooners were on probation and couldn’t be ranked in the Coaches’ Poll, couldn’t appear on television, and couldn’t play in a bowl game. After 72-3 and 63-0 victories over Utah State and Wake Forest, a victory over ranked Texas and another 63-0 victory over Kansas State, they were still ranked 2nd in the country. They would regain #1 and with an Alabama loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, Oklahoma became the last team to win a National Championship without playing in a Bowl Game.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“When I give my heart again
I know it’s gonna last forever
No one tell me where or when
I know it’s gonna last forever” – Rod Stewart

Stay hard.

Shawn