ACD: Advanced Cookie Deprivation
Pop Culture Ephemera
- Highest 2 Lowest (2025) (Directed by Spike Lee): “David King: My father, the man with the best ears in the business, but the coldest heart.” – Trey King. Spike Lee and Denzel Washington aren’t exactly Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. This is their fifth film together, and they’ve usually brought out the best in each other. This isn’t one of those. It’s a remake of Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963), which was Kurosawa’s film noir adaptation of Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom (1959). The references to both are present in the film, but not in a fun Easter Egg way.
The first half of the film is a pretty faithful to the Kurosawa film, and it breezes along nicely. At the one-hour mark, it departs from the original and starts to wobble. The film can’t decide what to do with Denzel’s character. He’s either going the route of Taken or we’ve been dropped into Black Caesar or it’s a social commentary on society and popular culture. The wheels come off in the last 20 minutes with three separate conclusions that don’t conclude anything. It ends up feeling like Spike Lee was trying to shoehorn in far too many influences. All that said, it’s not nearly as bad as some of the reviews. Denzel is a good actor, Spike Lee loves to film New York City, and the first half provides some interesting food for thought. I hope these two find time to make a sixth film together. Maybe I’d suggest a remake of Red Beard (1965).
- Agatha Christie’s Poirot – “The Dream” (1989) (S.1 E.10) (ITV): “Ah, I see. So, when Hercule Poirot is concerned, there arises immediately a suspicion of murder?” – Poirot. It’s the end of Season One and Suchet has nailed the Poirot character. This is a fun little mystery. The owner of Farley Pies confesses to Poirot that he’s been having the same dream each night about his own suicide. Then it turns out that the man dies exactly how he described it. Poirot is stumped. The mystery unravels at a comfortable pace. All of the recurring characters from the season are here, Poirot gets some funny lines, and the set design continues to be incredible, this episode including the Art Deco Hoover Building as the Farley Pies factory. I’m excited to move to Season Two.
- Talk Talk – “It’s My Life” (1984) (from It’s My Life): “Funny how I blind myself / I never knew” This is the little song that could. Off their second album, this was a big player on MTV for 1984. It went to #1 on the Billboard Dance chart, so they are technically considered a “one-hit wonder” but we all know “Talk Talk” and “Life’s What You Make It” so I don’t get that moniker. This particular synth-pop sound could be Wang Chung, Tears for Fears, or A-ha. The song would be rereleased in 1985 and in 1990, both times becoming a bigger International hit. I can just sit back listening to that Roland 808 and be taken back to my couch at home, reading a book with MTV on in the background.
- The Stepford Wives (1975) (Directed by Bryan Forbes): “If I am wrong, I’m insane… but if I’m right, it’s even worse than if I was wrong.” – Joanna Eberhart. This was a follow-up novel by Ira Levin to his Rosemary’s Baby (1967). It shares some of the same thematic elements of horrible things happening under the surface of a “normal” neighborhood group of people. No one seems ominous at first glance. Taken as a whole, the situation is at first creepy and then downright scary. This plays a little more to the science-fiction elements than horror, but I think you could legitimately put it in either.
The film is more prescient today than it was in 1975. At that time, it was an answer to the Women’s Lib movement. I have to think that it was either played off as unbelievable or a sad attempt at humor. It’s maintained a decent cult following, with plenty of horror writers, like Stephen King, who champion elements of it. Little could they have realized how much it mimics the social media influencer crowd that wants to project the image of living in a commercial. I didn’t watch the remake, but I imagine a current remake would make a bigger play for the transition of the women to worrying about appearances and being “perfect.” Katharine Ross as Joanna is perfectly cast, and I would recommend the film based just on her performance. I enjoy films like this that don’t need a big budget to scare and make the viewer think about our society.
- On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (2024) (Directed by Rungano Nyoni): “How do we question the corpse?” – Shula’s Father. In Zambia, Shula is on her way home from a party in the middle of the night when she drives by the dead body of her uncle on the side of the road. The rest of the film is the story of the funeral as told from Shula and her cousin’s point of view. It’s a female-centric story of the funeral process in this area of Africa. I see the words “comedy” in the description and “darkly funny” on the poster, and I’m not sure I watched the right film. It’s an emotional story as the cousins bond based upon the abuse suffered at the hands of this uncle. The title is an allusion to the guinea fowl who make the noises as a group to raise the alarms for other animals in Africa. It’s uncomfortable at times and absurd at others, but it’s got wonderful cinematography and the acting of the women feels very natural. I would just warn you not to expect some belly laughs.
Best of the Rest
- The No Doubt cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life” was unexpected. The band was on “hiatus” or whatever you wanted to call it while Gwen Stefani recorded her solo album. They were filling the void by releasing a Greatest Hits album and needed a new song to promote the album. This was an inspired choice and Gwen’s voice gives the song a whole different feel. The synth sound is further down in the mix to let her vocals carry the love portion of the song. The ironic thing is that her version would be nominated for a Grammy but so would this (below) remix that totally brought back a synth sound, but this time updated for 2003.
- Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97): “Best Commercials of All-Time” #1: Energizer “Escape of the Bunny” (1989): “Energizer was never invited to their playoffs.” This shows the age of the list and how influenced an All-Time list is by the norms of the era. This ad campaign that started in 1989 wasn’t even over at the time of the list. It’s easy to see why it was popular. This is a super clever ad that has two false endings that parody other ads. The Energizer Bunny is a cultural phenomenon that’s still understood today by people who may never have purchased a battery. It’s an impressive campaign, but I wouldn’t make it even a Top Ten on my list. It’s been fun to count these down. As a fan of the genre, I’ve learned some new things along the way myself.
- I don’t know if there’s been a longer marketing campaign for the new/last season of a show than Season 5 of Stranger Things (Netflix). The Doritos mash-ups are clever and you’ll have some reviews here soon. The ad has potential, but it needs another 30 seconds to really pay off. David Hasselhoff is a nice touch and be sure to dial the number on the screen.
Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback
- Sunday Morning Tuneage from 12/6/2009, the basketball season was in full force for us. Christian was playing for his school and actually making 3-point shots, which I didn’t teach him. On television, The Amazing Race (CBS) and The Biggest Loser (NBC) were coming to conclusions and both shows were favorites of mine that both had issues generating interest their last couple of episodes. I was coming around on both Community (NBC) and Dollhouse (FOX). The list of the week was interesting because I don’t know that there is any competition to change it since then.
My #85 Top TV Show of All-Time was The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC) (1973-1978): It started with three made-for-television movies in 1973 that were very popular, especially amongst us early Elementary children. Those movies would later be edited into two-episode entries for the series. It is hard to downplay how much this show that I don’t remember watching weekly affected our play among friends. I have only watched a few episodes since it went off the air, and it hasn’t aged as well as my memory of it. I doubt I’d put it in the top echelon of shows as far as quality goes, although a show about a government cyborg would probably turn out to be an interesting show today. - THE BEST SIMPSONS SONGS AS OF 2009 (2009)
- 10. “Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?” (S.5 E.13) (1994)
- 9. “Sending Our Love Down the Well” (S.3 E.13) (1992)
- 8. “The Garbage Man” (S.9 E.22) (1998)
- 7. “Mr. Plow” (S.4 E.9) (1992)
- 6. “Baby on Board” (S.5 E.1) (1993)
- 5. “Duff Beer Song” (S.4 E.16) (1993)
- 4. “The Monorail Song” (S.4 E.12) (1993)
- 3. “Happy Birthday, Lisa” (S.3 E.1) (1991)
- 2. “Flaming Moes” (S.3 E.10) (1991)
- 1. “Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off – Dr. Zaius” (S.7 E.19) (1996)
- THE BEST SIMPSONS SONGS AS OF 2025 (2025)
- 10. “Can I Borrow a Feeling” (S.8 E.6) (1996): Kirk Van Houten lost his job at the cracker factory and he’s trying to win his wife back. What could go wrong?
- 9. “Luke Be a Jedi” (S.10 E.9) (1998): This was a clever answer to the critics that said their best jokes were the non sequiturs, so they made a song that was a non sequitur to challenge that critique.
- 8. “Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel” (S.7 E.21) (1996): From the great “22 Short Films About Springfield,” it’s just a tribute to one of the best characters in the show. I’d watch a Cletus show.
- 7. “The Monorail Song” (S.4 E.12) (1993): Conan O’Brien writes and Phil Hartman sings. It’s still one of the best episodes of their run.
- 6. “Baby on Board” (S.5 E.1) (1993): The Be-Sharps with their biggest hit from their 1985 album Bigger Than Jesus. The Beatles references just get better and better with age.
- 5. “Flaming Moe’s” (S.3 E.10) (1991): The Cheers (NBC) parody is a good not great episode featuring this awesome song. It’s ranked this high because of how often I reference it.
- 4. “Happy Birthday, Lisa” (S.3 E.1) (1991): It’s disappeared from Disney+ and from new printings of the DVDs because of the Michael Jackson issues. You can still find the song floating around, and it was an important moment for the series at the start of Season Three that showed this was going to be a show built for the long haul.
- 3. “Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?” (S.5 E.13) (1994): This was the coming-out episode for the character, Apu. It’s got some of the best wordplay of any song on here. The answer to the question of the title is obvious, Apu does.
- 2. “Talkin’ Softball” (S.3 E.7) (1992): The “Homer at the Bat” episode is probably my best episode of celebrity appearances. The parody of Terry Cashman’s “Talkin’ Baseball” and the video with it is spot on and fits the episode nicely. I can still sing it today.
- 1. “Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off – Dr. Zaius” (S.7 E.19) (1996): It’s really a great season from top to bottom. More greatness from Phil Hartman as Troy McClure. There are so many levels of clever touches in this whole episode, but this parody of Planet of the Apes is almost too believable if you see some of today’s Broadway shows.
To prove my initial reaction, I didn’t pick a song released after 1998. The show still has moments, but these songs were part of what made it unique and special in those early days. It is the best animated show of all-time for many reasons, and these songs were a big part of it.
1975 in Review
- October – Detective Comics #452 (DC Comics): Cover by Ernie Chan. Written by David Vern Reed and E. Nelson Bridwell. Art by Ernie Chan. There’s a group called the Crime Exchange that keeps getting away with crimes causing Batman to go undercover to infiltrate the gang. Generic villains don’t do much for me in stories like this. It’s a story that they’ve told every few years. The Hawkman back-up story didn’t make much of an impact on me.
- October 8 – Doug Jarvis, Montreal Canadiens, plays in his first game. He would become the Ironman of the NHL, not missing another game for 964 games until October 10, 1987 while playing for the Hartford Whalers.
- October 6 – The Oakland A’s entered the season as winners of three consecutive World Series. They weren’t without drama. They lost Catfish Hunter over an issue with payment of his salary. They continued to have attendance issues, with owner Charlie Finley threatening to move the team to Seattle, Toronto, or New Orleans. They still managed to run away with the AL West. They ran into a buzzsaw in the ALCS, losing to Boston three games to zero for the Red Sox first playoff series win since the 1918 World Series. The A’s would continue their breakup and not reach this level again for over a decade.
What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?
Doritos Collisions: Stranger Pizza / Cool Ranch
Netflix is wringing as many tie-ins as they can out of a franchise that has gone so long between releases that people have really just moved on. The real flavor of the ’80s for me was Taco Doritos and I would have loved those with Cool Ranch. We all know the flavor of Cool Ranch. The newbie is the Stranger Pizza which turns out to be more of a Strange Pizza flavor. It’s a little bit like a fake pizza cheese doused with a healthy amount of garlic and Parmesan cheese. They aren’t terrible, but there’s no way I would like them as their own bag of chips. Props though to the decent packaging throwback. I was just hoping for the old-school window bag.
Kroger: Champion Chip Collection –
Pigs In A Blanket
Not to be outdone by Lay’s, Kroger has released three new flavors for the fall tailgating season all based upon popular parking-lot finger foods. The first up is Pigs in a Blanket. Kroger has done something that Lay’s or Kettle haven’t figured out. They replicated the taste of a little hot dog. It’s a thin chip, which in this case is appropriate for the flavor, and I even get a hint of the mustard I would dip these in. I don’t get much flavor of the “blanket,” but it’s incredible that they nailed the “pigs” so closely.
H.E.B. Wavy: Sweet Onion
I’m going to miss H.E.B. when I move away from Texas. They don’t always have the best chip-flavor choices, but they lean into it. This isn’t a new flavor, it was first around in 2022, before we had an H.E.B. in our town. The Wavy is a good choice to contain the sweet-onion flavor. I would love to see someone replicate this flavor in a kettle chip or really get an onion-ring flavor. They didn’t overly sweet the sweet, making these a notably excellent H.E.B. release.
“It’s funny how I find myself
In love with you
If I could buy my reasoning
I’d pay to lose” – Talk Talk
