From the Couch Hole: Sun Is Comin’ and It’s Getting Warmer

Previously on FTCH, the toy story was a Cornish mystery of the murder in paradise of Wuthering Heights on disclosure day over the ultra garlic parm Doritos. This week Texas went under the dome. It was one of those weeks that will be common for through September where I wake up to 80s temps and it only gets worse through the day. The U.S. out of the World Cup isn’t a huge surprise, and it’s still been a wonderful tournament. This week Miss Marple was a runaway to the Regatta Mystery. Supergirl brought some drama over the chili cheese chips. Remember, FTCH tastes as good as it smells, every time.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Agatha Christie – The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (1939) (Published by Berkley): “What are the years from twenty to forty? Fettered and bound by personal and emotional relationships.” – Parker Pyne. This is a great sampler if you are still unsure which Agatha Christie detectives might suit you for further reading. Two of the stories are Mr. Parker Pyne mysteries, one is a Miss Marple, five are Poirot, and the other is a standalone tale. This is my first exposure to Pyne tales. The title story, “The Regatta Mystery,” is interesting because it started life as a Poirot mystery and was rewritten as a Pyne story. It’s also one of the best of the collection. There are some standout Poirot mysteries that I’ve read previously that are great introductions including “Problem at Sea” and “The Dream.” You should know, faithful reader, that you will be exposed to more of these story reviews in the future.

Buy The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories

• Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple – “At Bertram’s Hotel Part 1” (S.2 E.4) (BBC) (1987): “The Americans have a lot to answer for.” – Miss Marple. Based on the 1965 novel, this two-parter is off to an interesting start. There isn’t the traditional beginning scene of a murder. Miss Marple travels to the beautifully Art Deco, Bertram Hotel in London. From the very start, this episode is about introducing characters that are suspicious and creepy. It’s a clever technique to have Miss Marple in the lobby of the hotel, listening in to conversations. Each character seems sketchy from the get go, not after the crime as usual. I can see where this odd pacing would put off some fans. There’s lots of complicated subplots happening, but no murders. The strength is that those characters are well developed, but with an unclear direction, it starts to lose my interest by the end of the episode. Not the best of this series, but I do love Joan Hixson as Miss Marple and I’ll muddle through.

Buy Jefferson Starship – Earth

• Jefferson Starship – “Runaway” (from Earth) (1978): “If you knew how much I miss you / Oh, I miss you more each day / I’d really like to come and see you.” Marty Balin’s vocals once again make this a fabulous single from 1978. It doesn’t have the interesting lyrics that Balin gave some of their other hits because this was written by N.Q. Dewey. There isn’t much information about this “Dewey” who I suspect might actually be Balin distancing himself just in case. Balin would end up quitting the band soon after this release. This is exactly the type of song that keeps one of my presets on “The Bridge” on Sirius XM.

• The Drama (2026) (Directed by Kristoffer Borgli): “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” – Rachel. When you see the A24 logo at the start, you know that the “drama” will be a little out of the ordinary. You see the cast and think “I’m willing to follow these two through out of the ordinary.” Somehow Borgli managed to make two likeable actors into annoying characters, and the “drama” just feels weird for the sake of being weird. The director gave us the weird but smart Dream Scenario (2023). This story wants to be about love vs. infatuation, and it hints at much deeper depth to the characters that never bubbles up to the top. There are too many left-hand turns just for the sake of complicating a plot that could have been an exploration of how couples reconcile the past of their partners. Characters are looking inward, and we are seeing shallowness, not depth. I’m disappointed that this didn’t deliver on any of the promise of the cast and director.

Buy The Drama

• Supergirl (2026) (Directed by Craig Gillespie): “Um, I don’t speak Kryptonian. I, I never… Shoot. I, I wasn’t raised there, so. I WASN’T RAISED THERE. Why am I talking louder?” – Superman. Did you know that Superman and Supergirl are different because Superman was raised by human parents on Earth and Supergirl was raised until her teen years by her parents on a part of Krypton and watched her planet dying off? If so, you already know the point of the film. Unfortunately, I can’t find much anything else deeper to this shallow superhero film. The film moves from scene to scene with Kara reluctantly beating up bad guys to protect Ruthye and save her dog, Krypto. The female actors are strong, just not strong for this script. Don’t even get me started on the lack of interesting characterization of Lobo. It’s pleasant enough for a Saturday matinee, but I predict that by next week I won’t remember details of the film.

Best of the Rest

• “Do not dread the darkness. Embrace it.” I can’t think of a better Christmas message. The new Robert Eggers (Nosferatu) looks to cover the same balance between medieval brutality and folklore that his previous films managed to walk. Maybe it isn’t Christmas Day for me, but this will be before the New Year so I can slip it into the Best Of 2025.

• The Stranger Things father-daughter duo are headed back to Netflix. It’s just not on Stranger Things. This show based upon a Paul Warner novel has good bones, as they say. It is created by Adolescence co-creator, Thorne and stars Stranger Things alumni, David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown. It’s like Netflix circling the wagons with creators from two of their biggest franchises of the past year. I am excited for this Untitled Project later this year.

• This article from Screen Rant starts with the most obvious statement: “It’s been a rocky few years for Doctor Who.” No crap. I’m also disappointed that there won’t be a Christmas 2026 Special. I don’t necessarily think the Russell T. Davies is the problem, but he also isn’t really the answer. I’d like to see a new team given a chance to return it to a smart science fiction show that isn’t bogged down with so many internal struggles. Does it need a hiatus as this article suggests? I think there’s a niche of science fiction missing that this show could fill.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• Sunday Morning Tuneage from 7/26/2010, I was back from San Diego Comic-Con and reporting on the 5th Annual Forcey Awards. That year’s awards had moved to the Embassy Suites after three years at the Holiday Inn. While in-person attendance suffered from previous years, many members were able to join us from different time zones. I miss the excitement of these awards. Here’s a rundown of the winners, June 2009 – June 2010 releases.
• Best Comic: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse): The most decorated comic title in the history of the Forceys.
• Best CD: Broken Bells – Broken Bells: This seems to be a category that we always got right. I love this album to this day and can’t argue that there was a better release in this timeframe. Votes were close with LCD Soundsystem and Air making a good run.
• Best of TV: Breaking Bad (AMC): This was an era where network shows had still been winning the category. It was an upset to have a cable-network show win, but this was a pretty great choice.
• Best of the Web: Netflix: YouTube had been on quite a winning streak, until Netflix expanded their new Instant View options. It seemed like a popular option for those who wanted something additional to renting DVDs.
• Coolest Item of the Year: Matt’s Wedding/Strikeforce Weddings/Births: A highly controversial category would soon be discontinued.
• The Kinney: BP Oil Spill: $4.00 gasoline and Frank’s stalker made a run in this category of the worst that happened in the past year.
• Blast From the Past/Best Reissue: Creepy / Eerie Hardcover Reissues. I am still trying to pull together a complete collection of these great releases.
• Strikeforce Hall of Doom (aka The SHoDy) (aka The Kirby): Our own little Hall of Fame gained four entries this year.
  • Bill Murray
  • Frank Frazetta
  • Pixar
  • Stan Lee
• Movie of the Year: Black Dynamite was the winner over stiff competition from Avatar, Toy Story 3, and District 9. I remember much of the details about those three, but I’ve retained almost no memory of the winner. So, it was time to give it a rewatch.
  
• Black Dynamite (2009) (Directed by Scott Sanders): “Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!” – Black Dynamite. I’ve watched just about every film that is categorized as Blaxploitation (or the more modern expansion of the genre, Soul Cinema). Michael Jai White somehow perfectly channels all of the lead actors: Fred Williamson, Richard Roundtree, Jim Kelly and a heavy dose of Rudy Ray Moore. If you were to drop in on any random five minutes of the film, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was actually made in the ’70s. The only drawback I found through this second viewing is that there are only 60 minutes of jokes in an 80-minute film. The verdict is that I would rerank this in the Top Five of that July 2009-June 2010 timeframe, but I’d be hard pressed to make it a “best” of that era.

Buy Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Vol. 1

1976 in Review

• July – The Eternals #1 (Marvel Comics): “It is said that when this object calls to the gods — They will return once more to Earth!” – Ikaris. Cover by Jack Kirby. Written by Jack Kirby. Art by Jack Kirby. The King returns to Marvel Comics to do his own thing instead of returning to his established characters. The Eternals are not The New Gods (DC Comics) although, like me, you would be excused to confuse the characters in each. Marvel kept the characters in their own universe as intended until Kirby left the title, and then they folded them into the Marvel continuity. A hugely important title to the Marvel Universe that never appealed to me as a youngster.
• July 2/3 – At Wimbledon, Chris Evert (United States) defeated Evonne Goolagong (Australia) in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 8-6. The next day Bjorn Borg (Sweden) beat Ilie Nastase (Romania) in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 9-7. This was the first of five consecutive titles at Wimbledon for Borg.
• July 3-9 – TV Guide. Art by Bob Peak. The nation’s 200th anniversary took place on a Sunday. CBS aired In Celebration of Us from 8:00am to Midnight, hosted by Walter Cronkite. NBC aired The Glorious Fourth also starting at 8:00am featuring David Brinkley and John Chancellor with live feeds from all 50 States. ABC aired The Great American Birthday Party that was less a marathon and more of self-contained specials. President Ford spoke on all networks from Valley Forge.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“You don’t know how much I love you
But I love you like the sun
I’d like to put my arms around you
And we could run run run runaway” – Jefferson Starship