Year: 2014

What would Obama have to do to win Fox’s approval?

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

I find it somewhat amazing that no matter what Obama does–get prisoners back, leave prisoners where they are, fight wars, walk away from wars–no matter what he does, Fox finds some way to find the negative. Okay, maybe “amazing” is too predictable a word; it’s pretty much expected by now.

But I find myself wondering: what, if anything, could Obama do that Fox would NOT find the downside of? I mean, I don’t recall if they managed to find the downside of killing bin Laden, but I find myself curious. What could Obama do that Fox would applaud? I mean, if he resigned from the presidency, which is the ultimate goal, they’d denounce him as a quitter. Is there ANYTHING that he could do that Fox would approve of?

Thoughts?

PAD

Movie reviews: Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published December 29, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1415

There is much talk of how director/writer/producer M. Night Shyamalan (wouldn’t it be fun if the “M” stood for “Moon?”) has managed, with remarkable ingenuity, to sneak a “comic book movie” into the public perception without the public being aware—until the movie has actually started—that a comic book movie is what’s being seen. Which he did. But it’s not the first time he’s done it.

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The Escape Artist

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

So when I was flying back on British Air from the London convention in February, I watched the first half of an incredibly gripping drama called “The Escape Artist” starring David Tennant as a defense lawyer who has never lost a case. But his life and family fly apart when he defends a psycho who, once freed on a technicality, turns his attention to Tennant.

The first half was marvelous, and then I discovered that British Air didn’t have the second half on their entertainment system. So when I came home, I tried to find it on DVD. No luck. I looked on line. No luck.

Four frustrating months later, it suddenly turned up on public television. Even better, it’s on DVD.

Go get your hands on it. It’s fantastic.

PAD

Bush vs. Gore vs. Nader: The Musical

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published December 15, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1413

I fell asleep watching CNN and its continuous coverage of the presidential mess—and I had a dream. In my dream, Bush, Gore, and Nader were each reading newspapers while “Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls was playing. Bush’s headline read, “Bush Wins!” Gore’s read, “Gore’s Got More!” Nader’s read, “Nader The Spoiler!” Then there was a trumpet fanfare, they lowered their papers, and each sang in succession…

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Bush vs. Gore, part 2

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published December 8, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1412

Well, well… who says that there are no third acts in life?

First act: The Presidential campaign. Second act: Election Day. Third act: The Aftermath, during which time the usually State-rights-oriented GOP is suddenly all for stopping Floridians from exercising their voting rights, and Dubbya backs hand counts as governor but not as a presidential candidate. Meantime the Democrats risk looking like little girly-man whiners, playing a high-stakes game that could backfire all the way into 2004 if the votes don’t turn around, while waiting to see if Gore’s appointing the Jewish Lieberman as his running mate pays off in a huge number of votes from Israeli-situated Floridians. At least, that’s how matters stand in this snapshot moment in time (naturally the situation will have shifted again by the time this column sees print.)

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Book review: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published December 1, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1411

Toward the end of the 1930s, two young men teamed up to produce a comic book hero. They then sold all the rights to the character to a publisher for what seemed, to the young men, like a huge sum. The character then went on to make the publishers millions and millions of dollars, of which the character’s creators saw precious little. Meantime the character himself spent some time fighting Nazis, branched out to star in radio and in movie serials, and then, post war, had his adventures degenerate into silliness, while his original creators struggled to find themselves.

I am of course referring to Josef (Joe) Kavalier and Sam Clay (born Clayman), contemporaries of such luminaries as Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, and Stan Lee. Kavalier and Clay, creators of the famed hero of the Golden Age, the Escapist. What’s that, you say? Never heard of the Escapist? Perhaps Luna Moth, then, a.k.a. the kinky “Mistress of the Night” whose collected adventures (The Weird Worlds of Luna Moth) became a head-shop bestseller when published by Nostalgia Press in 1970?

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