Spies Like Us (working title, apparently, The Road to Dushanbe) was made with similar intent. I was surprised to not see it on the “bombs” list, but I guess it was more of an underperformer than an outright bomb.

Speaking as a childhood superfan of Speed Racer, I generally did like the film, particularly the top-to-bottom spot-on casting, and seemingly loving detail in their portrayals (e.g., Sparky’s worthlessness in a fight, in contrast with Pops’ past as a badass wrestler). My only criticisms were of what seemed like some…

The cultural importance of religion is less obviously visible than race, and acceptance of interfaith relations has been transitioning longer. As a kid watching variety shows in the ‘60s and ‘70s, growing up in a pretty secular northeastern US household, I remember watching, and my mother in particular being a fan of,…

There was definitely that, going back to the post-WWI “red scare” as you note, but it seemed to spill over less from “riot control” into day-to-day policing before the ‘70s wave — perhaps because of greater residential integration occurring.

There’s very definitely been a “militarization” of police training — just post-9/11, but probably going back 40-50 years to the creation of SWAT units — emphasizing “maintaining control over the situation” and the safety of the cop over any parties or bystanders. I think that problem also underlies a lot of police…

I came on here to add Arming Scenes to the list — I think the first one I specifically flagged in my movie-going years is Ripley strapping the pulse rifle and flamethrower together in Aliens, and as Tropeofmonkeys notes, the A Team was built around them, but the lineage is obviously ancient, as you describe.

“Boy’s imaginary friend turns out to be the ghost of an assassinated anti-war activist... But neither he nor his parents speak Greek.”

Thanks for the tip. I’ll make a point of trying it out.

Thanks for the confirmation that this keep-reloading-to-see-comments problem isn’t just with me and my script blockers, though I think they’re probably part of it. My participation is definitely down given how laborious casual commentary has become, and Bob’s Burgers was pretty much my only regular stop anymore, so...

The Morro Castle would be the appropriate flaming ship metaphor, but you’d have to be extra geeky to “get” it, so you’d take your chances, even here.

As Vago alluded, recognition is partly conscious and party unconscious, and there’s a convergence of cues involved. I know a face-blind guy, and he compensates by a variety of tricks — Like he can remember voices, and can keep track of people’s clothing once he’s identified them on a given occasion.

I think the fierce dispute over this probably reflects a basic perceptual difference in our population. Some people are apparently completly “face blind” — unable to visually recognize people even from day to day and reliant on other cues — and many more are more mildly impaired. I, for one, find it fairly mystifying…

Yeees!

This was KYW in Philly’s “Saturday Night Dead” running at 1:00AM, hosted by a buxom Elvira knockoff called “Stella”. In addition to staples of such programs, like the aforementioned Corman Poe movies and Hammer films, I remember them running somewhat more unusual selections like this, and the more recently released,…

It’d be kind of disappointing to find that he’d subsequently turned around and proclaimed that “The Music” had been reborn when disco took off.

I saw this ages ago on a late-night TV “fright night”-type feature (probably the closest real-life parallel I can think of to SCTV’s Count Floyd presenting Whispers of the Wolf). I was pretty young at the time, and found the William Wilson adaption boring, and “Toby Dammit” frustratingly incoherent. I did kind of…

Maybe “largely, unlikeable”, but I was certainly pulling for poor Donatello.

At least Shredder has it better here. Seems pretty lively even.

He does indeed, and I recommend it highly to those who have some knowledge of the subject through the many authors you allude to. And it’s fascinating in its own way to think that the guy’s greatest con may have been helping create his own myth.

Discussions of the Columbian Exposition eventually turn to The Devil in the White City, and thence to H.H. Holmes. Have you by any chance read Adam Seltzer’s recent... revisionist take on the subject?