Movies

Attack Force Z (1982) D: Tim Burstall. S: Mel Gibson, John Phillip Law, Sam Neill, Ko Chun-Hsiung, Sylvia Chang. Bewildering and boring WWII picture about elite Aussie ATTACK FORCE Z who are sent in to a Chinese island, occupied by the Japanese, to rescue mysterious plane crash survivors. Everything goes wrong because the Z team isn’t very elite when not shooting people in the back. Way too much involves psychopath Law (who’s comically bad) romancing seeming teenager Chang.

Enigma (1982) D: Jeannot Szwarc. S: Martin Sheen, Brigitte Fossey, Sam Neill, Kevin McNally, Derek Jacobi. Boring, entirely unsuccessful spy “thriller” about Russian-American Soviet defector and master of disguise Sheen doing one more job for the CIA. He’s got to get the Soviet version of the ENIGMA decoder from East Berlin. There’s a cop (Jacobi) and a KGB wunderkind (Neill) after him. Fossey’s the love interest. Szwarc’s direction disappoints. Also, no accents on anyone.

The In-Laws (1979) D: Arthur Hiller. S: Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Richard Libertini, James Hong, Ed Begley Jr.. Superb buddy comedy about soon-to-be in-laws Falk and Arkin. It’s days before their kids get married, and they’ve only just met. Turns out Falk’s a CIA agent who needs mild-mannered dentist Arkin to do a little job for him. It becomes increasingly complicated, culminating in Libertini’s peerless appearance. Great direction from Hiller, Andrew Bergman script.

Little Evil (2017) D: Eli Craig. S: Adam Scott, Evangeline Lilly, Owen Atlas, Clancy Brown, Sally Field. Often quite funny (forty years removed) OMEN homage about new step-dad Scott finding out kid Atlas is the Antichrist. For real. Probably. Scott’s willing to try thanks to wife Lilly. Great support from Everett (who runs the movie start to finish) and Brown; Scott’s solid in the lead, Atlas is fine, Lilly’s lacking. Rather successful “adult” kids comedy.

Comics

Babs (2024) TPB W: Garth Ennis. A: Jacen Burrows. Excellent “light” comedy from Ennis and Burrows about barbarian warrior BABS, a self-aware badass, and the time she had to fight a bunch of murderous con artists masquerading as racist religious zealots. Ennis makes one wry observation after another about the genre, while also doing a lot of commentary about twenty-first-century male “culture.” Fun, good read.

Hulk Grand Design: Madness (2022) #1 WA: Jim Rugg. Slightly better issue has more detail–except when creator Rugg skips five years here and there–but at least the storyline recaps are better. Until they’re not. There’s almost nothing to it in the end, with thin recaps of the biggest story arcs. Hulk deserved another issue (at least) except there’s no reason to think it’s be any good.

Hulk Grand Design: Monster (2022) #1 WA: Jim Rugg. The Hulk gets his GRAND DESIGN but creator Rugg’s more interested in the visual presentation than any kind of narrative. There’s very little detail in the recaps, with villains dying and resurrecting from panel-to-panel, and no personality for Banner at all. There’s some nice art and some decent humor, but it’s all distressingly thin. Rugg like HULK?

Movies

The Death of Robin Hood (2026) D: Michael Sarnoski. S: Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Noah Jupe, Murray Bartlett. Beautifully directed, revisionist old-man ROBIN HOOD picture asks… what if he was actually a murderous brigand? Jackman’s fantastic in the lead, but director Sarnoski’s script doesn’t have much for him (or anyone) to do. No deep (or even interested) observations on Robin Hood, and Sarnoski wimps out on the patriarchal violence discussion. Instead, it’s all moderately successful mood.

Dirty Deeds (2002) D: David Caesar. S: Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, John Goodman, Sam Neill, Sam Worthington. Quirky, violent, and cruel crime comedy set in 1960s Australia. Boss Brown runs the slot machines in town, taking on just home from Vietnam nephew Worthington. Collette’s Brown’s wife, Morassi’s his mistress. Goodman and Williamson are mobsters from the U.S. trying to muscle in. Some middling, some okay performances, barely middling script, bad direction, good period production values.

The Hunter (2011) D: Daniel Nettheim. S: Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill, Morgan Davies, Callan Mulvey. Great white hunter for-hire (really) Dafoe heads to rural Australia on a job for Big Pharma. He’s hunting a presumed-extinct but rumored-extant beastie. Or he would if it weren’t for landlady O’Connor’s adorable family. It’s ostensibly a character study but Dafoe’s got no character development. Beautiful scenery and good (nature) photography; bad direction, and worse plotting.

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) D: Jon Favreau. S: Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, Martin Scorsese, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. Big screen version of the TV show plays like four or five (bad) episodes strung together. Only really engaging when it’s GROGU and other puppets, as all of humans phone it in. No one worse than Weaver, who won’t even lean too hard. Awful Ludwig Göransson score. Favreau’s direction is often bad, though sometimes reaches pedestrian. No more please.

Rams (2020) D: Jeremy Sims. S: Sam Neill, Michael Caton, Miranda Richardson, Asher Keddie, Leon Ford. Relentlessly uninteresting tale of estranged brother sheep farmers Neill and Caton who live next to each other and haven’t talked in forty years. Given its two-hour runtime and entire focus on the two leads, it’s impressive how Jules Duncan’s script has absolutely no character development. Middling direction doesn’t help. No movie with adorable sheep should be this boring.

Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015) D: Chloé Zhao. S: John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Eléonore Hendricks, Derrick Janis. Uneven but accomplished story of graduating high school senior Reddy and his little sister, St. John, growing up on a South Dakota reservation. Writer-director Zhao toggles between Reddy’s secret planning to move to L.A. and St. John navigating tweenage years with only him and their alcoholic mom (Bedard). St. John gets less, but it’s much stronger material.

Comics

Copra: Round One (2014) TPB WA: Michel Fiffe. Ultraviolet anti-superhero superhero epic about a “suicide squad” of super assassins who survive a lethal double cross. They need to reassemble, recruiting old members, while avoiding the bounty hunters after them. Lots of characters, but creator Fiffe keeps them delineated well enough. Absolutely phenomenal art, both in the design and the glorious, glorious movement. It’s a stupendous comic book.

Watson’s Sketchbook, Vol. 1 (2024) OGN WA: Lee Knox Ostertag. After some exploratory sketches, Knox Ostertag explores the relationship between Holmes and Watson, specifically the romantic one. Often with lots of implications from the original text, while also weaving in the social realities at the time. Lovely art, too. The SKETCHBOOK quality gives it an intimate, dreamlike feel. There’s a strong overarching narrative, too. Really cool, well-done stuff.

Movies

Barbie (2023) D: Greta Gerwig. S: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, John Cena, Michael Cera. Director and co-writer Gerwig takes a doll Barbie (Robbie) into the real world to find her owner, whose sadness is spreading to Barbieland. Robbie’s disappointed how feminism and equality are going, but Ken (Gosling) is geeked for patriarchy. Always fun, usually smart, beautifully executed, with some outstanding musical numbers. Good to excellent performances abound. It’s a great time.

The Commuter (2018) D: Jaume Collet-Serra. S: Liam Neeson, Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Florence Pugh, Jonathan Banks. Predictable smorgasbord of cop movie and thriller tropes has “regular” COMMUTER (and ex-cop) Neeson on a train, in a desperate situation, fighting unknown enemies and unable to trust anyone. Lots of familiar faces in the poorly written bit parts. Director Collet-Serra’s tiresome CGI-Hitchcock bit always remains competent. Not enough to get the film successfully home, however.

The Lighthouse (2019) D: Robert Eggers. S: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman, Kyla Nicolle, Shaun Clarke. Affected moody horror picture about nineteenth-century LIGHTHOUSE keepers Dafoe and Pattinson. Dafoe’s the boss with a secret, Pattinson’s the newbie with a secret. Some beautiful direction and precise performances, but director and co-writer Eggers uses those successes to avoid having to have an actual story. The disappointing ending’s just one predictable trope after another, albeit competently executed.

People Will Talk (1951) D: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. S: Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain, Finlay Currie, Hume Cronyn, Sidney Blackmer. Delightful, masterful romantic comedy (with drama) about beloved, compassionate doctor and professor Grant, who runs afoul of a jealous colleague (a singular Cronyn), just as he meets a damsel in real-life distress (Crain). And how does Grant’s peculiar sidekick (Currie) figure in? Phenomenal comic and dramatic timing, great character development and depth, fascinating masculinity observations, too. Outstanding stuff.

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) D: Stanley Donen. S: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Rita Moreno, Jean Hagen. Beautifully choreographed, often transfixing musical about silent film star Kelly, who uses his stage background to transition to talkies. His onscreen partner Hagen doesn’t have those talents; her story is just being super jealous of Kelly’s interest in non-movie-star Reynolds. Some solid laughs, excellent filmmaking; Reynolds’s fantastic. The narrative’s finale fizzles after a great final musical number.

Sleeping Dogs (1977) D: Roger Donaldson. S: Sam Neill, Warren Oates, Ian Mune, Roger Oakley, Bernard Kearns. As New Zealand descends into a fascist state (one so fascist they eventually need U.S. military aid), newly cuckolded Neill runs off to be left alone. Except now everyone’s either fascist or freedom fighter. He can’t stay out of it forever. Some good moments and Neill’s not unsuccessful. Donaldson just doesn’t hack it, directing-wise; story’s too big.

Comics

Her Frankenstein (1986) OGN WA: Kawashima Norikazu. A Japanese man–lost following the death of his boss–starts seeing the ghost of a childhood friend. Thanks to therapy, he remembers how he and the friend used to bully and terrorize; he wore a FRANKENSTEIN monster mask, she ordered him who and when to attack. Iffy art and profoundly misogynistic. It does read pretty fast, at least.

The Rocketeer: Thrills, Spills, and Chills (2026) TPB WA: Dave Stevens. Collection of the original ROCKETEER stories and the later ADVENTURES homage series shows how the series was really gaining steam when original creator Stevens ended it on a cliffhanger and how subsequent attempts rarely tap the potential. Some highlights in the twenty-four ADVENTURES strips, but mostly disappointments; modern creators lack interest in developing characters, instead just objectifying Betty.

Movies

Fall Guy (1947) D: Reginald Le Borg. S: Leo Penn, Robert Armstrong, Teala Loring, Elisha Cook Jr., John Harmon. Mildly engaging B picture has vet Penn waking up covered in blood, a dead girl nearby, and no memory of it. If only he hadn’t supplemented his binge drinking with “narcotic” (cocaine), that infamous hallucinogenic depressant. Half the movie is Penn piecing it together with cop uncle Armstrong (who’s great). The other half is moralizing and a disappointing finish.

Grand Exit (1935) D: Erle C. Kenton. S: Edmund Lowe, Ann Sothern, Onslow Stevens, Selmer Jackson, Wyrley Birch. Breezy procedural (with a lot of comedy beats) about fire insurance inspectors Lowe and Stevens trying to solve a string of fires while falling (to differing levels) for suspicious but fetching fire-watcher Sothern. Decent enough mystery (with plot holes) and Lowe’s got charm to spare. Lots of uncredited bit players to spot (Edward Van Sloan’s probably the standout).

The Martian (2015) Extended Edition D: Ridley Scott. S: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Mackenzie Davis. A NASA mission to Mars goes wrong and leaves astronaut Damon stranded. Thank goodness he knows all the science. Meanwhile, Earth doesn’t know he’s alive; when they do, they can’t get him home. Damon’s bland but sympathetic. Drew Goddard’s insipid video game screenplay doesn’t help, nor does director Scott’s disinterest in performances. Chastain and Daniels stink. Ejiofor somehow succeeds.

One Battle After Another (2025) D: Paul Thomas Anderson. S: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Jena Malone, Benicio del Toro. Beautifully paced prestige action picture about an alternate, explicitly fascist white Christian nationalist police state United States. Penn’s the top immigration military commander who has history with in-hiding ex-revolutionary, now pothead, DiCaprio, and his daughter, Infiniti. Penn, Infiniti, and some others are great. DiCaprio’s fine. Next level car chase. The loud, weaponized misogynoir drags it down significantly.

The Witness Vanishes (1939) D: Otis Garrett. S: Edmund Lowe, Wendy Barrie, Bruce Lester, J.M. Kerrigan, Leyland Hodgson. On the same day, Barrie meets the man of her dreams (Lester), finds out her long-thought-dead father (Borland) is still alive, and Borland sets out to avenge himself on his former partners, who stole his newspaper from him. Lowe plays the ringleader. Lazy, bad script, unimaginatively directed. Lowe still manages to have fun, and Barrie’s solid enough.

The Wrong Road (1937) D: James Cruze. S: Richard Cromwell, Helen Mack, Lionel Atwill, Marjorie Main, Billy Bevan. Quickie morality picture about young lovers Cromwell and Mack. The Depression wiped out their families’ wealth. Instead of working hard, they’re going to rob Cromwell’s bank, hide the money, serve the time, then be on easy street when they’re out. Atwill’s the kindly insurance investigator. Only interesting when Mack shows agency, which isn’t often. She’s okay. Cromwell’s bland, boring.

You Can’t Buy Luck (1937) D: Lew Landers. S: Onslow Stevens, Helen Mack, Vinton Hayworth, Barbara Pepper, Paul Guilfoyle. Professional gambler Stevens tips or bribes everyone he knows to keep his LUCK good, but his hubris leads him to gloat about ruining schoolchildren’s fun. He learns from it–and meets fetching teacher Mack, whose company convinces him there’s more to life. Except then he’s framed for murder. Solid, quirky little picture; Landers’s got some particularly good direction, too.

Comics

The Bat-Man: First Knight (2024) TPB W: Dan Jurgens. A: Mike Perkins. What if when Batman first appeared in 1939 there was lots of cursing, explicitly corrupt cops, and Bats cared (somewhat) about social justice? Writer Jurgens is more interested in those aspects than the actual story, which goes nowhere. Perkins’s period art is beautiful, but he doesn’t have a particularly good handle on Batman and the action’s a little boring.

Orla (2025) TPB W: John Lees. A: Sally Cantirino. ORLA is a single woman in her thirties who turns into a giant monster with bloodlust. To be responsible, she only consumes awful guys she meets on the apps. Then she finally falls in love, just as there’s best friend drama and secret agents on her trail. Good art and likable characters. Very readable; slighter than it should be.

Movies

Akira (1988) D: Katsuhiro Otomo. S: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Takeshi Kusao, Tessyo Genda. Misanthropic cyberpunk anime epic about a teenage biker gang who coincidentally figure into an ongoing military plot to exploit post-nuclear mutant kids. The gang’s beta becomes the world’s most powerful mutant, and the alpha has feelings about it. Exceptionally thin characterizations and a meandering first half don’t help. The frequently impressive animation gets it to a fizzling finale.

The Crime Doctor’s Diary (1949) D: Seymour Friedman. S: Warner Baxter, Stephen Dunne, Lois Maxwell, Whit Bissell, Robert Armstrong. Disappointing finish to Baxter’s CRIME DOCTOR series suffers a weak script and worse direction. Also Dunne’s a charisma vacuum as a potentially wrongly convicted arsonist. The script’s very busy, giving Baxter almost nothing to do. The supporting cast’s full of recognizable faces (most uncredited) suffering Friedman’s direction. The reveal’s genuinely surprising, but doesn’t matter. Ditto the moody lighting effects.

The Crime Doctor’s Gamble (1947) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Micheline Cheirel, Roger Dann, Eduardo Ciannelli, Steven Geray. Baxter heads to post-war Paris and gets wrapped up in proving black sheep Dann either didn’t kill his wealthy father or wasn’t insane while doing so. Or something of that nature. The script’s a mess, and the Parisian “setting” doesn’t bring much but accented English (from a mostly French cast). Baxter gets to flashlight and fisticuff this outing. Followed by THE CRIME DOCTOR’S DIARY.

Dinner in America (2020) D: Adam Rehmeier. S: Kyle Gallner, Emily Skeggs, Pat Healy, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Griffin Gluck. Generally okay (minus the constant misogyny and homophobia) picture about early twenty somethings Gallner and Skeggs. He’s a lambing punk rocker who has to crash with secretly punk af Skeggs. Gallner looks his 33, Skeggs looks her 20 year old part. Comes off very peculiar, never creepy. The frequent anachronisms and lazy characterizations don’t help. Skeggs is great, though.

The Millerson Case (1947) D: George Archainbaud. S: Warner Baxter, Nancy Saunders, Clem Bevans, Addison Richards, James Bell. Peculiar entry mixes some proto-hicksploitation into the CRIME DOCTOR formula, with Baxter on vacation in an anti-science rural village. He butts heads with the local doctor, Barnett (not good but technically one of the better performances), over a typhoid epidemic before having to tap in on a murder investigation. Plodding, meandering, repetitive. Baxter’s eternally buoyant, of course. Followed by THE CRIME DOCTOR’S GAMBLE.

She (1935) D: Irving Pichel. S: Helen Gahagan, Randolph Scott, Helen Mack, Samuel S. Hinds, Lumsden Hare. Plodding, melodramatic “adventure” about a hidden civilization run by immortal Gahagan. Explorer Scott’s the likeness of an ancestor who SHE romanced. Mack’s the third side of the triangle. Bruce is around to look embarrassed. Gahagan, Scott, and von Seyffertitz are “oh, no, they’re serious” bad. Mack tries her best. Big, poorly produced, directed, and written. Maybe one good shot.

Strange Alibi (1941) D: D. Ross Lederman. S: Arthur Kennedy, Joan Perry, Jonathan Hale, William Hopper, Howard Da Silva. Following the murder of a witness, police chief Hale concocts an incredibly convoluted plan to unmask the city’s Mr. Big. Things go wrong multiple times, with cop-turned-crook Kennedy at the center of it. Performance wise, Kennedy’s okay, Hale’s real good, and–in a small part–Bates’s the best. A plodding, inoffensive sixty minutes. One good chase, though.

Comics

Grommets (2025) TPB W: Brian Posehn, Rick Remender. A: Brett Parson. Delightful, incredibly specific, eighties-nostalgic piece about eighth-grade skaters in 1985 Sacramento, U.S.A. The protagonists have the same names as the writers, which never ends up raising any questions. The collected series has a phenomenal pace, with enough callbacks the plotting’s clearly the thing. Really nice art, rather thoughtful balance of nostalgia and objectivity; outstanding book.

Comics

Superman: Lost (2023) #1 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Portentous, if not actually big, concept SUPERMAN limited. He and Lois are happy workaholic marrieds until he disappears on a Justice League mission. Except he reappears–twenty years later–at just the same moment Lois finds out. It’s actually a bit of a team banter book, which is fine from Priest, but nothing’s gelling yet. Good-looking enough art.

Superman: Lost (2023) #2 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Priest’s all over the place with the narrative–intentionally (present then varying degrees of past)–with Clark’s first stop in his trip back home. It’s an Earth-like planet, seemingly without any secrets to reveal. The numerous reveals keep the otherwise light outing going (fun dialogue only goes so far); so far, all Priest’s got going is the gimmick.

Superman: Lost (2023) #3 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. After a concerning Lois characterization (Clark’s got a time limit on recovering from trauma), it’s a fairly outstanding issue. Big space adventure with grounded, beautifully detailed art. Priest’s finding Clark’s voice, which is working through being more concerned with his own wellbeing than the beings he’s encountering. Provides interesting fodder amid strange new worlds and so on. Book’s cooking.

Superman: Lost (2023) #4 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Priest changes the book but keeps the momentum. We skip ahead to Clark settled and trying to help on a planet divided between the haves and the people they’re trying to eradicate. There’s some fun and some pointed political observations, with a crowd pleaser hard cliffhanger. It’s just taking the story back two issues; Priest’s back to being cautious.

Superman: Lost (2023) #5 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Some surprises and some excellent art get the issue through. Clark was LOST twenty years and halfway through they’re barely at five years. Seems like we’ll need some more jump aheads. The book’s moody and competently done, but it’s on autopilot for this one. Priest gives away too much in the lack of certain characterizations. It’s on cruise control.

Superman: Lost (2023) #6 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. The present day stuff is still concerning (Priest’s not making a Clark should be in therapy joke is a tell), but the flashback’s good. LOST is going to be about the single planet; committing to it helps Priest with the stakes. Flashing forward and back not so much. And there’s a big cop out about horny superheroes. Great cliffhanger.

Superman: Lost (2023) #7 W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Lee Weeks, Michael Jason Paz. Artist changes and Lex Luthor, it’s like they didn’t have a finish for the book. While flashback Clark listens to a potential future from a potential future self (most of the Weeks material), Lois decides the present day arc needs a kick in the pants if Priest can just do imaginary story homages to fill. It’s knowing not creative.

Superman: Lost (2023) #8 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz, Will Conrad. Well. Priest certainly does know how to do a much ado about nothing. Not a plot homage, just a plot without any character development for the ostensibly growing Clark. Some of it has to do with the Lex Luthor subplot, which isn’t any good (Priest’s Lex’s boring), and doesn’t earn it any patience. Great art, however. Great art.

Superman: Lost (2023) #9 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Brett Breeding, Carlo Pagulayan, Dan Jurgens, Michael Jason Paz. Honestly, LOST does read like a Superman who day dreams about himself illustrated by Dan Jurgens. And they get Jurgens to do it and those pages are rough. They clash with the better art, but the issue–Priest’s go at a Lex and Superman issue–is already a fail. Luthor’s got more personality stealing a Hostess. Bad cliffhanger, too.

Superman: Lost (2023) #10 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Joe Prado, Jonas Trindade, Jose Luis, Julio Ferreira, Michael Jason Paz. In addition to multiple complete cop outs, timey-whimey and otherwise, Priest also has a *Superman: The New Movie* beat-for-beat-for-beat “nod.” It’s out of nowhere, which is fine because the fill-in art on it makes it feel all the more artifical. So it’s easy not to take the issue’s bellyflop finish too seriously.

Movies

Boom Town (1940) D: Jack Conway. S: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Chill Wills, Frank Morgan. Overlong big-budget studio melodrama comes up empty. Roaring Twenties oil “wildcatters” Gable and Tracy, whose friendship-turned-business-partnership-turned-love-triangle (with Colbert) ostensibly drives the narrative. Unfortunately, the more rackish Gable gets, the less Tracy’s around, and Tracy’s a lot more likable. Lamarr’s all kinds of wooden as a scheming harlot. Okay action; real bad editing.

Human Highway (1982) Director’s Cut D: Dean Stockwell. S: Neil Young, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper, Charlotte Stewart, Sally Kirkland. Micro-budget post-apocalyptic absurdist comedy from Neil Young, Stockwell, Tamblyn, and Devo. It’s at least twenty percent music video, though the occasional full cast numbers are much better. It’s strange without anything particular to recommend it (and the anti-Middle Eastern stuff is gross–brown-face), but it’s often entertaining and always enthusiastically executed. Great miniature effects work, too.

The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) D: Reinaldo Marcus Green. S: Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, Jason R. Moore, Judith Light, Chelsea Brea. Effective and well-executed but middling outing for Berenthal’s PUNISHER. Set at an indeterminate time related to the years past Netflix show, it tries hard to be moody until it’s time for the kickass righteous ultra-violence; albeit not particularly impressive action movie stuff. More proof-of-concept than full pilot episode. Light’s a lot of fun. And, Bubs.

Comics

Blue Beetle (1967) #1 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Fun first issue for BEETLE; however, the QUESTION backup ends up overshadowing it. The feature’s fun, with some great art–Ditko’s doing a ballet–but the much shorter QUESTION has more plot and more character. Even with the new BEETLE’s origin in question in the feature. The art’s downright delightful even if the typeset word balloons don’t play.

Blue Beetle (1967) #2 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. BEETLE’s secret origin involves killer robots, mad scientists, secret islands, and the original Blue Beetle. There’s not much more to it, except the framing device, which has his love interest in danger as well. It’s fine, but nothing special (other than Ditko doing a pin-up). The Question backup is similarly ho-hum. Just fighting a science criminal.

Blue Beetle (1967) #3 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. BEETLE gets back on track with a strong feature. The formula seems to be basic science hero plot. The bad guys steal Beetle’s gun and use it to rob banks, even if they can’t figure out how to shoot it. Gorgeous movement in Ditko’s visual ballet. The Question backup’s better, too. Okay mystery, no subplots, implied politics, excellent art.

Blue Beetle (1967) #4 W: Steve Ditko, Steve Skeates. A: Steve Ditko. And off again… when the BEETLE feature doesn’t just have Ted after science crooks, it flops. Worse, there’s not the action ballet. Here, he’s tracking the original BB to a remote island on an archelogical expedition and there’s an evil cult. Yawn. The Question backup’s weird, too. Office infighting, bland villains. All Ditko’s energy seems spent (four issues in).

Blue Beetle (1967) #5 [1968] W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Self-parody about how the squares will inherit the Earth. In the feature, Beetle and guest star Vic Sage battle evil, nihilistic young artists. Ted and Vic are mad they don’t love [white supremacist dog whistle] enough. Oof. The QUESTION backup has Vic torturing the bad guy to radicalize him into psychosis, thereby requiring apprehension. Middling (for Ditko) art.

Blue Beetle (1967) #6 [1974] W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Leadenly portentous but solid “issue” (unpublished until a fan publication did so) has Ted Kord once again in trouble with the law, while the court of public opinion is condemning scientists, science, and Blue Beetle! The villain’s a mostly invisible man, so even without the best Ditko ballet, the physical stuff is still great. It’s just also incredibly goofy.

Movies

Barton Fink (1991) D: Joel Coen. S: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Steve Buscemi, Tony Shalhoub. Newly successful New York playwright Turturro goes to Hollywood, quickly discovering his “common man” hotel is a dump and he’s got writer’s block. Plus, there’s something a little odd about neighbor Goodman. Throw in a famous author, Pearl Harbor, and some murder, and… the Coen Brothers don’t find the movie. Some great filmmaking and good acting, but it misses.

Crime Doctor’s Man Hunt (1946) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Ellen Drew, William Frawley, Ivan Triesault, Claire Carleton. Despite an interesting mystery–albeit not a mysterious one–the entry can’t overcome Castle’s repetitive, rote direction. Yes, it’s soundstage after soundstage but it’s always the same shot during the endless expository scenes. Excellent Baxter with a flashlight sequence, and both the photography and music have their moments. If any of the supporting cast worked out, it might’ve clicked.

Just Before Dawn (1946) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Adele Roberts, Martin Kosleck, Marvin Miller, Robert Barrat. Banal (but lethal) entry involves Baxter happening upon a poisoning ring and a plastic surgery for wanted criminals concern. They’re barely connected (but still less contrived than Baxter’s entry into the case), which means the mystery isn’t particularly involving. Baxter’s more an adventurer this time around; it doesn’t play. Even with the thin parts, the performances are okay enough.

Millennium (1989) D: Michael Anderson. S: Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J. Travanti, Robert Joy, Maury Chaykin. Too high concept, too low budget sci-fi about the correlation and not causation of time travelers and airplane crashes. Kristofferson’s a no-nonsense flight investigator, Ladd’s a mystery woman who’s sometimes a sex kitten, other times a badass future warrior. They do not appear to enjoy kissing each other; Kristofferson makes his adject disinterest obvious. Ladd’s eventually appealing.

Movies

36 Hours to Kill (1936) D: Eugene Forde. S: Brian Donlevy, Gloria Stuart, Douglas Fowley, Paul Fix, Jonathan Hale. Relaxed cheapie thriller about gangster Fowley taking a cross-country train to escape a dragnet, only to run into somewhat nosy reporter Donlevy. They then get into a love triangle with mystery woman Stuart. It’d be a lot better if at least ten minutes (of a sixty-five-minute runtime) weren’t dedicated to crappy racist jokes at Fetchit’s expense.

A Blueprint for Murder (1953) D: Andrew L. Stone. S: Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill, Jack Kruschen, Barney Phillips. Visiting brother-in-law Cotten begins to suspect Peters, step-mom to his niece and nephew, has malicious intent. Half the movie is Cotten and the supporting cast trying to catch her, half is the aftermath. The procedural stuff’s a drag. Cotten’s okay, but Peters only gets to show personality in the finale. Too low budget, too thin script.

Crime Doctor (1943) D: Michael Gordon. S: Warner Baxter, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel, Bess Flowers, Ray Collins. Densely plotted origin story has amnesiac Baxter becoming a renowned psychiatrist who used to be some kind of crook, but he avoids finding out until the last twenty minutes (of sixty-six). Occasionally inventive, usually competent, always efficient. Baxter and love interest Lindsay lack chemistry. Collins’s the mentor, Litel’s the villain. Also fun is spotting the THIN MAN alums. Adapted from the Philip Morris-sponsored radio show created by Max Marcin; first of ten CRIME DOCTOR films starring Baxter. Followed by THE CRIME DOCTOR’S STRANGEST CASE.

The Crime Doctor’s Courage (1945) D: George Sherman. S: Warner Baxter, Hillary Brooke, Jerome Cowan, Emory Parnell, Anthony Caruso. Baxter’s on vacation in sunny Los Angeles and quickly gets involved with a case of newlywed Brooke discovering husband Crane was cleared of his first two wives’ suspicious deaths (days after marrying them). There’s not much mystery to this one, just red herrings and a bunch of supernatural intimations to pack the runtime. Baxter’s game enough, but COURAGE’s thin. Followed by CRIME DOCTOR’S WARNING.

The Crime Doctor’s Warning (1945) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, John Litel, Dusty Anderson, John Abbott, Miles Mander. Overlong installment has Baxter trying to clear rich kid turned wannabe artist Irwin, who may be murdering his models. There are plenty of faces to spot in the supporting cast–Mander’s the most fun of the credited, J.M. Kerrigan of the uncredited–but their scenes are always short. It’s mostly Baxter investigating alone in dark sets. Definitionally middling. Followed by JUST BEFORE DAWN.

The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943) D: Eugene Forde. S: Warner Baxter, Lynn Merrick, Gloria Dickson, Lloyd Bridges, Sam Flint. Very efficient programmer has Baxter investigating a rich guy’s murder by poison. Bridges is the prime suspect, and a fellow Baxter saved from a previous charge involving a poisoned rich guy. The mystery itself’s solid, and director Forde does well with suspense. The actors not as much. The finish needs to be better, but it nearly works out. Followed by SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT.

Seconds (1966) D: John Frankenheimer. S: Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Richard Anderson, Murray Hamilton. Incredibly intense, meticulously photographed (gorgeous James Wong Howe black and white) and edited (Ferris Webster and David Newhouse) sci-fi thriller about two painters, lapsed amateur Randolph and successful but lost Hudson, and their dealings with a peculiar services company. Great performances from Randolph and Hudson. Excellent Frankenheimer direction. The third act whiffs a bit, but not too much.

Shadows in the Night (1944) D: Eugene Forde. S: Warner Baxter, Nina Foch, George Zucco, Lester Matthews, Ben Welden. Baxter’s out of his element at a seaside estate trying to figure out patient Foch’s nightmares, except he’s having them, too. The first half drags but once the reveals get started, it’s a fine enough mystery. Foch’s wanting. Welden’s very nearly Baxter’s sidekick, providing sorely needed rapport. The series’s brutal efficiency rarely allows time for the numerous red herrings. Followed by CRIME DOCTOR’S WARNING.

Shoeshine (1946) D: Vittorio De Sica. S: Franco Interlenghi, Rinaldo Smordoni, Annielo Mele, Emilio Cigoli, Bruno Ortenzi. Stark, compassionate rendering of postwar Roman boyhood. Best friends Interlenghi and Smordoni luck into a financial windfall only it comes with devastating consequences. Fantastic performances, particularly from the mostly young cast. De Sica’s direction is superb. Sublime pacing and plotting, the editing is outstanding. Relentlessly depressing, but never quite despondent. The film finds the humanity everywhere it looks.

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) D: Alexander Mackendrick. S: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene. Amoral New York press agent Curtis will do anything to stay in also amoral gossip columnist Lancaster’s good graces. Determining who’s more amoral and how many lives can be ruined in the continuous thirty-six hour present action is the relentless, often mortifying character study. Fantastic performances, photography, and direction. Great location shooting. Spectacular, rapid fire dialogue and pace.

Comics

Masters of the Universe The Motion Picture (1987) #1 W: Ralph Macchio. A: Art Nichols, Dennis Janke, George Tuska, Mike Zeck. Rote movie adaptation is only of note–barely–for the use of the HE-MAN toy designs instead of the movie costumes (except for the cheap-o new movie creatures). George Tuska’s pencils are hurried, but he gives the book more than it deserves. Not enough to make it worth a look, but at least there’s some bare competence.