Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
I'm not going to make you an offer you can't refuse.
But I know a man who is.
That man's the Godfather and, this week in 1973, he was feeling mighty proud of himself, as the movie named after him collected the Best Picture Oscar at the 45th Academy Awards.
Others who were celebrating, that week, were women.
That's because they were admitted into the London Stock Exchange for the first time.
I can't help suspecting women had been allowed in before, in order to clean the place but it seems those women didn't count.
But you know what did count? Red Rum. He could count to three. That's the number of times the horse won the Grand National - and the first time he did so was during this week in 1973. He also finished second on two other occasions, making him the most successful horse in the event's history.
On the UK singles chart, we had a brand new Number One, thanks to The Twelfth of Never by Donny Osmond - a track I must confess to having no memory of.
On the associated album chart, 20 Flashback Greats of the Sixties by those ever-popular Various Artists smashed straight in at Number One.
Indebted to the villain, the Hulk agrees to visit the Watcher's planet, in order to steal the Ultimate Machine.
But, to do so, he must first defeat the, "Most powerful creature in the galaxy!"
On a slightly lower power level, Daredevil finds himself confronting the mauve menace of the Purple Man.
Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four must stop the Mad Ghost and his super-apes.
The keen-eyed reader will have noticed Marvel UK's changed the name of the Red Ghost in its latest bid to expunge evil commies from Marvel history.
But doesn't this tale also feature the Watcher?
If so, UK readers are being introduced to the Watcher in both the Hulk and Fantastic Four strips at the same time.
It's bad news for Spider-Man when the Chameleon hires his old friend Kraven to hunt our hero down.
Elsewhere, a seriously wounded gangster has his men kidnap Don Blake to make him operate.
Needless to say, things don't go the gangster's way, thanks to Blake turning himself into Thor and then bringing the baddie to justice.
And, as with the Mighty World of Marvel, we can win a free Spider-Man LP!
Charlie always found something soothing about Kraven’s and Shocker’s yellow/brown costumery. Perhaps because a yellow bolt of sound / a punch looked good with it? Perhaps because they are earth tones and we live on earth? Anyone else find their costumes pleasing?
ReplyDeleteOh my! Oh my!! Oh my!!! What a classic case study in numerology!!! In 1973, Secretariat won the triple crown of US horse racing!!! He was also known as Red Moon!!! What a tie in to Steve’s missive on Red Rum and his three victories!!!
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that removal of commie references in UK comics was an attempt to soften the defection of MI6’s Philby and the other 4 spies for a new generation, 10 years on? Sean (anyone?) have any of you possibly read Les Cinc de Cambridge, a french/belge comic thst came out about the Cambridge 5 in 2015?
ReplyDeleteFamously of course the Godfather himself - Marlon Brando - didn't turn up to collect his Oscar, Steve, sending an Apache woman instead (although I believe these days some claim that - unknown to Brando - she wasn't actually native American at all).
ReplyDeleteHe did it to draw attention to then ongoing occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, which had been surrounded by the Feds and subjected to a news blackout. So well done him. Fight the power, Marlon! And don't forget to mind the oranges...
Charlie, I am not familiar with Les Cinq de Cambridge.
-sean
*the then inviting occupation...
ReplyDeleteApologies for the typo
-sean
Ongoing, not inviting
ReplyDelete&#@# predictive text!
Is it just a coincidence that Red Rum is murder spelt backwards?
ReplyDeleteI've finally discovered some coronation merchandising - a triple-pack of Fry's Turkish Delight displaying a crown (not the St. Edward's or Imperial State crowns) and the message "The King's Coronation" but still no mugs or plates to be seen.
It's Easter next week but you'd hardly know it as there's none of the insane hype that surrounds Christmas. Easter is so much calmer and pleasant and I prefer it to Christmas, anyone agree?
ReplyDeleteOK, just me then.
I'll get me coat.
I agree, Colin.
ReplyDeleteAt least with Easter, I don't gotta go spend time with my relatives.
Or figure out what to buy somebody as a gift.
I don't have to do jack! And instead of occurring in the dark ass-crack of winter like Christmas, Easter portends more clement weather.
Or it oughtta anyway. This year, though...
M.P.
I just flicked through this week's MWOM and one of the questions to be answered to have a chance at winning the Spidey LP, is who is Spidey's worst enemy?
ReplyDelete-The Tinker
-Dr Doom
-Flash Harris
Was Harris Flash Thompson's mother's maiden name?
DW
Charlie- I remember thinking the Shocker was wearing a warm comfortable quilt which looked soft a fluffy to the touch.
ReplyDeleteThe Godfather is a great movie but for maybe the only time in history the sequel/prequal Godfather 2 is better IMHO. Can any other 2nd movies out there lay that claim?
Killraven- dont know about movies but something like the Band of Brothers serial was supertb over all its episodes so that’s many, many hours. But to your point… hmmm… maybe Star Wars 1 and 3 though i am skipping #2.
ReplyDeleteIn the USA Thanksgiving is probably the preferred holiday. Just be grateful, eat, drink, visit, no presents, no religious overtones like Easter to consider… hell you are even allowed to watch the football game with no grief about slacking!
ReplyDeleteMP - will you please keep your dog sh!t Dakota weather over by you?! 8 days in a row no sun! You’d think we were in Dickens London!!!
ReplyDeleteKillraven, The Empire Strikes Back is usually regarded as superior to Star Wars (or A New Hope if you insist).
ReplyDeleteMP, the weather is terrible here too. We had the driest February for decades but March is non-stop rain.
ReplyDeleteDeadpool 2 (see Steve's movies!) better than Deadpool 1.
ReplyDeletePhillip
Killraven, as well as the examples mentioned above, I'd say that Aliens is better than Alien, Terminator 2 is Better than The Terminator and From Russia With Love is better than Dr No.
ReplyDeleteMAD MAX 2 (“THE ROAD WARRIOR” here in the US of A) is arguably better than the original, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is generally thought ti be superior to its predecessor, and I think ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES is funnier than the first ADDAMS FAMILY movie (but it’s very good too)
ReplyDeleteb.t.
Charlie, I've always liked Kraven's outfit, mostly because it has a face on it which, when I was eight, seemed like a thing of genius. Admittedly, as an adult I just think it has a face on it.
ReplyDeleteI must confess that, like Sean, I've never previously heard of Les Cinc de Cambridge.
Colin, I've not seen any coronation-related merchandising at all.
Colin and MP, Easter is indeed more relaxed than Christmas.
Sean, is it possible to turn predictive text off? I have a feeling it is. My big bugbear with phones is that, every time you buy a new one, you have to figure out how to stop the buzzing whenever you type any letter or number.
DW, I wonder if the name "Flash Harris" was inspired by the character Flash Harry in the old St Trinians movies?
Also, I'd say The Dark Knight is better than Batman Begins.
ReplyDeleteAnd Spider-Man 2 is better than Spider-Man.
The only one of these sequels I’d say was better than the original would be Godfather Part 2.
ReplyDeleteOh, and yeah - The Dark Knight is head and shoulders over the uneven and clunky Batman Begins. I watched BB again recently and oof.
Alien / Aliens neck and neck (each leaders in their fields, horror and action respectively).
T1 considerably better than T2, though. It still feels like a perfectly constructed b-movie machine. T2 suffers from bloat, sentimentality and copies a lot of its beats from the first movie.
I have always liked Temple of Doom as much as Raiders. I know Raiders is tighter and less frivolous (but at the same time - come on: it’s not The Seventh Seal), but I liked all the silly eccentricities and nastiness of Temple and it’s crazy fun.
I’m not far off liking Damien: Omen II as much as The Omen.
Aliens is a tricky one Matthew, because there's a lot to like about it but... with so many aliens they're inevitably too easy to kill, which kind of contradicts the first film really.
ReplyDeleteI take your point about Terminator (which surely applies to Alien too?) but I still prefer the second, if only because Linda Hamilton doesn't have 80s hair in it. Mind you, I have a soft spot for Predator 2, so what do I know?
Actually, what I do know is that while I'm not mad for Marvel movies, Winter Soldier is a definite improvement on the first Cap flick, and Ragnarok is better than the previous two Thors.
And b.t. is correct about Mad Max 2. I was really into that film when it came out, and it was so disappointing when I finally saw the first one.
Steve, yes I have predictive text off on my laptop, but using an unfamiliar notepad earlier it just didn't occur to me until after I posted that comment.
-sean
Colin, M.P., I hope you don't forget to raise a glass to the 1916 rebels at Easter.
ReplyDelete-sean
I’m in the minority of people who prefer the first Godfather movie over the sequel, which doesn’t really do much for me. I mean, Vegas and Cuba in the 1950s, I should be all over it — but I think those sequences are just not very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also prefer the first TERMINATOR over T2.
b.t.
Lots of great sequel examples!
ReplyDeleteI wonder though, are the James Bond movies truly sequels? Are any 2 movies connected?
Alien, Star Wars, Raiders, Terminator, nothing beats the first of those franchises for me.
I must say Road Warrior and Omen 2 definitely give strong cases for better 2nd films.
For whatever reason my brain left out super hero movies, so yes Spider-Man 2 and Winter Soldier!
Superman II is considered better than Superman: The Movie.
ReplyDeleteStar Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is considered better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Colin -
DeleteSuperman II used to be considered better than The Movie, but that was way back. The tide has turned quite definitely on that one to the first film being much much better than the shoddy, jokey mess of SII.
In theory it should be amazing, the basic story is brilliant and it has scattered moments of greatness. But the cheapness and silliness really kills it. Try it again now and see what you think…?
Steve, you can definitely turn predictive text off because I did it on this very tablet I'm now using. Unfortunately there was also a downside because I'm no longer alerted to spelling mistakes so I have to carefully check each word as I go along.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't be hard to make a better film than Star Trek: The Motion Picture (arguably a sequel itself, to the tv series).
ReplyDeleteSuper-hero flicks are a bit of a law into themselves. Being based on source material that was already episodic - often with decades of it - perhaps it's not a surprise that a fair few of them have better sequels.
-sean
Sean -
DeleteLike Alien/Aliens also put ST:TMP and WoK neck and neck.
I’ve always liked the extreme strangeness of TMP, and the hard-SF angle; visually it’s incredible, and it has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time.
People find it slow but I think the pacing is OK until the V’Ger / Ilya probe turns up and then it grinds to a halt. But still. An 80% success rate for me.
But I can’t argue with WoK being an airtight drama that has actual themes and depth. And another great soundtrack. So that’s right up there.
But then, I also don’t hate Star Trek III, so what do I know?
*sorry for the million and one replies on this, but sequels are a favourite topic of chat for me.
*unto themselves
ReplyDeletePredictive text was not to blame for that typo, which was entirely down to me. Duh.
-sean
Sean-
ReplyDeleteI'll raise a glass to anyone who stands up to an unfair system. I think 1916 more than qualifies.
And Charlie, there might be more crap weather on the way. We're having a blizzard here even as I type this.
M.P.
Matthew - As a little kid, I absolutely LOVED Superman II. I watched it at the cinema, and was absolutely blown away by it. Prevailing opinion, by the critics, doesn't move me. That being said, I haven't recently watched the film as an adult. I also liked the original Superman movie, particularly the climactic bit, with Superman rapidly circling the Earth, making time go backwards, and bringing Lois back from the dead! (Even Warlock could only resurrect the dead, temporarily!) Perhaps, little kids love Superman, because they're at 'the bottom of the heap', and Superman having god-like powers, is - vicariously - empowering for them. I think I have watched Superman, recently, and the quality of the special effects disappointed. Specifically, the catastrophic dam collapse scene, where little model trees, etc, were quite visible. I think this scene was reused as stock footage, in Airwolf, and didn't look any better then. Nevertheless, so many brilliant scenes - e.g. the moment Lois learns Clark's Superman, after he out-bluffs her, at Niagra Falls, but later trips, and falls into the fire. No modern superhero movie - NONE OF THEM - has had moments like those in the first 2 Superman movies! Plus, no actor has been more perfectly cast, for a superhero role, than Chris Reeve, as Superman. And, it all comes down to character. If the character doesn't interest the audience, a film can have as much action as you like, but it still won't work!
ReplyDeletePhillip
Colin, Easter is at least less expensive than Christmas!
ReplyDeleteAliens is my personal favourite sequel followed by Toy Story 2 (honest) and Bride of Frankenstein so corny it's brilliant!
Philip -
ReplyDeleteOh, me too. I saw SII four times at the cinema and I thought it was incredible. I went through a phase of watching it in 1989 when our household first got a VCR, as well, and I thought it was great.
Then 10 years, and a lot more film experience later, I watched it on DVD. Oh dear. As I said, the core idea and bits and pieces are OK, but I can't really stand by it in either version. I still get choked up at the very end when Clark & Lois have to split up, though - it feels like all the emotional weight of the two films culminating there and then, and in effect it is: because none of the later films feel connected in any way to the bigger story of I & II].
But Superman The Movie? 100% the best superhero film ever. I still watch it once a year. Listen to the soundtrack all the time. Went to see it at the Albert Hall last year with an orchestra playing the music live throughout. Has a place deep in my heart. I love it more than some family members.
The practical effects are pretty variable. There's the not-good dam sequence, but then the stuff in the Golden Gate bridge is incredible - absolutely convincing.
Completely argeee with your last paragraph, though I think there are moments here and there that are powerful. The last twenty minutes of 'Endgame' was pretty powerful, was it not?
Yeah, Bride of Frankenstein is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteMatthew, the 'hard sf angle' is how larger budget science fiction films were before Star Wars, and Star Trek TMP was made soon enough after that it still went for that kind of old skool approach (whereas Wrath of Khan is more a post-70s action/fx blockbuster).
So I'd love to be able to agree with you or claim the first one was better... but I just can't. Trying to make a sort of 2001 with Shatner, Nimoy & co is all very well, but at least Kubrick's film had some thinking behind it (although I still think it could do with a much tighter edit!) whereas Star Trek TMP seemed a bit dumb really.
On the subject of pre-Star Wars sci-fi, I'd place Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes neck and neck. Like the Omega Man and Soylent Green, the first POTA is a film that obviously shouldn't have a sequel... but Beneath works anyway - love the scene with the bomb worshippers, and the fantastically downbeat ending (which unfortunately didn't stop them making more Ape films)
-sean
I don't even think Christopher Reeve was the best Superman actor, Phillip. There I said it.
ReplyDelete-sean
Oh, it's April Ist. Have a good one Steve.
ReplyDelete(At this point I don't actually recall how I got it into my head that today was the anniversary of your incarnation on the material plane as a South Yorkshireman, but hey - it's a good a time as any to congratulate you on your karmic achievement)
-sean
Matthew - The Superman soundtrack! I forgot to mention that! My brother & me had it on an mfp tape, and played it to death (strangely, though, that tape was bought alongside Marvel Superheroes Monthly # 1, on our 10th birthday - so I also - for years - associated the tune with Graviton vs the Avengers!) I'm ashamed to say, I still haven't seen Endgame; but I'd probably react adversely, as I'm a traditionalist, when it comes to my favourite comic titles.
ReplyDeleteSean - sacrilege!
Phillip
Well, I'm sure we can at least all agree that Terri Hatcher was the best ever Lois, Phillip.
ReplyDelete-sean
Matthew, I didn't mean that I personally prefer Superman II, only that it was considered the better film or that's what I understood to be the settled view but I stand corrected!
ReplyDelete(By the way, I recently read a couple of your comments over at The Guardian).
Colin -
ReplyDeleteYeah, I am a bit of a Chatty Cathy.
On the subject of Beneath The Planet Of The Apes - apparently Charlton Heston didn't want to be in a sequel and only agreed to appear if everyone got killed in the end!
ReplyDeleteI'll grant you that, Sean!
ReplyDeletePhillip
Also, in the spirit of consensus - and before I forget - whatever we think of Star Trek TMP or Wrath of Khan, we can all agree that IV: The Voyage Home is the bunch, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd fwiw, I don't think III: The Search for Spock is that bad either. I mean, it's not a particularly good film, but we are talking Star Trek....
The real debate is which is the worst of the terrible ones. Final Frontier or Generations?
-sean
*best of the bunch
ReplyDeleteDuh.
-sean
Sean -
ReplyDeleteI used to like STIV, the same as everyone else. I even got my picture taken at a few of the locations on my honeymoon by my long-suffering wife. But I don't really like it any more.
The first act is pretty strong, the SF is pretty interesting. But as soon as they land in Golden Gate Park it's really just sitcom stuff.
Cheesy as hell. Very difficult to watch these days. 'Nuclear Wessels'.
And it has terrible terrible music! Those first three Star Trek soundtracks were astonishingly good. But then Nimoy finally manages to shoehorn his friend Leonard Rosenman into the gig and he produces this awful TV movie music.
So no. No consensus here. Sorry.
I feel I may have fallen for some elaborate April Fools ruse here...?
As to your other point...
I'd rank the worst Star Trek films in the following order, best to worst. Though they are all quite bad...
First Contact
Generations
The Final Frontier [only because it has a good soundtrack and is shot and lit very nicely by a pro. Oh, and it inadvertently gave us the Rock Monster from Galaxy Quest]
Nemesis
Insurrection.
I SO wanted to like ST:TNG, diligently watched every episode of the first season, but just couldn’t connect with it. Good cast, really good production values and VFX for a TV series at that time, but I thought it was under-cooked and bland. Also, I HATED that damn holodeck. Saw the first two TNG movies in the theatre — thought the first was terrible (seriously, I refuse to accept that Jim Kirk dies in such a meaningless, mundane way) and can barely remember the second one (did that one have the creepy-ass Borg Queen in it? Vulcans show up on Earth as the fan-service “climax” or something?). Don’t think I ever saw the other two. Doubt I ever will.
ReplyDeleteAs for the TOS movies— I watched WRATH about a year ago and thought it held up pretty nicely. I actually enjoyed TMP too last time I saw it (probably 20 years ago — Jeez). Hated SEARCH the one time I watched it, same with FINAL FRONTIER. Used to like VOYAGE and UNDISCOVERED but I’m almost afraid to watch them again.
b.t.
BT -
ReplyDeleteI never got into TNG either (or the original Star Trek, to be honest). I just liked the movies, mostly.
Yeah, Generations was bland and horribly uneven. No control of tone at all. ‘Oh, a funny bit. A sad bit. A callback. A battle. Another funny bit’ etc
Tbh Matthew, I haven't seen ST IV in ages, so I'll take your word for it not holding up so well.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like TNG at all either when I first saw it, and never warmed to it even though it got a bit better after a couple of seasons. Patrick Stewart was great - having seen him play Lenin so well in the 70s BBC drama series Fall Of Eagles it was obvious from the start that he was the perfect choice to play the captain of a futuristic communist Federation ship - but some of the other regulars... where did they dig them up?
Mind you, it was good to hear from Data - despite BBC suppression! - that Irish unification happens in 2024...
on the other hand, despite initial doubts I really liked DS9 once it got going.
And after a rocky start Voyager was... ok I guess?
-sean
Is this where I confess to liking ST Discovery?
ReplyDeleteThere seemed to be a lot of complaining about it online, but I enjoyed what I've seen of it. Admittedly thats not much - not being on board with paying for extra tv channels, I only saw the start when it was on Freeview - but I thought if the first season was ok that was a good sign.I
Mind you, I'm not really a fan as such, so continuity and whatnot with earlier Trek isn't much of a consideration for me.
-sean
Sean -
ReplyDeleteTrek is a patchy and subjective experience, I’ve found. It seems to depend what you alight on randomly.
I didn’t really get into TNG - even the episodes where it had warmed up a bit seemed bland. So DS9 seemed even more boring and I gave that a swerve - even though everyone says it got really involving.
But in the late 90s I latched onto Voyager and watched it all, finding it quite good and certainly entertaining enough to while away 45 minutes every Sunday teatime. But everyone hated that. I don’t know why. It was bland but no more so than TNG. It was just a decade later.
I watched the first three seasons of Discovery and found it frustrating. I liked the characters and the diversity (I like diversity. Even when it feels a bit forced, so what?) and the randomness of David Cronenberg showing up and the FX and often quite nifty directing and so on, but the writing is so shockingly bad that I had to bail after a few years.
Have you tried Picard? I loathe it with an intensity I find really surprising. I’ve tried to watch this latest season which everyone is saying is ‘the best Trek in decades’ but everything about it grates.
It’s funny. I wouldn’t consider myself a Star Trek or Star Wars fan but I can have long conversations about them. I guess it’s the SF equivalent of liking a particular football team but also being able to broadly discuss the performance of other teams and players in the leagues.
I'm not familiar with 'Picard'. Bringing back Captain Picard - and naming the series after him - seems like a fairly cynical idea, and the online clips I've seen look a bit iffy... but on the other hand I believe Michael Chabon who wrote 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay' was/is one of the main show runners, so I'm curious about it. But not enough that I'm going to spend money on an extra tv channel.
ReplyDeleteThats a spot on observation about a Star Trek spin off being right for the Sunday teatime - the coming down from the weekend - slot.
-sean
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy opinions, only. Star Trek TOS - Despite its flaws, still the best. Next Generation - seemed (at first) a more serious 'take' on a starship captain, with more heavy-weight acting. Deep Space Nine - Super-cool Vic Fontaine's the best character; Garak's entertaining, too. The rest...not so much. Voyager - Ensign Harry Kim patronized by everybody - particularly Tom Paris - grates. Chakotay's (usually) passive role, in relation to Janeway - grates. To me, Voyager's the weakest. Haven't watched Picard - too expensive & too much hassle. Proper Star Trek blogs/fanatics more qualified to comment than us.
ReplyDeletePhillip
Yeah, some of the characters in 'Voyager' grate, Phillip, but to be fair it does have Seven of Nine, who's quite watchable (apparently she's in 'Picard' too, so there is that in its favour).
ReplyDeleteI notice no-one has seen fit to mention 'Enterprise', which I guess tells us something about the general opinion. It was in the Sunday hangover slot whenever I saw it on tv, but even so it was a bit mixed - sometimes ok, but it could also grate. Either way, the awful theme tune was always annoying.
Personally, my preference is for DS9 over the original series.
Ok, I'll get my coat...
-sean