TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews

Friday, May 3, 2024

Comics Review: "SPACE GHOST #1" Revives a Classic

SPACE GHOST VOL. 1 #1

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: David Pepose

ART: Jonathan Lau

COLORS: Andrew Dalhouse

LETTERS: Taylor Esposito

EDITOR: Joseph Rybandt

COVER: Francesco Mattina

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jae Lee with June Chung; Bjorn Barends; Michael Cho; Alex Toth; Francesco Mattina

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (May 2024)

Rated “Teen”

Space Ghost is a superhero character created by the American animation studio and production company, Hanna-Barbera Productions. The character first appeared in the Saturday morning cartoon series, “Space Ghost,” which was originally broadcast on CBS from September 1966 to September 1967 for 20 episodes. Space Ghost shared his television series with a second feature, entitled “Dino Boy in the Lost Valley.” Space Ghost was designed by cartoonist and comic book artist, Alex Toth (1928-2006), who created the character with Hanna-Barbera's founders, William Hanna (1910-2001) and Joseph Barbera (1911-2006).

In his original incarnation, Space Ghost was a superhero whose base of operations was a small world known as “Ghost Planet.” He fought super-villains in outer space with his teen sidekicks, Jan and Jace, and their monkey, Blip. His main weapons were power bands he wore around his wrists and lower arms; the bands fired off multiple energy beam-based attacks, including heat, cold, and force, to name a few. Space Ghost could also fly, survive in space, and turn invisible (his “Inviso Power”). He also had a space ship known as “the Phantom Cruiser.”

Space Ghost sporadically appeared in various comic book publications over a fifty year period. Dynamite Entertainment has just launched a new Space Ghost comic book as part of its licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Entitled Space Ghost Volume 1, it is written by David Pepose; drawn by Jonathan Lau; colored by Andrew Dalhouse; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.

Space Ghost Volume 1 #1 opens on Space Colony Omnicron. It is the home of brilliant scientist, Doctor Jarrod Keplar, and his children – a pair of twins – Jan (a girl) and Jace (a boy). Now, Omnicron is suffering a surprise attack at the hands of space pirates. Dr. Keplar is planning to escape with his children and their pet monkey, Blip, who is more than he seems.

The colony's defenses are overwhelmed, however, and when tragedy strikes the Keplar family, all seems lost. Yet these ruthless pirates did not count on a wild card – the cosmic vigilante known as “the Space Ghost.” This almost folkloric figure metes out justice throughout the galaxy and brings vengeance to those who prey upon the defenseless. But can even this phantom save this day?

THE LOWDOWN: Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles. Space Ghost Volume 1 #1 is the latest, but it is not the first Space Ghost comic book that I have read.

As far as I'm concerned, there have never been enough Space Ghost comic book series. His last comic book appearances before now were DC Comics' Future Quest maxi-series and Future Quest Presents #1 (DC Comics), I believe. So I'm happy about this new series. This first issue is about re-introductions of classic characters and introductions of their new versions. This first chapter is a little chaotic and a little thin on plot. Still, it's fun to see Space Ghost in action, and even more fun to see Jan and Jace take a more proactive part in the combat than they have in the past.

Jonathan Lau's illustrations and Andrew Dalhouse's colors make for a gritty narrative, which I'll accept. I prefer that Space Ghost comics mimic the slick and technically proficient design style of the artist who first visualized the world of Space Ghost, the late Alex Toth. Still, the darker and rougher graphical storytelling style here may indeed work in selling this newer vision of Space Ghost.

I highly recommend Space Ghost Volume 1 #1. It is a first issue well worth many American dollars, dear readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Dynamite Entertainment's Warner Bros. comic book series will want to read Space Ghost Volume 1.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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Thursday, May 2, 2024

Review: "RESERVOIR DOGS" is Still Running These Mean Streets

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 of 2024 (No. 1964) by Leroy Douresseaux

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence and language

DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino

WRITER: Quentin Tarantino

PRODUCER: Lawrence Bender

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrzej Sekula

EDITOR: Sally Menke

DRAMA/CRIME

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Randy Brooks, Kirk Baltz, Edward Bunker, Quentin Tarantino, and (voice) Steven Wright

Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 drama and crime film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino. It is Tarantino's debut film and is the film that brought him to the attention of movie audiences, film critics, and movie studios. Reservoir Dogs focuses on the aftermath of jewelry heist gone wrong as each surviving criminal tries to find out which of his cohorts is a police informant.

Reservoir Dogs opens in a diner and introduces eight gangsters. The boss is Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney), and he and his son, “Nice Guy” Eddie Cabot (Chris Penn), are plotting the heist of jewelry store that has obtained some pricey, fine-cut diamonds. Joe has put together a crew to pull off what seems like a routine robbery, and he has given them nicknames or aliases so that they don't know each other's “Christian names.”

Larry Dimmick (Harvey Keitel) is “Mr. White.” Freddy Newendyke (Tim Roth) is “Mr. Orange.” “Toothpick” Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) is “Mr. Blonde.” The other three are “Mr. Pink” (Steve Buscemi), “Mr. Blue” (Edward Bunker), and “Mr. Brown” (Quentin Tarantino).

However, the heist turns out not to be routine because it was like the cops were waiting for them. Now, two of the six robbers are dead. Four of them are hold-up in a warehouse. One of them is grievously wounded, and one of them has shown up with a young police officer, Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz), he kidnapped. If they are going to make it out of their current predicament, however, they are going to have to discover which of them ratted the rest out to the police.

This year is the thirtieth anniversary of the original theatrical release of Quentin Tarantino's most famous film, Pulp Fiction. It's also the 30th anniversary of the film's debut at the 47th Cannes Film Festival. Before I take a look at that film in its entirety for the first time in thirty years, I decided to go back and watch Reservoir Dogs in its entirety for the first time in over thirty years.

Over the last few decades, I have seen many films referred to as “neo-noir,” because they are modern versions of “Film-Noir.” This term refers to the stylized Hollywood dramas – especially crime dramas – of the 1930s to the 1960s. The 1940s and 1950s are seen as the classic period of Film-Noir. I believe that Reservoir Dogs is legitimately neo-noir because it recalls two of my favorite Film-Noir classics, John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956), especially the latter of which Reservoir Dogs borrows several ideas and elements. Early on, it is also clear that the nonlinear narrative that Tarantino uses in Reservoir Dogs is similar to that of Akira Kurosawa's classic period drama, Rashomon (1950).

Reservoir Dogs introduces audiences to what would become Tarantino narrative hallmarks: pop culture references; gory violence, hard-hitting action, nonlinear storytelling, and a heady mixture of songs from the 1960s and 1970s. In this case, the music is introduced by an unseen radio DJ, K-Billy, voiced by comedian and actor, Steven Wright. At the time, however, those didn't feel like hallmarks. They were new, and over thirty years later, they still feel new, not like things that are now director trademarks which in many ways define Tarantino's career and process. Even watching the film now, I see them as clever flourishes from a young director with a lot of potential.

Yes, the dialogue does not always sparkle, but every moment of this film bursts with potential even. That is true even when the nonlinear storytelling reveals that the entire process of the jewelry store heist seems like a thing inadvertently built on a house of holes.

Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Steve Buscemi provide the strong performances that often keep Reservoir Dogs from seeming like a shallow work of plagiarisms. The bring depth, weight, and substance to ideas that might falter in the hands of lesser talents. Chris Penn and Lawrence Tierney make for a believable father-son duo, and the film's lone Black actor, Randy Brooks, as the police official, Holdaway, dominates every scene in which he appears.

Thirty-two years later, I am now wondering why I haven't watched Reservoir Dogs more often. It, along with Tarantino's next two feature films, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown (1997), form Tarantino's purest filmmaking period. Without the big budgets he would get in his twenty-first century films, he had to be clever about the places he flexed himself, whereas now he can indulge his every whim. His characters were vulnerable and living on the margins as regular people, low-level criminals, and cheap hoods. In his films of the last two decades, the characters are flashy anti-heroes and rebels played by some of Hollywood biggest stars. Reservoir Dogs has not aged well simply because it has not aged. It still feels like a star recently born.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, May 2, 2024

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Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Review: Stanley Kubrick's "THE KILLING" is Still Killer Noir

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 85 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Killing (1956) – B&W

Running time: 85 minutes (1 hour, 25 minutes)

DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick

WRITERS: Stanley Kubrick with Jim Thompson for additional dialogue (based upon the novel by Lionel White)

PRODUCER: James B. Harris

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lucien Ballard

EDITOR: Betty Steinberg

COMPOSER: Gerald Fried

FILM-NOIR/CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook, Jr., Marie Windsor, Ted DeCorsia, Joe Sawyer, James Edwards, Timothy Carey, Joseph Turkel, Jay Adler, Kola Kwariani, and Art Gilmore (narrator)

The Killing is a 1956 American Film-Noir thriller and crime drama from director Stanley Kubrick. The film is based upon the 1955 novel, Clean Break, from author Lionel White. The film follows a veteran criminal who assembles a five-man team to help him pull off a daring racetrack robbery.

Mention Stanley Kubrick’s name and most film fans will immediately think of his films such as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, or later Kubrick films like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. Not many will remember the film that first earned him the notice of Hollywood heavyweights like Kirk Douglas and Marlon Brando, a terrific little film-noir gem called, The Killing.

After spending five years in Alcatraz, ex-convict Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) decides that if he’s going to commit crimes, the reward should be worth the risk, and he’s found one that’s very worth the risk – a million dollar heist of a racetrack. Clay masterminds a brilliant and complicated scheme to steal $2,000,000, and recruits several conspirators including track employees and a crooked cop. The only flaw in Johnny’s near-perfect plan is that one of his gang members, George Peatty (Elisha Cook), tells his shrewish wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), about the planned robbery, and she shares it with her boyfriend. Add a little dog and things get complicated very quickly.

The Killing is one of the best heist films I’ve ever seen. A superb cast of character actors, most used to playing tough guys, policeman, and shady types, gives this film a solid Film-Noir atmosphere and creates a edgy, taunt little thriller that you can’t stop watching until its concluded. Sterling Hayden plays Johnny Clay as a firm, no-nonsense guy that any hood would follow, and in a quiet, subtle fashion, he gives this film added edge.

Stanley Kubrick shaped The Killing using a non-linear structure, in which the narrative moves backwards and forwards in time. Many viewers will recognize non-linear structure as a Quentin Tarantino signature style in such films as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. In fact, Tarantino credits The Killing with influencing his decision to shape his film narratives in a non-linear structure.

The film has a few problems that keep it from being a truly great film. Art Gilmore’s narration is poor, delivered in that stereotypical monotone used for crime films. Some of the dialogue is a bit too stiff, and the film drags much of the first half hour. However, The Killing pays off the viewers’ patience quite handsomely in the form of an excellent crime film about small time hoods masterminding the perfectly plotted heist.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Original Post: Sunday, June 03, 2007

EDITED: Wednesday, May 1, 2024

NOTES:

1957 BAFTA Film Award: 1 nomination: “Best Film from any Source” (USA)

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A Negromancer May 2024

Welcome to May 2024. Happy May Day! Happy Cinco de Mayo! May the 4th Be With You! Welcome to Negromancer 2.0. This is the rebirth of the Negromancer, the former movie review site, as a movie review and entertainment and culture news blog.

All images and text appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademarks of their respective owners.

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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from April 21st to 30th, 2024 - UPDATE #16

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From Deadline: Danny and Michael Philippou, the directors of the hit horror film, "Talk To Me," are reteaming with that film's distributor, A24, for a new film, "Bring Her Back." The film is set to star Sally Hawkins.

EMMYS - From Deadline: I missed this, dear readers. The nominations for the 2024 / 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced Sat., June 8, 2024.

CANNES - From Variety: Lily Gladstone, Eva Green, Omar Sy, Ebru Ceylan, Nadine Labaki, Juan Antonio Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Kore-eda Hirokazu comprise the jury for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Oscar-nominee Greta Gerwig is jury president.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 4/26 to 4/28/2024 weekend box office is Amazon/MGM's "Challengers" (starring Zendaya) with an estimated take of 15 million dollars.

TELEVISION - From Deadline: The fate of "NCIS: Hawai'i" is no longer up in the air. CBS has cancelled the series after three seasons, making the announcement yesterday, Fri., April 26th.

From Deadline: CBS has renewed "The Equalizer" starring Queen Latifah for a fifth season. However, the fate of "NCIS: Hawai'i" is still up in the air.

SCANDAL - From APNews: The state Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction. The court found that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. The court ordered a new trial. The 75-year-old Weinstein has been serving a 23-year sentence in the Mohawk Correctional Facility near Rome, New York.

From Variety: Harvey Weinstein was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan on Saturdays, just two days after his 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned (Thurs., April 25th).

MOVIES - From Deadline: Sources tell the site that actors Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Oscar-nominated Ralph Fiennes will star in the first film of the upcoming "28 Years Later" trilogy. The new film will be directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, the director and writer, respectively of the original film, "28 Days Later."

ANIMATION - From Variety: This year marks the 25th anniversary of the airing of the debut episode of Fox's long-running animated series, "Family Guy," specifically January 31, 1999. Because it was cancelled twice, the series is currently concluding its 22nd season. Recently voice actor, Patrick Warburton, who voices one of the series main character, paraplegic police officer, "Joe Swanson," says that his parents hate the show. He says that his mother even tried to get "Family Guy" cancelled.

MOVIES - From Deadline: Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, laments the end of the 20-year-old film and television production company, Participant. Participant was behind Guggenheim and Al Gore's Oscar-winning doc, "An Inconvenient Truth."

From Variety: The 20-year-old film and television production company whose mission was to inspire social justice and humanitarian action, Participant (formerly Participant Media), is shutting down. Established in 2004, Participant co-produced or co-financed a number of notable movies including the "Best Picture" Oscar winner "Spotlight," as well as Steven Spielberg’s "Lincoln" and the Oscar-winning, breakthrough documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

MUSIC - From Deadline: The 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. The inductees are as follows: A Tribe Called Quest, Cher, Foreigner, Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Mary J. Blige, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, Norman Whitfield, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, MC5, Suzanne de Passe, and Big Mama Thornton.

POLITICS - From Salon: "Mainstream conservatives" never really purged the fascists, according to a wonderful piece by Salon writer, Paul Rosenberg. Rosenberg interviews David Austin Walsh about his new book, "Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right."

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo: The winner of the 4/19 to 4/21/2024 weekend box office is A24's "Civil War" with an estimated take of 11.1 million dollars.

MOVIES/TRAILERS - From Variety: Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's new thriller, "Trap." Starring Josh Hartnett, the film follows a father and daughter who attend a pop star's concert only to realize that they are at the center of a dark and sinister event. And Hartnett's character is a serial killer known as "The Butcher." The pop star is played by M. Night's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, who is an actual singer-songwriter.

OBITS:

From Deadline: American television actress, Marla Adams, has died at the age of 85, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Adams was best known for her roles as "Belle Clemens" on the former CBS soap opera, "The Secret Storm," from 1968 to 1974, and also as "Dina Abbott Mergeron" a recurring character on "The Young and the Restless," that appeared in 235 episodes on and off from 1983 to 2021. Adams was twice nominated in the Daytime Emmy Award category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series," winning in 2021.

From Deadline: British art director and production designer, Ray Chan, has died at the age of 56, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Chan was best known for his work in art direction, production design, and additional photography for Marvel Studios, beginning with "Thor: The Dark World" (2013) to the upcoming "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024). He was nominated for five Art Directors Guild Awards and won twice.

Monday, April 29, 2024

BOOM! Studios Shipping from Diamond Distributors for May 1, 2024

BOOM! STUDIOS

JAN240071 ALICE NEVER AFTER TP $19.99

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Dynamite Entertainment Shipping from Diamond Distributors for May 1, 2024

DYNAMITE

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