Dino
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Tai-Pan
Posts: 166
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Post by Dino on Jan 17, 2011 8:08:03 GMT -5
Before I met guys like Derrick, I didn't really know what pulp was. And when I found out, my first reaction was, "you mean Indiana Jones, the Rocketeer, James Bond, all this stuff I loved growing up is pulp? Why didn't anyone tell me?!"
In fact, after listening to this episode, first thing I did was pop in my copy of The Rocketeer.
I do find it mind-boggling how people like Brian Azzarello can say that no one except for guys in their seventies can appreciate a character like Doc Savage. Well I'm in my late twenties, a sight younger than Azzarello (evidenced by the fact that his first comic work was published when I was still in elementary school), so I'm as part of the modern world as anyone else. And guess what? I love characters like Doc.
Someone should inform uninformed and pretentious assholes like this that Indiana Jones, who's still as popular now as he was in the 80s, is a total pulp character, set in the 30s/40s, and people STILL love him.
And of course it's always great to listen to Ron. I always enjoy his appearances on The Book Cave. The man's got a wealth of knowledge and I always walk away with a better understanding of the pulp field whenever I listen to him or read his interviews. Although I disagree about the Darkman sequels -- I personally thought they were awful and nowhere near the caliber of the Raimi original.
It's also interesting to note that Raimi created another pulp character during this time, except for television -- the MANTIS. I recently re-watched both the series (which Raimi had no real involvement with) and the telefilm that he and Sam Hamm created together. And you can definitely see the pulp influences in that original telefilm more so than in the Bryce Zabel-produced series.
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Post by Eddie Love on Jan 17, 2011 11:58:48 GMT -5
Agreed. Fascinating topic, well served. Personally, I rank THE ROCKETEER higher than any of the Indiana Jones pictures. It also ranks high among the most underrated films ever, in that it succeeds perfectly at what it sets out to do. I also love THE PHANTOM and showed the Blu-Ray to my teenage brother-in-law over Christmas and he liked it but, alas, found it "corny." I think you do have to have an affinity for those kind of period adventures, which those of us who grew up on, if not serials, than Tarzan pictures and other B-movie series have.
But, I'm not sold on green-screen myself. There's just a high I get out of watching a beautiful, practical period evocation (ala ROCTETEER, PHANTOM, LA CONFIDENTIAL) that I have yet to get out of something like Jackson's KONG. (And not of the giant foam variety, mama. Could the Hyphen be bringin' da genius more?)
On a side note, I'm also a huge Old Time Radio fan where I love stuff like The Shadow and The Green Hornet -- both of which hold up a lot better when listened to today than some of the more "sophisticated" non-pulp series. Anyway, I have a theory about the Sherlock Holmes series you mentioned in the intro with Rathbone and Bruce. These are -- I believe -- later shows they did, mostly non-Doyle and if you listen to them today they are...how shall I put this...um... really gay. Someone who wrote these was having a blast inserting some double entendres and asides that went straight (pun intended) over the actors' heads. and one assumes most of the audiences. I can't recall the individual episode titles, but unless I'm really off, it's pretty blantant to today's ears. When that series went on hiatus it was replaced by a great show called The Casebook of Gregory Hood, same writers, about an antiques dealer who solves crimes. In San Francisco. Starring Gale Gordon. Great show, same subversive content.
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Post by Derrick on Jan 17, 2011 19:44:36 GMT -5
Agreed. Fascinating topic, well served. Personally, I rank THE ROCKETEER higher than any of the Indiana Jones pictures. It also ranks high among the most underrated films ever, in that it succeeds perfectly at what it sets out to do. I also love THE PHANTOM and showed the Blu-Ray to my teenage brother-in-law over Christmas and he liked it but, alas, found it "corny." I think you do have to have an affinity for those kind of period adventures, which those of us who grew up on, if not serials, than Tarzan pictures and other B-movie series have. Now that is an excellent observation. When I was growing up, Saturday and Sunday afternoon TV was filled with Tarzan movies and edited versions of Saturday morning serials such as FLASH GORDON, SPY SMASHER, NYOKA, THE MASKED MARVEL, etc. and that's how I got to know these characters. Such is not the case any more. |
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Post by smang12345 on Jan 18, 2011 14:05:12 GMT -5
And here I thought I was the only one who loved The Phantom and Rocketeer. Billy Zane might not be the best actor in the world but I remember seeing interviews and he talked about his dedication to the role and how he talked about it really made me want to see it. I still have the Phantom ring they were giving out at the Chicago Comic Con when the movie came out. A nice, heavy, solid metal bit of cool.
I wonder if they will ever release a 2-disc ultimate Rocketeer or Phantom. I must have these for my collection.
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Post by smang12345 on Jan 18, 2011 14:06:46 GMT -5
Oh, and I want one of those Rocketeer helmets. That would be the ultimate collectible for me. I am taking donations now.
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Post by james on Jan 19, 2011 8:02:29 GMT -5
Aside from the big action scenes, The Rockateer has some great "small moments" as well. Two of my favorites: 1) the mobster and the FBI agent are side by side, shooting at the Nazi agents. They look at each other, shrug, and continuing firing. 2) Timothy Dalton is trying to win back Jennifer Connolly, and she realizes that he's using lines from his movies (ie., he's just acting, not sincere).
Regarding serials, you can now find the two disc set of the two Superman serials (released to promote Superman Returns) very cheap, if you look around. I got mine for $5.99. The picture quality is impeccable, but I cannot watch more than one episode at a time. They get repetitive, otherwise. You really do have to watch them once a week, they way they were meant to be seen. It's interesting to see, in the first serial, the destruction of Krypton and Kal-El being sent to Earth, 30 years before Richard Donner's film.
For what it's worth, I loved most of Jackson's Kong (I didn't care for some of the Skull Island sequence, though).
James
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drewshi
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Post by drewshi on Jan 20, 2011 18:45:38 GMT -5
Phantom fans, you can't get the movie on DVD anymore, but there is a Blu Ray release.
Love that film. Saw it in the theater and it was like the strip come to life. I was introduced to the strip as a kid while visiting my grandparents in Ireland. I knew of The Phantom, but the strip wasn't running in any paper in New York. I read it every day in the Irish papers for two months straight and had my grandfather fill me in when returned to America.
I forget though, was the abomination on Syfy mentioned?
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Dino
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Tai-Pan
Posts: 166
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Post by Dino on Jan 21, 2011 5:28:06 GMT -5
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drewshi
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Post by drewshi on Jan 26, 2011 19:37:56 GMT -5
Dino,
Thank you for the reminder! I checked on iTunes and they have it too. I'm a happy camper.
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