The Secondhand Stan Lee Story

Posted on November 13, 2018 by geelw

Excelsior It’s been that sort of a mean and insane day (well, one of too many to count), but let’s skim to the memory bank, happier times wing for a spell. I actually have three Stan Lee stories, but two of them are less “stories” and more “sightings” in that sort of “Hey, is that Stan Lee?” followed by someone saying “No it’s not… wait a minute… Oh yeah! It’s Stan Lee!” followed by a “Hi, Stan!” if he was within a few feet inside not quite yelling distance. Boring, mundane, nothing special, THE END.

Now, the third Stan Lee story isn’t mine at all, actually. It was told to me maybe 25 years ago by a friend of a friend and it struck me as a pretty amusing anecdote about Lee being the biggest of people in the smallest of spaces.

Anyway, back around 1982 or ’83 (although one retelling noted this may have happened in 1981, but I doubt that because that was the year Lee moved to California), the FoF was attending a comic convention where he’d heard rumors of Stan making an appearance at some point. He was sharing a hotel room with six other people and on the second day, he and five of the roomies decided to crawl out of bed after a night of partying for an early breakfast before the con got underway. The seventh person was a heavy sleeper, so it was decided that someone in the breakfast club would get something to go for Snoozy McBoozy to nosh on.

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Random Films of the Week: A Little New Year’s Cleaning

Posted on January 2, 2018 by geelw

Yeah, Happy New Year and all that stuff. I figure I’ll post more than I did last year even though I got sick and was out of action for a month or so which led to a bigger backlog that I’m still wading through. My plans to write up and pre-load posts went south thanks to that, but I think with my health getting better (albeit temporarily) I’ll try and tackle stuff slightly differently on occasion. Or: Eh, I’ve been watching a ton of movies in no particular order, so you get to pore over a few quickie capsule recommends.

Stormy Monday – Mike Figgis’ first film was this stylized bit of 1988 brilliance that featured Sean Bean, Melanie Griffith, Tommy Lee Jones and Sting, plus a pretty darn neat jazz score by the director. The neon-soaked Newcastle setting features some of Roger Deakins’ lovely cinematography that makes this a total treat to watch. It’s more or less a noir gangster flick with some solid performances and an overall sense that something bad is going to happen what with all the tense glowering and some romantic notions that make for a bit of conflict as things progress.

I actually hadn’t heard of this film other than seeing a trailer way back before it was initially released in theaters. I didn’t think it was for me back then, but thanks to Arrow Video, I’ve been proven quite incorrect. Expect a fine director’s commentary from Figgis along with a few cool bonus features on this BD/DVD combo that make this a nice surprise to discover if you’ve never seen or heard of it until now. Amusingly enough, this pairs well with Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire thanks to both films mixing reality and fantasy elements (although Figgis gets the edge and the edgier performances overall).

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The New Mutants Trailer: Freaks & Geeks, The Remix

Posted on October 13, 2017 by geelw

As I’m ancient enough have been around during the Chris Claremont/Bill Sienkiewicz run on The New Mutants (issues 18-31, 35-38), the upcoming film having a horror vibe (well, as seen in this trailer and you know how trailers are [if you know what’s good for you]) doesn’t surprise me at all. Bill’s groundbreaking artwork was at its best when things got seriously twisty and psychological and I do recall there was a definite like/hate thing going on among some comics fans of the period who wanted a more traditional art style. Me, I was all in from the first collaboration and stayed until a few issues after he left just to wrap up a few story points.

As usual, no big fat over-speculation here about the trailer other than to say (despite the rubbery membrane wall effect) it’s eye-catching (ow!) and has me intrigued enough to run it and yes, the casting looks quite like the characters I recall from way back when. Also as usual, the wait begins to see if the actual film is actually decent enough to drop ticket money on when it’s finally released or snapping up the inevitable Blu-Ray when that drops a few months later. We shall see, but signs are somewhat hopeful I’d say.

-GW

Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer: Re-suit Reboot Looks To Grab Loot

Posted on March 30, 2017 by geelw

So, how are you doing, dear readers? Good? Good. Me? Meh, I’m doing okay. Anyway, I missed the first trailer to Spider-Man: Homecoming a few months back, so it’s above and the newer trailer that dropped yesterday is below. The big legal issues keeping Spidey out of Marvel’s bigger cinematic universe seem to be ironed out (at least for the foreseeable future), so say hello a second time to Tom Holland, whose portrayal of the character in Captain America: Civil War helped give that film some much-needed levity. Speaking of levity, how’s the kind of in-joke of Michael Keaton going from playing Birdman to another bird-man get you? I don’t think Oscar will come calling again for a superhero flick (despite what Logan has done in terms of critical response and yeah, yeah, Suicide Squad winning its hair/makeup award), but it’s also just fine by me that this reboot isn’t looking as cheesy as the last few attempts at making him a big deal were.

That said, my rules of engagement still apply: Unless I get invited to a premiere here in NYC, I’m holding out for the Blu-Ray version for those bonus features and any extended footage chopped out of the theatrical cut. I don’t think Marvel is quite as nefarious as DC in terms of this stuff, but I’m admittedly a few films behind in both cinematic universes.

-GW

Marvel Comics Fans: Uncle Milton (Stark?) Needs Your Aid

Posted on January 13, 2016 by geelw

If you’re a Marvel Comics fan, your Uncle Milton needs your assistance with a new project, stat! “Who’s your Uncle, now?” NO, not that Uncle Milton. The other one who’s still around that makes all those cool science-themed gadgets and gizmos that sometimes pop up as usefully educational gifts from time to time. That’s who! Anyway, Uncle Milton is going to be introducing the Marvel Avengers Tesseract 20Q game this coming fall and they want Marvel fans from anywhere on the planet to go HERE and help out with the artificial intelligence by playing a few games that will help the 20Q become a smarter product. Your heroic efforts will not go unrewarded, as smarter toys and games is something that makes for endless reply value.

Now, you KNOW you can trust your Uncle Milton, right? Sure, the Tesseract 20Q may seem as if it’s somewhat *sinister*, but that’s actually part of its appeal. Hey, if it does happen to have cosmic powers after all, the worst thing that could happen is you beat it once and get a free trip to Asgard. Well, provided that Tesseract hasn’t been *borrowed* (again!) and is in the hands of some nefarious would-be world eating alien presence. Which would most likely mean you may want the Avengers HQ phone number in your speed dial. Just in case.

Anyway, go test out that 20Q and make sure to follow Uncle Milton at the links below:

Uncle Milton Social Media Channels:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/unclemilton

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/unclemiltontoys

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/UncleMilton1

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/unclemilton

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/unclemilton

-GW

Marvel’s Most Powerful Ladies Need Your Attention For A Hot Second

Posted on August 19, 2015 by geelw

What, no Night Nurse, The Cat/Tigra, Shanna The She Devil or someone newer, hipper and cooler to the kids these days like Squirrel Girl? Anyway, the folks at Morphsuits want you to ogle their own list of MOST powerful Marvel Comics ladies, but you’d better be quick about that ogling part. That super-powered punch to the jaw or other body areas (ouch) will be one of the last things you remember before waking up in the hospital.

Which is exactly why Night Nurse needs to be on that list, ladies and gents. Well, there’s always next year’s infographic, right?

More From The Vaults: Found Object Fridays

Posted on April 25, 2015 by geelw

Hey there- here’s some more random stuff I unearthed from the vaults while my PC was out of action for a few days earlier this week. I ended up making more of a mess “cleaning up” than I did when I left all those bins and boxes alone. But I did find some nice things I knew I’d kept for assorted good reasons. Enjoy the quick trip down memory lane!

If I recall correctly, this sketch was gotten in a rather oddball reverse double back-flip manner at a Creation Con back in 1981 or ’82. I was minding a friend’s table at the show while displaying some of my (lousy) artwork and a man walked up and started looking through my stuff. We chatted for a bit about comics and when he told me his name was Al Kurzrok, I was thrilled because I remembered the outstanding lettering he did for Marvel on Doctor Strange back in the late 60’s. When I noted that to him and asked for an autograph, he asked me for a sheet of paper and did this quick sketch. That was a big day-maker for me back then.

Heh. Back in 1981, a dot matrix printout sure looked “futuristic”, so here you go: The press kit for Peter Hyams‘ sci-fi flick OUTLAND. The film is basically High Noon in outer space with Sean Connery playing the Gary Cooper part. High Noon is a better film by far, by the way. That said, it does have some suspenseful moments (and a few exploding heads, eww), Frances Sternhagen gets the best part and lines in the film and there’s a great Jerry Goldsmith score worth tracking down.

All that and like many of Hyams’s best films, there’s a nice foot chase that perks things up at just the right moment.

I have a lot more ancient history here, but I’ll pull the plug on this installment before I end up making an even bigger pile of stuff in the home office. No need to have to sleep curled up in a closet because there’s way too much stuff on the bed and floor, right?

Marvel Mighty Heroes Teaser: Your DeNA Just Got An Adrenaline Shot

Posted on February 23, 2015 by geelw

Here’s a BIG kick in the pants for a Monday, courtesy of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. Okay, not really. it’s actually a brand new mobile game on the way from the folks at DeNA and developer ngmoco. Their upcoming F2P game Marvel Mighty Heroes looks to bring fast-paced tactical co-op action to iOS and Android devices soon. That teaser video above should get you fans motivated enough to pre-register for the game, but I’ll drop the press release below the jump if you need a tiny bit more convincing. Continue reading →

Funko Hikari Friday! Gold Spidey Up For Grabs!

Posted on February 6, 2015 by geelw

This week’s giveaway from Funko is a biggie. If you love Spider-Man, HUGE vinyl figures and the prospect of owning one that looks as if it’s made of gold, well… this one’s for you. Er, only if you’re the lucky winner, that is. Take a gander at all 10 inches of 24k Gold Spider-Man Hikari Premium Sofubi Figure:

Again, he’s not REALLY made of 24k gold, but he is kind of rare. WIN and you get #1 of 750 off the line. Enter by going to one of Funko’s social sites:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the rules and BOOM, you’re in. If you win, you get a note and later a big ol’ box. If you lose and still want this, it’s now available at your favorite Funko retailer. As always, GOOD LUCK, and check back in next week for another giveaway!

Hikari Friday: Mystic Powers Spidey Could Be Yours!

Posted on January 16, 2015 by geelw

This weeks Funko Hikari Friday giveaway? It’s a simply too colorful for his own good Spider-Man up for grabs. ONE lucky winner will get #1 of 1000 of this limited edition Hikari Premium Japanese Vinyl Mystic Powers Spider-Man in all his shiny rainbow-colored glory. Check him out below:

As usual, entering is a cinch, but winning takes a LOT of luck. Still, take a chance and you never know. Spidey just may be slinging some of those mystic powers of his on your tchotchke shelf as a nice surprise! Anyway, hit up Funko on one of their social channels:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the dirt-simple rules and you’re in it to won it. Hopefully! The lucky winner of this week’s figure will be notified in about a week. Good luck and check back next week for a new giveaway!