Tag Archives: 2004

Spanish Cover for “Grendel: Black, White & Red” #3, Matt Wagner, 2004

Dark Horse Books.

Cover to “Gotham Central” #20, Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano & Lee Loughridge, 2004

DC Comics.

(Though it’s ironically a good portmanteau.)

A bad adaptation is a badaptation.



troy

Cover to “Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity” Hardcover, Matt Wagner, 2004

DC Comics.

bats

A short review of Season 2 of “From” (2023).

“From” Season 2 (2023) wasn’t quite as good as Season 1.  The show borrows so much its obvious inspiration, “Lost” (2004-2010), that it also inherits that program’s central flaw — an overabundance of mysteries that confuse the narrative.

Season 1 was … mostly a self-enclosed, tidy horror tale that was reminiscent of the various iterations of “The Twilight Zone” — waylaid travelers in a mysteriously  inescapable town are stalked by supernatural monsters.  Smaller mysteries were peppered into the plot, and for me those story points were mostly just distracting — but it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the show.

Season 2, however, introduced so many subplot mysteries that the story sometimes became a little difficult to follow.  (Or are they really subplots?  We’re now shown that the monsters of Season 1 are only one element of the supernatural landscape that our protagonists must survive.)

My complaint above should be taken in context, though — “From” is still the scariest show on television.  It’s got some really good writing and some terrific characters, with a few standout actors that hit a home run every time they’re onscreen.  One is David Alpay as a the group’s hilarious, antisocial genius; another is Scott McCord as a gentle giant with the mind of an eight-year-old boy.

“From” is still an amazing watch.  The second season wasn’t perfect, but it was still great.  It remains the show that I am surprised that so few people are talking about.



from

Throwback Thursday: that one time I walked up on the filming of a U2 video.

Flashback to the middle aughts — I emerged from New York City’s Penn Station with a group of friends to an amazing surprise.  It was none other than U2 being hauled past the transportation hub on the back of a flatbed truck, playing music.

Then, the other day, after maybe 18 years or so, my girlfriend sends me the video for a song she likes — U2’s “All Because of You.”  (It’s from their 2004 album, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”)  There’s the flatbed truck with the band performing all over the city.

So that’s what that was all about.  A mystery nearly two decades old at lasts stands revealed.

Of course I scoured every frame of the video hoping that there was a one-in-a-million chance I’d see myself in the background.  No such luck.

Anyway, my four other brushes with famous people are as follows:

  1. Madonna.  (I saw her for two seconds entering a building in Manhattan.)
  2. Linda Ronstadt.  (I gave her a tour at a historic site.)
  3. Marissa Tormei.  (I saw her in a restaurant in Brooklyn.)
  4. Ralph Macchio.  (I checked him out at a video store.)
  5. Henry Kissinger.  (I saw him at a fundraising event and helped his Secret Service detail get situated.  Seriously, you can not make this stuff up.)


Throwback Thursday: “Ca-Ca-Catch the Wave!”

Here they are — all the Max Headroom ads for Coca-Cola.  (I am linking here to the awesome Zona C Youtube channel.)  When I mentioned the iconic corporate spokesman here on Monday, I had no idea he’d appeared in so many Coke commercials.

Matt Frewer’s stuttering alter-ego really was everywhere in the 1980’s.  (There’s a terrific rundown of his digital reign right here over at Pop History Dig.)  And, for my money, the infamous pirate broadcast incident in Chicago is actually a little creepy when viewed in its entirety, in an accidental, V/H/S kind of way.  (I actually remember seeing coverage of it on the nightly news back in the day — someone hacking into a television broadcast was a big deal.)

Frewer himself remains a sublimely talented guy.  He’s now 65, and his filmography is truly gigantic.  He’s an always enjoyable “that-guy” actor who pops up in all sorts of horror and sci-fi properties.  (You can probably tell a lot about your personality and viewing habits by where you’ve seen him last.)  My favorite role of his might his turn as a doomed nice-guy in the 2004 remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” simply because I love that movie so much.



Poster for “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” (2004)

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Touchstone Pictures.

Life

Cover to “Rogue” #3, Rodolfo Migliari, 2004

Marvel Comics.

2

Cover to “Grendel: Devil’s Reign” #4, Tim Sale, 2004

Dark Horse Comics.

dr