Riverdale

The newest of the loosely based comic book shows debuted last week on the CW. One might say, don't they have enough of those over there already? And while DCTV mastermind Greg Berlanti is one of the executive producers, this isn't a DC Comics show, it's Archie Comics.

Now Archie and the gang have been translated to the small screen many many times, but only animation seems to stick, the live action attempts have flailed in the ratings and vanished. This time the showrunners have the characters and concepts solidly into the adult 21st century. Behind this is specifically Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - the award winning writer from "Glee," "Big Love," the remakes of Carrie and The Town that Dreaded Sundown, dozens of comics, and one of the current heads of Archie Comics.

From the opening moments the first episode is very Lynch-ian, as if the intent was to do "Twin Peaks" rather than the Archies. Most of the characters are here, and well cast, but mood is very Blue Velvet and Shadow of a Doubt, a small town where innocence only hides darkness. The high school vibe borrows much from a "Beverly Hills 90210" feel, which is painful for us old folks as Luke Perry plays Archie's dad. Ooof. I'm old, but so is he.

Feeling old isn't the worst this show has to offer though. Before the opening credits even roll, we learn that Archie had a torrid summer sex encounter with Ms. Grundy. Yeah, they go there, but before you gouge your eyes out, this Grundy teacher is young and hot. Future episodes tempt us with Betty and Veronica kissing and Josie and the Pussycats doing a modern remake of "Sugar Sugar," I'm not sure which is the bigger outrage… I have to say I also kinda dug Jughead as the creepy loner/writer with the Silent Bob vibe.

All that said, the show is compelling and worth watching, especially for viewers out there cold turkeying for the new "Twin Peaks" and the lesser "Wayward Pines." However, other than a couple cool Easter eggs, and characters with the same names, there's not much here for Archie fans. I'll give a few more episodes. What did y'all think?

The Towns That Dreaded Sundown

Producer/director/actor Charles B. Pierce, perhaps best known for making Bigfoot famous in The Legend of Boggy Creek, took another 'true story' and mined it for this Sam Zarkoff American International movie that serves as the blueprint for the traditional slasher film. Written by Earl E. Smith, in 1976's The Town That Dreaded Sundown, we learn the tale of the Phantom Killer who terrorized young couples on lovers lanes in Texarkana in 1946.

The movie begins documentary style establishing the period, including narration by Vern Stierman who also did the job more than ably for Boggy Creek. His frequent voiceovers keep the film solidly in docudrama mode, which for the most part works.

Unlike the slasher flicks that would follow, this one views things from law enforcement as opposed to the kids. Veteran character actors Andrew Prine and Ben Johnson take point in the investigation with great chemistry, along with Bierce himself providing much needed comic relief as their sidekick. Also look for Dawn Wells, Mary Ann from "Gilligan's Island," late in the film.

The film looks very good, and the period is set well. I loved the music, the clothes, the cars, and even the language. Kudos go to Jaime Mendoza-Nava, an underrated composer of 1970s B-movies who deserves more credit than perhaps he's been given. He was good. The film gets all As for atmosphere. And it's not just a great period piece for the 1940s, but also 1970s cinema as well.

Stuntman and later stunt coordinator Bud Davis played the masked killer known as the Phantom. Except for the ridiculous trombone scene, he is actually pretty frightening. And his white bag mask conjures imagery of the Ku Klux Klan, which is scary enough, but notably it made me wonder what the movie was really about when I saw the video box before I ever saw it.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown was reimagined in 2014 by Ryan Murphy, the brains behind "Glee" and "Nip/Tuck," and his sometime collaborator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a big muckety-muck at Archie Comics, and whose credits also include The Stand comics for Marvel, HBO's "Big Love," and the 2013 remake of Carrie. It might seem like an odd fit, but it kinda works.

This is notably not a remake as much as it's a sequel, one in which the original movie is a movie based on the real events. Yeah, I know, it's a whole new level of meta. There are many

parallels, and the narration is a nice touch. With "Nip/Tuck" so many years ago, and more than a few seasons of "Glee" since then, it's easy to forget that Ryan Murphy has a very deft hand with suspense and horror.

Watching these two flicks back to back was an intense but entertaining evening of television, two generations of creators giving their take on a supposedly true story. They're both worth a look, more so for horror fans. And don't forget, it might have happened decades ago, but they never did catch the Phantom...

Arrow S03 E05: "The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak"

Being a hardcore comics fanboy, I appreciated the comics title of this episode, and it's about time we learned the television origins of Ms. Smoak. Like many elements of our sister show "The Flash," Felicity Smoak comes originally from the pages of Firestorm comics. Much older and brunette in the comics, Felicity ran a software firm and eventually married Ronnie Raymond's father. Much like her TV counterpart, she was burdened with secrets as she knew that Ronnie was part of the Firestorm entity.

We open on a wonderful and intense training montage - Oliver and Roy, Laurel and Ted Grant, Thea and Malcolm - followed as Thea asks what normal people do in the morning, cut to Felicity doing sit-ups to the TV. Ray Palmer shows up, followed by her mother. Felicity is not pleased. Donna Smoak is Charlotte Ross, like Barry Allen's Grant Gustin, another choice from "Glee." Mom is so far from our girl, Ray asks if she's adopted. Also, why does Ray have to seem so slimy? Or is that just Brandon Routh?

After a quick flashback to Felicity's college days as a goth hacker whose boyfriend is a bit of a mad hacktivist (and obviously, maybe too obviously as we'll see, our villain of the week), the real story begins. The power grid of Starling City goes out and then only TV monitors come back on with an image of Sauron's eye delivering an ultimatum. It calls itself Brother Eye. I'm betting on the flashback boyfriend or his roommate, but we'll see. Either way, Emily Bett Rickards looks good goth.

Brother Eye is a machine with a long and storied past in the DC Comics, originally created by the great Jack Kirby. Brother Eye is OMAC's advisor, controller, companion. Originally OMAC stood for One Man Army Corps, but later versions have been translated as Omni Mind And Community and as Observational Metahuman Activity Construct. OMAC is, in most versions, a good guy who gets his incredible strength and other abilities from his machine cohort, usually an orbital satellite called Brother Eye.

In some versions of continuity, Batman created the satellite to keep watch over other superheroes in case they went rogue or became threats. This satellite was turned against him of course in the Final Crisis. So while OMAC began as a near future hero by Kirby, most folks of this generation might think of him as an anti-hero/villain. And that goes for Brother Eye as well. Here, on "Arrow," Brother Eye is more a codename for the cyber-terrorist threatening the city.

Felicity's discovery that the virus Brother Eye is using to attack Starling is one she herself wrote back in college is the thrust of the previews for the episode, so it's not really as much of a shock as it should be, but it still packs quite a wallop. I have to learn to stop watching previews. You too. Ignore the video at the end of this review.

When the roommate's name is revealed as Myron Forest (in the comics, one of Brother Eye's creators), we really know who's behind what. Or do we? He claims innocence, and apparently Felicity's boyfriend is dead. But let's face it, the dead boyfriend is always the last one you expect. Holy red herring, Batman, Lifetime this ain't. But really, what kind of NSA super hacker could this doofus really be if he thinks Felicity is just a corporate lackey? I mean, let's face it, Team Arrow isn't the world's biggest secret. He couldn't figure that one out?

Felicity is not having a good day. She and her mom aren't the best of friends, but it all comes together in the end. Speaking of soap opera content, Laurel and her dad are just as much at odds as Felicity and her mom. Thea and Oliver are trying to get along, despite her taking Malcolm's money.

The Arrowcave question I posed last time reared its ugly head. How long will Thea put up with a locked door in her nightclub, 'flooded basement' or not? There was also another Coast City name drop. And did everyone else love the Adventures of Robin Hood movie poster at Felicity's place?

There was an awesome end fight, beginning to drop into a Batman '66 pattern, where we know at twenty of the hour there will be a fight. I loved Arrow misdirecting the motion guns. Diggle definitely needs a better battle suit. And Roy's arrow through the bazooka was so good even he didn't believe it.

Now let's talk about that ending. Roy is dreaming he killed Sara? It does fit in that Sara seemed to know her killer. And he's throwing the arrows? Can he do that without the Mirakuru in his system? Maybe it's not out? Or maybe, just maybe, it's just a dream. Having already faced T.O. Morrow, Solomon Grundy, and Brother Eye - would an appearance by Doctor Destiny be that much of a stretch really?

Arrow S02 E08: "The Scientist"

This is it, the episode, no, make that the two-part mid-season finale episode, we have all been waiting for. "Arrow" has been teasing us with comic book Easter eggs throughout the first season, and it has taken on a manic pace in the second - now we will see the debut of Barry Allen, destined to soon become, in a CW pilot, the Flash.

Now this isn't Barry Allen's first merry-go-round on television. He was animated by Filmation in the 1960s, and Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s. He made his first live-action appearance in the much-maligned "Legends of the Super-Heroes," and over a decade later starred in his own short-lived and low-rated TV series on CBS in the early 1990s. It was an expensive show, disliked by the comics community at the time, but it has aged well. Many look back on it fondly, myself included, but I liked it at the time as well.

The Flash was a mainstay of the DC Comics Animated Universe as a member of the Justice League, and was even in the TV pilot that some folks hated more than "Legends." Probably the less said about that the better. The character is almost a lock for a cameo at least, if not more, in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, Batman vs. Superman.

In the comics, the Barry Allen was the first of the Silver Age superheroes, imbued with super speed after being splashed with electrified chemicals. He was my brother's favorite, and thus became my favorite. I've been reading Flash comics for almost five decades. So yeah, I'm psyched to see Barry Allen, even pre-Flash.

In "Arrow," Grant Gustin, formerly the warbling villain from "Glee," is our Barry Allen. Initially I thought he was miscast, but five minutes after he first appears I am sold. You can say he's a bit nerdy, but let's face facts, Barry Allen is a nerd, a comic book geek, and a police scientist. Gustin, except for his hair color (but then again, the 1990s version, John Wesley Shipp, also had dark hair), is perfect.

With all the myriad plots and subplots going on in this series, this episode starts with a new story. A man with super strength has stolen a centrifuge from Queen Consolidated. Similar crimes in Central City brought CSI Barry Allen to Starling City. I love that he's always late, he runs after a cab in the rain (just like in his origin story), and there seems to be foreshadowing lightning in the sky over Starling City. And he and Felicity are smitten with one another. I guess Iris West must be in another area code.

While I suspected it was one of our subplots, our perp turns out not to be Deathstroke or Solomon Grundy, but a partaker of Professor Ivo's super-serum. Oliver says Ivo is dead, as were all his subjects, but apparently someone's trying to make more. Turns out I was two-thirds right, as that someone is Brother Blood, and the guy who beat Oliver down is none other than our buddy Cyrus Gold, the as-yet-named-thusly Solomon Grundy.

Meanwhile, Barry Allen is not all he seems. He's not in Starling on assignment, but in a personal agenda. Similar to his post-Flashpoint origin, Barry's mother was murdered when he was young, by 'a man inside a tornado,' and his father went to prison for it. We know that man was Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash. Since then Barry investigates other unexplainable cases of superhuman beings, and also idolizes folks like The Hood who could've saved his mom. Nice set-up. Outed by Oliver, he hits the road.

In the subplot department, Roy finds an overdose that was caused by Ivo's serum, The Hood tells him to stay out of it, and puts an arrow in his leg to make sure he does. Malcolm is still adamant that Thea is his daughter and he's going to take her away, but Moira puts the fear of the demon in him - by informing Ras Al Ghul that Merlyn is still alive. Oliver has one mean momma. She is positively icy when she tells Malcolm he should run.

After the ersatz Grundy (actor Graham Shiels growls and moans perfectly for the part) nearly beats Oliver to death, and our hero is accidentally jabbed with an unknown drug, Diggle and Felicity need help. In a scene reminiscent of a Bat Gas moment from the 1960s "Batman" TV show, they kidnap Barry. He wakes up in the 'Arrowcave,' secrets unraveling, cue credits.

There is also a nice shout out to Kord Industries, an indirect reference to the Blue Beetle, and the countdown has begun for the particle accelerator in Central City. I'm not sure if this will play out on "Arrow" or the new Flash series, but I can't wait. See you next week, same Arrow time, same Arrow channel.

Frozen

Frozen ~ Disney's holiday offering this year is the computer animated musical Frozen, very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen." Co-written and co-directed by Jennifer Lee (Disney's first female animation director), the tale weaves a particularly female perspective on the classic story. It is this point of view, along with the humanizing of the title villainess, that makes this film work.

"The Snow Queen" is a very dark tale, extremely messed up too, even for a fairy tale. Disney has had plans to do an adaptation of it on and off for decades, as far back as the 1940s. The story's dark nature has made it a difficult pill to swallow for the typical Disney approach. Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck break the pattern by creating a new kind of Disney Princess, two of them, Anna and her sister, the Snow Queen.

Kristen Bell steals the film as naive excited Anna, but Broadway's brilliant Idina Menzel dominates the screen when she's on it - figuratively of course, it is animation. Still, these are two fabulous voice talents. And not just speaking but singing as well. Christophe Beck's (Paperman) score is only surpassed by the songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who individually were responsible for songs in Avenue Q, Finding Nemo - The Musical, and The Book of Mormon. Frozen is their first collaboration.

The voice talent is top notch, with Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel as the sisters Anna and Elsa. Bell rocks the house, but Menzel is the true star here, and a real score for Disney, as her resume includes the best parts in Wicked and Rent, as well as a few guest stints in "Glee" when the show was at the top of its game. The singers are as fabulous as the songs themselves.

Frozen was as surprising a holiday treat as the other entries in Dinsey's 'female empowerment trilogy,' Tangled and Brave. Elsa and Anna are fine additions to the Disney Princesses, and Jennifer Lee is a director to watch. Recommended.

RIP Family Guy

The Great Gazoo. Cousin Oliver. A new class of students like on "Fame" or "Glee" or "DeGrassi." The consummation of a relationship like Dave and Maddie, Master and Jeannie, Lois and Clark. Or Carrie getting pregnant on "Homeland." It's called 'jumping the shark,' as in when Fonzie waterskied over a shark on "Happy Days."

The phrase references when a TV series has hit its pinnacle and is on it's sharp sometimes fast decline down. It's the moment of a sudden drop in quality, rationality, and popularity. It can even be defined as an act of desperation by the powers that be to 'save' or 'freshen' the series.

Get them married, get them pregnant, adopt a kid, change locale, or kill a major character. All acts of desperation. And sometimes sabotage, when the creators are tired of the same old crap week after week. Could this be what happened on "Family Guy" Sunday night?

Brian, Brian Griffin, died the other night. Brian the family dog who walks erect and talks, has conversations with, is apparently the only one who hears baby Stewie's dialogue, and is notably the only rational thinking character on the animated show, was run over by a car and died in the vet's office surrounded by the Griffins.

It is worth mentioning that creator Seth MacFarlane has very vocal with his feelings about "Family Guy" going on too long, being tired, and most good TV shows end after seven seasons ("Family Guy" is currently in its eleventh). Perhaps MacFarlane has thrown in a monkey wrench by killing beloved Brian in such a way.

I feel that Seth is giving us all a big middle finger. He's almost saying, "You really still like this show? Well, now the dog's dead. How you like it now?" He even went so far as to replace Brian with a new dog character, just as likable but different, as if teasing the audience to see how much they can take before turning away. As the episode ended, I was left puzzled, waiting for the gag that never came. And perhaps that's MacFarlane's goal.

There are of course, tricks to this one. Stewie could always travel back in time and save Brian. Perhaps it's a long arc, or perhaps this will all be forgotten next week. Seth MacFarlane has never been one to shy away from exposing television clichés in that way. I guess we'll have to wait and see, if we're still watching, and McFarlane is still doing the show. Either way, I'll miss Brian.

Glee Star Dead at 31

Over the weekend, "Glee" star Cory Monteith was found dead in Vancouver, he was 31. Recently released from rehab, drugs are suspected but unconfirmed.

Acting since he was a child, he rose quickly to stardom on Fox's "Glee" a few years back playing Finn, high school footballer who joins the glee club. The musical comedy drama experienced great success in the first couple seasons, but then fell victim to what does in most high school shows - graduation. Trapped between following popular cast to college and introducing new characters, "Glee" has floundered. Finn recently returned to a bigger role as a co-teacher of the glee club.

The Canadian actor and singer had been in a relationship with "Glee" co-star Lea Michelle for a time before his death. He will be missed.

Take the Poll

I keep forgetting that Blogger has a polling system. As long as we have it, we might as well use it, right?

As you can see by looking to the immediate right, the question up for polling right now is: What is your favorite new or returning TV series this season?

Your choices include, in no particular order or preference: The Waking Dead, Dexter, Homeland, Treme, Elementary, The Big Bang Theory, American Horror Story, Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Revolution, Castle, Glee, Person of Interest, Survivor, Fringe, Vegas, Arrow, Copper, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, or 666 Park Avenue. And if your choice isn't reflected there, please click on Other? and let me know what you think, deal?

The Three Stooges 2012

The Three Stooges ~ I love the Three Stooges. I grew up on the Three Stooges. Everybody loved the Stooges when I was a kid. We would all race home from school to see the shorts on local channel 29. We all loved them, and being a guy (it does seem to be a gender thing), I loved them a lot. And unfortunately I was also a casualty when parents groups shut them down in the early 1970s.

Like most kids, I was aware of the difference between fantasy and reality, and knew you didn't try any of that stuff the Stooges do on TV. Unfortunately those nosy parents who always seem to have too much time on their hands first had the wonderful shorts of the Stooges edited down to almost nothing by taking out the perceived violence (and essentially the humor too), and then by removing them from the air completely. You bastards, you took my Stooges away.

Let's face it, the 1970s was a very bad time for kids television. Parents had a lot of time apparently to ruin it for kids. They took our superheroes away, our Warner Bros. cartoons, our Little Rascals, and our Three Stooges. These were all too 'violent.' Heck, we knew the difference. And from then on, children's television had to watered down, have a message at the end, be educational, and conflict had to be solved through thoughtful discussion rather than Batman punching the Joker, or Moe poking Larry. I'm still not sure about Larry, but trust me, the Joker needed a punch.

Fortunately the video age saved us all, or at least the Three Stooges from this terrible time. On video, we could see the shorts in their original form, uncut and unedited, and we could see what geniuses the Stooges truly were. Today, several cable networks show the shorts on a regular basis, and the Stooges are enjoying somewhat of a renaissance. And perhaps that is what has spawned this new movie, The Three Stooges.

When I first heard of the Farrelly brothers making a new Three Stooges movie I have to admit I cringed. These are the guys responsible for such masterpieces as Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary among others. Not that their work is bad, but even when it's good, there is always some quantity of potty humor and slob comedy. Humor for ten year olds is what it is, and although I don't want to think it - it's the perfect team to return the Stooges to the big screen.

When I first saw the trailer, I was iffy, and as a Stooge fan, I was extremely wary. I am here today to say I have seen the film, and wow, I had no reason to worry, as a matter of fact, it was one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I laughed until there were tears in my eyes. Yeah, baby, it's that good.

The movie follows the boys from childhood into a Blues Brothers like plot of trying to raise money for their orphanage, and it's done in three episodic segments stylized like the shorts of old. The new Stooges do wonderful jobs of imitation and homage. Many of the stunts, the effects, and even the gags are directly from the old shorts and done with respect and humor. The first two segments are flawless Stooges extended shorts. The third segment does move into French farce as well as slapstick, but that's okay, I still dug it.

The nearly unrecognizable Sean Hayes as Larry, television veteran Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe (I'll never be able to watch "24" with a straight face again, and Will Sasso from "Mad TV" as Curly are all stellar morons in the best sense possible. Jane Lynch, Jennifer Hudson and the cast of "Jersey Shore" are all terrific but for me, the movie is stolen by Larry David every time he appears on screen as Sister Mary-Mengele.

Yeah, I loved this, more than I should have, and more than I ever would have believed either. The only thing that brought it done was during the end credits when the Farrelly brothers appear on screen to show how stunts were done and to tell kids not to try this at home. It may have been done tongue in cheek, but it brought that original 1970s bad taste back into my mouth. Stupid parents groups. Leave the Stooges, any Stooges alone. Still, this newest edition of the Three Stooges is highly recommended, bring the kids, be prepared for a little potty humor, but mostly Stooges goodness.

What I Liked in 2011

Rather than go whole hog and do a best and worst of blog entry this year, and besides I'm already a week or so late for that anyway, I'm going to be tardy and lazy, and just do lists. Sorry, but I'm burnt, that's all you get this year. Here are the lists, bests, favorites, take your pick...

Movies - in no particular order - Hugo, Ra.One, Captain America: The First Avenger, Super 8, Midnight in Paris, Attack the Block, Thor, The Help, Source Code, and Bunraku.

Television - also in no particular order - "Hell on Wheels," "Game of Thrones," "Boardwalk Empire," "Treme," "Doctor Who," "Mad Men," "Dexter," "The Hour," "Shameless," "Castle," "Chuck" "Louie," "Sons of Anarchy" and "The Walking Dead." And yes, I know that's more than ten choices. Deal with it.

With the birthday gift of a Nook late in the year I have started to read again so I wanted to give a shout out to a few books as well. I liked A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, Horns by Joe Hill, Supergods by Grant Morrison, Kraken by China Mieville, and Reamde by Neal Stephenson.

I didn't really listen to much new music this year. I bought a lot of stuff from "Glee," and new albums by Kate Bush, William Shatner, Adam Warrock and Robyn, as well as soundtracks to Ra.One, X-Men First Class, and "Treme" spent a lot of time on my iPod.

Comics - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents by Nick Spencer, Aquaman by Geoff Johns, Secret Avengers by Warren Ellis, Frankenstein Agent of SHADE, Action Comics by Paul Cornell, and the new Defenders series from Matt Fraction are all up high in my opinion.

And, in short, that's what I liked in 2011...

Happy Feet Two

Happy Feet Two ~ I read a synopsis in the newspaper of this movie well after I had seen it. The synopsis made sense, a hell of a lot more sense than the film itself, and I wish I'd read it beforehand. Maybe Happy Feet Two should have had a narrator, or one of those long scrolling intros like in Star Wars - if only to remind the writers what it was about, because it felt like they were forgetting every ten minutes.

This was a sore disappointment as the original was so good and so emotional. It's almost as if director and co-writer George Miller had forgotten everything about the first Happy Feet. When the film is on point, it's about Mumble (Elijah Wood) having fatherhood troubles, but oddly enough, based on his coloring, as opposed to his size, Mumble isn't even an adult yet. I guess it's a trademark thing, but it was very distracting.

I liked the addition of P!nk and Common, but couldn't help wondering where Hugh Jackman and Brittany Murphy were. Hank Azaria manages to be more annoying than Robin Williams here, a feat to be sure. Although, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon come very close to taking the annoying crown as krill who have very little to do with any of the plots, sub or otherwise.

There are several other annoying and seemingly pointless subplots thrown in as well as a baseball bat beating of ecological messaging, which even the thoroughly green first film didn't do. The music and the CGI animation are still top rate and worth seeing, but all the other little irritating stuff ruined the flick for me. I also didn't care for the original songs. I couldn't help but think that when "Glee" started doing new music over covers, they jumped the shark.

Wait for DVD or free TV, it's not worth the theatre experience. Except if you want to see the cartoon before the movie, then definitely put out the cash. It's a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes classic, "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat," featuring Sylvester and Tweety, that was originally done for a record back in the 1940s - so it has Mel Blanc and June Foray's voice work - and animated with today's technology. This is amazing, the movie not so much.