Wherein I tell you the haps on superherocomicsandrelated stuff. I’ll also mention that since we couldn’t find the Christmas ornaments in our attic, and since I’m a half-Jew anyway, we’ve decided to decorate our tree in comic book swag. We started with all the free plastic Blackest Night power rings.
It looks great!
And now, the news . . . Starting with the only movie news you have to know about this week . . . The Thor trailer!
I know making a list like this is kind of ridiculous. I mean, the ten best of the past 20 years? And that’s the only criteria (other than the same TV show cannot be listed twice)? How can you possibly properly narrow it down? To these questions and any others I say, “Yes!” And if you disagree, you can drop a comment, but you’ll be wrong. Because I’m always right.
10. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Sweet Dee’s Dating a Retarded Person” (2007). The one with Night Man and Day Man, and the apparently retarded rapper, that inspired a live musical performance. This is politically incorrect TV at its best-the only show that comes close to being this wonderfully offensive was Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show, Great Job.
9. Larry Sanders, “Off Camera” (1993). In this episode, Warren Zevon visits the set and pleads with Larry not to make him perform Werewolf. So he’s allowed to play (my absolute favorite Zevon song) The French Inhaler instead. When he’s done, Larry is so thrilled with the performance that he requests an encore. Werewolves, naturally.
8. Battlestar Galactica, “33″ (2004). The BSG miniseries was good, but not greatly good, but this, the first episode of the ongoing series, was edge-of-your seat excitement all through. The ship must “jump” every 33 minutes or be destroyed by the Cylons. Some of the greatest TV and Movie drama is based on chase-scenes, and this entire show was one long chase. This episode set the tone.
7. King Of The Hill, “Bobby Goes Nuts” (2001). “That’s my purse! I don’t know you!” ‘Nuff said!
6. The Office (UK), “Downsize” (2001). The one where Brent pretend-fires Dawn for stealing Post-its. To quote the master himself: “Brilliant!”
5. The Sopranos, “Pilot” (1999). The first episode of the Most Important TV Show Ever introduced each character indelibly. It also evoked the family side of the show while, in a single scene, exposed the horror and violence that would come. Of course, I’m talking about the scene where Tony beats the crap out of the poor slob who owes him money, after running him down with his car.
4. The Simpsons, “Bart the Daredevil” (1990). From season two, this episode is inexplicably censored on the DVD release. What made it so magnificently Simpsonic was the part where Homer tries to jump the gorge, fails, and is airlifted out. His head slams the sides of the gorge on the way up, he’s put into the ambulance, the ambulance crashes, his stretcher rolls out and, of course, he falls back down the gorge. Then the stretcher falls after him and hits him in the head. This scene is cut off of the DVD, and I can’t even find it on youtube. Fox are bitches. Anyone know why they did that?
3. Homicide: Life on the Street, “Subway” (1997). The team is called to a subway station where a guy is pinned between the platform and the train. If the train moves, he will instantly be cut in half and die. If it doesn’t move, he may die anyway. The thing that made this episode so brilliant is Vincent D’Onofrio’s portrayal of the victim as a compete and total a-hole. You want to sympathize for him, but his character is so mean to the detectives that one immediately stops asking why this happened to him. He kinda deserves it. But on the other hand, does anyone really deserve that? The ep won all kinds of Emmys and a Peabody, too.
2. The Shield, “Pilot” (2002). The Shield has the unique distinction, in my view, of being the only TV series to last a long time that never had a single bad episode. But the first was classic. Or, I should say, the last five minutes of the first episode. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin it, but suffice to say it was the standard-bearer for the series: Unpredictable, brutal violence.
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Once More With Feeling” (2001). If you only watch two hours of TV in your life, watch this episode and “Hush.” The latter is a silent episode and the former, well, it is simply the greatest single hour of television ever created. Buffy and the gang are in the throes of a demon who forces them to sing and dance, until they die. The episode has everything that makes this show great: Brilliant one-liners, creative wordplay, humor, powerful moments that will break your heart, and acting that’s so good you believe that the devil will make you sing. I’ve seen this episode about a dozen times, and each time it’s better than before. Even the album is great.
RUNNER UPS:
Survivor: Borneo, “Season Finale” (2000). Because a naked, drug-dealing tax evader winning a million bucks epitomizes everything that is wrong (and right) with reality TV.
Lost, “Pilot” (2004). That opening plane crash and the horror that followed stayed with me for days. We had ever seen anything like it before on network T.V. The show gradually lost its footing and its way when it became clear that the writers knew how to start a story, but it had no middle or end.
These days, Vampires are all the rage. And let’s face it, Vampires are cool. But Dracula usually sucks. Pun intended. But seriously, when you know that a movie, TV show or book is about The Count–as opposed to being about a less renown vampire–it’s usually an indicator that something lame this way comes. But such is not always the case. And it certainly wasn’t true in Bram Stoker’s original, classic novel. But where else can we see good versions of Drac–not corny, stupid ones? The answers are below . . . In this list of my favorite depictions of the true Crown Prince of Dracness.
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer No.s 12-15 (“Wolves at the Gate”). but the Buff comic books are quite good, and in this story arc, which follows the Buffy vs. Dracula TV episode also on this list, the team reunites with Dracula in Japan of all places to fight a new group of super-powered vampires. The terrific story arc by Drew Goddard has all the charm, drama, and humor of the TV series.
9. Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Abbot and Costello versus a legion of monsters including The Wolfman, Mummy and Dracula. Yes, the 1948 film is definitely a little dated, but it’s still a great vision of the comedic possibilities in Bela Lugosi’s classic vision of the character.
8. Uncanny X-Men #159 (“Night Screams!”). Storm is hypnotized by Dracula, who wants her as his nubian princess. It’s a pretty damn cool idea–why wouldn’t Dracula seek to turn a mutant into a vampire? The story was kind of a one-off, outside of the regular X-Men continuity, but it was far better than it should have been. And the cover by Bill (“Moon Knight”) Sienkiewicz is brilliant. Note: The subsequent X-vs.-Drac battle in X-Men Annual #6, wasn’t nearly as good.
7. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror IV (“Bart Simpson’s Dracula”). The 1993 installment of the animated show’s tribute to Halloween–an annual favorite at my house. In this episode, Dracula is portrayed as Mr. Burns, with images that borrow heavily from the brillant Francis Ford Coppola film (see below). That is, before the episode takes a bizarre turn and into a parody of the Charlie Brown Christmas special). Very Monty Pythonesque.
6. Salem’s Lot. Since Vlad doesn’t appear in it, it might not be fair to include this on a “Best of Dracula” list, but I’m doing it because Stephen King has stated repeatedly that his brilliant novel–one of the scariest books ever written–was intended as an update of the Dracula novel–what if Dracula took place in Maine in the modern day? This is the only novel on this list, which isn’t to say that there aren’t good books about Dracula–it’s just that I haven’t read any.
5. Dracula. In Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film, Gary Oldman is the titular vampire. This is the closest thing to a film version of the novel, but what makes it great is Gary. Oldman is always great a being an over-the-top villain (see The Fifth Element, The Professional, and True Romance), and this role is no exception. He’s effeminate, ironic, irritating and evil. And larger than life.
4. Buffy vs. Dracula. In the first episode of the show’s 5th season, Dracula is portrayed as an obnoxious egomaniac by soap opera actor Rudolf Martin. Yeah, I’m a little Buffycentric putting her twice on this list–but was anyone in the 1990s more important than Buffy for redefining vampires as a genre? And what’s cool about this episode is that The Count can’t be killed like a normal vamp, which explains why he’s been able to survive for centuries without any slayer ever being able to get to him. Yet, he doesn’t really have any supremely sinister goals or aspirations–or at least none that he cares all that much about. He’s kind of like Paris Hilton.
3. The Tomb of Dracula. Beginning a six-year run in 1972, this Marvel Comics series featured a gang of vampire hunters who would fight against–and sometimes alongside–Dracula. This was Marvel’s first superhero monster book–followed by Werewolf By Night (the series in which Moon Knight debuted), Legion of Monsters, and utimately the Blade series. The book was made possible by a loosening of the comic book code’s ban on all vampires, and was written by legends like Gerry Conway and Archie Goodwin, and drawn by the brilliant, shadowy, sketchy Gene Colan (with covers by Gil Kane). No, the series wasn’t always brilliant, but it did something for Dracula that I’m pretty sure no one had done before: It made him an action hero.
2. Dracula. The 1931 film by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi remains the iconic depiction of the lord of vampires. It’s not even close to the book version–the Count is far less powerful here than in Stoker’s novel–but all the elements for all the versions to follow are there: Hypnotic sexuality, the eyes, alliances with wolves and wierdos, hot chicks, and Dr. Van Helsing. For more Bela, don’t miss Martin Landau in Tim Burton’s amazing Ed Wood film.
1. Nosferatu. The first film about the bloodsucking king remains the most frightening. F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film has the creepiest looking depiction of Vlad the Impaler, even if Count Dracula’s name is never used (because Bram Stoker’s estate would not give Murnau the rights). Max Schreck plays Count Orlok, with a rat face and skinny, boney fingers, and a story that may have been different enough to avoid a lawsuit but definitely is, without a doubt, the first film version of Dracula.
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WHAT THE HELL IS BERKELEY PLACE?"Berkeley Place" has been a blog since 2000.
Berkeley Place is also 6 blocks of Brooklyn real estate, emerging from Sackett St. and ending at Banana Hill, a small park that grows a foot each year from dog shit and the corpses of dead rats. Though its residents have gotten wealthier over the decades, Berkeley Place still houses folks of all backgrounds with interests in, well, everything.
WHAT THE HELL GOES ON HERE?Ekko reviews independent music, comic books, and whatever else interests him.
WHAT THE HELL IS INDIE MUSIC?An independent record label (or indie record label) is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels.
- Wikipedia.org
That means they ain't in the RIAA, dude.
destroyed by the Cylons. Some of the greatest TV and Movie drama is based on chase-scenes, and this entire show was one long chase. This episode set the tone.
stretcher rolls out and, of course, he falls back down the gorge. Then the stretcher falls after him and hits him in the head. This scene is cut off of the DVD, and I can’t even find it on youtube. Fox are bitches. Anyone know why they did that?
7. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror IV (“Bart Simpson’s Dracula”). The 1993 installment of the animated show’s tribute to Halloween–an annual favorite at my house. In this episode, Dracula is portrayed as Mr. Burns, with images that borrow heavily from the brillant Francis Ford Coppola film (see below). That is, before the episode takes a bizarre turn and into a parody of the Charlie Brown Christmas special). Very Monty Pythonesque.
