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Post by berkley on May 23, 2023 10:56:17 GMT -5
Speaking of Wonder Man, for me the definitive look - which some fans apparently hate - is the red safari jacket outfit: I can understand people disliking that outfit--emphasis on outfit, rather than superhero costume / uniform. He looks like a knock-off safari hunter with poor taste in color selection (red jacket and boots?).
Yeah, to me it looks out of place in the superhero world. I understand that for some readers that's the point, that Wonder Man didn't want to be a superhero, but for me it's a bad visual in the context of the genre.
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Post by berkley on May 23, 2023 10:52:28 GMT -5
I really dislike Red Sonja's iron bikini. I much preferred the chain mail shirt she wore at first, and loved her leather armour (seen in the latter days of Savage Sword of Conan) even more. The bikini outfit was the only thing that made her interesting, as far as I can see.
I like the metal bikini myself. Yes, it's silly and sexist and makes no sense, but for my money it's a great visual design.
This reminds me of another Conan-related heroine whose costume I do dislike and that's Belit and her fur swimsuit: and once again, I don't mind that it's silly and impractical and unnecessarily revealing, I just don't like the look of it, for whatever reason.
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Post by berkley on May 23, 2023 10:41:35 GMT -5
MWGallagher
with Foxley a close second. I was also impressed by some of the Marvel Family covers, in spite of not being a great fan of those characters.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 22:39:11 GMT -5
I was pretty young then too but I do remember how much of a household name Secretariat was back then. I'm not sure the same could be said of any race-horse since, though that could be just my own lack of knowledge on the subject. But I do know the names of some of the famous ones before my time, like Man o' War and Phar Lap, so could it be that thoroughbred racing, like boxing, is no longer as much in the public eye as it once was?
You are correct. It was baseball, boxing and horse racing for forever. The other sports tended to be niche interests; the NHL only played in six cities, the NBA was still plagued by vagabond teams, though track and field was also very popular. Even when I was a kid, the Penn Relays were an enormous attraction and shown on television. Football only began to make significant inroads in the fifties, with the Colts overtime victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium in the 1958 championship game always denoted as the watershed moment. TV had a lot to do with that, too.
I always used to say that American or NFL football seems like a game purposely designed for tv, almost as if a bunch of executives and marketing guys sat around and thought it up: "We need something with lots of action, but also lots of stoppages and down-time, so our viewers can go get a beer, make a snack, use the can, then come back without having missed anything. Or if they did, we'll have endless replays so they can see it anyway."
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 21:46:24 GMT -5
Actually, now I think of it, I also remember Affirmed and Alydar, who came a few years after Secretariat.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 21:37:30 GMT -5
Something non-Red Sox related. I hadn't realized that earlier this month it was the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's Kentucky Derby win. But today is the 50th anniversary of his win in the Preakness Stakes. I have very vague memories of these races as my mother loved to watch horse racing (the only sport that even moderately interested her). I don't think anyone can argue that Secretariat was the greatest racehorse of all time.
I was pretty young then too but I do remember how much of a household name Secretariat was back then. I'm not sure the same could be said of any race-horse since, though that could be just my own lack of knowledge on the subject. But I do know the names of some of the famous ones before my time, like Man o' War and Phar Lap, so could it be that thoroughbred racing, like boxing, is no longer as much in the public eye as it once was?
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 21:31:13 GMT -5
Wow, Jose's restorations look *so much* better.
No contest, and it really helps seeing the three images next to one another like that.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 21:24:39 GMT -5
What are some widely disliked costumes that you like, and "iconic" costumes you dont like? For me, the former has to be Daredevil's Black and Red outfit: Definitely very 90s with the silver shoulderpads, but that aside, it's a sleek design that actually fits him well As for the classic costume I dislike, Colossus' "Strongman" outfit It just looks too much like a circus strongman. That may have worked if that was part of his past, but as far as I know it wasnt. I didnt care much for the sleeveless look he had in the 80s either, his best look was the shirtless look actually.
The DD one is after my time but Colossus is an interesting case because I think the basic character design with the body armour made of steel bands is really cool looking but you're right - the actual costume he wears over that isn't that great, with the hip-waders and the pointy shoulders. I think something a little more minimalist might have been the way to go.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 18:30:12 GMT -5
I've always been more of a DC guy than Marvel one, but I've never understood why people don't like Wonder Man's costume. Specifically, either of these: What am I not supposed to like? Is it an outfit which works on a cover but looks bad in story or something? Is it too busy? Too colorful? I thought color and intensity are boons in superhero comics. Gauntlets, wrist bands, cool looking belt - what's not to like? I'll admit that I may never have read a comic with him in it, but I'm not seeing a problem which a lot of people seem to regard as instantly obvious. Fully agree: I think they're both fine and never have seen what's meant to be so terrible about them in comparison to superhero costumes in general.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 14:30:24 GMT -5
1983... X's More Fun in the New World... technically, X are a punk band, but they cross over into any sorts of genres like power pop and rockabilly, and frankly, they're fun, they rock, and make me happy. Big tick for this record. Ilegales's Ilegales... one of the best rock albums of 1983. Rock was in a tight spot in '83 with hard rock and AOR losing a ton of ground to punk and metal. Bands like Illegales were clever enough to embrace punk, post-punk, new wave, art punk, and still rock. The Ex's Tumult... straight out of the Netherlands, we have one of the best post-punk records of '83. Post-punk is one of those genres where you're really listening for something clever and brilliant to distinguish it from the multitude of other post-punk albums out there, and this delivered in spades. They released another record in '83 that paled in comparison. Probably not a great idea to release two albums in the same year unless you're a jazz musician. Krokus' Headhunter.. straight heavy metal, but gotta respect OGs that came up from their 70s hard rock roots and were part of the first wave of metal. Enjoyable record. Loquillo y Trogloditas' El ritmo del garage... Another fun Spanish rock album. This one had more of a garage rock sound. Kudos to Spain for keeping good old fashioned rock alive in the early 80s. Bauhaus' Burning From the Inside... I was expecting this to be heavier than it was, but it was a lot peppier than you'd expect from a goth record. Almost like new wave goth music. Not bad! The Robert Cray Band's Bad Influence... Super fun. Maybe I spoke too soon about those Spaniards. This was super enjoyable blues rock. Cleaners From Venus's In the Golden Autumn.. this was okayish. I love jangle pop so much that I have super high expectations for it, which leads to a ton of disappointment when those expectations aren't met. ESG's Come Away With ESG... speaking of expectations, this completely blew mine away. I knew it was a dance punk album, but I didn't realize it would be quite so danceable. They were clearly influenced by James Brown and other funk acts, and the punk element really came from being part of the New York punk scene. This was a bit of a find for me, personally. Strong influence on hip hop and dance. Toshiki Kadomatsu's On the City Shore... soooo 80s. City pop meets yacht rock meets smooth jazz. Japan was still in the midst of its economic bubble and this was every yuppie's dream of a beach vacation somewhere in Okinawa or Guam. Nice record.
Lots of stuff here I either haven't heard of before or haven't listened to much. I'm especially curious about these Spanish acts. I'll be checking Spotify and youtube for them.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 14:28:24 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1993 #5 - Chris Isaak - San Francisco DaysThe reviews of this album were mixed, generally saying was simply a mediocre to good effort. I actually like it quite a bit. It obviously doesn't have as track on it like "Wicked Game," but what does? The title track is very strong. "Two Hearts" is very solid and was great in the soundtrack to True Romance. "Round 'N' Round" is sadly underappreciated. And Isaak does an excellent version of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man." No, it's not a stand-out album...but it's a darn good album. I've always liked his sound so even a middling Chris Isaak album usually sounded pretty good to me. I was lucky enough to see him live a couple times, once in a relatively small indoors venue and once at an outside festival concert. The former in particular was one of the best shows i've been to - it was all standing room and I managed to worm my way pretty close to the stage. I'll have to dig out this cd next time I'm doing some early 1990s reading.
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Post by berkley on May 22, 2023 0:47:44 GMT -5
As is pretty apparent from my "Favorite Movie of xxxx" thread, I'm not a fan of Woody Allen. The neurotic nebbish thing just doesn't work for me. The only movie of his that I remember liking better than "Meh" was Sweet and Lowdown. And that's almost certainly because of the subject matter.
I'm pretty similar to codystarbuck in that I like the early comedies but from Annie Hall onwards I haven't seen a single thing. Not that I ever made a conscious decision to avoid his work, just have never felt much interest in any of them. I imagine I'll try some of them one of these days but they aren't high on my list of movies to watch.
I remember liking some of his 1960s stand-up work when heard it on CBC radio back in the 1970s. And around the same time I read a couple of his books and found them funny.
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Post by berkley on May 21, 2023 19:18:43 GMT -5
I love the cosmic stuff myself, or the idea of it, at least - there's only a handful of guys who have done it well, for me: Englehart, early-'70s Starlin, Gerber, Ditko, Kirby. Sometimes it works better as an awe-inspiring background to a story rather than providing the main protagonists or motivations.
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Post by berkley on May 21, 2023 19:04:47 GMT -5
The best film of 1987 is either the cult classic Withnail & I or Louis Malle's excellent Au Revoir, Les Enfants. I feel like there's a few films I should revisit like Broadcast News and John Huston's The Dead. Wings of Desire is a pretty film to watch I have a lot of time for Kiarostomi's Where is the Friend's House? and Souleymane Cissé's Yeelen. I would probably go with Withnail & I as my favorite as my lingering memory of this year is that opening scene with King Curtis' cover of Whiter Shade of Pale.
I saw Withnail & I for the first time only a few years ago. Definitely one of the standouts of 1987.
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Post by berkley on May 20, 2023 16:28:48 GMT -5
I wonder how many of the most disliked characters in this thread would also appear in a list of favourite characters? Quite a few, I'd imagine. Probably Thanos, Superman, even some less prominent characters like Mantis and Moondragon (both favourites of mine, as it happens).
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