After my last post, I went on vacation for the better part of a week and a half and it’s taken me a few days to come back and “recover” from it (so to speak). Prior to heading out, I’d put a dent in my piles and lists and had planned to write way more reviews than I actually did. But, of course, you know how these things go. So, here’s a clump of random shit that I watched and read.

Movies

Dark City (Director’s Cut): This was a movie that for some reason, I completely missed when it came out in 1998, and the only explanation for that is that it came out at the end of February and was a complete bomb when it did, and being in college, I more than likely completely missed its theatrical release. I never picked it up on video because … well, there was probably always something else to do or something else to rent. So at one point during the last 20 years, I heard someone mention how underrate the movie was, saw that a director’s cut existed, and put it on my Netflix DVD queue. Which is where it sat for … well, you’re reading this now.

Does it live up to what I have heard about it? Definitely.

Dark City is a science fiction noir piece that takes place in a city that looks like it’s right out of the Gotham of the 1989 Batman film (and that’s on purpose, as the director and production designer took their cues from Tim Burton’s film) where John Murdock (Rufus Sewell, who looks so much like Oscar Isaac it’s distracting … and I could very much see Oscar Isaac in this role) wakes up not knowing who he is. And all we know is that he’s being treated by a psychiatrist played by Keifer Sutherland and is being chased by pale men in trenchoats and hats (think Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), the chief one of which is played by Richard O’Brien. The plot revolves around Murdock, his possible connection to the murders of several prostitutes (investigated by a detective played by William Hurt), his estranged relationship with his wife Anna (Jennifer Connelly), and what exactly those creepy men in black are up to.

There’s actually quite a bit more to the plot but I’m trying to make this a short review and I also don’t want to give too much away. I’ll just say that it starts out as film noir with sci-fi elements on the fringes but as we get further and further into the movie’s third act, Dark City gets more and more science fiction and has story elements that resemble a movie that would be a huge hit the following year, The Matrix (in fact, the Wachowskis would use some of Dark City‘s sets for their production). Much of that works really well because of the performances of the actors, especially O’Brien who brings the same extraordinary creepiness to this as he did to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are times when the third act was a little too much and the special effects just didn’t work as well as they could have, but that doesn’t take away from what is a good movie. Definitely Watch.

Pedro. A biopic of Pedro Zamora shot as a “mockumentary” that mostly focuses on his time on The Real World. It was produced sometime in the mid-2000s, and I don’t know if it saw much of a wide release because it is very independent. Zamora’s story, which you can read about in Judd Winick’s graphic novel Pedro and Me, is an important one for both my generation and when it comes to the history of the AIDS epidemic and the visibility of gay people of color. But at this point, Zamora’s Real World season is available on streaming services, and there are other places where you can access archival footage. Personally, I think we’re overdue for a documentary about Zamora and that season of The Real World because I am not sure how many people in the younger generations know how important he and that show were. Skip it and watch the actual Real World show.

The Inkeepers. A creepy haunted house flick from 2012 or so that takes place in a New England inn that is finally closing after being in business for more than a century. The two staff members who are left are taking care of what few guests remain while also ghost hunting. As the evening goes on, things get a little bit weirder until things eventually come to a head. It’s a bit of a slow burn of a movie but a very good one because the filmmakers don’t rely too much on jump scares and allow the audience to get settled in, getting to know the titular inkeepers pretty well before things go very south. I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. It’s a well-executed story based on a simple premise and worth the watch. Definitely Watch.

No Sad Songs. A Canadian documentary from 1985 that is a very early (and may have even been one of the very first) account of the AIDS crisis and its impact on the gay community during the epidemic’s first few years. The stories told are personal and put a face on what was then something that was not widely known nor reported in the mainstream press. It’s been nearly forty years since then, of course, but this documentary serves as a vital artifact for educating anyone about the history of AIDS and the public’s reaction and response to it in the 1980s. It’s available on Kanopy and can probably be found in a few other places. Watch.

Comics

Adventurers #3 (Malibu). The publisher on this, at least according to Mike’s Amazing World, is Malibu Comics, but the information within the issue says that it was published out of Fairfax, Virginia by “Adventurers Publications.” My guess is that it was originally very small and independent and was eventually picked up by Malibu for better distribution. The series itself went several issues and was then collected in a trade in 1990. This is a fantasy/adventure story that reads like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign put to page and for a black and white independent comic from the 1980s, it’s better than you’d expect. I don’t see these in the bins very often, so I’m going to let this one go by. Donate.

DC’s New Talent Showcase #1, 2, 11 (DC). This is a really interesting curiosity from mid-1980s DC. It was an anthology book of original stories that featured original stories and characters by brand new creators. Some of them would go on to become fixtures in DC books throughout the later part of the decade and into the Nineties, including Norm Breyfogle. I wound up finding these three issues in a grab bag and in cheap bins and since there are only about 18 issues in the series, I think I’m going to give this one a try, especially since it’s not collected anywhere nor is it online. Keep.

Hero Illustrated #2. Now, this is probably the most random thing in the pile. Hero Illustrated was a magazine that ran for 26 issues from 1993-1996 and was a direct competitor to Wizard, which by that point was making a good case for being the authority on the comics industry (depending on who you ask, that is). 1993 was, as I have said before, “The most Nineties Year of the Nineties”, meaning it was the true peak of the speculation boom and by the time we were well into 1994, that boom had quickly turned into a bust and the industry would crash very hard, not recovering until at least 1996-1997.

But at this point, we’re not there yet and since Wizard sold like crazy, Warrior Publications decided to throw its hat in the ring regarding news for the industry. The cover to this, the second issue, features an Aliens vs. Predator cover and stories about Mike Allred’s Madman, artists joining Image and Malibu Comics, the best supplies for a comic collector, and a spotlight on Jim Shooter. The tone, whether it be through the stories or the ads, though, is pure speculation fuel. There’s a double-page for Entertainment This Month, the subscription service for American Entertainment (they of the HOT! comics ads in Nineties books), ads for upcoming Image titles like Codename: Stryke Force as well as Malibu’s Ultraverse books, and even Continuity Comics’ Deathwatch 2000 event. The ads that I found most interesting, though, are the many ads for comic shops and subscription services. Westfield Comics–which had a number of subscription ads throughout the 1980s–has a big ad, and about a quarter of the way into the book there is an ad for a comic shop in Florida that set up a 1-900 number for the “hottest picks and the best investments” for comics.

In fact, the ads in the magazine are really the best feature. Sure, the articles give a clue into what it was like to follow comics news in the early Nineties and the price guide has “tips” on various key back issues, but there’s so much from both big and little companies as well as those various shops that remind us how much of a whirlwind that time was. Did people really think Stealth Squad from Petra Comics was going to be the next big thing? That Bowe & Board comics of Scottsdale, Arizona would have all the hot exclusives? Or that people were excited to decide what title will appear in ARComics Premiere #1? Honestly, I paid a quarter for this magazine and it was worth it just so that I could flip through it and feel like I was 15 or 16 again. But it’s not a HOT! collectible by any means. Trash.