A recent newspaper article informed me that Flash Gordon is
80 years old this year. Eighty years old. Holy hell! I was not unaware of when
Alex Raymond's greatest creation first hit comic strips around the world but consciously
realizing that the character is 80 years old made me stop and think. I first
became a fan of the character because of the colorful, fun and flashy (hehe hehe) 1980 movie
with its comic book style, Queen soundtrack and desire to be pure eye candy.
After that I sought out reprints of the original strips and even watched the
three Flash Gordon serials from the 1930's multiple times. But eighty
years....DAMN! After all the thinking I've been doing about this being the 75th
anniversary of the first appearance of Batman I began to wonder what other markers of my pop
culture life have significant anniversaries in 2014. Here is a partial list of
the things of note I found.
KILL BILL (2004) is 10 years old! - Inspired by the
Saturday Morning Kung Fu Theatre this is a revenge romp featuring over-the-top
action, an amazing (mostly borrowed) soundtrack, and that signature Tarantino
dialogue. All I can hope for is that he finally puts together the often
rumored Whole Bloody Affair and releases that sucker to Blu-Ray!
Hellboy is 20 years old this year! - Oh, damn, I feel old
now. I was a latecomer to this character but once on board I've loved every
minute of the ride. Mike Mignola's cigar chomping, ghost chasing, demon stomping,
paranormal investigator has starred in an award-winning comic series, original
graphic novels, novels, two animated films, and two fantastic feature movies
made by Guierllmo Del Toro. I can hope
for a third film but I'm happy with what we have. I need to catch up with the
recent comics!
ALIEN is 35 years old!
- In 1979, Ridley Scott's sci-fi/horror scared the holy living Hell out
of everyone brave enough to view the film in a darkened theater. In the
years since it still has nearly that same level of power for fresh viewers
watching in the comfort of their own homes. It is an almost perfect film that I
can watch any time and I still feel like I'm catching new details each time. As I have talked about in the Bloody Pit podcast #3, ALIEN is one of my favorite films and that it is this old scares me almost as much as the film does! In
space, no one can hear you scream.
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