Gotta See! James Garner Statue

On my way to Austin, I stopped off in Oklahoma City where an old buddy and I would then B'ROadtrip down to Texas. After picking me up from the clean yet empty airport we headed south of the capital to Norman so I could check out a ten-foot tall bronze statue of one of my favorite actors, James Garner! You see, Garner grew up in Norman and was a long time supporter of the local university and it's football team the Sooners. Welcoming you to a strip of picturesque small town America, Garner's statue is just past the train tracks and across from the Sooner Theatre, where Garner watched movies as a young boy. They even renamed the street to James Garner Avenue. Local friends and supporters raised the money, hired sculptor Shan Gray and in 2006, Garner was on hand for the unveiling. Although Garner had great success in films like The Great Escape, on television in The Rockford Files or on the race track as a driver, his role as television's Bret Maverick would always be a signature and the statue depicts him his western costume.

You know how I love to seek out sky high dining, comic shops and arcades, visiting statues of cinematic icons is another great way to see America and the world. With Garner off the list, I can set out to see Arnold's statue in Columbus, Ohio, Stallone's in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bruce Lee's in Hong Kong and of course, Jean-Claude Van Damme's in Belgium. 

Paneled Goods: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos

Did you watch Agent Carter last week? Peggy Carter and her Strategic Scientific Reserve cohorts head overseas and meet up with her World War II buddies the Howling Commandos. It was a pretty violent episode showing the Russian Black Widow program turning young girls into sleeper assassins. You had neck breaking, a little girl stabbing a dude in the chest and several people getting wasted on the mission. Neal McDonough reprises his role as Corporal Dum-Dum Dugan along with comic book staples Junior Juniper, Pinky Pinkerton and Happy Sam Sawyer. It kind of bothers me that they pronounce his name Doo-gan versus Duh-gun since it's Duhm-Duhm, right? Goes with that double alliteration motif Snazzy Stan Lee and Jumping Jack Kirby were always pulling in the 60's. In the comics, Happy Sam Sawyer is their screaming Commanding Officer but like Nick Fury in the movies, he's been turned from a white guy to a black guy.

Being a comic book reader and World War II studier, I always dug Marvel's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos' mix of action, humor, tough brotherly love and globe trotting adventure. DC's Sgt. Rock was a little bit more grounded and "realistic" just following the battle weary company on one mission in drab Europe to another. Square jawed, cigar chomping, no nonsense Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos were always being sent deep into enemy territory to rescue somebody or on a suicide mission to destroy the latest weapon of mass destruction all while having ridiculous personalities and spouting blowhard banter then getting into bar fights in their free time. The series took some risks for the time like killing off a member of the team in only the 4th issue, having Fury's lady friend get killed and being racially integrated with black, Italian and a Japanese member. There was also some goofy stuff like the Nazi's forming their version of the Commandos with Aryan counterparts or Percival "Pinky" Pinkteron carrying around a useful umbrella and Gabriel Jones tooting a trumpet during battle. What makes it fun to read is it's sense of adventure and derring-do that only 1960's Marvel could offer. Where else could you see an elite unit of Commandos attacking a castle to fight a Doctor with a Death Ray or team up with Captain America and Bucky?

Reading through some loose issues I picked up at Cons and some I have digitally, there's not many dull moments as the Commandos rescue a Czechoslovakian scientists family so he'll keep working with the Allies, stop a counterfeiting operation that could jeopardize D-Day, attack a Japanese base to rescue one of their own, take on Baron Strucker's Blitzkrieg Squad and much more. There's big action sequences with machine guns, grenades and explosions on the battlefield along with rough and tumble bar room fights with faces being slammed into walls, heads shoved into lights, bodies being thrown out windows and knuckle sandwiches galore. It's also non-stop banter and one liners with these guys. Plenty of "Shaddup!" and insults like "Wooly-Faced Water Moccasin" and "over-fed chowderheads". Some of the more memorable core team is made up of "mother hen" Corporal Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader Dugan, a former circus strongman with a penchant for bowler hats and a striped undershirt. Private Gabriel Jones is a black, trumpet playing musician who gets shrapnel to the leg a lot while Private Dino Manelli is an Italian immigrant turned Hollywood movie star who enlists to pay back the land of opportunity. Then you have southern accented Robert "Rebel" Ralston who does a lot of the Howling in the form of "Wah-hoo!" and Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton, a British replacement for the killed in action Junior Juniper, who sports an ascot, glasses and red beret along with his umbrella and penchant for saying "ruddy" all the time.

While Stan Lee and Jack Kirby started on the comic in 1963, Dick Ayers would pencil 95 issues over 10 years with Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich taking over scripting duties after Lee left to focus on the superhero books. All in the series ran for 167 issues from 1963 to 1981 but after 1970, original stories alternated with reprints and after '74 it was strictly reprints. So with my copies being reprints we get a surprising amount of ads for bodybuilding from the likes of Charles Atlas and Joe Weider along with the always awesome Hostess comic strips where Spider-Man "Spoils a Snatch" and catches a flying thief with the power of Delicious Hostess Cup Cakes with irresistible creamed filling and moist devil's food cake!

"Hold still, pal! This'll only hurt a minute! "Nothin' personal about this, understand? I just hate the sight of ya!" "Heads up, old bean!" "Pardon mah Boot suh! WAH-HOO!" "Okay Hans, take five!" all followed by assorted punching, kicking and kayoing! See ya next time, ya bunch of clown apes!

(Almost) Ask Me a Question: Lionheart & Only the Strong

Just one more day before I take off and head to Austin for Lionheart on the big screen at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, Texas! I've never really spent time in Texas, let alone Austin or been to an Alamo so it's going to be an awesome weekend. I did walk past one in Kansas City one time and nearly went there for a mystery Van Damme triple feature and sneak preview of The Expendables II. The Alamo chain was started back in 1997 by Tim and Karrie League as a second-run theater serving up food and drinks. Their following grew and by 2001, the Leagues got into first-run films with a four theater location along with repertory programming and special events with writers, directors and stars. Loyal patrons are dubbed the Alamo Crowd and the chain has a strict no talking or texting policy. You may have heard about it in 2011 when the chain used the voicemail of a disgruntled kicked out goer as a hilarious PSA. People, man. The Leagues sold the brand in 2004 but remain heavily involved and there are now 11 locations around Texas with additional franchises in Virgina, Michigan, Colorado, New York and Missouri with new theaters under construction in Los Angeles, California as well as Arizona and Nebraska. Today, arms of the Drafthouse release films, hold festivals and this year their own convention dedicated to art.

Austin has been growing exponentially these last few years with a reported 150 people moving there a day. Chalk it up to a diverse population of cultured and open minded music and arts loving, keeping it weird peeps. Apparently Austin is known as the live music capital of the world with something like 1700 venues and festivals including SXSW and Austin City Limits. Food wise I'm always hearing about people waiting in line for hours to get a plate of award winning barbeque. While I love me some charred and slow cooked meat, I won't have time to waste a chunk of my day for it. Luckily we did a bit of a BBQ tour tasting in Kansas City. Probably not the same thing but ya know, go read a food online journal then.

So Sunday, February 8th, Lionheart now screens at 7:00PM followed by Only the Strong at 10:00PM. Writer/Director Sheldon Lettich will be appearing after both films for Q&A. A veteran of the Marines and AFI, Lettich got his start helping fellow students write and direct short films before realizing he could do a better job himself. His scripts got him in with Cannon films for Bloodsport before developing Double Impact and taking the project when the mini-studio went bust. After meeting future collaborator Jean-Claude Van Damme on Bloodsport, the two became fast friends and when the duo co-wrote Lionheart, it was JCVD who believed in Lettich and went to bat for him to direct. The low budget street fighting flick would be picked up by Universal and gross a very healthy $24 million at the US box office in 1990 and far outgrossing Van Damme's previous efforts like Cyborg, Kickboxer and Death Warrant. With his profile and box office clout growing, Van Damme and Lettich were provided 3x the budget of Lionheart for follow up  Double Impact. Lettich would go on to work with Van Damme as a writer and or director on The Quest, Legionnaire, The Order, Second in Command and The Hard Corps. His military background, writing style and eye for action would see team up with physical onscreen heroes Sylvester Stallone, Mark Dacascos, Daniel Bernhardt and Dolph Lundgren through the years as well as work on an aborted live action G.I. Joe movie. Besides his catalog of fan favorites, Lettich co-wrote the upcoming dogs of war tale Max with friend Boaz Yakin, writer and director of flicks like Now You See Me, Safe, Remember the Titans, The Punisher and Fresh. Warner Brothers is releasing this upcoming August.

As Sheldon had plenty of great stories for our Van Damme Triple Dip of Double Impact and Bloodsport, I'm looking forward to hearing about his experience on Lionheart and seeing it on the big screen for the first time. Let's get weirdcool!

View In Peace: Tombstone

The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power hit home video and streaming recently starring a plethora of mixed martial artists along with genre staples Barry Bostwick, Rutger Hauer, Lou Ferrigno and Michael Biehn.  2002's The Scorpion King was of course a spin off from 1999's blockbuster update of The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz that was produced by Sean Daniel and James "Jim" Jacks. It's been over a year since former Wall Street analyst turned screenwriter and producer Jacks passed away. Biehn had worked with Jacks years previously on 1993's Tombstone, the latest retelling of the Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday myth starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. Like Hard Target before it, Tombstone's production was rife with issues but in this case nearly fell apart. Many in the cast and crew credit Jacks and especially Russell for holding the film together which became a Christmas box office hit and has lived on to become a fan and genre favorite.

Rambo: First Blood Part II and Glory screenwriter Kevin Jarre produced a well researched, epic scale script based on the trials and tribulations of the Earp family coming to Tombstone seeking riches in silver and gambling, butting heads with cowboys and the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral. At first attaching Kevin Costner to the project, the Dances With Wolves star walked and went to set up his own version with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves director Kevin Reynolds and The Bodyguard writer Lawrence Kasdan. Andrew Vajna, formerly of Carolco, picked up Jarre's script and attached Russell after rumored Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp fell out. So strong was Costner's pull at the time, no studio wanted to release Tombstone except Disney's Hollywood Pictures. Permutations of casting saw the likes of Richard Gere and Willem Dafoe up for the Wyatt and Doc roles before Russell and Kilmer settled in. Jarre's script attracted a who's who of familiar faces with Michael Biehn wanting the already claimed Holliday role and choosing "villain" Johnny Ringo instead. Bill Paxton and Sam Elliott came on as Wyatt's brothers Morgan and Virgil while Powers Boothe sided with Biehn to lead the Cowboys, a vicious gang of gunfighters and rustlers. Screen legends Charlton Heston and Robert Mitchum gave the cast gravitas while up and comers Stephen Lang, Jason Priestley, Jon Tenny, Thomas Haden Church, Dana Delaney, Michael Rooker, Joanna Pacula, Billy's Zane and Bob Thornton filled the ranks of lawmen, ranchers, entertainers and hooligans.

Jarre was handed directing reins and the large ensemble cast headed to Arizona in May of 1993 where the skilled writer but novice director quickly fell behind. Meticulous in his research and approach, Jarre would get hung up on every detail from facial hair to costumes to saddles and saw the actors as figures only there to say his dialog his way. Shooting Heston's scenes as Earp ally Henry Hooker first, Jarre was warned by cast and crew that he would soon be fired for his lack of progress, overlong script and dailies that failed to showcase the famous cast. Disposing of close ups and instead opting to shoot everything in wide master shots. Just weeks into the shoot, Jarre was fired. John McTiernan was interested in replacing Jarre but wanted two weeks to review already shot footage to which producers could not oblige. Russell kept the picture together and with the help of friend Sylvester Stallone, brought in Cobra and Rambo II director George P. Cosmatos to finish the film. Along with Cosmatos came young writer John Fasano (Another 48 Hours) who was also working for Vajna's Cinergi Pictures at the time. Hopping on a private jet to Arizona, the new director and writer were introduced to the disgruntled cast and crew just hours after Jarre had been taken off the picture. Russell immediately backed Cosmatos and began working with Fasano to cut down the epic script. Retreating to the cast hotel, Fasano would work with Russell and Kilmer every night, shaping and rewriting scenes to fit the new schedule.

Jarre's original script depicted the Earp clan moving to Tombstone, setting up homes and being introduced to the bustling town. Robert Mitchum's character Old Man Clanton is more involved and we see the Cowboys battling local law enforcement from the states and Mexico. Characters are more fleshed out, especially Michael Rooker's Cowboy turned Earp supporter McMasters and Biehn's Johnny Ringo who in the film is seen a quiet, cold blooded killer but in the script comes off as more weird and anxious who turns to violence without warning. Truer to history, Wyatt forms an uneasy alliance with Curly Bill that is broken when tensions between the lawmen Earps and some of the Cowboys. Now it was Fasano's job to cut 20-30 pages that Jarre would not.

Russell bit the bullet first and volunteered to have scenes and lines cut, thus not making it solely about him and setting the precedent. Mitchum was rumored to have been injured in a riding accident and had his scenes removed, instead narrating the start and finish of the film. Fasano then had the unenviable task of approaching each actor and asking what handful of scenes made them take the part then jettisoning others. In real life the Earp's weren't as squeaky clean as Hollywood had depicted while the Cowboys weren't quite as evil but those tones of gray were removed in favor of clear cut good guys and bad guys at the behest of Disney and finishing on time. Russell and Jacks worked with Cosmatos, giving him a shot list every night and "ghost directing" the picture to a degree. While some actors were troubled and angered by their reduced roles, Val Kilmer simply said he'd sit back with his cough and little cup and steal every scene he was in. Tensions mounted on set with the new director, altered schedule and stifling heat. A reported 100 cast and crew members quit or were fired from the production.

After originally being scheduled to film for 62 days, delays stretched the production to 80 and into August with post production needing to come quickly as their December release date loomed. A two hour popcorn western came from the editing room that held together remarkably well. But Disney put little promotion behind the picture and it opened at # 3 on Christmas Eve of 1993 with a $6.4 million weekend behind repeat champs The Pelican Brief and Mrs. Doubtfire. The seemingly soft opening would put it at #51 for the year but the film garnered decent reviews and word of mouth quickly spread as grosses went up in it's 2nd weekend. Tombstone would go on to gross $56 million on a $25 million dollar budget and rank #20 for the year. Kilmer's performance was particularly singled out and has since become one of his signature roles.

Russell would follow up with successful big budget action films Stargate and Executive Decision then earn a reported $10 million to reprise his role as Snake Plissken in Escape From L.A. which grossed half it's $50 million budget. Kilmer replaced Michael Keaton as Batman in 1995 and cast opposite Robert DeNiro in Michael Mann's Heat immediately after. Starring vehicles The Ghost and the Darkness and The Saint would do little to prop up his leading man status. Powers Boothe showed up as the villain in Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1995 Die Hard in a hockey arena effort Sudden Death before re-teaming with Bill Paxton directorial effort Frailty. Michael Biehn reunited with director William Friedkin on the big budget bust Jade before being cast as a Navy Seal commander in Michael Bay's $300 million grossing The Rock.

Sadly, director George P. Cosmatos died in 2005 and shortly after stories of the troubled production on Tombstone began to emerge from among others, star Kurt Russell. Russell openly discussed the difficulties of production and bringing in Cosmatos as a ghost director. He sees the finished film as fine but feels it could have been a western Godfather if he had been able to edit it and Disney actually believed in the picture. Five time Academy Award nominated cinematographer William A. Fraker died in 2010 after a battle with cancer. History buff Kevin Jarre would work with Jacks on The Jackal and The Mummy but never recovered from the Tombstone experience and died of a heroin overdose in 2011. Jacks passed away in January of 2014, still upset that much of the film's fantastic original script ended up being cut out or left on the editing room floor. Writer/artist John Fasano died in his sleep in July after a 25 year career. Fasano would go on to work with Tombstone veterans Rooker, Biehn, Boothe and Zane among others stating that the difficult experience bonded them forever.

Enjoyable and epic in it's own right, Kevin Costner's 1994 Wyatt Earp would eventually cost more than twice as much but gross less than half than Tombstone with it's bloated 3 hour run time missing the mark with audiences to end up in DVD bargain bins. While Tombstone may not the be film it's makers originally intended, it still holds up as an entertaining, star studded and action packed affair for casual and dedicated western fans alike. It's a title that has jumped generations via cable, video and special edition DVD for Russell, Kilmer, Paxton, Boothe, Biehn and Elliott. Here's hoping we get to see the extra footage Kurt Russell has in his garage someday.

What the Chuck?! Invasion U.S.A.

I don't know why it's taken me so long getting around to writing about Invasion U.S.A. from 1985. It's one of Chuck's greatest flicks and I enjoyed the hell out of watching it with some whiskey at my side. Apparently, by the mid 80's, America hadn't been invaded for 200 years. Evil Russian spy guy Mikhail Rostov (Richard Lynch, View In Peace) is looking to change that with the help of a Communist army made up of his fellow countrymen, Cubans and some Arabs.  Landing on the beaches of Florida, they kill civilian men, women and children ruthlessly.  The C.I.A. tries to recruit former operative Matt Hunter (Norris) to look into the case but he's too busy wrestling and wrangling alligators in the Florida Everglades.  The company wouldn't let Hunter kill Rostov when he had the chance so now it's their problem. You see, Hunter once caught Rostov during a thwarted assassination by bazooka attempt and the Red is still plenty pissed and scarred about it.  Nightmares of Hunter sticking a gun to his temple and telling him, "It's time to die..." have him waking up in anger and fright before dispatching some dudes to take care of The Chuck.  They miss of course but kill his airboat riding, frog eating buddy John (Dehl Berti, View In Peace) so now it's on and Hunter is gonna show those dirty Commies how America kicks ass!

Meanwhile, the mercenary army creates violent havoc on the streets of Miami. Posing as cops they commit terrorist attacks and stoke the fire of social and racial unrest until civilians begin fighting each other. In a key scene the baddies attack a shopping mall during Christmas but Hunter saves the day with his jacked up truck, denim shirt and twin Uzi's. Now with a taste for bloody revenge, Hunter starts offing Rostov's army with extreme "guns, karate, explosion and knife through the hand" prejudice.

Man what a great flick.  It's funny, ridiculous, intense, violent and near exploitative.  Rostov is a real shitbag, seeing Americans as soft and not realizing how their own safety can be used against them. In an early scene, Rostov shoves a snorting with a steel straw cokehead's head into the table then throws her out the window AND shoots a dealer in the nuts. It was an interesting twist to have him so mentally messed up by Hunter and thus making some bad strategic decisions out of fear. Joseph Zito directs a script by James Bruner, Chuck himself and brother Aaron with that sleazy 80's vibe where people are violently killed via squibs and shots to the head. Chuck's unexpected but welcome dry humor is on display early talking about Social Security and being sick of eating frogs. After friend John is killed, Hunter goes sullen as it's time for Rostov to die. Norris delivers several lines in awesome yet intense whisper giving "I'm not interested or You're beginning to irritate me and Not this time" surprising menace and quotability. All in, Norris whispers "It's time to die" three times throughout the running time and makes good on his words at the end with a frigging bazooka duel!

Hot on the heels of the well received cop thriller Code of Silence, Norris would enter his Cannon Film days for schlock masters Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus with Invasion. Norris was loyal to the Go-Go boys stating that they were there for him when he needed them.  Making an estimated $2 million a film in 1985, Invasion U.S.A. is said to have cost a then staggering $16 million clams with $5 going to the mall scene alone shot over 3 nights with thousands of extras that's as harrowing as it is impressive with explosions, squibs and trucks crashing through glass and storefronts on location in Georgia. Opening on September 27th with a healthy $6.8 million weekend take, putting it ahead of flicks like Romancing the Stone sequel The Jewel of the Nile, St. Elmo's Fire, Fright Night and The Breakfast Club and behind action flicks Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Commando, Pale Rider and Rambo II.  Although Invasion opened up strong, it would gross less than all of those films on it's way to $17.5 million; putting it ahead of To Live and Die in L.A., Death Wish 3, King Solomon's Mines, Remo Williams, American Ninja and Lifeforce.

From here, Norris would team up with Lee Marvin for hit The Delta Force before facing diminishing returns on Mission in Action III, Hero and the Terror, Delta Force 2 and The Hitman. Director Zito already had successes Mission in Action and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter under his belt and would go on to the big budget Dolph Lundgren vehicle Red Scorpion before seemingly fading away from filmmaking. The character of Matt Hunter would appear in 1986's Avenging Force with Michael Dudikoff taking over the role when Norris passed.

(Jon)Snow Screen: Game of Thrones IMAX

It's a blizzard in parts of the country this weekend with over a foot of snow falling on states like Illinois, Ohio and New York. It's never really winter here in Los Angeles as it's sunny and in the 60's and 70's but you know, I need themes for these posts.  I was a tad chilly in a tee shirt, jeans and flip flops walking around Universal Citywalk though when the sun wasn't out and the wind was a blowing.  Super Bowl weekend is notoriously slow at the box office but it's started to pick up in recent years with genre and counter programming titles like Taken, Dear John, Chronicle, The Woman in Black and Warm Bodies ringing in $20 million plus opening weekends.  American Sniper, the polarizing war story keeps on trucking as it set a SB record taking in $31 million.  Popular HBO show Game of Thrones hit IMAX for specially formatted episodes and a sneak peak at April's season 5.  Thursday night attendees received limited edition posters but I'm just too old for a 10:00 o'clock movie on a weeknight.  For episodes that aired last year and have been online since, the special event still managed to bring in a decent $1.5 million from 205 locations.  The exclusive trailer didn't stay exclusive for long as someone posted a bootleg copy online Friday so HBO just went ahead and put out the real thing.

Of course you know I have a love-loathe relationship with GOT.  It started off so slow with so many characters, dead ends and annoying leads that I just didn't care.  Like many subscription channel shows, it made it's mark with a mix of sex and violence with lots of oral and from behind action then stabbings and beheading galore.  Once they hooked audiences, the sex steadily declined while the violence is still a major part of the show.  That's America, I guess.  Nearly 40 hours later and some of the plot lines are starting to pay off, finally. Episode 9's The Watchers on the Wall focuses on bastard son and Night's Watch member Jon Snow as they battle 100,000 united Wildlings beyond the Wall.  Dog Soldiers and Centurion director Neil Marshall returns to helm after last season's stand out episode Blackwater which was filled with battles, castle storming and naval warfare.  The episode moved quite fast as the outnumbered and untrained Night's Watch faced off with the wild, crazy and hungry tribes of Wildlings with Kit Harrington's Jon Snow taking control after one of his leaders is killed and the other loses his nerve.  Holding back giants and wooly mammoths, the show continues to ramp up it's supernatural elements that already include dragons, resurrection, witches and three-eyed birds.

I wondered if they'd edit the two episodes together into a seamless 100 minutes but nope, we get the full credit sequences along with HBO's logo.  Not sure if it was done for the episodes screened or we just missed it on TV because we fast forward the opening credits, but only the names of the actors in the particular episode were shown versus the entire regular cast.  Episode 10, The Children, wraps up with the rest of the story lines as we get the dragon queen figuring out what to do as ruler and her deadly pets, the evil Lannister clan and their messed up family issues coming to a violent end, skeleton warriors killing that kid from Love Actually while Brienne and The Mountain duke it out on a mountain over Ayra Stark.  That fight scene raised many an eye brow last year with it's brutality and outcome and it had even more cringe worthy impact on a real IMAX screen.  Sword fighting, punching, kicking, ear biting and spitting out, rock slamming into the head and being thrown off a hillside, oof! The episodes looked great on the big screen besides the pixelation of titles and text with vast landscapes of snow and green country side and spotting who in the cast had braces as a youth and who didn't.  The teaser trailer for season 5 was just that, a quick glimpse of more shit going down, more people dying, getting it on and maybe that battle of the 7 armies will finally start to happen...yeah right!

Workout of the Day: Etiquette

Before we get into today's workout, let's talk about gym etiquette.  For me, it's a public space so there are certain guidelines that will help everybody have a better workout.  It's simple things really like if you're not using a piece of equipment, don't sit on it.  If you need to have your phone, water and towel nearby, don't set it down on a bench that someone else could actually be using for a set.  Don't have a towel?  Wipe down surfaces your nasty sweaty ass touches. And do you know why benches tear and need replaced?  Because people are too weak to pick up dumbbells and barbells from the floor or rack and put them on the bench instead.  A big one for me is not standing in front of a rack of dumbbells while you check yourself out doing curls or shoulder raises.  There's 10 sets of DB's on a rack and if you stand in front of it, you're theoretically blocking 5-9 people from doing something.  Just take a step back and if you're too weak to hold the bells for that extra two steps, lighten the weight.

Happened to me Saturday, twice!  The first guy in my way was told by his trainer to step back, cool, maybe you just don't know any better.  Second time a guy was blocking the rack he didn't even take weights from so I just moseyed over and replaced my dumbbell to which he tried to get smart and I told him to step back from the rack.  Then he tried to joke with me like I was his friend.  I'm not your friend, pal.  I'm just here to workout and leave, not talk about golf like he ended up doing with some other don'ters.

"No pool. No chrome. No music. Just iron" was a slogan of Vince's Gym. Times have changed, sigh...

Anywho, after just over a month of Vince Gironda style training, I felt it was time to change it up.  The Iron Guru's Rut Buster sessions have really kicked my behind but they just wore me out and I was starting to chafe mentally.  That means it's time to switch gears so I went back to one of my old standby routines, Circuit Training.  I started the routine off with Kettlebell Swings to get my whole body working before going into Chest and Biceps.

Kettlebell Swings - 45, 55, 65lbs
Close Grip Chin - 10-12 reps, new hand position per set
Incline Push Up - 35 reps, changing hand position per set
DB Concentration Curl - 35, 40, 45lbs, when I couldn't complete a rep I'd do a half then an assisted full
Decline DB fly - 30, 35, 40 lbs in the 10-12 rep range to slab up the ol' chest
Low Incline DB Curl - 25, 30, 40 lbs, I like these because it really takes the front deltoids out and helps tie in
DB Pullover - 50, 55, 60lbs, just one of my favorites for chest
Reverse Drag Curl - Keeping barbell as close to my body as possible got my forearms and bi's pumped
Larry Scott Laterals - One delt exercise where you raise to the side then move to front, then raise all the way up, then do regular reps, 4 of each makes a set and will have your shoulders screaming

That's 9 exercises done 3 x each for 27 sets.  With the Rut Buster I'd usually be too tired for cardio afterwards but with a Circuit you're keeping it a bit cardio already with the pace and variation.  I could blast through this routine in under 40 minutes so I added in some forearm, neck and calves before hitting the rowing machine and stationary bike.

Comic Shop of the Day: Things From Another World

It was a Universal Studios Citywalk Saturday as we ventured north to check out Game of Thrones on real IMAX then feasted at Karl Strauss and walked around the always nice but not too busy Citywalk.  It's been a while since I was here and was pleasantly surprised to see that the comic shop had moved to a larger space.  Things From Another World was always a stocked but stuffy joint in it's former location.  Now they've got all kinds of room to show off a life size Iron Man and all the toys, games, shirts, merch and comics you can shake a stick at.  As this area is a tourist trap, this is also how comic shops should be, slinging all the things you love to look at and might even buy.  From action figures to statues to mini toys, patches, keychains, playing cards, etc Things has you covered on the merchandise side but also has racks of graphic novels and new comics.  Big Trouble In Little China is already up to # 8!  Yeesh, will have to catch up sometime.

Check out all the goodness from their old store but imagine more of it in a larger space:

Gotta Play! Blipsy Bar

If you've been paying attention you know I have a thing for sky high dining and drinking.  I also have a thing for arcade games.  My mom used to take me to the mall on Saturday's so she could shop, I'd hit up Aladdin's Castle and play stuff like Street Fighter, Final Fight, Avengers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the G.I. Joe run and gun.  With the rise of home gaming, arcades took a tumble in the 2000's and you'd only find machines at a pizza parlor, bowling alley or Dave and Buster's style establishment that blended gaming with food and drinks.  On the rise today are Barcades, where entrepreneurial 30 year olds mix video games and booze so you can relive your childhood.  Eighty-Two in Downtown has had great success in it's short lifetime while Neon Retro just opened up in Pasadena where you can play unlimited games and pinball for a flat fee but no booze. Up-Down in Des Moines is about the best example of a barcade I've encountered as you've got a full bar, 80's and 90's inspired wall paper and games of all kinds for fighting, driving, shooting along with physical attractions like skee-ball and giant Jenga.  Ground Kontrol in Portland is pretty cool too as they had the giant 6 player X-Men along with Alec Baldwin's The Shadow pinball.

I feel like Blipsy's has probably been around for a quite a while though as I came years ago and is far from the clean, shiny and club like Eighty-Two.  Blipy's is basically a dive bar but with video games.  It's small, dark, cramped and hot.  The outside has Pac-Man inspired decor and inside you'll find He-Man and the Masters of the Universe prints and a Christopher Reeve Superman poster on the wall while a big ass Cobra Terror Drome hangs upside down from the ceiling like a chandelier.  There's a quarters machine all the way in the back and it's so dark you can hardly see where to insert your dollar.  Blipsy's sticks to more classic 80's style games like Galaga, Gauntlet, Punch-Out, Rampage and Ms. Pac-Man without a shooting or fighting game in sight.  That's where it loses points for me but hey, it's their theme.  Most games cost a quarter and while I stretched that out on Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man, the joystick didn't work too well for WWF's Superstars as I couldn't select the Ultimate Warrior then got counted out when I was unable to get back in the ring!  Located on Western Avenue just past Beverly Blvd across from a giant Kentucky Fried Chicken, you can totally head down the street a little and hit up some Korean BBQ.  Just take Oxford, it's faster.

Paneled Goods: The 80's Avengers

Starting on my stack of comics from this past weekend's CalComicCon, first up were some early 80's adventures with Marvel's The Avengers.  These bad boys hailed from 1982, '83 and an annual from '84.  Boy howdy did they not disappoint.  #224's from October of '82's cover proclaimed it to be "The most offbeat Avengers tale - Ever!" and hoo boy were they not lying.  If there's anything I enjoy, it's a super hero comic book issue focused on some romantic sub-plot.  Remember when Captain America aka Steve Rogers went on a date with Diamondback aka Rachel Leighton? Here, Dr. Hank Pym aka Ant-Man, Yellow Jacket and Goliath has been imprisoned, set up by the maniacal Egg Head to steal Adamantium from the government.  Former wife and current leader of The Avengers Janet Van Dyne aka The Wasp is now one of society's most popular bachelorettes hitting the social scene trying to forget about her bi-polar, abusive husband.  Apparently Avengers walk around in full costume all the time so Janet has no idea Iron Man is actually playboy billionaire inventor Tony Stark underneath and the two begin dating.  Stark doesn't know how to tell Janet that he's actually Iron Man and ya know, friend and partner to her incarcerated husband!  But the two hit the gala scene, play games at the fair, fly to Jamaica (Tony Stark is yoked!) and are all lovey dovey until Captain America tells Stark to stop messing with their bro's wife and if there's nothing wrong with moving on, why hasn't he told Janet his true identity?

Meanwhile, new Ant-Man Scott Lang tries to convince Pym to bust out with him but the good doctor won't have it and make things worse.  Back at Avengers HQ, Thor tells Stark it's OK to be cruel to Pym if he's bringing happiness to Janet.  But when Tony reveals his true identity, The Wasp wants nothing to do with him anymore.  Phew!  Brought to you by Jim Shooter, Alan Zelenetz, Mark Bright, Brett Breeding, janice Chiang, Christie Schelle and Mark Gruenwald.  February of '83's #228 sees Hank Pym on trial with Egghead further complicating things by enlisting villains Tiger Shark, Beetle, Moonstone, The Shocker and Radioactive Man to attack the courthouse and making it look like Pym is one of them.  I was shocked, SHOCKED, to see Tiger Shark hurl a racial slur at the Asian Radioactive Man but I guess we still weren't out of the "Slap a Jap" era that Superman lived in...30 years prior.  Of course the writers are smart enough to ensure that such a remark doesn't go unnoticed and Tiger Shark quickly backs down when Radioactive Man shows off his powers that would f@ck Tiger Shark's racist @$$ up!  Avengers She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, Wasp and Captain America mix it up with the super powered foes but not before they abscond with Pym.  I'm always on the lookout for ads featuring Marvel Heroes like those great Hostess ones where Spider-Man and Cap outsmart crooks by tempting them with Twinkies and other fine treats.  This issue we get Spider-Man foiling some diamond thieves with the Magic Snake Puzzle, a green contraption that unfolds and has 23 trillion possible configurations!  Eh...not as cool as Fruit Pies or a branded backpack from a cheese company. Roger Stern, Al Milgrom, Brett Breeding, Jim Novak, Christie Scheele, Mark Gruenwald and Jim Shooter on the case here.

Lastly was Avengers Annual # 13 from '84 featuring Marvel maestros Steve Ditko & John Bryne on art!  After Captain America stops The Fixer from breaking into a government installation, The Avengers are put on guard patrol as the joint houses many a project Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk was working on before he went bye-bye in Hulk #300.  Scientific minds Douglas Arthur Cartland, Henry "Hank" Pym, Hank McCoy aka The Beast and Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic are invited down to check out Banner's work.  But the world's foremost genetic engineer, Arnim Zola (and dude with a robot body and giant face on his chest), has other plans as he uses some pink gunk to turn a sample of the Hulk's purple pants into mindless but strong clones that descend on the complex!  While Cap, Thor, Beast, She-Hulk and Wasp battle the army of Hulks, Richards and Pym have been ensnared in Zola's organic blanket of "bio-construct".  The two minds figure a major systemic shock would loosen up the blob so Captain Marvel lays hands on Zola and delivers a bolt of pure electrical force to set them free.  What a crazy issue, just action and weird sh!t all day with plenty of cameos thus making the plus sized Annual worth the $1.00 cover price.  Stern still scripts with Joe Rosen lettering and K. Feduniewicz coloring.

Now on to some Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos!  Awwwooo!

Gotta Drank (& Laugh): Tim Allen @ The Laugh Factory

Three years ago this weekend we saw Tim Allen perform stand up at The Venetian in Las Vegas.  It was a funny, inappropriate and insightful showcase for the convicted felon turned sitcom dad and movie star.  Picking up stakes, he's moving to The Mirage and their 1,400 seat Terry Fator Theatre. We caught him in Los Angeles at The Laugh Factory last night as he warmed up.  I used to drive past the Laugh Factory on a daily basis but this was my first time attending.  There's plenty of signed memorabilia in the lobby of The Laugh from performers past like Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Pryor and of course, Tim Allen. Tickets were actually pretty cheap, $27 bucks for a VIP stub that meant no line and a guaranteed seat in the small club that has standing room in the back and balcony.  There's a two drink minimum but that could be a couple of over priced bottles of water and under $10 bucks.  Instead I opted for a Moscow Mule and it was actually pretty good. 

Growing up in Michigan and Colorado, Allen was part of a large family whose father died when he was just a boy.  Being too lazy to work, Allen got into drugs and then got caught at the airport with a large amount of cocaine.  After spending three years in prison, Allen cleaned up and embarked on a mission to land on the Johnny Carson show as a stand up.  Performing in Ohio for Rubbermaid executives, he honed his grunting, tool loving persona that led to the 8 year stint on ABC's Home Improvement.  During one week in 1994, Allen had the #1 show, book and movie in America.  Impressively, Allen walked away from a $50 million dollar deal for a 9th season of Improvement and then took 8 years to say yes to a sequel to The Santa Clause.

His stand up show was a non-stop hour of jokes, social and political observations and physical comedy.  Allen reminds you right away that he wasn't supposed to be famous with families or kids because he's an angry loud fuck.  He doesn't like his own kids, let alone yours so to be such an important part of Disney's history is baffling even to him.  Allen doesn't hold back on his views about Obama trying to make things fair, being conscious of social media being out there forever, the pussy-fication of society and being unapologetic for calling bullshit.  Even when it's at a studio premiere and Tom Cruise is in the audience.  Between rants Allen provides details of growing up in a big family, his father's expertise with explosives, going to jail and interacting with his wife and kids today.  While I laughed and was amused, the non-stop onslaught and growing temperature of the room just wore me out.  Show Vegas how it's done, Tool Man.

Grudgement Day: Whiplash

Being a movie lover people assume I follow the Oscars but I actually think they're kinda bullshit.  Why?  Because I don't have the tastes of a 70 year old white man, the presiding demographic in the Academy.  Of course their choices for Best Picture are usually easy to spot in the sense of a movie having some social merit, being based on a true story, being about stuffy British people or an underdog fighting for a cause.  Men lose weight or change their image to play against type and women get fat to ugly themselves up.  Blockbusters are usually left in the cold and if you want any chance of winning, you've got to hit the campaign trail attending special events, taking out ads and making sure there's suitable heat to your project.  In 2008, The Dark Knight made a mint at the box office and won critics over but the superhero film via Michael Mann's Heat was left without a 2009 Best Picture nomination.  Why?  Because it was about Batman and the Joker.  In a bid to make it look like they weren't entirely out of sync with the movie going public, The Academy opened up the number of Best Pic nominations from 5 to 10 in 2010.  While a movie about long established comic book heroes in costume wasn't celebrated, James Cameron's tall blue aliens would as Avatar picked up 9 nominations.  Go figure.

This year I enjoyed Birdman and The Imitation Game but one extremely undeserving Best Picture nominee really ruffled my feathers, the music drama Whiplash.  Made for a few million bucks by usual horror and genre label Blumhouse, Whip follows young wanna be drumming prodigy Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller) and his physically and emotionally abusive instructor Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons).  We see Neimann try to balance life, love and his drive for greatness as he's berated, slapped and pushed by Fletcher.  Pretty typical underdog stuff, right?  Suffice to say, I thought this movie was bullshit.  I didn't even want to finish it. First off, I don't understand the appeal of Teller.  Some compare him to a young John Cusack because they're white and have the same kind of chin but Cusack at least had a quirky likeability in Say Anything, Better Off Dead and later Con Air, Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity.  Teller just comes off as blank and forced to me.  Simmons, the likeable supporting actor from films like Juno, Spider-Man and I Love You, Man gets the showy role as the loud, abusive teacher.  He insults students for being fat, homosexual and stupid but strangely doesn't go racist.  If you're going to make him a total asshole why not have some balls and make him an asshole to EVERYONE?  Remember The Departed where all Boston cops and crooks were racist, homophobic and misogynist?  It won Best Picture.  Why exactly is playing an outright prick that impressive?  Because Simmons is usually a nice guy and here he plays an asshole?  That's notable?  Please.

Then don't get me started on how uneven this film is.  SPOILERS.  From Teller's character being this driven young man who practices long into the night, literally bleeding for his passion but then can't wake up on time for his big break.  Or the competition scene where he puts down the music folder to buy a drink and it gets stolen.  Who the fuck stole the folder?!  It's oh so convenient as it gives him the chance to step up but give me a fucking break.  At least show one of the other competing bands stealing it or reveal that Fletcher took it to teach someone a lesson.  But nope, nada.  Bullshit.  Then there's his uneven character who starts out as quiet, meek and awkward for the first act.  Then all of a sudden turns into The Social Network's Mark Zuckerberg and has a stinging one liner for everyone at the dinner table who minimizes his musical aspirations.  We never see that version of the character again.  How about the next competition where his bus gets delayed, he rents a car, forgets his stuff at the dealer, goes back then gets hits by a semi?!  Fletcher keeps harping about not letting the students fuck up his chances of winning competitions but he certainly puts them into compromising positions every chance he gets.  And how about that ending where Fletcher sets Neimann up during a prestigious show by giving him the wrong music, thus making the young drummer look foolish in front of an audience that could make or break his future career.  You're telling me that Fletcher is willing to risk the futures of the ENTIRE band to take his revenge on one kid?  Then of course Neimann picks himself up and goes into a show stopping drum solo that earns Fletcher's respect.  Just what the fuck man.  END SPOILERS.

I was quite surprised at the backlash Christopher Nolan's Interstellar received this year.  For some reason people thought it was going to be some kind of defining documentary on space travel when it's still a frigging movie that preserved the history of cinema and had ambition to spare.  Perhaps it reached too far and wasn't quite successful in blending the science and cinema but you had to admire the effort and the experience.  Did you see Nightcrawler?  What a terrific performance by Jake Gllynehaal as a creepy, funny and driven young man in the world of shock journalism.   Even that crazy Korean flick Snowpiercer was an unsettling, off the wall yet oddly charming observation of class told in a unique way.  With films like that overlooked for shit like Whiplash, it's just another reminder as to why I don't get into the Oscars.  Movies are supposed to be at their best entertaining, educational, emotional, enlightening, intriguing and/or inspirational.  I got none of those from this flick. Frustrating, man.