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- POTA Franchise Ranked: #2 Planet of the Apes (1968)
- Don McGregor Returns To Zorro Comics in New Series “Flights”
- That 70’s Show’s Actor & Scientologist on Trial for Multiple Rapes
- Netflix Reportedly Acquires Kanye West Docuseries for $30M
- Americans Too Scared to Talk: Chris Rock Rips Cancel Culture
| POTA Franchise Ranked: #2 Planet of the Apes (1968) Posted: 31 May 2021 05:30 PM PDT
#2 in my Ranking of the Planet of the Apes Franchise.
In retrospect, the great twist at the end of the very first Planet of the Apes movie feels incredibly telegraphed. There are clues everywhere about the nature of the world that George Taylor, astronaut, finds himself on, but the biggest key is the thematic focus of the entire movie up until that moment. If the ending wasn't what it was, then the journey that the man at the center of the tale finds himself on would have little to nothing to do with the man himself as he's portrayed in the opening thirty minutes. Once you realize that the story has to have something to do with Taylor and his view of the humanity, it doesn't feel like there could be any other ending possible. It just fits too well.
So, four astronauts have gone into deep space, and six months into their journey they're going into cryosleep. Going at speeds approaching the speed of light, time outside of their spaceship moves faster, and the clocks onboard say that hundreds of years have passed. The ship crash lands as all four sleep into a lake that quickly takes the ship and one deceased crewmember with it under the water. The three survivors walk across the barren desert, having seen almost nothing of the ship's readings of the planet, and struggle to survive. Up through the appearance of the apes, this opening is the movie at its best. It embraces the feeling of isolation, weirdness, and difference of life on another planet far from home really well, using large stretches of almost silent action that feel off-putting, especially with the atonal score by Jerry Goldsmith.
They find a group of mute humans, get rounded up by the dominant species of the planet, apes, and Taylor not only gets separated from his two companions, one of whom dies in the action, he also gets shot in the throat eliminating his ability to speak. Once the movie moves into the ape laboratory, it seems to lose something. Gone is the weird sense of foreboding, replaced by a more mundane look at another culture with heavy parallels to contemporary society, especially around certain questions of faith and evolution. Why go into the particulars of the ape society? Touching on the caste system, the religion, and how science is conducted all with the backdrop of ape treatment of humanity ever-present? Well, it ultimately all feeds into Taylor's own views of humanity that he espoused both to himself and to his crewmates at the beginning of the film.
There's no heavy-handedness of Taylor fighting for the rights of his fellow humans, he just fights for his own right to exist. On his side are Zira and Cornelius, two chimpanzees, one of whom studies humans and the other whom studies archaeology. Against him is Doctor Zaius, an orangutan and the Minister of Science. Taylor's mere existence throws the existing order of ape society into disorder. Their sacred texts do not allow for the evolution of ape from man, and they often speak of man being brutish, untamable beasts. Taylor, who would have agreed with Zaius in the beginning if talking about humanity as a whole, must fight the idea that he is of that same race, prone to the same violence. He always wanted to be apart from humanity, giving him the reason for his deep space adventure in the beginning, but faced with the reality that he's being judged for humanity's failings and he's going to pay for them, he has to fight back and stick up for the humanity he ran from.
That level of character work at the movie's center never really occurred to me until this viewing. In fact, as I was watching this for the first time in probably ten years, I was actually put off by the extended hour between Taylor's capture and his escape at the hands of Zira towards the Forbidden Zone. It felt, at first glance, like Taylor had wandered into some other movie, and the particulars of ape society didn't seem to be all that important. However, I kept watching with this understanding that there must have been something, and it quickly dawned on me. It also made me wonder about the big reveal at the end.
So, Taylor has made his defense of humanity at an archaeological site that showed ancient humanity's advances over ape, and he walks away still confident of his race's superiority. Zaius immediately has the site destroyed, confident of his own beliefs in humanity's faults and that Taylor would find the truth of humanity's history out there beyond the Forbidden Zone. And, of course, he does. He finds the Status of Liberty, a hulk sticking out of the sand in one of the great movie endings of all time. Like all great twists, it was guessable and makes the audience rethink the movie that came before it. And boy, does the ending seem guessable. Ignoring the parts about apes speaking and writing English, the timelines of ape society match rather well with the two-thousand-year gap between the ship's departure and crashing. Hearing that an ape society grew about twelve hundred years before the events of the movie seems like a small time for a society to grow to this point in normal terms, but if it were a branch of something that came before, it seems much more believable. And, of course, if it was just another planet with apes and humans without any connection to the humanity we know, then what's the point of the emotional journey that Taylor goes on? It would feel like a waste.
This movie really has stood the test of time, and it's not because it has some great quotes or a great twist ending. It's well anchored by a great central character and journey, elevated by Charlton Heston giving a surprisingly committed performance while dressed in rags. It explores a central idea and treats its character's path with surprising cynicism and cruelty, one of the traits of 60s and 70s science fiction that I find quite appealing. It's a classic for a reason, and it's not the reason most people point to.
Rating: 4/4
Originally published here The post POTA Franchise Ranked: #2 Planet of the Apes (1968) appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| Don McGregor Returns To Zorro Comics in New Series “Flights” Posted: 31 May 2021 03:00 PM PDT
Veteran comic book scribe Don McGregor – the man who breathed four-color life into Marvel Comics' Black Panther and Killraven, among others; DC Comics' Nathaniel Dusk; as well as his own Detectives, Inc. and Sabre – joins the ranks of American Mythology Productions with his long-awaited return to "The Fox" with Zorro: Flights.
Making his start in comicdom writing stories for the legendary Warren Publishing, he moved on to Marvel Comics in 1972 as a proofreader before establishing himself as a writer and editor. He also wrote Batman and other characters at the Distinguished Competition and is well-known for his renowned work on Zorro for Topps Comics and Papercutz, respectively.
With this three-issue limited series featuring art by Vincenzo Carratu and Claudio Avella, McGregor sets Zorro on an adventure for the first time in 15 years by bringing him face to face with a fire-breathing dragon. But something doesn't seem right. Although the creature soars in the air-breathing fire and fury, it appears to be controlled by mere man.
"Don McGregor is one of the grandmasters of comics," said American Mythology President James Kuhoric. "His work has broadened readers' horizons and stirred their souls for more than five decades. His latest project, Zorro: Flights, which we here at American Mythology are proud to present, is sure to thrill his many longtime fans while appealing to countless new ones."
As a bonus for fans and collectors everywhere, American Mythology will release the first chapter in this epic story with four covers. They include the Main Cover by Roy Allan Martinez, the Variant Cover by Carratu, a Limited Edition Color Photo Cover, and the uber-rare "Century Edition" Black & White Photo Cover which is limited to just 100 printed. The post Don McGregor Returns To Zorro Comics in New Series "Flights" appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| That 70’s Show’s Actor & Scientologist on Trial for Multiple Rapes Posted: 31 May 2021 12:30 PM PDT The trial of That 70’s Show actor Danny Masterson represents the rare prosecution of a Hollywood figure in the #MeToo era despite dozens of investigations by police and the Los Angeles district attorney, most of which have ended without charges.
Masterson denies the rape charges. His attorney, Thomas Mesereau, said Masterson had consensual sex with the women and that he would prove his client's innocence.
During a pre-trial hearing, Mesereau repeatedly challenged the women on discrepancies in their stories in the years since they said they were raped and suggested that the prosecution was tainted by anti-religious bias against the Church of Scientology.
Masterson is a prominent Scientologist, all three women are former Scientologists and the church and its teachings came up constantly during testimony. The judge said she found the women's explanations credible that church teachings kept them from reporting their accusations to police for years.
Three women testified about alleged sexual assaults by the celebrity Scientologist, and each told a similar story about how church officials sought to prevent them from reporting Masterson to the authorities.
One woman said that a church official told her she needed to prepare a statement apologizing for a 2001 attack in which she claims Masterson raped her while she was asleep. Another, who was born into Scientology and planned to file a police report against Masterson in 2004, a year after she claimed he raped her at his Hollywood estate, described how a Scientology attorney came up at her family’s house. According to the woman, the lawyer forewarned her. The post That 70’s Show’s Actor & Scientologist on Trial for Multiple Rapes appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| Netflix Reportedly Acquires Kanye West Docuseries for $30M Posted: 31 May 2021 09:00 AM PDT
Kanye West’s life and times are coming to a small screen near you. According to Billboard, a multi-part documentary chronicling the Chicago-raised artist’s career and achievement is set to premiere on Netflix.
According to their sources, the streaming platform has bought the project from Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, better known as Coodie & Chike, the filmmaking and producing combination responsible for West’s first music videos “Jesus Walks (Version 3)” and “Through the Wire” in 2003. According to reports, the purchase was concluded for “upwards of $30 million.” Home films and never-before-seen material filmed by the couple over the period of 20 years are featured in the documentary.
With their relationship with West "as the backbone of the documentary series," it is said that the film will touch on the death of West's mother, Donda, his fashion endeavors, and his presidential campaign in 2020. Although West isn't creatively tied to the project, a source shared that West has given his blessing. The untitled documentary is said to more than likely premiere in multiple parts later this year. The post Netflix Reportedly Acquires Kanye West Docuseries for $30M appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| Americans Too Scared to Talk: Chris Rock Rips Cancel Culture Posted: 31 May 2021 05:30 AM PDT Chris Rock, an actor and comedian, slammed modern society’s ongoing embrace of cancel culture, claiming that the country has reached a point where people are “scared to talk.” The Grown Ups star discussed the pitfalls of cancel culture and what it has done to basic dialogue and culture in the United States during a recent visit on The Breakfast Club.
"It's weird when you're a comedian because like, when you're comedian, when the audience doesn't laugh, we get the message. You don't really have to cancel us because we get the message. They're not laughing. Our feelings hurt. When we do something and people aren't laughing we — like we get it," Rock said.
The Spiral star continued:
As a result, The Week Of actor said he has witnessed many "unfunny comedians," "unfunny TV shows," "unfunny award shows," and "unfunny movies" because "everybody's scared to … make a move."
"That's not a place to be. You know, we should have the right to fail because failure, failure is a part of art," Rock continued, describing such as the "ultimate cancel."
"But now you know you got a place where people are scared to talk. That's not, you know, especially in America you're scared to talk, ah. But you know, that's what people want, you know, got to make adjustments," Rock added.
Relevant portion begins at 12:04
Rock, who has previously advocated for left-wing causes, made headlines in December when he proposed to then-incoming Vice President Joe Biden the creation of a “Supreme Court of Science” to oversee medical and environmental crises.
Rock is just the latest leftist celebrity to come out against cancel culture. The post Americans Too Scared to Talk: Chris Rock Rips Cancel Culture appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
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