It always seems to surprise people when I admit stuff like this, but until now I had never seen WYATT EARP. And when I was getting ready to watch it and do this review I worried I was gonna get myself into trouble because it came out six months after TOMBSTONE, and lived and died in its comparisons to TOMBSTONE, so I know everyone in the comments is gonna want to talk about that. And the thing is I still haven’t seen TOMBSTONE either. Yeah, I know. I’ll get around to it.
Initially I thought I should do that first, but then I realized it was a unique opportunity to be the one guy watching WYATT EARP on its 30th anniversary with zero instinct to compare and contrast to TOMBSTONE. I have been preparing three decades to be this specific guy. (read the rest of this shit…)
You remember Rambo, John J. Vietnam vet, Green Beret, POW camp survivor, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. In ’81, as a homeless drifter, he waged a one-man guerrilla war against the police department of Hope, Washington, wounding several officers, killing police dogs, blowing up buildings and causing one officer to die from falling out of a helicopter. But they let him out of prison for a secret POW rescue mission. Though he earned a presidential pardon, he decided to live in Thailand, living off odd jobs such as stickfighter, temple-builder, snake-catcher or river guide, with occasional missions to help the Mujahideen in Afghanistan or rescue missionaries in Myanmar. But eventually he came home to his dad’s place in Arizona.
It doesn’t seem like it, but that movie was 11 years ago. Rambo has short hair now, wears cowboy hats and runs his (now deceased) dad’s horse ranch. He lives with a woman named Maria (Adriana Barraza, AMORES PERROS, DRAG ME TO HELL), who I guess the photos on the wall indicate was his parents’ maid, and her granddaughter Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal from the El Rey show Matador), who calls him Uncle John and who he says he thinks of as his daughter. (read the rest of this shit…)
Right now, in 2019, people sure do love a good TV series. Some claim that the premium cable and streaming shows are actually better than movies. As TV shows become more cinematic and cinema becomes more serialized, the two mediums seem to be growing into each other like a very respectable rat king. Big name real deal movie stars can star in TV shows or limited series and collect acclaim and awards instead of scorn for slumming it.
At the same time the industry is obsessed with “intellectual property” and franchises, so naturally we’re getting TV shows that prequelize or sequelize a popular movie/movie series. In recent years they’ve done Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Tremors, Taken, Transporter: The Series, Training Day, Limitless, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Cobra Kai, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and Wolf Creek, and soon we’ll be getting new Star Wars and Marvel tie-ins and maybe Undisputed and all kinds of shit.
From the dawn of 1986 they came…moving stylishly down through the decades. Movies, TV shows, cartoons, struggling to reach the time of the reviewing, when Vern will write about the franchise
That wasn’t how it worked in the early ’90s, though. There had been a few genre shows connected to movies: Planet of the Apes (1974) (and the animated Return to the Planet of the Apes [1975]), Beyond Westworld (1980), Blue Thunder (1984), Starman (1986-1987) and Alien Nation (1989-1990). None of these ran for very long, few are well remembered. TV was lesser than movies, you could never carry over the cast or the production value, and extending a movie series onto the small screen was not really a good bet.
But shit, HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING wasn’t a good bet either. And producers Davis and Panzer, stinging from that loss, weren’t ready to leave the blackjack table. Maybe a TV-sized saga of the Immortals could be more than the Starman of the ’90s. Maybe it could be the M.A.S.H. of the ’90s! (read the rest of this shit…)
WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHIT OUT OF VERN & OUTLAWVERN.COM
if that's your thing:
1. Patreon
Toss me a couple bucks a month, support the good shit, also get access to a bunch of exclusive writing. This is my primary source of writing money that has allowed me to cut down to part time at the day job. Thank you!
2. Buy my books from your local bookseller or somebody
(NOTE: My ten year contract has passed on the Titan books, so I don't get residuals on them like I do WORM ON A HOOK and NIKETOWN, but I would love for you to read them because I'm proud of them)
EXTRA CREDIT: Review them on Amazon! That would really help me out. Unless you didn't like them, in which case forget I said anything.
3. If you ever buy from Amazon, go through my links or search engines
(you pay the same amount you were gonna pay anyway they cut me a little slice)
I also have an Amazon UK one:
(I can't get the search box widget to work anymore, so click on MOONWALKER and then search for what you want.)
4. My exciting line of fashion and leisure products
(I get a couple bucks per item, you get a cool t-shirt, mug or lifestyle item)
5. Spread the word
Tell your friends about my reviews and my books and everything. Only cool people though please, we don't need a bunch of suckers and/or chumps around here.
THANKS EVERYBODY. YOUR FRIEND, VERN
* * * *
Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
Adam C aka TaumpyTearrs on Sing Sing: “@Borg9- yes, everyone watch Polite Society! I recommended it Vern a few months back as an “in case of emergency-…” Mar 19, 21:46
Adam C aka TaumpyTearrs on The Shadow Strays: “Great write up Vern! I finally watched this and didn’t quite love it as much as everyone else (still really…” Mar 19, 21:36
Glaive Robber on Sing Sing: “I just asked because I figured, being in prison for all that time, some of you murdered some guys and…” Mar 19, 21:24
Glaive Robber on Black Bag: “Soderbergh is my favorite, so even when I’m not jiving with him, I’m finding interesting stuff in his movies. I…” Mar 19, 21:19
Max K. on Black Bag: “I know a film’s success has very little to ever do with it’s actual quality, but I still couldn’t help…” Mar 19, 20:35
Curt on Sing Sing: “I’m going to expand on what Majestyk said about “new movies that seem to come out of nowhere without fanfare…” Mar 19, 18:28
VERN on Worm on a Hook: “Yeah, seems like a cool podcast. I wish I was able to read enough to keep up with a book…” Mar 19, 16:45
Dan S on Worm on a Hook: “I don’t know if it will get you any attention, but it’s a cool site. I wish I could think…” Mar 19, 14:54
Inspector Hammer Boudreaux on Black Bag: “This was really good and so was PRESENCE, I thought. People should be aware that the PRESENCE feel is a…” Mar 19, 13:45
jojo on Black Bag: “In all fairness, Neon sat on Presence for over a year after they bought it. So he’s doing a pretty…” Mar 19, 13:22
CJ Holden on Black Bag: “I knew Soderbergh had a ghost movie earlier this year, but I had no idea about this until a few…” Mar 19, 13:00
jojo on Black Bag: “I had trouble describing/recommending this to someone, as one doesn’t want to completely spoil the game ultimately being played, but…” Mar 19, 12:39
Bill Reed on Black Bag: “Soderbergh is simultaneously one of my favorite directors, and also hit or miss with me. Everything I’ve heard about this…” Mar 19, 12:37
Borg9 on Sing Sing: “Funny, I tried to comment on the perceived lack of engagement on Monday night, but my comment was blocked. That’s…” Mar 19, 09:24
Aktion Figure on Zeiram: “Proud owner of the VHS, DVD duology and the OVA. Jesus, acronyms. Anyways I fondly remember watching this on SCI-FI…” Mar 19, 09:10