TV, Movies, and Comics

Has violence gone overboard in movies and television, or even comic books for that matter? Uh, yeah I think so. Even John Wayne who wasn't a stranger to violence in movies said about a popular movie of the day, "To me, The Wild Bunch (1969) was distasteful. It would have been a good picture without the gore. Pictures go too far when they use that kind of realism, when they have shots of blood spurting out and teeth flying, and when they throw liver out to make it look like people`s insides. "The Wild Bunch" was one of the first to go that far in realism, and the curious went to see it. That may make the bankers and stock promoters think that it is a necessary ingredient for successful motion pictures. They seem to forget the one basic principle of our business - illusion. We`re in the business of magic. I don`t think it hurts a child to see anything that has the illusion of violence in it. All our fairy tales have some kind of violence - the good knight rid...

Maybe you don't need a history lesson to realize how much comics have changed in the last couple of decades. I still remember those first few comic books I found in my grandma's garbage can. If she hadn't decided to throw them away, I would have never found out just how much I'd love to read and collect them. That was back in the early 70's, and those comics were a collection of Superman , Batman , and various Walt Disney Comics. Grandma would not only throw away comics they have today. She'd burn them. Heck, some of them I'm not willing to pay any money for. Back in the 70's and 80's most comic book heroes faced modern day problems to be sure. Iron Man faced alcoholism for example, but these days in a drive to make stories more for adults, a kid can't read the main lines of comics anymore. Not unless you don't care what your kid reads or thinks. Today's heroes sometimes face issues over sexual identity as much as their secret identit...

1. John Schneider as Jonathan Kent on Smallville. You just can't get any better than the dad of Superman. I mean come on. He raised Superman the defender of truth, justice, and the American way. I'm still upset they killed him off in season 5. Did they not realize Jonathan Kent was still alive on Lois and Clark and in the comics? The last time Jonathan Kent died early was Superman the movie. Discuss Smallville at SupermanTV.net 2. Jim Anderson from Father Knows Best played by Robert Young. I'm sure even if you haven't seen this great show from the 1950's, available on Hulu.com free of charge, you are aware of the phrase, "Father knows best". Where do you think it came from? 3.Ward Cleaver played by Hugh Beaumont on Leave It to Beaver . This mega series has been running over and over again for years thanks to one man's determination to put up with a kid named Beaver. Usually runs on the Retro Channel or TVland. 4. Herman Munster played by Fred...

These days we are all looking for ways to save money. I am no exception. I've done everything I can lately to watch the money. I even almost got rid of my phone and just used my cell phone, but the phone company cut me a cheaper rate for a few months if I'd wait. The biggest thing I did was cut out my satellite dish bill. That's a savings of 60 dollars a month, and I know that's probably nothing for what some people spend. Yet, I still have more TV shows to watch than I have time to watch. All I did was get a PC to TV converter and hooked up my laptop to my TV. Then I simply go to TV sites where full episodes of old and new shows are available click a couple of times and sit back and watch. List of sites with free TV shows . If you haven't heard about this, you might think it's illegal or something crazy, but it's not because CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, Cartoon Network, etc etc are all offering their programs online now. They stick a few commercials in there of ...

Have you ever went browsing around looking at superhero movies sites like say superherohype.com and read the comments under the news posts? Boy to read the comments you'd think the fan boys hated every superhero movie ever made, or every movie that is being made except for the Dark Knight . Despite the fact it made millions of dollars Spider-man 3 is deemed by some as the worst movie of all time. I guess they've never watched the Sy Fy channel's Saturday night movie line up very often. True I found a couple of spots that made no sense, like the butler waiting till Osborne Jr. got his face blowed off to tell him Spider-man never killed his father. Still it was a fun movie. After Raimi recently said he was going to get back to basics on the next Spider-man the enraged fan boys said things like: "keep telling yourself that, Raimi. " "the movie sucked! " Some guy compared it to Superman II and called it a piece of garbage. Geez, that movie was my childho...

Just for fun I thought of all the ways I've tried to be more like a superhero. 1. Tried gamma radiation like the Incredible Hulk . Got the green glow like I'd been exposed to too much Kryptonite , but after several weeks my bench press refused to increase. Lost a couple of teeth that week for some reason. 2. A radioactive spider bite failed as well. Had to go to the doctor for the bite and didn't gain anything but a strange look from my doctor. Plus, do you know how hard it is to get a radioactive spider to stay alive long enough to bite you? How did Spider-man do it? 3. Still trying to go the billionaire playboy route so I can afford various fight training from around the world, and all those wonderful toys superhero rich guys like Bruce Wayne can afford, but still poorer than Job's turkey at this point. 4. Would like to try being rocketed from the planet Krypton, but I hear it's already exploded. 5. My wife refuses to let me travel to Paradise Island to learn W...

I sure do miss the 80's. Remember those days? Back in those days everybody seemed to be into fitness. There was no Biggest Loser show back then. No sir, back then everybody on TV was fit or getting fit. Remember the Lee Majors diet ads ? How about the Rocky movies ? Those old TV and movie heroes like Lee Majors, Sylvester Stallone , Arnold Schwarzenegger , and Mr. T gave me a lot of inspiration to work out. When I was a young kid I loved to run around play fighting in slow motion like the Six Million Dollar Man , and then when Spider-man and his Amazing Friends debuted I hung a rubber water hose to a tree to swing over a small cliff like Spidey . I think I was the world's first bungee jumper. I can't forget all the flexing I did as a miniature Hulk , imitating Lou Ferrigno . But without a doubt it was when I first saw the Rocky movies that I gained an obsession for physical fitness specifically weight training, and while I'm not exactly Lou Ferrigno or Arnold, I quo...

Here is a list of places to catch all the new superhero cartoons out there that are scattered on several networks, some of which you might be missing just because you don't have that particular channel on your satellite service or cable plan. Disney XD for the Spectacular Spider-man Cartoon Network click on shows and find DC Comics' Batman Brave and the Bold. They seem to keep 2-3 episodes in at a time changing week to week. They also have Marvel's Superhero Squad. Nick They've got the new Iron Man series and the Fantastic Four. Marvel.com For older Spider-man series from the 60's, 90's Fox Spider-man, X-men, X-men Evolution, and the new Wolverine and the X-men. For more about watching TV free online and doing it from your television set Free TV For Superhero fans

Does the Biggest Loser have the right idea about how to lose weight? Well that's a good question. Personally, I used to be of the mind the harder the training the better. I grew up on Rocky movies and have been thus inspired to push my training exercises to the limit as I grew up. But as I have grown older and wished to continue to live healthy, while avoiding constant muscle tears and injuries, I found that moderate exercise and healthy diet to be the corner stones of my personal health plan. I still like to push my limits occasionally, but longevity trumps burning out any day. Now you take the first episode of this season's Biggest Loser. One older man has to see a doctor, and one lady is rushed to the hospital after they are told to take off running, I think it was a mile or more. At any rate these people were on the Biggest Loser for a reason. They hadn't exercised or eaten proper meals for years. You know somebody is going to pass out or worse, die of a heart att...

Have you heard? Jim Carrey is gaining a lot of extra weight to play curly in the upcoming Three Stooges movie. I love the Three Stooges, and I'll be hoping for the best, but although I think Carrey is a great actor I have never imagined him as Curly. Have to see it to believe it. Question I have is though as hard as it is to lose weight, why does Carrey want this role bad enough to gain 50 lbs or more? Heck, you know extensive weight gain has consequences that may never be gotten rid of like saggy skin, clogged arteries, etc. Sure it's never too late to lose weight for your health, but why gain it on purpose. It's not like he needs the money. Now you take Stallone he gained a lot of weight for his movie Cop Land, but I've noticed the man has got all kinds of blood veins all over which is a sign of extreme weight loss . But don't get me wrong Stallone is in great shape especially for his age in this day and time. I just don't get why guys that have millions...