Let's celebrate Art Clokey's great achievement in entertainment!

In Memory of ART CLOKEY (1921-2010), creator of GUMBY & POKEY

I just learned from Mel Smith, publisher of Gumby comics at WildCard Ink, that animator ART CLOKEY has passed away at the age of 88. He created Gumby and Pokey (and Prickle and Blockheads and Goo, not to mention "The Davey and Goliath Show").

I had the pleasure of meeting him once when I sought him out to write a foreword for my comic book THOSE UNSTOPPABLE ROGUES in 1995. He and his wife were terrific people. I'll tell that story in a future post.

My condolences to the extended Clokey family.

Thankfully, Clokey's terrific characters will continue to live on.

It's Friday! Here's your weekly comic: Greenblatt the Great!

(click on image to enlarge)

The Cartoon World's Go-To Piece of Classical: Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody # 2"

OK, you Flophousers, it's time for a general election:

Which interpretation of Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody # 2" is the definitive version. Is it the version by......?

Bugs Bunny? (from "Rhapsody Rabbit")


Tom and Jerry? ("Cat Concerto")


Victor Borge and Rowlf? ("The Muppet Show")


Or Woody Woodpecker? ("Convict Concerto")


I'm partial to Woody, but I'd like to hear what others think.

Enjoy all four versions if you can make it through them without getting your eggs scrambled!

2010 is here...and so is FLOOP! FEATURING HARRY LUMMEL!

Thanks to those who have already ordered my upcoming comic book, FLOOP! FEATURING HARRY LUMMEL!

HARRY LUMMEL stars the titular character, an aspiring writer in a rocky relationship with his corporate executive dad's receptionist. Guaranteed, if you've ever been in a dysfunctional relationship, you will laugh as you ache with the pain of recognition! And if you haven't been in a bad relationship, here's your chance to enjoy one vicariously!

I'm continuing to take advance orders.

If you'd like to reserve a copy, please send a check --payable to Michael Aushenker -- for $5 (plus $2 for shipping in the US) to:

Michael Aushenker
PO Box 480045
Los Angeles, CA
90048

Any questions about FLOOP! ?? Contact me at chipmunksandsquirrels@yahoo.com

Happy New Year,

Michael

Does director Sam Raimi still got it?

My answer is still "yes" even though my faith in Raimi as an artist has become somewhat shaky since 2004.

See, unlike every critic on Earth and a majority of fans of the SPIDER-MAN movies, I thought SPIDER-MAN 2 was the weakest of the three films. Yes, you read this right: even weaker than SPIDER-MAN 3.

Sure, SPIDER-MAN 3 was contrived and overstuffed, but they got the Sandman part of the movie right (I could've done without the whole Venom B-plot). And it was strong enough to carry the movie, even though I was thoroughly disturbed by the end revelation (over who shot Uncle Ben) which totally undermined the potency of Spider-Man's origin.

That said, SPIDER-MAN 2 misfired for me on many more levels. The pizza delivery "humor" that kicked off the movie was lame and boring, it took forever to really get going, the love triangle had grown repetitive and tiresome, and as much as I enjoyed Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, the resolution was lame and I hated, despised the contrived stuff of getting his mask off in the subway fight and having the entire train car of New Yorkers keep his identity secret (yeah, riiiiiiiiiight).

The worst crime of SPIDER-MAN 2: I found the psychosomatic robbing of Peter Parker's powers too lame for words and problematic. My analogy is this: if you're having a bad week, do you lose your ability to drive a car? No! You might be distracted a little, but you can still drive, walk, talk, jog and run. Well, to Spider-Man, climbing a wall or lifting a Volkswagen bug is like driving, walking and talking, and to suggest that an emotional block would rob him of physical powers also undermines future adventures, as the implication is that if he's too emotionally overwhelmed, he'll lose his powers again. What a crock of pooh! (The walking off the job stuff was cool, though!)

By comparison, I found SPIDER-MAN 3 to have an element of MARVEL TEAM-UP, particularly with the climax. And the Sandman effects were pretty dazzling.

The first SPIDER-MAN is still my favorite of the three, despite its biggest flaw, the use of a clunky helmet on Willem Defoe, whose face, a special effect in itself, was suppressed. Imagine what a great Green Goblin that would have been had they used latex and allowed Defoe to use the same expressive range he did when he was out of costume.

I'm taking the long scenic route to say that I just saw DRAG ME TO HELL last week, a summer hit in which Raimi sets the SPIDER-MAN franchise on pause long enough to turn to his horror-comedy roots.



Based on DRAG ME TO HELL, which was cinematic cotton candy -- tasty and colorful if low on nutritional value -- I believe that Raimi is still a master of the genre, even though I enjoyed this 2009 flick less than DARKMAN and ARMY OF DARKNESS (my two favorite Raimi films). I might have even enjoyed it less than EVIL DEAD 2 . But I still enjoyed it.

DRAG ME TO HELL was a nice reunion of Raimi with his best writing partner, his brother Ivan (last I heard, a working surgeon in the Valley by day, screenwriter by night).

It was nice to see Raimi do a non-Spidey film before the decade was officially up. And as I'm reading that SPIDER-MAN 4 has been delayed due to script problems, I hope Raimi will continue to challenge himself as a director and pursue his non-Marvel muse.

I remember the exhilaration of interviewing Raimi for this interview back in 2002. It was one of the best interviews I've ever had the privilege to write up and I still believe that Raimi is one of the most clever directors working in Hollywood today, even if his material has been sometimes beneath his talents in recent years. Perhaps the new decade will be kind to Raimi. If not, there's always Werner Herzog.

Best Movies of the Decade: 2000-2009

By now, you have read all manner of best of the decade lists. I think technically the new decade starts in 2011 but whatever, I'll join the party. Here's my list of movies that I really enjoyed this decade, although not in any order (...and I know I'm gonna forget a few, too, if so, I'll add 'em later...):

THE BEST I ENJOYED!

"Inglourious Basterds"
"Broken Flowers"
"Sideways"
"Team America World Police"
"Spider-Man"
"X2"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Incredible Hulk"
"The Inside Man"
"Frozen River"
"School for Scoundrels"
"The Royal Tenenbaums"
"The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"
"The Darjeeling Limited"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"Diggers"
"In The Mood for Love"
"Milk"
"Wendy and Lucy"
"Frost/Nixon"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"Dig!"
"Dogtown and Z-Boys"
"40-Year-Old Virgin"
"Talladega Nights: The Legend of Bobby Ricky"
"Anchorman"

GOOD BUT WAY OVERRATED

"No Country For Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Juno"
"Zodiac"
"Iron Man"
"Amelie"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"Brokeback Mountain"

NOT EVEN THAT GOOD BUT WAY OVERRATED

"Spider-Man 2"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Some Kind of Monster"