Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 260 of Sneaky Dragon! Hooray!
This week Ian and Dave get down to brass tacks and make some voodoo dolls; discuss glossaries and appendices; get a pain in the back; go to the Sneaky Dragon book club; see Good Cop/Bon Cop/Film Terrible; go to the Sneaky Dragon film club to talk about Arrival; dislike foreign domestic food; hear about Tiny Turkey; remember MST3K; debate lions vs. cowboys; romance the past; rate John Carpenter’s films; wonder if it’s recording (it was); marvel at slugs in the movies; improve porn; really like The Rockford Files; marvel at Ian’s great beard; name the perfect family film; and, finally, debate the psychological mind games of Donald Trump.
Thanks for listening.
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Thanks for another great show, guys. The Rockford Files must be a contender for best ever TV theme music too. There are others that fit the mood of the shows they introduce to a T – Star Trek, Seinfeld, Twilight Zone the Prisoner… But judged purely as a great piece of music, Mike Post’s Rockford theme has to be in the top five. Any other suggestions?
Sorry – Mike Post AND Pete Carpenter.
The original Doctor Who theme is pretty great and I think sums up the show pretty well. The theme to the Batman TV series was also pretty spot on.
The trend for shorter opening title sequences has kind of curtailed the great TV show themes these days. I really liked the combination of the visuals and the music for the opening titles of Dexter for a more recent example.
I thought the X-Files opening music was catchy and suited the eerie mood of the series very well. I remember at the time someone putting these words to the melody: “The X-Files is a show/With music by Mark Snow.” So I never forgotten who wrote it.
Speaking of music, now I’ve got an old Money’s Mushrooms jingle stuck in my head. Thanks, guys. It had a kind of Elizabethan feel to it. It went a little something like:
“Ask for Money’s Mushrooms.
What foods these morsels be!
Delicious and nutritious, Money’s Mushrooms!
What foods these morsels be!”
They had an elf-looking guy (guess it was supposed to be the fairy Puck) as a mascot to really sell that Midsummer Night’s Dream reference.
I didn’t realize I had a favourite John Carpenter movie until you mentioned Starman. If you didn’t think there was enough romance and sex in E.T., then this is the alien visitation flick for you!
Speaking of aliens, I also thought Arrival had a great story, but it moved a little too slowly for my taste. My guy didn’t mind the pace. We both enjoyed seeing the cinematography on a big screen. You know, it’s always weird when a character in a movie has your name. Maybe I should get a T-shirt made up with that still of Amy Adams holding up her character’s name on a white board!
If you liked the slow indie feel of Arrival, you might like the low-budget but effective Monsters (2010) directed by Gareth Edwards (director of the most recent Godzilla movie and the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). In it, two strangers, an American man and a woman, try to make their way back to the U.S. from Mexico after an alien life form has begun spreading north and travel between the countries is about to be restricted. Aptly for current events, the Americans have built a huge wall to try to keep the aliens out. It’s Before Sunrise meets Planes, Trains and Automobiles meets Cloverfield.
First off, I got my goodies! David, thank you so much for the CD. I’m looking forward to listening to No Fun and reading the comic as soon as I get a chance to give them my full attention (so probably not both at the same time). I particularly love the “I blame Dave” button – a classic from the early days!
Second, I can imagine why you would be hesitant to discuss the election, but I’m glad you did. Personally, I’m still in shock, and although my close family and friends are all anti-Trump and we’ve all been commiserating and supporting each other, hearing the various podcasters I listen to (in addition to you guys, people like Penn Jillette, Greg Proops, etc.) share their views has also really helped me process it. I guess it feels like we’re all in this together. Your views as neighbo(u)ring outsiders also gives much needed perspective, so thanks for that.
Ian, I hope your back is better. Mine went out for about a week a few years ago and it was absolutely miserable. I lost ten pounds because it hurt too much to get up and eat! Also hugs to Charlie.
The truth speaking show you guys mentioned already exists:
https://tytnetwork.com/
They have a weekly news show from 6-8pm EST Mon-Fri and release clips from it the next day
I would think trying to hog-tie a lion would be like when you tickle a cat’s tummy, just bigger and deadlier.
Haven’t seen Arrival and haven’t read the story it’s adapted from, but it’s author Ted Chiang is well worth checking out. Here’s a link to a bunch of his stories, including Arrival’s inspiration Story of Your Life. Many if not most of them are included in the collection “Stories of Your Life and Others”.
David, I came across a book called Nous, Tintin featuring imagined Tintin covers by a bunch of artists including Bilal, Sienkiewicz, Munoz, a bunch of guys I’m not familiar with a with, a Keith Haring Cover, and endpages with calligraphy by Zhang Chongren. Googling around hasn’t told me too much, I was wondering if you know the story behind it?
I possibly screwed up the links, they aren’t clickable for me; if it’s not just me, the online stories are here.
Thanks, Layne, for posting that link.