GHOSTWOOD 031: "Eraserhead" is Up!

"Well, Henry...What do you know?"
"Oh, I don't know much of anything."
-- Mr. X (Bill) and Henry Spencer, Eraserhead

It is happening again...My co-host with the most Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we explore the roots of Twin Peaks and review David Lynch's first feature-length film, the surreal 1977 cult classic Eraserhead, starring Jack Nance as Henry Spencer and Charlotte Stewart as Mary X.

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan and I discuss things like Bruce McCulloch's song "Eraserhead," notable Twin Peaks actors in Eraserhead, Xan watching Eraserhead over fifty times, Jack Nance keeping his Henry Spencer hairstyle during the film's extended hiatus in production, David Lynch's connection to Sissy Spacek, my favorite Die Hard films, the mysterious death of Jack Nance, Eraserhead not being an audience participation movie, what Xan loves so much about the movie, wondering if the film's setting is post-apocalyptic, dystopian or something else entirely, Henry's constant furrowed-brow expression, the Twin Peaks Red Room decor, Mary X's weird seizures, Henry's insanely awkward dinner with Mary X's parents, David Lynch's fears and anxieties of becoming a new father, Henry and Mary's creepy-ass mutant baby, the Lady in the Radiator, that bizarre moment when there's a big milky hot tub in the bed where you're having sex, the song "In Heaven, Everything is Fine," that bizarre moment when your detached head is sold to a pencil eraser factory, that awkward moment when your sickly, pustule-covered mutant baby is laughing at you, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as Xan and I continue exploring the roots of Twin Peaks and review David Lynch's 1986 neo-noir mystery film classic, Blue Velvet, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini, and Dennis Hopper!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS Enters TWIN PEAKS' Red Room

Laura Palmer as a late night talk show guest.

That's the premise of a sketch from last night's episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, which featured Meyers entering the mysterious Red Room from Twin Peaks to interview none other than murdered homecoming queen Laura Palmer.

The two-minute sketch begins with Meyers mentioning the Showtime series, remarking "It's been a very exciting year for fans of the television show Twin Peaks.  It has been back on the air. Uh...It's a weird show, it's a classic show, and one our writers thought it would be fun, if instead of Studio 8G, one night we filmed Late Night inside the mysterious Red Room from Twin Peaks."

The sketch cuts to a meticulous recreation of the original 1990-91 Twin Peaks that aired on ABC, right down to the original 4:3 screen format.  We see the original series credits, with the Twin Peaks title replaced with Late Night, then dive into the classic dream sequence from the original series' third episode, "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer".

"Welcome back to Late Night," says Meyers in a monotone, dressed as the 25-years-older version of Kyle MacLachlan's character, FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, even including the older Cooper's distinctive necktie.  "I'm here with Laura Palmer."

"Hello, Seth Meyers," replies an actress dressed as Sheryl Lee's character, speaking in the odd reverse-speak used inside the Black Lodge by characters other than Dale Cooper.  "I'm happy to be your guest tonight."

"So, what's new?" asks Meyers.

Laura gets up from her chair and slowly walks over to Meyers, bends down and whispers something into Meyer's left ear, just as Sheryl Lee did in the original sequence.  Afterwards, she stands up and slowly walks back to her chair and sits down again, blinking her eyes as Lee also did.

"What a great story," remarks Meyers.

Laura laughs in reverse-speak, and then we see a regular-sized actor as Michael Anderson's character, The Man from Another Place, who has his back to us at first, rubbing his hands together as Anderson did in the sequence.  He claps his hands together and says "Let's rock!" as Anderson also did.

And naturally, we then hear the sounds of Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti's "Dance of the Dream Man" featured in the original sequence.  The Man from Another Place gets up and starts dancing as Anderson also did.

"We'll be back with comedian Ray Romano..." Meyers says with a monotone in standard talk show fashion as the show heads to commercial.

If you'd like to check out the sketch, you can view it below thanks to the official Late Night with Seth Meyers account on YouTube...

President Trump Plagiarizes Bane During Inauguration Address

Oh, boy.  First, Melania Trump plagiarized Michelle Obama in a speech and now this.

President Donald Trump was officially sworn in as the 45th President of the United States earlier today, delivering an inauguration address that Batman movie fans may find disturbingly familiar.

During his address to the nation, Trump declared, "Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning.  Because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another.  We are transferring power from Washington D.C. and giving it back to you...the people.  For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.  Washington flourished but the people did not share in its wealth.  Politicians prospered but the jobs left and the factories closed.  The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country.  Their victories have not been your victories.  Their triumphs have not been your triumphs and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.  That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment.  It belongs to you."

If that rings some bells, Bane, the Batman villain featured in the 2012 Christopher Nolan film The Dark Knight Rises,  "We take Gotham from the corrupt!  The rich!  The oppressors of generations who have kept you down with myths of opportunity, and we give it back to you...the people.  Gotham is yours.  None shall interfere.  Do as you please.  Start by storming Blackgate, and freeing the oppressed!  Step forward those who would serve.  For an army will be raised.  The powerful will be ripped from their decadent nests, and cast out into the cold world that we know and endure.  Courts will be convened.  Spoils will be enjoyed. Blood will be shed.  The police will survive, as they learn to serve true justice.  This great city...it will endure.  Gotham will survive!"

If you'd like to see the comparison for yourself, you can check out below thanks to YouTube account Tilo Jung...



Gary Oldman had better hurry up and turn on the Bat Signal before it's too late...

Fox Buys Rights to Stan Lee's Life for 1970s Action Movie

The big question, of course -- Will Stan Lee make a cameo in his own movie?

The Hollywood Reporter revealed today that Twentieth Century Fox has acquired the movie rights to the life of Stan Lee, co-creator of some of Marvel Comics' greatest superheroes. Oh, and it's not a standard biopic, as you might expect, but a period action adventure movie.

That's right, Stan "The Man" Lee as a '70s action hero.

According to the article, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, the producers for the movies Twilight, The Maze Runner and the upcoming Power Rangers, are attached to produce "what is being described as being in the tone of Kingsman: The Secret Service, or as one insider put it, 'Roger Moore’s 007,' with Lee as the hero with an alter ego."  No writer has been hired yet, but executive producer Matt Reilly will oversee the project for Fox.

Born on December 28, 1922 in New York City, Stanley Martin Lieber started his comics career in 1939 as an assistant at the new Timely Comics division of pulp magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman's company.  Timely eventually evolved into Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

In the late 1950s, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz revived the concept of superheroes and achieved considerable success with an updated version of the The Flash, and later with the superhero team the Justice League of America.  In response, Goodman assigned Lee to create a new superhero team, which he did, giving his characters a flawed humanity not seen in DC's superheroes.  The first superhero group Lee and artist Jack Kirby created was the Fantastic Four.  

The team's immediate popularity encouraged Lee and Marvel artists to create a series of new titles.  With Kirby primarily, Lee created the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men; with Bill Everett, Lee created Daredevil; and with Steve Ditko, Lee created Doctor Strange and Marvel's most successful character, Spider-Man, placing all of them in a shared universe. Lee and Kirby put several of their new characters together into the team title The Avengers and revived previous Timely superheroes from the 1940s, including the Sub-Mariner and Captain America.

Lee used comic books to provide some measure of social commentary about the real world, often dealing with racism and bigotry.  His "Stan's Soapbox" column, in addition to promoting an upcoming comic book project, also addressed issues of discrimination, intolerance, or prejudice.  In 1972, Lee stopped writing monthly comic books to assume the role of publisher. His final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) was #110 in and his last Fantastic Four (vol.1) was #125.  In later years, Lee became a figurehead and public face for Marvel Comics.

Currently, as Marvel broadens its scope into television and film adaptations, Lee has made a number of cameo appearances in the various projects.  A few of these appearances are self-aware and sometimes reference Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters. His next cameo is set for this year's adaptation of Doctor Strange.

Neil Gaiman Addresses One Million Moms Petition Against LUCIFER

To the surprise of no one, the right-wing, Christian boycott group One Million Moms has a problem with the upcoming Fox midseason replacement series Lucifer, based on the DC Comics/VERTIGO series by Mike Carey and starring Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar.

Last week, the group posted a petition urging Fox to "Drop plans to air Lucifer," which currently has a total 12,807 "concerned moms," only 987,193 short of one million.  The damning petition (Get it?) is described on the OMM site as follows:

FOX has plans in 2016 to air "Lucifer," a new series which will glorify Satan as a caring, likable person in human flesh.

The series will focus on Lucifer portrayed as a good guy, "who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell." He resigns his throne, abandons his kingdom and retires to Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals.

At the same time, God's emissary, the angel Amenadiel, has been sent to Los Angeles to convince Lucifer to return to the underworld.

Previews of the pilot episode depict graphic acts of violence, a nightclub featuring scantily-clad women and a demon.

To quote Dana Carvey's classic Church Lady character from Saturday Night Live, "Well, isn't that special."

Neil Gaiman, co-creator of the Lucifer comics character in 1989's The Sandman #4, weighed in on the petition by way of his official Tumblr account, with the following response...

'One Million Moms' Says New Fox TV Series 'Lucifer' 'Mocks the Bible,' Starts Petition Urging for Show's Cancellation

Ah. It seems like only yesterday (but it was 1991) that the “Concerned Mothers of America” announced that they were boycotting SANDMAN because it contained Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans characters. It was Wanda that upset them most: the idea of a Trans Woman in a comic book… They told us they were organising a boycott of SANDMAN, which they would only stop if we wrote to the American Family Association and promised to reform.

I wonder if they noticed it didn’t work last time, either…


Lucifer is expected to air on Fox sometime in early 2016.

SHERLOCK Series 3 UK Air Date Revealed in a Hearse

Too subtle?

While Americans were busy getting into fights at Walmart on Black Friday, Londoners were treated to something a little less violent but still somewhat gruesome yesterday.  According to the Express, the long-awaited transmission date for Series 3 of the BBC series Sherlock was revealed in a the back of a black hearse that was driven around London.

As a promotional stunt arranged by the BBC, the empty hearse (pay attention to that, it's important) was pictured with a floral tribute that spelled out "Sherlock 01 01 14," meaning Series 3 premieres in the U.K. on January 1, 2014.  In addition, there was a sign in the driver's window that read #SherlockLives, directing fans to use the hashtag on Twitter to follow and promote the series.

Episode one of Series 3, "The Empty Hearse," is written by Mark Gatiss and is based loosely on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story "The Adventure of the Empty House."  Episode two, "The Sign of Three," will air on January 5th and episode three, "His Last Vow," will air a week later on January 12th.

The publicity stunt was first hinted at the night before when Sherlock producer Sue Vertue posted the message "Keep your eyes peeled in the morning rush hour and pay your respects."  According to the article, the hearse was noticed outside the hospital of Sherlock's apparent demise on Gower Street at 9:30 a.m. yesterday morning.  At the end of Series 2 in "The Reichenbach Fall," Sherlock Holmes appears to hurl himself from the roof of St. Bartholomew's Hospital and is believed dead in an apparent suicide, only to be shown alive -- somehow -- at the end of the episode.

A short, 30-second teaser trailer for Series 3 was released last week that also promoted the #SherlockLives hashtag.  You can view it below thanks to the BBC's official YouTube channel.



Sherlock premieres in the U.S. on January 19, 2014 at 10 p.m. EST on PBS, provided you haven't found alternative means to watch the U.K. version beforehand.

Eminem Channels Max Headroom in "Rap God" Video

Max Headroom fans, get ready to jump twenty minutes into the future again...

Rap music star Eminem, a.k.a. Marshall Mathers, once again shows his love of classic pop culture in his just-released video for "Rap God," the third single from his eighth studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2.  The song debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album has already sold at least one million copies within three weeks of release.

For those of you who aren't geezers that grew up in the eighties, Max Headroom is a fictional character portrayed by actor Matt Frewer as a stuttering artificial intelligence billed as "The world's first computer-generated TV host."  Max first appeared in a 1985 British cyberpunk TV movie called Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into The Future and was soon given his own music video program, The Max Headroom Show.  The character became a cult hit, even earning a science fiction drama series on ABC, called simply Max Headroom, that lasted for two seasons.

Max Headroom became a significant pop culture icon of the '80s, appearing with the band Art of Noise in the song "Paranoimia," as a television spokesman for New Coke, on the children's program Sesame Street and even at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Also, as he often does in his song lyrics, Eminem uses comic book references in "Rap God," by name-checking Superman villain General Zod, Superman's birth planet Krypton, Thor's realm of Asgard and even The Walking Dead.

Kneel before General Zod, this planet's Krypton...No, Asgard, Asgard

So you be Thor and I'll be Odin, you rodent, I'm omnipotent
Let off then I'm reloading immediately with these bombs I'm totin'
And I should not be woken
I'm the walking dead, but I'm just a talking head, a zombie floating

If you'd like to check out the video, you can view it below thanks to EminemVEVO on YouTube...

Tim Burton & Michael Keaton May Return for BEETLEJUICE 2

Is it finally showtime once again?

The Wrap confirmed rumors that director Tim Burton is officially in talks with Warner Bros. to return for a sequel to Beetlejuice, his supernatural comedy classic from 1988.  The Geffen Company, which produced the 1988 classic, will produce the sequel with Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg of KatzSmith Productions.  Grahame-Smith, who wrote the adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter produced by Burton, wrote the script for Warner Bros.

And yes, 62-year-old actor Michael Keaton is expected to reprise his role as The Ghost with the Most, although nothing is certain at this point.

Burton is currently in post-production on the film Big Eyes, a 2014 drama starring Amy Adams based on the life of painter Margaret Keane.  It was believed that his next project was going to be the 20th Century Fox fantasy film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an adaptation of Ransom Riggs’ bestselling novel.  However, The Wrap claims that Burton hasn't decided what his next movie will be and even though it probably won't be Beetlejuice 2, it seems the sequel could end up on his schedule if talks go well.

After the creative and box office failure of Burton's 2012 movie version of Dark Shadows, it seems audiences are more than ready for Burton to part ways with actor Johnny Depp and a reunion with Michael Keaton may be just what the director needs.  His next film, Frankenweenie, was good enough to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Film, but it would be nice to see Burton recapture some of that magic once again in live-action.

Chinese News Site Shows Battlestar Galactica as Futuristic Aircraft Carrier

 

China's news media may have frakked up royally.

The South China Morning Post News reports that the Japanese language version of the China Internet Information Centre showed the above image of the Galactica from the 2004-09 version of Battlestar Galactica as an illustration for a piece about aircraft carriers of the future.

The article, titled "4 Major Trends in Aircraft Carrier Development," was posted on the CIIC, a web portal authorized by the Chinese government which features official news translated into a variety of languages, including Japanese, Korean and English.  The piece focused on developments in missile defense systems, stealth fighters, automated drones and electromagnetic catapults, which are important in the construction of future aircraft carriers.

Japanese readers were skeptical of the images, however, commenting that the article’s two pictures, labelled as concepts for "future aircraft carrier designs," looked like something from science fiction.  "Are these graphics from a video game?" wrote one person, while others said that the pictures looked reminiscent of Macross, a Japanese animated program from 1982 that featured futuristic robots and spaceships.

Eventually, they figured out that one of the pictures was a schematic that had been used by Zoic Studios, the animation studio responsible for the visual effects in the American science fiction television program Battlestar Galactica.  Another image was a concept design for a "Lilypad" floating city, created by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, who also created similar mock-up images for sustainable structures in Taipei and Shenzhen.

"These [designs] are pretty good dreams," wrote one Japanese blogger after the source for the image was determined.  "[The people who wrote this article] should start making comic books."

So say we all.

Apparently, this wasn't the first time that Chinese media used dubious images to accompany military-themed articles.  In March, both Xinhua and Global Times ran a story on a "secret" Japanese military helicopter.  The images of the helicopter in question turned out to be digital art created by a Singapore animation studio employee.

The Internet Loses Its Damn Mind Over Ben Affleck as Batman

In case you're one of the two people who still doesn't know by now, Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder's sequel to Man of Steel, featuring the returning Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent.  And as you might imagine, people all over the interwebz went into Nerdrage Factor Twelve when the news broke late yesterday evening.

Just a couple of days earlier, I wrote about how Wes Bentley was executive producer Christopher Nolan's pick for Batman, and how Affleck was actually being courted for the role, however unlikely it was to happen given his current body of work and schedule.  Well, guess what?  It actually happened.

Twitter, due to its ability for immediate response, naturally went batshit over the news first, collectively using hashtags #Benman and the more popular #Batfleck in addition to less organized rants such as these:
 

YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME WARNER BROS. BEN AFFLECK AS BATMAN? Just stop. STOP. Stop.
— Jill Pantozzi (@JillPantozzi) August 23, 2013

INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE BATMAN Clahk, I'm sad cuz my parents were wicked murdahed!
— Mike Scollins (@mikescollins) August 23, 2013

I GO TO CANADA FOR ONE FUCKING DAY AND YOU CAST BEN AFFLECK AS BATMAN?! THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS AMERICA!
— Joel Watson (@hijinksensue) August 23, 2013

What's this I hear? George Clooney is back as Batman? THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE AWESOME, I TELL YOU!!!
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffCarlisle) August 23, 2013

Batman’s lost his parents and like 4 Robins. Hasn’t he suffered enough? #Batfleck
— Joel Watson (@hijinksensue) August 23, 2013

And so on.  You get the point.

Facebook soon followed, as people posting on Twitter found a comment they liked from someone else and reposted it as their own creation in a Facebook status update.  Over the next half hour, various forums, blogs and message boards picked up on the news, fueling the fire until there was a sudden ideological split between "You've got to be fucking kidding me" and "Hey, remember when everyone hated Heath Ledger as The Joker?" camps.

And to the surprise of no one, there is already a Change.org petition to Warner Brothers asking them to remove Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne.  At the time of this writing, the petition has 2,732 signatures from people with apparently nothing better to do with their lives.  The description for the petition reads "His acting skill is not even close to being believable as Bruce Wayne and he won't do the role justice. He's not built, nor is he intimidating enough for the role of Batman. His portrayal of Daredevil was atrocious and he's not remotely close to an action star. Please find someone else."

In the unlikely event the petition actually succeeds in convincing Warner Bros. to drop the guy winning Oscars and Golden Globes for The Town and Argo, Twitter is currently trending the topic #BetterBatmanThanBenAffleck to suggest Ben's replacement.

The still-untitled sequel to Man of Steel is scheduled for July 17, 2015.  Brace yourselves for the next two years...

Aquaman is #1 Most Toxic Superhero Internet Search

It seems Aquaman writer Geoff Johns has some fresh material for his continuing mission to address jokes and misconceptions about the King of Atlantis.

In a blog posted yesterday, internet security company McAfee named DC Comics character Aquaman #1 their "Most Toxic Superhero" when it comes to internet searches resulting in risky websites.  Their study, using McAfee SiteAdvisor site ratings, found that "searching for the latest 'Aquaman and free torrent download,' 'Aquaman and watch,' 'Aquaman and online,' and 'Aquaman and free trailer' yields a 18.6% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware."

McAfee's Top 15 superheroes with the highest percentage of risk:

1. Aquaman 18.60%
2. Mr. Fantastic 18.22%
3. The Hulk 17.30%
4. Wonder Woman 16.77%
5. Daredevil 16.70%
6. Iron Man 15.63%
7. Superman 15.21%
8. Thor 15.10%
9. Green Lantern 15.00%
10. Cyclops 14.40%
11. Wolverine 14.27%
12. Invisible Woman 12.40%
13. Batman 12.30%
14. Captain America 11.77%
15. Spider-Man 11.15%

I'm guessing searching for "Mr. Fantastic" alone could result in something completely different than the leader of the Fantastic Four, which probably accounts for Reed Richards charting so high at #2.

Robert Siciliano, writer of the article, said "With the resurgence of the superheroes into mainstream movies (think Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America to name a few), hackers are leveraging their popularity to target consumers.  Hackers are most successful when they can attract a large number of victims.  One way to target big crowds online is to track current events—everything from celebrity meltdowns and natural disasters to holidays and popular music—and now, superheroes."

Kyle MacLachlan Does the TWIN PEAKS Harlem Shake

I have no idea where this YouTube video will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.

Okay, I'm a bit late to the dance party on this one, but a few weeks ago, Official Comedy released a short video of actor Kyle MacLachlan doing the popular internet meme based around Baauer's song "Harlem Shake."  Well, everyone has jumped on this bandwagon of late, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, so if there's another one, it must be a day ending in the letter Y.

This particular Harlem Shake, however, features MacLachlan back in the hellish Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, with various other people referencing a number of things from the cult classic 1990-91 ABC television series.  MacLachlan, who starred as Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Cooper, starts off the video bopping along and wearing the mask worn by the Jumping Man from the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in front of the familiar Red Room curtains inside the Black Lodge.

All at once, the image cuts to the unmasked MacLachlan smiling and holding a cup of damn good coffee, surrounded by Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic, the Little Man from Another Place, eyepatch-wearing Nadine Hurley, someone holding the Log Lady's log, someone holding up a picture of an owl, someone holding up the deer's head that was resting on a table inside the Twin Peaks police station, and someone holding a plate of doughnuts beloved by Cooper and Twin Peaks police officers.  MacLachlan even takes a sip of coffee and spits it out in a recreation of Cooper uttering the line "Damn good coffee...and hot!" that obviously inspired the name of this very blog.

If you'd like to check out the video, and who wouldn't, you can see it below thanks to Official Comedy...