Do you remember a time where comic books were just about being comic books?
You went in to a news stand, picked up some comic books, read them and awaited the next issue with your favorite characters fighting their arch nemesis? Well now with the death of the printed word looming, comic books are no longer about entertaining us. They have to serve much more of a purpose and as such most of the comic books you’ll read that are out now are custom made to be movies, are just blueprints to be movies, tailored to fit a movie adaptation, and are being drastically altered to fit the needs of a parent company anxious to turn the star of the comics in to a film heroine.
It should have been a no-brainer. A Greek myth about a hero being called upon to battle the gods while also fighting with various creatures is a concept begging to be made in to an amazing movie. “Clash of the Titans” is the Harryhausen movie that fans continue to love but also secretly wanted to see remade… only for a curiosity. We wanted to know what it would look like, but we didn’t want it to happen. And then we were given the bright idea by Warner to not only remake the Harryhausen opus but turn it in to a franchise.
The Warner Archives have brought movie buffs of all kinds together to bear witness to the immortal Red Skelton and his “Whistling” trilogy, the 1941 comedy series that brought Skelton together with co-stars like Eve Arden and Virginia Grey. Restored and featured in three separate discs, the “Whistling” collection is ultimately a mixed bag of Skelton comedies that are all fairly flawed with some dated zingers that fall flat on numerous occasions, but when they shine, they manage to draw some genuine laughs thanks to Skelton who is sometimes too goofy to enjoy, and other times seem too funny for the material he’s handed.