R.I.P. CARMINE INFANTINO (1925 - 2013)

THE PASSING OF ANOTHER COMIX GREAT. 

Drawing since the Golden Age of Comics and one-time head honcho of DC Comics, Carmine Infantino was one of the biggies. 

He was one of the architects of the Silver Age of Comics when he co-created the updated "fastest man alive" the Flash in Showcase #4 which kick-started what became known as Earth-One. 

Then he drew the issue which created the concept of DC's multiverse with the "Flash of Two Worlds" story in which the new Flash encountered the Golden Age Flash of Earth-Two.

Carmine Infantino would always be known as "THE Flash Artist". 

And then, when Batman's fortunes were ebbing and his comic titles were edging closer to cancellation, Infantino was assigned to the Bat-books in order to infuse new life into them;

the result was the "New Look" Batman which shortly would make the leap to television with the BATMAN TV show and subsequently make the Caped Crusader the hottest thing going. 

Infantino's contributions are so numerous -- from his classic runs on space titles like the Adam Strange strip,

the ductile detective Elongated Man and the first comic book adaptation of STAR WARS

-- that a list would go on and on.  These few examples of his artwork will have to serve as a small tribute to a comic legend who has left us.

 

MSN'S 100 GREATEST FILMS. . .WHOOPS MAKE THAT THEIR 100 FAVES

THIS MORNING I FOUND ON MY COMPUTER MSN ENTERTAINMENT (WHATEVER THAT IS) LISTING THE 100 GREATEST FILMS EVER. 

Being a ravening film buff, I naturally clicked on it to see what sage pronouncements MSN would make on the history of cinema already!  Naturally, I wasn't expecting much and I was surprised when I got there to find that -- well -- they immediately contradicted their own banner headline by saying that they weren't listing the "greatest" movies but only movies they "love".  Even though the header for the article said "Greatest".  Fair enough.  But why the misleading, disingenuous headlline.  To rope in dopey film buffs like me.  But so what.  A list of "movies we love" is just as valid -- as long as we know that from the beginning.  I did my own "favourite film" list on this blog about 5 years ago -- holy cats, has it really been that long?  I'm sure the list would be completely different now!  And naturally, being MSN, we learn quite soon that their criteria is mainly that films we love generally have to be in colour and American-made.  We (and MSN Entertainment's "cadre" of contributing movie writers and critics - none of whom I've ever really heard of) don't really "love" films with pesky subtitles!  And their lead editor Kent Laird (who writes the skimpy intro to this list) tells us:  "While it is impossible to come to an organized and fair consensus on what the best movie of all time is, it's much easier to reach into our psyches and pull out movies we love."  Well, not really.  Actually, it should be no "easier" to pick favourite films than to pick the greatest films of all time; that is, unless you have no idea how to judge quality in film-making -- in which case, you really shouldn't be making movie lists in the first place!  In fact, I would probably find it much easier to list the 100 greatest films ever made because it's much harder (in my opinion) to subjectively list which 100 films I love above all others than it would be to rationally list the "greatest" films of all time -- a list which would probably almost write itself if I were to try it . . . and I just might before too long. 

But regardless, we movie buffs love our lists and this one, like all others, will be totally devisive and argument-producing.  Like, for instance, the fact that there is a rather high quotient of films I can't stand on it:  pure shit like FORREST GUMP springs to mind.  There are also films which I personally don't really care for but whose appearance on this list I can understand:  2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DR. STRANGELOVE, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, and THE PRINCESS BRIDE.  However, there are other surprising yet reassuring appearences of terrific, worthy films on the list which warm my heart to see:  BRAZIL, ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (somebody must've bought them a film book) to name a few.  But then we get to the mindboggling choices which ... well, I'm sorry but the 2009 STAR TREK?!!??!?!?  On a top 100 list?  It's not even on my top 100 list of science fiction films.  Neither is is even the best STAR TREK film; one need not even leave the original cast films to find better cinematic experiences with STAR TREK IV and STAR TREK II.  My main reaction upon seeing the 2009 STAR TREK was that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  But here it is on a top 100 film list along with other such dopey and baffling inclusions as HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (which I found to be one of the least enjoyable of that series while the book, paradoxically, was the best I've read --although I've only read the first five -- I worked in a bookstore from 2000 to 2006 so it was pretty much required reading), CLUELESS (really?!?!?!?),  or Baz Luhrmann's MOULIN ROUGE?!?!?!?!  I'm sorry but even a list of "most loved" films . . . well, I wouldn't expect those to appear on it in a million years especially when I could name probably dozen of much more celebratedly-loved movies which do not appear anywhere on this list.  GONE WITH THE WIND -- a film I actually rather hate -- is nonetheless substantially much more loved by movie fans than the 2009 STAR TREK, fer Rhett's sake!  And it somehow didn't make the list of 100 over Baz Luhrman's MOULIN ROUGE?!?!?!  But that's as may be - here is MSN Entertainment's list of "our favorite movies of all time" according to their lead editor Kent Laird.  Sadly nowhere does he gives us any idea of what criteria was used to come up with this list.  Possibly they threw a bunch of DVDs up a staircase and arrived at it that way.  Let's face it, there's a substantial amount of drek here on a list purporting to be the 100 anything.  In the drek category I would include GLADIATOR, BACK TO THE FUTURE, and TERMS OF ENDEARMENT of which I have seen and am not a fan.  Also, the presence of such films as WALL-E and THE INCREDIBLES (over, in my mind, much more beloved and classic children's films) leads me to believe that some of MSN Entertainment's film critics polled must've been about four years old.  But however they went about it, here's their list.  Let the gnashing of film buff teeth commence:

1. THE WIZARD OF OZ
2. NORTH BY NORTHWEST
3. THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
4. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
5. ANNIE HALL
6. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
7. THE GRADUATE
8. NASHVILLE
9. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
10. THE SEARCHERS
11. DR. STRANGELOVE
12. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
13. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
14. THIS IS SPINAL TAP
15. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
16. AIRPLANE
17. JAWS
18. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
19. VERTIGO
20. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
21. THE BREAKFAST CLUB
22. 2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY
23. THE SOUND OF MUSIC
24. BLADE RUNNER
25. BRAZIL
26. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
27. RIO BRAVO
28. LOVE, ACTUALLY
29. BRINGING UP BABY
30. CHINATOWN
31. THE PRINCESS BRIDE
32. THE INCREDIBLES
33. ALIENS
34. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
35. PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
36. ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS
37. CASABLANCA
38. CITIZEN KANE
39. SUNRISE
40. BLAZING SADDLES
41. MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN
42. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
43. SUNSET BLVD.
44. STAR WARS
45. THE GODFATHER
46. TROUBLE IN PARADISE
47. THE BIG LEBOWSKI
48. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
49. FORREST GUMP
50. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
51. THE APARTMENT
52. DAZED AND CONFUSED
53. MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER
54. APOCALYPSE NOW
55. REPULSION
56. MILLER'S CROSSING
57. DIRTY DANCING
58. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
59. DIE HARD
60. BLUE VELVET
61. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
62. BROADCAST NEWS
63. TOUCH OF EVIL
64. WALL-E
65. GREASE
66. PULP FICTION
67. PLAYTIME
68. PSYCHO
69. A FISH CALLED WANDA
70. SAY ANYTHING...
71. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
72. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
73. MOULIN ROUGE
74. CLUELESS
75. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
76. BACK TO THE FUTURE
77. STAGECOACH
78. CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
79. SOME LIKE IT HOT
80. REAR WINDOW
81. SCHINDLER'S LIST
82. EXCALIBUR
83. WEST SIDE STORY
84. BADLANDS
85. MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
86. TAXI DRIVER
87. LA DOLCE VITA
88. TWO-LANE BLACKTOP
89. STAR TREK (2009)
90. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
91. GOODFELLAS
92. GLADIATOR
93. ALL ABOUT EVE
94. TOOTSIE
95. SLAP SHOT
96. DONNIE DARKO
97. FIGHT CLUB
98. THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE...
99. SEVEN SAMURAI
100. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN