Found Footage: 1994 San Diego Comic-Con

I recently discovered that my brother had camcorder footage from the 1994 San Diego Comic-Con! Though I’ve attended the show since 1986, that was my second year as an exhibitor. It was also the 25th anniversary of the show, which feels like it was only yesterday. (Comic-Con celebrated its 50th in 2019.)

I learned (or rather was reminded) of its existence in some old notes. When I asked him about it, he told me that he had several unmarked tapes but was unable to play them since his camcorder had broken down years before. Fortunately, I still had a working camcorder in the same format and took it with me when I next visited him in Northern California. After I found the tape, I digitized it upon my return to Los Angeles.

The tape includes footage of my first appearance on a panel, about self-publishing, that included Don Simpson, Batton Lash, Jim Valentino, and myself. There is also clips of Adam West signing.

What also made the tape personally fun is that a bunch of my college buddies showed up in support. Several of them became Comic-Con regulars, including Terry Delegeane who worked at Bongo Comics for many years and Scott Brick who worked for a time as a writer for both the Comics Buyers Guide and Wizard, and has moderated panels at Comic-Con over the years (he’s since become an award-winning audiobook narrator and teacher).

Looking at the footage, since the show took place at the same location it’s been at since 1991, in the San Diego Convention Center, it doesn’t look much different than today and felt very familiar. Nevertheless, it was a nice time capsule, especially given how young I looked back then.

See the full gallery.

Recent Books Read in 2022

The Last Star Wars

This hasn’t aged well—a Time magazine cover story from May 5, 2005, on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, "the last Star Wars."  I came across this while doing some spring cleaning, among magazines I’d saved for posterity. Little did we know!!

While May the 4th is now traditionally celebrated as Star Wars Day, the original film (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope) was released May 25, 45 years ago today.

The film was released when I was 15 years old. Though I was regularly reading comics at the time, I was otherwise completely unaware of comics or sf fandom, so like a lot of people, this film came out of nowhere for me. In fact, I didn’t see it until late in its run, when my parents took my brother and sister to see it (1 and 10 years younger than me respectively). I remember seeing it as a matinee at a huge movie house in Manhattan, but since it was late in the run (probably late summer), the theater was nearly empty.

My brother, who has a much better memory for these things than me, provided a few additional funny details to this story: Our parents wanted to take us to a movie that day and left it up to us: my brother wanted to see Rabbit Test and our little sister wanted the Other Side of the Mountain Part 2—but apparently, I won out since I was the oldest. (My brother says he’s grateful that his choice was denied lol.)

He also reminded me that this was at a time when you could just walk in during the middle of a film and leave where you came in. In this case, we walked in right when Threepio and Artoo get captured by the Jawas—which makes sense since that scene remains a vivid memory from that showing. It must have been the first thing I saw from this film.

A few weeks later, my brother and I went to see it again with some friends, taking the local train to get there, who were similarly blown away. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Walk, Don't Run to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

Though the Tokyo Olympics has been top of the news these past two weeks, it only just hit me that a personal favorite film of mine, Walk, Don’t Run, used the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as its backdrop.

Starring Cary Grant, and co-starring Timothy Hutton and Samantha Eggar, I stumbled across this film on broadcast tv back in college and found it to be a charming romantic comedy; I’ve seen it many times and am always up to watch it when the opportunity arises.

Grant pays a business executive visiting Tokyo who, unable to find any lodgings due to the Games, convinces a reluctant young worker at the British embassy (Eggar) to sublet a room in her apartment to him. After meeting an athlete from the U.S. Olympics team (Hutton) in a similar predicament, he in turn sublets half of his room to the young man, to the dismay of Eggar’s character who is engaged and worried about the propriety of rooming with two men. Of course, the two young people initially don’t get on, but Grant ends up playing a sly and sneaky matchmaker to the couple. (If the plot sounds familiar, I only just discovered it’s a re-make of the film, The More the Merrier—I’m aware of this earlier film but have never seen it in its entirety, which I plan to correct.) A running gag is Hutton’s reluctance to tell anyone his sport.

The movie is partly noteworthy for being Grant’s last, believing that audiences didn’t want to see him, at age 61, not playing a romantic lead or as a third wheel in a supporting role—which is a shame because Grant’s performance is charming and effortless.

Much of the movie was filmed on location—it highlights Japan’s progress since the war just 20 years prior and makes a brief reference to the country’s fledgling electronics industry. Over the course of its story, the film takes advantage of its setting, serving as a travelogue for the country, offering glimpses into everyday life and Tokyo’s growing reputation as a cosmopolitan city. And as you’ll see in one of the stills accompanying this post, Star Trek actor George Takei has a small role!

As I learned on Wikipedia, the ‘64 Olympics was the first time the Games were held in Asia—Tokyo was initially slated to host in 1940 (following Nazi Germany hosting in 1936!), but its invasion and occupation of China resulted in the games being moved to Helsinki, Finland that year. The ‘64 games were also moved to October to avoid the punishing summer heat and humidity and typhoon season.

In any case, given the Tokyo Olympics winding down this week, this seemed a perfect time to highlight this delightful film!

Entertainment Round up for 2020

Below is my annual end-of-year entertainment roundup for 2020!

Like everyone else, I was stuck at home for most of the year due to COVID-19, which no doubt contributed to a banner year of film and television consumption. Last year I separated films seen in the theater and on DVD from those seen online—for this year, I further refined the list by also separating streaming films from "series," regardless of whether they were on TV or a streaming service (including limited series).

Among my favorite series and/or films this year were Queen's Gambit (Netflix), Enola Holmes (Netflix), Soul (Pixar), Quiz (AMC), The Great (Hulu), Happiest Season (Hulu), the Glorias (Amazon Prime), Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix), Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix), Toast of London (Netflix), and Medical Police (Netflix). Honorable mentions go to Mank (Netflix), the Band's Visit (Prime), and the Return of the Hero (Prime). Late discoveries include Bombshell, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Wonder Wheel, Just Mercy, and World on Fire. As usual, I also revisited past favorites, including the West Wing, Gorky Park, Great News, and others.

Although I wasn't as enthralled by the Mandalorian on Disney Plus like some people (in fact, I found it downright boring), the second season turned out to be much more appealing.

In addition, at the beginning of 2020, I mentioned that I had transitioned from a satellite tv series to YouTubeTV. After now having had it nearly a year, I can say it was a great decision, I'm very happy with the service and the much lower pricepoint (which allowed us the cushion to sign up for a few other streaming services).

While of course stay-at-home guidance prevented us from seeing live shows, we actually enjoyed several terrific live online concerts by the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band, which was a treat. And despite the cancellation of this year's San Diego Comic-Con, I exhibited at the virtual show, Comic-Con@Home and enjoyed checking out DC Comics' FanDome.

I didn't read as many books as I would have liked (comics, graphic novel or otherwise), but I enjoyed Woody Allen's Apropos of Nothing and Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by John "Derf" Backderf.

As we enter 2021, it will be interesting if I maintain this pace!

Films/DVDs
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Extended & Extras) - DVD (12/28/2020) The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - (Extended & Extras) DVD (12/6/2020) Jojo Rabbit - DVD (12/22/2020) - rewatch Help! - DVD (11/27/2020) - rewatch Remains of the Day - DVD (9/4/2020) - rewatch Three Kings - DVD (8/16/2020) - rewatch Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood - DVD (8/15/ /2020) - rewatch Hannah and Her Sisters - DVD (4/11/2020) - rewatch Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood - DVD (2/27/2020) - rewatch Masters of Sex, Season 2 (DVD - Disc 2) (1/25/2020) Jojo Rabbit - DVD (1/5/2020) - rewatch

Streaming Films

Ford v. Ferrari (12/28/2020) - rewatch
Soul - Disney Plus (2/28/2020)
Wonder Woman 1984 - HBO Max - (2/25/2020)
Frank and Ollie - Disney+ (12/21/20)
Young Victoria - Hulu (12/20/2020) - rewatch
Shattered Glass - IMDB (12/11/2020) - rewatch
Pawn Sacrifice - Hulu (12/4/2020)
Mank - Netflix (12/4/2020)
China’s Schindlers - Prime (12/6/2020)
Rescue in the Philippines - Refuge from the Holocaust- Prime (12/6/2020)
Saints and Soldiers: The Void - Prime (12/6/2020)
The Real Inglorious Bastards - Prime (12/5/2020)
Bombshell - Hulu (11/29/2020)
The Man Who Invented Christmas - Hulu (11/27/2020) - rewatch
Last Christmas - Prime (11/27/2020)
Friends and Romans - Prime (11/27/2020)
2001: The Making of a Myth - Prime (11/27/2020)
Ides of March - Prime (11/24/2020)
Happiest Season - Hulu (11/24/2020)
Misbehavior - Prime (11/24/2020)
CQ - Prime (11/22/2020)
The Nice Guys - Hulu (11/22/2020)
The Living Daylights - Prime (11/14/2020) - rewatch
You Only Live Twice - Prime(11/13/2020) - rewatch
Thunderball - Prime (11/12/2020) - rewatch
From Russia WIth Love - Prime (11/12/2020) - rewatch
Rebecca - Netflix (11/8/2020)
The Queen’s Gambit eps 1-3 - Netflix (11/1/2020)
I Am Woman - Netflix (10/25/2020)

The Glorias - Prime (10/25/2020)
Yes God Yes – Prime (10/24/2020)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm - Prime (10/23/2020)
Trial of the Chicago 7 - Netflix (10/17/20)
Ask Me Anything - YouTubeTV (10/04/2020)
Anna Karenina - Prime (10/02/2020)
The Post - YouTubeTV (10/4/20) - rewatch
Man from UNCLE - YouTubeTV (10/4/20) - rewatch
Boys in the Band - Netflix (10/4/2020)
Love Birds - Prime (9/29/20)
Seth Myers comedy special - Prime (10/1/2020)
Ship of Fools - TCM (9/29/20)
What If - Prime (9/26/2020)
Enola Holmes - Netflix (9/25/2020)
The Love Punch - Prime (9/24/2020)
Children’s Hour - Prime (9/20/2020)
Charade - Prime (9/19/2020)- rewatch
Audrey Hepburn Magical - Prime (9/17/2020)
Casablanca - Prime (9/15/2020)- rewatch
Pen15, eps 1-3 - Hulu (9/12/2020)
I, Tonya - Hulu (9/10/2020) - rewatch
The Rewrite - Amazon rental (09/06/2020)
Rebel in the Rye - Hulu (9/5/202)
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women - Hulu (9/5/2020)
The Last Full Measure - Hulu (8/30/2020)
Batman and Bill - Hulu (8/30/2020)
Sully - YouTube TV (8/28/2020)
The Assistant - Hulu (8/26/2020
Adaptation - Amazon rental (8/16/2020)
Dora and the Lost City of Gold - Hulu (8/17/2020)
Pride and Prejudice - Prime - rewatch
Rushmore - Prime - rewatch
The Lady Vanishes - Prime
To Sir, With Love –  (8/8/2020) - rewatch
The Return of the Hero - Prime (8/2/2020)
The Winning Season - Prime (7/17/2020)
Love and Mercy - Hulu (7/16/2020) - rewatch
The Italian Job - Prime (7/8/2020)
Monuments Men - IMDB TV (7/3/2020) - rewatch
Hamilton - Disney Plus (7/3/2020)
O' Brother, Where Art Thou? - Prime (7/4/2020) - rewatch
Guys and Dolls - Prime (7/2/2020) - rewatch
A Mighty Wind - Prime (7/1/2020) - rewatch
Heaven Can Wait - Prime (6/30/2020) - rewatch
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - Netflix (6/28/2020)
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn- Netflix (6/27/2020)
Trumbo - Netflix (6/27/2020)- rewatch
The Queen - Netflix (6/22/2020)- rewatch
Frost/Nixon - Netflix (6/21/2020)- rewatch
The Conspirator - Prime (6/23/2020) - rewatch
Chariots of Fire – YouTubeTV (6/21/2020) - rewatch
Selma - Amazon Prime (6/19/2020)
Marshall - Amazon Prime (6/18/2020)- rewatch
The Band’s Visit - Amazon Prime (6/14/2020)
Just Mercy - Amazon Prime (6/14/2020)
12 Angry Men - Amazon Prime (6/7/2020)
The Great Escape  - Amazon Prime (5/30/2020) - rewatch
Rocketman - Hulu (5/26/2020)
The Front - Amazon Prime (5/24/2020) - rewatch
Eat Drink Man Woman - Amazon Prime (5/21/2020) - rewatch
The Year of Living Dangerously - Prime purchase (5/17/2020) - rewatch
The Emperor - Prime (5/9/2020)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Disney+ (5/5/2020)  - rewatch
Comic Book Confidential (20th Anniversary Edition) - Prime (5/4/2020)
Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four Movie - Prime (5/2/2020)
Public Enemy - TCM (5/2/2020) - rewatch
The Escort - YouTube (5/2/2020)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - Netflix (5/1/2020) -rewatch
The Artist - Netflix (5/1/2020) - rewatch
The Post - YouTubeTV (04/30/2020) - rewatch
Shanghai - Prime (04/30/2020)
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley - Prime (04/29/2020)
Rude Dude - Prime (4/27/2020)
Midway - Prime Rental (04/26/2020)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Netflix (04/23//2020) - rewatch
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley - Prime (4/22/2020)
The Terminal - YouTubeTV (04/13/2020) - rewatch
The Hunt for Red October - YouTubeTV (04/12/2020) - rewatch
Love Wedding Repeat - Netflix (04/11/2020)
Never Surrender - Prime (4/11/2020)
Wonder Wheel - Prime (4/10/2020)
Woody Allen: A Documentary (Part 2) - Prime (4/9/2020)
Woody Allen: A Documentary (Part 1) - Prime (4/8/2020)
Love and Death - Prime (4/8/2020)- rewatch
Coco – Disney Plus (4/9/2020) - rewatch
Spotlight – IMDB TV (4/7/2020) - rewatch
The Big Short - Amazon Prime (04/03/2020) - rewatch

Gorky Park - YouTubeTV (04/04/2020) - rewatch
Marc Maron: Too Real - Netflix (04/02/2020)
Dean - Netflix (04/02/2020)
Morning Glory - Amazon Prime (03/29/2020)
Manhattan - Amazon Prime (03/29/2020) - rewatch
Clueless - Amazon Prime  (03/29/2020) - rewatch
Emma - Amazon Prime  (03/28/2020)
Reds - Amazon Prime (03/26/2020) - rewatch
Rocketeer - Disney Plus (03/22/2020) - rewatch
Lawrence of Arabia - YouTube TV (03/21/2020) - rewatch
Sands of Iwo Jima - Amazon Prime (03/14/2020) - rewatch
Blade Runner 2049 – IMDB TV (3/8/2020)
Fighting with My Family - Amazon Prime (3/2/2020)
Downton Abbey - Amazon purchase (2/29/2019) - rewatch
Executive Suite - YouTube TV (2/25/2020) - rewatch
Tootsie - YouTubeTV (2/17/2020) - rewatch
Ghosts of Mississippi - YouTubeTV (2/16/2020) - rewatch
Argo  - YouTubeTV (2/9/2020) - rewatch
And Justice for All - YouTubeTV (2/9/2020) - rewatch
Keeping Up with the Joneses - YouTubeTV (2/2/2020)
Outsourced - Amazon Prime (1/26/2020) - rewatch
Mission Impossible: Fallout - Amazon Prime (01/16/2020) - rewatch
Solo: A Star Wars Story - Netflix (1/11/2020) - rewatch
Tall GIrl - Netflix (1/5/2020)

Streaming Series/TV
From the Earth to the Moon - HBOMax (12/31/2020) - rewatch Great News - Netflix (12/23/2020) - rewatch
Venture Brothers - S1 Eps 1-4 - Hulu (12/20/2020)
The West Wing Seasons 5 - Netflix (12/19/2020)
The West Wing Seasons 4 - Netflix (12/12/2020)
The West Wing Seasons 6-7 - Netflix (11/21/2020)
The West Wing Seasons 1-3 - Netflix (10/20/2020)
The Right Stuff eps 1-2 - Disney+ (10/9/2020)
Emily in Paris (10/9/2020)
Sense and Sensibility (2008 PBS adaptation) - Hulu (8/9/2020)
Starring Adam West - Prime (7/10/2020)
Better Off Ted Seasons 1–2 - Hulu (7/4/2020)
Toast of London: Season 1: "The Unspeakable Play" Netflix - (6/27/2020)
Black Monday S1 E1 - Amazon Prime (6/228/2020)
Life After Flash - Amazon Prime (6/18/2020)
Quiz, S3 - AMC (6/18/2020)
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film - Amazon Prime (6/14/2020)
Tokyo Trial- Netflix - (6/14/2020)
High Fidelity - Hulu (6/11/2020)

Quiz, E1-2 - AMC (6/7/2020)
By Sidney Lumet - Amazon Prime (06/06/20)
One Zoom to Rule Them All – Reunited Apart: Lord of the Rings - YouTube (6/2/2020)
Space Force, S1 E1 - Netflix -(6/1/2020)
Reunited Apart Makes a SPLASH - YouTube (5/27/2020)
The Coolest Guy Movie Ever: Return to the Scene of the Great Escape - Amazon Prime (5/25/2020)
The Great, S1 E3-7 - Hulu (5/24/2020)
The Gallery, eps 1-4 - Disney+ (5/22/2020)
NewsfrommeTV – Interview with Scott Shaw! - YouTube (5/24/2020)
Produced by George Martin - Amazon Prime (5/23/2020)
Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (Classic Albums) - Amazon Prime (5/22/2020)
World on FIre, Ep. 2-7 (Masterpiece Theatre) - YouTube TV (5/18/2020)
The Great, S1 E2 - Hulu (5/17/2020)
Comic Masters: AexToth Part 1- Episode 88 - YouTube (5/16/2020)
Star Wars From Puppets To Pixels: Digital Characters In Episode II Documentary - YouTube (5/16/2020)
The Great, S1 E1 - Hulu (5/14/2020)
Ron Livingston Band of Brothers Video Diary - YouTube (05/16/2020)
Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill - Netflix (5/8/2020)
Clone Wars (Season 7, finale last four episodes) – Disney+ (05/05/2020)
Frankenstein (UK National Public Theatre) -
Band of Brothers, Eps 5-10 - Prime (04/19/2020) - Rewatch
The Hollywood Collection: William Holden - The Golden Boy  - Prime (04/19/2020)
Never Surrender:  A Galaxy Quest Documentary (4/17/2020)
World on Fire, Ep. 1, - PBS app (4/6/2020)
Misery Loves Comedy - Prime (03/30/2020)
30 Rock - Netflix (3/29/2020)
Arrested Development - Netflix (3/29/2020)
Year of the Rabbit - Eps 1-3  - YouTubeTV (3/6/2020)
James May: Our Man In Japan - Season 1 - Amazon Prime (2/28/2020)
SNL - Season 1 episodes - YouTubeTV (2/17/2020) - rewatch
Medical Police/Episodes 9–10 (2/3//2019)
Sense and Sensibility - Amazon Prime (PBS Series) (2/3/2020)
James May in Japan - Amazon Prime (1/31/2020)
Medical Police/Episodes 6-8 - Netflix (1/31/2020)
Little Dorritt (01/20/2020)
Howard’s End (2018 PBS series) (01/19/2020)
Catch 22 - Hulu (01/18/2020)
Medical Police/Episodes 1-5 (1/11/2020)

Live Performance

Rock and Roll Music - Fab Four (10/4/2020)
Rubber Soul Live Stream - Fab Four (9/12/2020)
The Cavern - Fab Four (8/22/2020)
DC FanDome 2 (9/12/2020)
DC FanDome (8/22/2020)
Best of 1965-1966  - Fab Four (7/25/2020) Comic-Con@Home
Heartbreakers 2 - Fab Four (7/11/2020)
Heartbreakers - Fab Four (7/3/2020)
All We Need is Love2- Fab Four (6/28/2020)
All We Need is Love - Fab Four (6/19/2020)
Let it Beard - Fab Four (5/29/2020)

Books
Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf (12/25/2020)
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine (9/8/2020)
Name of the Game by Will Eisner (08/03/2020)
Apropros of Nothing by Woody Allen (04/03/2020) My Friend Dahmer - John “Derf” Bergderf (04/22/2020)