Author: davegladow

The Empire Strikes Back retrospective: Hitting hard

In 1976, a little-known writer/actor by the name of Sylvester Stallone saw the release of his most critically acclaimed and culturally significant work, “Rocky.” Rocky told the story of a (seemingly) past-his-prime boxer being given the ultimate underdog’s title shot against the champion of the world, and it gave us all the drama one could ever hope for from such a scenario. Moreover, it had the good sense to lean into an incredible score, fast, hard-hitting imagery, a romantic subplot, and against every instinct modern Hollywood will try to bring to bear on any project ever, the hero lost.

That this movie has inspired 800 sequels/spinoffs is merely the cherry on top when trying to draw a comparison to what many consider to be George Lucas’ most inspiring work, his sequel to the smash hit “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back.”*

* This is where we note that Lucas didn’t actually direct this movie; Irvin Kershner did. While some like to use this fact as a weapon against Lucas in a personal vendetta sort of way (“Hur hur, Lucas didn’t even direct the best movie in the franchise! Hur hur.”), I think it is enough to note that Lucas was heavily involved in the making of the sequel, and that many people contributed to making Star Wars what it is today, Kershner included.

“Empire,” for short, had the unenviable challenge of trying to surpass the most popular film of all time, and it shares a weird amount of characteristics with what is ostensibly a boxing movie in “Rocky.” The most important and obvious, of course, is its total disregard for normal Hollywood endings. But I actually like the thematic comparison as well.

“Rocky,” and especially its sequels, became very well known not only for its incredible synth-scored training montages, but even more so for its over-the-top violence and depravity within the ring. Watching blood and sweat (and sometimes even body parts like teeth) sail through the air in super slow motion may not have meant much thematically beyond “this movie hits hard,” but good lord I couldn’t come up with a better description for “The Empire Strikes Back” if I tried.

This movie hits hard.

Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back retrospective: Hitting hard

Trying to get a handle on the future of the Big 12

Recently, I’ve been reading more message board and social media chatter from Big 12 fans, specifically Oklahoma and Texas fans, about the next round of realignment, and where their schools might ultimately end up.

So let’s roll up our sleeves and jump back into this puddle of mud, shall we?

Continue reading Trying to get a handle on the future of the Big 12

Halloween fun in New Orleans

Hey all, here’s another update from my work sphere, as I’ve produced a few thing for Southern Weekend over the past few weeks. Leading off is this fun video about a cool New Orleans haunted house we take the kids to visit every year now.

A few more things after the jump!

Continue reading Halloween fun in New Orleans

The best NES games of all time

Hey, the NES Classic has (somewhat quietly) gone back on the market, which has made the system decidedly less rare. Way to be, Nintendo!

For the uninitiated, the NES Classic is a retro re-imagining of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, wherein 30 of the original games for the system are pre-installed on a miniaturized version (including shorter cords!) for retro-game enthusiasts.

This thing was created and released in 2016, promptly sold out, and then no one could get one. Acknowledging the demand, Nintendo has now re-(re?)-released the system … and I’ve managed to acquire one to bathe myself in the nostalgia … making it the perfect time for me to list out what I consider to be the Top 40 NES games of all time.

Why 40? Because I couldn’t narrow it down to just 30. (And I STILL left off a ton of good games.)

In cobbling this list together, I discovered less than half of my favorites made it onto the NES Classic. That should inform your purchasing decision (as should whether you already own any/most of the games on the device). For whatever it’s worth, I’ve got no regrets on my end. I’m happy to have these games now.

If some (all?) of this sounds familiar to you, I did this same rankings thing with the Super NES last year (and also offered a mini-review of that system). So feel free to check that out to decide how intelligent/dumb I am and/or engage in some Super Nintendo nostalgia.

Yes, it’s fair to say I love both of these systems. They were a big part of my teenage years.

So without further delay, here are my Top 40 NES games of all time.

Continue reading The best NES games of all time

A visit to Cajun Country

I recently put together an account of the family’s trip over to Lafayette and Breaux Bridge for work, which you can check out right here.

As part of the blog post, I put together a couple of videos. I’m happy with how they turned out, so I’ve embedded them here.

Up there at the top of the post you’ll see 5 good reasons to make the trip yourself.

Clicking through to the rest of this post will give you my magnum opus on Popeye’s chicken.

Hey, we all have our own higher calling in life.

Continue reading A visit to Cajun Country

Why Transformers: The Movie is better than Avengers: Infinity War

It recently occurred to me that there are an awful lot of similarities between the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe extravaganza Avengers: Infinity War and the animated classic, Transformers: The Movie.

(No, not the Michael Bay dreck.)

While this might seem an insult to compare a gazillion dollar enterprise to a kids cartoon with an 80s sensibility, I don’t mean any particular offense.  Moreover, I’ve come to believe that Transformers might well have done it better when you really start to look it.

Which, okay, you can read as an insult if you want to — but I still hold the deepest respect for the folks who spent countless hours building the Marvel monstrosity that is Thanos’ quest. I think it’s important to state that upfront.

This is really more about speaking up about the quality of the original animated Transformers, which if we’re being completely honest, wasn’t all that great of a television series … it was the movie that elevated the proceedings considerably. And all due credit on this realization to the fine folks (MovieBob!) who produced this video of awesome-sauce.

I mean, this is a really deep dive on why the movie has merit, and I get it if you don’t want to go there. To sum up the video, there are tons of reasons to come to the conclusion that yes, the movie is really that good.

That all having been stated, why do I make the Avengers comparison?

Well, it’s a cultural touchstone and is present on people’s minds right now. That’s definitely a part of it. But more relevantly, they really do have a lot of the same characteristics.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading Why Transformers: The Movie is better than Avengers: Infinity War

Stories and gravy

I don’t want to labor under too much stress trying to link my latest two work videos together with one another. The point is that they’re both out there, not so much that they have anything in common with one another.

I’m leading with Drag Queen Story Time because I’m particularly proud of it. It’s an interesting story, told in the form of an engaging interview, and I’m happy with how it turned out.

Continue reading Stories and gravy

Let’s talk “Solo”

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people involved in making “Solo.”

It was a thankless task. I mean, not literally, but let’s quickly break this down:

  1. Re-cast an iconic character associated with a beloved actor.
  2. Struggle through re-shoots, a changes in director, and a ton of bad press.
  3. Tell a smaller story that will be seen by the audience as not being essential to the overall narrative.
  4. Release the movie just 6 months after the “more essential” movie had sucked up the oxygen (and pissed off a small percentage of the audience).
  5. Attempt to release the movie on the heels of a pair of the biggest movies in history had, well, sucked up the oxygen.

Continue reading Let’s talk “Solo”