Sidney Poitier dead at 94

Celebrated actor and director Sidney Poitier passed away on January 6, 2022.

Sidney Poitier was born in 1927 and spent his early childhood in the Bahamas. At 15, he was sent to live with his brother in Miami, as his parents tried to head off a growing tendency toward criminality. There, he encountered racism for the first time in his life, and it shaped many of his attitudes as he grew into adulthood.

After a brief stint in the U.S. Army (joining after lying about his age) and a series of menial jobs, Poitier decided to try his hand at acting. His initial audition at the American Negro Theatre was such a disaster that he spent six months focusing on eliminating his Bahama accent and improving his acting skills. His next attempt was far more fruitful, and he was soon performing on Broadway.

Poitier's first major film role was in "No Way Out" (1950) in which he played a doctor who had to treat a bigoted racist. He immediately attracted the attention of Hollywood, but, in an approach that would mark his stance for his entire career, he turned down most offers because he thought they were demeaning toward him as a black man.

Poitier starred in many great movies, among these being "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "Edge of the City" (1957), "The Defiant Ones" (1958), "A Raisin in the Sun" (1961), "The Long Ships" (1964), "The Bedford Incident" (1965), "To Sir, With Love" (1967), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) [and he played a slightly revised version of his character from "In the Heat of the Night", Virgil Tibbs, in two kinda-sorta sequels, "The Call Me Mister Tibbs!" (1970) and "The Organization" (1972)], "A Piece of the Action" (1977), "Shoot to Kill" (1988), "Sneakers" (1992), and "Mandela and DeKlerk" (1997). He appeared in a total of 55 movies, and on many of his projects, Poitier had contracts that stated he received a percentage of earnings from the very first dollar that was taken in.

During the 1970s, Poitier turned to directing and producing. He also remained active on stage. He retired from acting in 2001, He spent his remaining years in the Bahamas where he also passed away.

The Coming of Gun Fury!

Gun Fury 1-5 (Aircel Comics/Malibu Graphics, January - May 1989)
Story and Pencils: Barry Blair

Inks and Washes: Dave Cooper

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

In a city where innocent citizens are being preyed upon by the rich and powerful, and by the violent and psychopathic; where the media lies as much as they tell the truth; deluded goofballs can't tell the difference between comic book fantasies and reality, a cry went up for a hero. Gun Fury answered that call... to the regret of many.

"Gun Fury" was a 10-issue series by Barry Blair and Dave Cooper, with the latters artistic style becoming increasingly dominant as the series progressed. Published by Aircel (which was by this time an imprint of Malibu Graphics) from January of 1989 through October 1989.
It featured broad, often crude, satire of the "grim and gritty" comics that were trendy at the time, as well as making fun of fandom and comics industry.

The first five issues are liked by several intertwining storylines and subplots. Along the way, the title character Gun Fury as a demented, ultra-violent hero who's part 1960s Batman and 1980s Punisher. His secret civilian identity is Jack Luger, mild-mannered staff writer at Fan Graphics, a firm that publishes several entertainment-related magazines and comic books. He has a money-grubbing, homophobic boss, and a go-getting investigative journalist female co-worker with a superhero fetish. 

In the first issue, Gun Fury's boy sidekick, Ammo, is killed in a clash with minions of the mysterious Master. Over the next few issues, he adopts and breaks in teenaged orphan Peter Pane as the new Ammo while simultaneously protecting the boy from the Master's agents, including fellow superhero Captain Rearguard who is duped into furthering the evil schemes. Meanwhile, a second more odious threat is lurking in the shadows, preparing to ooze onto the scene. 

Over the course of five issues (which form a complete, self-contained storyline), Blair and Cooper poke fun at superheroes as they were developing in the mid-1980s and into the 1990s... all grim and gritty and violent in the wake hits like "The Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns", with a few dollops of hamfisted social commentary thrown in for  good measure. Perhaps the most clever aspect of Blair's approach to the topic was having the grim-and-gritty co-exist with the lighthearted melodrama and downright goofiness that were the hallmarks of the superhero comics he'd grown up with. It gives a bizarre feeling to Gun Fury's world that is perfect for the title.

What is less perfect is Blair's sense of comedy. While this is an effective spoof in broad strokes, it's less effective when you zoom in. 

First, Blair was just not very good at coming up with one-liners, and the timing is even sometimes off on gags that span panels or pages. His inability to come up with zingers that hit home is particularly obvious when he's trying to play with characters making unintentional double-entendres that are supposed to be plays on sexual activity--homosexual activity in particular. It's particularly painful when it comes to Gun Fury exclaiming "Justice is about to spurt from my loins!" (or some such battle-cries). Some of those kind of jokes made around the superhero suffering from PTSD known as Captain Rearguard work a little better, but not by much.

Second, some of the humor is just too mean-spirited for my tastes--and I'm the guy who produced things like "Bill Clinton Meets a Girl Scout" and "Super Muslim Bros." Reading these comics, it appears that Blair might have hated comics fans, comics retailers, and comics critics in general, and Gary Groth (the founder of Fantagraphics and a key figure in the comics industry when this series was published), since they're all stupid, perverted, gross, and/or money-grubbers who are corrupt to the core. Some of the shots at the comics industry are dead-on, but others just feel like Blair is grinding his personal axes and isn't terribly concerned if he's being funny or not. 

The best of Blair's industry commentary can be found in the scene where the Gary Groth stand-in is berating an editor and a pair of talented hacks for not delivering the promised issues, despite having been paid. The scene ends with the trio heading off to find ANOTHER publisher from whom to get paid for not producing a product. Most of it, though, just feels too venomous and personal to be amusing.

One thing that is of high-caliber and always close to perfect is the art. While not quite at the level of Blair and Cooper's other major collaboration, "Jake Thrash", the combination of Blair's slick, cartoony-with-a-slant-toward-the-manga-style (a decade or more before EVERYONE started doing it) and Cooper's chunky inks and brilliantly applied washes was the perfect visualization for the mixture of old-school superhero posturing married with modern-day gore and violence. The occasional playfulness with the "language" of comic book storytelling that shows up in the art is also very well done. The page below is from "Gun Fury" #1, and it's one of my favorites from the entire series.

Sometimes, when I break out these old comics and re-read them for review purposes, I find myself disappointed; I find that something I have fond memories of doesn't match those memories. That is not the case with "Gun Fury". I had the same reaction to reading it now as I remember having back then--it's fun but flawed. It's got great art and it's a decent spoof of All Things Comics as they stood ca. 1989, but it's dragged down by the writer spewing too much venom in various directions.

Watch this space for thoughts on "Gun Fury" #6 - #10. (Meanwhile, if you have any memories or opinions about "Gun Fury" or any other Aircel Comics, that's what the comments section is for! Also, for an excellent exploration of the man behind the creation, Barry Blair, click here.)

It's January...

... January Jones that is. And she's decided to "declutter" in the new year, reducing her belongings to the essentials.

We think she may have gone a little too far...

A caution for those traveling to or within Slaughter Valley

If you're planning to visit us here at Shades of Gray HQ, you might want to delay the trip. Here are a few problems with getting around at the moment. This video will explain:

Musical Monday with Weird Al

I think Aaron Sorkin and Co. missed a major opportunity by not using this as the theme for their "Being the Ricardos" movie, nor using this clip as part of the End Credits. (The parody song is lots of fun, and while 'Weird Al' isn't the greatest Ricky Ricardo, Tess MacNeille is GREAT as Lucille Ball!)

Ricky (1983)

Starring: Al Yankovic and Tess MacNeille

Director: Janet Greek

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

(Click through to watch the video on YouTube. If you have any familiarity with "I Love Lucy", you won't regret it.)

Bones Coffee's Birthday Suit

In 2021, Bones Coffee Company celebrated their 5th year in business by releasing a special flavored blend. So, we're starting the new year off by reviewing a blend that celebrated the birthday of its maker.

Feel free to assume this is Your Host, drinking coffee in his birthday suit.

 BONES COFFEE COMPANY: BIRTHDAY SUIT
The packaging, Bones' sell-copy, and the stated motivation for releasing this "limited release" blend, all make it very clear that this is coffee that should taste like birthday cake. Could it live up to expectations? Would I be treated to a birthday-cake-in-a-cup, or at least something that tasted like coffee-soaked birthday cake? Either way, I was very interested in how this would turn out. (Hell, for all I knew, it could be a big gag and the Birthday Suit blend was just coffee-flavored coffee--black miracle juice not dressed up with anything at all!)

 

As the coffee brewed, though, I could smell the aroma of birthday cake in my office, which is down the hall from the kitchen, so the blend was clearly more birthday cake than birthday suit--yay! Interestingly, the aroma wasn't as strong once the coffee was poured into the cup. Even more interesting, the birthday cake flavor isn't detectable when you first sip the coffee, but it fills your mouth as you swallow it. The cake flavor was an aftertaste, but it was a strong and absolutely wonderful aftertaste! It was an aftertaste that lingered, so the more I drank of the coffee, the stronger it became. Unlike some other Bones Coffee blends with sweet flavors that become overwhelming (like Strawberry Cheesecake), Birthday Suit remains just right. I think this is because it is more of an aftertaste and, although the flavor remains in your mouth as you drink, it has a bit of reset with each swallow.

But the above only applies if you drink the coffee black, which I would have been perfectly fine doing, even considering that I NEVER drink coffee black, except when I'm doing articles like this. And then I only do it so I can talk about what the drink tastes like on its own--more often than not, I like any coffee better (except in really small portions) with stuff added to it. And once I added a dash of sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer to my cut of hot Birthday Suit blend coffee, the birthday cake flavor moved to the front and the experience of drinking this became even more tasty and wonderful. In fact, it was exactly like you might imagine a birthday soaked in coffee might taste like. This blend was made to celebrate Bones Coffee and its fabulous flavors, and it rises to the occasion!

Everything above applies whether you are drinking Birthday Suit hot, at room temperature, or iced. At room temperature, the birthday cake flavor seemed to be strongest, but it never became so strong it was overpowering.

When I added unsweetened Almond Milk to the Birthday Suit blend, the other thing I usually do when drinking these coffees for review, it added a sour undertone to the flavor that made it very unpleasant to drink. In was so bad, in fact, that I dumped out my cup without finishing and I didn't bother testing this blend with almond milk at room temperature or iced. (I did make sure that it wasn't a problem with the almond milk by not only drinking some of it without putting it in coffee, but trying it in a different cup of freshly brewed Birthday Suit... and it definitely was not the almond milk.)

In the final analysis, Birthday Suit is another excellent flavored coffee. One just has to be careful with what one mixes it with. As I departure from my usual review regiment, I tried a cup of Birthday Suit black with Stevia added. I liked the blend better with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream, but the Stevia helped bring the cake flavor immediately to the front as well.

Here's Gina Gershon in her birthday suit. Just because.

Welcome to 2022

Here at Shades of Gray, we wish you a Happy New Year--whether you're coming...

... or going!

We're seeing one year end, as another begins. We hope you'll join us for at least one more time around the sun here at Shades of Gray!

Betty White has passed away

This is a post that's been revised from one we had planned for January 17, Betty White's 100th birthday. Sadly, we're making it now, on the final day of 2021... the day on which Ms. White moved onto even bigger and better things.

 

Comedienne and actress Betty White is best known for her roles on "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970-1977) and "Golden Girls" (1985-1992), White had been a star on both radio and television long before then--including starring in her own self-titled series. Her television career began in 1952, and by the mid-1950s, she was already well-deserving of her nickname the Queen of Television. Among her pioneering achievements during the 1950s was having complete creative control of, and an ownership stakes in several of the series she headlined, whether they were for networks or syndicated.

White passed away at her Beverly Hills home on December 31, 2021, a little over two weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She leaves the world richer for her being it, with over 100 characters portrayed on television (including starring as the ditzy Rose Nylund on two different series, and as a recurring guest-starring as her on two others). We celebrate with some photos of her from the early 1950s when her star became permanently affixed to the firmament of TV!

'The Diadem': Emma Peel's Most Secret Mission?

The Diadem (1967? 1968? 1969?)
Starring: Diana Rigg

Director: Uwe Beetz

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A woman of mystery (Rigg) engages in a deadly struggle with a group of murderous thugs over a secret recording, a piggy bank, and valuable jewelry.

 

Either shortly after she left "The Avengers", or during or shortly after she finished work on "In Her Majesty's Secret Service", Diana Rigg made a pair of made-for-home-viewing short films for a German production company. One of these, "The Diadem" was released both in color (the shorter version, which runs about 7 minutes) and black-and-white (the longer version, which runs about 12 minutes).

The information available about "The Diadem" is long on speculation and short of facts. There are no credits to speak of on the film, so the supporting cast, writer, and crew outside the director are anonymous... and since there only seems to be one source for the director's name, one has to wonder if even that is accurate.

To make matters more complicated, it seems like there are people who may be commenting in authoritative tones about this silent short film who seem to not even have seen it... since they reference events that don't seem to take place in it. (At least not in the version I watched. Maybe the color version isn't just a shortened release of the black-and-white one, but has a different scene or two?

One thing all sources seem to agree upon is that "The Diadem" was made while Rigg's star was shining very brightly during the late 1960s. There is no logical reason for her to star in this weird, ultra-low budget short film. so maybe she did as a favor to a friend? Maybe she had a spare weekend, and she thought it would be fun working with friends? Perhaps, someday, writers and historians more devoted to research and Truth than I will find the answers, but that day is not here.

As for what is actually in "The Diadem", it plays like something of a tribute to "The Avengers", the series where Diana Rigg played Mrs. Emma Peel, the role that catapulted her to fame. One can easily imagine this as a solo adventure for Mrs. Peel, either before, during, or after her gig as a "trouble-shooter" for the British government. Every minute of the film plays like an overly stylized attempt to capture the feel of action scenes from "The Avengers" and the character that Rigg portrays is Mrs. Peel in every way except by name. 

Although for all we know, perhaps we ARE to imagine that this is Emma Peel taking down bad guys and that the filmmakers meant for this to be an authorized sequel to her television adventures... something that hard-core fans could enjoy in their homes on their 8-mm film projectors. The music that plays during the version that watched is even slightly reminiscent of what you might hear on "The Avengers"... although I have no way of knowing if this is what heard when the film was first released.

I think that if you've enjoyed any episodes of "The Avengers", you'll find the "The Diadem" to be a lot of fun. What passes for the plot is a little disjointed and illogical, but the action and weird, artsy choices of camera angles make up for that. The Six Rating I am giving it is as high as it can be, and the only reason it's not a Seven is because the otherwise rapid pacing sputters a bit and is uneven at the halfway mark.

We began 2021 with a look at Emma Peel's first big adventure while she was still a teenager, and we're ending with what could be the last of her adult adventures... bringing The Year of the Avengers to a perfect close.

We hope you have fun watching "The Diadem", and we hope to share another 200-300 posts with you in 2022!

The Milla Jovovich Quarterly

Milla Jovovich has been a mainstay of this blog since its first full year of operation in 2010. Even during the quiet period between 2012 and 2017, where less than 100 posts were made each year, we got at least one Milla post in.

As previously mentioned in this space, we've been fans of Milla Jovovich since we first encountered her in "The Fifth Element" and there we've yet to see her in a movie that we completely hated. (Even if "Million Dollar Hotel" came perilously close to earning that dubious honor...) Thankfully, since she's always split her time between modeling and acting, there's an abundance of photos of her to feature, and we've always had plenty of material to work with for straight picture posts, or from which to draw inspiration for more elaborate efforts such as this or this.

While we are hesitant to make predictions about what 2022 will bring, we feel confident that Milla will show up here every few months... in black...

... and white.