Once you build a successful comic-book based series on a network that loves you, the natural thing to do is to build a spinoff. The Flash, along with “parent” show Arrow, represent much about what’s right on The CW these days. Grant Gustin is a perfect Barry Allen, and producers Geoff Johns, David Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg have surrounded him with an outstanding cast, including Broadway star Jesse L. Martin (Joe West), TV heavyweight Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells), newcomers like Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow) and they have even brought in someone who knows what it’s like to be under the cowl in John Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen).

We sat down with these folks at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and as the show is set to premiere next week, we share what they told us is coming up in season one:

Grant Gustin

You can tell that Gustin really likes Barry, “He’s just full of hope and optimism. He’s easily relatable.” He’s played so many characters that he wouldn’t want to be in the same room with (we’re looking at you, Sebastian Smythe) that it is refreshing to play someone who people like. He grew up a big (very big, says the tattoo he showed us) Superman fan, so he’s had to learn a lot about the character he now portrays. He’d originally thought about reading the entirety of the run of Flash books, until he saw just how many there were. The New 52 series seems to be similar to what they’re trying to do, and Gustin points to just how knowledgeable and accessible the producers have been in helping build the character grounded in the canon.

Gustin is looking forward to delving into some of the Flash’s extended powers, specifically time travel. They tease it a little in the Pilot, but he wants more. “I think it just presents a lot of fun storylines.”

John Wesley Shipp

Shipp hasn’t yet felt that moment of weirdness seeing someone else in the suit, but the following week was to be his first scene with Grant in the Flash costume. If that moment of “weirdness” was to happen, he expected it then. But his Flash was much different tonally then this Flash. “I can’t imagine Emmet Walsh killing Priscilla Pointer [the actors who played his parents], you know?”

You can tell that Shipp is still disappointed that his show was cancelled after just one season. “Although for a one season show, it has had an incredible life … but how often do you get to come back?” He called it an extraordinary opportunity for healing.

When asked about watching the evolution of superhero properties in popular culture since 1990, Shipp talked about how audiences are more informed, “It’s a smarter sensibility … so we can address the fact that The Flash is about speed and needs to be aerodynamic.” But he kids that the landscape is saturated with comic shows and movies now. He joked with our table that we were too young to remember it used to be all about westerns, and lately it’s CSI and Law & Order.

Shipp is taken by Grant Gustin. “He’s really sincere … he’s very real.”

Shipp says he doesn’t want the character to be “Dawson’s dad thirteen years later.” Obviously prison has changed Henry, but he thinks that it is more important to demonstrate that impact in a nuanced way, “If you don’t [see how prison changed him] that’s my bad, that’s my failure.” One of the most difficult things he experienced in prison was that no one – save Barry – believed him, including specifically Joe West, his neighbor and friend … and the man who raised Barry in Henry’s absence. That’s a reunion I’m looking forward to seeing.

Shipp points to the audience’s thirst for darker shows like Constantine and The Walking Dead as to why there’s been difficulty getting another Flash property off the ground. And while this The Flash tends to be a little darker in some areas – specifically in the Allen family backstory – it is still very much rooted in the tone of the comics. Gustin’s sense of comedy: running into himself, tripping over his feet balanced with his power, demonstrates an everyman quality that is endearing.

Tom Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh was asked about what research he might have done with folks who are wheelchair-bound. He dodged the question specific to The Flash, but talked about the work he did for a little-seen independent film called Sublime. After that, he said, working in a motorized wheelchair was a big improvement. He said that the differences in the two wheelchairs were symbolic of the differences of working on a big-budget production like the show, and a much tighter-budgeted small film.

Cavanaugh was attracted to the different layers the characters portrayed, especially Harrison Wells. You could tell too, that he was a bit taken aback by fast-paced storytelling that occurs in the first nine episodes. If there is anything that The CW should get credit for, it is helping to usher in shows that tell stories at a breakneck speed, and it looks like The Flash is going to be one of them. “Things that you might want to keep in your quiver, they’re firing those things off in a hurry.”

Cavanaugh thought he had a pretty good understanding of The Flash’s stories from the comic books, but after taking the role, he realized he was a neophyte. But producers Kriesberg and Geoff Johns have been incredibly helpful, informative and – almost more importantly – welcoming to someone who wants to learn the canon.

Danielle Panabaker

Panabaker is excited to be a part of a superhero franchise with a preexisting fan base, “It’s so cool! It’s so great because people are excited about The Flash.” Playing Caitlin Snow, who brings a lot to the table, is a big part of that. “It’s great to have a really smart woman on board who also brings that emotional, sensitive perspective.” Snow is fresh from the trauma of losing her fiancé in the accident, so has that drive to keep Barry safe. That trauma has also made her much more serious than she was pre-accident (a side of her we will get to see in flashbacks early in the season).

It doesn’t look like Caitlin is being set up as an immediate love interest for Barry, but there’s a triangle dynamic that might develop with the two of them and Iris. “Barry has always pined for Iris but he can’t have her, so he’s got to figure out what’s next? The sad scientist over here?”

Andrew Kreisberg

Kreisberg was taken by one of the decisions that Smallville made early on, showing how Clark had trouble adjusting to his powers. There is something to be said too about having too much power and becoming god-like. “We’re going to try and keep [his powers] – at least early on – as limited as we can.” But there is definitely a desire (as is apparent in the Pilot) to eventually get to some of the Flash’s more dynamic powers like phasing through matter and (gasp!) time travel. Expect a Smallville-esque difficulty in learning to contain those powers.

There was a conscious decision early on on Arrow to ground the stories in reality as much as possible (thus the mirakuru storyline). The Flash, however, represents an ability to go a step farther and open the world up a bit. Berlanti came up with the idea of the particle accelerator as a way of “building” a group of super-humans all tied to the same event. “The thing that will keep it like Arrow is the way in which people view these impossible, miraculous things,” explains Kreisberg. “We’ll never have a show, especially early on, where people are just like, ‘oh yeah … guy’s flying.’”

Kreisberg doesn’t see a lot of competition between Arrow and The Flash and the other new DC Comics properties coming to television this season. “One of the things that DC did really well this year is for all of the shows they’re doing, they are so completely different. Even Arrow and Flash are two very different shows; one is a grounded, crime, revenge, Shakespearian drama and Flash is more blue skies, superpowers.” Their approach is that they are only in competition with themselves to make quality television. But a “rising tide lifts all ships,” and he’s looking forward to seeing Gotham and iZombie.

The high school level of athletics might be one of the few remaining places where one could find purity in sports. Professional sports are rife with stories of cheating, of individualism and commercialism. College – at least in the major sports – is no better; while only the smallest of percentages will play professionally, the sports there might be less pure than their professional counterparts. So there is the international level – an area that has been largely ignored in cinema history – and high schools.

From Hoosiers to Remember the Titans, the history of the high school sports film focus on that purity. Even darker stories like Friday Night Lights and – to an extent – Varsity Blues generally include a nice moral lesson; for every Charlie Tweeter there is a Billy Bob, for every Basketball Diaries there is a Coach Carter. When the Game Stands Tall lives in the shadow of the inspirational stories; it very much wants to be Titans. Unfortunately director Thomas Carter and screenwriter Scott Marshall Smith spend most of the film trying to figure out what story they want to tell.

When the Game Stands Tall follows the De La Salle High School Titans of the 151-0 winning streak fame. Jim Caviezel plays famed coach Bob Ladouceur, a man who is either an excellent shaper-of-men or average-family-man, depending on what story the flick is trying to tell at any given time. Laura Dern – who was phenomenal in an oddly similar role in The Fault In Our Stars earlier this year – almost seems to be in a different movie because of that narrative dissonance.

The movie shines on the field: the team deals with different kinds of loss: the death of a former player on the cusp of college greatness, Ladouceur’s heart attack, the graduation of entirely too much talent and the resulting end of their historic winning streak. Caviezel portrays the coach as a quiet leader who – in what seems to be a direct quote from the subject – expects not perfection, but perfect effort. That steely idealism is what shapes his team into winners, but more importantly his players into men (cue Afterschool Special outro now).

But no sports movie can live entirely on the field or court, and When the Game Stands Tall struggles mightily in telling that story – or eighty-five stories as it might be. The film takes a wild detour in the first act telling the story of two former players making the transition to adulthood. When one tragically dies, the movie then jettisons the whole arc after the funeral (save a quick appearance near the end). This is included in the movie because it is a part of what that team faced, but the flick never truly establishes its relevance in the narrative arc other than its history.

Likewise was the glimpse into the Ladouceur’s family life. The story included elements of the coach being an absentee father, but the script ignores the age-old movie tenant of “Show, Don’t Tell” and just expects us to believe this titan of a mentor just happens to be a not-good-enough father because Dern’s character mentions it in passing once or twice. We are never given any reason to believe it – hell, Dern doesn’t even seem to believe it. The only thing approaching proof is the relationship between father and son, who happens to be a player on the team. There were some awkward moments between the two, but the scenes failed to clarify their relationship as much as just confuse it.

When the Game Stands Tall wants so desperately to be the kind of movie Remember The Titans is; the shame is how the source material could easily provide for that type of story. Instead it is one good story mired in five or six bad ones. Had the creative team been more judicious in deciding what aspects of the team’s season it wanted to tell, it would have been a considerably more sound – and thus enjoyable – flick.

Look … I admit:

Year in and year out no matter how many times I venture to San Diego (“America’s Finest City”) for Comic-Con, it’s always a thrill. Always. I’ve equated the weeks leading up to it with a child’s anticipation of a trip to Disneyland.

Truly, it’s that exciting.

The planning. The scheduling. The approach of the event does nothing but ramp everything up to a frothy, effervescent headiness. And then? The head-spinning, giddy feeling of being right smack dab in the middle of it all with thousands of others (tens of thousands, truth be told), all vying for that collectible or that panel or that photo opportunity with “Holy crap! Did you see who that was?!? It’s (insert any popular personality here) from (insert any popular or cult television program or film here) … !!!”

Here’s a little taste of what’s in store this year:

• I get to sit face to face with Mohandas Gandhi! (Well … Ben Kingsley who played Gandhi in the titular film and who is featured in the upcoming The Boxtrolls.)
• Fellow Clacker Ivey West and I will be taking in a brand new Star Trek film. (Details to follow.)
• I get to angle for position in a press room announcing the highly-anticipated release of television’s 1960s Batman series. Adam West and Burt Ward will be there in the flesh.
• I’ll be grilling the cast of Falling Skies about their thoughts on the current season as well as their just-announced 5th and final season.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg where The Con is concerned. (Yes, I’m bragging. Wouldn’t you be if you were on the receiving end of all that? Yeah … that’s what I thought.)

Add partying, hobnobbing, joking with and sharing cocktails with cast members from lots of television shows and films, picking up exclusive collectibles available only at Comic-Con (which will inevitably show up on eBay, etc. at obscenely inflated rates), bumping into old friends and acquaintances (and making new ones) and my personal Con tradition of smoking a cigar in public in a luchador mask. (I know. “What a freak.”) Add it all up and that will fill anyone’s Con experience quickly. *whew*

Cryptic stuff from last year’s Godzilla Experience

But! You have to dig deep, take a breath and dive right back in because, as stated, that’s only the beginning. Unexpected stuff comes up. Four days of Comic-Con simply isn’t enough to take everything in. But you hunker down and you do your darnedest.

Some of you out there might be wondering: “Michael … is it all worth it? The crowds and the lines and the long-assed days and the rude people and the $9.00 pizza slices and, holy guacamole, all those NERDS. Is it really worth it?!?”

First of all, I don’t like pizza, let alone pay nine bucks for a slice of the stuff. So no problem there. As to the question at hand:

• When you can walk down a vacant hallway off the main drag, realize someone in a white suit is pacing you at your left shoulder, glance over and realize it’s Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead, Army Of Darkness, Bubba Ho-Tep) and carry on a 3 minute conversation with him while he’s on his way to a panel despite body guards being in tow? (Bonus: He was amiable as all get out.) Damned straight it’s worth it.
• When, of a sudden, the opportunity arises to meet some of your heroes such as Marvel Comics and film storyboard artist Mike Ploog, animator / stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen (RIP), Forrest J. Ackerman (“Famous Monsters Of Filmland” magazine, RIP), voice over actor extraordinaire Chuck McCann (Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, Cool McCool, various Powerpuff Girls characters, voice of cartoon’s Oliver Hardy and hundreds more), actor/writer/director/voice over artist Stan Freberg? And one on one? Face to face? Damned straight it’s worth it.
• When you’re waiting in line for an autograph from the yummy Princess Leia/Carrie Fisher of Star Wars legend (hokay, this was years ago … but I still have a thing for her) and she keeps eying you the entire 45 minutes you’re inching along with the others to where she sits and you’re getting more and more uncomfortable as you reach your goal? Then, once there, she asks what you’re doing at Comic-Con because she thinks you’re an old boyfriend of hers she hasn’t seen in ages, the reason she’s been staring at you all this time? Well … you do what I did. You respond: “No, I’m not him. But, if you like, I can certainly fake it …” and you make her blush several shades of red? Yeah … damned straight it’s worth it.
• When you’re standing at a men’s urinal minding your own business and Jason Gann (Wilfred from Wilfred) unzips next to you and strikes up a conversation? Damned straight. And when critic Leonard Maltin does same at the Hard Rock Cafe the next evening? Ditto.
• When you get called on to meet, say, Reggie Lee of Grimm (as Keith and I did last year) in a casual restaurant/bar and chat about anything you want (television, family, favorite vacation spots) for a few hours while nursing beers and munching french fries? Yeah. Damned straight it’s worth it.
• When you’re as close to Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) as the picture featured above? Damned. Straight. It’s. Worth. It. Period. *swoon*

But let’s get grounded for a moment. I want to explain why my geekdorknerdness has become a little more respectable. (Kinda. Somewhat. A little bit. Oh, shut up.)

Relatively speaking, it wasn’t that long ago when Hollyweird shoved its big, fat, greedy paws into the Comic-Con pie with all its high-falutin’ media and “WowZah!” sneak peeks and premieres and events and spectacles, forcing The Con into what it is today: A “must-attend-at-all-costs” event for many. The “suits” … they know how to jump on a bandwagon when opportunity rears its head.

And what, pray tell, set all this hoo-hah in motion? Well … because of those little things called “comic books” and the creators who create them, of course. At its core, comics have always been the backbone of Comic-Con. And they always will be. Want proof? (Really? You need proof? *sigh*) Ever hear of a little film called The Avengers? How about Iron Man? Or Thor? Captain America? Batman? Superman? Each and every one had humble beginnings in the once-lowly comic book format. Hollywood caught on and realized they could promote the bejeebers out of new properties and programs and more. And maybe — just maybe — with some experimentation comics could be turned into celluloid gold. They could directly feed the “audience” they were shooting for in one fell swoop. An audience who had the power to “word of mouth” an up-and-coming something or other and propel it into the stratosphere.

That audience? Nerds, of course. And that’s a major reason you can’t walk up to The Con as previous, say 10 years ago, and plop down $50 and get in to all four days of the event effortlessly. Today? Because of Hollywood Comic-Con tickets sell out in a few hours of going on sale. (We’ll see what happens next year when The San Diego Convention Center puts the finishing touches on a major expansion. Stay tuned.)

CliqueClack’s big wheel Keith McDuffee (right, as “The Blue Demon”) won’t be attending this year.
So, sadly, this sort of monkey business won’t be taking place. *sniff*

Regardless of the changes that have taken place over the last decade, overall, is it still worth it? Absolutely. If you can get in.

And if you can’t, the cool thing is this: Over the last few years, tons of events have been added outside the confines of The Con itself. Exhibits and interactive experiences and programming and parties and concerts and more. Many things you don’t need a Comic-Con ticket for in order to attend. It’s become that massive and popular.

This year? As in year’s past, my friend and colleague Mr. Ivey West and I will be scouring the convention floors, planting our asses in seats at numerous panels, maneuvering through the crowds, jockeying for position in press rooms, venturing to parties, giving blood (I do it every year) and participating in clean, close shaves (Really! Details for follow) as well as other things sure to come as a surprise not only to our readers but to us, too. We’ll be reporting live from The Con via Twitter (CliqueClack: @CliqueClack / Ivey: @Dorv / Michael: @RuprechtReal) and posting highlights to CliqueClack.com as often as possible. (I’m swiping a page out of Ivey’s book and following his lead from last year.) In addition, Ivey and I will log in-depth interviews, video, wrap-ups and more during the week following Comic-Con.

In the event you can’t attend The Con? Well … you can. Through us.

And no one will call you a geekdorknerd. We’ll take the brunt of that for you. We’re giving that way.

Ah, summertime. That time of year when it’s way too hot to go outside, so what better diversion than CBS’ perennial “social experiment” Big Brother to while away the hours? This year’s sixteenth edition brought some new changes to the game, and one big change for the viewers at home — this is the first season the show is being broadcast in high def! Reportedly three years in the making, the house is full of more cameras than ever, giving us some new things to see. I have to say, the house looks fantastic in HD.

After last year’s extremely controversial cast, the producers seem to have picked a group this year that’s a bit more fun … although some racist, homophobic tweets discovered from House Guest Caleb prior to the show’s premiere have thrown a little bit of a dark cloud over him, making viewers wonder when and if that side of him will come out on the live feeds. The rest of the House Guests seem to be quirky and almost lovable (for now) with outspoken, blue-haired feminist Joey, mom of three Brittany, nerdy super fan Christine, dopey underwear model Cody, faux surfer dude Hayden, bow tie-wearing minister Jocasta, Gomer Pyle’s long-lost cousin Donny, and pink-haired Frankie, who wastes no time in reminding us (but not his fellow House Guests) that he’s Ariana Grande’s brother, in the mix.

The game has also been shaken up a bit this season. The premiere took place in two parts with eight House Guests being introduced on night one, and a second group of eight joining them on night two (although we’re not sure how much time had passed in real time before the second group joined but the house already looked “lived in” by the time they arrived). The big bombshell dropped on the second group was that there was already an HoH in charge … and there would also be a second one from the new group. And each H0H would nominate two House Guests! This “twist” will probably go away in a few weeks as most twists do.

A new competition has also been added called Battle of the Block, in which the four nominees fight to get themselves off the block. Whichever pair of nominees wins is safe and the HoH who nominated them is de-throned. The first Battle of the Block featured Paola (aka Pao Pao) & Donny (nominated by Caleb, the second HoH) and Brittany and Victoria (nominated by first HoH Frankie, Ariana Grande’s brother). It seemed to be a simple task: each nominee sat on a swing (the amazing set looked like something out of The Great Gatsby with everyone in 1920s gowns and tuxes) and had to swing towards each other transferring water from a fountain to a large martini glass, passing the liquid to the other nominee’s glass, and that nominee had to dump the liquid into a large vase filled with plastic balls. The first team to get enough liquid into the vase and have one ball fall out won. Sounds simple enough, especially if you’ve ever been a child and played on swings. Pao Pao obviously has not had that life experience (see picture above).

Her miserable performance secured her and Donny’s place on the block and de-throned Frankie in the process, making him eligible for eviction as well should one of the nominees win PoV and save themselves. Frankie made sure to form a tight alliance with Caleb, and then found himself as part of an all-guy alliance with Devin, Caleb, Cody, Derrick and Zach, The Bomb Squad. Devin had already formed an alliance with Donny, The Double D’s, but he’s already trashed that … unbeknownst to Donny.

But a week in the house has already driven some of the House Guests insane. According to Wednesday’s show (July 2) it was Day 6 in the house. Nicole, who looked like this year’s Aaryn but thankfully has a personality 180 degrees away from her, is convinced there is someone else in the house with them. Specifically … a ghost. In one of the funniest moments ever on Big Brother, Nicole was convinced something was touching her and was freaking out her bestie Christine, leading them to both come shrieking out of their dark bedroom, startling their bewildered House Guests in the kitchen. Christine is rethinking her alliance.

The craziest of the crazies is Devin, the devoted dad who said in his intro piece that he’s hoping to hook up with some of the ladies in the house. Nice message for your daughter, dude! Anyway, Devin seems like a nice guy even if he is a little full of himself. He looks good and he knows it. But he’s turning into someone who makes the House Guests want to sleep with one eye open. A minute after forming The Bomb Squad, Devin practically ran to Amber and Christine to tell them about the guy alliance and make them honorary members! Without telling the rest of his alliance! And he’s convinced his former alliance member Donny is a deep cover military expert putting on a good old boy act (he’s not). Even in a moment of real sincerity from Donny, Devin thought he was giving an Oscar-worthy performance … until he changed his mind and felt the sincerity was real leading to some emotional turmoil for Devin. The only thing that’s certain now is that Devin’s wild theories and mood swings have put a giant target on his back. But there is a bigger target in the house right now.

And that would be Joey. Joey (rightly) assumed there was an all-guy alliance in the house (minus Donny and Hayden, for some reason) and tried to rally the girls to form an alliance. Of course, two of the girls she approached are honorary Bomb Squad members and they refused to commit to any alliance. Which I found strange. None of the girls in the house wanted to form an alliance with Joey. I’m usually against anyone forming an alliance week one because those often turn out to be misguided (Devin and Donny) or just fall apart quickly (the first eight in the house formed The Crazy Eights and the four girls made a side alliance, El Cuatro — neither of those seem to have stuck), but it had to be obvious that there was a guy alliance that the girls would want to combat — even if two of them were with the guys. Everyone has side alliances!

It’s a bit maddening that the girls don’t seem to be interested in protecting their best interests, and Joey was ratted out for her efforts, confronted by Caleb Godfather style, and promptly made the replacement nominee when “super soldier” Donny won PoV and removed himself from the block. Tonight is the first live eviction and it seems pretty clear Joey is the first out … despite the fact that she was the first House Guest chosen by viewers to be part of the top secret three-person Team America (Fuck YEAH!), another BB twist that has imploded before it ever began. Hopefully the first week was just a sample of the crazy entertainment to come over the next three months and the house won’t descend into the awfulness that marred BB 15.

As people get older, they struggle with the ever increasing feeling of wondering if they still matter. Technology doesn’t help matters, with new ways overwhelming the old ways all the time, from blue collar manufacturing work to old school newspaper journalism. Sometimes these changes lead to greater improvements for society as a whole, even if they cause problems with a workforce not used to the new order of things. But there is also the corporate, insidious side of things, concerned with the lowest common denominator and jumping on the latest fad.

Of course, this sort of subject has been covered in movies from Network to Wayne’s World, and countless other examples in other forms of media. By this point, it’s hardly a new worry, although people certainly still worry about it. The Internet and YouTube have made it easier for people to become famous with very little talent and no training, although often the more talented and charismatic ones tend to eventually do better than the rest. Usually, anyway. But as the talent pool of unpaid labor grows and more distractions are available to the public, sacrifices will be made in the old media guard, because there’s only so much money and energy to go around. And only so many hours in the day.

Alan Partridge is a movie about the eponymous character, created by British comedian Steve Coogan (who stars in the role), and has made various radio and television appearances over the years. The character had never been in a movie until now, although the film was already released in the UK as Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, which is such a silly name and an unknown reference in the US, it is not at all unusual the name was changed. In many ways, this movie is meant as an introduction to the character, so theoretically anyone can watch the film without prior knowledge.

I wasn’t so familiar with Alan Partridge, although I had seen Steve Coogan in other movies, and I felt like I got a pretty good handle on what Alan was all about. Which means that probably anybody can also figure it out, although there is a lot of humor in the movie that isn’t as funny if you don’t know or like similarly awkward or silly British humor, like the original The Office. Similarly, there are quite a few colloquial references that are probably a lot funnier to UK residents and essentially impenetrable to outsiders. Still, the story is an interesting take on the theme I mentioned above.

Alan Partridge is a moderately successful radio personality for North Norfolk Digital, working alongside hapless sidekick Simon (Tim Key) and late-night DJ Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney), an easygoing type. Alan is a bit of a fan of his own voice, but soon becomes worried when the station is taken over by the “sinister” Gordale Media, which plans to rebrand the station with the inspiringly, realistically stupid “Shape.” Of course I put the sinister in quotes, but that’s only because the corporation is portrayed as a singularly evil entity only concerned about profits with no nuance at all. Fair enough, but it merely makes the later confrontation more complicated.

When Pat is fired to make room for changes, he comes back with a shotgun and holds the entire station hostage, including the Gordale executives. He also refuses to speak to anyone outside or the police … except for Alan, his only friend (or so he believes). And now Alan must figure out a way to handle the furious Pat while somehow keeping his own ego in check. One of the things that’s interesting about the conceit is that there actually is a sense of danger, although it’s not that severe.

In general, the movie plays as a kind of mildly dark comedy, with medium stakes but nothing too serious. Alan starts off the movie as kind of a scummy guy, and the arc of his character is about whether or not he’ll redeem himself at all. Steve Coogan is certainly very familiar with his own creation, embodying someone at times sniveling while being reluctantly heroic. This isn’t a typical hero’s journey, as Alan is always thinking of himself, but then again, that’s what makes things amusing. Caring about your own career despite the threats of death, etc. Colm Meaney, always great in minor roles, is a standout here, showing off the sympathetic side of a man pushed to the brink by losing everything he cared about.

As the corporation is the clear villain here, Pat is easy to empathize with, even if he’s gone a bit mad. As someone familiar with more British comedy than most, I appreciate the humor of this movie, but it’s the sort of thing that could easily become tiresome if you don’t like that sort of thing. Alan’s arc is also very simplistic, and the story without many frills; the enjoyment comes from the silly situations Alan keeps finding himself in, usually because of his own mistakes. In the end, the movies doesn’t really make any point about corporatism and media conglomerates, that’s just to setup things up. It’s not a deep movie, but it’s a fun one.

Alan Partridge is now available in limited theatrical US release and Amazon Prime.

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Michael: Inexplicably, I’ve been living in a period of time where several films I’ve never heard of have suddenly come out of the woodwork. And much to my delight I might add. How these have escaped me is beyond my comprehension … but they have.

In the first instance, I’ve been shamelessly ridiculed for obliviousness with regard to science fiction classic Colossus: The Forbin Project. How this film has gotten by me for 40 some-odd years I haven’t a clue. (Many of you out there will chalk it up to the fact I am indeed clueless … and you might be right. But I’ve remedied the situation on this count, so get off me.)

Not long afterward, CliqueClack’s own Chuck (Wash) Duncan tipped me off to 1976’s The Big Bus, again something I’d never heard of. I guess that’s what happens when you spend your carefree days meandering about at beach parties, volleyballing to your heart’s content and socializing ’til the cows come how … or when the beach patrol kicks you off the sand, whichever comes first.

But that’s okay. Because when this little gem came out I wouldn’t have appreciated it. It simply wasn’t my thing. And I don’t regret it — I’d much rather have been soaking up rays than slumped posture-challenged in a darkened theater before a two-story screen. Besides, I’ve caught the flick finally so no harm, no foul.

What’s your deal with The Big Bus, Chuck?

Chuck: 1972 was a watershed moment for me as far as movies are concerned. At ten years of age, I’d seen my share of Disney films and weird Russian fantasy flicks as well as more grown up movies like Rosemary’s Baby and Planet of the Apes. But 1972 was the year The Poseidon Adventure was released, and that got me really interested in the spectacle of the all-star disaster movie (more so than 1970’s Airport), and how movies were made. 1974 brought the one-two punch of Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. The Big Bus wanted to skewer the genre with satire more than outright parody which the makers of Airplane! gave us (which has spawned endless parodies of genre films to this day with dwindling returns … Vampires Suck, anyone?), so the laughs may not be as broad as you would expect.

For me, a disaster movie loving kid of the 70s, I ate up the premise of The Big Bus and the big name stars the movie attracted. I may not have really known who they were, but they certainly all had recognizable faces (and this was two years before Stockard Channing hit it big with Grease, but I knew her from the 1973 TV movie The Girl Most Likely To …). The jokes, at the time, seemed spot on to spoof the movies I loved although seen today, a lot of them come off as a bit creaky. However, I will never stop laughing at the absurdity of a bowling alley on a moving bus.

Michael: The Big Bus — for those who don’t know anything about the film (and I understand if you don’t so I won’t hold that against you) — is a farcical romp in the same vein as Airplane!, released several years later. As a matter of fact, the mythology surrounding The Big Bus is such that it was the (little known) forefather to the well-received Abrahams and Zucker Brothers disaster spoof. So why did Airplane! get all the accolades of being a go-to comedy of the time leaving The Big Bus virtually forgotten? Having viewed it, I like to think it was not only the luck of the draw with more recognizable star power and better timing, but also the fact audiences weren’t ready for it at the time. In retrospect you can easily fathom its job was to pave the way for Airplane! and to prime the public for the shenanigans of Peter Graves and Company. Taking The Big Bus journey for the first time, it’s obvious it set the groundwork where Airplane! would later fly.

The film features the titular “character” (a nuclear-powered, extravagantly-appointed behemoth of a bus featuring a cocktail bar, bowling alley and pool among other amenities) making its inaugural run from New York to Denver. “Cyclops” (as the bus is referred to) boasts a signature clientele from which much of the film’s monkey business arises. Of course, what takes place before, during and at the conclusion of Cyclops’ journey is where the good times roll. There’s a lot of cheese cut loose in the film’s 88 minutes of mirth and mayhem, but there are some genuinely classic moments tucked away as well. Some of the highlights I enjoyed were the “bar” fight made up of nothing but veteran bus drivers (wielding dairy products) and the vaudevillian-esque antics of the immediately recognizable Harold Gould (The Sting) and Larry Hagman playing a parking lot doctor.

Chuck: Seeing The Big Bus today, and it’s been one of those movies that has not been treated very well in the home video market, it didn’t seem as funny as I had remembered when I was 14, but it still brought back memories of a time gone by, and it was great seeing a lot of stars who are no longer with us — Ruth Gordon, Larry Hagman, Harold Gould, Richard Mulligan and Lynn Redgrave among them. But thanks to the Warner Archive Collection’s deal with Paramount (the film’s original distributor), we once again have the film on DVD so that those of us who remember it can share with those we think may get a kick out of it. Like I did with my pal, Mr. Noble.

Michael: Speaking of the cast, The Big Bus is filled to capacity with some terrific fun names and faces, many of whom you will recognize but may find a challenge to put name to. While not A-listers by any stretch of the imagination, I was impressed by everyone filling the seats of the bus and elsewhere including Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, Rene Auberjonois, Ned Beatty, Jose Ferrer, Ruth Gordon and a falling-out-of-her-top (!!!) Sally Kellerman to name several. Of particular delight, and much to my surprise, Murphy Dunne (piano playing “Murph” of Murph and The Magic Tones from The Blues Brothers) was featured prominently with tons of enjoyable lines. (Note: The Blues Brother director John Landis pegged Dunne for his Magic Tones’ lead role after spying him in The Big Bus and in lieu of Paul Schaffer’s unavailability to take on the role at the time.)

Chuck: I also loved the fact that they actually built this monstrosity of a vehicle and drove it around California (Trailways is credited for their help in making the film)! Cyclops was not a scale model (and there was no CGI at the time)! This thing drove down winding highways and through towns while the locals looked on. That fact alone makes the movie worth watching. I would love to see the faces of the other unsuspecting drivers as that thing blew past them.

Michael: Spoof comedies weren’t really “a thing” in the mid-70s — they were just getting started and really came to fruition years later. But The Big Bus boasts some rather spiffy site gags and situations throughout, many being lifted in some way, shape or form for a good yuck. What has always amazed me is the fact spoofs such as these are made in the first place. They’re products of a specific place in time and many don’t translate well without any point of reference. As a rule, they rely on timely situations or histories or fads lost to audiences who view them years later. But The Big Bus and Airplane! got the jump on the spoof genre and kept the jokes across the board; they didn’t relegate them to some niche corner of the times. And that’s why — cheesy as much of this movie might be — there are plenty of relate-able moments or ones you can appreciate without straining your brain to figure out if something is funny or otherwise.

The Big Bus is available on DVD from the Warner Archive Collection and was provided to CliqueClack for review.

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It’s almost Oscar night and a collection of award hopefuls have hit home video this week including Gravity, Nebraska, and Frozen. Another big title to come out this week is Thor: The Dark World. With all of these major titles hitting the week of February 25, some smaller films may get lost in the shuffle like Muscle Shoals, Bullet, and Blue is the Warmest Color. But you can check them out now on video! Some older films are also getting spiffed up with new DVD and Blu-ray releases including The Shadow, Tess and Breathless. You can see all of the week’s highlights in our shopper’s guide, and you can click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase. Any purchase made at Amazon through these links helps support our efforts here at CliqueClack, and for that we thank you!

A few major titles are coming to home video this week, including the multiple Oscar nominee Dallas Buyers Club. The film is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Matthew McConaughey has already won several awards for his performance (or weight loss) so he seems a shoo-in for the Oscar … although many would love to see Bruce Dern win for his performance in Nebraska. Jared Leto has also won some awards for his touching, sympathetic portrayal of transsexual Rayon, and my money is on him for the Oscar win as well. With the home video release, you’ll have time to judge for yourself before the ceremony on March 2. Be warned, it is a tough film to sit through, especially if your life has been touched by HIV/AIDS in any way.

Also out this week is the anticipated team-up of Stallone and Schwarzenegger in Escape Plan, the animated Free Birds, Baggage Claim and another version of Romeo & Juliet. Early digital releases include Thor: The Dark World, Austenland and The Armstrong Lie. Fans of classic action and horror will be happy with new Blu-ray releases of Night of the Demons, Witchboard and Death Wish, and Napoleon Dynamite celebrates its 10th anniversary! These titles and more are available February 4, and you can see all of the major highlights in our shopper’s guide. Click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase from Amazon.com.

One of things I’ve noted over the years is that there are some jobs that just seem “cooler” and more interesting than others, at least how they’re portrayed in the movies. At first, war movies portrayed all war as heroic and just, with perfect soldiers … at least for a while. Policeman too are portrayed both with complexity and simplicity, as heroes or villains. Ad executives, wedding planners, of course, certainly not blue collar or white collar workers, of course!

But perhaps no job was as cool as the spy. It pulled together so many old school elements, fighting evil, being more competent than regular people, knowing secrets no one else does, and just seeming glamorous and dangerous. But as James Bond grew, so did James Bond fall. In the era of rendition and Zero Dark Thirty, not even spywork can be considered sacrosanct. The movies have gotten in on the game, with movies such as the most recent Mission Impossible showing corruption even at the highest levels. But although movies about spies are certainly far from done, is the spy caper over? Can we still get invested in the light but vaguely serious movie of covert action anymore? Or have we grown up?

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is based on books by author Tom Clancy, which have been made into other Jack Ryan movies, including ones with Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. This one is the first not to be explicitly based on a book, and it’s hard to say if that’s why the plot seems so listless. The movie presents an origin story for Jack; a genius intellect getting his PhD when the September 11th attacks happen, in a cringe inducing scene that thankfully doesn’t last too long. So Jack joins the Marines, saves some lives, gets severely injured and sent to Walter Reed for rehab. This allows us to introduce something that has no effect on the second half of the film, as Jack recovers 100% with no ill effects later on.

But it does allow us to introduce the lovely Keira Knightley, playing a love interest with an American accent and a name so generic it’s probably something like “Cathy.” Oh, it is Cathy? Huh. Before you can say “character development is for suckers,” the two are already together and ready for adventure. Jack has been recruited into the CIA by Kevin Costner’s Thomas Harper, doing what I can only describe as “surprisingly good acting.” But then it’s off to Moscow, as apparently the sinister Viktor Cherevin(Kenneth Branagh, who also directed the movie) is involved in a plot to ruin the US and rule the world or something. It was interesting how the movie had absolutely no qualms painting Russia as just the bad guys, completely and totally. Refreshing, if odd.

Branagh has enormous fun here, chewing the scenery at times with his silly Russian accent, although at times he merely acts over the top in a subtle way, if that makes any sense at all. The movie feels weird, trying (and failing) to present an interesting mystery/spy plot but then tossing in some very generic action movie silliness near the end. There is this plot of financial mischief which is not fully fleshed out and just sort of exposited in the manner of “this will be bad for the US, because it will be.” Not that scintillating. Chris Pine isn’t terrible or anything, but he doesn’t really grab attention other than a sort of “attempted pathos” good looking guy.

The romance angle, of course, is the worst part of the movie, which is a bit of an issue, as it drives much of the second act’s action beats. And it was weird how Kenneth Branagh gave his own character more depth than you’d expect for what’s basically a Bond villain in terms of how it’s written. Keira Knightley is fine, just fine, as a boring maiden in distress, with urgency in literally just one scene. But bizarrely enough, it was Kevin Costner that carried this movie, showing off an intriguing older character who’s patriotic but measured, competent but not superhuman. I think the movie would’ve been better if it had actually been about him.

The movie isn’t aggressively awful like last year’s This Means War, and the leads are pleasant enough, although Cathy has no real character at all. So what is our conclusion? It’s a completely middle of the road action story, with a few good parts and some okay acting and action, and some quite stupid parts too. An average movie that’s both exciting enough as a diversion but not exciting enough to stick with you. Actually, it’s almost worth it just to see a good Kevin Costner performance. Take of that one what you will.

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Jason Statham has made a career of playing suave but lethal killing machines, especially in the Transporter series of films. He’s gone gritty as well (Death Race), and his success has allowed him to branch out into caper films (The Italian Job) and, believe it or not, animated family films (Gnomeo and Juliet). Fans were thrilled by his surprise appearance at the end of Fast & Furious 6 setting him up to appear in the next film, and he’ll be returning to the Expendables franchise as well. Until then, Statham takes a stab at being a family man … who also happens to be a lethal killing machine.

In Homefront, Statham stars as Phil Broker, an undercover cop who had infiltrated a biker/drug gang set to distribute some freshly cooked meth to the masses. The bust goes horribly wrong as the SWAT team gets a little over-enthusiastic during the raid, and the gang leader’s son is shot something like 47 times while Broker’s cover is blown. After the titles, Broker and his adorable daughter and their kitten move to bayou country (the movie was shot in Shreveport, LA) to live a quiet life out of the line of fire. Or is Broker really there on another undercover job? Or does Broker just by chance happen to move to a town with a huge meth operation underway and gets drawn into the cop life again? That much was never made clear.

Whatever the reason for Broker’s new location — and after the bad bust and a blown cover, you’d think he’d go somewhere out of the way and under a different name — he’s drawn into a feud when his daughter defends herself against a school bully and the tweaked out mom asks her meth lord brother to go out and give the guy a scare. It’s then that the brother, Gator (James Franco), discovers Broker’s identity after finding some boxes of files of his past cases (and why would Broker even be carting this stuff around if he wasn’t still on the clock?) and decides to enlist his girlfriend (played by Winona Ryder) to give Broker to the imprisoned biker dad as a gift in exchange for exclusive, statewide distribution rights for his meth. What could possibly go wrong?

Homefront, written by Sylvester Stallone, has almost the same plot as Stallone’s Bullet to the Head (so I’ve been told). There’s really nothing new here, even though it looks good and has a lot of action and some fairly good performances. It’s nice seeing a softer side of Statham as he interacts with the young daughter and sees the first sparks of a possible relationship with the school’s psychologist. But, when pressed into action, he can still kick everyone’s ass with both hands tied behind his back. Really. He kicks the asses of three of Gator’s henchmen with his hands tied behind his back. If you’re a fan of Statham (and he never bothers to cover his accent), then you really won’t be disappointed.

The other big names in the cast actually turn in some good work with stereotypical characters. Franco seems to be at his best when he’s playing bad. He never really had the charm or charisma to play the Wizard of Oz, but he really nails the put-upon, wannabe drug kingpin who tries to lay low and make a living (with the help of the town’s sheriff who turns a blind eye in exchange for information on low-level criminals), but also has to deal with his drug addict sister who launches a vendetta on anyone who embarrasses her family. The sister is played by Kate Bosworth and you would never believe that this is the same woman who played Lois Lane in Superman Returns or hit the waves in Blue Crush. Much has been made in the tabloids about her scary-skinny appearance, which is disturbing, but it fits the role well (maybe she’s a method actor like Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale) and she really makes an impression with her short screen time. It was also great to see Ryder back on the big screen, even if it is a minor supporting role. As Gator’s sort-of girlfriend Sheryl, she is constantly on edge, looking frantic and desperate as she gets drawn deeper into Gator’s plan to take down Broker.

The rest of the bad guys, led by Frank Grillo, are pretty interchangeable and barely register, mostly because the film’s climactic battle takes place at night. The combination of darkness and extremely close camera angles makes the hand-to-hand combat between Broker and the killers a real jumble. It’s exciting to see Broker take down some bad guys in broad daylight so you can actually see him in action, so the nighttime setting for the biggest battle is disappointing. I mentioned a kitten earlier, and it was important to mention because Broker and his daughter make such a big deal out of the pet early in the film leading one to believe that the poor creature will be put in harms way. One thing I can’t stomach is a film depicting an animal as an innocent victim (especially when the pet in question looks exactly like my own kitten!). Gator does kidnap the kitten, but I am happy to report that it appears to survive to the end. There were more people in my group concerned about that cat than they were the humans!

So the question remains: is Homefront a “good” movie? It’s well made, well acted, has some great action, but the story is just a bit too clichéd (and the romance subplot — as well as the romantic interest — just vanishes after the daughter’s birthday party). To Stallone’s credit, he does manage to write some decent dialog that doesn’t leave you rolling your eyes every time someone opens their mouth. I’m just confused by the title and the promotional artwork which wraps Statham in an American flag. It gives off a real military vibe that doesn’t fit the tone, or the narrative, of the movie but that’s neither here not there. Homefront is really just a popcorn vendetta/action flick that aims to entertain and get you cheering for the good guy … and on that point it is a complete success.

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