Category: Pulp Media

Society by Joe WilcoxJun 5, 20249:56 pm

Seven Movies Every Journalist Should See

Periodically, I update my picks for must-see movies about news reporting. More than eight years have passed since the last list, in February 2016—before the tumultuous Presidential election that thrust Donald Trump into the White House and precipitated disastrous changes across American newsrooms.

Editorialization of news, once taboo, is widespread. Many stories are subjective and slanted, pushing progressive—or, to lesser degree, conservative—values over impartial presentation of facts. The changes are evident in headlines or deks but more earnestly descriptive modifiers used for emphasis, where none should be.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 19, 202410:02 pm

I Found It!

The Bat Cave! Hiding in plain sight. Who would have guessed? I should have believed the angry TikTokers whining about the Dark Knight fleeing crime-infested Gotham for San Diego. What good is capturing criminals when the DA won’t prosecute and they return to the streets in mere minutes? No wonder he headed West.

Problem: Catch-and-release policies are rampant across California. Prosecution deferrals are increasingly commonplace. Can the Caped Crusader save us? Please!

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 2, 202410:00 pm

The Beachcomber

We return to Mission Beach for a final time, from my April 29, 2024 quickie visit. Subject of the Featured Image is the person working the sand with a metal detector, as two other folks stop their walk to watch.

Once again, I pulled out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra to make the moment. Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 32, 1/1900 sec, (synthetic) 230mm (digital and optical zoom); 10:39 a.m. PDT. In post-production, I started to lighten up the dark areas, but instead decided to leave the photo as shot. Moody is better, and everyone is considerable distance away.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 29, 202410:14 pm

Golden Storm Troopers

I don’t know what to make of these two. Do you? After dropping off contact lenses to our daughter in Ocean Beach, my wife and I drove over to Mission Beach, where there is a boardwalk shop selling $10 hoodies. Eighty-percent cotton, baby!

While waiting for Annie, I turned my attention to the distant shoreline and people along the surf: Strangest of all are subjects of the Featured Image. Golden Storm Troopers? I don’t recall seeing any of them in any Star Wars film.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 3, 202410:07 pm

‘Finding Vivian Maier’

For some reason, last night, YouTube’s algorithm suggested a not-so-interesting video about a street photographer with whom I had limited knowledge. My watching some portion of the vid generated suggestions for others and finally the gem: Documentary “Finding Vivian Maier“, which I watched in its entirety this evening.

Quick backstory: A large portion of her collection of media—including more than 150,000 negatives, hundreds of undeveloped film rolls, audio recordings, and home movies—were auctioned in 2007; she had failed to keep up payments on a storage unit. Vivian Maier was an unknown, unpublished photographer at the time; she died in April 2009, following a fall, unaware that her street shots had started to draw attention after some were published on Flickr.

Living by Joe WilcoxJan 18, 202410:26 pm

When Comic-Con was Fun

San Diego Comic-Con is still six months away (July 25-28). Late last year, I missed the first chance for a 2024 pass and skipped the second opportunity. My attendance days long ago ended when the convention chose not to renew my press credentials (and when I was still a working journalist). Subsequently, I wasn’t (supposedly) randomly chosen to purchase a pass.

On this fine Thursday evening, for no particular reason, let’s peek at what was SDCC before the culturally woke put to sleep my interests in participating. The Con is gone, or at least as I remember it.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 6, 202411:04 pm

Fatman Returns

In February 2014, a researcher from The Graham Norton Show contacted me about licensing one of my costumed portraits from San Diego Comic-Con 2010. She explained: “Our terms are all media worldwide for 5 years, and we would normally pay £175 (about $285) for these. We would pay upon usage of the image, and I would be able to let you know on Monday whether it has made the final cut of the show. If it is included, then we will arrange payment. Would you be happy with this?”

My reply: “I love the show, and, of course, you have my permission to use the photo—and the terms are agreeable. Can you let me know if the pic makes the cut and, if so, when the show will air?” The photo did indeed make the “final cut”, and I was paid for the privilege.

Living by Joe WilcoxDec 29, 202310:33 pm

Prime Cuts

Like many other Amazon customers, the day after Christmas (Bah humbug to you, too, Jeff Bezos), I received email informing that “starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements”. That one sentence sentences my Prime membership to execution. I won’t renew when the current annual period expires.

My family’s first Amazon purchase was in 1998, and we joined Prime a decade later. One of the benefits for which we keep the service is commercial-free video content. Advertising changes everything. Free, fast shipping isn’t compelling enough.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 21, 202310:13 pm

When Did You Last Go to the Movies?

I can’t remember. SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns pretty much squashed my movie-going, coupled with too-high ticket pricing. The theatre is pretty much always better than streaming at home, so to be clear: couch-potatoing isn’t my reason for abandoning an afternoon show.

I used Google Pixel 3 XL to capture the Featured Image five years ago today: Dec. 21, 2018. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 70, 1/50 sec, 28mm (film equivalent); 12:10 p.m. PST; composed as shot. This AMC is located at Westfield Plaza Bonita in National City, Calif.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 21, 202310:04 pm

Not This Stingray But Another

To the owner of this Corvette, Stingray is a classic car. To me, it’s a kids TV show (circa 1964). Developed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the British sci-fi, underwater adventure combines sophisticated puppetry and models in a production style/technique known as Supermarionation. Stingray is a program most Americans of any age wouldn’t know, nor its contemporaries like Captain Scarlet or Fireball XL5—although the latter was broadcast on this side of the pond by NBC.

But many of these same people easily could know Thunderbirds, which popularity extended beyond the 1960s into the modern era, with several follow-on series and even a live-action feature film. As a kid, I watched all the Anderson Supermarionation shows. You might wonder how, seeing as I am American and, with the exception of aforementioned Fireball XL5, none of them was broadcast in the States.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 7, 202310:04 pm

Herbie Wannabe

It’s called popular culture for a reason. I don’t recall ever watching any of “The Love Bug” movies and yet have absorbed enough osmotically over the decades to know the basics: Animated Volkswagen Beetle—with personality, no less. Road race. Clueless adult protagonists. Oh, perhaps most revealing: I am familiar with the vehicle’s number and racing decals.

So unsurprisingly, I immediately recognized the Herbie detailing of the Toyota Scion parked on a street in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, today. If I were going to pick a modern, non-VW, that is close enough to the vintage vehicle, this coupe compact would be near top of the list.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 29, 20239:30 pm

Don’t Be Angry

San Diego Comic-Con commences with Preview Night, on July 19, 2023. Early buzz isn’t so much about what attendees will see but what they won’t. The Writer’s Guild of America is on strike and could be joined by SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors, as early as tomorrow.

In the midst of the mayhem, Hollywood studios suddenly are pulling presence from this year’s Con. The infamous Hall H, where some of the best panels and previews take place, is suddenly an unpopular presentation venue. Pick any number of reasons, among them: Nobody to be on stage for fans to gawk at; picketers parading placards outside the convention center.