Del and Mladen review ‘The Naked Gun’
Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
“The Naked Gun” Starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport, Paul Walter Hauser as Ed Hocken Jr., Danny Huston as Richard Cane CCH Pounder as Chief Davis. Directed by Akiva Schaffer. 1 hour, 25 minutes. Rated PG-13. Theatrical release.
Plot synopsis: The son of legendary police detective Frank Drebin must figure out who murdered a software engineer and simultaneously prevent the closure of Police Squad.
Spoilers: Some.
Del’s take
No matter WHAT Mopey Mladen writes in his review of “The Naked Gun,” know this: He giggled throughout the movie, from the opening bank heist scene to the closing credits where the on-set salad dressings were revealed – Russian, French, Italian and vinaigrette.
That’s because “The Naked Gun” is a hilarious movie – vulgar, profane, childish, all of those things, but funny as hell and a needed respite from the depressing comedy of errors playing across the nightly news these days. Liam Neeson is a worthy successor to Leslie Nielsen as he eats guns, swills bottomless cups of coffee and navigates his way through a steamy threesome with Pamela Anderson and a … er … snowman?
“The Naked Gun” captures the manic and absurd slapstick of the first “Naked Gun” and reprises several of the gags featured in that movie (the tear-away suit, for instance). In fact, Nielsen shows up in the 2025 “Naked Gun,” kinda sorta, as does another of the 1988 film’s cast, O.J. Simpson. (I told you it was vulgar.) Also spotted: Dave Bautista and Weird Al Yankovic. No sign of Priscilla Presley.
I’ve long been a fan of Three Stooges-style physical comedy and “Naked Gun,” just as its predecessor, does not disappoint. Neeson uses the “body” of a bank robber to shield himself from the bullets of other bank robbers, rips the arms off a bad guy then uses said arms to bitch slap said bad guy, and tears down half the police station after he forgets to unhook the charger and drives off in an electric car. All that’s missing is the hollow coconut conking sound.
But the humor operates on different levels. Neeson’s performance is a teasing homage to his tough-guy roles in movies like “Taken” and “Non-Stop.” And the wild double entendres are enough to keep any linguist’s eyes batting back and forth as if he or she was watching the spoken equivalent of the Wimbledon finals. It carries into the closing theme song, delivered in a goofy lounge lizard style, and even the credits, with lots and lots of Easter eggs for the discerning eye. Speaking of which, there’s a short Easter egg at the very end, so be sure to stick it out until the lights come up.
Akiva Schaffer brings his comedy chops to the direction (Saturday Night Live, “Pop Star: Never Stop, Never Stopping”) and joins Dan Gregor and Doug Mand in writing the clever, clever script:
“It says here you served 20 years for man’s laughter.”
“You mean ‘manslaughter’?”
“Must have been quite the joke.”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
My only complaint: the snowman scene. It was over-the-top weird.
After “The Naked Gun” I can say with complete confidence that I will never, EVER be able to spy on a man, woman and a dog with Star Wars-style infrared binoculars and be the same person again. EVER.
Grade: A-.
Mladen’s take
Is it possible for a comedy movie to have too much comedy? Yes, I say to thee. The recently released “The Naked Gun” is an example.
I’ll partition the film into thirds (roughly) to make my case. I do this, in part, because Del used only two-thirds of his brain to write his review.
The first portion of the first third of “The Naked Gun” is very funny. It riffs the “Mission Impossible” use of impossible physical disguises to fool the enemy. The biology of reflex or capacity to absorb physical abuse in action movies such as the immortal John Wicks – or, really, any film where the good guy or gal seeks revenge, runs after getting set up for a crime he or she didn’t commit, or chases commies, terrorists, or rogue billionaires – are also targets.
Then, the satire and slapstick morphs past silliness. You expect silliness in an homage to the original “The Naked Gun” but the new “The Naked Gun” often crash lands on the helipad of ridiculousness. Del mentions the Snowman. Well, Del, what about the O
owl, huh? There’s word play causing misunderstanding. There’s word play dipped as sexual innuendo. And, there’s word play that shows dumbness. And, it’s happening all the time.
The second third of the movie has a funny run exploiting the peril of perspective. A bad guy uses a pair of infrared binoculars to spy on Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) and Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) making dinner and taking care of a dog. One moment you see what the peeping Tom perp is seeing through his high-tech spyglasses and the next what is actually happening in Drebin’s apartment.
The third third of “The Naked Gun” is funny. The last stretch of the last third of the movie takes a shot at the self-delusional hedonism of toxic masculinity that weaves its way through the film as its plot. The principal bad guy wants to return mankind to Hobbs’s state of nature but has never experienced violence and combat himself. That’s amusingly portrayed – the ideal of only the fittest surviving though the tech billionaire ain’t nowhere to being the fittest – at the end of the film.
The problem with “The Naked Gun”? Practically every scene has some sort of verbal or physical shtick happening. For me, if everything is shtick, then, eventually, nothing is funny anymore. That was not the case for Del. He giggled, chuckled, or almost laughed from the beginning to the end of the movie. Initially, I empathized with crotchety Del. The movie started out funny. Then, I sympathized with Del. The movie was trying to sustain its daffiness and I couldn’t blame Del for enjoying it. But, as the movie progressed, it became predictable and a tad tiresome.
“The Naked Gun” is a B, maybe a B-. Sometimes it just feels that the writers were throwing ideas at the wall to see if they would stick as comedy. Here and there, they missed the wall altogether. There’s no reason to see the film in a theater. The humor is perfectly fit for the small screen and the action not so boisterous or spectacular that it demands big speakers.
Mladen Rudman is a former journalist and technical writer. Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.
Image by Flickr user Narih Lee. Creative Commons license. https://www.flickr.com/people/40461587@N07
I had a very unhappy MAGAt leave a comment on one of my videos that read:
“We will find you.”
I guess he thought he was Liam Neeson in “Taken.” I meant to ask if he had a particular set of skills, but I wasn’t thinking.
I don’t take these kinds of comments lightly, but at the same time I don’t lose a lot of sleep over them. I worked for a newspaper for decades. We got those kinds of threats from the public on a regular basis.
I had a woman tell me she was going to come down to the office with a pew-pew and unalive me. That earned her a visit from law enforcement.
I had a police officer say he was going to come down to the office and “beat my F-A-6-6-O-T ass” because he didn’t like a column I had written. He too received a visit from law enforcement.
I was out jogging one day when a man driving a van passed by, recognized me from the newspaper, pulled off the road ahead of me, blocking my path, and got out of his van and screamed and yelled at me about another column I’d written.
And one morning I found a note on my front door that had been made from letters cut from a magazine and glued to a piece of paper. The note said I would turn up missing.
I had my tires slashed at the office – twice. One time somebody smashed into the side of my car while I was inside the office working. Another time somebody crushed the front fender of my car while I was inside.
I have been called every slur, every epithet, every curse word you can image – but I’m still here!
Obviously I hope none of these bad things come to pass, because at age 70 my ability to defend myself isn’t what it used to be, and it was never that great to begin with. I’ll give it the old college try.
But I would remind these folks that assaulting a senior citizen is a felony, and if there’s a gay component to the assault then it becomes a hate crime, which is also a felony. Is it really worth spending the rest of your life in prison just to shut somebody up on social media?
It was only a few years ago that people were fond of saying, “I may not agree with your opinion but I will defend to the end your right to express it.” These days the saying seems to be, “Your opinion better agree with mine because if you don’t, I’m going to silence you.”
That may be the way they do things in Russia, China, Iran or North Korea, but that is mostly definitely NOT the American way.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image from The Communist.
I suppose by now you’ve heard about yesterday’s awful jobs report.
Only 73,000 jobs were created in this country for the month of July. You usually want that number to be around 150,000. For context, the last full month that Joe Biden was president – December 2024 – the number of new jobs created in this country was 256,000.
Oh, for the good old days.
There’s more bad news. The job numbers for May and June had to be revised – downward. The number of new jobs created in this country for May was 19,000. Worse, the number of new jobs created in June was only 14,000.
That’s a statistical drop in the bucket. Any lower and we’d be flirting with negative job growth.
When Joe Biden was in office, the number of available positions in this country topped out at over 12 million. Today that number is below 8 million.
President Hoover was so unhappy with these numbers he fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, which sent a clear to message to others who compile economic numbers: If the numbers are bad, LIE, because the emperor does not like being told he has no clothes.
At this juncture we have two distinctly different ways of looking at the world:
1. The Reality Viewpoint, which holds the jobs reports for May, June and July were truly and spectacularly shitty, and:
2. The Narnia Viewpoint, which holds the economy is roaring like a bonfire under the wise guidance of President Hoover … and the animals move their lips when they’re lying.
The reality is we are probably headed for a recession. Other numbers tend to support that conclusion.
Remember when President Hoover said he would not let the value of the dollar decline? Well, guess what: Since January, when President Hoover took office, the value of the dollar has declined 11 percent.
You know what isn’t down?
Inflation.
Yup, inflation rose to almost 3 percent last month. Economists say that with President Hoover’s on-again, off-again tariffs, inflation is bound to rise even more.
Ford and Stellantis both registered losses for the latest quarter. GM managed to eke out a profit but said its earnings were cut in half – by President Hoover’s tariffs.
The experts say the reason the economy hasn’t tanked before now is because businesses, anticipating President Hoover’s mismanagement, laid in a stash of inventory before the tariffs went into effect. But now those inventories are being depleted and we are having to shift from the Narnia worldview back to a sobering reality of higher prices and fewer jobs.
As for those MAGAts and ’bots bragging about all that tariff money coming into the government’s balance sheets, I would remind them that, OK, President Hoover increased their taxes, and now the government has more money to give to billionaires. They pay more for shit and the government has more money? That’s hardly the flex they think it is. It’s time for the MAGAts to wake up and face the world they’ve created.
Oh, and the stock market they’re always crowing about? Yeah, it lost 1.2 percent of its value yesterday.
Time to shift those stocks into bonds, because even Wall Street, as greedy and complicit as it is, must sometimes deal in reality.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image by DonkeyHote of flickr. Creative Commons license.
Hurricane Helene struck the Big Bend area of Florida in 2024 with winds of 140 mph. As the storm made its way through Georgia, the Carolinas and Kentucky, it claimed the lives of 252 people and caused almost $80 billion in damages.
Days before the storm hit, Congress had a chance to attach a supplemental disaster relief bill to a government funding measure that would have helped FEMA quickly respond to the hurricane. Instead of remaining in Washington, D.C., to make sure FEMA got those funds, Florida Sen. Rick Scott skipped the vote and left town – partly because of the approaching hurricane!
That disaster relief supplement was not approved. What followed was a chorus of criticism, primarily from MAGAts, about FEMA’s response to the storm, a response that had been hobbled by money-grubbing Republicans.
Meanwhile, Scott recently voted against a bill that would bar lawmakers, the vice president and president from trading stocks while serving in office. “How many of you don’t want to make money?” Scott asked while speaking against the measure.
The bill eventually passed, but it isn’t known if it’ll be taken up by the Senate at a later date.
It should be obvious to even the MAGAts that Rick Scott doesn’t give a damn about Floridians. What Rick Scott cares about is making MONEY.
In 2018 when Rick Scott became a U.S. senator, his net worth was estimated at $259.66, according to Open Secrets. As of 2025 his net worth, according to Quiver Quantitative, is $553.89 million. That’s a 113 percent increase in seven years, all on a paycheck of $174,000 per year. Not bad for a “servant” of the people.
Rick Scott seems to have forgotten why he was elected to the Senate. He isn’t there to make money. He’s there to serve the people of Florida. If serving the people of Florida gets in the way of his making money, he needs to step aside and let somebody else take that job. It’s not too much to ask that these so-called “servants” refrain from using their positions of trust to get filthy, stinking rich.
I don’t understand why people aren’t mad about this. Why aren’t people furious?
By the way, Rick Scott is up for re-election in 2026.
For the love of God, Floridians, do the right thing.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
I got a message from a fellow who asked if I could talk about things other than politics. He said the politics are getting old.
I told him I talk about politics for two reasons – No. 1 that, obviously, we’re having a moment in this country and it’s important to seize that moment and talk about politics now, while we still can.
The other reason is that when I talk about things other than politics I don’t get nearly the interaction and the engagement I get with a political topic.
However, I thought I would ask you guys.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Would you rather I talk about things other than politics? Or maybe occasionally talk about something other than politics?
Leave me a comment and I’ll read them and take them to heart.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. and DC Studios.
“Superman” Starring David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillian as Green Lantern, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and others. Directed by James Gunn. 2 hours, 9 minutes. Rated PG-13. Theatrical release.
Mladen’s take
Unlike Del, “Superman” doesn’t suck. Del declined to see the film with me and Dusty, which is too bad. “Superman” is a lovably hokey piece of rollicking goodness that might have lit, if only briefly, the light of hope in Del’s darkening soul.
What can you say about the film? It resets the Superman universe to its origin. In today’s “Superman,” Corenswet does yesterday’s Man of Steel, Christopher Reeves, justice. Superman is once again a do-gooder, as well as a budding member of the “Justice Gang.” You’ll have to see the movie to understand the joke.
I take “Superman” to be, at least partly, a parable of our time in America. Lex Luthor, very nicely portrayed as Lex Luthor-y by Hoult, is after our hero. Why? Because Superman is an illegal immigrant who keeps a Homo sapiens harem that he plans to use to create a metahuman population of demi-supermen and superwomen to conquer and enslave mankind. Wait to see who’s responsible for the hatred, smack talk, and cancel culture on the internet, according to the movie.
“Superman” is filled with action. Superman v. Ultraman. Superman v. The Engineer. Superman v. The Thing with the Justice Gang assisting. Superman v. Planetwatch troopers. Superman v. Buildings. Superman v. Expanding Pocket Universe Trench.
In my book, however, the slickest donnybrook was the one waged by Mr. Terrific and his spheres. It happens about halfway through the movie. The battle had me entranced. It alone may force me to buy this film on 4K disc.
Oh, I imagine Dusty would be irritated if I didn’t mention Krypton the dog. Yeah, there’s Superdog in the movie. And, yeah, the very well done CGI dog is charming and useful and, behavior-wise, puppy-ish. I should add that Superman is only dog-sitting the metapooch for … who?
The fighting and the dog compensated more than adequately for the bits of almost maudlin person-to-person stuff peppered throughout the film. That Lois and Clark would end up boyfriend and girlfriend was never a doubt in my mind. And, don’t get me started on the peasants with their pitchforks facing a modern army bristling with SMGs, APCs, and tanks. Sheesh.
The “Superman” score pays appropriate homage to the original film’s music composed by John Williams. The soundtrack is very good, too. Got home after the film and downloaded “Punkrocker” by Teddybears and Iggy Pop.
“Superman,” though clumsy in spots, is an A-. The film is spectacular enough, despite its PG-13 rating, to watch on the very big screen. Though Dusty and I couldn’t see it in a Dolby or IMAX theater, consider dropping the extra several bucks to immerse yourself in the wholesome bombast that unfolds.
Mladen Rudman is a former journalist and technical writer. Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.
This is a stock photo taken by Alisdare Hickson. Find his work on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/people/59952459@N08
I walk 3 miles every day.
I start at a local park, but then I branch off into the adjoining neighborhoods and end up at a local shopping center, where I stop to edit my videos.
Yesterday was a real scorcher. By the time I reached the shopping center I was dripping sweat.
As I sat down to work on my video, an elderly Chinese lady came out of the nail salon nearby and gave me a bottle of ice-cold water. I thought, “That was so nice of her!”
Then it occurred to me that by this time next week she could be handcuffed in the back of an ICE van awaiting deportation back to China. She’d be replaced by an American employee half her age, doing half the work for the twice the salary and not be half as nice.
No thanks. I think I’ll take the immigrants.
Immigrants bring much to this country and are one of the reasons it has been as successful as it is. If I asked you who invented the telephone you would probably tell me it was an American, Alexander Graham Bell. You’d be right. Except Bell was an immigrant.
The inventor of blue jeans was an immigrant.
Doughnuts were invented by an immigrant.
The hamburger was invented by an immigrant.
The AC power system was invented by an immigrant.
Hell, Google was co-invented by an immigrant.
The “president,” louse that he is, is married to an immigrant.
Immigrants bring a richness and diversity of culture, language, arts, sciences and engineering skills to this country. They are far more beneficial than the intellectual lummoxes currently in D.C. and their mouth-breathing MAGAt supporters.
I would much rather live next door to an immigrant family than a MAGAty xenophobe.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
This was the scene on Sept. 23, 1973, as Hurricane Eloise struck the Florida panhandle. This photo was taken by my father, Del Stone Sr., from the kitchen window of our house in Fort Walton Beach.
We are entering the heart of hurricane season. Statistically, August and September are the months most likely to see tropical cyclone formation.
And we still don’t know if the various weather-forecasting services are going to be up to the job.
That’s because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is the parent organization of the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service, suffered significant staff reductions as a result of DOGE cuts.
I was not able to determine how many weather forecasters lost their jobs, but yes, meteorologists were among those who were let go, along with people who fly into hurricanes to take direct measurements from the storm, people who run the weather models to predict a storm’s future path, people who monitor data coming in from remote sensing platforms like satellites, buoys and weather balloons, radar technicians, and other people with mission-critical responsibilities.
What a lot of people don’t understand is the National Hurricane Center must coordinate with local offices of the National Weather Service to make sure people in the path of a landfalling hurricane have the latest information about the storm. NHC figures where the storm is, where it’s going, when it will hit and how strong it will be. NWS figures out what the local effects will be and warns people about the threat. We’ve seen how important that can be when, earlier this year, floods struck Texas, causing massive loss of life.
Also what remains to be seen is how, and if, FEMA responds to a natural disaster like a hurricane. That’s because FEMA also suffered cutbacks, and was compelled to spend about a billion dollars building an immigrant detention facility in the Everglades, the infamous “Alligator Alcatraz.”
So there are lots of unanswered questions as we enter this busy part of the hurricane season, and I think the inescapable conclusion any reasonable-minded person could draw from our current situation is that this regime does not care about people. It cares about money. Because if you took the money we taxpayers spend on ONE golf trip by the president to the state of Florida, we could probably rehire all of those forecasters.
That’s where their priorities lie – in golf trips and tax breaks for billionaires, not us taxpayers struggling to get by in a system rigged to favor rich white men and mega-corporations.
Tells you a lot about their character, doesn’t it?
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image by Ted Eytan.
The United States appears to be teetering on the brink of authoritarianism, with federal officials, watchdogs and gatekeepers being replaced en masse by Trump loyalists, and Trump himself trying to supersede the Constitution and bypass the checks and balances that have preserved American democracy for hundreds of years.
What can ordinary Americans do to resist this takeover? The internet yields the following suggestions. Feel free to embrace as few or as many as you feel comfortable with. Bear in mind there are risks. The choice is yours.
1. The easiest thing you can do is vote – in every election, not just the majors. In the 2024 presidential election 62 percent of registered voters actually voted. Four years earlier, when American citizens fired Trump from the presidency, 66 percent of voters turned out. Imagine what last November’s outcome might have been had more voters bothered to cast their ballots.
2. Educate yourself about the candidates. It only takes a few minutes to learn how they stand on the issues. Also, make sure you understand the issues themselves. For instance, prior to the 2024 election many Americans were under the impression tariffs were paid for by the nation against which the tariff was imposed. Tariffs are in fact paid for by the businessperson importing the goods, then passed along to consumers. The tariffs imposed on foreign nations by Trump will be paid for by you.
3. Evangelize for your beliefs. If your community has a newspaper, write a letter to the editor or a guest column. Call online or radio talk shows. Use your social media platform to express your viewpoint. The algorithms are not invincible. New eyes may very well see your posts. Before doing any of these things, make sure you know what you’re talking about. Research research research! And please, be respectful.
4. Write to your U.S. representative and your state’s senators to express your displeasure with what is happening within the federal government. Their contact information is easily obtainable online.
5. The American Civil Liberties Union is resisting efforts to subvert the Constitution and federal law. Donate!
6. Support the loyal opposition. Make a donation, again if you can afford it, to your political party, be it the Democrats, Libertarians, Independents or another party. Offer to do volunteer work. They need telephone canvassers, people to help with mail-outs, and door-to-door canvassers.
7. Participate in protests if you’re so inclined. The 50501 movement ( https://www.fiftyfifty.one/ ) is organizing protests around the nation at various times throughout the year. Start with them. Check social media outlets like Facebook or Next Door for other local protests.
8. Years ago U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, recommended the following actions. Many are still relevant:
A. Write letters to media editors every time you see an article or broadcast that utilizes a normalizing tone or doesn’t make note of the extreme nature of Trump, his behavior and rhetoric, or his Administration’s actions.
B. Use the hashtag #resist on your social media platforms.
C. Contact your elected officials via petitions, letters, calls and social media to urge them to resist any action that would normalize the administration and demand that they loudly condemn any Trump actions that are unbefitting our democracy.
D. Reach out to your friends and family and encourage them to do the same.
E. Support rhetorically and financially those organizations that are stepping up to fight normalization.
9. This is from Robert Reich at The Guardian:
“Participate or organize boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime, starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla, and any companies that advertise on X or on Fox News. Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts. Corporations invest heavily in their brand names and the goodwill associated with them. Loud, boisterous, attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names and reduce the prices of corporations’ shares of stock.
“To the extent you are able, fund groups that are litigating against Trump. Much of the action over the next months and years will be in the federal courts. The groups initiating legislation that I know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund and Common Cause.
“Spread the truth: Get news through reliable sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources. Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the truth: the Guardian, Democracy Now, Business Insider, the New Yorker, the American Prospect, Americans for Tax Fairness, the Economic Policy Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, ProPublica, Labor Notes, the Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson and, of course, my Substack.
“Urge friends, relatives and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram. They are increasingly filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive; help the people you know wean themselves off them.
“Push for progressive measures in your community and state. Local and state governments have significant power. Join groups that are moving your city or state forward, in contrast to regressive moves at the federal level. Lobby, instigate, organize and fundraise for progressive legislators. Support progressive leaders.
“Keep the faith. Do not give up on America. Remember, Trump won the popular vote by only one and a half points. By any historical measure, this was a squeaker. In the House, the Republicans’ five-seat lead is the smallest since the Great Depression. In the Senate, Republicans lost half of 2024’s competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump won. America has deep problems, to be sure. Which is why we can’t give up on it – or give up the fights for social justice, equal political rights, equal opportunity and the rule of law. The forces of Trumpian repression and neofascism would like nothing better than for us to give up. Then they’d win it all. But we cannot allow them to.”
10. Subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s excellent newsletter exposing the criminal activities of Trump and the Republicans. She’s also on Facebook, X, and TikTok. Follow this link to her Substack: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
11. This was mentioned earlier but it bears repeating: When you see misinformation, dispute it. Don’t just scroll by. Find the facts and link them to the post so that people will at least have an option to educate themselves about the truth.
12. Fact check everything you’ve been told. I use these sites to combat disinformation:
A. Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/
B. FactCheck.org: https://www.factcheck.org/
C. Politifact: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
D. Full Fact: https://fullfact.org/
13. Communicate to the news media that you are interested in seeing them cover events involving the administration, and particular the opposition to the actions of the administration. People have taken to the streets in protest, yet the media are barely covering that aspect of the takeover.
14. Take out ads, billboards or other forms of advertising to express your outrage.
For a morale booster, read this article: https://otherwords.org/five-popular-checks-on-trumps-agenda/
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .