iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Apologies for being long winded on this one, but 🧑‍🍳👌for James Stuart as Kirby’s son talking about his wanting to research the possibilities of harnessing solar energy to supply our needs as he woos Jean Arthur! A scene written in 1938, people!

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

In addition to the play’s 1937 Pulitzer, the film received 7 nominations at the 1939 Academy Awards and took home the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. More than a little of YCTIWY’s DNA can be found in 1978’s “La Cage aux Folles” and its 1996 American remake “The Birdcage”.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Kirby’s redemption arc becomes the lynchpin of the film as his encounter with the free-spirited Vanderhof/Sycamore family forces him to reconsider his choices. Arnold gives a master class in acting by reacting throughout. (cont.)

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Anthony P. Kirby, played by fourth-billed (in a stacked cast!) Edward Arnold. No longer the play’s boilerplate stuffy Wall Streeter, Kirby is established as the head of an investment firm with designs on circumventing anti-trust laws and war profiteering. (cont.)

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

In “You Can’t Take It With You”, Capra and his frequent collaborator, screenwriter Robert Riskin, do some considerable reworking of the Pulitzer Prize winning 1936 Kaufman & Hart stage comedy. They re-center the story on the character whose arc has to bend the most: (cont)

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“YH2BT” is a terrific documentary about how the casting of the 1972 Toronto production of “Godspell” altered the trajectory of Canadian and American comedy. It’ll stream eventually, but if you have the opportunity to see it in a theater, do so. As if I didn’t already miss Gilda Radner enough…

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Not all Star Wars projects have to do this, but “The Mandalorian…” is at it best when it emulates the breathless matinee-serial pace of the original trilogy. Once it strays from that it never totally gets back on track. About time the good guys got a base on a planet with great beaches, though.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Coyote vs. Acme” is a lot of fun. I would have been happier if the animation was 100% hand drawn. That being said, about 85% of the cel-shaded CG looks really damn good. Kudos to the live-action cast for not trying to play it as broadly as their cartoon costars.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Three recent releases and a Frank Capra classic. As usual I’m putting my comments below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched

Art cards for the films “You Can’t Take It With You” (1938), You Had To Be There (2025), “The Mandalorian and Grogu” (2026) and “Coyote vs Acme” (2026).

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Art Carney originated the role of Felix Ungar opposite Walter Matthau as. Oscar Madison in the Broadway production in 1965. It’s likely the source of this photo. Would have loved to have seen that.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Please stop reposting Gary Varvel cartoons. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool Republican shill. That cartoon was intended to be pro-Trump/anti-Democrats. He’s fully down with the MAGA agenda.

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Sukie 💙🇺🇸🇺🇦🌊 @froggybottompond.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

''I'd like to go ahead and solve it. The Atlanta Hawks.''

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

If you see this, post a vampire that isn’t Dracula.

Matt Berry as Laszlo Cravensworth in the television series “What We Do in the Shadows” (2019 - 2024).

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The problem, as I see it, is that we have a surplus of James Bond Villains and a shortage of James Bonds.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

You may be on to something, Frank. Kirby did draw him once:

Promotional art by Jack Kirby for the short-lived sitcom “Captain Nice” depicting the titular reluctant superhero flying over the city and pursued by a variety of supervillains that the show never had the budget for. William Daniels played Captain Nice.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Both living their best lives.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A favorite gag: the casting of Mel Blanc as the voice of the boys’ heard-but-not-seen dad.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Since my last post on the subject just five days ago, the price per gallon of regular gasoline at my local SoCal Costco has rocketed up to $5.96.9. Wheeee? #priceofgas #trump’swar #trump’sfolly #inflation #costco

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Sure, sure. Now about your intervening to let the Skydance/Paramount/Warner merger go through, Fuck you!

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Jules⚖️📨 @northjules.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

noparamountconcessions.com 🚨Twelve state attorneys general sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Concessions don’t protect workers, consumers or creators. Tell the AGs to hold strong. #Pinks

noparamountconcessions.com

#BlockTheMerger

Twelve state attorneys general sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Concessions don’t protect workers, consumers or creators. Tell the AGs to hold strong and take it to trial. SIGN THE P...

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Once again I feel compelled to tell you all what the gas prices are at our local SoCal Costcos. A quick survey this morning shows a range from $5.69.9 per gallon at the low end to $5.79.9 at the high. Woof.

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Blue sky nice ghost @rajandelman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

"60 Minutes. More like 60 viewers!"

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

So what we seem to have here is a sequel to “The Incredible Hulk” (2008) in which The Hulk himself is MIA and Captain America has been shoehorned in in his place. The plot also involves a rather large dangling thread from 2021’s “Eternals”. Sam deserved better than this, dammit!

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

…and spends a fair amount of time moping over his estrangement from his daughter Betty (Liv Tyler in a brief cameo) who never forgave him for his persecution of Banner/Hulk.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“CA:BNW” features two of The Hulk’s classic antagonists: Big-brained villain The Leader, played by Tim Blake Nelson, and Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by Harrison Ford tapping in for the late William Hurt. Ross has been elected President…

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Others have made this observation before, but I agree: “The Jungle Book” is not so much a great animated feature as it is a film that showcases the brilliant work of its artists, particularly it’s character animators. The “I Wanna Be Like You” sequence is mind-blowingly great.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I’m a child of the ‘60s with a built-in association of Fred MacMurray with his rather mild characters from Disney comedies and his sitcom “My Three Sons”. How great his performance as ultimate heel Walter Neff is just blows me away every time I revisit “Double Indemnity”.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

A terrific Billy Wilder noir, a Disney animated classic, a fun documentary about one of baseball’s all-time greats and a superhero who honestly deserved better. As usual I’m putting my comments below. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched

Art cards for “Captain America: Brave New World” (2025), “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” (2022), “The Jungle Book” (1967) and “Double Indemnity” (1944).

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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Deliberately crashing the American economy—costing American families well over $5,000 each—and then promising to pay those families back $5,000 but *only if* they keep letting him abuse them and the country for two more years... ...is some *seriously* dark, domestic-abuser shit.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Downgrade a Movie: The So-so Seven

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

It’s been a while since I posted the price per gallon of regular gasoline at the local (San Fernando Valley) Costco stations. Currently ranging between $5.49.9 and $5.55.9, so still hovering near the high of the quagmire-inflated price.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I wonder… does he dictate these constantly referring to himself in the third person or is his diaper nurse/human printer/fangirl writing & posting them? And is it with or without his direct approval?

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Shit drumming aside, I never understood how it was that Curley got reincarnated as a shark. That was the plot of Jabberjaw, was it not?

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I do like that drawing of Superman, though. The squareness of his head and the line of his forehead leading down to the end of his nose reminds me of Wayne Boring’s Superman.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

“My Mother the Car”. Why yes, I am older than dirt. Thanks for asking.

A still from the mercifully short-lived American sitcom “My Mother the Car” (1965-66). Series star Jerry Van Dyke sits behind the wheel of a red 1928 Porter automobile which is animated by the soul of his late mother. His co-star Maggie Pierce is seated next to him. Ann Southern provided the voice of the car.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

John Krasinski’s latest outing as Jack Ryan is a relic of an international order that no longer exists in any meaningful way. As such, I found it pretty difficult to invest in the film’s stakes. Always great to see Wendell Pierce, though.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

In “Daffy - The Commando”, Freleng picks up a running gag from “To Be…” and runs further with it. It’s always great to see “Woo-hoo” era Daffy, especially when he’s whacking Hitler in the head with a giant mallet. Mel Blanc’s stream-of-conciousness “German” dialogue will never not be funny.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Also, Sig Ruman, well remembered as a rather humorless foil for The Marx Bros., is terribly funny working opposite Benny as Colonel "Concentration-Camp" Erhardt.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

In “To Be…”, Lubitch mines comedy gold from the darkest of times and places as a Polish theatrical troupe is forced to find ways to outwit the occupying Nazis. Great performances by Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and a cast of great character actors.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

With the death of producer Irving Thalberg the Marx Bros. lost the buffer between them and Louis B. Mayer who famously did not care for them. Pictures like this one are the result. Still, I can’t give less than three stars to a movie in which Groucho sings “Lydia the Tatooed Lady”.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The Marx Bros, An Ernst Lubitch classic paired with a Friz Freleng Daffy Duck cartoon and the most recent Jack Ryan adventure. Only one of the 3 features seems of the current moment… and it ain’t Jack Ryan. My comments will be in the replies below, as usual. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched

Art cards for “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War” (2026), “Daffy - The Commando” (1943), “To Be or Not to Be” (1942) and “At the Circus” (1939).

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Fry’s. Didn’t have to think twice.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

It’s nominated in multiple Emmy categories & The Mouse seems to be putting a decent amount of money & effort into its FYC campaign. That doesn’t confirm a continuation, but it doesn’t really suggest it’s been abandoned either.

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I usually give our garden lizards a friendly “Hey, little guy!” Don’t get me started on the Monarchs and their caterpillars. 🐛

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Tom Riggin @tomrig.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

This viewing was from the wonderful new blu-ray “Fleischer Cartoons Greatest Hits”: an assortment of new restorations featuring Koko the Clown, Popeye, Betty Boop and, of course, Superman.

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