The Friday High Five

On the Many Flavors of Steve Rogers, Bizarre Career Pivots, and the Most Hated Noise Known to Man

Marvel Studios

Every Friday I share 5 things I enjoyed this week. Also, high fives are inherently cool, and I think we can all agree Friday is the bestest day. Hence the Friday High Five. 🙏🏻

Late October in Michigan means the trees are ditching their coverings like a bashful sunbather removing their clothes at a nude beach: slowly, then all at once. We’ve cleaned our lawn 3 times in the past 4 days and I bet you can’t guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow and maybe probably Sunday. And our reward when its all over? The bitter embrace of winter. No wonder everyone moves to Florida.

This is also the season when the steady whine of leaf blowers picks away at your sanity.¹ Yeah nuclear weapons are bad, but how much longer until Christopher Nolan does a movie about the villain whose invention terrorizes millions every day?

How much do I hate leaf blowers? You remember this joke from The Office?

NBC

In this analogy, I am Michael, and Toby invented the leaf blower.

There is a time and a place for leaf blowers. Michigan in late October is that time and place. Even I have to bust out the blower sometimes. But mowing is faster, better for the environment, and a hell of a lot less annoying. Also, rakes exist.

I would just grit my teeth and bear it, but long-time readers know my neighbor’s love for his leaf blower knows no bounds, or seasons, which I guess is the sort of love we should all emulate.

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I believe the technical term for the results of last week’s poll is ‘landslide,’ though ass-kicking is more thematically appropriate.

Substack: your vote tallies aren’t tallying.

Have a great weekend!

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5 Things I Enjoyed This Week:

• Captain America: The First Avenger

• Hype for NaNoWriMo

• That time Eddie Murphy tried to be a Pop Star

• The Best Film Reviews, Now on Substack

• Researching White Men Can’t Jump

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Captain America: The First Avenger

I decided to revisit the Captain America trilogy for a feature exploring the Bucky-Steve relationship. It’s kinda funny—I conceived All the Fanfare as a place to publish my long-thinking on pop culture, but it turns out what I mostly think about is bromances. I’ve written about the Johnny Utah/Bodhi relationship from Point Break. I explored the masculine love of Predator. I continue to mine the depths of my one-sided friendship with Timothy Olyphant.

For me, the relationship between Bucky and Steve was the heart of the MCU in the pre-Endgame films. It was the central conflict in The Winter Soldier, aka the best MCU film. The entirety of Civil War, an Avengers film in all but name, is about Steve proving he really is with Bucky till the end of the line. Of all the characters who end up dusted during Infinity War, Bucky is the first.

The Steve-Bucky thing was so central that it felt weird when Bucky was sidelined in Endgame. He doesn’t get a final moment with Steve, and I guess that’s always bothered me. More to come.

Given I have not enjoyed the latest MCU offerings, I was happy to discover the older films still hold-up. More than that: First Avenger might actually be better than I remember. Or maybe I just appreciate it more, after seeing what true horror looks like.

One thing that definitely hasn’t gotten old is skinny Steve Rogers. My wife and daughter don’t like looking at him. I think he’s hilarious. Which brings us to this week’s poll.

Hype for NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an online program that helps would-be novelists become unpublished novelists through the magic of slow and steady effort. The goal is to write the first draft of a short, 50k-word book by writing roughly 1700 words a day for the entire month of November.

I’ve participated in NaNo several times in the past. Every October, I always get the itch to try again. So I am.

You’re supposed to write one book. Since I’ve abandoned several books within sight of the finish line, my goal is to just write some fiction and finish something. Thus, my project: Just Write Some Damn Fiction.

You can follow my progress here. If you’re also participating, send me a buddy request.

That time Eddie Murphy tried to be a Pop Star

In 1985, at the absolute zenith of his fame, Eddie Murphy decided to record a pop song after Richard Pryor bet him $100k he couldn’t. Murphy left a comment on the liner notes for the album he eventually released: “To Richard Pryor, my idol, with whom I have a $100,000 bet. No, motherfucker, I didn’t forget.”²

Party All the Time is a sorta catchy but generically 80s song. Notorious coke-fiend Rick James wrote and produced the song. The irony of James writing a song about a girl who won’t stay home because she can’t quit the party life is just too rich.

Of course, all this comes full circle with Charlie Murphy’s legendary Chapelle Show skit where he talked about the experience hanging out with Rick James. If you’ve never watched it before, do yourself a favor.

The Best Film Reviews, Now on Substack

I have been a

Simon Dillon

fan for years. Simon writes some of the best film reviews on the Internet. He’s finally brought his considerable talents to Substack.³

Simon’s opinions are grounded in decades of devotion to film. His writing is insightful and often hilarious. You'll learn, you'll laugh, and eventually you'll come to love your benevolent Emperor. Oh, yes, he refers to his publication—The Dillon Empire: Simon Dillon on Substack—as an Empire, which just tickles my Star Wars-loving heart.

If the name sounds familiar, it may be because Simon was a participant on the panel I hosted for Medium Day back in August. You can find it on YouTube if you’re so inclined. Fine—here’s a link.⁴

Researching ‘White Men Can’t Jump’

I’ve started writing the promised piece on White Men Can’t Jump (the original version, not the ill-conceived remake) and should have it published early next week. I really enjoyed researching this one. Lot of fun stories and anecdotes.

Here’s a little nugget I found on the defunct site Grantland:⁵

Harrelson: There was a lot of improv in the film. There was kind of a green light on every scene. Ron was great at overseeing that. One time when we were all out on the court, there was an insult thing and we were all yelling at each other. Ron gets out of his director’s chair, comes over and says, “You finally said a word from the script. Finally. You said ‘Motherfucker.'”

1. As I write these words, no less than 3 leaf blowers scream outside. The combined ebb and flow of their whine is a force against which my AirPods prove an ineffectual bulwark.

2. This was the best pic I could find. If you want to see it yourself: Top right block, end of the paragraph starting “TO MY FAMILY.”

3. Yes, this is obviously a reference to when LeBron James announced he was leaving Cleveland to take his talents to South Beach, aka Miami.

4. I was reticent to provide a link because I’m super self-conscious about myself in audio or video form. But my desire to be helpful won out.

5. This is two Friday’s in a row that I’ve referenced Grantland. Let’s see if I can keep the streak going.