Forry and Famous Monsters - Ray Ferry Edition

[Universal Steve]

I stopped buying FM around that same time. The classics were taking a back seat to newer films. It looks like that new FM is going to back away from the classics also. I saw only newer and non interesting stuff on the website. I think FM might be gone for good this time if he goes in this direction. At least I have the memories.

[Wich2]

"I stopped buying FM around that same time. The classics were taking a back seat to newer films."

You know though, from the beginning FM treated both. As well as those classic "Coming Soon" forecasts (much of which never happened!), they covered stuff like Corman & AIP, right up to THE EXORCIST.

A new mag COULD work; as ever, it has to do with the talent & vision of the folks involved.

Best,
-Craig W.

[Mike Scott]

A new mag COULD work; as ever, it has to do with the talent & vision of the folks involved.

I see the Ferry supporters (i.e. Forry haters) are already trashing Phil Kim. One making up a story about Kim making a fool of himself at the SD Comic Con. Never happened, but nobody challenged him on it.

[raycastile]

I think the problem wasn't that FM was covering new films, but that it was covering things outside the horror realm, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, James Bond.

[Mike Scott]

but that it was covering things outside the horror realm, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman,

Since that was the fantasy film scene, at the time, it's no surprise that that's what they'd be covering. Trouble was, there were other mags doing a better job of it.

[raycastile]

Since that was the fantasy film scene, at the time, it's no surprise that that's what they'd be covering. Trouble was, there were other mags doing a better job of it.

That's why FM should have stuck with what it did best.  In its younger days, did FM cover the Sean Connery Bond films?  Maybe they did, I don't know.  I imagine they covered some new sci-fi, like 2001 or Silent Running.  I'm sure they gave Planet of the Apes plenty of coverage.  But did they cover Diabolik or the Batman and Green Hornet TV shows?  I seem to remember them covering the Doc Savage film.  In any case, Superman and Roger Moore's James Bond felt all wrong in Famous Monsters of Filmland.  As a kid, I remember thinking those articles were out of place.  Starlog was the magazine for those films. 

[Mike Scott]

That's why FM should have stuck with what it did best.

And then all those kids that wanted to read about STAR WARS would have bought all the other mags and FM would have gone under sooner.

In its younger days, did FM cover the Sean Connery Bond films . . . 2001 or Silent Running . . . Planet of the Apes

Yep, all that stuff, plus all the Hammer and AIP horror (and sci-fi) and Harryhausen and other current movies. They had more of the '20s, '30s, '40s stuff than in the later issues, but still, a lot of the mag was always devoted to new movies.

[Wich2]

What Mike said. And remember - 4SJ's first love was SciFi.

Great weekend,
-Craig W.

[Mike Scott]

Just scanning the first 100 FM covers reveals that only about half of them featured a movie made before the first issue appeared in 1958. Nearly half of those were either Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy (Universal), Dracula (Lugosi), or King Kong.

[roheimiana]

Just in case you haven't noticed, the UMA has earned a new distinction. Our modest speculation on the first HALF-PAGE of this thread has generated an additional SIX PAGES of speculation on the already epic thread at the CHFB. If you want to see what they're saying about us, you should start towards the bottom here:

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/16696?page=56



Actually, I rather enjoy the comment that we're "living in a dream world". After all, what better reason could there be for getting up each morning? The only person I feel sorry for is poor Toy Ranch. He got a headache from reading only six posts at the other place and now he's got another 89 (and counting) to wade through! Please, Bobby, take it very, very slowly....

[Mike Scott]

I rather enjoy the comment that we're "living in a dream world".

I think that was made by the same guy (or one of his toadies) who was fantasizing about Kim having made a fool of himself at the Comic Con?

[Wich2]

And who may have since been banned for his posts in this thread:

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/21317?page=1

I love both the UMA and the CHFB. I give the UMA a slight edge in one area: people here are less likely to take up The Nasty Stick, and more likely to be shown the door if they do it repeatedly.

The older I get, the more I feel that if places like this aren't fun, they're nothing. And when posters get into personal insult, it's not fun.

Best,
-Craig W.

[Daimajin]

And who may have since been banned for his posts in this thread:

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/21317?page=1

I love both the UMA and the CHFB. I give the UMA a slight edge in one area: people here are less likely to take up The Nasty Stick, and more likely to be shown the door if they do it repeatedly.

The older I get, the more I feel that if places like this aren't fun, they're nothing. And when posters get into personal insult, it's not fun.

I agree.  Though I read more than I post here, I very much enjoy the  camaraderie of folks with an enthusiastically shared interest that you find on UMA (like it so much that I even invited some folks who I recognized here on Facebook -- I don't really know them, but I feel at least acquainted from the UMA).  I hate going online and seeing tantrums and people disrespecting each other.  Especially when they do so only because of the cowardice of anonymity one finds on the internet.

The web could be today's Library of Alexandria but most people just use it to call each other names.

At least there's the UMA.  Kudos to admins.

[Mike Scott]

And who may have since been banned for his posts in this thread:

LOL That was wacky!

[Mike Scott]

The web could be today's Library of Alexandria

I remember something similar (some grand public good) being said about the potential of TV. That didn't work out too good, neither.