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Created, the Destroyer (The Destroyer #1) (1971) / The Day Remo Died (The Destroyer #0) (1982)

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by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir A secret U.S. government program frames Remo Williams, a nobody beat cop, and sentences him to death so he can be erased and repurposed as a deniable assassin.  It also recruits Chiun, a master of the martial art Sinanju, to train Remo as a lethal operative.  This is a serviceable launchpad for the franchise, especially once Chiun arrives and the book starts showing signs of the humorous personality for which the series is known.  The early Remo/Chiun dynamic is characterized by mentor–student friction, bickering, growing affection, and a clash of worldviews.  A problem is that this novel reads like an uneasy combination of two different types of story.  In the first half, Remo is trained into a killing machine with almost mystical powers of destruction, which promises a Bond-level villain who can threaten the world (which I gather will come along soon enough in the series).  The second half drops him into a mobster plot t...
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The Incredibles (2004)

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Writer / Director: Brad Bird Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Dominique Louis, Theodore Newton, Jean Sincere, Eli Fucile, Maeve Andrews In a world where superheroes are outlawed, a super-powered family is drawn into conflict with a super-villain because Dad can’t resist playing vigilante from time to time.  This is another classic Pixar film that successfully infuses a comic adventure story with serious themes, all rendered in beautiful state-of-the-art animation.  Mr. Incredible is torn because being the most authentic, best version of himself as he sees it conflicts with the requirements of being a responsible father who provides for his family.  Over the course of the film, the family comes to understand what they mean to each other and their place in society.  There are plenty of laughs and thrilling action sequences.  The voice talent is terrific.  A compete success.
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Ranked: The 1950s

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   A ranking of all the films released during the 1950s that have been reviewed on my blog. #19 Houseboat (1958) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2022/11/houseboat-1958.html #18 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2021/05/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-1953.html #17 House on Haunted Hill (1959) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2024/10/house-on-haunted-hill-1959.html #16 Cinderella (1950) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2021/11/cinderella-1950.html #15 Stalag 17 (1953) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2024/03/stalag-17-1953.html #14 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2022/01/20-million-miles-to-earth-1957.html #13 The King and I (1956) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-king-and-i-1956.html #12 In a Lonely Place (1950) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com/2023/06/in-lonely-place-1950.html # 11 The Wages of Fear (1953) https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot....
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