I was watching the opening of Annie Hall recently, and was immediately distracted by a comic book Woody Allen’s character Alvy Singer is seen reading in a flashback. Distracted because, whenever I see a comic in a movie or on TV, I’m immediately overcome by a desire to know what that comic is, and whether it’s real or merely a prop mocked up for the screen.

Sometimes it’s the latter, as when a kid in a 1975 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was reading an issue of The Fantastic Blob. But often the comics are real, which I know because I’ve been able to track those issues down, such as The Eternals in a 2010 episode of Law & Order, Justice Society of America in a 2012 episode of Alcatraz, or Saga of the Human Torch in a 2013 episode of Revolution.

So when a comic book guest-starred in Annie Hall, I had to know—was the comic book real, and if so which comic was it? (Of course, the other question is, why hadn’t I noticed this before? But let’s set that one aside for another time.)

Here’s the issue spread open in a screen grab.

I can’t seem to find anyone else online who attempted to figure this out. I’m hoping now that I’m asking the question, perhaps you can figure it out. (more…)

So J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg were interviewed about Super 8 in the June 17 issue of Entertainment Weekly, and when Spielberg was asked, “If you were starting out today, with a shot at directing a franchise, which one would it be?,” here’s what he had to say:

When I first started making movies, the only franchise I cared about and wanted to be a part of was James Bond. When I started out as a TV director, my pie-in-the-sky dream was to make a little movie that would get some notoriety, and then [the late Bond series producer] Cubby Broccoli would call me and ask me to direct the next James Bond picture. But I could never get Cubby Broccoli to hire me—and now, sadly, they cant afford me.

Let me get this straight. Steven Spielberg, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, won’t be able to make a childhood dream come true … because they won’t PAY him enough.

There’s something extremely—and perversely—sad about that.