As Time Goes By: Series 1

It's that wonderful time again, it's British Broadcasting Corporation time once more!

I said it was going to happen, so let it be written so let it be done. As Time Goes By is quite possibly my favorite programme from the BBC, even more than Doctor Who perhaps. There's no better feasible word to describe it than charming. The story concerns one Lionel Hardcastle and one Jean Pargiter, two people who fell in love before Lionel was sent to Korea for the war effort and didn't hear or lay eyes on one another for roughly 40 years, until they meet again and the relationship between them grows again. I already commend it tremendously because it's not a situation of they meet again and instantly fall head over heels in love, they are of course happy to see each other and reminesce often about their brief young love but it takes until the end of the series for them to go on a date. Now don't worry, the first series is only 6 episodes long each 30 minutes, so you won't have to spend the better part of a day to get to that point. The story and writing could not be handled better, to the point where I have no concievable way of trying to figure out how it turned out so good. Despite such a short beginner series you quickly grasp the personas and characteristics of our main cast, Jean, Lionel, Judy, Alistair, and Sandy. Jean is very forward and runs a secretary agency so she doesn't lolligag about but has a good sense of humor, she's intelligent, fun, and has lived quite a life to this point. Plus you have Judi Dench playing her, of course she's amazing. Lionel is grumpy, headstrong, has lots of wit but is just as forward and honest as Jean, and is very humble about his feelings for her. Geoffrey Palmer you dashing man, my king, how I miss you so. Judy is Jean's daughter and works with her mom, she has Jean's sense of humor and is a romantic at heart, just an absolutely lovely beautiful lady and Moira Brooker is so good in this role. Philip Bretherton is Lionel's publicist Alistair, he's that rare breed of smarmy, confident, highly succesful businessman who isn't an unlikable twat, though he shamelessly flirts with every woman but never does he force anything, but merely tries to woe or seduce and takes rejection in stride while not letting it affect him. It's almost Brock-esque in a way really. And last but not quite least Jenny Funnell plays Sandy, Jean's receptionist who while not getting a lot of material this series becomes a fan favorite character as the show progresses, very no nonsense, very caring, the dream coworker, and quite stunning in a dress. If you know anything about me, if you've followed this show long enough is romance is a thin ice category, I really have to feel that authentic, genuine, feeling of love between two characters and it has to impact on me. By the third or fourth episode I got full blown puppy dog eyes at one scene, Judi and Geoffrey could not have better chemistry if they tried, they bring these characters and their history effortlessly and never once do I even slightly question the relationship between them. And it's funny, it's a really funny show, I laughed quite loudly multiple times throughout the first series, it has that british wit and delivery that I adore and enjoy so much. Lionel in particular gets me often. It's a marvellous show with good production values though this was still that once upon a time when the BBC had to use actual film stock for outdoor scenes which continued until the early 2000s but it doesn't distract, the cast is picked expertly, the dialogue is funny but still real and endearing, you're going to hear a lot of praise for this show in the coming weeks no question about it. Do I give it the 10/10? I'm really going through it all and asking if there was anything I didn't like. No. I can't think of anything. My God it gets the full marks, 4 stars, 10/10, watch it anyway you can. I mean it's only 3 hours out of your day for an entire series, that is a small price to pay for a cornerstone of british television for me. Class, absolutely marvellous, so proud I own it on video. So stay tuned for the coming weeks as we continue to work our way through this series, have a wonderful evening, goodnight.

BONUS: Straight Outta Nowhere

Ridiculous title but a solid movie.

Why the hell am I not told about stuff like this? You do not f*** with me when it comes to either Scooby-Doo or Courage The Cowardly Dog, you just don't and yet this crossover that I have been waiting for 84 years to happen, has gotten here and I just now know about it. There isn't a doubt in my skull that I would have adored this when I was younger, cause you know cartoon crossovers really weren't a thing at that time. I lost it when Mystery Inc. met Johnny Bravo, I just never had the concept of such a thing, and to see all the cartoon characters that I have watched my whole life have these little bumpers where they all live in a city and interact with each other was the coolest damn thing once upon a time. So what did I honestly think of this movie? Well I will get the very few negatives out of the way. First off, the fact that John R. Dilworth had nothing to do with his creations on the Courage side is inexcusable in my eyes, he had a lot of input on that show and I feel we needed his touch of horror here. Again I'm not that gaga about the title and the fact that Eustace Bagge has a rap number in this makes me break inside. Other than that, I'm fine with everything. Despite the more modern animation style they faithfully get the look of the characters and settings of Nowhere, and throw every easter egg they could think of from the show's history which is great. It is not some cash in bullshit like Return To Zombie Island you worthless, waste of what little time I have left on this earth, piece of ****, they do it with love and appreciation. They get Marty Grabstein and Thea White back to do their characters, and to know this was Thea White's last film coming back to voice such a beloved character that is the scottish angel Muriel is both so lovely and yet so heartbreaking. I'll miss her everyday and I think she has just as much magic and love in this movie as she did 30 odd years ago. Now on the Scoobert side of things, we still have our main cast who all do great work and my appreciation for Kate Micucci grows daily, it's so interesting to see them be in another show and it works just as well. I think anybody can watch it and follow it but it was made for the fans of both shows. It's a bottle movie, you crack it open, you enjoy it, you pop the lid back on and are happy you had it. It's nothing grand or special, but it has some good humor with even callbacks to Abbot and Costello and Mel Brooks, it's a decent story, you can tell they had some fun making this, and I think you'll enjoy it. I personally give it 3 stars, 7.5/10, and it made me want to dig my Courage DVD's out and watch the whole show. And that sprung an idea, an impossible idea, an idea that would take so much time and the hills would run red with the blood of movies and other shows. Sacrifices abound to achieve an impossible dream. I don't know if I can do it, cause I would review as many Cartoon Network shows, in full, one a month every month. Like wow, I'd love to do it but geez. We'll see. In the meantime get ready for a whole series, spread out starting tomorrow and ending well into December. I think we might be done with Christmas from henceforth.

In Retrospect: The Suicide Squad

King Shark is the king of my heart.

Yeah it was fun watching this again in all it's bloodsoaked, gruesome, humorous glory. And I feel I got more out of it the second go around, now that I know all the big stuff I can see the little details. I mean I praise the cast day and night, but dang Margot Robbie has a great little monologue that honestly says more about Harley than anything we've seen in live action. Daniela Melchior has stolen my heart and probably the internet's too, forever being my precious ray of sunshine in this film, she's absolute class 10/10! I do feel ashamed I wasn't party to Idris Elba's acting much before this because my man, my man, I love you my man. But dude James Gunn you are a bastard, you killed Savant who really struck me as a great character and one who I was quickly rooting for and Michael Rooker plays it perfectly. You did have the balls to drop Captain Boomerang and Rick Flagg, and you have my respect for shaking things up. But....how f***ing dare you kill Polka Dot Man. I am never getting over this, the shittin' Weasel lives but my guy dies? Because the second I heard we were getting Polka Dot Man I was ecstatic, and proves once more why David Dastmalchian keeps getting work at DC, because he rocks! And I knew, I frick fraking knew he wasn't gonna make it too, when I saw in the trailer of him triumphantly shouting with joy "I'm a superhero!" I was like well he's about to get shot in the head right after saying that. Asshole. I'm not actually mad at James for doing that, if anything I highly applaud the team here for getting me to care so much about these characters to begin with. I cared enough for the first Squad with Deadshot and all them, and appreciate both films for taking the time out to have emotional moments with these characters period. I dig the style and tone the movie has going for it, almost edging towards Tarantino tribute to 70s cinema but with it's own unique flair to it. I'd still say it's a great movie and clearly has the rewatchability factor to own. So the verdict still stands, 4 stars, 8.5/10. It's never a bad day when you watch a DC movie....except for The Killing Joke. Worthless bitch. And on that joyous remark it is time to end, and pray for me. I beg of you.

In Retrospect: Cruella

Oh honey, you knew I couldn't stay away for long.

What the hell was I thinking giving this an 8.5/10? F*** off, it's better than that! God I took too long to see this again. So big spoiler alert incoming, I still love this movie and I appreciate it even more now. Emma Stone, heaven help me I will crush on you forever in this movie, I cherish you, you are unbelievably good, and because of that performance people will choose sides on who's best. I was too busy revelling just like her in this performance but on a somewhat deeper analysis the second go around she gets a lot of emotion and such creativity and drama too in her performance. I genuinely got some goosebumps when she has the big confession scene and she says, "I am not like her. I am better." and the movie still gets a rise out of me (you filthy bastards shut it) where even though I know what's going to happen I'm still like, oh-ho you go girl punch the f*** out of her! I still get so invested in the story, and a tremendous deal of that goes to Emma Thompson. I mean my God, it's been a minute since I've seen a movie villain so heavily narcissistic and so easily hateable but in the most enjoyable way, just how flippant and yet so mean she is just wows me everytime. Now we got to talk about the stuffs I couldn't talk about before, because of the twists. I wasn't hating the fact Cruella was the Baroness' daughter, bit soap opera but I can roll with it. I really and truly have no issue at all what they do with classic Disney characters as long as they are interesting, fun, and memorable characters despite their own unique spins. My God people get so up in arms over the silliest things. Oh she can't like dogs, oh they softened her up for the kids, blah blah shut the hell up blah, I have no patience for closed mindedness. Yeah, it's pretty screwed up to want to skin dogs for a coat but I didn't hear people get so up in arms over Glenn who people adore in this role and I know it's a younger Cruella and the Cruella we have always seen is a bitter, old, terrible woman so she has time to grow into that. So it's different. Different and good! Huzzah, rejoice for it is not a shot for shot remake of 101 Dalmatians. Innovation, it's grrreat! This tangent will never die but it will be placed back in the box...for now. Okay so the Reichenbach Fall, I loved the idea, totally thought she was gonna either push the Baroness off or pull her off arm in arm, I mean we already had one murder onscreen, onward to two warp factor 1! My only issue is we see how she survived the fall, I didn't like it in the theater and I sorta don't like it now, I would have kept it a mystery because it can be symbolic that Disney villains never die because they are so amazing or something. But I mean those are two brief small problems I have with a movie I love unconditionally. It's great, it's fun, it has it's own style and identity, the story is entertaining and not too out there, the performances are top notch, the design of...everything is class, the music is so much of what I love. We are bumping this baby up and I...may put it at number 1 for the top 10 list. Just saying. I'm not backing down, it's a contender. 4 stars, 9.5/10, I could feel the collective disgust and hate of Disney purists out there and it just gave me a little bit of a thrill, mm that felt nice. Kind of a good buzz going here so let's keep it going with one more before the month of nightmares begins.

Planes, Trains, And Automobiles

Strangely, I've now seen two movies in one week with both John Candy and Kevin Bacon in the cast.

Okay I've finally seen it. Yeah it was pretty great! I knew very bare bones basics of the story, heck I didn't even know who directed it until about halfway through and I had a great time with it. The story follows businessman Neal who is desperately trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving as everything goes wrong and he is paired with a obnoxious travel partner Del as they go from New York, to Wichita, to St. Louis, to Chicago. It would be foolish to say this isn't an adventure movie, I'd even call it an odyssey, but it's a comedy first and it did that job very well. Good comedy is based on misery, and seeing so much bad stuff happen to the pessimistic and angry Steve Martin while most everything goes right for the super kind and sweet John Candy does work. Steve Martin is one of the very few people who can act like the biggest jerk and yet you are still on his side, you don't hate him. That's talent, it could so easily go off the deep end and have him be this unholy bastard of a man who nothing good should ever happen to, but you understand his situation and frustration. John Candy, shock of all shocks, is wonderful and lovely and amazing. I'm severely tempted to just do a whole week of John Candy movies, and again he shows real talent in this movie because he can get on your nerves at times, and yet still makes it really funny. If you met a person like this in real life you would strangle the life out of them, but because it's John Candy he can get away with it. The style of the writing and direction was ringing a few bells in my head and I wondered if John Hughes had any hand in this at all and sure enough he wrote and directed it, no wonder I liked it so much. It's somewhat hard to talk about the movie without going through every scene and every series of unfortunate events, but I will talk about one. When Steve Martin gets on the L train, he's made it to Chicago, and he's thinking about home. That got a tear out of me, it was just one but one is all you need. It's a very simple thing to describe and yet impossible to describe, he's thinking about walking through the door, seeing his wife and his kids, the food, the atmosphere of the dining table, and thinking about his unlikely friend. It's a very brief scene, incredibly minimalistic in how it's shot, but my God you get so much emotion out of that. You've probably had days where it seems nothing is going right, you've had a lot of stress and problems either preparing for the holidays or travelling to see family for the holidays, and to see him on his way after so much trouble has occured it struck me man. It struck me like an arrow through the heart. I think about home now more than I ever have, I like to be there when I can, there's no better place to be. It's a really good film, not my favorite of John's but another strong film in his career. 4 stars, 8.5/10, be back tomorrow to see an old flame.

Encanto

Well this ain't making the top 10 list.

I know. I'm a jaded, hateful, bastard of a man. I have no qualms admitting this, but while I wasn't expecting great things from Encanto it didn't do much for me. Yes the animation, colors, and character designs are outstanding. I mean this is a gorgeous film, and a visual feast to the eyes, but that story man was what brought it down so low. Stop me if you've heard this one, a young girl who is born into a family of highly gifted members has no special power of her own and yet is called to save not only her family but her home from disaster. Sounds pretty damn predictable right? Well that's what I got out of the trailers and it ain't much different in the film. It really didn't pull me that much in besides the visuals, and I don't want to be that guy, you know the guy. Who is not impressed with anything, pokes holes in a mostly harmless children's film, and gives it so much harsh criticism you could swear they have a vendetta against it. So let's talk a few more positives. I dig our lead character Mirabel, she has such a nice design, very sweet and understandable, her mannerisms and voice are endearing so I'm there with her from start to finish. Her sister Luisa has a understandable dilemma and I am a fan of a gentle giantess, I knew she was gonna be one of my favorites from the trailer. I like the magic elements in it, albeit they are very circumstantial and really need to be fleshed out more. Wasn't I talking about the things I liked? Well it's one of those, every good thing I have to say has a note to it saying 'could have been done better'. I'm not the biggest fan of the family and their dynamic throughout the movie, every one treats Mirabel like garbage because she's not special or has a power which had no trouble infuriating me as an individual often looked down upon in my life, so I was like screw this babe, love yourself, let them crash and burn because you are better. The grandmother struck me way more as the true villain I mean she flat out had cult leader vibes who was power mongering for more gifted grandchildren, and even when she has this big boo-hoo apology nonsense I held no sympathy for the devil and didn't care. Almost every character has an arc that occurs in the average at best music numbers, they go from basic trope to changed individual in roughly 3 minutes. Because why have actual character development and interesting dynamics as the story goes along? There's really no stakes that had me invested and this just occured to me, but...are Disney villains just dead? I haven't seen a new Disney movie with a villain in a long, long time. They fake out here with a disappeared family member, but he's really not so bad you guys, so I couldn't care about their predicament. And yeah the music numbers are like more exposition than they usually are in these movies, with often plot elements and character's point of views expressed but I had a rough time trying to keep up with the lyrics, these suckers' tempo would put thrash metal to shame at times. When a song has the same speed and fast vocals as Yakko's World, seek help. Heck I was really there for the central and southern american culture, with the architecture, clothing, and bits of language peppered throughout. It's cool to see that, least of all in a major animated family film. It's nice to see Disney films shift from mostly if not entirely european settings in their early years and expand into different countries and lots of cultures like in the 90s, now they're going for even more. Hell yeah, educate me by showing bits and bobs of different countries! So I'm really not trying to rip this film to shreds because it did have something to it. But sweetheart it needed more, I respect the message, I appreciate the different setting and folks we see, but it was just okay to me. 2.5 stars, 7/10. And knowing me I'm writing another review tonight before pie day and I gain an additional 30 pounds in record breaking time and slumber amongst the ancients. See you soon everybody.

JFK

It's been nearly 60 years man, and we're still raising hell about it.

Now I will say I am not a historian, and I ain't too keen on politics, I'm just a film critic. But I will say it is quite hard to discuss this film because it handles such a weighty subject, sure I can talk about it's merits, the direction, the cast, all that good stuff and it is a pretty solid film but boy howdy is it a minefield to traverse without getting swept away in the events of that day in 1963. So very briefly, I will state I quite liked Kennedy, I agreed with a good deal of his progressive policies that did in fact one day come true, I think the 1960s were quite possibly the worst political times in american history, with his brother Robert and Dr. King also getting shot, I would not want no part of this country during that time. And the film does such a commendable job showing that every President, could be anybody, has their detractors and haters when they were in office. It really goes to show how far someone will try to obtain the truth as we follow Jim Garrison, a district attorney in New Orleans who pushes and pushes to obtain evidence of the Kennedy assassination despite obstacles of the government and home. I personally have a fair distaste of conspiracies, but the movie does get you thinking and often too about the situation, the evidence, and the events that occured around that ill fated day in Dallas, and I am not devolving through that rabbit hole but I'm sure conspiracy theory fans love this movie and can get even more out of it than I did. The cast is excellent, I mean it throws a good share of big names here but it's the performances that strike true. Even if this was a Kevin Costner vehicle I won't hold much grievance over that because he does deliver such an incredible performance, I never thought of him as that great of an actor though I do like him, but he sure did rise just from this. Yeah he dips his toes into that Atticus Finch pool at the end but I'll be damned if I said it didn't work, it does go on par with To Kill A Mockingbird with that final court scene, and the giant monologue he gives is you know, entirely true, just as powerful, just as relevant, just as important maybe now than ever, I mean I applaud the script writer for just keeping all the strands connected let alone that phenomenal speech at the end. Never to disregard the rest of the cast, I mean holy hell they put their effort into this and made it good, from the big players like Tommy Lee Jones down to brief bits from John Candy (Man that guy was better than we deserved.) so nothing but top notch marks across the board. For my second Oliver Stone movie, I certainly can see his style in direction, editing, and cinematography quite clearly, it all works but you can quickly tell who made this. It's a loooong movie, I totally thought it was a 2 hour standard fare but it goes past 3 hours, and while the pacing is kept expertly I really was not expecting such an extensive movie. But every scene exists for a reason, it's predominantly dialogue heavy yet still keeps your interest, and like I said I am not terribly interested in politics but it still had my attention. I'm not here to fact check everything, I'm here to tell you if it's worth seeing. Yeah. I give it 3.5 stars, 8/10. Hell even if you aren't there for the whole 3 hours watch that final speech, it's up there for me like The Great Dictator's speech. That's good stuff man. We got a new movie incoming tommorrow so see you at the movies.

What We Do In The Shadows: Season 3

Bit late to this party but still worth talking about.

It's only been over a year since we last looked at this show. Good to know some trends never die. Kinda went in a lot of directions I didn't expect but still delievered the same top quality, I'd even go so far as to say because of the unexpected turns this season delivers I enjoyed it way more than I would have. So after the massacre of the vampire council by Guillermo, our group of vampires actually ascend the political ladder and become the new replacements for the council, as Laszlo and Colin Robinson hang out more, Nandor pursues love, and Nadja gets swept up in the power of the council, leading to a pretty up in the air situation for the next season. It still has somewhat similar stories but at the same time are so very different and are built upon from previous seasons, you have your human scenarios with our vamps rolling along with it, you get your seperate cullen of vampires branching out the world of this show, we get some more spotlight on Guillermo and strangely also Colin Robinson who may actually have the biggest arc of this season. Like seriously he has always been a background character with an occasional brief episode segment, but he is right up front on the stage here and to me is funnier than ever. Even though every character I would say gets equal amounts of attention and screentime, Colin Robinson damn near owns this season. Granted Guillermo is still my favorite by far, and he gets some great material here delving more into the relationship between him and Nandor, I loved all that just to show how bizzare and interesting their dynamic is. I noticed a hell of a lot more sets this time around, it seems each season has a bigger budget than the last and while some of the CGI is a bit ropey I can forgive the cable TV show here, but each is designed expertly and the fact they use practical effects period gets brownie points from me. It's another solid season that may take a bit of time to get going but I'm just very happy to see it again. 4 stars, 8.5/10, I still hold season 2 higher but there is always next time to really knock it out of the park and I commend the crew, actors and all, for doing such fine work. This week is gonna be busy as hell, television, movies, in retrospects, new movies, you'll get a dose of everything in the days to come.

Ghostbusters Afterlife

Well at least we ended on a good note.

As an individual who was interested but not highly anticipating or very excited about seeing this movie, I would love to compare notes with someone who was. Not at all that I hated the movie, but it did do some stuff I didn't want and felt could have been done a notch better. It's a decent fun little movie that could birth some cool stuff in the future. IDW, get on this. You could make some great new stories based off this movie and give some excellent character bits to the new cast. I literally didn't know until about a month before this movie came out it focuses on Egon's granddaughter and once I heard that my interest was hooked. I really really digged her story man, in fact the whole scenario of the movie with them inheriting Egon's house and slowly piecing together exactly what he was doing there as she becomes a young ghostbuster is cool stuff. Plus McKenna Grace is awesome in this, I would guard her with my eternal soul, she works so well with this script and this character, 10/10! Her and Logan Kim have outstanding chemistry and their friendship in the movie is damn good stuff. Poor Finn Wolfhard, I feel this kid just gets drafted into any old f***ing script with teens and supernatural occurences because of Stranger Things and I'm just like, does he even like it anymore? Cause I really was checking out on his B-story, not because of the actors but the script itself. It digs it's heels into contrivances that simply do not need to be there throughout the picture and actually stops it from being a great movie. A good chunk of the story beats work, but others simply fall flat. At least Paul Rudd was good, thank the babay jeezuz his acting has improved since Halloween 6. I think I'm grasping what people thought of when The Force Awakens came out talking about all the easter eggs and similar plot elements, it does go there from time to time. Completely unnecessarily, they could have crafted a new villain, they could have gone without a lot of the fan service, hell it kinda works as an introduction to Ghostbusters. If younger kids who never saw the original films saw this movie, it could make them into fans who love the original, seriously the movie works that well crafting it's own world and could be a stepping stone. I like that a great deal. It's fun, it's simple, a good movie but stick to the Ghostbusters video game for that official third entry. 3 stars, 7.5/10. I have no idea what to do next week, cause after that we got another series for you to wrap up the year. So I'll figure something out, have a fun time at the movies in the meantime.

Ghostbusters (2016)

Motherf***er. I had no choice. Work screwed me over and I didn't want to leave you hanging until Friday. I hope you appreciate what I do for you.

Goddamn it. Alright, 2016 Ghostbusters, the review I never wanted to do. You know what the worst part is? This movie had just a few interesting things that I liked but you know how I sometimes run into movies and I can only say they are just adequate. A big ball of middle of the road. This is the antithesis of that. This is such a vacuous movie, quite possibly the most vacuous, unnecessary, biggest pile of nothing I have ever seen in my life. I don't even know how to properly talk about it, it's like the roughest sketch of the 1984 script but done by a very very poor script writer and director. No wait, I got it. It's like if a person who has never actually seen Ghostbusters but their friends are really into it, and they knew the most bare bones basics of the franchise, sat down and wrote out a story to share with those friends of theirs hoping to be accepted as part of the club. It has some semblance of recognizability but it has zero of the heart or humor of those movies. I barely have anything to say at this point. So let's talk about the brief good things I liked. I dig the new look of the Ecto-1, it's different but still nice looking. I like the progression of the proton packs, how it goes from this big blocky gun that literally needs a rolling desk full of equipment to work, to the slightly more refined backpacks, to innovative and neat gadgets like the pistols and the power glove. Leslie Jones is the best part of the movie period and made me laugh the most (and there was only 5 instances where I did laugh), she still has to work with this amateur script but can do a fair bit with it. I hold no hate to any of the main cast, I just know they should have been reigned in and given better material. Even my babe, Kate McKinnon couldn't save it, in fact the second I saw her in the trailer I thought she was going to effortlessly be my favorite character. But she wasn't really, her offbeat mannerisms and humor seemed more a product of desperately trying to stay afloat in the scene than genuine good acting. There's just so much holding me back from liking it, it's not a horrible story, it needed several friggin' drafts and re-edits but it could have been decent. For every neat little thing I liked there was 20 steps backwards. A phenomenal aura of uncomfortable silence permeated the room, almost staring into the void yet somehow much worse. If you gaze long enough into the abyss you can at least get existential and ask some monumental questions. There is no such escape in this movie. It stuns me shitless how little I can honestly say about it. It gave me so little to work with, I can't even just go on a verbal tidalwave of obscenity and abject rage because there is nothing there. It's like this zen like state where all of reality melts away into nothing and you remain with nothing to say. If our main stars had a terrific experience making this movie and have fun memories to hold onto for the rest of their lives, that's wonderful and I will never give them hell about it. But it's an unnecessary, pointless, empty shell that I will forever regret spending $3 to watch. 1 star, 1.5/10, I'm sorry I had to do this but I was going to take a bullet in some way or another, work or reviews. I can weather this. So thank you for putting up with this brief and unwanted detour, I really hope you'll join me tomorrow, goodnight.

Ghostbusters 2

No! No! You do not hate a good Ghostbusters movie!

I have rarely heard good praise for Ghostbusters 2, yet at the exact same time I can't name you a reason from people who don't like it either. Almost as if it's actually a good movie. That is something I could rant about for a good few hours so I'll just wrap up by saying suck on coxen. So we pick up 5 years later after the first movie with the ghostbusters essentially out of business after being sued into the ground and it takes about 30 minutes for them to start up the business again as the city is being overrun by slime and another powerful ancient figure has plans of ressurection. It does plenty enough different stuff without changing the format to an unrecognizable state, all the main cast returns, new villain, new setup, it actually progresses the characters and their stories, I'm just fumbling for any reason whatsoever as to why someone wouldn't like this. Like I said it takes about a quarter of the movie for them to be busting again, yet it's never boring or even uninteresting because you catch up with everybody and the writing is still just as on point. Hell I laughed much harder watching this one than the first, and once again the character dynamics while changing a bit with the new situations still is excellent with the cast bringing their A-game to it all. I got way more of the 80s aesthetic with this movie than the first in terms of the awesome music score, the set design, even the actual technicals of the film stock which honestly made me enjoy it way more. Ghostbusters is an 80s staple, it should feel that distinctive kind of retro, and I can only imagine what it was like with the anticipation of seeing the sequel, esepcially if you were a kid. Cause the first Ghostbusters movie was pretty grounded as a movie for adults not so much in content but the way it was presented but the kids loved them, and in that interval between movies you got the toys, The Real Ghostbusters premiered in 1986 and lasted until 1991, they really shifted gears and marketed towards kids yet this movie isn't dumbed down or kiddie. Shit you get some hardcore scary stuff at times and a wee bit of adult stuff, and I would be off my rocker if I didn't just say Annie Potts....ooh. My lord. Louis you smooth hound, I love that guy and I ship that relationship. But anyway, I don't see this as inferior in any sense, you can have just as much fun with this as the first one. I mean sure it hits some familiar beats with the first but there's too much new stuff to just ignore. I think the effects have naturally improved and they use all the tricks of the trade to the max, and do a better job with the same effects from the first movie. Okay, I just...I'm never getting over this, I just can't! It doesn't have to be this way!! What am I missing here?? Oh f*** off! It's a good movie, get off your goddamn high horse before I drop kick you off it Godzilla style. 4 stars, 8.5/10! No friggin' clue what to expect from Afterlife but I'm going in highly interested and happy to see another Ghostbusters movie after 32 years. I mean sure we got the video game and Extreme Ghostbusters, but it's high time we finally get a third Ghostbusters movie to see in theaters. I'll see you tomorrow.

Ghostbusters

So it took what, 863 reviews to get to Ghostbusters? How...I reviewed The Legend Of Boggy Creek and 50 Shades Of go f*** yourself before I got to Ghostbusters. What is this show??

How the shit do I even talk about Ghostbusters? Everybody loves it, go see it. End of story. Do I talk about the film and it's own merits or discuss the crazy legacy this movie has garnered over almost 40 years? I don't know. I don't know. I obviously love it and have probably only gained more appreciation and respect for it as time has gone on. I didn't even see Ghostbusters until I was in my teens, I got both movies on DVD for my birthday and I remember liking it just fine. And believe it or not a good dose of my reviewers, the people who inspired me to do what I do are pretty heavy into the busting of the ghosts, Cinemassacre, Angry Joe, VoteSaxon07, and it was through their videos that I got a glimpse of just how beloved this movie is. For a simple and kinda honestly B-movie plot of college teachers turn independent spirit eliminators, I can pin down why it is so succesful in two strokes, the writing and the character dynamics. I genuinely, even with seeing Animal House and Caddyshack, can firmly say this was Harold Ramis' best script because he worked in such tight tandem with the director Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, so you get a good story with intrigue, funny dialogue, easily understandable but great characters, and nothing feels wasted or unnecessary. I'll give you a friggin' buck right now if you can guess my favorite character, and it's not who you think it is considering my history with this show. This is easily one of the most quotable movies ever, like to me it is right up there with Star Wars, The Big Lebowski, and American Movie there is so much memorable dialogue that I could rattle off for considerable time. So story is great, cast is excellent across the board, the effects while not super flashy still hold up quite well, the comedy is impeccable, you're not hearing anything new here, you know what this movie is. So what can I offer in terms of original thoughts and perspectives? I truthfully think the best scene in the movie in terms of understated weight and effect is when Ray and Winston discuss the bible and judgement day, like that is some highly effective moody, under your skin, goosebumps raising stuff that is there but not in your face which is why it works so well. It has that gravitas, the only thing I can properly compare it to is when John Rhys-Davies talls about the Ark Of The Covenant in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, it's done that well. Second, f*** you assholes that gave William Atherton shit for playing Walter Peck, yeah he's great at playing one pompous cock but I couldn't say mean things to him just because of a role he played and expertly so. Buncha jackasses. Will however note I am not that big a fan of Ray Parker Jr.'s hit single, now the music in this movie is class but in terms of a lyrical song Savin' The Day gets me all kinds of pumped up, and jammin', and I love it to death. And Casey Kasem is in it, 10/10! I'll give it for real for real, 4 stars, 8.5/10, and it's sequel time tomorrow and I got some things to say so catch you next time.

Memento Mori

It's been 84 years, or at least feels like it.

These are powerful memories to the initiated, but for the uninitiated time for backstory. On this day of our lord, November 14th 2019 a channel was created hosted by super popular YouTube stars Mark and Ethan where for an entire year a video would be released, with the catch that once a full 365 days have passed the channel would be deleted and the videos would no longer exist. It was an unparalleled experiment that had nothing short of a cult following, and I couldn't possibly give a one year in memoriam eulogy to this wild and amazing thing because well, Mark and Ethan already did and spoke for all of us. So instead I do what I do best, recount my personal experiences to show that I was there, and I was watching. Set the wayback machine to 2019 a much simpler time when I first heard about the channel and having precisely no idea what it was, I subscribed. Now I won't lie to you and say, oh yeah man I was there from day one, every single day I watched the newest video, blah blah blah. No. I forgot about Unus Annus for at least a month or two, so I had a backlog of considerable amount when I got fully into it. Then....f***. We are still reeling from the events of 2020, and Unus Annus was such a strong thing that kept me going and as it got more turbulent, eventually I had to seek refuge with other family. By that point it was September of 2020, and my cousin was an enormous fan of Mark and Ethan and he watched Unus Annus but he was fully caught up, and I was playing catch up so we spent night after night watching this show I guess you could call it. There were three staples of entertainment in that household, wrestling, anime, Unus Annus. And you better believe we were the biggest dorks, quoting it constantly, out of nowhere dueting the Disclaimer Song, making morbid jokes followed by "Memento Mori. Unus Annus....", it was our shit man. We loved it. And I'll tell you right now, I barely caught up to everything before the final day. Binge watching to stay up to date, and it really can never be properly explained what the videos were. The only thing I can offer is a perspective, it was all about trying new things they never did before, often very stupid things, but they did some fascinating and cool stuff too, almost like a bucket list recorded for this brief blip in human existence. In a strange way, despite it having undertones of death, and loss of time, and (comical) murder, it really was a celebration of life in so many facets. Whether you're in your room laughing at stupid shit on your computer with your friend, enjoying the great outdoors and several sports, or just doing random stuff, my God it really summed life all up for me. Just the spirit of it was, go out and enjoy life, you only have so much time and you never knew when you're gonna die, treat your life for what it's worth and live for every breath, I know it's easy to get bogged down with normal everyday things but to live is to die so enjoy it. In fact, Unus Annus played a huge part in accepting, me as an individual, my death one day. Not that I dreaded it, but it made me appreciate life and not be afraid to go when the time comes. I mean really, if you had a countdown, you had a clock that could never stop, ticking away the seconds of your life until it hit zero, would you sit and mope and fear or would you actually do something with that time. Everything ends and it's always sad, but everything begins again and it's always happy. Be happy, laugh hard, run fast, be kind. And when that final day came, he wasn't ready to let go but I was happy that I was there. I was there at the beginning and now I got to see how it ends. The clock kept ticking, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute, and when it was about to hit zero I had exactly one thing to say, "See you on the other side.". And then it was gone, and all we have left are the memories. There's a great many things I miss in my life, some I'll never properly have the words to express, but this is a day of fond remembrance. And after it was over, they had a store full of different items for Unus Annus and in the final hour of it existing I bought an hourglass pin for my black coat. And you better believe I'll be buried with that. The clock still ticks for me, and there's always more to talk about with movies and shows. So I'll see you soon, come what may. Always loved, never forgotten. Memento Mori.

Rope

This was the film I was most excited to see this week.

The minute I heard of this concept, two upper class men murder their friend and place his body in a box and hold a party where all the guests surround this unbeknownst to them makeshift coffin, I couldn't wait to see it. And not only that but the movie is shot as one continuous take, with 5 cuts (yes I counted) much like Birdman which only fascinated me more to see it. And to think this isn't considered one of Hitchcock's masterpieces, or even one of his major films. That is reaching incomprable levels of bullshit. This is easily top 5 quality for his movies in my ranking. Really the only landmark I hear for this film is this is the first movie that Hitchcock made with Jimmy Stewart, which is nice to see how this relationship started, but are you kidding me that's it? The technicals for this movie alone could be a review in and of itself, the camera movements, the backdrops, the technicolor print, just what the hell were people sleeping on this for? Everyone quotes the classic example of suspense with Hitchcock as the bomb under the table. That changes today. The example henceforth is the maid clearing the stuff off the top of the box, bit by bit, with long walks inbetween, ready to put some books inside the box, that is the purest example of suspense I have ever seen. And while Jimmy does a real good job, more subdued until the end where he gives a great monologue, the shining star here is John Dall as one of the killers Brandon. He is devilishly wicked in this role, always so cool and loving every moment, he has such charm and affability that you could almost forgive him being a killer. The script is also really good, it's not full of that morbid comedy you might suspect, but the discussion considering the right of murder by superior individuals while incredibly easy to make fun of because well...all the characters are upper class white people, is still good writing. I dare say this is the high point of the week, I greatly enjoyed it more than Shadow Of A Doubt so I give it 4 stars, 9/10, might be a bit high but I feel it's that good. Check it out and get this movie more attention!

The Man Who Knew Too Much

A decent movie in the filmography that I think many would agree on.

Not to say in the slightest this movie isn't good, it handles the world of espionage well but there's no doubt Hitchcock went on to improve certain elements greatly in later films. It handles it's story well with a family who are visiting Morocco and already some suspicious characters are introduced, and pretty soon Jimmy Stewart is witness to a murder and is told with dying breaths of a plotted assassination, and if that wasn't bad enough his son is kidnapped leading him to travel to London to save his son and try to thwart another death. I feel the first half is the better part, because you get a lot of intrigue as to who these odd characters are and you are not fully aware of the plot, so it really gets you thinking whereas when it shifts gears to get their kid back it becomes more standard fare. But the performances from Jimmy and Doris Day are really good, they have a good relationship and effortlessly potray these realistic parents. You'd get steeped into some stuff for the sake of your kid, so the movie handles that incredibly well in that respect. It's not a horrible story, the location shoots are really cool, the cast is mighty good, I like the tense atmosphere as Jimmy tries to tiptoe through this world of spies, but you can easily tell the movie has aspects that can be improved. I'm now very interested to see the 1934 version also directed by Hitchcock to compare notes, and to see if the remake is actually better. Well as a devout cinema snob it is clearly obvious remakes are always inferior to the original. 2.5 stars, 7/10, here's hoping for better tomorrow.

Shadow Of A Doubt

We can get at least one week of classic movies in.

I hadn't heard of Shadow Of A Doubt until not that long ago, I believe it came to my attention through previously reviewed documentary Nightmares In Red, White, And Blue so I knew bare basics of plot but what an interesting thing it must have been to walk into this movie blind with maybe a film trailer back then. The plot follows a young woman named Charlie who is a bit fed up with her mundane life in an idyllic small town before her uncle also named Charlie comes to visit, and right off the bat you know something is up. Her uncle is being followed by two men, he acts suspicious for brief moments of time, but for a good chunk of the movie you don't actually know what the deal is and the twist reveal is handled incredibly well. Then the plot only thickens from there. It's pretty damn good, and a good deal of it can be laid solely on the shoulders of our leads, Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright, I of course recognize Joseph as the best friend of Orson Welles in Citizen Kane and he does a real effective job playing an antagonist, and Teresa has a lot of optimistic love that wanes as the film goes on. The film has great camera work with the most excellent use of dutch angles I have seen in a long, long time and good lord did this movie remind me why I love black and white pictures so much. It looks so good, give me those shadows, give me those oblique angles, give me those dramatic shots, I absolutely loved it. I will however note two things that were just...what? Okay, I know this was totally not the intention of the film, less than zero percent even, but wow the relationship between Charlie and her uncle is pushing so friggin' close to romance it's not even funny. Like you can just see it in her eyes she is head over heels for this man and I'm sitting there just praying it doesn't take that next step. The other thing was, and this I actually believe was intentional, is that uncle Charlie got in a rough accident as a kid and fractured his skull and after he recovered he started getting into trouble while he was a quiet child before the incident. Because that's how criminals are made! But in all seriousness this is a great film, I really got super into it and had no idea what was going to happen next, and as the film that Hitchcock said was his favorite of all that he made, I can see why. It's for sure a movie deserving to be at least viewed once, even if only because of Joseph's great performance. 4 stars, 8/10, and the party keeps on going with this director so see you tomorrow.

The Bad Batch

Where the hell was this crew the while time??

Seriously I went from Jesus H. Christ I can't stand these people to, wow this isn't complete bollocks I quite like them! Oh thank the maker the bad batch was not grating on my nerves. So how was the semi-continuation of The Clone Wars? Pretty good I'd say, it perfectly hits that itch for a new Star Wars show, and while it severely has it's fan moments the story is pretty grounded and doesn't get very big or bombastic until pretty much the end. Now I will fully go on the record and say the premiere episode is easily the best, expertly setting the stage for events as we see order 66 once again and the clones are trying to find their way in the newly formed Empire, but since our group of unorthodox clones are titled degenerate they are found to be superfluous and try to lay low while just attempting to figure out what to do next. I mean this premise alone of seeing the beginning of the Galactic Empire through the eyes of a clone trooper is great stuff. Granted the show very much follows it's formula to a T until the end, a lot of rescue missions, a lot of ultra brief defeats, but it doesn't become boring because of what you get in those missions. You see a lot of familiar faces throughout (for both awesome and I f***ing hate you effects), you get some bonding between the squad and a young girl clone who wants to travel with them. And let's talk about Omega, when I first saw this character I was worried. I knew damn well Dave was working on this but I knew there was a fine line to walk between interesting character and face peelingly awful trope of the lovable rapscallion who always gets in trouble, but with great joy I report that is not the case. I very much like Omega, she is inquisitive, thoughtful, and never comes across as whiny or a tacky sidekick. Excellent work here in that character, and the rest of the main cast is very well done. The animation style I feel is not quite as top notch as the final season of Clone Wars but let that not fool you, some of these shots are like art come to life it is so well done and the detail is still just as great. I like how the plot goes about, it has it's recurring plot points but to go from the first episode to the last gels nicely, but strangely the finale didn't give me a lot of punching power. Now I'm not at 100% while writing this physically so I blame that more than anything, but while big important stuff happened in the finale it certainly relies on continuation. Like all this stuff happened but there's more to be told, more to experience, higher stakes, all that to occur as well. I think it's a solid show, there is more of clone force 99's story to tell in the what some would call dark times but I call the best times, and I did enjoy it. I give it 3.5 stars, 8/10, in the echelon of current Star Wars series it's mid tier and I feel it's more there to tide you over for the next season of Mando or the Kenobi series. Visions was definitely the high water mark of this week, and I'm just happy to talk Star Wars some more. It never gets old for me, and I held off on these shows for the right time and it paid off. Next week we'll shift gears to more classic and recognized cinema from the master of suspense himself.

Visions

There was literally so many people to credit I couldn't fit them all.

But beside that unfortunate complication, how was Visions? Fffffff-I thought it was perfect. I thought it was absolutely perfect. I can't say a bad thing about it. The stories while very brief are great and each one begs for a continuation, or maybe that's just me shrieking to the heavens for a second season. The animation is ungodly beautiful and spectacularly crafted, each one having such a unique and identifiable flair to it, you got your chibi style light and cute animation, you got your 1940s Astro Boy style animation, you got that middle ground between the 80s and 90s style with more rougher designs with deep shading, it all looks spectacular. The idea of meshing unashamed japanese culture and iconography, with Star Wars visuals and technology honestly sounds like something they should have done ages ago. In fact this whole show severely reminded me why I love anime, Star Wars, animation, everything it showcases to the max. And if I was being more truthful than I have ever been...if this show existed when I was like 7 or 8 years old, there isn't a way to ever fully express how much I would love it. It would easily be my favorite Star Wars thing for the rest of time. Which is odd because the first episode was honestly the best in my opinion, quite literally the perfect opening with total Kurosawa masturbatory overload here but goddamn is it wonderful! Yet each story has something to it, every one of them has very likable and easily understandable protagonists, the stories often focus on family and relationships which is what Star Wars is oft to do, you can have a grand time with this show on a plot basis but there is so so much more to enjoy. When I first heard of an animated anthology Star Wars show I was pretty much on board all the way, and when I saw every episode was being produced by a different japanese animation studio I was even more excited. It didn't disappoint, and I'll add another coin to the f*** off Star Wars haters jar yet again. Oh yeah, it sure is dead. Nothing good could ever come out of Disney owning it. You f***ers. You motherf***ers, I will rain HELLFIRE UPON Y-

But yeah, 10/10. Go watch it.

Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales

Halloween may be over but nobody's ever really gone.

After the cute fun time I had with the holiday special, I figured it would be nice to see the next one dip it's toes into more scary territory. I liked it a good deal, and I thought the story was handled really well with Poe crashing on Mustafar and finding Vader's castle, and after reading the cool Tales From Vader's Castle comic I expected more of the same here, and I got it with Vaneer who somehow is still alive after so many years, imparting tales steeped in the morals of the dark side while searching for Sith treasures. I really dig how they took so many little nods to the horror genre in this, a lot of it being classic stuff with The Old Dark House plot of travellers being somewhere they shouldn't, the anthology nature of the stories The Twilight Zone style, treasure hunting cursed relics, a hilarious spoof of The Shining, they had a lot of fun with this and while it wouldn't slightly intimidate younger audiences the comedy is still spot on. And yes I had the time of my life seeing Luke Skywalker join the Imperial Academy and train under Lord Vader, that is how the movies should have went and I will hear nothing else, it was beautiful, funny, and perfect. 10/10 for that story segment! I know it's primarily for laughs and shouldn't be taken seriously at all but I really liked certain aspects of the stories and would love to know more about it. Voice cast is still spot on with very good sound alikes, while still having veterans from the Clone Wars series work their magic. Hell seeing Sam Witwer still play Maul as serious even in this comedy is worth it alone, he juggles that so well but is it any surprise that I'm not fawning over this man and his performance. We love you Sam, always. I give it 3 stars, 7/10, and it is high time I finally catch up on the Star Wars shows. Long have I waited for visions from distant lands, and the continuation after the fallout of the clone wars.