Nosferatu (2024)

I'm quite happy with it.

Perfectly balancing the silent classic and Bram Stoker's influential novel, Robert Eggers brings a chilling beauty and ample horror in this modern remake that despite me seeing now 3 iterations of the same story I can safely say each was compelling and unique in their own way. Easily the coup de grace of the whole film is Eggert's directing and the superb cinematography that even makes this born and bred texan feel the chill in the midnight air, some may call it artsy, some may call it over the top, but you cannot deny the vision and mastery of it all. But don't let that statement lead you to believe it's just a visual feast with little else, case in point for the acting side of things Lily-Rose Depp could not have brought it harder to this role and in all the Nosferatu adaptations Ellen is truly the hero and alongside Willem Dafoe's Professor Eberhart are a formidable duo for the Count. Speaking of which Bill Skarsgård as Orlok showcases the true power and terror of the vampyre, and bonus brownie points for actually sticking to the Bram Stoker description of Dracula which only one other adaptation has achieved. Nicholas Hoult as Hutter does fine work and even what many would say are ancillary characters like with his friend Friedrich played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson no one feels unimportant and their stories are strong. Far far from filler in my estimation. They know when to hold onto a shot, how to transition, what the set designers and costumers add to the overall ambience is nothing short of award worthy to me, and the score while not entirely complex certainly adds to the tension wonderfully. With such an ecletic director each project is filled with passion and attention to detail so you're in for a ride no doubt! Though I find it funny that the one term that was intangibly sewn onto the word of mouth I was hearing about this film was "horny", and there isn't much in terms of nudity gratuitous or otherwise and indeed only scarce parts of sexual friction, to where I'm wondering if that's my overall asexual sensibilities rearing it's head or if people got swept away in the romantic overtones common to the vampire story to a high extreme here. I will admit I felt like a burden walking into the cinema on Christmas Day because while my disinterest and bordering disdain for the holiday still persists, the employees had better stuff to do. Yet I walked out pretty happy with the movie, it was easily the most packed screening room I've been in since Joker honestly, and what a fantastic way to end the whole year. I'll give it a solid 3 stars, 8.5/10, and I wish to thank all of you for another year of hearing my rambling and average at best reviews and come what may next year I'll see you later.

Nosferatu The Vampyre

Slightly redundant title but that's about as bad as it gets here.

I'm about to say some controversial shit. I like this better than the original, now that's coming from someone who loves the original Nosferatu and has great respect along with vast appreciation for silent cinema, and indeed it's easy with more modern film techniques and different actors for something to be improved upon. But even I was kinda shocked how much I loved this movie! Obviously it takes after the silent film more than the novel Dracula so the plot differs little while still doing it's own thing, and I feel Werner Herzog did a resoundingly succesful job directing this movie! Taking a very naturalist approach with tons of location shooting, handheld camera sequences, and doing everything in camera with little to no post production trickery. The crown jewel of this movie for me is Jonathan's trek to the Carpathian mountains, the music, the so good I'm honestly pissed scenery, the atmosphere and buildup getting to Dracula's castle is nothing but 10/10 for my money's worth! And that is already on top of a stellar film, it never got dull for a second and I was quickly engrossed, Robert you got a high bar to surpass come tomorrow my friend. The cast fully sealed the deal for me on this one, I haven't seen that many Werner Herzog films but I've been around the block enough to know his rocky ass relationship with Klaus Kinski who is an effectively creepy and great Dracula, taking a more tragic lens to the character and his mannerisms and voice differentiate him from Max Schreck but also rises to his level of greatness. Isabelle Adjani who plays Lucy instead of Mina, common trend believe it or not in adaptations of the Bram Stoker novel, is hauntingly beautiful I mean if she isn't some kind of inspiration for goth girls globally what even in the hell?? She has such a look that does nothing but compliment the slightly gothic aesthetic and I greatly appreciate the fact she does not bullshit about and gets stuff done herself, she tells the Count to remove himself from her presence and that's badassery if I've ever seen it! Bruno Ganz is a solid Jonathan Harker and has a pretty interesting role near the end to say the least which I did not see coming, and the fear and hysteria he conveys is very believable. The look of the film alone is a character in and of itself, maybe it's the 70s film stock, maybe it's just how the set designers and costume department did their fine work, but something about this movie is vastly appealing to me and I feel like a complete jackass not watching this sooner in my life. This would have been an excellent introductory horror film for me between the ages of 10 to 13 that would have gotten me so into the genre. It's kinda hard to articulate why I love it as much as I do, I just know that I adore the movie and couldn't recommend it higher to be perfectly clear. Solid story no doubt but all the details of the production beyond that are phenomenal. It most definitely isn't gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but hot damn am I gonna have to watch this again in the future. 4 stars across the board, 8.5/10, and for once in what feels like an eternity I am excited for Christmas Day.

Shadow Of The Vampire

Easily one of the best titles for a vampire movie ever.

You know what's really strange? I saw this movie when I was just starting college, yes I sat down to see this in the infant months of this website and yet I remembered precisely two things about it, jack and shit. I am not typically a dude who forgets movies easily, even the bad ones I hate, so that puzzles me now tremendously. I mean the pure basic idea of what if there was no actor named Max Schreck and director F.W. Murnau got a real vampire to play Count Orlok has been a myth long before this movie came to be made, and to take an iconic piece of film history, horror history, a film that we can now say is over a century old and give it a spin is nothing short of a testament to the power of that film. Now granted the director E. Elias Merhige doesn't go for the Tim Burton way when he was making Ed Wood and be totally faithful to the sets and camera placement, but to view a semi-making of for a movie that premiered almost 80 years before the fact is cool! John Malkovich plays this utter mad scientist, almost akin to Peter Cushing's Frankenstein where he is willing to sacrifice human lives for the creation of this moving picture and hand over my heart in the last scene of the movie is more scary than Orlok! Speaking of which, Willem Dafoe as "Max Schreck" what fascinating and yet effective casting, embellishing the role of cinema's first vampire and giving him a bit of a tragic twist while still being odd and unearthly, and upon hearing because of this particular performance is what got him on the casting call for the Green Goblin makes me all the happier this movie exists. I'll freely admit the credits for this film's opening threw curveball after curveball at me, it has Cary Elwes, Eddie Izzard, and Udo Kier in it as members of the cast and crew along with the little fact that Nicolas Cage had a hand in producing this movie and we're talking post Vampire's Kiss Nic Cage here! You just can't make this shit up. For a movie just a notch past 90 minutes it has a steady pace and the writing isn't grand but has moments of brilliance particularly for Murnau's dialogue, his thesis if you will on the power of cinema and what it truly means to him is both enlightening and provocative regardless of whether the legend himself said it or not. Solid sets and costume reproductions from the 20s classic, very good acting from all involved (even if Cary's accent is iffy at times), decent music score, and you can tell this is definitely more a passion project film than a financially lucrative film for the studio which I applaud all the more and the actors have fun with the material. Sometimes you just need to make a movie for a purpose other than monetary gain, and while I fully believe this is more of a cult film that hasn't really got it's flowers yet it's not bad at all and I can indeed recommend it if you're a vampire completist or just a person who likes some fiction in your historicals. 2.5 stars, 7/10 from me! And I'm knocking another off the list with Werner Herzog's Nosferatu next time.

The Holdovers

Okay that was worth it.

This was a recommendation from a friend and I heard a good fair bit of praise when the movie initially came out so I figured what the hell. Set in 1970 at a religious school over the course of a two week winter break, one of the more hardassed teachers is tasked with watching over 4 students for the duration who for one reason or another couldn't be home for Christmas, sounds pretty simple but the way the story progresses and the characters interact is what makes it as good as it is. Paul Giamatti is an actor in my eyes who has only gotten better with age, and as Mr. Hunham this archetypal asshole of a teacher prevalent in many a high school film be given an arc and a touch of depth does wonders for my enjoyment. Though admittedly even when he was a jerk I was laughing and having a grand time. Dominic Sessa as the main student we focus on Tully has baggage and growth of his own, and the dynamic between the two from enemies to frenemies to friends is lovely and when you have someone like Paul to bounce off of you're going to give a damn good performance. And with the inclusion of Da'Vine Joy Randolph as the cook and a grieving mother Mary, we practically have a makeshift family unit and don't fucking lie to me about this, they are straight up his mom and pop and they act like a married couple, I have spoken! It was easy to get emotionally invested in her own story and almost got me into an emotional breakdown at one point, she did such a marvellous job. All the winter scenery and 70s aesthetics in terms of clothes, music, and pop culture certainly pushed my buttons in all the right ways and though I'm a Grinch at heart it was a sweet and charming setting around the supposed most wonderful time of the year. And it's pretty funny too at times, obviously it's more of a drama but has the right splashes of humor that hit my funny bone many a time. It's not even a super intricate directorial effort but they know when to just let a moment be a moment and maybe some would call it a meandering movie with no real goal but it's about the journey over that two week period and I had a great time with it. Easily the standout film for me this month...so far. I loved it, truly I did and I'll recommend it strongly on top of that. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and next week we're about to get goth and spooky so clutch those crucifixes and pray for daybreak!

Mickey's Christmas Carol

Yeah I was having a good time not confronting the Christmas but this is all for grander purposes next week.

For a special 25 minutes in length and somehow able to effectively condense Charles Dickens' classic tale is no small feat and admittedly it probably helps we have such recognizable characters to fill in the roles. Speaking of which it was actually a fun game to try to guess who would be who, with Mickey being Bob Cratchit, Goofy being Jacob Marley, and Scrooge being well...Scrooge McDuck. Next thing you'll tell me Owl is an owl. Ludicrous. But anywho, the animation while far from theatrical quality is still filled with personality and style with some simple but nice backgrounds along with some imaginative twists with the three ghosts. Pretty solid voice cast too with Alan Young as Uncle Scrooge who actually has quite a fun scottish accent, Wayne Allwine as Mickey who though doesn't speak much does have an impact near the end, and Hal Smith as Goofy somehow kinda had an eerie moment and this is from someone who loves Goofy's laugh so props to him! Thankfully the story doesn't move at a break neck pace and indeed can take it's time to linger on a shot for atmosphere, with expertly crafted dialogue that gets the point perfectly across in such a short runtime and shock of all shocks doesn't feel like three ghosts fearmonger an old man to do what they tell him! It feels like a legit change cause Uncle Scrooge shows plenty regret and undercurrents of kindness to where it feels earned. I know this is probably one of those treasured household traditions for many but I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw it. I personally give it 3 stars, 7.5/10, and I may have a more recent holiday film for you tomorrow.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Best of the series?

I do genuinely think it is the most fun and entertainment I've personally had at one of these movies. They did have me sold full truth here since the end of the last movie on Shadow alone, so I was very much looking forward to this. And if you've seen the trailer you know the gist, Shadow has escaped containment and is battling team Sonic (cute reference) while Robotnik meets his long lost grandpappy as they command a doomsday weapon. Solid plot for a video game movie, and speaking as an individual who has really only played five Sonic games, Sonic 1 & 2, Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, and Sonic Heroes but has beat precisely zero of them I loved seeing all the easter eggs and especially Shadow's backstory seen on the big screen. Since we already know most of the players let's talk about our new arrivals. Keanu Reeves though not my immediate first choice for Shadow conveys everything you need to know and does do a damn fine job juggling the heartbreak, rage, and initial confusion to his origins in the flashback scenes and it was absolutely awesome to see so many nods to his character from the games, motorcycle and guns included! As for Robotnik Sr. I was very surprised to see him as the true threatning villain, sure he has his moments of humor but at the end of the day he is a serious villain and I applaud Jim for being able to bring both sides to the table, plus the guy is a manipulative bastard and it like works too and doesn't feel slapdash in the writing. Commendable! I'll add on a brief opinion of seeing Sonic actually buckle the hell down and get serious even vengeful was a good move and added more to his character. I was hoping and praying they wouldn't do the thing, I didn't say anything cause I didn't want to jinx it, but they can't let a trilogy be a trilogy. Granted it was even I'll admit a great mid credits scene but come on! We went out on a relatively high note, with multiple instances of goosebumps at the climax, it's a solid made film with very good production values, the writing and humor still worked for me, it did what every sequel should do, and I was very happy to see it! We had a pretty healthy attendance at the screening and hearing the kids get so excited seeing stuff like Shadow and the Chao's while also laughing at Jim Carrey put me in a good mood. Thumbs up from me, 3 stars, 7.5/10! And next week is the end and what more of a perfect day to end it on than Christmas, at least it'll be a spooky Christmas...

In Retrospect: Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Alright I've made a bit of peace with it.

See this is really why I do these In Retrospects and honestly it's been a hot ass minute since the last one but it was time to watch Sonic 2 again. Yeahhh it still kinda has a tangent issue even if it's a relatively small one, but the plot does keep moving and while the human characters aside from Robotnik could have been written and utilized differently, they don't ruin the movie. The Hawaii stuff no doubt was compared to the Canto Bight scenes from Last Jedi, but like that sequence it isn't terribly long and isn't boring either. The dynamic between Sonic and Tails is really nice, the fragile alliance with Eggman and Knuckles is interesting to watch, the eventual shift with Knuckles makes sense and I like the fact he has the personality of an honorable warrior. Let's just be on the level right here right now, this is a movie for kids and that's exactly what they delivered so I can make a fuss or simply acknowledge that despite my big kid heart it doesn't all work for me and that's fine. I mean yeah, Jim and Idris are still undoubtedly the highlights of the film but that's not a besmirch on Ben and Colleen who still commit fully to the roles! I'll be interested to see if Sonic gets a bit of a character arc in the 3rd movie to go from a fully comedic hero to having a severe sense of seriousness that can be seen progressing film to film. I don't really want to trash talk the effects, because they're not bad at all but it is easy to see the strings as it were, but how else would they have implemented the game's art direction otherwise? We get to see so many nods to the games shown faithfully and with love, so I couldn't possibly give it good grief. Loved seeing the Chaos Emerald and super saiyan Sonic (Try saying that 3 times fast!), the various Robotnik robo-transports, a flat out Sega Genesis instruction manual, that's great stuff! One minor quibble that I just can't let go is, if you take the time and more importantly the money to buy the rights for songs why in the holy love of fuck are we just playing 30 seconds of it?? Just play the damn song! I want Robotnik's world domination playlist you sum'bitch, if frick fraking Walk by Pantera is track #1 you damn well better give me more! And yes I fully headcanon Eggman is a thrash metal kind of guy. Odd thing to bitch about but I go on weird tangents myself, so game recognize game. It's a decent video game movie and that's all I really needed from it. Will Shadow, my favorite Sonic character by the by, elevate this series and could we have a banger of a film hit this Friday? I'd be a happy camper if that was the case! So I'll bump up the score a notch to 2.5 stars, 6.5/10! And apologies in advance for not getting a review out for the Knuckles series, I do not have every streaming platform under the sun and frankly never will so I'll see you later on this week.

The War Of The Rohirrim

Hmm, okay.

I'll admit when I first heard about this project it certainly had my attention, but sweet Jesus Lord Of The Rings is already a niche, anime even more so a niche, so combining the two is a bold move shall we say. Set roughly 200 years before The War Of The Ring we follow the rule of Helm Hammerhand and more importantly his daughter Hera, who when confronted by the son of a rival clan to claim the throne are pushed beyond both's limits in a quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a few Mumakils along the way. And for a runtime of over 2 hours they don't really rush any part of it, however I can absolutely say that the overall writing in all aspects needed some work. Not that it's bad exactly, but just needed some extra polish. Obviously I'm an easy ass sell for redhaired badasses, and Gaia Wise as Hera is a good lead that is both easy to understand and easy to cheer on but what surprised me was she's not action hero all the time, she gets beat, she gets kidnapped, she has moments of sadness and distress but when push comes to shove she ain't backing down. Brian Cox as Hammerhand does indeed command respect and to see any adaptation of this famed figure of the expanded history of Middle-Earth is damn cool to see and a plot point regarding him once they reach Helm's Deep was easily my favorite part of the film. Luke Pasqualino as Wulf, oh my God this is zero percent the actor's fault but this antagonist is so one note and completely uninteresting, always the relentless warmongering mad dog when I genuinely thought the relationship between him and Hera would have added some much much needed dimension to get better invested in the story, but alas. Also shoutout to Miranda Otto for being our narrator, you still friggin' rock! The animation is...interesting, often combining 3D backgrounds with 2D characters leading to the result being a sometimes janky but serviceable style, that still lends itself to some gorgeous scenery and can lean into more visually striking fights than live action could deliver. The score is decent, and I won't lie hearing the Rohan theme on theater sound systems after 21 years was beautiful. But yeah, the story and characters while decent didn't pack nearly the punch the trilogy did and just to piss off a select few of the fandom, I'd rather watch Rings Of Power again though that is highly unfair comparing a series to a singular film, it is unequivocably true for me. And doing a pinky finger's worth of research to learn this movie was made entirely just so New Line Cinema wouldn't lose the Lord Of The Rings rights really doesn't do this movie any favors in the long run. It absolutely leans into the visual style of those films from the Oliphaunts, to another Watcher in the water, exact copies of Edoras and Helm's Deep in terms of architecture, Orthanc popping up at a point, some lines of dialogue are similar but not exact to quotes from the trilogy, may or may not be a welcome surprise cameo from one of the classics, and that's all cool to see do not get me wrong. I'm a fucking nerd for this stuff and have been since I was 6 or 7 so trust in me when I say I did not walk in to slash and hack this movie. It's decent, it's okay, undoubtedly for megafans of this series to even watch in the first place, and hey man it is entirely feasible for many to walk out of this more happy than I was. I give it 2.5 stars, 7/10! What a week, and thankfully next week will be much easier with just an In Retrospect and new release to a highly anticipated video game series.

10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki

Well we didn't end on a bad note, I'll say that at least.

This is a strange review for me, for the first time in almost a decade of writing these things never have I ever watched something in full on Facebook. Yeah it was kind of a bitch to find this whole 4 part mini-series documentary and to be honest I was having a hard time sitting through it all the way to write this thing. A curious enigma about this is the fact that it comes from NHK basically the japanese version of the BBC, and yet it's narrated in english, it has english subtitles, and there's no evidence to suggest it was created any other way before hand and they just slapped an english dub on top of the narration. I'm not saying it's impossible for japanese audiences to watch something in english but I've never really seen examples of it. Curiosities out of the way, let's get to the review. 4 parts, approximately 50 minutes apeice, chronicle stints of Miyazaki's career with the first two parts alone focusing on the making of Ponyo, then working in tandem with his son Goro on From Up On Poppy Hill, and finally ending with The Wind Rises. I have to get this out of the way right now and then we'll move on to positives but this english narration was terrible, a complete 180° from Never-Ending Man that feels completely unnecessary, slightly biased and putting way too much of an impression on the events rather than simply letting the audience view it, and truthfully has the writing style of a first grader trying to write their first story. It took so much away from it for me that it's easily going to be the lowest score of the week. And that pisses me off because seeing bits of new making of behind the scenes stuff for Ponyo and Poppy Hill was really neat despite it not going in that much detail which is strange considering the run time for each respective episode. Seeing Miyazaki's inspiration for the character of Ponyo, his tribulations with the animation, seeing the relationship with his son, further hammering the point home how hard it truly is to be creative with a deadline, all that stuff adds onto the experience of the previous documentaries I watched this week. Though admittedly if you've seen Never-Ending Man you can flat out skip episode four, I mean there is legit reused shots from that documentary here and everything. It has some interesting stuff at times, the score once again is actually really friggin' good, seeing Goro on his own project was a welcome change of pace, the addressing of the 2011 earthquake that struck Japan and how that affected production on Poppy Hill, it's not all a waste. However whether it's slight fatigue or the overall production and captured footage didn't do that much for me personally, this is an okay documentary that I think I can only recommend to die hard Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli fans. I knew Never-Ending Man wasn't gonna be beaten this week but I didn't expect it to go out on more of a whimper. I give it 2.5 stars, 7/10, and we got a little anime new release coming up very soon so all is not said and done yet.

Never-Ending Man

I know it's a documentary and everything but this is a contender for most inspiring works ever made.

An hour and ten minutes, you really cannot lose much over that as this extremely candid documentary chronicles the musings and work of Hayao Miyazaki after he officially retired from making animated feature films in an attempt to utilize CGI for a short film idea he had. I cannot explain the vast appeal this had for me and yet it completely reaffirms why not only art is made but why people commit to projects entirely out of passion alone. I may go on several tangents here but it's just the goddamn truth of the matter, animators are some of the most passionate and hardworking people on the face of this earth, you just HAVE to be if you step into this line of work! And I know it's kind of a meme in anime circles that Miyazaki is this depressed, exhausted, grumpy man but really look at this and there is a reason for it. He's an older man and coming to terms with it seeing friends and coworkers he's known for years passing away, he overworks and overthinks because he gives a damn about his work and wants it to be as good as it can be, he might seem stern and uncaring but that couldn't be farther from the case showcasing a love and passion for life as well as just the act of creating. I love love love how this documentary is presented, beautiful music, simple yet sometimes gorgeous shots, no voice over work, it doesn't even really have any kind of satisfactory ending but I don't give a shit. Documentaries are supposed to be brief looks into a certain figure or period of history, nothing more nothing less and that's what I get here. I've seen actually a good fair bit of behind the scenes footage and the process of animators in Japan and there's something so calming and enjoyable about it to me, I don't know if other people feel the same way but it has this style of production and ambience to it that strikes me in a certain way. Frankly that's just me and Japan as a country but it's just as present here. I will be real here, I can't draw even semi-competently so to see many people's craft in the works whether 2D or 3D is so damn cool to see! And to hear Miyazaki muse on his age, his work, and hilariously his reaction to AI art has so many nuggets of wisdom that can't be denied. And just for the hell of it I'll throw out one of mine as well, when longtime producer and friend of Miyazaki's Toshio Suzuki talks about the decline of 2D animation and CG taking the forefront my only response was, "Just because something new comes along doesn't mean you have to give up on what you're working on now.". And this documentary isn't just motivation for art people either, everyone has a passion for a field of work that could be anything and it gives you that little boost of energy and positive frame of mind. There are instances where this feels like a job instead of a passion project for me but I never lose sight of the reality of it all and I don't want anyone to be discouraged with their own work. I couldn't stress seeing this more if I tried, and I know it's probably just me but I adored this documentary to the moon and back. It's simple, it's short, it's sweet, I give it 4 stars and a sterling 10/10!

The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness

Damn, that was good.

Yeah I can't explain what hit me this month but I wanted to watch some Studio Ghibli documentaries. Taking place in late 2012 this documentary focuses on Miyazaki taking up the production for The Wind Rises, a film I haven't seen yet but hopefully there will be time in the future to do so, while also showcasing a bit of history for the studio, a concurrent release for The Tale Of Princess Kaguya (also a film I haven't seen), and the tantum work of the animators. It's a leisurely paced documentary clocking in at 2 hours but if animation is your bag and even more so seeing how animation is made, it's worth watching! It's not entirely the main focus, it centers on Miyazaki and longtime business partner Toshio Suzuki working on the art side of the studio and the business side of the studio respectively just keeping up with the tasks at hand. That's kind of the beauty of a documentary there's no real drama or story to it, you can just view it and catch a glimpse of another time, another place, another life and some may say it's boring but it all comes down to what are you looking for. I just wanted to see the behind the scenes stuff at Studio Ghibli and witness Miyazaki in his element, and I got that but I also got more. I got some truly superb instances of cinematography, a beautiful score, a true sense of community and hard work from the talented as hell animators, and even some insight into Miyazaki's past during war time. The Wind Rises is all about a young man with a great love of airplanes who is conscripted to design a new fighter plane for the second world war, and that's not only a conflicted story but also a conflicted movie to make from a japanese point of view that's endlessly fascinating to see, and on top of all of that whether the influence of the Fukushima disaster that occured just a year before this documentary takes place had any conscious or unconscious effect on the story bears some insight from far more intelligent minds than my own. And just as the cherry on top of all of that hearing Miyazaki himself say this was the only film of his he cried at is kind of a testament to art in any medium and how deeply you can get attached to something even if you're the one who made it. I was sold already on seeing the movie but it's bumped up a bit on the Ghibli watchlist at this point. Hell seeing the animation team having an emotional breakdown finally seeing all that hard work up on the big screen got me in an emotional tizzy like you wouldn't believe, and further hammers that nail that is already embedded in the coffin of the fact that animation is a gruelling industry and that you have to have patience and love for what you do if you are in that field. Even somewhat innocuous details like Miyazaki's daily routine or peppered footage throughout of basically the studio's office cat doing cat stuff has great charm and certainly held my interest, but then again I'm the biggest goddamn mark for a cat you will ever meet in your life so I'm an easy sell. I don't know if it's just the cadence or the overall sort of style for lack of a better term about how people from Japan talk but it does something for me, there's actually quite a few lines from Miyazaki that struck me even in small ways, I mean Japan has had an indelible impression on my life since I was very very young but the appeal has never waned even after all this time. I very much enjoyed this brief look into a much loved studio that deserves the accolades it has, and I give it 3 stars, 8/10! And I'll see you tomorrow friends.

Staged: Season 3

Well that was more different than I expected.

So we're back to 6 episodes again but the strangest part is there's only 2 episodes of the actual show, and the rest of the season is actually all about behind the scenes stuff and gearing up for actually filming the third season. Never have I ever seen a television show that potrays the actual show, the aftermath of the show, and the preproduction of the show. It does feel like a true peek behind the curtain with Georgia playing executive producer/sociopath, Michael and David doing a tiny bit of press and having rehearsals before filming, Simon actually isn't a spineless worm and actually directs will wonders never cease? So it's undoubtedly the black sheep of the entire run and as far as I know they had no intention to go beyond a third season so this is it for all intents and purposes, but it's still interesting to watch! It certainly posed many questions in my mind of how do you produce a television series with a skeleton crew of camera operators, audio engineers, and the director himself? It sounds almost an impossible task but they pull it off and pull it off well! I guess I was just thoroughly thrown off course because the first two episodes are business as usual for the most part and then it's all backstage stuff for the vast majority of the season, so I don't hate it by any stretch but I also certainly don't love it as much as the other two seasons. David and Michael still have moments to shine and show their humor scripted or otherwise, Georgia practically gets the same if not even slightly more screen time than our boys and she really is a ball busting producer...maybe goes a bit off the fucking deep end and crafts a Jigsaw level situation for David and Michael to get over some writing hurdles to be perfectly honest but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Handful of cameos present including one of my all time favorite british actors, and while they aren't as prevalent because of the shorter episode count it was still nice to see them. It certainly has appeal seeing the crafting of a show even if it's not super in depth and indeed I can see many normal people who just enjoyed the first two seasons kinda get a introductory look at behind the scenes production material that people like me AKA insane cinephiles are aware of. Admittedly I would just stick to the first two seasons but there's still interesting stuff here, and I can at least recommend it halfway. 3 stars from me, 8/10, and I guess more behind the scenes stuff will come up next week with an animation company and animator legend known globally.

Staged: Season 2

Or Staged squared if you're mathematically inclined.

Okay definitely a shift from last season, picking up roughly a year later when we were oh so slowly crawling out of the pit itself this season more or less deals with the impact of the first season. If you thought it was meta before you ain't seen nothing yet! We bump up to 8 episodes now still at 22 minutes each as we follow David and Michael who are made aware of the show making a leap to the States but...without them starring. So it's this mad scramble for them to learn all the details of a production they have nothing to do with combined with actually a pretty normal thing in actor's lives: atrophy and waiting for the next part. I say this with love and enjoyment in my heart, there is somehow even less going on plot wise this time around. No really, it's mostly Michael and David getting into a bit of a rut while also trying to integrate themselves back into the show, and don't think about that too hard or you will quickly learn that time is a flat circle and that this rabbit hole is a reflection of a reflection. I mean you always hear stories about actors just kinda waiting for the phone to ring and I truthfully feel they did a brilliant job potraying that, David almost turns into a recluse and falls out a bit with Michael because of it. And you cannot tell me otherwise at this point they're basically married, I had every expectation to see a kiss or an embrace before the end! I wouldn't quite say the performances got better they more expanded for lack of a better term, filling out more of the depictions of themselves and giving new angles for us the viewer to see them, which is still great stuff! They have such a school friend energy about them at times and whether this season is improv to hell and back or not you can feel the joy they have being around each other. I also appreciate seeing more of Georgia, Anna, and Lucy kinda have their own brief little storyline as well, that was nice. Good few celebrity cameos as the first go around, don't want to spoil any of them because some were a genuine shock. The humor is still as strong also, David had me losing it a good few times mainly because I've never seen him angry or upset before so those were gold for me but the absolute biggest laugh I got wasn't even a line, but a look from Georgia in the last episode of the series literally made it to where I couldn't breathe. I don't know why, it just killed me. This was way more like what I imagined the show to be like in my head, very few instances of any kind of camera shot beyond webcam stuff and the five layer cake depths of art imitating life imitating art was almost mind boggling. It's such an interesting little show and I think that's why I love it, don't get me wrong it's great to see David and Michael kinda bounce off each other and have fun mucking about, not to get off topic but the scene where they're just doing the newspaper crossword puzzle...if that's scripted I will literally castrate myself, cook it, and eat it because that was just them being them! Not a shred of acting found in that brief moment. But anyway, it's just this oddball show that clearly is not meant for everyone but holy hot damn is it entertaining to me and clearly many more people if it got not one but a two-hoo extra seasons, and whether or not tomorrow's review will be the last for Staged it was great fun while it lasted. I give it 4 stars, 9/10!

Staged: Season 1

I knew I had to get around to this eventually one day.

How to describe the plot of Staged? Well you see, back a few years in the dark ages when the most boneheaded fucking move in health and safety where no one was supposed to be outside occured, tumulting the entertainment sector into a septic tank both in cinemas and theatrically, we follow one such particular case of Six Characters In Search Of An Author being crafted and rehearsed almost entirely through webcams. Starring Michael/David Tennant/Sheen! For as dirt simple as a premise like watching two great actors just lolligag about and converse on a Zoom call, barely even rehearsing for a play, it's fantastic entertainment! I was almost hacking up my lungs from laughing so damn hard throughout the shockingly short first series, only six episodes at 22 minutes a piece! It's about as experimental a show as I've ever seen in certainly the most unprecedented time I've encountered in my life, to the point where I desperately need to know exactly how much of this was scripted because aside from a few normal camera shots it's beyond candid and effortlessly real. Obviously the comedy is played up with David and Michael acting like the most bickering married couple you've ever seen in all your days, but it all just seems too real. Nary a drop of escapism found here and yet still is fun to watch. I can't say that about...any other show honestly. Though I'll be up front and say when I heard the premise and caught brief glimpses of clips, I thought the whole programme was going to be viewed through a computer screen just seeing the director and the actors on their video conference doing whatever and I'm almost disappointed it wasn't. They have very simple camera set ups where you see everybody, except for now that I think about it Michael, in their kitchen or dining room chitchatting. I don't at all hate it but I thought wow, what a fascinating television production and would almost be fourth wall breaking if you were streaming this on your laptop or home computer. So obviously most production details I cover are almost obsolete for lack of a better term, it's hard to get a Goodfellas type shot with a webcam, so all I can work with are the actors. I wholeheartedly adore Michael and David so I was pretty much sold on this series and it was just as grand as I thought it was going to be, and I love seeing Georgia and Anna in the fray as well, they really have a sweet relationship and I'll admit even I'm slightly jealous of them, even the less than effectual director Simon isn't a total wet blanket on the proceedings though I personally was almost entirely locked in on Lucy Eaton who plays his sister she was absolutely class! There's even some surprise guest stars which I shall not give away, cause where's the fun in that? Go watch it! It's no masterclass of TV but for me it was firmly in my wheelhouse and I loved every second of it. If regular televised productions are getting old for you this is different enough, if you want a good laugh sign up immediately, even if you just wanted almost this time capsule of a severely shit situation that humanity got shoved into without knowledge or consent (no idea why anyone would want that but hey history is history) then yeah sure go for it. 4 stars from me, 9/10, take from that what you will and I'm gonna have to see the further misadventures of this cast of characters.

Over The Garden Wall

I don't know what I just watched. I loved it though!

What even in the hell is this? It might be the strangest show I've ever known and if you've stuck around long enough with me I have seen some weird shit man. It's the most barebones synopsis in the world but the progression and details of the story are the interesting parts, two brothers Wirt and Greg are lost in the woods and have to find their way back home. Simple and easy to understand....annnnd then we meet pumpkin people, frogs attending a swanky party on a paddle steamer, and some eldritch horror known only as The Beast. What the actual fuck have I been doing with my life?? Yeah I'm late to the party on this one big time with the mini-series being broadcasted back in 2014 so hey 10 year anniversary woohoo, but it's always been on the outskirts of my radar and on Halloween no less this year Cartoon Network played it in full. 10 episodes, pretty much ten minutes each, so feature film length by the skin of it's teeth. Granted I knew precisely zilch about it other than it was pretty damn good from various people throughout the years. I barely know where to start but all I'll say is I'm kinda pissed at myself not watching this in senior year of high school. You know how I always talk about that "exquisite fall atmosphere", well this is the gold standard that probably will never be matched again, this is the autumn of my dreams with grey skies, colorful leaves, and old trails to wander. Visuals alone, 20/10! But I greatly enjoyed the odyssey these two brothers went on, it's offbeat entirely but still has a certain charm about it that makes you not want to put it down until it's done. Wirt is a much older kid in high school with all the growing maturity, logic, and even depression that sets in around that time, and Elijah Wood who I didn't even recognize until end credits popped up does a very good job giving a lot of character to a very white bread protagonist. Collin Dean as Greg is my highlight of the whole show catalyzing exactly what young kids are like, they are friggin' little oddballs with no sense of focus or tact and it's marvellous how real it feels, hilarious and endearing to watch. Melanie Lynskye as Beatrice a talking bluebird that acts as a guide through the woods actually had a very good backstory that gets revealed later and her sassy attitude was a joy to watch, nothing super deep but effortlessly engrossing. It was wild to hear Christopher Lloyd as a returning character of the Woodsman, he does fine work with the material but there clearly is more to this guy's past than the show lets on and while you wish to know more wraps everything up in a nice bow. And last bit far far from least as the Beast we have Samuel Ramey, who creeped the ever living shit out of me from first appearance to last appearance tapping into that fear of unearthly glowing eyes, and although it doesn't honestly have that much screentime or do that much the way the world reacts around it is what gives it presence and gravity. In fact there were a few moments in this show where for just a single solitary second fear gripped my heart, it can be horrific even for adults and definitely scary to younger kids but the show has a good balance. The fantasy element is high and the best way I can sum it all up is there's a shot of a wooden boat on a lake with a fish sitting in it with a lure cast into the water, undeniably distinct and imaginative and when coupled with the atmosphere and scenery you have yourself an unforgettable thing. It's even kind of a musical somehow? There's a good few vocal performances that range from silly made up kid songs to stunning soaring serenades, and it wouldn't surprise me for a second if there indeed was a soundtrack available online. I'm almost speechless at this, I will go out of my way to buy this show and you can bet your ass it is going to be a staple of October viewing for years to come. Simplicity goes a long way, anyone can watch it and enjoy it whether it's immersed fully or just leisurly viewing, admittedly if you're a lover of fun and fancy free entertainment this is gonna hit more your stride but I still say watch it and make up your own mind. It could do something for you. I walked into the unknown as much as Wirt and Greg did but coming out on the other side made me realize how amazing the trip was. 4 stars easily, 9.5/10, and now comes the part where the seasons relieve me of the joy of autumn and non-christmasy things but why should that stop me from denying the holiday cheer?

Wicked

Well that kinda ruins Wizard Of Oz for me.

Not even because it's bad, far from it but this story does indeed take things from a certain point of view. Now I haven't seen the musical, frankly I feel like I should after seeing the movie, so we just gotta go off the movie as gospel. I bet most people didn't know the musical itself is based off a book painting the Wicked Witch as a more sympathetic character and is one of the few villain origin stories I know of. So we follow the life of Elphaba from childhood transitioning into her magic school years where she's horribly ostricized by her peers but makes an unlikely friend in the most popular witch Glinda before getting swept up in this plot that I just can't fully divulge into. For a film pushing nearly 3 hours with credits it breezed by and I like the pace of it, presumably this is act 1 before the intermission on stage so it doesn't have to rush anything. Granted I wasn't that big a fan of how they potray the denizens of Oz, I mean I get it we have to score sympathy points for Elphaba somehow, but I can't decide if this is terrible screen writing or just shitty character writing, but everybody save for like 5 characters are the biggest biased bitches who treat Elphaba like she's the walking plague, constantly giving her good grief to the point where we just cross over into Mean Girls territory and I hate that movie with my entire soul, it's just grating. And even Glinda takes a minute to warm up to her, thank God she actually grew a spine or I'd want to shove the silver slippers straight up her tightwad ass. Now the acting from Cynthia and Arianna is actually really good, perfectly embedding themselves in these characters, stage differences be damned. Cynthia easily has the most emotional performance and indeed I had at least two or three moments where the waterworks were welling up, obviously she's our main character so we get the most insight into Elphaba's character as a ultimately good willed and kind spirit and I think she did a marvellous job bringing the heart and vocals big time. Arianna truthfully made me laugh my ass off despite the valley girl ditz and rudeness, she still has those pipes, and while it took a hot minute for Glinda to make friends with Elphaba I did buy the friendship between the two a good deal. Jonathan Bailey as a quasi-love interest between Elphy and Glinda, Fiyero is a self proclaimed shallow and self centered man and yet somehow is charming and a joy to watch. Now that's gotta be witchcraft. He may even have my favorite song number, he's just a shameless flirt and kind of a big dumb hunk, I have no idea what happened but I rather like him! Michelle Yeoh hell yeah, get to see my lady woman in another role as the most prolific professor of the magic university Madame Morrible was a treat to watch and she had more to do than just be a mentor figure so that was nice. Jeff Goldblum, I don't know whose call this was to get him as the Wizard but I strongly applaud that person because it is about as strange as you would expect but is so fun to just see him kinda screw around and just have a fun time performing so that was excellent. The set design and costuming is practically a character in and of itself, they spared no expense in this production showing a good scale of familair and new Oz locations with stellar and I do mean stellar costuming. Probably gonna be the easiest Oscar snag we've seen in recent memory to be honest! As for the musical numbers, though I didn't have any I absolutely adored or feverishly abhorred they were decent songs with full fledged choreographed dances included most times, yeah it's an actual lavish musical, but the vocal performances were spot on throughout! Had no friggin' clue this was part one so I felt slightly baited and switched but that also means I can't judge it because it isn't fully out yet! It's Dune all over again. So as a placeholder score I give it 3 stars, 8/10! I enjoyed it a good deal and can recommend it whether you've seen the stage show or not, and it was fun to waffle on about Wizard Of Oz for a week. Sadly I don't have much planned for next week due to the holiday and I was trying to find something fitting that exquisite fall atmosphere so join me next week for a very overlooked Cartoon Network series.

Oz The Great And Powerful

I have notes.

Yes the Oz adaptation precisely zero people have talked about for over a decade now, so what did I think? I'll disclaimer this upfront, I don't think an origin for the Wizard is a bad idea really I don't, because it's been a question I'm sure many people have had and this is still during a time when prequels were frowned upon. It's really not bad crafting it's own mythos while taking a fair bit from the books and the 1939 film, with a circus magician getting whisked away in a twister and finds himself embroiled in a three way power struggle between witches as he is hailed as the Lisan al-Gaib despite multiple instances to the contrary. That's kind of an interesting premise seeing this conman get hip deep in this fantasy world between warring factions, and I do truly feel that while James Franco wasn't exactly a no brainer pick for Oz his charm and humor carried this film tremendously. He was a joy to watch and I appreciate the fact they don't go down some typical lame ass liar revealed trope, as he actually does let people peak behind the curtain to see his true self, it adds dynamic and even a sweet moment or two because of it. He's truly a great lead through and through. Also just need to shoutout Joey King as the China Girl, hands down my favorite character, would easily die for her, my heart and soul in this movie! This fairly hurts to say because we do have talented people on this cast, and it's not even that they did a bad job but it just missed something extra to make it come together. Rachel Weisz you rock, I'll never say a bad thing about your acting but I feel the script is at fault with most of the other characters not giving much for them to do cause she's one of the witches and has a semi-important role to play but the poor lady just has nothing to grasp onto. Michelle Williams as Glenda has a little bit to work off of, the dynamic with Oz and his lack of magic, the death of her father who was the last king of Ozdom, she at least has a direction to go in. And Mila Kunis as Theodora, this gets into spoilers but it's important to talk about, again not a first choice candidate to play the Wicked Witch but...oof. Okay I don't ever like doing this, I got nothing from her performance and feel this is where the writing took a horrid nose dive, essentially making one of the most iconic villains in cinema a spiteful ex-girlfriend who gets tricked into becoming the green skinned pyro thrower we know, and this is pure subjective taste by the way when I say her design was so not it looking more akin to The Mask than the Wicked Witch. Big letdown in my opinion overall for her character but you know what? It gave me a negative so I can walk into Wicked looking for a positive so even then it has a greater purpose. I was rather shocked to say the least knowing Sam Raimi directed this movie but I applaud him for wanting to put as much practical sets in as possible, it's a heavy ass CG movie because of the outlandish terrain of the world of Oz and indeed has moments of beauty to it yet I still strongly appreciate giving the actors something to work with. It also was made during that mini 3D craze so you get those certain shots that are noticeable but aren't completely egregious. And for a over 2 hour movie it doesn't feel that long yet simultaneously feels like it should be longer to get more connection to the characters which I feel is the Achille's heel of it all. The visuals are okay, the story has some intrigue, but I couldn't get completely invested. But hey, if something doesn't work for me it can work for someone! I liked seeing a different iteration of the land of Oz, I liked seeing James play this charming charlatan, the little China Girl is treasured and I will not hear slander against her or I will smite you, even the majority of the humor got me rolling! It's far from a waste even if not everything landed just right and it makes me all the more curious to see Wicked! Know next door to nothing about it aside from trailers, yet I'm walking in with an open mind. As for this I give it 2 stars, 6/10!

The Wizard Of Oz

Weird to think I got to Return To Oz years before touching the original.

I mean is there even a point to review Wizard Of Oz? So many people have watched it from a young age, myself included but I'll admit it's probably been 20 years since I last saw it, and yet it leaves such an indelible mark on everyone to where you can recount the film almost flawlessly even if you've seen it just once. Young farm girl from Kansas named Dorothy is bored with her life, tornado transports her to the magical land of Oz where she hits the radar of two witches as she gains magical ruby slippers, and a quest to return home begins as Dorothy encounters a Scarecrow with no brain, a Tin Man with no heart, and a Cowardly Lion lacking courage as they venture to the Emerald City to speak with the eponymous Wizard. I have absolutely no clue why this story is as memorable or as engrossing in the culture 85 years later, but I can pin it down on one particular thing. This movie is a weird movie, break it down anyway you like from the plot or the production or anything and there simply is no other film like it, and your brain remembers such elements because of how strange it is. Hell the scope of the, for lack of a better word, "iceberg" this movie has gained for almost a century is kinda wild, break this down with me here. We have just the iconography of the land of Oz and all the design choices firmly embedded like Wile E. Coyote into the ground of our pop culture, Margaret Hamilton appearing on Mr. Rogers showing off her costume and telling kids not to be afraid of witches, we have a myth of one of the actors commiting suicide on film by hanging, we have the coded phrase "friends of Dorothy" used for decades by homosexuals seeking like minded people, we have Dark Side Of The fraking MOON somehow syncing up to the first 40 minutes of the film! Star Wars ain't got shit on the levels of lore The Wizard Of Oz has garnered. It should be impossible for a film like this to have gained this much of a reputation, and from the 1930s??? Many people think it was the 50s because that's when color film entered the fray, and speaking of which could you imagine walking into this movie in 1939 and seeing the kaleidoscope of color presented here? The color footage itself was nothing short of a gamble on an experimental method by the future kings themselves Technicolor! What even is this movie?? It has to be magic, there's just no way. And I'll level with you right here right now, this movie scared me a bit as a kid, not just the Witch though her red smoke and fireball entrance is still incredible, but the talking trees, the haunted forest, the flying monkeys still kinda weird me out a bit, the flippin' twister that's some scary stuff right there, but the big one strangely was the red sand hourglass counting down until the Witch was going to kill Dorothy which just set my nerves on edge and filled me with dread and uncertainty, and it's still as vivid a feeling way back when in contrast to now. I will freely admit though for a musical, the songs are often pretty dang short but they hit frequently enough to justify that genre and are all memorable as the film itself. I feel Judy Garland gets all the spotlight for this film and for just being 16 she does do mighty good, easily playing a girl with a heart of gold and she can hit those emotional marks especially towards the end, not even acting but seemingly being Dorothy! But I have to give fair dues to everyone here. Margaret Hamilton by all accounts was a joy and to know she was a big fan of the books and easily crafted top 10 movie villain material is positively legendary in my book! In fact if I was being both incredibly honest and yet also praising to the heavens, the Wicked Witch is childhood fears solidified and personified in one clean move. Is it any wonder this character has practically grown into her own outside of this film? Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, about as nàive as Dorothy but a stalwart friend to the end and probably aside from the Witch is my favorite character, and trivia note here on rewatch, with the high definition transfer you can notice the face makeup looks like burlap bags, awesome! Jack Haley as the Tin Man, who has my vote for best design among our protagonists is more easily than others coded as a friend of Dorothy, with a sentimental glean in his eye and a more femme voice and mannerism but it certainly doesn't detract from the performance! And of course Bert Lahr as our wannabe king of the forest as the Lion, I don't know what it is but his performance still got as much a kick out of me as it did when I was younger, the physical acting and the accent just add to the humor so well and hands down was my favorite as a kid, so it's good to know somethings never change. And I would be remiss to leave out Frank Morgan as the Wizard, even though you don't truly see him much until the end he has this affability and knowledge about him, after all 'wizard' is an off shoot of 'wise one', so he has that quality to him even if it doesn't match what we think of when we hear the term nowadays. Now the production value was insanely huge for 1939, over 2 million smackaroos as a matter of fact but every penny can be seen on screen from environment pieces certainly, architecture, costuming especially, painted backdrops that yeah are noticeable, but it's a technical marvel to behold in all seriousness fully showcasing fantasy and imagination and that my dear ones are what movies are made for. Even if the story doesn't necessarily do much for you, there is far more that you can appreciate on screen. I keep trying to wrap my head around the impact this movie has, which is funny because it barely made it's money back but as time passed it was re-released, it was broadcasted on television a lot, home video came around and through persistence got to be an untempered classic. I don't really know what to rate it, I feel it's above such things but if I had to lay it all down and put a number to it I'd give it 4 stars, 9/10! And now we turn the clock simultaneously forward and backward to the 2013 prequel so stay tuned until next time.

The Penguin

It is about as good as everyone says.

Admittedly I wasn't all gung-ho on the prospect of a Penguin show, certainly viable potential but nothing to wet my knickers about and from the slight brief buzz I heard it sounded good enough. I heard the "Gotham Sopranos" comparison and frankly if The Sopranos is anything like this I'm watching it! Crime drama ain't my genre but there is an exception to every rule, and this is it crafting a story you can sink your teeth into with plenty of character building and arcs remarkably done in the obsolete 8 episode structure. When I saw the epilogue to The Batman where you see Oz with Bruce's monologue talking about a power vacuum was all I really needed, but having this series and the bridge showing the wild ass trip Oswald has to undertake to be the king of Gotham is pretty solid! It's an interesting comparison if nothing else to the same character and the same journey presented in Gotham, wildly different tones and story telling but I'm a lover of both. So Oz is starting to make moves climbing the ladder before hitting a speed bump by the name of Sofia Falcone, but he has an up and coming protege named Vic who becomes his right hand man in thebstruggle for something better. Bare bones gist but highly worth watching. Colin Farrell undoubtedly makes his stamp on the character, he was good already in the film but there is no denying he is the Penguin showcasing nothing but pure A-game acting across the board and honestly hits emotional marks that I never would have thought we would see in this character. Award winning? Hey, wouldn't it be nice. Shock of all shocks, flippin' mystery to end all mysteries, I...like Sofia Falcone?? Welllll, let me put it to you this way even though she was losing me near the end of the season I still enjoyed her about 10 billion percent more than the Gotham iteration, Cristin Milioti has such an interesting character journey and she milks it for all it's worth once again putting forth quite potentially award winning acting. You can understand why she does what she does, feel the way she feels, and honestly I was rooting for her a bit. Last of our main leads young Vic played by Rhenzy Feliz, taking on a slightly Jason Todd origin of getting caught trying to steal Oz's rims before slowly coming under his wing as he becomes a novice gangster, he plays it with a lot of heart and is very believable in the role with plenty to do than just be a sidekick to Oz. What's great also is we get almost entire bleeding episodes dedicated to each of their backstories making us connect and therefore care more, aceing the balancing act in my opinion between past and current events. Also I have to shoutout Deidre O'Connell as Oz's mom which was a prospect I was leaping for joy upon discovering, injecting an intense dose of realism to such a lavishly ludicrous world and the dynamic and relationship between Oswald and Francis plays the full emotional gambit. Pretty phenomenal. Didn't take long I'll admit for it to hit this is a grown up show for adults, about as many F bombs in an episode I drop in a day, not skimping out on the blood, you flat out see a tiddy in episode one, like they picked a lane and stuck to it! While the plot didn't exactly twist and twirl it has ways to keep your attention and never gets dull for a second, hell I was blowing through the episodes as fast as I could and not just for the purposes of this review either! The production value truthfully wowed me at times, the scope of the street sets, the architecture, the combined drip of Oswald and Sofia makes the seawall collapse look like a spilled glass of water, the interiors, the vehicles, combined with the non-stop stunning skyline of Gotham all gets an A+ from me. I want to say so much but that would ruin the show, you just gotta go see it. Am I expecting a lot of callbacks to it in the second Batman film? Here and there, perhaps very much like the returning actors and callbacks were present in this series, and no I wasn't expecting to see vengeance himself appear, not even as a brief silhouette. I look at this show like the supplemental material from Star Wars, you don't have to watch Andor, you don't have to watch Clone Wars to understand the films but it adds a lot to the experience when you do even as the series stand on their own merits. Do you really need to watch the movie to get this series? I don't think so actually, it's self contained enough and fills whatever gaps need filling without being exposition. It's written well enough and has style and artistic qualities enough to where you can watch it and have a great time. I'm sure it was a trip to watch it weekly and whatever the future may hold for Matt Reeve's Batman world I'm gonna keep my eyes open. I give it 4 stars, 9/10!, and next week more witches and fantasy are in the works.

Agatha All Along

How the hell am I supposed to say no to Kathryn and Aubrey? I have an iron will, but even iron melts under enough heat.

Oooooh boy! Wow how in the world do I sum this up and all my myriad thoughts? Well, disclaimer up front I did not rewatch Wandavision, I did not read up on the finale of Wandavision, so we're walking into this sorta blind. We kinda kick off in the same fashion where Agatha is now Agnes, a police detective in the town of Westview and by the by I would gladly watch several seasons of that show within a show, before the facade is ripped away and Agatha is on a quest to get her groove back along with a ragtag coven of witches. I...barely know where to start. Deep slow breaths, maintain composure. You didn't have to sell me on this show beyond Kathryn and if you thought I was crushing before this, it is getting plain out of hand at this point! Whatever service or favor I did to get this show and the things therein, clearly I need to double down on my next sacrifice or favor because this could not have hit more of my buttons coincidentally. I do not need to tell you how good of an acting job she does, Agatha is kind of my role model in this and firmly exemplifies why I love villains. Total sassy smartass, out for herself, opportunistic, just flawless qualities. Dare I say, I'm smitten. Joe Locke is our young nàive witch in training William, sort of taken under Agatha's wing as he seeks The Witch's Road, a gauntlet task that offers any wish to the victor. He has a lot of charm and likability, a very good secondary lead that comes to a bigger role in the end. Then we have our coven comprising of four witches, each with a specific field of magic they are proficient in but have more character than just a role. Sasheer Zatama as Jennifer, a potions heavy witch with a negatively charged past with Agatha, a hard sell on the Road trip but comes in handy a good few times. Then we have Patti LuPone as Lilia, possesing a unique gift of divination but often remembers things the wrong way around, I really liked her backstory and the kindness but realism of her place in the world was a nice touch. Of course we need some muscle in a crew so enter Ali Ahn as Alice, bit more hardheaded and has a rough past with a proclivity for protection spells because of it, I almost felt there was a romance thing between her and William but then I remembered that boy be just 16 and I shot that down quick, I'm a sucker for a strong lady too. And oho Aubrey Plaza madwoman that she is, basically the antagonistic wild card thrown in the mix as Rio, that none of the others trust but have to rely on her earth magic, it's easily the most serious part I've ever seen her in and she does pretty solid work showing she can do dramatic parts but chooses not to. Respect. Actually now that I think about it, the series has a pretty good way of unfolding with 9 episodes (ooh scandalous breaking the rule of 8) each ranging from 30 to 45 minutes, and while the cliffhangers save for one aren't earth shattering it doesn't dawdle. We get Agatha back, she starts up her makeshift coven, and the vast majority is them travelling the winding road with challenges and personalities clashing. They really do not waste a minute of your time and don't even truly have to balance several plots and focuses more on the characters and their situations. That's grand! And the overall production and more importantly the style herein is what made me love it as much as I did, fully embellishing the witch imagery from contesting stereotypes to little nods in the background of witchy cinema from the past made it highly enjoyable to watch. There's even some artsy gorgeous shots at periods, with the love and care present in all aspects of the production. It engrossed me and how many times can I say that about Marvel? The humor, the situations, the characters, the story and themes gave me so much to enjoy. It's funny how I barely ever go out of my way to watch the MCU but all the stuff I do pick hasn't failed me yet from Doctor Strange, to She-Hulk, to Iron Man 1, to Agatha, I don't miss probably because I know my tastes. Very very happy to have watched this and though I doubt there will be a seaon two, this was a nice remedy for me in the post Halloween blues. I give it 3.5 stars, 8/10! And oh yes it is time again to visit Gotham, happy days!

Heretic

Hohohohoholy shhhhit!

My day has been made going to see this movie! On viewing of the trailer it seems like this mostly natural with a lemon twist of supernatural survival horror about these two religious girls getting trapped in this guy's house and there are horrors in the basement they need to progress through, what we actually get though similar, if this is even a genre and if not I'm copyrighting it now, is a religious thriller. It's a psychological thriller with heavy religious themes, and even if you are terribly religious I fullheartedly say go see it. I am not, so I had to weigh it on it's own merits and the horror aspect, which admittedly is very good even if not much happens in the grand scheme of things. The fact it had such a strong impact on me as a non-religious dude and how they discuss belief and the lineage of monotheistic religions was not only interesting but hilarious. Maybe I'm just a sick bastard with a weird ass sense of humor, probably very true, but I laughed a good few times in this! It has incredible mood and a heavy sense of dread and realistic horror rightfully so considering the situation these poor girls are in, but Hugh Grant oh my stars he is eating this script and savoring every delicious morsel. Might ruin other Hugh Grant movies for you but for my money, absolute favorite performance of his, so off the wall and yet kinda creeps me out is a flawless recipe for character crafting in my book. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East sell this whole movie, and especially so for Chloe cause I rather gravitated toward her character and needed her to be okay at the end of it all, and testament to the acting prowess of our leads because the vast majority of this movie is just these 3 in a room and it's amazing how well it works, they react as normally as humanly possible in such a terrifying situation. The facial acting, the body language, the voice inflection of fear and nervousness, phenomenal. And the best part is the plot keeps twisting and turning, some might say it's trying too many things but I knew there was an endgoal here and the way it threads to it was great. It gets to a certain point and I was just like ex-squees me?? You're in for a trip. In fact if I'm being really honest, this is probably gonna make the top 10 of the year. I expected it to be good but what I got was so much more interesting and engrossing than I could have anticipated. Now that's just me, I can only urge you to see it and judge it on your own standards, but the overall effect is astonishing! And isn't that what counts in the end? Good show biz my friends, the effect! 4 glowing pentagrams, 9/10! We came out on a high note and we're switching gears to television next week so get ready for the comic books!

The Omen

I guess in a really weird sort of way, without the son of Satan there would be no Superman.

Richard Donner's feature length directorial debut was a milestone in horror history, not only was it terribly succesful but gained two nominations at the Oscars completing the unholy trinity of Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. Now I did not know even half of this movie in comparison to Rosemary's Baby, I of course heard of it and knew some plot points but ultimately had no clue where the movie was going. It's almost framed as a mystery of this wealthy political family who adopts a son who is more than they bargained for, as both religious and unreligious figures try to assist and discern the origins of young Damien. I personally felt the mystery worked and worked well because unlike with Rosemary we don't really know how this all came about, who was in on it, and even what the end goal of such machinations could be. Not knowing sometimes is much scarier. So we essentially follow the father Robert played by Gregory Peck as he pieces all this together and has to come to terms with the fact he may have to kill his son. There's drama to that, it's not heavy handed or preachy but when you get an actor as good as Gregory, who at this period of time was pretty much done with acting all together and still delivers a strong performance as you would expect is something to be admired. Lee Remick I feel had just a bit more that could have been integrated in the story as the mother Kathryn, we get bits of her becoming wary and untrusting of Damien but I feel we could have went farther with it, but performance wise still pretty good and memorable. Same can be said for Harvey Stephens as Damien, not the focal point of the movie as you would be led to believe but for one so young we got a lot out of his performance to where you're not really sure if he's flat out evil or not which I like. Billie Whitelaw is kind of the mirror of that as Mrs. Baylock, where you only get moments but she's such a presence and has this dark look about her that you don't need more than that! It's simple, subtle, and doesn't need expounding upon. Anytime I get to see David Warner in a movie is a happy occasion and lord knows I miss the man and his talents, and I like the progression of starting as a innocuous character but becomes the second protagonist in this story and he just never fails to deliver regardless of part. Also I have to shoutout Patrick Troughton who again isn't present a lot as Father Brennan but commands respect and you know he's on the level about what he knows, of course I'm attached because of Doctor Who but it doesn't take away a fraction of his acting chops. The movie is a bit under 2 hours and it keeps your interest throughout, building on the drama of the characters than the horror of evil which I think elevates it considerably. Any other movie would have this kid blatantly act like a hellspawn and be this overblown conflict of good against evil, but instead we see the effect of the revelation on this family and you do care about them enough. The directing of Richard Donner and the writing of David Seltzer make this film what it is, with no small amount of appreciation for Jerry Goldsmith's score which can be both beautiful and horrific, all those elements craft a finely made intriguing film that I almost feel the least amount of people have seen when stacked against the other three. Everybody has watched The Exorcist, a good chunk of people have viewed Rosemary's Baby, I don't hear too many people discuss The Omen which is a shame because it does stand strong on it's own merits. Does it go for your typical style of horror or devil movies? Not at all! But it isn't trying to be above that either. It just does it in it's own way and I can respect that a great deal. I give it 3.5 stars, 8.5/10! New movie incoming Friday.

Rosemary's Baby

Yeah I'm not letting go of the season quite just yet.

I knew what I was getting into, in fact I'd be surprised to find anyone who doesn't know the gist or especially the ending of Rosemary's Baby. It doesn't help we've had over 50 years of cultural osmosis to aid in that little factoid, so do I just spoil the damn thing? I'm angry enough to do it, not because the quality of the picture is bad or any technical details or whatever, but because the events, the AUDACITY on display here would make anyone lose it. I won't lie to you for a second the opening titles made me vastly more interested to watch this than any other reason a person could throw at me, and why the hell does nobody talk about horror gimmick maestro William Castle being the producer on this film?? This is the guy who gave us House On Haunted Hill, The Tingler, and The Night Walker but nobody will put respect on his name for helping get this movie made. Unacceptable! Frankly I'd rather bring that up than the director, I don't really torch people to the ground on this show but yeah not so fucking much with this guy and the laundry list of offenses he's garnered. I wash my hands of this madness. But what really gets on my metaphorical tits with this film is just the sheer blatant abuse poor Rosemary goes through after just moving into a new apartment and wanting to start a family in New Yawk Cit-ay. It starts off innocently enough but that spiral hit for me fast after Rosemary and her husband Guy get to know the neighbors, but of course me knowing the scheme I was ready to start swinging on anyone, in particular her husband. Maybe it's telling in a good sort of way that I do not come into contact with gaslighting asshats regularly, so hearing this sack of shit almost non-stop gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss it up was...infuriating to say the least. In fact I kept waiting for something, anything for Rosemary to take some initiative on and do shit for herself. An empowering film this is not, and when she tries to it's too little too late but I was begging her to murder people in this movie before end credits. Hand over my heart they would have had to redefine the word "manslaughter" after I was done with that prick after the impregnation sequence, basically him chalking up drugging and taking advantage of a young woman as "Yeah it was weird with you being unconscious, but hey I at least trimmed my nails LOL" and even, and EVEN STILL when the other shoe drops and huzzah the Antichrist will walk the earth these sum' bitches are still lying straight to her goddamn face!! What the fuck 1960s??? I'm sure it was done that way to enforce the sheer unwinnable feeling, that dread and paranoia, no semblance of safety in sight kind of mood that pervades the film but at a certain point whether you're a mama or a papa if that's your kid coming into question, you're gonna slice a bitch. That is just it. Honestly if at least the husband or that satanist woman who looks like everybody's diabeetus filled aunt got turned into a human pincushion I wouldn't be this upset! But it's only getting louder and I'm tasting iron on my tongue, and you're saying Dude relax it's a movie to which I reply with, I shan't. And you know me, I don't come at this from some uber feminist ragebait horseshit, I'm a reasonable guy but I've experienced a lot of unreasonable things. It really took me by storm, obviously as you can tell but let's at least talk about the good things here cause it really isn't all bad. Mia babe, holy shit you got snubbed at the Oscars cause man oh man did she act it to 11! So sweet, so hopelessly näive, didn't deserve anything that happened to her at all. Which is funny because I hear despite the stalwart dedication of the translation from page to screen, Rosemary has some backbone in the book. John Cassavetes I have no clue how he played this bastard of a husband so well, but it's really a testament to his acting that you just can't stand the guy for a second, so kudos there! The elderly couple down the hall the Castevets again played super well by Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, doing such a range from charming yet slightly annoying busybodies to devout Satan worshippers, proper good acting in my estimation! All the on location shooting in New York makes it feel that more real and the apartment building itself has a lot of character and quirks, plus you get a little timecapsule edge to just being on the streets of quite possibly the most famous city in the world. I like the pacing as well, it's a bit over 2 hours and amps up just right as we progress, some would call it boring because in truth nothing all that much happens until the end that we can definitively say is real but I would argue otherwise. Because of the tone and mood presented you kinda are not sitting comfortably, you know something's up but not fully what. I was kinda surprised how trippy the movie got with it's dream sequences adding another layer of strangeness to it all, and to be fair it's directed competently. I did notice a strong lack of score or soundtrack, save for the credits I swear it's all diegetic which enhances the overbearing mood of it all. So on a technical level and even a story level it's a mighty good film but my God it irked me something fierce. Do I recommend it? Yeah if for no other reason than to say you saw it, but it's solid regardless! I give it 3 stars, 8/10! And who the hell says Halloween is over? So check in tomorrow for another devil movie.

The Mummy's Curse

Happy Halloween ghouls and ghoulettes!

More of a whimper than a bang for the end. Universal was running out of steam for horror films by the mid 40s and nothing really says it louder than the fact both Ghost and Curse came out in 1944 putting an end to The Mummy until Hammer studios got their hands on it. A titanic shift has occured here in both time and space, so apparently 25 years have passed since Ghost which if my math is mathing puts this in the late 1960s but the bigger kicker is the setting has shifted from Massachusets to friggin' Louisiana! That's kind of a wide berth to put it lightly, we got french speaking residents, multiple mentions of swamps and bayous, it's Louisiana. Admittedly the Universal Monster movies like a lot of series back then outside of film serials didn't hold continuity in a great light but even I was surprised how much was in sync picture to picture so this blindisded me a notch. But hey a change is welcome to not get stale, though it's very much business as usual. Priests of Arcam are searching for Kharis in the swamp to take him back to Egypt, the reincarnated princess is being stalked by Kharis, and the whole movie gets wrapped up in the last 5 minutes in true Universal fashion. Is it bad? No I wouldn't go that far, but I do feel if it truly ended with Ghost we would have a pretty damn good trilogy here. There really isn't much in terms of protagonist here, there's a bevy of characters who don't have much part to play so we just focus on the princess Ananka which sounds great! At long last we finally get to meet this girl who's been the goal since 1940 but since she's reincarnated she just takes the shape of a amnesiac with only hints of her past, which is a shame. Even Kharis doesn't have much to do if anything becoming the mindless killing machine we were warned about from the start, strangling any soul who's at the wrong place and the wrong time. Even the ending is pretty lackluster but it has brief memorable moments and flashes of something good that keeps it from being an utter slog and far from unwatchable. It's the weakest of the bunch but that is the curse of sequels. If I had to do a ranking I'd go:

4. The Mummy's Curse

3. The Mummy's Ghost

2. The Mummy's Hand

1. The Mummy's Tomb

 

2.5 stars for this one, 6.5/10. And it appears the eleventh hour is over now and the clock is striking twelve. This was a grand October here and elsewhere, and I hope it was for you too. Wherever you may be and whatever you do this most wonderous of days, you'll always have a little corner for Halloween right here.

The Mummy's Ghost

This may have the best ending to any of the Universal Monster movies.

Not a huge leap in quality this time from Tomb to Ghost, but a decent enough entry. Well not much time has passed since the last movie with the Mummy still in Mapleton and a new priest is introduced yet again but this time with a much different agenda, pretty much grab Ananka and get the hell out of Dodge. Yet again a 60 minute runtime to wrap up the plot, with less of a body count and less interesting protagonists in the form of 30 year old looking college students Tom and Amina who got a bit of a romance going, God bless them the writers try to give character where they can but the runtime is the real killer here and not much changes in the next movie I can tell you that. Will however say Ramsay Ames is a stunningly gorgeous woman, easily the best looking lady woman of the series especially when she gets those white streaks in her hair. And congrats to all the women out there who have that too, you're stunners! But anyway, John Carradine is our new priest and I feel that's an actor who never got his flowers despite every movie I've seen him in he does damn good work, the eyework alone in this movie is intense enough to applaud. Of course Lon returns and though he doesn't get much fanfare in his first scene has some standout moments including the above mentioned ending. Do I spoil it? It is a movie that just turned 80 years old but it's not a very well known movie either, and I think it's so good that I dare not ruin it. All I can say is that was ballsy as hell and I love it to death. It makes the whole movie worthwhile and saves it from being mediocre. It doesn't have the atmosphere and direction as the last but has it's shining moments in other areas. So I'll give it 3 stars, 7/10, you really can't lose much over an hour long movie and who the hell wants to watch stuff like Heaven's Gate or Cleopatra or Gone With The Wind when you can watch all the Kharis Mummy movies instead?

The Mummy's Tomb

Now this is more traditional fare.

Made 2 years after The Mummy's Hand we jump three decades in plot time with a new priest and Kharis venturing to Massachusets to destroy the bloodline of Steve Banning from the first movie because revenge and curses just go hand in hand, as the town of Mapleton has to contend with a murderous mummy. What surprised me twofold from the movie's start is the time period and the return of Dick Foran and Wallace Ford from the first movie, I figured Hand was pretty much the 1940s but on further investigation could have been anywhere from the start of the 1900s to 1940 cause it sure as hell doesn't look like 1970 in this movie but very much is centered in the 40s, and for a Universal monster movie to have this level of continuity of both plot and characters between films is like Marvel levels today! I think I can easily say this is my favorite of the bunch so far dropping the action comedy shtick and giving us atmosphere and horror while still basically treading the same plot as before with some appreciated variation. The cemetery, the woods, the amount of shadow play on sets, the reused music from The Wolf Man, this makes a superior sequel that pushes my buttons in all the right ways. True our leads aren't as interesting as Steve and Babe, this time being Steve's son John and his fianceè Isobel but with a runtime of one singular hour there isn't a lot of room for character depth but they act it just fine and dandy. Turhan Bey though not as slimy as George Zucco in Hand, has a real good presence and is the standout performance for me. Lon Chaney Jr. who was pretty much the main movie monster star of the decade is on the same level as Tom Tyler neither better or worse, I feel is carried aloft higher through the direction and atmosphere giving Kharis a lot more scare factor and upping the body count gives it a proto-slasher vibe. I do kinda wish the Mummy movies of this decade were longer to give more breathing room and thusly better quality, but who ever said having a fun sized length monster movie was a bad thing? I give it 3.5 stars, 7.5/10!

The Mummy's Hand

It wouldn't be October without the Universal Monsters.

Made in the second run of Universal horror spanning the 1940s, The Mummy's Hand does not follow the Imhotep mummy from 1932 but probably the more iconic Kharis mummy. Set in presumably the 40s we follow archaeologist Steve and his friend Babe who are down on their luck in Egypt but come across an artifact leading to the tomb of the Princess Ananka, however the tomb is protected by priests who use Kharis as their weapon. It's very different in tone to the 1932 Mummy with more an emphasis on action and comedy than horror and romance, yet it doesn't lose it's footing and still delivers the goods. Most people when thinking of a mummy probably envision a decrepit bandaged mummy, with dragging feet who strangles people and it all started here. The story practically blazes through with a whopping runtime of 67 minutes, and it's an entertaining enough plot for me anyway. I like our leads with Steve being more the straight man while Babe is the jokester, I've heard some call it a poor imitation of Abbott & Costello but I don't feel that was the intention and the movie did get some strong laughs out of me from time to time. I almost feel it's a rotten shame fellas with the name Babe have gone out of style, I personally would love a guy friend named Babe! I also like Marta who really is the no nonsense member of the party to keep these guys in line and while not a deep substantial romantic player works that side well enough. Tom Tyler is Kharis for this picture alone before strangling duties were given to Lon Chaney Jr., and while it does take a little while to unearth him there's some creepy shots and memorable moments. The production side of things is good solid fare from Universal at this point with nice sets and costumes, and the music score is nice too. It's not an immortal classic like the golden age horror of the 30s but for us Mummy fans it satisfies and is still a good movie on it's own merits. I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10, and we got three more to go before the end of it all.

Venom The Last Dance

Well indeed it was the last.

It's funny with this series, from the beginning you could argue that it already lost half the fanbase due to the tone and quality of the film, and lost even more with Carnage, and I really hate to say it but the Last was indeed where they lost me. Now did I abjectly hate it start to finish? Not at all! There were a good few moments that made me laugh, I appreciated some badassery near the tail end, and was proud of the filmmakers not being chickenshit and actually ending it all. However! From the start I could tell this wasn't going to be an entirely good experience yet it's hard to really quantify that despite the multitude of factors that didn't click for me. But basically we pick up for like 2 minutes where Carnage left off with Eddie in the MCU before he inexplicably gets warped back to his universe as symbiote hunters start populating the world to hunt Venom with the duo being pushed to the severing point. So let's discuss some positives! I'll admit the movie did get me emotionally invested in the relationship between Eddie and Venom at points cause going in knowing that title you expect it to be a goodbye so a quiet moment or two actually worked nicely. The humor is still kinda hair brained but landed about 50% of the jokes for me so I can't hate it. Seeing a particular Symbiote at the finale wreck shit real good and watch her be a badass was rad man, I'm not that well informed on the comics so I don't know the character's name but she left an impact. And Mrs. Chen our fucking golden girl since day one, our queen that is the brightest center of the universe in a film that's farthest from, short scene but sweet and goofy, 10/10! Now for the negatives. May I direct you to the tactic colloquially known as a fucking bait and switch on the MCU, or at least I'm sure it is despite me still not catching up on Spiderman but even I know that stirred some waves at the end of Carnage and it goes precisely nowhere except for a Thanos joke. Zippidee-doo-dah! This might be the largest criticism levelled against the movie for me but my lord we get sidetracked on tangents with secondary characters, who yeah have a place in the story and come into play at the end but they spent waaaay too much time on them! This is a bit over 100 minutes without credits, they don't have time to be lolligagging but continue to do so anyway. I don't need airtight characters in a story arc that are justified in their existence, I just need decent characters here and there along the story. And to the actor's credits they don't phone this shit in, they're committed enough and don't have awful stories but it's just off. Further exemplified and even magnified by the editing, holy balls this editing. I'd almost say this is an editor's first project cause they cut so sloppily and rapidly including minute details that simply should not be there at all, and how the story progresses and the emotional crux of it is disassembled because of such choices. The potential in the script was there, but focused on in the wrong areas. I hate to go there but it's called Venom, we come to see Venom, and we don't focus the story on Venom. He's just part of a carousel of other characters that get I dare say equal parts screentime or it at least felt like it. Damn near everything should have been on the backs of Eddie and Venom, the driving force that keeps the plot moving, the emotional crucible at the thought of them being seperated forever, and the comedic relief whether too goofy or not is part of the tone for this series. The ending happens so fast it left me severely underwhelemed and asking, that's it? That's how we're doing this? No emotion, no catharsis, no interest but rather disbelief. Admittedly I didn't marathon the trilogy but now I want to for the In Retrospect of this, just to see if I can calculate where they just dropped the ball. Kelly you wrote the last two in this trilogy, you wrote Cruella, yeah you wrote Fifty Shades Of Grey too and I understand a paycheck is a paycheck but shit girl! I'm not mad I'm just wondering what's up? Was there interference, was it just a problematic shoot, did the movie you really wanted people to see just end up on the cutting room floor for one reason or another? I'm just kinda blown away by it all. The faults are plain as day but I still stress I didn't hate it, it's just middle of the road. 1.5 stars, 5/10, I can't fully recommend it but to not end on a drag I got a classic movie series for you next week that follows our tradition of black and white horror fare.

Basket Case

Odd.

It's a special kind of an experience when you watch something like Basket Case, admittedly it's one of the most original and unique horror movies ever made bar none but I almost don't know how to feel about it. The directorial debut of Frank Henenlotter is the story of a young man named Duane who we only know two things about, he always carries a wicker basket around with him and is bumping off doctors. What's great is that if you don't really know the twist or the situation of Duane, it's a movie that keeps you guessing even after the 30 minute mark when you finally see what's in the basket. Shot on an extremely low budget that started out with just $16,000 but slowly garnered more as the still in production film showed footage to backers, it's pretty great what all they do with it! With footage in and around New York City, some bloody fantastic death scenes, along with stop motion and puppetry special effects, gets an approving thumbs up from me! It's not a super involved story that barely hits the 90 minute mark with credits yet doesn't waste any time for the audience. The acting is kinda here and there but I think that's part of the charm for low budget horror movies, with good acting from Kevin Van Hentenryck as our loner Duane, Terri Susan Smith as Sharon the love interest, and Beverly Bonner as Casey the next door neighbor of Duane who hold their own and bring a sense of professionalism to a mostly first time film production crew. The rough film stock, sets, and crude effects surprisingly work really well and you don't bash the movie for any of it, never an element present that takes you out of the film which considering how friggin' weird it is says quite a lot! It's a very humble beginning yet has spawned a cult status over the 40 years since it was released. Plus any movie especially a horror film that shows full frontal male nudity has some serious balls, pun intended. You really just don't see that barely ever so that's an impressive feat under it's belt. It's bizarre but it's decent and I'm happy I saw it, may not look like much but you can find treasure even in a dumpster. 2.5 stars, 7/10, and new movie time coming up next with a certain Symbiote.

Hellraiser

This has been a movie I've wanted to review since almost the beginning, and it's been one of those movies where I keep pushing it back year after year. But I've finally seen it.

Based off the book by Clive Barker who took it upon himself to adapt and also direct the feature film, and my God is this story bizarre. Following the aftermath of a shady individual named Frank who acquires a unique puzzle box and upon solving it summons four horrific entities that literally tear him to bits, a short time later relatives move into the house who inadvertently ressurect Frank and he has plans to become a new man again with murder and freaky ass imagery abound. This easily is the most disgusting movie I have ever seen in my life, if I had a dollar everytime I said eww or made a sound of disgust I'd be a well off man before even the halfway point. The special effects are truly special and usurps The Thing as the most grotesque visuals I've seen in a horror film for my money anyway. I'd love to read the original work and am aware of the differences Clive made himself in making the movie, in fact this was his directorial debut and I'll admit he did not do a bad job in the slightest! The acting is a bit more than your ususal horror fare, with a lot of love going to Claire Higgins who is the most complex of the characters she just did such good work with this material, and I gotta admit real quick because I've seen far far too many movies I was looking at Andrew Robinson and was like I know you but why? Guess what, dude was Scorpio in the first Dirty Harry movie! So that was a big treat for me to see him act in this and he gets his moments. Despite all the promotional material the leader of the summoned entities known as the Cenobites known famously as Pinhead is not in the film a great deal and really comes more into play near the end but the performance and look is rock solid, with Doug Bradley nailing the power and dominating presence that grabs your attention seamlessly. You can tell they had a dedicated cast and crew for this and honestly it's a miracle the production studio, Roger Corman's New World Pictures, let them do what was in the final cut. It may not have as strong a representation in pop culture or fans as other horror juggernauts but it's a good movie that deserves to be seen more in my estimation. I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10! And while the month is coming closer to an end, we have such sights to show you...