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.