Krampus

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

It was a toss up between this and Black Christmas this year, but I felt Krampus was much more the Christmas movie than a horror film with a Christmas backdrop. It's definitely an unconventional Christmas movie but certainly one that shouldn't be dismissed. Our old friend Michael Dougherty returns to give us another great holiday film, centered around a young boy named Max who feels that Christmas isn't what it used to be and with the arrival of his relatives feels very disillusioned with the holiday and rips his letter to Santa into shreds, which causes the arrival of the mirror universe equivalent of Santa Claus the eponymous Krampus. Yes, I know Krampus is very much a deeply rooted historical figure in Europe like Saint Nicholas but I'm a geek, I make Star Trek jokes, so sue me. As far as my knowledge goes this was a very average movie in the eyes of both critics and audiences, if anything it fits the Trick r' Treat status being a cult classic film that slowly gets more of an audience each year. I'm not entirely sure what people expected this movie to be but I really liked it! It's not a straight up horror movie, it's PG-13, it has a bit of emphasis on comedy, while it starts going down to the wire early on in the movie there's not much in terms of scares. It's more like a Gremlins situation, where the creepy stuff is there but it's never focused on. I can see that upsetting major horror fans, and I can see people really not enjoying the Christmas aspect, it does fall inbetween genres but if you're in the right mindset and just want to see a well made, creative, and interesting movie that goes against the grain of this particular time of the year then give it a go. There's a lot to like in the movie and I really have no qualms watching it every December. I love the family interactions in this movie, they hit that so spot on and it really does feel like a situation countless individuals face, seeing relatives during the holidays that you could honestly live without seeing. And yeah, if I had some stereotypical redneck relatives coming to my house for Christmas I'd be in a less than jolly mood too, but as the movie goes on and when push comes to shove you can see they don't hate each other and find common ground with each other, they're still family and after saving each others asses a few times they start getting along. I think the actor who plays Max is really good, and does fit that 10 year old headspace especially concerning the Santa thing, and the relationship between him and the grandmother is actually very nice. I like the fact we see Krampus a bit throughout the movie and isn't just pure buildup until his appearance before the end, it's a great design and certainly carries a strong presence to the very end. Again, major respect for the director only using CG when necessary, there's lots of practical effects and costumes used for Krampus and his minions, and they all look fantastic with each having a unique design and are memorable. I absolutely do say this is a Christmas movie, not only do the visuals always have some aspect of Christmas in them, whether it be snowmen, gingerbread houses, decorations galore, and enough snow to go around, but it has that Christmas spirit to it. Because as it turns out, what truly summons Krampus is the fact that only when people have no hope, are greedy, self-absorbed, and have no love or respect for the season does he appear. All of which told fantastically in a straight up stopmotion story by the grandmother, so it does reinforce that you need to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. It's actually warranted in this movie, I gave some serious good grief to A Christmas Carol over the fact that most iterations have Scrooge basically scared into loving Christmas, but here it makes sense because Krampus is the exact opposite of Santa Claus and will take away the things you love most instead of give. They handle it very well and there's always a chance of redemption. Which leads me to the ending, which I won't spoil of course, but you can have your own interpretation of it. It's not ambigous but you can see it one way or another. I really like this movie and it should have more fans, it's very different absolutely but if the decision came where I either had to watch Krampus or some bullshit Hallmark movie which is the exact same movie that every Hallmark movie is, I'm picking the one with killer gingerbread men. Final sum up, Krampus has a place in the holiday season for me, and perhaps you should think on the words "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why" more carefully in the future. 4 stars, 7.5/10!

I'm being torn apart. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?

In Retrospect: Godzilla King Of The Monsters

Breaking news, I'm late on this one. It's been on video for what, 3 weeks and I'm just now getting to it? Yeah...sorry.

Spoilers people, I still love this movie just as much as I did in theaters! I seriously have no idea what in the hell people were expecting from this movie but I got what I wanted. I mean, in a Godzilla movie there's a lot of monsters fighting?? I never would have guessed! I could go on all day about the people who complained that this movie is just action and has "too much fighting in it", so I'll just say this and move on, they're idiots. Okay let's move on class! Now of course I took ever so slight issue with this movie because no film is perfect, except for that one movie I never shut the hell up about, but the good stuff outweighed the bad to where I could deal with it. I wasn't a fan of our new main characters, Mark was one note and I didn't understand why he was even in the movie, Emma was batshit crazy and more importantly an absolute moron who's motivations could not have been more poor if she tried, I liked Maddie though I got some Gamera vibes from her, plus the family dynamic didn't hold much water for me. It's kinda hard for me to feel bad about a family when almost every member infuriates me, and they have no real gripping connection. I could go on about more details with Emma but again I'll summarize, so if these kaiju or these titans as they movie loves to call them have world healing powers AND you literally have a machine that could make them roll over and play dead if you wish then might I ask what the big issue is beyond the fact that you are made of stupid "Dr." Emma Russell? Ugh, Vera I adore you so and I know for a fact you have worked in better roles than this but my God I can't stand this character. But it's a story/script problem, every person acts very well in this movie and I have more performances I must talk about. I'm actually really happy Charles Dance lives to die another day, cause I know he can give an even more badass potrayal in future films (Did you know he was the Phantom Of The Opera back in 1990? Weird.). What I hate more than the main characters is the mostly unceremonious deaths of our one link to the first movie! Now I could argue as to why Mark instead of Dr. Serizawa should have sacrificed himself but it doesn't hurt the story that he did. I just hate seeing him go, how's he supposed to watch the rematch of the century? I hate it. Oh and kill my favorite girl why don't you? I can understand if Sally Hawkins could not have been in the next movie or two, I have no issue with that but why kill her off? Just write her out in the next movie, oh she's working on some important research for a new species so she can't come and watch Godzilla wreck Kong. Pisses me off! Urgh, moving on. At least I fully love the monsters, I'm so happy they kept Ghidorah as a space dragon because it improved the movie, Mothra is a friggin' Queen and no one disrespects the Queen and lives, unlike Rodan who's a little bitch and will kneel before anyone, and I really dig the new monsters we mainly see at the end. But good lord I love the big King G, I dig the new updated design, I love how he goes all critical meltdown at the end without dying though technically I guess Mothra transferring her power was another nod to Godzilla Vs. DESTOROYAH, he just was the best. I mean obviously, but you know. PS. I do see the fanart of Mothra and Godzilla, and it is absurdly adorable and I love everything about it. But what will come next after Godzilla Vs. Kong? This was a pretty epic movie with a good story, both bad and really damn good character writing, beautiful cinematography and color, and of course incredibly well done monster scenes. So can the title brawl for the world heavyweight king of monsters surpass this? Only time will tell.

Godzilla King Of The Monsters (2019)

Well I'm just a bubble of emotions right now!

See all I want to do is just write this movie is awesome, and amazing, and you should really go see it but I can't do that! I have to talk about it, but I want to talk about every single little thing and I can't do that either because I firmly believe in no real spoilers until at least a movie is out on video. So what the hell do I write? I'm still riding out that fangasm adrenaline and my mind is blank because it was so awesome! Well I really liked the story, it had some twists here and there, payed loving tribute to Toho's flagship series in many many ways, with lots to keep you not only interested but invested, and even if you weren't a major fan of the 2014 movie you'll probably enjoy and appreciate this one a lot. The new characters have interesting dynamics to the story and are gladly welcomed against the three alumni of the 2014 movie. The kaiju themselves have excellent designs and the fact that they throw some things only fans would notice showed that Toho actually had some weight to the production beyond just licensing Godzilla. Now that I think about it, this is the second Toho movie I've done in the theater, so hey great year for them and me! The action is well shot and gets you all kinds of fired up, with never a dull moment even in the human scenes. I'm not sure how this will segueway into Godzilla Vs. Kong, but I am even more interested and excited for that movie now! It's a really good movie, I personally just loved it, but Godzilla is a very niche market even in Japan. He has his dedicated fans all around the world, and I hope this movie creates more. There was a lot of love in the theater for the other monsters than Godzilla, especially Mothra and that makes me very happy and proud of all these creative minds that came up with such fantastic creature, their look, their personalities and history, and the practical effects that made them become reality for people of every nationality and language to love and enjoy. Despite what people may tell you, Godzilla is for everyone and it just takes an open imagination and a big heart for monsters to make you a die hard fan. 65 years running strong, long live the king.