Shameless

Hall of Shame

The start of this episode confused the hell out of me. Why is there no episode recap and the opening credits different? Why are there title cards? Turns out this s a ‘very special’ episode and there are more to come.

So, this was a clip episode about Ian and Mickey. The first new footage shows the newlyweds getting into a fight and from there the clips are placed to show their dysfunctional relationship through the years. One someone brings up a new point, more clips. They talk about their parents, cue clips of their terrible parents, etc. They even put some bloopers in from filming this episode.

For Ian and Mickey fans, this is a treat. It’s a 40 minute highlight real and it shows off how long 11 seasons really are. The kids on this show were literal kids when it started. There’s a massive history for fans of Shameless to revisit and I’d imagine they’ll do segments for every major character. They’d have to do Fiona so that raises my hopes they got Emmy Rossum to come back for one last episode.

The next new plot moving episode isn’t airing until January 10th, so we’ll see what characters are up for the next retrospective.

Shameless S11E03

Frances Francis Franny Frank

This was a fantastic Frank episode.

The episode starts with the entire Gallagher family starting the day in the same house. It’s typical chaos as everyone has things to do and places to be. Everyone is in the kitchen for only a few minutes before heading out. Deb claims she can’t get Franny to school so she asks someone to help her out. She leaves first without getting an answer from anyone. Liam and Frank are the final two in the kitchen and Liam leaves Frank in charge after Frank absently minded volunteers to take Franny to school. Frank being Frank (and he’s stoned) he doesn’t really know where Franny’s pre-school and he takes her to the wrong school. He has a bit of sense that he can’t leave her there, so he turns it into ‘take your grandkid to work’ day. And today, Frank is on a cannabis procurement mission. Frank and Franny walk around town essentially doing drug deals.

Frank is in his element for the rest of the episode. He sees it as teaching the youngest generation of the family his wisdom and tricks (something he loves to do, which he last did with Liam) and he has a blast with Franny. Franny was raging against the machine with Deb at the start but when she’s out with Frank, she’s very agreeable. He basically uses her in price negotiations because no one wants to (or knows how to) argue with a pre-schooler.

And then something odd happens. While walking down the street, Frank forgets where they are going and where they came from. Unless he’s completely blitzed, this doesn’t normally happen. He’s more likely to pass out where ever he is and wake up and continue on. But Frank is straight by his standards so this a big red flag with Frank’s health to any long time viewer (that would be me). He’s been plugging away pretty well since his kidney transplant years ago. A bad turn, that’s honestly overdue considering how Frank has treated his body for so long, looks to be coming.

With Franny’s help to remind him of what their doing, Frank course corrects and they keep plugging away until the search party of Deb and Sandy find them. Deb is pissed, having found out that Franny never made it to school when she dropped off snacks for Franny at school. The search costs Deb her days gig and possibly her entire business as a handy-woman for hire.

Carl has a much better second day at work. As expected, he’s partnered with a much more like-minded Sergent named Lessie James. She thinks he looks like Billie Ellish, so she comes up with his nickname the minute they meet. Sergent James is a go-getter. She answers all calls, chases and throws perps around, and even lets Carl drive. He even gets his first collar, which he immediately tells his whole family about. James isn’t much for rules though. She has no problem with bending whatever is needed to get what she needs with throws Carl off. He wants to be the best cop he can be and he questions the rule-breaking as they happen (rather surprising for a Gallagher) as Carl does have some morals. It’ll be interesting to see how she influences him. The potential is there for him to lean into being a dirty cop. It’s hard to believe Carl would be squeaky clean but she could create something really bad by teaching him how to do it. They are going to be spending a lot of time together.

Tami has a family crisis. Her sister’s new baby (Brad, Lip’s boss is the father/husband) has a severe heart abnormality and it will cost a fortune in medical bills. Along with Covid-19 it’s another real world issue that millions in the country face. Lip offers any support he can in this trying time for his extended family.

Ian and Mickey’s marriage turns into a ‘who is the man’ in the relationship fight. It escalates to the point where V has to intervene and layout some life facts for them to stop acting like animals. I love it when V snaps into action and she’s hilarious and strong in this entire episode, mostly because…

Kevin is an idiot. Flush with their drug money, Kev can’t help but show it off. He turns himself into a rapper in a music video so the second you see the money he put into his truck, you know what’s going to happen. Compounded with the fact that cannabis is a federally restricted drug despite being legal in the state of Illinois, banks can’t accept cash from sales because it’s illegal drug money (another major real-world issue). So the Ball’s have cash all over the place. Which, Kevin brags about. So of course, he gets robbed. It works out for Mickey though, as he offers his service as armed security so they can launder their money at the casino safely. Combined with their cut with Frank, the Ball’s are giving up half of their income. It’s better than being completely robbed.

Once the day is over, everyone lands back at the house and Deb pops off about how everyone left Franny to Frank. Lip is quick to point out that no one agreed to take her to school because no one heard Deb ask, and she took off assuming someone would take care of her. Deb keeps the blame off herself and Lip isn’t having it, telling her to take responsibility and to realize that everyone has their own problems to handle. Flush with the frustration of his nephew being deathly ill, Lip lets a brutal line fly. “Don’t blame us for you being a bad mother.”

That stops everyone dead in their tracks and Deb ducks upstairs in silence. Lip immediately regrets saying it but it’s done damage. Before this, Frank went to the Alibi to work with Kev and V and he talks about how great Franny is. So much so, he named a mix of cannabis after her. When Kevin says he’s never done that for any of his actual kids, Frank answers well, they’re all bitter, angry, and ungrateful. Wise V quickly suggests he think about why that is. How about those kids’ parents who might have caused those attitudes with their endless awful actions. The message gets across to Frank.

At the very end, Frank gets Franny to wear a dress, one of the things that she refused to do this morning. All dressed up, she poses for pictures for the upcoming Little Miss Southside competition that’s coming up. It’s a bit of sunshine for an otherwise bad day for Deb.

There were a lot of story overlaps which is my favorite way for Shameless to do its narratives. It’s always the most interesting when more family members get involved and interact. The show feels more like a cohesive ensemble when the writers do this. Frank forgetting what he was doing threw me for a loop so amongst everything going on, that’s the biggest moment in the season for me so far.

Shameless S11E02

Go Home, Gentrifier!

This was a pretty quiet and tame week as a lot of set ups were started.

First, Carl had a disappointing first day at work. Pumped to hit the mean streets of Chicago as a cop, he’s partnered with a veteran officer who doesn’t put his neck out for anyone. This is the opposite of what Carl wants to do so it’s very frustrating. He sticks by him though, giving a good line about his commitment to being the best partner he can. He manages to get his superior officer to go out to celebrate all of the new recruits and it looks like Carl is going to get a new partner. Safe to say he’ll have a very different work ethic.

Liam has found a new hustle, selling PB&J sandwiches for cheap to the kids who can’t afford a hot meal at the cafeteria. Because their parents are behind on payments, they get nasty food. Liam sees an easy opening for monetary and social profit and starts to make his mark when one of the cafeteria ladies tries to stop him.

Lip continues his household hustle and runs into some bad part of the neighborhood problems. His house keeps getting vandalized. He just wants to live and own something nice for once so it’s another layer of struggle he doesn’t need. It turns out that their neighbors are the vandals. They have the same idea as Frank, keep the place just crappy enough to keep investors away and their hometown won’t be gentrified. This is it for just about everyone in the area. If they get priced out, there’s no place for them to go. Lip and Tami take the road of understanding, by doing a little (well, big if we’re being honest) tagging on the house and everyone is happy. They’ll fix up the inside and still be comfortable.

Frank takes the lead in V and Kev’s pot business. After agreeing to a three-way split, Frank finds the product through his street contacts after every legal contact has been cleaned out. With the pandemic in full swing, cannabis use is at an all-time high. Then he teaches them how to make proper edibles, making for increased profit. They sell all of it in a day and Frank wants a bigger cut because he did most of the work (he’s right, for once). V doesn’t like that and she tries to buy the weed herself, only to get busted by Frank, who will now take even more profit for the transgression. It’s fantastic maneuvering by Frank. No one is more streetwise than him so it’s a lot of fun to see him in his element. He put in some legit work–Frank might be lazy and a hardcore addict but he loves a hustle–and got rewarded for it. His cut was $1300. He’ll clear $2k no problem next time which is a small fortune. So the question is, how long will it last and how will it blow up in their face?

Feeling the spousal pressure to get a job, Mickey goes out and his first stop is to get a job at the warehouse Ian works in. The interview doesn’t go well in the best ‘Mickey trying to be honest’ kind of way and he leaves in a huff. Something does catch his eye. They throw out a lot of food when it expires. So, Mickey steals a truck and then steals a dumpster full of packaged food. He brings it to a contact he buys it for cheap after some Mickey fast talk. Frank isn’t the only one who knows how to work the system. An annoyed Ian, after seeing his skimmed first paycheck, can’t say anything when Mickey is rolling around in his cash.

Deb throws a princess party for Franny’s fifth birthday, which she doesn’t want. After all the prep she does, the only thing that hits the mark is Uncle Mickey showing up with toy guns. Yeah, that’s all they did for Deb.

In another quick update, Kermit and Tommy are keeping their distance from each other, and everyone notices. They won’t say why. My bet is on Kermit cracking first.

Shameless Season 11 Episode 1

This Is Chicago

It’s been six months since Ian and Mickey got married and everyone is struggling in a world with Covid-19. It’s not like everyone was doing that well before but here’s a new wrinkle that everyone has to deal with.

Money and jobs are scarce for everyone. With Covid-19 restrictions in constant flux, a lot of businesses have shut down and hours have been cut for those who still have a job.

Lip and Tammi have baby Fred to keep alive and a new home to fix up so Lip is stretching every single dollar they have as far as he can. Lucky for Tammi, Lip is used to being broke so he makes things work far better than she knows.

Ian is working at a warehouse for minimum wage which is better than Mickey as he isn’t doing anything except writing IOUs when raiding their wedding money stash. Ian wants Mickey to get a legal job and we all know the odds of that successfully happening. Ian realizes they left a lot of “adulting” topics unsaid before they got married which is now causing more stress than needed.

Deb is on probation for statutory rape from last season’s fling with her 17-year-old and now ex-girlfriend, Julia. That makes it way harder for her to get a job so she figures she has to make her own business to get any income going. At least she’s got Sandy for support (she’s going to need it).

Frank is raging against gentrification as he spins tales of how clutch the Gallagher family has been to the city of Chicago to a grad student working on a project. He figures the south side has gotten too soft and it’d be good for some classic mayhem to crop up to keep his neighborhood in the neighborhood.

Kev and V are struggling with the bar. Forced to close it for another lockdown, they’ve decided to keep Kev’s gym operating underground and sell newly legalized weed out of the closed Alibi. It’s not legal for them to sell it but it’s bringing in money so who cares about the paperwork for now. Frank takes an interest in their endeavor while bar flies Kermit and Tommy are unconvinced of the benefit of cannabis. The two end up indulging way too much and Phil Collin’s “In The Air Tonight” stirs up something deep between them.

Carl, of all people, is doing the best out of everyone. By hook or by crook (both, actually) he graduates the police academy at the early age of 19. The kid is itching to hit the streets and he’s going to get a steady paycheck? We can only expect calamity on the horizon.

The start of the final season was a lot of fun. It hits all the Shameless marks and judging by the preview, there is a lot of promise from here on out. My only complaint is that Liam didn’t get much screen time, I hope they don’t end up ignoring him in these precious remaining episodes. It’ll also be a crime if Fiona doesn’t make an appearance. There can’t be a complete ending to the show without the elder Gallagher kid!

Euphoria on HBO

I’m a big fan of Euphoria. It’s been a while since season 1 ended and filming of season 2 got shut down because of COVID 19 in March. A few special episodes were shot before the regular season could get filming going again and the first part, “Rue” just went up. It’s so good. The writing is simply fantastic and the acting is award winning. I had to share this section, a part that’s so intense and wise.

The whole episode takes place almost entirely at a diner where Rue talks to her much older and much wiser sponsor, Ali. After he gets through a few of her protective walls, Rue opens up to Ali about hitting and threatening to kill her mother.

ALI

It all depends. Why are you ignoring all of the things you believe?

RUE

‘Cause I wasn’t thinking.

ALI

Okay, but that could just be the struggle of all human beings.

RUE

What?

ALI

Living up to their belief system.

RUE

Not all human beings threaten to kill their mom.

ALI

True. Yours is more extreme. I’ll give you that. But why?

RUE

Why is it more extreme?

ALI

Yeah.

RUE

I don’t know. ‘Cause of, like, drugs, and certain emotional disorders.

ALI

You sure it’s that and not just because you’re a terrible person? I mean it just could be because you’re a piece of shit.

RUE

(chuckles) No, it’s not that.

ALI

I mean, ’cause there’s a lot of people with drug issues and emotional issues that don’t threaten to kill their mothers.

RUE

Yeah. No, I know.

ALI

But you did. And your punishment, the sentence you’re giving yourself is that you, Rue Bennett, are beyond forgiveness. That punishment is way too harsh and it’s also way too easy. It allows you to keep doing exactly what you’re doing without changing because you deserve it. There’s no hope. You’re beyond forgiveness. So you may as well just fuck the fuck off forever and go down the gutter because that’s what this girl, this piece of shit, deserves.

This is why the world keeps getting worse. People keep doing shit that we deem unforgivable and in return, they decide there’s no reason to change. So now you got a whole bunch of people running around who don’t give a fuck about redemption. That’s scary.

After breaking down how Rue is self-destructing despite her saying she’s “functioning” Ali shares what unforgivable thing he did. He shows her that addiction is so powerful, it puts everyone into an endless cycle that changes who you are.

Shameless is back!

The final season has started. I’ll put my review up soon. I’m excited and dreading for the end of one of my favorite shows. Eleven seasons is a ton of time to be with a cast. And I’m saying this as someone who isn’t on the set. This crew has been together for a large chunk of their professional careers. Especially the members who started as children, it’s like a half of their lives.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Hunt for the Wilderpeople opens with a young man named Ricky being delivered to a foster home. It’s an uncomfortable situation, to say the least, but his foster mom Bella is a bright light in a very dark time. She lives in a rural part of New Zealand so Ricky has a lot to adjust to. She does everything she can to help Ricky. Hec, a surly old bushman that Bella has known forever is soon introduced and over the course of a journey that encompasses tragedy, misunderstanding, anger, forgiveness, and love, the Wilderpeople comes to life.

I can’t overstate how much I like this movie. Released in 2016, Wilderpeople is another notch on writer/director/producer/all-around-good-guy Taika Waititi’s belt. The man is a brilliant storyteller who excels at buddy movies. This movie is based on the book “Wild Pork and Watercress” by Barry Crump, so I can’t give all the credit to Waititi for coming up with the story but I can’t think of anyone who currently paints meaningful pictures with heart and humor better than he does.

Most of the movie is with Ricky (Julian Dennison) and Hec (Sam Neill) running through the bush of New Zealand so if they had no chemistry, the movie never would have worked. Most people will know Dennison from his foul-mouthed part in Deadpool 2. I can’t remember the last time I’ve watched Neill in a movie but this is a fantastic reminder of how great an actor he is. Together, they challenge each other to be better people without realizing it.

With the perfect mix of drama, comedy, and action, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the movie to watch for any mood you’re in. As a matter of fact you should go watch it right now.

The King of Staten Island

The King of Staten Island is the semi-biographical life story of comedian Pete Davidson. He plays the title role of Scott, a man now in his early twenties whose life was turned upside down after his firefighter father is killed in the line of duty. Scott pretty much stopped growing up at the age of ten and his act of smoking weed all day and claim to want to be a tattoo artist has gotten stale to the rest of his family.

So, Scott is stuck and he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder. When his sister goes off to college, it threatens his status quo–she’s moving into the future and he isn’t. That leaves him at home with his mother and when he does something stupid, she’s had enough and kicks him out of the house. He goes to his on and off again girlfriend (who has her own ambitions) and she’s had enough of him too. This brings Scott to mix with people and a profession he never thought he would.

I like coming of age stories like this and the cast is really good with Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, and Steve Buscemi. Directed by Judd Apatow there are a bunch of cameos of his friend circle of stand-up comics and actors. It’s a grounded movie that has a lot of heart, which I’m always a fan of. There’s a level of sincerity from Pete Davidson that comes through, especially when he goes on a rant or argues with someone because what’s coming out is what he experienced as a kid and has followed him for his whole life.

While the movie runs a little wrong (Judd Apatow), it’s paced well and the story told is a complete one. I’d say this is more drama than comedy and I think you can dig it even if you don’t like Pete Davidson.

Halloween Movies Part 4

The Witches (2020)- I’ve never read the Roald Dahl and I saw the 1990 adaptation ages ago and can’t remember much of it. The witch designs (super gnarly) are the only images I recognize. That said, The Witches is the story of a young boy and his grandmother duke it out with a coven of witches who are having a convention at a hotel to organize their plan to turn every child into a mouse.

Things you learn: witches hate children more than anything. kids smell like poop to witches, witches have 3 fingers, no toes, and are bald, and Robert Zemeckis turns to CG for everything.

This movie is obviously for children so it’s horror light. There’s a lot of cute stuff, the main boy (who is never given a name) is especially good. He works well with the terrific Octavia Spencer, their family bond is a believable one. The scary images for young kids all come from Anne Hathaway as the Head Witch. She chews up the scenery with glee and when she goes full witch. She’s often front and center of the frame, aggressively talking to the camera with her voice digitally altered for an extra sinister layer. All of her augements are CG special effects, with pointy teeth, a gigantic mouth, and stretchy limbs. That will most likely freak out young children. The rest, nothing there (unless you have a phobia of rats/mice).

The story is very simple. Once it gets to the hotel I think the movie loses some of its interest and a lot is left unexplored. My big gripe is that it’s the Anne Hathaway show. Sure, she’s the boss as the head witch, but the thirty or so other witches that are in the movie, don’t do anything. Dialog for any of the other witches is nearly non-existant. There is a great scene in a grocery store in the first act that looks like it’s going to set up that witch as an important part but she’s relegated to the background after that. You never get to see any personality from any other witch…they don’t do anything.

There is wall to wall CG in this movie. I wouldn’t expect animatronic talking mice for the hero characters in this day and age but more than half the movie takes on a digital sheen. The animation is always fantastic on these SFX but the lighting constantly looks wrong so it sticks out. There’s one part where the hero mice run down the hallway and the camera follows right behind them…turning everything into obvious CG. I think it would have been better to just move the camera around a real set and put the digital artists onto making three CG characters traversing this obstacle course look fantastic. I don’t think there’s anything to gain visually with flying around an obvious CG set that feels disconnected from everything before it.

Obviously this isn’t aimed at me so I’m digging deeper into it than anyone really needs to. It’s a simple morality take and it’s all rather dull, which is the biggest sin. I get a room full of witches and nothing to really show for it.

The Lighthouse– A powerhouse of acting with stars William Defoe and Robert Pattinson combined with visionary direction and cinema production techniques. I can’t think of a movie that is like this one.

The idea is simple but the execution is complex. Set in New England sometime around 1890, Ephrim (Pattinson) gets dropped off to work as Tom’s (Dafoe) new lighthouse assistant for a month. Tom is a veteran at his job throws his seniority around at every turn. He makes Ephraim do all of the never-ending physical labor. It’s very hard work, the weather is terrible, they are isolated from every human being on the planet, Tom is a jerk. All of this builds the madness in both men.

This movie isn’t really a horror movie, but it is disturbing. Shot in black and white, with a narrow aspect ratio (the film is almost a square), this movie looks like it could have come out in the 1950s. I think the best way to describe it is if Orson Welles made an adaptation of an Edgar Allen Poe story. It didn’t take long for me to wonder what was real and what wasn’t. You’re with Ephraim most of the time and everything he goes through is miserable so it’s easy to relate and sympathize with him. The same awful monotonous physical labor in an environment that looks like you can never be simultaneously warm and dry. Tom can be an insufferable man who rambles and condescends like he gets paid to do it. It’s impossible to tell how much time is passing and Ephrim witnesses Tom doing weird things at the top of the lighthouse. That damn seagull! The constant foghorn! The crappy food! Surreal and Lovecraftian things start happening to Ephraim. And why the hell won’t Tom let him up the final staircase to where the lightbulb is?

So yeah, this get weird and that makes you question everything. Why is Ephraim here? Is Tom right, is he running from something? What happened to Tom’s last assistant? Is Tom crazy? Is Ephraim going crazy because of Tom? Is anything Tom saying true? It’s almost like a race to see who cracks first.

The Lighthouse lives and dies on its actors. No matter how striking it looks (you have to see it, it’s hard to describe), if the actors aren’t good enough, none of it would be believable and the movie wouldn’t work. Dafoe and Pattinson commit 100% to their roles and it’s remarkable to watch. Their relationship constantly morphs and mutates. Mixed with the misery, there’s actually a lot of humor around it. Ephraim’s hardships stack up like a Three Stooges episode. He lugs a gigantic oil canister to the top of the lighthouse only for Tom to be up there waiting with a handheld oil can. ‘Why did you do that? Just use this, it’s way easier. Now take that backbreaking thing back down, dummy.’ He goes to empty the chamber pots and the mess flies back into his face. He s screams and the film cuts right away to him doing another chore. Pattinson makes this madness feel so real. He honestly wants to be a good and hard worker, respecting Tom’s authority and expertise. But a man has his limits! You can see his mind and spirit crack just by looking at his eyes from scene to scene.

Once time has slipped away and the storms get more frequent (or does it just never go away because of that damn seagull?) the two men drink like there is no tomorrow. It’s the way they bond and really the only other thing they can do for fun. This leads to dancing euphoria and fights, with one going so hilariously far that Tom gets deeply offended at Ephriam for saying he doesn’t like his cooking. ‘What about my lobster? I know you liked the lobster, don’t lie!’

Running an hour and 45 minutes long, I feel like that’s a little too much. Things do get repetitive and it feels like the main points are made soon enough to get to the “how the hell is this going to shake out” ending a little sooner. 6-8 minutes shorter, maybe? I think that’s my only complaint. This is a movie to study with repeat viewings. There are some brilliant shots in this movie and the whole production deserves a deep dive documentary to explain how it was made. There is seriously no other movie out there that looks and operates in multiple genres like The Lighthouse does. It’s not for everyone but this could flip on a few light switches in your head.

Tremors: Shrieker Island– This is the seventh movie in the series and I’ll admit they are guilty pleasures for me. The first is a classic, one of my favorite horror movies. The direct to video sequels range from good to…okay that exists. Each movie tries to bring a new element to the Graboid threat and a change of location for the monsters to rampage around is the easiest change to try and make a sequel stand out.

It’s off to the tropics for Shrieker Island where a wealthy man has bred and genetically modified Graboids for wealthy people to hunt. He puts them on an isolated island, positive he’s got everything under control. When you give a super predator even greater and unknown abilities, you can see where the conflict comes. A scientific team that is doing research on a nearby island notices the problem first and they call in series staple Burt Gummer to help stop the growing catastrophe.

I like the concept for Shrieker Island and it checks all the boxes for a movie like this. It’s not too serious, it’s got a catalog of fun characters and extras who are there to be eaten. This is director Don Michael Paul’s third Tremors movie so he knows the territory well (he’s also co-writer). There are some really nice set pieces and action shots throughout.

Obviously direct to video means a low budget. So that means you can’t do everything you want. When you do see a Graboid or a Shrieker, they look good. The new designs make sense and they look cool and menacing. The animation is generally great and depending on the lighting, the CG looks convincing. They are all CG though, which is very disappointing. And all sorts of stuff is done to cut corners to save on monster budget in favor of explosions. You never see someone get eaten. The first few movies do a way better job of this. Shriekers just tackle people from off-camera and out of frame. Graboids jump out of the ground in slow motion (there are Zach Snyder levels of slo-mo in this, really overdone) and you never see a Graboid pop it’s head out of the ground and send it’s tentacles out to grab someone. That’s the coolest part of these monsters and here, it’s some CG coming out of the water (at least it’s one of the better effects in the movie). The tunneling effect is all wrong too. It’s massive explosions of dirt that never look appropriate. I know they are supposed to be much bigger creatures but it doesn’t make sense.

Two massive faux pas: A dead Graboid is found because it has given birth. This act was introduced way back in Tremors 2: Aftershocks. They built a massive section of the worm to show how “something came out of it!” It looks gross, scary, and cool! I’m pretty sure the Graboid carcass in this movie is a pile of dirt with three sections dug out with a shovel and spray painted orange and yellow. It looks awful. If you didn’t see any of the previous movies, you’d never know what that was supposed to be. It looks so bad I couldn’t believe the characters explaining it to the audience that they knew what it was. Second, a Graboid attacks a bunker (the first Tremors!) and you never see it break through the wall! A massive explosion goes off (seriously, they must have spent a fortune on the explosions) and everyone goes, cool it’s dead. Are you sure it was even in there to get blown up? There’s no payoff. The guts of the Graboids are all wrong too! It’s well established that it’s massive chunks of orange, slimy chicken cutlet like flesh and sticky stuff, not pureed watermelon!

The devil is in the details people! Despite the annoyances, Jon Heder is in this and I will always love Michael Gross as Burt Gummer. This movie also ends with a massive change for fans so it’s a consequential movie in the series.

Apostle– Director Gareth Evans is best known for his action movies. He also directed one of the segments in V/H/S 2 so that set him up well for this horror movie about a cult. To be fair he’s never shied away from blood so he didn’t need a warm-up for where this movie goes.

After Steven’s sister is kidnapped, he tracks her down to an island where an isolated cult calls home. He poses as a potential new member of their religion, which lets him stay on the island so he can find her. The community isn’t doing well. There is a serious food shortage because the ground has gone fallow and the livestock isn’t breeding. When they do, the babies are extremely sick. The leadership of the cult also believes that Steven’s sister is a spy from the mainland and that she came with an accomplice. Once hearing what they think of his sister, Steven knows they are extra nuts, she didn’t come here on her own so where did this story come from? This puts pressure on his rescue mission, they are already suspicious and on the lookout for someone acting odd so he needs to be extra careful. With the leadership of the cult on edge, Steven unearths secrets and the community starts to unravel.

This is a wild movie! Set in Whales in 1905, the scenery and motifs are all well done and believable. The community is convincingly real as the rules and hierarchy are quickly established and you get a good sense of the layout of the land with Steven’s exploration. The strongest element of the movie is Steven being an infiltrator. This immediately gives tension to the movie that never lets up. We quickly see that the rule of law in the community is brutal and swift. Judgment comes from two men of authority who are in a power struggle…forget being an outsider, no one is safe here.

The cast is great with Michael Sheen, Lucy Boynton, Dan Stevens, and Mark Lewis Jones doing most of the heavy lifting. Writing is well done too, it’s convincing early 20th century dialog. There are flare ups of cliches and a couple goofy lines but nothing that I found terribly distracting. I didn’t see the supernatural aspect coming and I think that’s the weakest part of the movie. Not too much is explained and that leads into a odd ending that doesn’t work as well as I’d like.

The whole production is outstanding, with all of the money clearly on the screen. No corners were cut here. Evans is a fantastic director, he knows how to set a scene, use all of a stage, and few know how to handle action better than he does. The practical make-up effects are terrific. Once the mayhem starts, things do not de-escalate. This movie is not for the squeamish.

I’ve had Apostle on my Netflix queue since it came out in 2018. It took me too long to get to it, but better late than never. It’s one of the better movies Netflix has picked up, especially in this genre.

His House– This movie popped up on Netflix in time for the Halloween season out of nowhere and immediately caught traction with audiences. A brilliant concept with fantastic execution, His House is one of my favorites of the year.

Bol and Rial are a refugee couple from South Sudan. They’ve made it to England and after a few months in a halfway house, the government allows them to stay. The two are moved into a run-down home and are given strict rules. Basically, “We’re watching you…behave or you are gone.” Bol and Rial are traumatized not just from the violence they were forced to flee from. Their daughter didn’t survive the journey with them.

Using a haunted house as an allegory for survivor’s guilt, His House is a deep dive into a character study. As Bol and Rial struggle to fit in, they process their trauma differently. Rial is in denial about their daughter and feels trapped and isolated in this foreign place. Bol wants to do everything he can to move on. He’s mourned enough and wants to put the trauma in the past. If they can start a new life in England, what they went through won’t be a pointless tragedy. His guilt turns on him though, making tormenting (and tormented) ghosts appear in their new home.

I’ll leave the description at that, spoiling anything more will take a lot of the power away. His House is a smart and contemporary take on haunted houses. It explores what goes on in society, both private and public. There are forces inside and out of your home and when you don’t feel safe in your own home, are you ever safe? For Bol and Rial, wherever they go, they aren’t wanted. That is scary.

The movie has very few locations which keeps the focus tight and the pace moving. All the money was put into the haunting scenes which are all awesome. Taught, disturbing, and spooky as you can get. The SFX are really well done, this entire movie is really impressive (the editing is a standout). I recognize two of the actors, Matt Smith (a bit part) and Rial is played by Wunmi Mosaku who I just watched as Ruby in Lovecraft Country on HBO. Wunmi is fantastic as is Sope Dirisu as Bol.

His House is director Remi Weekes’ first big project (he wrote it too) and if this any indication, he has a hell of a career in front of him. I’ll be on the lookout for what he does next.

And thus ends Halloween 2020!

Halloween Movies Part 3

The Hunt (2020)- This movie got slapped with a wave of controversy for its political pitting of liberals vs conservatives in the United States. It was painted as a liberal revenge fantasy where it’s a much more clear takedown of our current political divisions and discourse.

Twelve strangers wake up in a field, are given weapons and suddenly start being shot at. Looking for answers and reasoning, the survivors of the first attack figure that they are all political conservatives and this is “Manorgate.” The rumor that’s been spreading over the internet is real: the liberal elite has created a human hunting program to kill their political and ideological enemies.

This movie takes no time in getting to the action and the point. Not a frame is wasted as it whips through its ideas in about 90 minutes. I like that this movie doesn’t preach, it gives you every hardcore left and right-wing stereotype unapologetically to show how stupid and goofy all of this is. It’s a work of satire that makes fun of everyone with absurdities and it doesn’t take itself seriously. Betty Gilpin as Crystal is the perfect anchor for everyone in the audience. She’s smart, funny, and much to the chagrin of Athena (great name), badass.

The biggest question of the movie is “how and why is this happening?!” gets a great answer at the end. This movie was way more fun than I thought it would be and really well put together. Pretty high on the gore scale and the fight choreography and fight direction are great! It’s insane in a Quentin Tarantino way.

Hansel & Gretel (2020)- Like most movies that have come out this year, Hansel & Gretel came and went without anyone really noticing it. I remember seeing the trailer for this some time ago and it struck me visually so I wanted to see it. Glad I did.

No surprise with the name, this movie is an adaptation of the fairytale. Here, Hansel & Gretel are basically thrown away by their mother and Gretel leads her little brother into the woods looking for work so they can survive. They soon cross paths with The Huntsman, who gives them directions through the woods to a town where they should find work and safety. He does tell them to stick to the path he gives them because if they stray at all, there are wolves all over the place who will attack them. Wolves aren’t the only danger living in the woods…

This cast is very small and they’re all great. Gretel is played by Sophia Lillis who has been getting a lot of big work with projects like the IT movies, the shows Sharp Objects and I Am Not Okay with This. She is fantastic as a big sister and watching her navigate the subtle seduction of the Witch is a harrowing experience. Alice Krige as the Witch is stellar as well. The combination of her performance and prosthetic make-up creates a memorable on-screen presence. Shout out to Jessica De Gouw who plays the young Witch, unfortunately, you don’t get to see much of her. When you do, she’s got some swagger!

The set design and direction really pop in this movie. The Witch’s house is simple, yet highly detailed and all atmosphere. The hidden part of the house that is revealed near the end of the second act is surreal but oddly believable (the dimensions are really weird. It’s a disturbing set even when nothing is happening in it). I don’t know big the budget was but they spent it in all the right places. The special effects sell what they need to and as a PG-13 movie, the scary bits run across a very fine line of creepy/gross and extremes. It would have been pretty easy to make this more explicit in visuals, you see just enough to make our imagination fill in the rest. The final scene with the Witch is completely awesome. Great take on this story, this movie turned out to be a spooky surprise!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark– Based on the collection of short horror stories for children (!) by Alvin Schwartz, SSTD is a really fun monster movie. Set in 1968, Stella and her friends (and the new guy) accidentally wake up a malevolent spirit on Halloween. The race is on to save their lives.

Executive Produced by my man Guillermo del Toro, there’s a lot to like in this movie. It’s rated PG-13 and pushes that rating to the edge. There’s no intense violence or gore, but the monsters in this movie do not take their jobs lightly.

The set up is the basic material for unleashing an evil spirit, but everything else around the movie is really well done. The acting gets better as the movie goes on, the direction, cinematography, and special effects are always beautiful. The monsters (there are 6) are all stand out page to screen adaptations (except for Jangley Man, he’s a hybrid of a few monsters). Creepy, imposing, gross, everything you could want in 95% practical movie monsters played by people under a ton of prosthetics. The soundtrack is on point too. I think this is a great gateway movie for people to work up to the more intense and “adult” horror movies. It’s like the Fear Street series of books for horror–you start with R.L Stine and go to Stephen King. You go from this movie to John Carpenter’s The Thing. I think I liked this more than IT Part 2.

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight– This is a Polish take on Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It does some things well and some things…alright. The set up to get the kids isolated in the woods is that they are all addicted to technology. They are all sent to this camp to “detox” and it doesn’t take long for the freak show hidden in the woods to swing by.

NSWT is a clear homage to a lot of 80s slasher movies. As such, it doesn’t do anything new or terribly interesting. There’s enough back story (given by a random dude who lives in the woods because that’s just what he does) to flesh out the villains and the cast is bumped off one by one through various pointy objects.

In terms of horror, the body count is pretty high. No innovative kills and the movie is edited mostly around showing any violence. If that’s due to ratings or budget, I don’t know. In elaborate deaths, such as someone getting cut in half, all you see is gore hitting the ground, or a death happens off-screen and a character turns around to suddenly see the aftermath. There are two or three explicit shots (one with a tongue) that are shown very fast that go for a hard R rating. With the lineage this movie is aiming for, I found it disappointing to see this edited like the MPAA of 1985 was back in full force. The prosthetic effects are well done though. The design done on the villains is extremely elaborate. The work on the bodies is a real stand out but the problem is that their faces are so bloated and scrunched (for some reason they are gigantic men, it can’t be fro what they are eating, I guess the implication is the infection or whatever it is), they have no articulation in them and it makes the characters look like a guy wearing a rubber mask. It takes away a lot of the intimidation when your murders look like inflated Cabbage Patch dolls.

Another disappointment is it’s not scary at all. Suspense is lacking too, which was surprising. The director tries but I think everything that happens is all too predictable. There is one standout scene in a cellar with the two main characters. Everything clicks there. The set up is great, the horror of it all works the best (some great practical effects work), the acting is terrific and it’s where a great hero turn happens.

I don’t want to sound so negative about this because I admire all of the hard work the filmmakers put into it. It’s clear they love the genre. I just think that it comes off as the side of 80s slasher movies they wanted to avoid: a copy cat movie that doesn’t stand on its own original ideas and is easy to forget.

Halloween-ish Movies Part 2

#Alive– This is a Korean movie about a lone survivor in an apartment complex from a rapidly spreading infection. The infected act just like those from the 28 Days Later franchise, so they are not your classic zombie. Very fast and aggressive, so the “rage” moniker fits. This could easily be seen as an offshoot of those movies.

I liked this a lot. While the carnage gets pretty big, the locations are kept at a minimum. Oh, our hero, starts the movie in his family’s apartment and remains there for most of the film. He sees the outbreak first spread from his balcony and on the TV news. The infection spreads so fast (people get bit with nary a hesitation) that Oh becomes trapped. These kinds of stories are hard to pull off well, pacing and suspense are crucial to get right and I think #Alive does both really well. You get a sense of danger right away. Oh quickly gets threatened inside his apartment and that kicks off his fight for survival. Oh never does anything really stupid, which helps. He takes risks for sure but they are all for good reasons and he prepares. Kim, a woman who is trapped in her apartment on the other side of the courtyard, is also introduced at just the right time. She’s a solid character and offers a new dimension to Oh’s fight for survival.

This movie is well made in all regards. Well acted, some great direction with fun action scenes that break up the quite character development. Special effects are great too making this a believable take on the genre. I even liked the end.

Hubie Halloween– This a stupid Adam Sandler joint. That’s all you need to know about this movie as it explains everything you can expect and you immediately know if you are in or out. This is a spiritual successor to The Water Boy. Hubie Dubois sounds and acts almost exactly the same as Bobby Boucher. He’s just older, moved to a different town, has a bicycle and he carries a Swiss army knife thermos (Inspector Gadget would be jealous) instead of a giant Gatorade dispenser.

The story checks all the boxes for a goofy Adam Sandler movie. The main character is an awkward but morally outstanding person who gets crapped on by everyone but his mother. There are more cameos than you can count. Jokes crammed in as fast as possible no matter how stupid and terrible they may be. Sometimes they do land! Throw in some slapstick to get the most basic laughs and cook for 90 minutes.

Hubie Halloween doesn’t take itself seriously and knows exactly what it’s doing. I found it to be pretty welcoming and refreshing because of that. Come take a break and let the dumb wash over you, you might be surprised at how much you needed it.

Scoob!– I was hoping this was going to be more Halloween-centric, but I still got a cute story with Scooby Do. The movie starts with how Shaggy and Scooby first meet and you better believe it’s adorable and sweet. Then they meet Fred, Velma, and Daphne on Halloween and stumble upon a criminal who they thwart. Now we have the genesis of Mystery Inc.

Years go by and the gang gets involved in a plot by Dirk Dastardly. He wants to open up a portal that can only be opened by Scooby. Much of the movie has Shaggy and Scooby separated from the rest and the bulk of the story is a test of the gang’s friendship. It’s very much a ‘You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’ vibe.

It’s a good story! The animation is very good, the plot moves along as you’d expect and hits all the major notes for the franchise. There are some surprises here and there and it was nice to watch another movie that keeps its heart on its sleeve. Great for the kids.

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House– A really creepy movie that I’m not sure what to make of. It’s slow and subtle to the point where my attention wandered off a few times. A ghost/haunting story that I had a hard time caring about.

Lily is a nurse that comes to live with an elderly author named Iris Blum. She wrote many horror books and lives in this house by herself. She needs to be cared for as she has dementia and it seems simple enough. Subtle oddities happen, each brings a new layer of foreboding. Lily soon finds out that the house is believed to be haunted and Iris always refers to her as “Polly.” Iris’s estate manager explains to her that Polly is the name of the character from Iris’s book “The Lady in the Walls.” This sends Lily onto a discover path that Polly might not be a fictional character and that Iris and Lily are not alone in the house.

The best part of this movie is the atmosphere. There is a thick sense of dread and darkness lurking about from the cinematography. The entire movie takes place in the house, you never leave the interior. The sound design is fantastic as well, further selling the house as a character. The creepy bits are great too. Mold on the wall that looks like it’s starting to take over the house and the challenge to get someone to the house to take care of it (the estate manager is the only other person you see enter the house). The corner of the rug that she repeatedly finds flipped up when she’s the only one walking around in the house and Lily is sure she’s not doing it. She’d know, she’d remember. The gag with the phone is perfect and scary. It’s the simple things done right.

Aside from that, everything else is forgettable and dull. There are bits that grabbed me but the movie as a whole couldn’t keep me engaged. It’s a strange feeling which makes me come to the conclusion that I think it would be better as a short instead of feature length film. I didn’t like the end either. It came off as a ‘that’s it?’ moment to me.

It’s Halloween Time

A slacked off on my horror movie run last October and my goal is to get back on track for Halloween 2020.

Vampires vs the Bronx– This movie popped up in the new releases on Netflix and I decided to watch it on a whim. A pleasant surprise, it’s a lot of fun. A PG-13 comedy/horror movie that is good to watch for a lot of people. The only reason it’s PG-13 is for some cursing. Violence is at a minimum and I can’t remember any gore. The most intense effects are vampires turning to ash.

A really cute movie of a couple of kids protecting their home town from vampires. The vampires are moving into the Bronx using gentrification as a cover. Their human familiar is buying up property all over the Bronx and turning those spaces into nests. Miguel Rodriguez is the first to discover that vampires exist and when he brings his friends into it the investigation, the discover the insidious plot and take charge in protecting their home. It’s got some funny parts, is well paced and at about 80 minutes long, just the right runtime.

The Invisible Man (2020)- This turned out way better than I thought it would. Smart modern twist, great cast, and excellent tension building scenes.

The movie starts with Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) escaping her abusive husband, Adrian. She hides at a friend’s house and only her sister knows she’s there. Cecilia planned each step of her escape, paranoid Adrian will find her. Not long after, he commits suicide and leaves her a large part of his estate. Cecilia is suspicious as Adrian was a control freak so suicide doesn’t make any sense and she quickly becomes paranoid that she’s being watch and Adrian faked his death. Suspicious events suddenly turn violent and Cecilia is forced to prove on her own that Adrian is invisibly hunting her.

There is some fantastic direction in this movie, especially at the start. The special effect is that someone is invisible so they could be anywhere. The camera moves around like it’s as suspicious as Cecilia is, that someone else is somewhere in the room with us. You look down hallways, into corners, at furniture and rugs for the indication of the weight of a person. This movie nails paranoia, which is one effective scary emotion. The escalation of danger and intensity is also fantastic. I really like the pacing as it ratchets up at just the right time and just the right way. I was engaged the entire time and surprised more than once (in terms of scares and plot). Great special effects make it believable too. There are two scenes of intense gore, the rest is pretty tame.

The Devil All the Time– I’m cheating on putting this one in the list as technically it isn’t a horror movie. It’s a messed up crime/thriller that will throw you into a pit of yuck.

Essentially, Arvin has a terrible childhood to teenage years that’s affected by a serial killer and doesn’t know it. He crosses paths with the killer years later in some kind of macabre twist of fate. Arvin grows up extremely poor with a father that is bent on some serious levels of faith belief. When his mother dies of cancer, his father spirals out of control and he goes to live with family members who are also taking care of his cousin whose mother disappeared.

This is a bleak movie where the main character struggles to live a happy life because of incredibly sinister people. With so much pain to deal with, Arvin becomes a protector. One of the things he learns from his father is to pick your battles. And when you do, you make sure it’s clear that you won the battle. This becomes his core survival technique.

I found this to be a pretty enthralling movie with engrossing stories of people being manipulated with faith, trust, and sometimes basic politeness. Throw in some police corruption and you have three stories that start in different places and times that all come together. The boy who plays Arvin at age 9 is fantastic and older Arvin is played by Tom Holland who keeps impressing me with every role he does. Props to Robert Pattinson for bringing to life uber creep Rev. Preston Teagardin. With a lot of memorable characters that travel in extremes, this one stuck with me.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen– I liked The Babysitter (2017) a lot when it came out. A good send up to 80s horror movies, with its mix of horror and comedy. While it’s not a surprise that this movie could get a sequel, I was surprised that it was made and it turned out this way. The weird scenario takes away a lot of the potential making this feel cheaper and forced.

After surviving the cult of the first movie, Cole is now in high school. To say he’s been traumatized is an understatement and no one believes him about what happened because all of the proof of the cult disappeared. So he’s the ultra weird kid in high school and that doesn’t help with his recovery. He’s invited to go to a big party at a lake which he reluctantly goes to. Low and behold, the cult is ready and waiting for him.

The Babysitter took place almost exclusively in Cole’s house. A small scale horror movie that put all of its money into wild SFX. Terrific action and death scenes, perfect for the genre. Killer Queen expands the mythology of the cult and adds locations to make the story bigger. But it doesn’t work too well. Most of the movie takes place in/around a lake that’s surrounded by nothing but dirt and rocks. At the start of the party, it looks like there are a lot of kids and in a matter of seconds, everyone is gone. The story goes from the interior of a boat to a chase away from the lake. It’s very isolating so it doesn’t add anything to the scale of the movie. Plus, every outdoor scene looks like a phony set because there is no way to light the scene realistically with where they are. You can see the giant lights they had to set up. The locations also limited what could be done for deaths so a few of those feel weak as well.

Overall, a disappointment. A stretch to make a sequel, no suspense whatsoever…I think the only thing I liked was the end which was rather touching. It would be best to leave this franchise here.