Author Archives: Doc

Saturday Night

Posted on by

Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!!!!

Jason Reitman directed this biopic of the 90-minutes before the debut of Saturday Night Live (called NBC’s Saturday Night) and the chaos that was ensuing.

Of course, as with most biopics, not everything is exactly as it happened as many details are switched or moved around for dramatic purposes.

The film follows Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), the producer of SNL, as he moved around the studio putting out fires (both figuratively and literally), managing talent, and desperately trying to get the show ready to go at 11:30.

This is a fun film with a frantic pace leading up to the debut. It was very possible that the show was never going to happen as there was a reel of a Johnny Carson repeat waiting to roll if the show was unable to overcome the myriad of troubles.

The cast is the strongest part of the show. Gabriel LaBelle does a great job as the eyes of the audience. Corey Michael Smith is fantastic as Chevy Chase. Dylan O’Brien loses himself in the role of Dan Aykroyd. Matt Wood was very entertaining as John Belushi. Lamorne Morris was great as Garrett Morris. Rachel Sennott had a strong performance as Lorne’s wife, Rosie. Several of the cast did not have the amount of screen time as it seemed as if they deserved, in particularly the women SNL cast members.

While we see a lot of Lorne, there is an issue with the rest of the cast. If you are not aware of who these people are, there is not a lot of time spent with them. The film seems to depend on the audience knowing who Chevy Chase, John Belushi, George Carlin, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner are coming into the film. If the viewer does not know much about SNL, they do not go into detail about these people. It does work at one level, but I did have knowledge going in.

The film depends on its energy and the nostalgia of the audience to craft together a hectic ninety minutes prior to the debut of Saturday Night. There are some very funny moments and some amazing character bits for these people whom we know as celebrities. Roles for Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons are exceptional and the whole cast’s performance was well done. This is a film that fans of SNL will truly appreciate.

4 stars

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Posted on by

EYG Hall of Famer Christopher Reeve, who sprang to fame playing Superman in several movies int he late 70s and early 80s, gets the biographical documentary treatment going into depth about his life, his family and the horrific tragedy that changed his perspective for the remainder of his life.

The doc interviews Reeve’s children and his ex-wife, revealing the deep relationship that Reeve had and how his time as Superman affected his career and how people’s POV changed him.

There are some amazingly personal scenes and imagery of Christopher Reeve struggling post-accident that was difficult to watch at times. The emotions were in full example and heartstrings were pulled as the story moved from pre-accident to post-accident. There were plenty of times that I teared up watching the powerfully poignant moments.

Some of the toughest scenes for me was the parts including Robin Williams. Williams and Reeve were roommates during their time at Julliard, forming a lifetime friendship. The relationship had several vital moments and it nearly broke me when it was said that had Christopher hadn’t died, Robin would be alive today. Heart-breaking.

Directors Peter Ettedgui and Ian Bonhôte painted a moving portrait of the actor and how he was able to overcome his adversity to help many individuals with their own handicaps.

4.6 stars

The Pool (2018)

Posted on by

The October 4 of 13

The October 13 continued today as I pulled a film from Amazon Prime to watch. It was the Thai thriller called The Pool.

According to IMDB, “Day, an insecure art director of a commercial production company is left alone to clear up a 6-meter deep deserted pool after the shooting. He falls asleep on an inflatable raft due to an unbearable fatigue. When he wakes up again the water level has sunk so low that he cannot climb out of the pool on his own. He screams for help but the only thing that hears him is some creature from a nearby crocodile farm.“

Starting off, I have an illogical fear of alligators and crocodiles. It makes no sense, but they give me a lot of stress and anxiety. I always joke that I am never going to Florida because of the killer alligators like I saw in Crawl. It is a joke, but that movie absolutely scared me. So seeing this man vs. crocodile survival tale, I was ready to be unsettled.

I will say that there were some good moments of anxiety in the film. Day, played by Theeradej Wongpuapan, and his girlfriend Koi, played by Ratnamon Ratchiratham, made an attractive couple stalked by this angry and hungry crocodile.

However, at the end of the day, it was hard to get past one simple fact. These two are dumb as shit.

I understand some things need to be exaggerated for tension, but when characters continually do the stupidest things during a film, it just pushes the level of believability. I found myself yelling at the computer screen over and over, wanting Day to do something smart once. There were so many opportunities to do something else and he constantly chose the wrong one. It was frustrating.

Then the CGI on the crocodile was at times wonky. That can be forgiven because of budgets, but when it is combined with the dumb characters, that makes a tough combination.

And for the dog lovers out there, there is a scene with a dog that is perhaps the single most horrific scene I have ever watched anywhere. The imagery of the scene will disturbing even if you are not a big dog fan, like me, and for the dog lovers out there, you will not be prepared for the shocking moment.

I had seen this receive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes so I was hopeful this would be a hidden gem. However, looking closer, the audience score is at 53%, and I can see why that is. This had some positives, but the stupid decisions, the CGI, the crocodile, and the horrific scene near the end dropped this one down for me.

Yellowjackets S1 E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Bear Down”

The stories from the crash site and the present day go to show us more about these characters.

In the past (I honestly nearly typed ‘The Island’), the kids began training with the gun to try and go hunting. Natalie turns out to be the best shot. She and Travis go hunting and bond on the trip. Other girls discovered a downed plane in the woods. In the present, Natalie goes out with Kevin to try and get info on Travis’s apparent suicide, which she thinks is a murder. Shauna has an affair with Adam and then goes on a weird night together. Taissa does not respond well to a party when she goes off on a rich potential donor who wants to know about what really happened.

There is a flashback to pre-plane crash involving Natalie and her abusive father. We get to see how he died. The show initially made us think that Natalie killed him, but it turned out to be an accident.

Misty is a real bizarre character. She feels dangerous in a Desperate Housewives kind of way.

There is a lot of character development in this episode, and that is very important, but to be honest, this was my least favorite episode so far. It showed us a lot of things about these people, but nothing that was that major, outside of Natalie’s father.

Agatha All Along E5

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Darkest Hour/Wake Thy Power”

This was a fairly short episode, but it was really impactful.

Alice, RIP. I think there is something more going on here though as Agatha’s trial turned deadly with the ghost of Agatha’s mother leading to Agatha draining the energy from Alice.

Dressed as a sleep over, this had a lot of the scenes from a trailer, specifically a possessed Agatha doing the backwards spider walk that you see in a lot of horror movies.

They were on the Ouija board and Kathryn Hahn dropped a fantastic Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis imitation. That was hilarious. Maybe a little mean too…

After Agatha killed Alice (which Agatha certainly seemed shaken by), Teen was very angry and he reacted in a violent way. He seemingly tossed Agatha and the others into the mud and they sunk away.

Even more significant, Agatha said to Teen that he was just like his mother. Then, after he dispatched of the coven, we see Teen with a purple crown that resembled that of the Scarlet Witch.

We all suspected that Teen was somehow tied to Billy, Wanda’s created son from WandaVision, but the show has been tempting us by making Teen Agatha’s son Nicholas. Apparently, Nicholas was part of the Ouija board thing too. We are just past the halfway point of the series and this felt like a significant hint that he is Billy Maximoff.

And during this entire Teen-Agatha trouble, there was no sign of Rio. Aubrey Plaza has been rumored to be Death, which was mentioned in the Ouija session. What part is she playing in all this?

Lots of questions:

  • Is Alice really dead?
  • Who is Teen? Is he Billy, Wanda’s son?
  • What is Agatha’s responsibility in all this?
  • What happened when they were sucked into the mud?
  • Nicholas Scratch is doing what?
  • Is Aubrey Plaza Death?

I wish this episode was longer. It felt too short. What we got was great though.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

Posted on by

The week of October 7

Good evening to all. It is time to award some medals! This week we have three separate companies in the places. I should throw out a honorable mention this week to Exceptional X-Men #2. I have a special soft spot for all-white backgrounds on covers and this book nearly tickled my heart enough to earn a medal. Just came up short though.

Bronze Medalist

Seance in the Asylum #1.

Cover art by Andrea Mutti.

A very eerie cover with the ghosts appearing behind someone at the table. The idea of the book had intrigued me and this cover is very striking, making me wonder what it was going to feature.

Silver Medalist

Geiger #7

Cover art by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson

Something about a three-eyed zebra that just makes a cover pop. I also love the color int he background. It makes this cover very attractive, it should make someone stop and take a closer look at the book, and isn’t that the main job of cover art?

Gold Medalist

Fantastic Four #26

Cover art by Joshua Cassara & Dean White

The Fantastic Four has had a very good year for comic covers, but this is the first time this year that they earned a medal without it being Alex Ross. The imagery of Reed and Johnny struggling to keep from drowning in a bunch of blood is an amazing visual and really solidified the gold medal this week.

Bonus Action Vol. 2 E6

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Battle in the Big Top”

More exciting battles with our D&D party. What is cool is that it seems as if every week another member of our party is doing something awesome.

This week it is Bric, who killed three of the giant villains with a single fireball. It was a huge swing in the combat and you could see how excited Jay was when it happened.

Lots of fun once again as this group has unbelievable chemistry together and are extremely funny.

Only Murders in the Building S4 E7

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Valley of the Dolls”

A week full of cameos!

We got a new character from Melissa McCarthy, the actors (Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, Eva Longoria) returned, the Westies were back, Loretta made her way back from California, and Bev struggled to deal with Hollywood and her own bizarre shifts in personality.

Melissa McCarthy is Charles’s sister Doreen, who owns a vast collection of dolls (hence the episode title) and she, lets say, may be a touch cray cray.

We get a catfight between Melissa McCarthy and Meryl Streep. It was hilarious.

Charles, Mabel and Oliver went to Charles’ sister’s house to hide after discovering that they had been being watched by the killer for a long time. Of course, they told Howard where they were going so it seemed as if everyone knew where they went.

Howard played a big role too as he went to discover whom was cashing the social security checks of Dudenoff. He also got a phone number that, when Mabel called it, came to Vince Fish’s phone.

Oliver and Loretta straightened out their misunderstanding from the previous episode and Loretta, after the big catfight, proposed to Oliver (with a doll bracelet). He accepted so there could be a Only Murders in the Building wedding in the future.

It is revealed that the killer has ties to the first season as several of the plot holes of that season are mentioned, tying everything together in a cool idea.

Yellowjackets S1 E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Dollhouse”

Boy, when this show picked up, it really picked up.

Not saying that the first two episodes were bad. Far from it. I was thoroughly engaged with what they were doing pre-episode three. Now, after “The Dollhouse” there are just a ton of unexplained moments and storylines that have me completely engaged.

  • Who killed Travis? It looked like a hanging, but Nat was sure he did not kill himself.
  • What is with the man with no eyes? Why is he tormenting Taissa.
  • What did Taissa’s son mean when he said that she was not the bad one?
  • What happened in the attic of that cabin?
  • Is Shauna right about Jeff having an affair? And does to wrongs make a right?
  • What is Taissa trying to pull with the reporter?

I loved this episode and the storylines that the show is setting up are exciting and mysterious. I really do not know what is going on and that is thrilling.

Great acting so far. I am very pleased that season one has arrived on Netflix. I hope to be able to find season two as well somewhere.

Hell House LLC (2015)

Posted on by

The October 3 of 13

I watched the most recent Hell House movie, called Hell House LLC: Origins- The Carmichael Manor for this year’s June Swoon. I had no idea that this was the fourth film in a franchise. So I figured the first film of the franchise would be a good film to use for The October 13.

This was filmed in a documentary style of a supposed incident at a haunted house called Hell House opening during the Halloween season where fifteen people died in, what authorities were calling an “unknown malfunction.” The documentarian, Diane Graves (Alice Bahlke), found the sole survivor of the crew from the haunted house, Sara (Ryan Jennifer Jones), and Sara gave her several recording made by the others at the Hell House.

At this point, the movie became a combination of documentary and found footage film, and it was absolutely insane.

The footage was remarkably creepy as it showed so many frightening moments inside the Abaddon Hotel, which was deserted and had signs that there may have been a Satanic cult here at one point in its history.

As the crew worked to get their haunted house constructed inside the Abaddon Hotel, strange things began to happen, especially with some of the clown mannequins.

Some of the stuff they got on film was frustrating at times because it never seemed to matter to Hell House CEO Alex (Danny Bellini) even when his crew was clearly suffering the effects of the hotel. There was a mystery reason that Alex was so determined to stay and, though referenced, it was never revealed. I have seen speculation that it was a financial reason and I have also seen that the answer might come in the actual sequel to this. Maybe that one has to go on a watch list too.

I found this really intense and I enjoyed this whole film. The found footage was fun and filled with anxiety. Those clowns were absolutely creepy and the little things made this all the better. This was a wonderful film for The October 13.

Speak No Evil (2022)

Posted on by

The October 2 of 13

Recently, I went to see the new movie starring James McAvoy called Speak No Evil without the knowledge that there had been a Dutch version of the film just a couple of years before it. When I discovered that, I placed the original version on the list to watch for The October 13.

Man, I feel like I have been kicked in the gut.

The first two acts of the new movie was very similar, if not a shot for shot replay of the Dutch film. However, the third act took a drastic turn and ended up in one of the darkest endings I have ever seen for any movie. Legitimately, I feel a little sick to my stomach after this one got over.

According to Wikipedia, ” The film centers on Bjørn (Morten Burian) and Louise (Sidsel Siem Koch), a Danish couple who are invited by Patrick (Fedja van Huêt) and Karin (Karina Smulders), a Dutch couple, to their country house for a weekend holiday.”

It is difficult to not compare the two movies since I saw them so close to each other, and since I saw the 2024 American version first, it feels as if that is the original to me. I know this Dutch version is the first one, but it is bouncing around in my head in the other order. Fedja van Huêt plays the role that James McAvoy would play in the American version. I think I enjoyed both performances. McAvoy’s was a touch more unbalanced while Fedja van Huêt was a touch more sinister.

That third act though. Holy cow. I can’t describe it sufficiently to make it clear how disturbing it is without spoiling, so let’s just say that this is completely different from the American version.

This is one of those movies that will stick with me for a long time. I do expect that I will never want to watch this again because of the way it kicked me in the gut. If I had watched this before the American version, I cannot imagine wanting to go see the remake.

First time I have given something two ratings…

Yellowjackets S1 E1, E2

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Pilot”

“F Sharp”

Two episodes in an I am hooked.

Yellowjackets arrived on Netflix a few weeks ago and I wanted to add this to my watchlist. I have heard some positive things about the show and I thought that it would be great to watch despite the increasingly large list of shows that I am currently watching.

A group of high school female soccer players, who were on their way to nationals, have their plane crash in the wilderness and they are forced to survive.

The scene with the plane crash was right up there with the best plane crash scenes I have seen on TV. Clearly, the best plane crash scene is from LOST, but this one was right behind it.

In fact, part of the reason I was so imbued by Yellowjackets is that the show reminded me a lot of LOST. LOST is my favorite show of all time and Yellowjacket certainly shared some traits with it.

First, the plane crash in an isolated location. Here it is in the wilderness. There is something weird going on around this area too, although I do not think we will be seeing any Others. There is some strange design carved into a tree that will become more prominent.

Secondly, the show has a large cast of characters and does an amazing job of developing them almost immediately. Many shows with large casts struggle to get me interested in the different characters, but this one has a group of intriguing characters that grab you attention immediately.

Another similarity between Yellowjackets and LOST is that the story’s narrative function is told with both scenes from the present and scenes from the past through flashbacks. The first episode introduced things to us by showing things that led up to the crash and showing us years later. They allow us to piece things together on our own without feeling the need to lay out ever little bit along they way.

There is also a secret going on. When the Oceanic 6 made it back to the real world, they had a story and kept the truth from everyone. There is obviously something that the girls who had been rescued kept secret, promising never to speak of it again. I have a sneaking suspicion in involves what they had eaten during their time stranded. I am anxious to find out more.

Misty is a weaselly young woman who found her personal strength after the accident, but you can see that she is very manipulative, as she destroyed the plane’s black box so she could remain being seen in the positive light that she had suddenly been seen. I can see a lot of similarities between Molly and Ben Linus.

The entire season one (10 episodes) is on Netflix, but I do not see season two there, which means I may have to go searching for the show somewhere. I know it originally aired on Showtime. I loved these first two episodes and I am excited about continuing the show.

Grotesquerie E3, E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Episode 3”

“Coordinates”

Lois is really going through it.

Each week it seems as if they release two episodes of Grotesquerie and these two episodes send Lois through the wringer. The focus on her alcoholism and her relationships with her daughter, her husband, and a new man from the hospital named Eddie (Travis Kelce).

And this killer appears to be taunting her with each new kill.

I just realized that Father Charlie was played by Nicolas Alexander Chavez, who played Spencer Cassadine on General Hospital recently. Father Charlie and Sister Megan ended a tense encounter with sex. I have been uncertain about Father Charlie since the beginning. He feels like a major suspect in these murders.

There is a strange, dream-like sequence of Lois and Sister Megan in a car, singing a song together. The coloring of the scene created a hell-like landscape that was really disturbing and clearly part of the imagery of the episode.

Episode four, which is the first with an actual title, really dives into the religious iconography and ends with a creepy instance of a woman being chased by something.

Wild show so far. Is it too out there? Maybe.