Author Archives: Doc

The Pool (2018)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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)

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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

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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

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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.

The Day of the Dead (1985)

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October 1 of 13

The first film of the October 13 this year was one of the all-time classics among the zombie genre, written and directed by the father of the zombie movie, George R. Romero. It was the third film in his zombie trilogy, The Day of the Dead.

To be honest, I thought that I had seen parts of this movie before, but after watching it this morning, I realized that I had never seen it at all. None of the film was recognizable for me.

The film follows a group of survivors, a combination of military and scientists, who have taken up refuge in a deserted missile silo to avoid the Living Dead. Meanwhile, one scientist tried to discover a way to domesticate the Dead.

The military men, in particular, were such horrendous people that it was clear that they were being set up to become zombie chow, and have the audience happy at their fate. There were very few of the survivors that were easy to root for.

Sarah (Lori Cardille) was one of the scientists who seemed to have the best head on her shoulders. John (Terry Alexander) was the helicopter pilot.

The worst of the military men was Captain Henry Rhodes (Joseph Pilato) and Private Walter Steel (Gary Howard Klar), both men were abusive and power mad. They were the characters in a slasher film that you want to see killed. And this film did not let us down. Rhodes’s death specifically was horrific.

We also came as close as we were going to get to a thinking zombie with Bub (Sherman Howard) who was being trained by scientist Dr. Matthew Logan (Richard Liberty).

There was a lot of screaming in the film, but I think that was meant to show the negatives of the humans, how the humans may actually be the monsters in this monster story.

One of the funniest part of the movie was seeing the oncoming zombie horde with the collection of zombie types in the mass. There was a zombie cowboy, a zombie football player, a zombie clown… makes one wonder why this group of one time people were together at all.

The Day of the Dead is a solid film with some amazing zombie gore, particularly for the time frame. I was very pleased with the kills of the film as the deaths of these unlikable humans were satisfactory.

Joker: Folie à Deux

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I appreciate those films that take a big swing. However, big swings lead to big misses, and that is what Joker: Folie à Deux is… one big musical miss.

Joker: Folie à Deux picked up after the end of Todd Phillip’s Joker, with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) in Arkham awaiting his trial for the multiple murders that he committed at the end of the previous film. With a swelling support from the streets of Gotham, Arthur met his soul mate Lee (Lady Ga Ga) who encouraged him to embrace the Joker side of his personality.

Let me kick off with the positives. Joaquin Phoenix does an excellent job as Arthur Fleck and he has great chemistry with Lady Ga Ga. Both actors are very good here, even if some of the storytelling pieces of the film did not do them any services.

There are some great shots in the film. There is one in particular where Lady Ga Ga had drawn a smile on the glass with lipstick. There are several shots like this. Anytime we see Arthur and Lee dancing, the shots are impeccable.

Unfortunately, that is about where it ends for positives. I was actually fairly bored through the first hour or so of the movie. The music was more of a distraction than it was an effective piece for the narrative storytelling. The songs were fine, but none of them felt as if they needed to be in the movie.

There are some things that I cannot mention without spoiling what happened. Let me just say that the ending of the film took away from the first film and did nothing to advance the character of Arthur Fleck.

In fact, it feels as if Todd Phillips wanted to rebut the last movie with something else. I mean, it did win an Oscar. I am sure this was not just a way to stick it to the fans, but I can understand someone who may think so.

Overall, this was a bad movie with some great performances. Joker: Folie à Deux just does not reach the levels of the first one, and I did not even love the first one.

2 stars

Monster Summer

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Monster Summer has a feel to it like this is an 80s film, a mixture of Monster Squad, Hocus Pocus and The Sandlot, but without taking any of the good parts.

From IMDB, “When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, Noah and his friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island.“

I had heard almost nothing about this movie. and you can see why. Mel Gibson appears in the film as former detective Gene, who is almost a recluse. Gibson did not feel like he fit in this type of a role.

The main protagonist of the film is Noah, played by Mason Thames. Thames starred in The Black Phone, but I spent the entire movie trying to place him. I swear he looked like he has so many traits of Omri Katz, the star of Eerie, Indiana and Hocus Pocus, that I kept thinking that he could be Katz’s son. It was distracting, even though Thames was fine in the role.

The writing of this movie was really weak. It had several moments that were just too hokey or poorly executed that even a few of the moments that were not bad were overshadowed by the poor parts.

I tend to like these kind of kids adventure films, but this just did not do enough well to recommend this film. Mason Thames is likable enough, but there is just not enough around him to make this worthwhile, even during spooky movie season.

2.4 stars