Author Archives: Doc

Crystal Lake S1 E6, E7

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“Kill Them, Mommy”

“Friday”

Wild couple of episodes of Crystal Lake.

First of all, Pam goes crazy and she was just butchering hippies left and right. Just because she is stabbing all of these hippies, it does not mean that she can’t take some time to manipulate Grace. One hippie did get away, but it was not the one that wound up with a machete in his head (Thanks Jason!).

Pam’s mysterious connection to the Bellflower organization came into view more in episode six as Briana discovered info about Pam’s past. She took it to her brother the Sheriff Lee Brooks. They confronted Pam at the end of the sixth episode and it sure sounded as if Pam was coming clean.

At lest, with part of it.

Episode seven was a full on flashback episode where we see Pam and everything that led to the birth of Jason and the origin of the entire situation. I can understand why Pam left her husband and took off with Jason. It makes sense as well why Jason turned out to be like he is.

How did Bellflower end up creating a couple of mass murderers in the Voorhees family? Lots of experimentation and injections seems to be the correct answer.

The seventh episode was all in flashback so I assume that this is what Pam was telling to Lee and Briana and that when episode eight kicks off, they will see how rough her background was. Will they be taken in and start to believe that Pam is not the person racking up a body count in this New Jersey town?

This has been a great series so far and I am curious to see what we get in the finale.

IT: Welcome to Derry Surprise Episode

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“A Story of Derry”

Surprise.

I saw a post on X about It: Welcome to Derry dropping a surprise new episode on HBO Max. I did not believe it. There are people who post this type of post on X or Facebook or wherever that does not have any basis in reality. I hate when the clearly inaccurate posts show up.

However, this one turned out to be true.

A new episode of the show appeared on the streamer, dealing with a story about the native Americans who had been the ones to originally entrap Pennywise with the 13 pillars… what we learned about in season one of It: Welcome to Derry.

It was just a half hour episode, but it was fun and the special effects with Pennywise (way before he was a clown) were just terrifying.

What an awesome and unexpected treat for fans of this great show. It was a fabulous way to celebrate Halloween with an origin of Derry.

The Cycle

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I was surprised by this movie a couple of times. First, I did not expect to see Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page from the Daredevil series from Marvel Studios/Netflix). Secondly, I did not expect the type of movie that this would turn into.

No spoilers because it was a fun reveal at the end and it made perfect sense and it was a great film for a lazy Halloween afternoon.

According to IMDB, “A daughter unravels her father’s dark past after his body, missing for 36 years, is found at a horrific crime scene.”

Directed by Jordan Downey, The Cycle was his first full length feature which dropped on Shudder and AMC + on Amazon Prime.

There were a lot of practical effects in this that were both effective and shaky. Much of the effects were scary and worked well, but there were a couple that did not look great and pulled me out of the moment. I like the effort to do more of this practically though and the attempt should be appreciated.

Deborah Ann Woll does a wonderful job as the lead of the film, translating the work she did on Daredevil into some solid action chops.

The way the story blends the apparent serial killer elements into the the supernatural aspects work well and turned out satisfyingly.

I am pleased that I found this on Shudder and that I took the time to watch it.

3.5 stars

It Ends

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A thriller/horror film came up on Fandango at Home from 2026 that was a fascinating idea called It Ends. I had the same idea about this as I did with Exit 8. Exit 8 was a much better movie, but It Ends was good too.

According to IMDB, “Friends on a late-night food run become trapped on an infinite highway with otherworldly terrors lurking beyond. Confined in their car, they must decide whether to accept their fate or attempt escape.”

I really liked this premise of It Ends. Four friends trapped on a never ending road with strange things happening around them.

I think the first act was exceptional as the four of them tried to figure out what was happening to them. Their random speculation about what was going on was fun.

It felt as if there were some solid character work int he first half of the film, but I do not know if I liked the resolution to the characters’ arcs.

I am also torn with the ending. I kind of liked it, but I feel as if there would be a lot of people who would feel disappointed with the conclusion because there is a lot of ambiguity with the ending.

I liked most of this film. I was engaged with what was going on for most of the film, but I will say that, even I, would have liked something more.

3.6 stars

The Weight

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The Weight is a film that starred Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe that did not stay in the theaters for long. I would have gone to the theater to see the film, but, in my area anyway, it was gone pretty quickly and I could not fit it into my schedule. Fortunately, it came up on Fandango at Home this past week, and I was able to get it on the watch.

It was a solid historical drama with a great cast and some tense moments. Ethan Hawke showed, once again, what a versatile and powerful actor he is and his scenes with Russell Crowe were some of the best of the film. Crowe was not in the film as much, as his character was used at the beginning and then at the end of the movie.

According to IMDB, ” Desperate to save what is left of his family, during the height of the Great Depression, a battle-scarred veteran is hired to help smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness.“

The scenes set in the wilderness featured some spectacular imagery that stood out from the background. There is a scene on a rope bridge that takes that well-worn trope to a different level with some serious suspense in the crossing.

The ensemble cast was very good as well as it included Julia Jones, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Sam Hazeldine, George Burgess, Alec Newman, and Cameron Brady.

The Weight is directed by Padraic McKinley, and he does a solid job with this, his first full length feature film. This is a director who knew the kind of movie he wanted to make and placed the story an his actors into situations to get the best from them.

The Weight was a very strong film that has some great acting and a visual story to tell. It deserved more time in the theater.

3.75 stars

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #76

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#76

Sarah Miller (The Last of Us)

TV or Movies: The Last of Us

Actor: Nico Parker

Time of Death: January 15, 2023

Cause of Death: Shot in the abdomen, dying in the arms of Joel

I had not played the video game, so when The Last of Us debuted on HBO Max, I was going in fresh. The death of Sarah Miller caught me completely off-guard. The character felt as if she was being set up as out primary protagonist and then she was dead, being held in the arms of her father, Joel. Shocking and crushing.

Muppet Show S3 E6, E7

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Guest Star: Jean Stapleton

Guest Star: Alice Cooper

Two fun episodes of the Muppet Show, with two distinctly different performers. Jean Stapleton and Alice Cooper.

I actually found the Jean Stapleton episode one of the better written episodes of the third season so far, but I was not a huge fan of the duet at the end with Crazy Harry.

Then, what an odd episode with Alice Cooper, but equally awesome. I mean, it had Alice Cooper trying to get the Muppets to sell their souls to the Devil. Dark.

Both of these celebrities were real good sports with the show. Both were actually written a little crazy, and they both seemed to embrace the roles.

Robin the Frog broke up the weird Alice Cooper episode with a sweet version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

We also learned that Jean Stapleton’s favorite Muppet was Crazy Harry. Who knew? She also speaks mock Swedish, though what she spoke did not sound anything like the language spoken by the Swedish Chef.

Miss Piggy was very funny in the melodrama skit. Her disappointment was palpable. Her using the train tracks to hit Kermit was some funny slapstick bit that just never fails to gain a laugh from me.

I love the fact that I watched the Alice Cooper episode on Halloween Eve. It was very fitting.

From S1 E4

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“A Rock and a Farway”

Weird stuff going on in this town.

So we discovered that all of the people from the town were driving from places all over the nation. Obviously, this is some kind of magical place. Maybe they all wind up going into some kind of dimension or something of the like.

There are also trees that apparently can teleport people or items to different locations. Victor showed Ethan how it worked with a rock with a smiley face on it.

Victor and Ethan have some issues too… or at least with Ethan’s father, Jim, who is angry with Victor’s attention to Ethan.

The end of the episode showed Victor digging graves outside of the Colony House. That was very creepy.

We learned that Jim and Tabitha were planning on getting a divorce after this trip. Julie knew about it and she confronted Tabitha about it. Julie seemed to be bonding with the Colony House patorns.

Boyd was dealing with his guilt over sending Frank to the box. Father Khatri confronted Boyd about the leadership role in the town. Frank lashed out at Khatri about his role in the decision to send Frank to the box.

Lots of stuff going on in From and it is a wild rides so far. I am involved with the show.

Daiky Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #77

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#77

Face-Melting Nazis (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

TV or Movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Actors: Various

Time of Death: June 12, 1981

Caue of Death: Opening the Ark of the Covenant

One of the most disturbing images in the classic Raiders of the Lost Ark saw the emsembled Nazis face the power of God and had their faces melted off after they had opened the Ark of the Covenant. Indy and Marion survived by closing their eyes and not looking at the slaughter.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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October 29

Sad news today as I heard of the death of Sir Patrick Stewart. That one was tough. I liked him as Picard, but, to me, it is his portrayal of Professor Charles Xavier that brought him to my heart. His performance in Logan should have earned him an Academy Award. Rest in Peace Sir Patrick.

Also-Rans: Thor #802, The Bride of Frankenstein #1 (Cover A, Cover J), That Texas Blood: Hell Comes to Allison Ranch #2, Lazarus Order #3, Denver #3, Black Tower: The Raven Conspiracy #3, and Hello Darkness #26.

Bronze Medalist

Heard #1

Cover art by Joe Bocardo

This is a fabulous cover for a new comic that I do not know much about. I love the blue background with the crime scene tape across the mouth. I believe there is something involving autism in the storyline.

This is a beautiful cover.

Silver Medalist

Feral #27

Variant Cover B

Cover art by Trish Forstner, Allen Passalaqua & Tony Fleecs.

Another of the horror movie homage covers for Feral… this one from Urban Legends. These B covers have been sensational, and I give a lot of credit to these for the current trend of variant homage horror covers.

Gold Medalist

Daredevil #8

Cover art by Lee Garbett

What a beautiful Daredevil cover, with Mister Fear blending into the background of the city as the full red suited Daredevil falls from the sky. The black and white background really makes this stand out. Lee Garbett has been doing some excellent work on the covers of this new run of Daredevil and he gets a gold medal for the trouble.

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #78

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#78

Sonny Corleone (The Godfather)

TV or Movie: The Godfather

Actor: James Caan

Time of Death: March 24, 1972/October 3, 1951

Cause of Death: Riddled with bullets

When the image of being a gangster riddled with bullets is thought about, the image that most people see is that of Santino “Sonny” Corleone, Sr, as played by the iconic James Caan. Rival gangsters kill him at the highway toll plaza with submachine guns. It is one of the most dramatic moment in a movie that many consider one of the best of all time.

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #79

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#79

Major T. J. “King” Kong (Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)

Movie or TV: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Actor: Slim Pickens

Time of Death: January 29, 1964

Cause of Death: Riding a nuclear bomb down from the airplane that dropped it- explosion.

One of the funniest movies of the 1960s was the Stanley Kubrick satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and one of the best moments of the film was when the fairly crazy Major T. J. “King” Kong, as played by Slim Pickens, riding the a-bomb down, strattling it and waving his cowboy had. It resembled riding a mechanical bull, and the joyousness of Kong was in stark contrast to the tragedy occuring around him.

VisionQuest S1 E5, E6

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“Firewall”

“Deadlock”

Oh my. This was two episodes of prime Television.

So much happened. We started the episode “Firewall” with Ultron in control of Vision’s body and trapping him and the other AIs in the same “prison” that Vision had stored Ultron for all these years. Turnabout…

We ended with Ultron and Jocasta together, readying to turn the world’s humans into something more.

We had a sensational showdown between Vision and Paladin with Thomas’s life in the balance. In Madripoor of all places. When we went to Madripoor, I really thought that maybe the Power Broker was actually going to be involved. That did not happen though.

By the way, I am now even more certain that the person who originally hired Paladin to reclaim Vision was Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch.

We had a shocking appearance by a character that we haven’t seen since Iron Man in 2008. Raza, as played by Faran Tahir, a man connected to the Ten Rings, arrived in Madripoor in hopes of collecting the Vision body. At first, I thought he was the guy who hired Paladin, but it turned out he had not. It was an amazing cameo from out of nowhere.

FRIDAY is out of the house, unhappy when Vision dropped the firewall allowing Ultron to escape into the weird matrix stuff. She went into it too, and I am not sure exactly her part in this.

Jocasta, with Ultron at her side, sent a miniscule bot into the eye of Lisa, transforming her into a synthezoid being. Vision stopped her, but I am not sure that he will be able to save her.

The whole Jocasta/Ultron pairing is extremely unsettling and it makes me very scared for what the future of the series will hold. James Spader is, once again, spectacular and had tremendous chemistry with T’Nia Miller.

The first episode this week was shot in such an astonishingly creative way, that I truly enjoyed the journey they were putting us in. The whole Ultron/Vision conversation on the prison phones was amazing writing.

I was completely enveloped by these two episodes. Where as last week, I liked the VisionQuest episodes (especially E4), these two were just a brilliant work.

Next week there is only one episode, but it is over an hour in length. I have loved the length of these episodes and the manner in which Disney + has released them.