Author Archives: Doc

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #59

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#59

Squid Game

“Everyone is equal while they play this game. Here, every player gets to play a fair game under the same conditions”

These words are said by teh Front Man, the main antagonist for a show that pits a group of desperate men and women against one another in a series of games that, if you fail, will lead to your death.

This is Squid Game.

The Korean sensation hit Netflix a few years ago and became the must see show on the streamer. The fact that this show was one that you had no idea what might happen next appealed to a huge audience. Characters that you have grown close to were killed, some without much fanfare and twists kept coming.

This might have been higher up the list, but season three ended very poorly, in my opinion. However, it is a difficult and emotional path over the three seasons of shows that was compelling and thrilling.

Some of the games played were amazing. Red Light, Green Light, Jump Rope, Tug of War, Six-Legged Pentathlon and Hide and Seek were just some of the childhood games warped by the show.

Lee Jung-jae was our lead protagonist among the players. He became one of the top heroes of the show after starting out questionable.

Top notch performances and thrills every minute made Squid Game one of Netflix’s biggest hits.

Sha Na Na S1 E8, E9, E10

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I feel like I need to mention this every episode of this show… I hate the canned laughter and canned cheers. They really do not make the show more enjoyable.

Second, the comedy bits are just not good. Episode 10 did something different, which I liked a lot. They did a Sha Na Na dance contest on the main stage and they, supposedly, grabbed three women from the audience to dance with Donny, Denny, and Santini. I don’t know how real this was, but the winner was chosen by the audience and was definitely the best of the three.

Edgar Bergen was in episode 8, but barely appeared. I also did not remember how much Edgar Bergen moved his mouth when doing his ventriloquist act.

Episode 9 & 10 featured actual musical acts in guests with Jim Stafford and Theresa Brewer. These were so much better than the comedians that they have had before. Both did a song with Sha Na Na and it was entertaining.

In episode 8, Jane Dulo, who played the woman in the window, yelled down to Denny that his father “worked like a slave.” That shocked me and it was never referenced, but I can’t believe someone didn’t notice that comment.

Denny got a couple of songs in these episodes with “The Lover’s Question” and a intro to “Jailhouse Rock.” Screamin’ Scott was featured on “Splish Splash” and “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay.” Johnny did several of the final songs of these episodes. I still like how they moved lead singers around. Jocko got to do “Chantilly Lace” as well.

Scare Me (2020)

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5 of the October 13

Scare me is a comedy horror film written, directed and starring Josh Ruben, who has also directed Werewolves Within and Heart Eyes.

I do not remember where I found this film while I was compiling my possible list of the October 13 this year, but I am truly pleased that Scare Me made it. Comedy-horror is difficult to do. There are way more examples of films that try it and fail than those that are successful. Josh Ruben appears to be someone who can find that perfect mix between the genres.

Fred (Josh Ruben) rented a cabin in the Catskills with hopes of doing some writing. Fred meets Fanny (Aya Cash), who had written one of the best horror novels of all time. During a power outage, Fanny comes over to Fred’s cabin and the two of them take turns telling stories, trying to scare each other.

This was really great. It was so funny and still provided that creepy feel that you didn’t know what was next. Josh Ruben and Aya Cash worked well together, creating some compelling stories to present to each other.

Chris Redd joined in on the fun for a short while as Carlo the pizza delivery guy.

The film uses a ton of references from other horror movies including Jaws, The Shining, Misery, and Poltergeist. The movie clearly has a love for horror films and the manner in which they are created, while also messing with the tropes of the genre.

I watched Scare Me on Amazon Prime, specifically with Shudder. It was an excellent time, blending humor and horror perfectly.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #60

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#60

The Twilight Zone

One of the classic anthology series of all time is next up in the Top 100 countdown. The Twilight Zone found a place in the culture of the country with its weird tales of supernatural and uncertain events.

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.

Rod Sterling was the narrator of this series, starting off the show with his typical monologue featuring the main story they would be telling in the next half and hour (or so. The show had a season of hour long episodes).

There are so many classic episodes that are iconic to the world. The gremlin on the wing of the airplane. The man who only wishes for a chance to read, finds the time at the end of the world, only to break his glasses. It’s a cookbook!!!

I spent the summer of 2023 watching all 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone. What a wonderful watch. Some episodes were not as good, some were downright terrible (“The Bard” or “Cavander is Coming,” for example), but most were really great or amazing.

This is the top 10 episodes I ranked that summer. As with any list, things may change over time, but this was the comprehensive list at that time.

#10. “The Howling Man”

#9. “The Dummy”

#8. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” 

#7. “Time Enough at Last”

#6. “Eye of the Beholder”

#5. “A Stop at Willoughby” 

#4. “Living Doll”

#3. “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”

#2. “To Serve Man”

#1. “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”

Some of the best actors around spent time in the Twilight Zone including Burgess Meredith, William Shatner, Robert Redford, Bill Mumy, Jack Klugman, Dennis Hopper, Agnes Morehead, Claude Akins, Elizabeth Montgomery, Ed Wynn, Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, and Charles Bronson. There were hundreds of other actors that appeared in the show over its five seasons.

There have been many variations and homages to The Twilight Zone over the years, but none of them reached the level of success or quality as the original CBS series.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #38

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Spoilers

The Haunting of Hill House

“Steven Sees a Ghost”

The ending of this first episode gave me chills.

We start a new series this week for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, and, in honor of the creepy season, I chose The Haunting of Hill House.

What a great start to this series.

I have to say, I think this series does an admirable job of introducing these characters to the viewers. With so many major characters, it can be difficult to know who is who. Then, not only do we met these people in the present day, but also in flashbacks to the time they lived in Hill House. It could easily be very confusing, but I have to say that the show did a solid job of connecting the characters from the past and the present. It did require my attention though.

The show does an especially good job with Steven, as we see him both as a young boy, the oldest of the kids and his protective nature, and an older man, skeptical and struggling.

Then, Nell and the moment at the end was an amazing shock. When Nell stood in that apartment staring blankly at Steven, I knew what was going on (I mean, when you title the episode “Steven Sees a Ghost” and he hasn’t up to this point, well, it is not rocket science), but it did not make it any less impactful.

The middle two girls are the characters that I got the least from during this episode, and I hope they will come into focus more are the series progresses. Luke is a fascinating character and I feel like I have a good grasp on him even with the limited amount of screen time he received.

The father has clearly been affected dramatically and I feel as if we are going to dive deeper into the mother’s suicide in Hill House.

I am intrigued by the mysterious events that the show has introduced to us and, with the mind of writer-director Mike Flanagan, who also was the force behind Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game, and The Life of Chuck, I believe this could lead to something special.

This series is loosely based on the novel of the same name from 1959 by Shirley Jackson.

House on Haunted Hill (1999)

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4 of the October 13

There was a movie from 1959 called House on Haunted Hill, that starred Vincent Price. It was a fun time as five people were challenged to stay the night in a haunted house for $10,000.

Well, in 1999, the fee goes up.

It was $1,000,000 dollars in the 1999 remake, and it was at an old abandoned insane asylum.

And I would not classify this one as “fun.”

The film included  Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson, Peter Gallagher, and Chris Kattan as those poor souls trying to survive the night. That’s a decent cast list of actors, but the writing was anything but good, and character development was lacking even more.

Some of the special effects were bad, although it was 1999, so you have to take that into consideration. Of course, 1999 had the Sixth Sense come out and those effects were much better.

This was nowhere near as good of a movie as the Vincent Price version, and it was the first poor movie in the October 13 for this year.

Roofman

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Channing Tatum showed just how charming of an actor he is by taking the role of Jeffery Manchester, a criminal who would rob McDonalds and other stores by cutting a hole in the ceiling.

This is a true story of Manchester, and it is astounding. I can tell you how much I was rooting for Tatum, even though I knew it was a true story. At one point in the theater, I thought to myself that there was no way this was going to turn out well for these characters.

According to IMDB, “Based on an unbelievable true story, Roofman follows Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), an Army veteran and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.“

Of course, one could argue that Manchester was incredibly selfish, having insinuated himself into the lives of Leigh and her daughters, making himself a vital part of their lives despite knowing that one day he would have to break their hearts. If you stop and think about what was happening here, you can see Manchester as a rotten person. Still, Channing Tatum is such a charming and versatile actor that you can’t help but look past the bad behavior and hope for the best.

Peter Dinklage, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Uzo Aduba, Ben Mendelsohn, and Molly Price all had roles in the film. Dinklage was excellent as always, playing a jerk of a boss at the Toys R Us that Manchester hid out at.

The story moved quickly as the relationship between Manchester and Leigh developed. He was very skilled at inter-personal workings and he eventually won over her daughters.

I found this to be a very engaging and thoroughly beguiling film. Channing Tatum was the standout star and he carried the film on his shoulders.

4 stars

Tron: Ares

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So there was probably few major blockbusters this year that I was looking forward to less than Tron: Ares. I was not a fan of either of the previous films, Tron and Tron: Legacy, though, to be fair, I would be hard pressed to tell you much of anything about those previous movies because it has been a long time since I watched them. I did walk into the movie with as open of a mind as I could, but I was not anticipating it.

I disliked this movie a lot.

There were two things that I thought were really great. First, the soundtrack/score of the film, done by Nine Inch Nails, was sensational and worked so well for the world of this movie. I had questioned the choice of Nine Inch Nails, but they absolutely ruled here.

The second thing that I can say positively about Tron: Ares is the visual effects are amazing. It looks great, although perhaps there were some scenes when the visual effects were too much because it overpowered what was happening in the scene. For the most part, the action with these effects were top notch.

That is where I draw the line for my positives.

The story of the movie was so basic that it was as if it weren’t even there. Jared Leto was fine, but he did not have to do anything really challenging. The rest of the actors felt as if they were not necessary. So many of the other actors had virtually nothing to do, including Greta Lee and Even Peters, who I usually love. Peters, especially, felt like nothing more than a one note villain that could have been so much more.

There were nothing that really tied this movie to anything that happened in previous films, outside of a forced cameo from Jeff Bridges. That is fine, but it felt as if it went out of the way to avoid the previous films.

I was bored for much of the film and, if I did not have the score to entertain me, I may have fallen asleep. There were no characters worth my time and the story was nothing more than searching for the latest MacGuffin.

I was anxious for this movie to get over with for much of the two hour run time. I did not enjoy my time in the theater with Tron: Ares.

2 stars

The Smashing Machine

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I missed this movie last week, which was sad because I am a fan of Dwayne Johnson and the word was that he might even have a chance for an Academy Award nomination.

Having seen it, I do think this was the best performance of Johnson’s career. Do I see it as an Oscar worthy performance? No, I do not. He was the best part of this movie, though. I do think he was able to show himself as more than just an over-muscled action heroes with his performance in this movie.

The Smashing Machine is the true story of the mixed-martial arts and former UFC champion, Mark Kerr.

I did not love this movie. I found it to be a little slow and not as engaging as I hoped it would be. However, it had strong performances from Johnson and, particularly, Emily Blunt as Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn. Blunt brought some intensity to this role of a character who did not have many positives about her.

There were moments in the film where I had a hard time seeing Dwayne Johnson in the role of Mark Kerr. He definitely looked different than he usually looked, and he did a solid job not just being The Rock imitating Mark Kerr.

3.3 stars

Daily Countdown: TV Shows#61

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#61

Friends

“How you doin’?”

I have to say that I did really enjoy Friends. It does not seem like my kind of show, but I found it extremely funny and there is no doubt that this cast has insane chemistry together.

David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc were the reason this show became one of the top comedies of the recent days. They each totally grasped their characters and their characters’ intricacies and quirks in ways that were consistently hilarious.

There are so many awesome moments from Friends including when Chandler and Joey took on Monica and Rachel for the apartment, “PIVOT!”, Joey with the turkey on his head, among many others.

A who’s who of actors cameoed and guest starred on Friends over the years, from Bruce Willis to Paul Rudd to Kathleen Turner to Brad Pitt to Brooke Shields to Gary Oldman to Tom Selleck. The list is way too long to list here, but it is some of the most iconic actors in Hollywood.

The Ross-Rachel relationship carried over the entire run of the series, in all of its ups and downs and “We were on a break!”s. I do think that Chandler and Monica’s out of nowhere relationship reignited the heart of the series, though.

What, exactly, was Chandler’s job?

Daily Countdown: TV Show #62

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#62

This never should have worked.

This show took the villain of the first Karate Kid movie and made him the protagonist and switched the POV of the show. It debuted on the fledgling YouTube Red. This was never going to work.

Then it did.

After a couple of seasons on YouTube Red, Cobra Kai moved to Netflix and became a sensation.

William Zabka led the cast of the show as Johnny Lawrence. Ralph Macchio resumed his role of Daniel LaRusso from the Karate Kid movies. The show not only focused on that rivalry between old foes, but also the new karate students. Other cast members included  Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Payton List, Jacob Bertrand, Mary Mouser, Courtney Henggeler, Vanessa Rubio, Dallas Dupree Young, and Gianni DeCenzo.

The show brought back several of the other villains from the Karate Kid movies including Martin Kove’s John Kreese, Thomas Ian Griffith’s Terry Silver, Yuji Okumoto’s Chozen, and Sean Kanan’s Mike Barnes. The continuity of the show with the films was excellent.

The show was ridiculous, but in the very best ways. The fifth seaosn finale was some of the best karate action you will see. Cobra Kai ran for six seasons and was surprisingly exceptional.