Author Archives: Doc

It Came From Outer Space (1953)

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October 11

#6 out of 13

I had thought that I had seen It Came From Outer Space (1953) before, but there was no review on the site. Because of that, I decided to add it on the list for the October 13. After watching it, I think what I was thinking was “The Day the Earth Stood Still” instead of this one. Both of these films were named in the “Science Fiction/Double Feature” song from Rocky Horror Picture Show, which may have led to my confusion as well.

I have definitely not seen this movie before, but it was a really enjoyable. These kind of sci-fi outer space films from the 50s have a tone about them that really sets them apart from other films of the time. They are also great in comparison to the more recent because of their low budget and reliance on practical effects.

According to IMDB, “A spaceship from another world crashes in the Arizona desert and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strangely.”

There was some good tension in the film as the aliens moved about taking over humans’ appearances in order to walk freely among them. The interactions between astronomer John Putnam and Sheriff Warren was fun, even if it was unlikely.

I was surprised when the Professor from Gilligan’s Island walked onto the screen. Russell Johnson played George, one of the earliest of the humans to be taken by the aliens and replaced. I have seen Johnson in other roles such as in The Twilight Zone before his most recognizable role on the sitcom.

I liked this a lot and it was fun watching the story develop. This film was not afraid to set the humans in a more aggressive manner when the aliens just wanted to fix their crashed ship and leave.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

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I thought about using this film in The October 13, but I decided against it. It certainly would have fit. I rented this a few weeks ago at Fandango at Home with the expectation that I would get it watched within the month time frame allowed. However, I was down to seven days this morning, and so I decided that the time was now.

According to IMDB, “A director making a slasher sequel becomes obsessed with casting the original film’s ‘final girl,’ leading both women into psychological and sexual chaos.”

I have to say that this movie was a strange, bizarre, surreal and satirical film that I had a difficult time getting into. The overall story was some kind of amalgam of slasher movies, romantic and dark, dark comedy.

I have been a fan of Gillian Anderson ever since The X-Files, and her performance is one that I enjoyed. It became so weird that it lost me.

At the beginning, when the slasher would kill someone and there would be a massive spurting blood that was so cartoonish that it pulled me out of the film.

I am not sure how to feel about a lot of this film. I liked the performances, especially with Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder. I’m just not sure how I feel about the story being told.

2.75 stars

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #90

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DTF St. Louis

“Missouri Mutual Life & Health Insurance Company”

I can see why David Harbour won an Emmy for this role.

He is spectacular.

The rap with Jason Bateman about passing the M-F life insurance physical is one of the best scenes I have seen all year long. It only made Floyd’s death all the more sad.

We see the progression of how Floyd achieved the life insurance that could be a motive for murder. We also get Detectives Homer and Plumb discovering the existence of the life insurance.

The more we learn about this show, the sadder it becomes because it is totally the relationship between Floyd and Clark that carries the weight of the show. Things seemed to be looking up for Floyd thanks to Clark, so I wonder how things went off the path. Floyd told Clark that he was ready to be done with DTF St. Louis, but his death was connected to the site.

I am no closer to the answer of the murder yet, as we have three more episodes to go.

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #96

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#96

Sebastian (The Sheep Detectives)

TV or Movie: The Sheep Detectives

Actor: Bryan Cranston

Time of Death: May 8, 2026

Cause of Death: injuries sustained while fighting off vicious German Shepherds

Who would guess that a black Castlemilk Moorit ram would make the Top 100 TV & Movie list? Well, the film The Sheep Detectives was defying all kinds of expectations. It is one of my favorite movies of 2026, and I actual had tears falling form my eyes when Sebastian met his end fighting off a pack of dogs to save Lilly and Mopple. If he’d only had turned into a cloud.

Other Mommy

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It has been a great year for horror. I spoke about it in a review just a few weeks ago after watching Resident Evil.

Then came Other Mommy.

They can’t all be winners.

Other Mommy was a huge disappointment because the initial trailer for this movie was so good. How could a trailer be so intense, creepy and disturbing while the movie it is from is dull, stupid and downright pathetic.

According to IMDB, “Bela, an 8-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity which comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.”

Jessica Chastain committed to the role, but I was underwhelmed by the performance. It was funny at times, and that is not what the film wanted.

I will say that the young debuting actor Arabella Olivia Clark as Bela did a good job. She handled a lot of the heavy lifting in the story as she had most of the story on her shoulders.

The problem is the story itself was lacking in too many ways. There is no specific plot involved. What is Other Mommy’s motive? Not really sure. There are moments when the tone of the film is all over the place. It felt like they tried to infuse some humor into the story that just never worked and only served to pull me out of the film.

The biggest problem of Other Mommy is that, outside of the great jump scare that they showed in the trailer, this movie was just not scary. It was nowhere near as creepy or intense for almost the entire run time of the film. The trailer made me think this would be a tense and anxious film. Nope. I actually laughed at several of the scenes that were supposed to be scary.

I thought the acting was fine, but there are just too many problems with the film to add to the list of great 2026 horror films.

1.2 stars

The Social Reckoning

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Aaron Sorkin’s new film is a kind of sequel to the iconic classic, The Social Network. While it is not a bad movie by any stretch, it falls quite short of that first amazing film.

According to IMDB, “Follows Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network’s most guarded secrets.”

The performances of the film are solid. Mikey Madison is Francis an employee inside Facebook who has discovered the questionable choices made by the social network. She recruited Jeremy Allen White, who played Jeff Horwitz, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Jeremy Strong played Mark Zuckerberg, in all his arrogant glory. Strong is a great actor and his work as Zuckerberg was a highlight of the movie. His argument with Bill Barr is a powerful series of scenes.

Now, there are several scenes that dragged on, especially at the beginning of the film, and the ending felt a little too preachy.

Dialogue in an Aaron Sorkin movie is always great, and this was as well. However, the story itself seemed to lack a little oomph. While it was a good enough presentation of the true story, it did not stand out like the previous film did. It was perfectly watchable, but it felt underwhelming at times.

In a movie where Facebook seemed to be the villain, I will be posting this review on the social network.

3.1 stars

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #97

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#97

Zoe Barnes (House of Cards)

TV or Movie: House of Cards

Actor: Kate Mara

Time of Death: House of Cards S2 E1 “Chapter 14”

Cause of Death: Pushed in front of oncoming subway train

This was an unbelievable shock in the season two premiere of Netflix’s House of Cards. Zoe Barnes was one of the top characters in season one, if not the main protagonists. Season two kicked off with Frank Underwood basically throwing her in front of a subway train. It took the streaming show to a completely different level.

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

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October 9

#5 out of 13

I remember finding out about this rock opera earlier this year when Anthony Stewart Head passed away. I loved Head as Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I knew he could sing so I was curious about this film.

It is one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen.

According to IMDB, “A worldwide epidemic encourages a biotech company to launch an organ-financing program similar in nature to a standard car loan. The repossession clause is a killer, however.”

The film reminded me of Rocky Horror Picture Show, Moulin Rouge, and Heavy Metal. This movie did not make any money on its release, but it has become a cult film, much in the same manner as Rocky Horror. The music throughout was rocking and entertaining.

The story was crazy. Anthony Stewart Head was really solid in the role of Nathan. Paul Sorvino was the lead antagonist in Rotti Largo. I am not sure I liked his voice as much as I did Head’s.

The film had fun comic book-like panels used at times during the film to help with exposition. It was a fun technique to move the story along.

The rock opera was entertaining, but the story was so weird and extremely gory, some times too much so. It was gross at too many moments.

I could listen to Anthony Stewart Head’s voice all day though. This was something else.

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #98

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#98

A Cairo swordsman (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

TV or Movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Time of Death: June 12, 1981

Actor: Terry Richards

Cause of Death: Gunshot

The story behind this death is as legendary as the scene itself. Harrison Ford was reportedly feeling sick on this day of shooting and did not want to go through the big sword fight that had been written. Ford went to Steven Spielberg and pitched an idea. The swordman would show up, spin his sword around, and Indy would take out his gun and shoot him. It is not only one of the best scenes of all-time, it told us so much about the character of Indiana Jones. We’ve seen lenghty sword fights before, but this left us with an impression unlike any other scene could.

Dementia 13 (1963)

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October 8

#4 out of 13

A few months ago, I came across a film called Dementia 13, which interested me. I wanted to save it for the October 13, so I emailed myself the name of the film to remember it.

I added it to the list for The October 13 and chose to watch it tonight. As the opening credits were running, I spotted something that I did not know. This film was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In fact, this was Coppola’s feature film debut. It was intended to be a low-budget film similar to Psycho, and the film would be produced by Roger Corman. I did not know about Coppola’s involvement at the time I emailed myself, but it was a welcome addition.

According to IMDB, “Ax murders follow a heart attack at an Irish castle full of mourners.” This is a fairly simplistic synopsis of the film, which had some decent and unexpected twists in it. The ending was predictable as I kept waiting for a bigger surprise to happen. One that never did arrive.

The film had some good ambiance. It was creepy and filmed well int he style of a gothic horror. You could certainly see what Coppola may have in his future with the directing of this film.

Actors appearing in the film included William Campbell, Luana Anders, Mary Mitchel, Bart Patton, Patrick Magee, Eithne Dunne, Karl Schanzer, and Derry O’Donovan.

You could tell this film was older and not as cleanly preserved as some other 1960s film, but it was still a decent watch, and I am glad to have seen the historic first film directed by an all-timer.

Ted Lasso S4 E10

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“Being Alive”

The fourth season of Ted Lasso came to a close as most of the storylines wrapped up and set a new status quo for anything moving forward.

The ending is a shocking moment as Ted Lasso stepped down as head coach of the Lady Greyhounds to take an assistant position instead. This allowed Alice to take the head coaching position. Part of this was obviously for Ted to be able to spend more time with his son, who was having a hard time dealing with the loss of Mae last episode.

I’m wondering what this will do for any future seasons of the show. I thought maybe Ted would move over to coach the men’s team again since Roy accepted a head coaching position at Chelsea, but that did not happen. It was a fascinating twist and I am curious how it will play out.

I did love how Rebecca and Higgins put one over on Zelda, who thought she had succeeded in purchasing enough shares to take over the Richmond team. I love how they played this and how Higgins was able to figure out the mystery of Zelda’s betrayal. The whole use of the shareholders meeting to reveal to Zelda that she fail was cool. I really thought Zelda was going to win, but the whole fight between Rebecca and Higgins made me suspect the truth.

The Roy-Keeley story was sweet during this time and I really did not think that Roy would take the job. I wonder how that will affect Keeley at Richmond.

This season picked up the pace in the second half, really starting to feel like Ted Lasso. I am unsure what any future seasons may hold, if it even does come back.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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October 8

Last week was Amazing Spider-Man #1000 and this week was the debut of Midnight from Marvel Comics. So two of the variant covers from those Marvel books have placed in the top three medalist.

Also-Rans: Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death #1, Comics! The Maga zine #8, Something is Killing the Children #50 (C Cover), The Deadman #5, The Dirt Beneath the Devil #3, Of the Earth #6, and Pop Kill: Big Candy #1. There are also a ton of awesome Midnight covers that would be on this list.

Bronze Medalist

Midnight Fantastic Four #1

Variant cover H

Cover art by Jaeyung Lee

What an awesome Sue Storm cover on this book. It was a 1:25 variant, but I could not resist it.

One amazing FF cover that uses the invisibility in special ways.

Silver Medalist

Midnight X-Men #1

Variant Virgin cover 1:50

Cover art by Skan Srisuwan

This was expensive, but I just could not ignore this amazing piece of art. I have always been a fan of Nightcrawler, and him being front and center in this Midnight X-Men story is epic. This cover is just an amazing work and drew me in.

Gold Medalist

Something is Killing the Children #50

Blind bag Variant Cover

Cover art by Joe Palmer

This one came out of a SIKTC #50 blind bag and I had a hard time for a day or so figuring it out. However, it is a gorgeous B & W foil variant that I feel totally lucky to have gotten. I love this cover and it feels like it is something special.

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #99

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#99

Ginny Weedon and other Freezer Victims (Picket Fences)

TV or Movie: Picket Fences

Actor: Zelda Rubinstein; Richard Masur

Time of Death: Season 3, Episode 5, titled “Cold Spell” (aired October 28, 1994); (Season 3, Episode 11), titled “Freezer Burn,” which originally aired on January 6, 1995

Cause of Death: frozen in freezer

On Picket Fences, the beloved operator at the Rome Sheriff’s department, Ginny, was found dead in her freezer. A season later, the town investigated a possible serial killer who shoved his victims into a freezer. The running gag continued later in the series as recently elected mayor, Ed Lawson, was killed by his wife and his body was hidden in a freezer.

The dark, comedic tone of Picket Fences worked very well with this bizarre reoccuring incident.

Daily Countdown: TV & Movie Deaths #100

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#100

Blain Cooper (Predator)

TV or Movie: Predator (1987)

Actor: Jesse Ventura

Time of Death: June 12, 1987

Cause of Death: the Jungle Hunter shoots him through the back and chest with a plasma energy weapon (shoulder cannon), leaving a massive, fatal hole in his torso

“I ain’t got time to bleed”

We kick off our brand new Daily Countdown with Jesse “The Body” Ventura, a former pro wrestler who, at the time, was a commentator in the WWE. In fact, the main reason I went to see Predator, the new film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was because of Jesse Ventura. I was sad that he was one of the first to go in the film, but he was one of the most memorable characters with people quoting him to this day.