Word Cloud: Halloween
Speak No Evil (2022)
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
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
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)
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
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
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
The October 13 (2024)
I’m a little late getting started because I’ve been busy, but it is time for the October 13. I love Halloween and to celebrate the scary season, every October I pick out 13 horror/thriller movies that I have not seen before, at least in its entirety, and watch them.
This is the October 13 for 2024.
The October 13
- The Day of the Dead (1985)
2. Speak No Evil (2022)
3. Hell House LLC (2015)
4. The Pool (2018)
5. Sorry About the Demon (2022)
6. Messiah of Evil (1973)
7. Psycho II (1983)
8. Piranha (1978)
9. I Was a Teenage Zombie (1987)
10. Kill List (2011)
11. The Changeling (1980)
12. Little Evil (2017)
13. Mad God (2021)
EYG Comic Cavalcade #118
October 4, 2024
It will be a busy Saturday this week, with a couple of movies, Badd Blood from the WWE, and a Dodger post season game, so with a smaller number of books this week than recently, my goal was to get this Comic Cavalcade out on a Friday instead of the weekend. I just finished reading, even with a couple of new arrivals from eBay.
Books this week:
Storm #1. “Grand Opening.” Written by Murewa Ayodele and art by Lucas Werneck. I go the variant foil cover with the art by Jerome Opena. Storm is seeing quite the upswing of popularity as she is just recently in the Avengers and now with this new series. This is the fifth volume of Storm which surprised me, and she is one of my favorite mutant characters out there these days.
Hyde Street #1. Storytellers are Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis. Cover art was by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki and Brad Anderson did the cover art (Gold Medalist). This is the new series joining the Ghost Machine imprint from Image. It is very creative concept and it gave me an Ice Cream Man type flavor. This one is going to be very interesting.
Dead Eyes #1-4. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by John McCrea. Here is the eBay series I just recently purchased. A few week ago, I picked up Dead Eyes: Empty Frames and the book felt as if it were a sequel series, and, after a quick trip to eBay, I confirmed that truth. The Dead Eyes series arrived in the mail today. I loved this first series. Read them all in one sitting tonight.
Ultimate Black Panther #9. Written by Bryan Hill and art by Stefano Caselli. Cover art by Stefano Caselli and David Curiel. I have not done a write up for this series recently and it is because it has been my least favorite new Ultimates series. That is still the case, but we get a issue that is heavily featuring Storm and Killmonger and they do make a good team.
Daredevil #14. “Introductory Rites” Part Fourteen. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Luigi Zagaria. Cover art this issue was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove (Bronze Medalist). Matt Murdock has to face off with Elektra and she is not having it. To say that she is spurned is an understatement. However, there is little time for hurt feelings as they are in search of the missing kid from the halfway house.
The Power Fantasy #1-2. Written by Kieron Gillen and art by Caspar Wijngaaard. This is a series that I missed the first issue of and I had heard positives about, so I got #1 on eBay and read these two. Only a handful of superheroes on the earth and they are causing trouble. How about one Kieron Gillen has done a solid job with that.
Immortal Thor #16. “Fire and Stone.” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art. If I am being honest, this was a fairly pedestrian issue of Thor that was saved by a new group of villains and a shocking final page. I am excited to see where this goes from here.
Deadpool #7. Written by Cody Ziglar & Alexis Quasarano and art by Andrea Di Vito. Tauron Clarke did the cover art. This was okay, but I am not sure how I feel about the daughter of Deadpool taking up his mantel. I do like how they are keeping Wade’s body around with sunglasses on it expecting a resurrection.
X-Men #5. “Psychic Rescue in Progress” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman. Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia did the cover art. Psylocke and Quentin Quire heading on a psychic mission together was a joy. I am a fan of Quentin Quire because he is such a little jerk. And I love it.
Redcoat #6. Creators are Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch. Variant cover art is by Francis Manapul. For awhile in this book, it was feeling like a end of the series as things were wrapping up with Benedict Arnold. However, there is another issue coming as George Washington has reared his wigged head. Next issue is entitled “Epilogue” so does that mean next issue is the final one? That would be sad as this has been a consistently entertaining book.
The Deviant #8. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Joshua Hixson. The penultimate issue of this series really sets this one up for a huge finale. The mystery of what is exactly happening is great.
Plastic Man No More #2. Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Alex Lins. Alex Lins & Marcelo Maiolo did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Plastic Man is taking a huge step to try and solve the problem of his rubbery body falling apart, afraid that his son may wind up the same way. Unfortunately, it leads to a bad situation for the Metal Men.
Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #6. “Haunted” Part 6. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Gwen Stacy joined up with one of my favorite female Marvel characters, Jessica Jones, and I loved it. I could always enjoy the appearance of Jessica Jones.
Get Fury #6. Written by Garth Ennis and art by Jacen Burrows. Cover art was done by Dave Johnson. The finale of this series is just as brutal as this series has been. Nick Fury is downright unbalanced. This was a series that I did not initially plan on getting, but after re-reading the first issue again, I was in and I have enjoyed it each month.
Other books this week: Creature Commandos #1, The Nice House by the Sea #3, Robbie Reyes: Ghost Rider Marvel Voices Special #1, All In Special #1, and Wolverine: Deep Cut #4.
Poetry- Poe’s Lament
I have a second poem in as many weeks. This time, it is with my seventh grade class and I asked them if I should wrote a poem, too. They said yes, fairly excitedly. One student said I should do that author. She was referring to Edgar Allan Poe and I jumped at that chance. Much more of a fan of Poe than I was of four-wheelers.
I took a bunch of Poe’s works and made them a part of the story. I based it on the Raven, as you may know.
Here is the poem. It has the rhyme scheme of AABCCB
======================================================================
Poe’s Lament
1
Once upon a night so dreary
Edgar Allan Poe was weary
Sitting in his chamber all alone.
Dreaming of his lost Lenore
Or the lovely Annabel Lee some more
Spritzing the air with their favorite cologne.
2
Breaking the melancholic music of the score.
A gentle rapping, tapping came to the chamber door.
“What’s this?!” exclaimed Poe, flabbergasted.
“There’s something familiar about this,” he said.
As his broken heart was filled with dread.
Across the years of loss and fears, the gloomy feelings lasted.
3
Standing up from his writing desk, Poe cries, “By all that’s holy
If this be that blasted bird, I’ll kill it real slowly!”
Anger swelled within his breast as the irksome tap resumed.
Impatiently, the poet stormed across his chamber floor
Flinging open the door, Poe presumed a raven speaking ‘nevermore.’
No bird fueled Poe’s confusion of which he was consumed.
4
Nervous- very, very dreadfully nervous Poe became
The beating of his hideous heart was partially to blame
Poe was not calmed by the feathery fiend’s truancy.
“That tapping, the gentle rapping was coming from somewhere.”
Thought Poe, glancing around the hallway unaware.
Another creature had stalked past him with great fluency.
5
Cleaning its ebony fur upon the bust of Pallas
A slick black cat glared with eyes full of malice.
Poe covered his eyes and said, “What now?”
As the night was disrupted by the ringing of the bells, bells, bells
Poe screamed, “What do you want, creature of hell?”
And the black cat responded, “Meow.”
6
“Is that the best you’ve got, cat, one cliched word?
At least ‘nevermore’ was unexpected from the cursed bird!”
The black cat disregarded Poe’s raving, refusing to kowtow.
Poe poured himself a glass of amontillado wine.
“Why are you here?” said Poe. “You sent a chill down my spine.”
And the black cat responded, “Meow.”
7
“Creature! Are you a demon or is this but a dream within a dream.”
Poe’s words came out less like a question and more like a scream.
And o’er his heart a shadow fell as he found now
The feline sat on the bust stoically like the Red Death
“Will you lead to the fall of the house of Poe,” said he with a single breath
And the black cat responded, “Meow.”
8
Slumping back into his desk chair, Poe prayed for an end
From the torment and tempest of the works that he had penned.
“I would rather die at the hands of a raging orangutan, POW
Than suffer the indignities of your singular phrase.”
You fancy me mad, he thought, Madmen know nothing- just craze.
And the black cat responded, “Meow.”
9
Dark and brooding images throughout his mind did sprawl
Like disposal of this failure by burying it in the wall
Or tying it to a slab as a pendulum swings in this city.
At the peak of Poe’s macabre mind, in a dark blur.
The black cat leapt down, hopped on to Poe’s lap, and began to purr.
Taken aback, Poe slowly stroked the shiny fur. “Good kitty.”
10
Loss and grief can cause suffering and undo pain
And can lead to a darkness across your brain.
Loneliness can ravage your heart, here and now.
But Edgar Allan Poe and the black cat have each other.
Poe said, “Thank you for filling the hole in my soul left by another.”
And the black cat responded, “Meow.”
===================================================================
This is the works by Edgar Allan Poe that I either used lines from or took homage of:
Poems: The Raven, Annabel Lee, Eldorado, The Bells, A Dream Within a Dream
Short stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Upcoming Comic Preview
So I have the new Previews and there are several intriguing new books coming somewhere around December. Let’s see what is available.
Honestly, the two books I was most excited about were from Dark Horse. Ripperland has Jack the Ripper involved and I have always been a Jack the Ripper stan. There is another Dark Horse book called Those Not Afraid, also involving serial killers. However, the book I am the most excited for is called Behemoth. It is a group of people on a bus that is eaten by a giant monster and then the story is living inside the beast. What an amazing concept. I can’t wait.
Image has several new books this month. Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale is one that I am not sure I can handle. Lovesick was a series I grabbed off eBay, but goodness, I am not sure I could handle it. It was very disturbing. Juvenile– kids with a virus, but some are immune. I have heard this concept before, but it sounds intriguing. Then, how about a one-shot called Mother Fu*kin’ Monster #1. How can you not want a book with that kind of title?
Dust to Dust is another Image book. Yes, there is another serial killer involved, but set in a dust storm in the past. This one looked solid.
Through the Boughs #1 is from DSTLRY, which has been doing so much lately that I have loved. This is a Christmas tale.
And how about a Marvel TVA book. Sign me up for that one.
More books in this Previews. I’m looking forward to them.
Agatha All Along E4
Spoilers
“If I Can’t Reach You, Let My Song Teach You”
Whoa, this was a great episode.
Aubrey Plaza has returned, summoned to the Witches’ Road to replace the recently deceased Mrs. Hart (aka Sharon Davis).
Rio and Agatha certainly has a complicated history.
Agatha continues to show signs that she has feelings for Teen. Agatha thinks Teen is her son, you can tell. That is why Rio’s line at the end of the show about Teen not being her son hit Agatha so hard. I don’t know if that was true or just Rio’s vicious attempt to hurt Agatha.
When Teen looked like he was dying, Agatha was truly scared. Kathryn Hahn is such a great actress.
The new version of The Ballad of the Witches’ Road rocked hard. Lorna’s Ballad.
“We’re an album cover waiting to happen.”- Teen. The outfits for this trial were awesome.
The curse in demon form was very frightening too.
I am so curious about Patti LuPone’s character and the strange moments she has. It makes little sense so far, but I really love her so far.
This has been so enjoyable. The cast is tremendous and have so much chemistry with each other. There are so many questions to this story and I am into all of them.
EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week
Week of September 30
Welcome back to the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. It is a busy night (Agatha All Along is on!) and we’ll just jump into this.
Bronze Medalist
Daredevil #14
Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Richard Isanove
What a dramatic cover this was. The imagery of the DD mask being held up in the lightning storm with the rain coming down… excellent.
Silver Medalist
Plastic Man No More #2
Cover art by Alex Lins & Marcelo Maiolo
Plastic Man, trying to hold himself together, makes this an extremely attractive and intriguing cover.
Gold Medalist
Hyde Street #1
Cover art by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, and Brad Anderson
This is a cool looking new series from the Ghost Machine imprint from Image. The purple color of his face with the glowing green of the glasses just makes this stand out.
Bonus Action Vol. 2 E5
Spoilers
“A Party Prepares”
This episode of Bonus Action was just chocked full of character development. It was really fun taking the time to give these characters the chance to shine.
- Rory and the interns
- Victor taking steps to be a leader
- Bar’B dealing with her depression
- Bric soulbinded his blacksmith hammer
- Victor demanding practice
- Bar’B’s father made a ‘deal’
This is such a fun time every week.
Only Murders in the Building S4 E6
Spoilers
“Blow Up”
I loved this episode.
Like a found footage film, Only Murders in the Building went through the whole episode on cameras, which happened to be everywhere.
The Brothers Sisters were set up as a new suspect last week, but they are cleared this week after spending most of the episode trying to make them look guilty.
Best Zach Galifianakis cameo of the season so far as he was recovering in the hospital after being shot by a ricochet off Glen Stubbins’ metal plate in his head. The few seconds Zach was on were hilarious.
The discovery of two left shoulders in the ashes of Sazz was cool. The reveal that the second body from the incinerator being the mysterious Dudenoff was a great twist. I never thought that the Brother Sisters were the killers, but the way this used the reveal in this episode was tremendous.
The way the show used the narrative plot map (Inciting incident, Rising Action, Climax, Denouement) was unbelievably clever and worked so well.
There is still the emotional connection for Charles in Sazz’s death, even with the increased paranoia as it seemed that all three of our podcasters were the targets, as the Oliver crew were shot at.
And the discovery of the cameras and the text message to all three of them saying “I’m Watching You” was creepy.
Love love love this episode. I watched it twice. I love this entire season so far.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 