Noirvember Recommendation: Conflict

 

                                              

                                         A new thing I'm trying out ever since I've heard of the trend Noirvember where every month of November we celebrate film noir or neo-noir films. I've decided to make a new recommendation I'd like to call Noirvember Recommendation out of a sense of love and respect I have of the film noir genre. So, with my first ever Noirvember Recommendations is a movie from the ever talented and great Anti-Hero and sometimes a bad guy at times, Humphrey Bogart also a good private investigator if you ever need to call him, though you can't technically call him because he's been dead from quite some time due to a bad case of inhaling smoke. Conflict is a great ingenious film noir of how one man believes he's killed a loved one but isn't sure if he or she is alive.

                                         Engineer Richard Mason (Humphrey Bogart) is unhappily married to his hectoring wife, Katheryn (Rose Herbert), and makes no secret that he loves her younger sister, Evelyn (Alexis Smith). Driving home from their anniversary party, Mason crashes the car when the reflection of Evelyn in the rearview mirror distracts him. To convalesce, he plans a trip to the mountains and sends Katheryn ahead. Katheryn dies on the way, but Mason begins to see signs that she's alive.

                                         Surprisingly, Conflict was filmed around 1943 somewhere after the shooting of Casablanca and maybe after the Academy Awards furthermore there were disputes of the film Conflict in which Bogart wasn't really interested in the role and was having arguments with the head of Warner Brothers, Jack Warner to make a long story short the movie was filmed before Bogart met the love of his life in Lauren Bacall, and after the production wrapped and it was delayed in terms of release for which came out two months after WWII ended. Conflict is a great example of what makes film noir's such a perfect type of movie to watch because all you really need is just a simple idea and blossom it into a great psychological story of murdering someone and then having the assumption of whether that person is alive or not. The other thing I love about the movie is you can literally write this movie now and make the wife be more of a bickering woman whose always getting on the husband's nerves and you have a perfect reason why you feel for the guy because he's finding a way to escape his marriage but somehow he's haunted by the ghost of his wife, though sure this would be in a Coen Brothers film but it would still be great to watch on screen. Another interesting fact, is that this is one and only films Humphrey Bogart and Sidney Greenstreet starred in where the roles are reverse and Bogart is the antagonist of the movie and Greenstreet is the protagonist of the film while there other works together Bogie is usually the hero or anti-hero and Greenstreet the typical bad guy in the movie and Greenstreet is always good in his roles together with Bogie no question about it and the same goes with Bogie whose always fantastic playing these role but the best thing about him is that in this movie yes he plays the bad guy sorry for the spoilers but the way he's able to show his emotions and doubt is always amazing to see on screen and really that's what makes Bogie such a great actor especially when it comes to these movies all together. I will say now having watched the movie twice I am curious if they ever used this type of concept when they tried to catch O.J. Simpson where he was doubting if the glove fit right or not OR, he did kill his wife and then decided to go for a drive five miles an hour in his Bronco, I mean there's a lot of questions on if the prosecutors watched the movie and used this concept on the Juice but he's already dead so really doesn't matter but it's an interesting theory, right? Anyway, I had other contenders to begin this new Noirvember Recommendation, but really you always have to start off with a classic Bogart film because he's always has been the master of the film noir genre him and Alfred Hitchcock but Bogie's been doing them since the thirties with the classic gangster movies and mystery films and I'm not sure if I've been recommending a lot of film noir's lately though I haven't kept track but I'm a huge fan of the film noir's and neo-noir's furthermore if your ever wanting to dive into the film noir genre I would highly recommend Conflict for many reasons it has that element of relating to the guy whose miserable with his marriage because his wife is bickering crazy woman and I think any guy in a relationship or marriage would love this movie though I'm not sure killing your spouse would be a great idea but deep down would most certainly make you feel better that you’re not the only one dealing with a bickering spouse, moreover you can buy or rent the movie on Google/YouTube for 3.99/4.99 so deep down that's a bargain if you ask me. 

     

                                                

Gladiator 2

 

                                      Well everyone if you've read a good portion of my reviews through the years you would know that Sir Ridley Scott is in my list of favorite and greatest directors of all time and if you haven't read a good portions of my reviews you are sincerely crazy or disillusioned with the belief that I spent my hard earn money on the movie Wicked for which really why would we need a prequel to one of the greatest movies of all time, hell I bet no one remembers the Sam Rami prequal which starred James Franco. Anyway, back to Sir Ridley Scott, Gladiator is without a doubt the most iconic movie of the 2000's moreover one of the many movies that made sword and sandals films look epic. And I personally never thought in a million years that they would ever come up with a sequel to its best picture predecessor, but do you know that the secret is when making a twenty-four year in the making sequel? You cast the greatest actors of all time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington in the movie.

                                      Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) now a grown man, enter the Colosseum after two powerful Emperors of Rome (Joseph Quinn & Fred Hechinger) conquered his home. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return the glory of Rome to its people.

                                      The development of Gladiator's successor has been in development limbo close to twenty-years and it's been in a concept talk for sure but again it was always in that dilemma of how do you top perfection, in fact Nick Cave an Australian musician wrote a script for the Gladiators sequel as a pitch unfortunately it didn't see the light of day but still lives on, on the internet thankfully so, if you feel the need to look up the script online go nuts buddy, sadly I have the printed out script that an old friend gave me to read for which I was going to read it but I didn't feel the need because there was no need for a sequel, although the important part ladies and gentlemen is that Nick Cave's Gladiator script involves a ton of time travel, spending time in purgatory as well as battling Gods? Either way I'm going to plan to read the script when I get the chance and I'm going to make that attempt if it kills me. Long story short Russell Crowe hated the script, and I'd believe Scott wanted no part of it so, really months before the film’s release when the first trailer came out and when you see Denzel's face on the screen me, I was like say no more. So, now that the sequel has finally been released to the world it's hands down the greatest thing I've seen all year, though in all fairness it still has the same concepts of the original Gladiator in terms of storyline but let’s be honest this film was no designed to be a best picture nod for the Academy Awards the other thing I will make clear if we didn't have an iconic actor like Denzel Washington I don't believe this film would ever be great to watch at the movie theaters, though sure Connie Nielson returns as Lucius mother Lucilla but I don't feel that would be enough despite the woman did played Wonder Woman's mother, so she still has it in terms of embodying a strong mother. Though here's the facts that makes Denzel Washington the reason Gladiator 2 works, and that's he's able to play both sides of good and evil and you can see that from his leadership role in Remember the Titans to his Oscar worthy performance in Training Day as a crooked cop, I mean he's the best of both worlds hell, even Washington collaborated with Scott in American Gangster so, if you need other great examples of what makes Washington a great actor I don't know what else you need. Look, it's not rocket science and sure I could go on for hours and hours on what's great about Ridley Scott and the rest of the cast, but look deep down this film is the ultimate guy movie it's the main reason as to why they released both Wicked and Gladiator 2, because they have one movie for all the ladies to go watch and all the dudes on the other side to go see in the movie theaters so, for all the dudes out there if you’re looking for a movie to get a babysitter and go with your bro's then Gladiator 2 is most certainly the best movie to go see in the movie theaters and if your married and have kids I'm confident in saying that you can make some negotiations with the wife and say "Hun if you can take the daughter to go see Wicked, and I'll take our son to go see Gladiator 2", which I truly believe is a reasonable negotiation. So, I'll say this again if you’re looking for a movie to go with your bros or have some good quality bonding time with your sons then Gladiator 2 is most certainly the go to movie, to watch this Holiday season furthermore the best movie to go see on the big screen. 

                      

November Recommendation: Harvey

 

                                       Heading down to the month of giving thanks and to be honest I wasn't quite sure of what movie I wanted to give thanks to or be more appreciative for. And as my memory at times comes to me with a reminder of my past, I found Jimmy Stewarts Harvey that I've not seen in quite a long time. This was one of those films that my parents had a VHS copy of Harvey and at times I feel like I remember watching bits and pieces of the movie but at times I don't remember watching the film all the way through. Even though it's been quite a long time I figure well, Jimmy Stewart has been a big part of my childhood and the movie itself is on Amazon Prime (leaving in close to nine or eight days depending). I figured well I need to express my thanks and appreciation to legendary actor Jimmy Stewart.  

                                       Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart) is a wealthy drunk who starts having visions of a giant rabbit named Harvey. Elwood lives with his sister Veta (Josephine Hall) and her daughter (Victoria Horne), and Veta worries that Elwood has gone insane. In the process of trying to have him committed, though Veta admits that she occasionally sees Harvey herself. The director of the mental home, Dr. Chumley (Cecil Kellaway), tries to reconcile his duty to help Elwood with his own growing experience with Harvey.

                                       Like John Wayne in terms of favorite actors that my parents love, Jimmy Stewart was another one of my parents favorite actors that they loved to watch from start to finish hence It's a Wonderful Life is a great example of that and this is another one of those films where you can in a sense relate to Jimmy Stewarts performances on screen and this is another one of those films where sure the man is crazy but he's a good crazy not all those crazies who you feel the need to ignore or scared of and want to get away from while the guys in white take them away forcing them to wear a really long sleeve shirt no, this is defiantly a film about expressing who that individual is and just appreciate him or her for what he or she is and personally, that's always something I always struggle when it comes to people at times from my co-workers to even members of my family or at times cousins. Now if you remember twenty five years ago where we had a little film that Edward Norton had an imaginary friend in Brad Pitt, well this movie was long before Fight Club stepped it up a notch like 130 mph. Sadly everyone Harvey wasn't the inspiration behind author Chuck Palahniuk (still can't pronounce the last name) book Fight Club, hell I even looked it up on Wikipedia just to make sure my joke still stand. No doubt Harvey is in the comedy genre, though it still at times made me like oh okay, mostly don't know when to laugh but granted there were times especially in one scene when one of the guys in white dragged Jimmy Stewart's sister into the insane asylum and as bad as this might sound it put a smile on my face because if it was me that would be something I would do. Most drunks I'm familiar with (and it's a slim few), always use alcohol as a way to subdue the anger from work or have a good time even kill some memories that leave a scar, and watching the movie I often wonder okay so does Dowd use booze as a way to enjoy life a little more or he uses alcohol and sees Harvey as his way to see a big bunny and honestly I don't know but I'm assuming that Stewart's character just uses the bars as a way to enjoy life more and literally doesn't abuse it because we don't see him drink a ton so really I'm just thinking that he's more of a guy that's just like Harry Carry always going for one type of booze and only that type of booze. When I was a kid I never really understood Jimmy Stewart as an actor because really I all about finding a hero and John Wayne was that kind of actor that you want to be like growing up just like Harrison Ford, now in my old age I truly understand Jimmy Stewart as an actor through the movies he's made for many reasons Stewart was the everyman always being the underdog, the world his not on our side and Jimmy really fits that role perfectly when it comes to films like It's a Wonderful Life and Harvey furthermore he's just that kind of actor that you can always watch and relate too when you watch his films granted we don't see some of that in the Hitchcock films well, maybe Rear Window, though with films like Harvey, Stewart is that guy who perfected the role of being the everyday man that men can relate to when you sit down and watch his films. So, in the month of November and giving thanks to your fellow man I most certainly want to give thanks to Jimmy Stewart for being that one actor when you are down or depressed, you can sit down and watch a man where you can point to and say that you can relate this one person.

    

                                       

Deathstalker 2

 

                                    B-Movie night everyone and this one I got to say is probably the greatest B-movie of all B-movies combined. Basically my brother and I watched Evil Toons (Evil Boobs, which is on TUBI) and granted this was my brother's first time watching the film me my second time which it don't matter because I can always watch the one movie where David Carradine loves a new hanging, though interesting thing he's been into some dark s**t for a long time but hey the jokes write themselves right? Anyway, for reasons why we chose this movie I think it's because of course Red Letter Media but also are new interest in 80's hottie Monique Gabrielle who’s infamous for her bad acting as well as her crazy eyes, though a nice body. Though this is a movie that has a few sequels like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, Deathstalker 2 is most certainly the only movie I need to watch and have no interest in the other movies.

                                    A legendary swordsman and a princess must defeat the evil sorcerer to reclaim her rightful throne. On their quest they face dangerous obstacles such as the fierce Amazon women.

                                    Granted this is a typical B-Movie with some comedic fun to it though researching the movie as well as B-Movie icon Roger Corman. Basically, around the mid-80's Corman and his massive ego, who just had to make a lot of movies formed a production company called Concorde Pictures and it's where producers could get relatively cheap distribution from Concorde which to sum it up, they make any movies cheaply though we make no promises if anyone is going to see it, though that's just my opinion. So, Roger Corman had (quote unquote) to make several sword and fantasy movies in Argentina in a coproduction deal with a production company in Argentina, of which Deathstalker 2 was the last of Corman's swords and sandals flicks. The funny thing is that Corman was disappointed about not producing Conan the Barbarian and he in his own words claim that he was so upset he was going to copy the same concept of Conan the Barbarian and well that what you call when a man is on a quest to make a rip off to Arnold's many iconic roles that's not Hercules in New York. Monique Gabrielle describes the film, says this was her favorite role, "It was a difficult shoot, in a way, because we were shooting in Argentina and our script had a lot of stunts that couldn't be done with the limitations they had down there. It wasn't safe and there were a lot of problems. I almost dropped into a pot of water, which, luckily wasn't boiling (it was supposed to be). But besides all that, it was really my favorite because I loved the role I played. I got to play dual characters". When you think of the eighties in terms of the it girl with the rock and roll hair and skimpy outfits or those iconic roles with Cindy Morgan or Heather Locklear even Christie Brinkley with the Uptown Girl video by Billy Joel, but really Monique Gabrielle to me is defiantly that underappreciated it girl of the eighties, and even though this is my second serving of her in a movie hence Evil Toons (Evil Boobs) but man, she does have that dream girl factor that I'd wish if I was raised in the eighties because she would most certainly be that woman I would most certainly cheat my wife on. There always those B-Movies where you can be bored at times and check your cell phone every five seconds and some B flicks that has some fun qualities, but the lead is just the worst or a any film Red Letter Media watches and you’re like they can take care of those movies I'll avoid those. But honestly Deathstalker 2 is one of those movies that's just funny to watch because you’re not quite sure as to either there trying to be serious or just having a good time and the lead actor John Terlesky acts like he knows what movie he's in and just has a blast doing it and really tries to act like he's Indiana Jones because there's a lot of elements in the movie where you can see they use a ton of elements from Star Wars and Indiana Jones all together. Moreover the film itself is another one of those movies that you don't need to watch the other films you can just watch those this one and that's all you need, especially when you have a movie that contains bad effects, bad fights as well as bad sound effects but at least you get to see half naked women with a ton of comedic scenes to go along with it. Like the Room, or the Black Scorpion films along with the TV series, Deathstalker 2 is another one of those bad movies it good to watch and yet me and my brother had a great time watching it from start to finish. But most importantly it's a movie that any guy who loves these weird films can have a great time with it and granted I loved watching the Batman TV series from the sixties but in all fairness I'm very picky when it comes to watching these bad it’s so good movies. I've said this many times before Tubi does have those hidden gems that are good to watch as well as free to watch despite being forced to watch ads but hey, there good for bathroom breaks at least, right? So, any movie fan (or fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000) that loves a good comedic bad movie I would highly recommend watching Deathstalker 2.

               

Star Wars: Outlaws

 

                                  I never thought I would ever get done with the most recent Star Wars game but as faith would have it, I have finally finished (just in time for the Black Friday weekend), though literally crammed the game from the final level and just finished it until it killed me in my sleep. Star Wars: Outlaws is what I would describe as Red Dead Redemption meets Ubisoft's open world gameplay of going from one planet system to the next planet system in the entire Star Wars Galaxy. Unlike the previous Star Wars games Outlaws, is a game where you need to muster up all the patience you have in your system because you'll be angry and or throw a huge fit that you'll never go to sleep as well as being haunted of ways to succeed in Outlaws.

                                  The story centers around Kay Vess a young Scoundrel looking to find her way into the Galaxy Underworld, down on her luck desperate for a job she gets an opportunity but doesn't go well as expected. Now having a Bounty on her mark she’s tasked by a source to assemble a crew to pull off the biggest heist in the Galaxy.

                                  Like I said earlier the best way to describe the game is basically Red Dead Redemption combined with Star Wars storyline, but you also have to sneak around to avoid any detection, for which is another part of the game I forgot to mention so sure this does have some and I mean some Red Dead Redemption qualities but this also feels like you’re in an Assassin's Creed world as well hence the Ubisoft creators behind the game. Now I'm not complaining all much because this was a fun as well as exciting game to play on the PlayStation 5, but there were some mild manner, frustrating moments while playing Outlaws, I think the most common one and pretty much a self-warning and reminder at the same time is when you play the game you have to be friends with all of the four crime syndicates from the Pykes that Boba Fett took down to Emilia Clarke's syndicate from Solo: A Star Wars Story, and even Jabba the Hutt's mafia as well as a newly formed Syndicate that I have not been familiar with. And I'm not joking you LITERALLY must be FRIENDS with all these groups, mostly being on the square level with them, because if you’re on their s**t list then you’re not allowed to go anywhere near their territories which makes it even difficult to complete the game, hell it was almost difficult completing the MK: Deception on the PS2. Sure, you can ignore the syndicates, but you won't because their territories are everywhere in the game which leads to more sneaking around more getting past all the enforcers without triggering the alarm and there's even a trophy for which ever syndicate you have to worst relations with. So, just a friendly reminder when you play Outlaws for the first time or purchasing the game on Black Friday, BE FRIENDS WITH ALL OF THE CRIME SYNDICATES. Now, on the positive spin of the game is that this does have a great storyline it centers around a girl that we as a gamer can all relate to furthermore feels for in terms of making a name for yourself in life and I believe that's something we all can relate to because as all Star Wars stories goes it always has a hero's journey from self-discovery to finally knowing his or hers destiny is moreover where his or hers story goes after the game. With the thanks of technology granted more thanks to YouTube you can always look up each level on what strategy you can pursue in completing the game because really I'm old and I don't have the time or the strength to play the game all by myself so, deep down I know I need help in how to complete the level without being caught and this isn't the old school Assassin's Creed world you have to do a ton of sneaking around to the point you feel so bored in sneaking around and this is another advice when playing the game don't feel ashamed in looking up strategies in completing Outlaws. I'm not going to lie when I say that this was no question a fun game to play, granted I haven't finished all of the game just like GOW Ragnarök because really when you play a game for so long with no hope of completing it and this is a personal lesson I've learned is quite while your ahead that way you can go back and replay the game so you, can have a clear idea "oh I need to do this", than going back to square one furthermore I could talk about some of the faults of the game like never getting a secondary weapon or not riding a Deback or Bantha but again playing Outlaws for the first time was really a lesson learn type scenario. So, soon I will most certainly go back and play that game and even have a great time replaying it as well. So, if you’re looking for something to purchase for yourself or your loved one on Black Friday or Christmas shopping, I would highly recommend playing Star Wars: Outlaws this Holiday season but for warn this will take all the patience you can muster, and most importantly don't forget to be friends with all the crime syndicates.

             

Thirty Year Anniversary of The Lion King

 

                                     If there was that one movie I can remember from my childhood and say no question was my first movie I saw in the movie theaters as well as my first Disney movie that later became my first love it would most certainly be the Lion King, and sure there were other Disney movies I can remember watching on VHS but in all honesty there were majority of those movies that I liked because my sister loved them so in all fairness they were my sister's films. But no doubt the Lion King was the first Disney movie I saw in the movie theater and a movie I loved from start to finish. If you remember you first time going to the theater you have that strange experience of going into a dark room and then that epic score by Hans Zimmer playing in the background, that's really this was my first Hans Zimmer movie at the time I never understood movie scores as well as my first introduction of the late great James Earl Jones, and thirty years now this film was still stands the test of time and still one of my favorite Disney movies of all time.

                                     You take the story elements of Hamlet as well as Disney animations. You have a great story of a young lion cub destined to be king of the pride lands by his father, but when the young cub’s father dies at the hands of his younger brother. It sets him on a journey of self-discovery as he must find his true purpose and avenge his father's killer.

                                     There are always those certain movies that bring a smile to your face though you’re not sure if those movies would turn out like you remember but somehow, they give you a sense of joy that you most certainly never expect but most importantly need. Granted I wasn't sure if the Lion King would be as great or memorable as I'd remember, but once Hans Zimmer's score burst on the screen it's just given me a sense of joy more importantly it brought back a time for me when Disney was still a company that brought joy to kids as well as being able to create new and original stories to tell instead of now being unoriginal and recreating live action cartoons and sure it's fine like every kid has that one Disney movie that still brings them joy even if your part of the Gen Z or millennial, hell every time I talk about Disney movies I know how Sid the Kid feels about these up and comers in the NHL, it's like yeah I most certainly hear you Crosby. The funny thing as well as a fun fact about the music behind the Lion King is that Elton John wrote the songs to Lion King along with Tim Rice, and the creators and directors of the film hired Hans Zimmer to compose the music and originally they had a different intro for the film, until the listen Zimmer's epic score for the movie all of them where just like okay we need to make new adjustments because we liked this much better and even Hans in his own words though I don't remember but he even says that he wasn't sure if his music would be acceptable when in fact they loved it and hell even I loved the music because really, that's pretty much as close to Africa as I'm ever going to get in terms of actually going there because let’s face it, getting rich is never easy in this lifetime so thankfully I have Hans Zimmer's music to the Lion King to give me company. As much of a first this movie was that introduced me to the late great James Earl Jones but was also a first introduction to Jeremy Irons and even, he does such a fantastic job playing the ultimate Disney antagonist whose despicable but also has that heartless ability that you just must hate him, and it's true Brits makes such great villains there's no question. I used to think that Wargames was my only Matthew Broderick I can sit and enjoy but now watching the Lion King it's like holy crap I have another movie I can enjoy and even he does a great job playing the hero who isn't sure but knows he must overthrow his uncle. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella does a great job playing the comedic duo of Timon and Pumba (the vegetarians of the movie), but Cheech Marin and Whoopi Goldberg does a great job playing the comedic antagonists that were on Scar's side aka Jeremy Irons and this was a time when Whoopi had a brain, now along with the witches on the View she's now the dumbest person on the planet, and Cheech was still funny even though I wasn't young enough to know Cheech's earlier work. Toy Story's one and two are great films no question about it but really the Lion King has that feel of happiness that I never quite experienced in a long time especially when it comes to a Disney movie and really the Lion King is most certainly that greatest animated film that still stands the test of time and most certainly on my list of greatest movies ever made, and the fact that it's been thirty years since the film’s release, time well tested for the Lion King. Now, I'm looking forward to the Lion King 2: Simba's Pride because that's another movie I remembered watching growing up.

     

I Married a Witch

 

                                  The election is finally gone though it's been gone for a few weeks ago, but deep-down what’s great about the election being over is that we don't have to watch or hear any of those awful smear campaign ads. But through the course of this year’s election, I begin to have a theory that most of the politicians who run for politics sell their soul to Satan, and this latest film I watched pretty much sum up my theory on politicians of today. I married a Witch is a story about a Governor running for office who mysteriously falls in love with a witch. For which come on it makes more sense because look at Jimmy Carter the man sold his soul to Satan and in return, he's cursed to live forever but in old age. Furthermore, this was my first introduction to Veronica Lake and though she's been dead for quite some time that woman is gorgeous, like if this woman came into my life, I would say thank you lord.

                                  Just as she is about to be burned at the stake for witchcraft, 17th century witch Jennifer (Veronica Lake) cast a curse on the family of her accuser, dooming all the men of future generations to marry the wrong woman. Freed from her ethereal prison some 250 years later, Jennifer decides to make the most recent descendant of her accuser (Fredric March) even more miserably by using a love potion on him that makes him fall in love with her, a plan that has unexpected results.

                                  The movie was on my radar for quite some time, and I never knew which month to use this film for either in October or the election for many reasons they both have the themes of politics and Halloween but as faith would happen its best use for post-election. A fun fact about I married a Witch is that the film itself was one of the many inspirations television creator Sol Saks used for his TV hit Bewitched and even though the movie and show were owned by different movie studios, Saks himself didn't feel worried about being sued. For a film that was made in early forties I have to admit that the visual effects we're impressive especially when these types of effects were either a hit or a miss and some of the effects where Lake is sliding back up a stair case I felt like I was jumping out of my body like a bad acid effect just feeling a bit to tripe if you catch my meaning. Now I'll say it again that this was my first experience watching a Veronica Lake movie and I had no idea how beautiful she looks on screen especially when she's sitting on a chair with a fur coat and her hair out it's like "damn" I mean if I was Fredric March I would simply be like hello love of my life and call up my fiancée and simply tell her to f off and express how annoyed and miserable I feel when she's being a bitch, and yet the funny think is the actor has no spine through the course of the movie until the third act and I'm no expert at love but guys if you find a woman whose eyeing you, you go for that girl no matter if you’re in a relationship that's making you miserable. Granted if I was rewriting this movie, I will simply have the woman tell the dude if he loves her and if he's still refusing show the victim of the last man she's been with and then give him a realization "I guess I can love a beautiful woman like you especially if it's Veronica Lake. The interesting thing is Veronica Lake's iconic hair style of having her right eye covered, many women copied the style which caused problems because most women were working in war plants and their hair kept getting caught in the machinery. Now granted this was the fab back then but I would simply tell the ladies in just using that hair style when you go out, because after this news got out Lake was asked her style until after the war is over but then it was too late because she was out of a job as well as her popularity. For a movie that I found at Max I have to say that this was a nice piece of hidden treasure to find and the plot speaks for itself of being an intriguing movie to watch. So, no question I would recommend watching this movie especially when you can find the film on both Max and YouTube. Though I want to share one piece of advice to anyone wanting to get into politics never marry a witch or sell your soul to Satan you don't want to be like Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi, hell I'm still in the belief that Pelosi is a bad witch for a long time and not even the good kinds of witches that looks more beautiful than Veronica Lake and this is the same woman who took her mask of during Covid and blamed a worker for it so again, one of the worst witches ever, don't believe me look at her and Hilary Clinton because they both use their own marriages to get what they want in life so there's no secret they're both witches.

         

45th Anniversary of Alien

 

                                       I knew the day would come when I would have to talk about Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi/horror masterpiece Alien, it's just a matter of when I would find that opportunity. Ironically enough with the release of Alien: Romulus back in August as well as the reminder of Ridley Scott's second film now officially turning 45 years of age, also it's Halloween I figured well now the time has come. Alien to me is most certainly one of Ridley Scott's greatest movies of all time, up there with films like Blade Runner, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and the Martian. Though this was the first and original of the Alien movie franchises I would most certainly say it's still the scariest movie of the golden age of cinema considering that it was originally intended to be a typical B-movie slog that now one would expect to be what it is today.

                                       In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside the egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma. 

                                       A lot of people don't know that this iconic Alien creature, was nearly close to just being a typical b-movie monster nothing special and 20th Century Fox wasn't all interested in giving it a bigger budget for obvious reasons science fiction wasn't big in the early seventies this was long before Star Wars changed everything and once Star Wars changed the game Sci-Fi was becoming the go too genre for movies, now than 20th Century Fox had to make Alien it's next feature film to make. Ridley Scott surprisingly wasn't the first director to be approached for the movie through the course of financing the film, they tried to hire directors like John Boorman, Jack Clayton, Robert Aldrich, and Robert Altman for which sure some of them have good movies I like well, Aldrich and maybe Altman? But deep down I would never in a million years accept those directors to direct a horror film like this and because Ridley has great attention to detail furthermore reads the script, so you know you have a great director when you have someone who reads the script and has a great eye for the visuals. Now I can go on for hours and hours of Ridley being a great director but I have to give all those people who don't get a whole lot of credit and really there's two one is H.R. Giger and Jerry Goldsmith, first person we're going to talk about is most certainly H.R. Giger whose responsible for creating the iconic look of the Xenomorph design, and back then when you’re trying to create a something new and original nothing to the extent of making a bad B-movie monster Giger's design of creating both the facehugger, the chestburster and finally the Xenomorph is extraordinary and so terrifying that no wonder this man won in Oscar for Visual Effects along with his fellow collaborators. Jerry Goldsmith on the other hand (who also did another of my favorite films the Mummy) does a fantastic job with creating a deep space unknown feel to the film and transitions to a suspenseful horror that even this man deserves a ton of credit even though I wished this guy got more Oscar nod for Alien than the first Star Trek film but deep down, you can't get what you want in life. There’s a grand total of seven main cast members in the movie and only one in the Alien suit but if I had to pick out one of the main cast members who really does an excellent job in the movie, it would most certainly be the late Ian Holm who when you watch the first time you see him as in ally and learns what a manipulator he is and when you watch this movie a bunch of times like I have the was a true manipulator all along. Ridley Scott is a great visual director but he's also a master of WTF moments and Alien was most certainly the Godfather of WTF moments I mean sure I've seen John Hurts giving birth scene so many times that sure you wouldn't be so scared but even the scenes when Tom Skeritt is in the ventilation shaft and it's so cramp and crawling to find the creature even I at times just want to cringe because if I was in there I would most certainly run for my life and even the jump scare seals it for me, but getting to the point this film yes is 45 years old but it's still incredible with its jump scares to the visuals and even the WTF moments I mean hell it's the reason why I haven't sat down and played Alien: Isolation which deep down I do know I need to face my fears and play that game because I love the Alien film. If you want a good lesson on how to sell a movie watch the original Alien trailer and you can find it on YouTube because anything good and easy to find is most certainly on YouTube and watch how they don't show anything not the creature just some out of focus and shocking things that would keep you on the edge of your seat and then cut to the Nostromo space ship and the famous line "In Space no one can hear you scream" and just end there, and really is the greatest trailer ever created because it draws you into something that is both terrifying and sou suspenseful that you have to watch it so, hopefully you all go on YouTube right now and watch that trailer. My niece I would imagine would not be all interested in the first Alien film but would most certainly love Alien: Romulus, but for all of you millennial's or Generation X out there I would highly recommend watching the very first Alien film and luckily is on Hulu, it’s a true horror classic from start to finish I’ll say again a godfather of WTF moments but more importantly if you’re a fan of the Alien films like I am it’s sort of a relatable movie considering that all the films have corporations that literally don’t care for us human beings and that’s kind of what we’re living in right now so, in a strange sense all the Alein films are relatable in a bizarre sense. Though their separate versions of the film, both the 1979 version and the Directors Cut so, whichever version you watch just note that for sure you need to watch both films but are also incredible just like both versions of the original Star Wars.

              

October Recommendation: The Thing

 

                                          My brother and I had our typical movie nights, and our choice of film was the Fog, which to make a long story short it was one of the most boring things we've ever witnessed. And my brother kept mentioning John Carpenter's the Thing and I though well long day at work recently purchased a subscription to Peacock, I figured might as well give this movie a watch. And I've never in a million years seen the movie I never quite seen the monster in terms of oh that's what the monster looks like and to be truthfully honest I never good a full frame of reference, in what this monster is I always figured it's something! Though I did catch some references that gave me a chuckle the infamous one is an episode of South Park where all the kids are giving samples of blood to see who has head lice, which now watching the film I was smiling a little. 

                                           In a remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both humans and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) and the camp doctor (Richard Dysart) lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them off, one by one. 

                                           John Carpenter was told by Stephan King "the cliché's in Hollywood are that you never see the monster, you always keep the devil in the shadows, however if you can come up with something outstanding on screen you'll hit a home run out of the ball park and the audience will never forget it" For which leads us to how the Thing was developed. Like I said before I have never this movie never seen what the monster looks like so, just to make sure that everyone reading this review knows I've never seen this movie nor seen what the monster looks like which really I was watching this with open eyes, and this goes to when watching the first opening scene a helicopter is shooting at a sled Dog and I'm like why are these guys being such monsters in shooting a innocent dog and then slowly I become to realize oh, there's more to what is going on and I'm not going to give any detail's away because I want everyone to watch this film because it's excellent probably up there between Halloween and They Live as the best John Carpenter films I've seen. Unlike the Fog which after the first twenty minutes is pure boredom, the Thing does a fantastic job in incorporating a lot of paranoia throughout the movie to the point where your locked in with a bunch of people and you’re not sure who is who is just pure genius especially when their trying to figure out who is infected via taking samples of blood in order to see who is who while creating a ton of tension which again is just pure greatness, the other thing in what I love about the movie is that it takes a lot of inspiration from Ridley Scott's Alien where it only focuses on just these group of people out in the middle of nowhere and they build a horror movie around it. Furthermore what makes this movie great is that it ends the film in a way where you don't need a sequel where you can tell how this was going to end and you feel satisfied by the final frame, and the fact that back in 2011 they made a prequel about the film it's just well I have no interest in wanting to watch that film at all even if it star's Joel Edgerton, and really the Thing deserves a ton credit for its satisfying ending of you don't need any more Thing sequels so, deep down you all can just forget that there was a prequel this amazing treasure. I've never seen a whole lot of Kurt Russell's films from when he was a young buck and it's nothing out of disrespect I just never got around to seeing them but this film I have to say Kurt Russell does a great job being a bada**  and Keith David whose had a bad rap of playing "that guy does a great job with this movie as well that hopefully everyone after seeing the Thing you should also check out They Live which is another great movie he's in also be sure to check out Rick and Morty because he does play the President as well. I would say that this movie not doing well at the box office in America is a crime against humanity though sure it was going up against a ton of films like E.T. and Poltergeist but come on people have a heart this is like the crown jewel of scary movies done right hell can't be worse than watching the Fog. I'm going to cut myself off in terms of talking about how good the Thing is because granted I talk to much but if you’re looking for a scary movie to watch in the Halloween seasons or in the final days of October I would highly recommend watching the Thing, for many reasons it has a great list of actors, great suspense and John Carpenter creating something new with alien monsters that is almost a breath of fresh air.

          

50th Anniversary of Young Frankenstein

 

                                                

                                          Well, we've talked about the greatest comedy in Blazing Saddles for which has turned 50 years of age. Now where I am going to talk about the greatest and perfect Halloween comedy that is Young Frankenstein, who has well turned 50 years of age. This is movie I declare as one of Gene Wilder's greatest performances of all time, though will get to him later. The film was the third collaboration with both Gene Wilder as well as the legendary comedic director Mel Brooks, Brooks himself stated in 2014 the year of its 40th Anniversary of its release, that Young Frankenstein was by far his finest work (although not his funniest) though I beg to differ as do many people who love the film including my own parents. Though how about we take a step back in time and talk about how great a year it was for Mel Brooks in terms of making two of the greatest comedies of all time including Young Frankenstein for which you can watch repeatedly this Halloween season.

                                          Respected medical lecturer Dr. Fredrick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous great grandfather's estate in Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather's experiments with the help of servants Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Teri Garr) and the fearsome Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). After he creates his own monster (Peter Boyle), new complications are ensured with the arrival of the Doctor's fiancée (Madeline Kahn).    

                                          The way the film came about was during the final few weeks of shooting Blazing Saddles, both Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks we're sharing a cup of coffee and Wilder decided to pitch the idea to Brooks of doing another Frankenstein movie, and Brooks in his own words says "Not another! We've had son of, the cousin of, the brother-in-law. We don't need another Frankenstein" and Wilder simplified his pitch and told Brooks "what if the grandson of Dr. Frankenstein wanted nothing to do with the family whatsoever. He was ashamed of those wackos" and Brooks claims that it sounds funny. Both Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks co-wrote the script together and wrote a good portion of the funny things that makes this film great, thought like most co-writers, the two men even went into blows over the infamous musical sequence, Brooks personally felt it was too silly to have a monster sing and dance, but eventually yielded to Gene's arguments, and what I remember while watching a making off featurette Brooks was basically testing him in if Gene himself truly would fight for this music number as well as wanting to believe it to be right and by the end of the argument each men got what they wanted. The crazy thing while researching the movie was that the principal production shoot started in February 19th, of 1974 and ended around May 3rd of 1974 for which makes a lot of sense consisting that majority of the film was shot on what I presume is sound stage with very little outdoor shooting which deep down is really cool for many reasons both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein came out the same year of 74, and I could imagine while doing post production of Blazing Saddles, both Mel and Gene began writing out the script in 73, and then while they finished Blazing Saddles, financed Young Frankenstein and in February they began production, because the movie itself was released in December of 74. I will state that both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are both Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder's best works together and we can always state that Blazing Saddles will be the greatest comedy spoof but I still have to say as a performance alone Young Frankenstein is Gene Wilder's greatest performance just because he does such a great job playing a character that's a bit crazy but has a lot of anger issues and I could probably talk so much about which scene that he shines in but the problem is he shines in just about everything but even from his slight craziness to realizing he put in a Abby normal brain which is hilarious as well as pure genius in terms of how to be funny and deep down everyone if you want to be a comedic actor Young Frankenstein is a great example of that. Speaking learning to be funny! Ladies, do you want to know how to be funny? watch Madeline Kahn's performance as well as Terri Garr and Cloris Leachman's performances in Young Frankenstein don't watch any of Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer hell even Sarah Silverman just watch this movie that includes three great female performances because both Kahn, Garr and Leachman are also the best part of the movie and I can go to great length on why they're so hilarious in the movie but my last review was close to three pages so to make the sentence short to the point each of them have a great comedic spin when it comes to delivering a great performance and both of them our excellent. Marty Feldman does a great comedic portrayal of Igor with his crazy eyes for which his real-life portraits those are real eyes to all the youngsters who haven't seen Young Frankenstein those are his real eyes but also, he does a great job playing innocent especially when he's being asked about his hump. Peter Boyle, a lot of people don't know, and this is going to the youngsters is Raymond's Dad in Everybody Loves Raymond and he does a fantastic job playing the monster in the movie but though the course of the movie has great reactions especially with scenes with Wilder and Hackman. Speaking of one surprising guest star Gene Hackman plays a small role in the movie as a blind man who all he wants is a friend and has Boyle's character who can't speak and his one scene is just pure greatness that four years into the future he would play Lex Luther in Superman: The Movie, fun fact Hackman and Wilder were tennis buddies and he offered him to play a small role in this Frankenstein spoof. Both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are very different in terms of comedy especially when it comes to the theme as well as the genre moreover Blazing Saddles was rated R and Young Frankenstein is PG. Though what makes this movie fantastic is that they hide a lot of the comedic sexual content without even using any vulgar language and to me I always like that concept of hiding some bad languages and disguising them with different languages throughout the course of the story. Having watched so many so called scary movies and suspense films this month, Young Frankenstein is most certainly a perfect Halloween comedy to watch in the month of October for one reason only when you’re trying to watch something that's a great refresher for when you feeling for something nostalgia or something that has great comedy and I haven't seen Young Frankenstein in a while and now that I purchased it on Blu-Ray, this will most certainly be my go to movie for when I'm tired of watching different scary films like the Shelly Duvall's Sleepy Hollow and Young Frankenstein will probably be my go to movies to watch in the month of October, but really if you want to rank what makes a great movie to watch for the Halloween season it's perfect for its ability to have great comedy as well as some serious acting because if you watch the film carefully Leachman is crying while acting out her reveal and it's just great. So, in celebrating its 50 years of existence I would highly recommend watching Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein and witness Gene Wilder's greatest performance to date through the remanding days of the Halloween season. 

                

40th Anniversary of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

 

                                      You know you’re feeling old when one of the darkest Indiana Jones sequel/prequel has turned 40 years old. Believe it or not ladies and gentlemen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has just turned 40 years of age, the one film that inspired the PG-13 rating, the one movie that parents all over the world would not let their own kids watch after witnessing this movie INCLUDING MINE. I honestly don't remember when the first time I watched the movie in all honesty the first time I watched the film was on TV and I never expected anything like it especially when a character is experiencing darkness. I was one of the many kids that my parents wouldn't let me watch this movie. I was only allowed to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade and to be honest I can't blame my parents for not letting me watch the movie till I was either watching it with them or I was a proper age.

                                      Intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), on the trail of fortune and glory in old Shanghai, is ricocheted into a dangerous adventure in India. With his faithful companion Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), Indy goes in search of the magical Sankara stone and uncovers an ancient evil which threatens all who encounters it. 

                                      After the success Raiders of the Lost Ark, though this was before Raiders George Lucas told Steven Spielberg that if he was going to direct the first Indy film he was going to direct two more films because he had two stories in mind, unfortunately George didn't have the stories figured out yet so after Raiders crushed the box office they had to come up with the second film though really a prequal of the Indy story. I'm not sure a lot of people know this but the real reason why this film turned into a much darker film was simply because of the personal break ups with girlfriends and wife's though the wife is on George's side so we can separate the two so, yeah the real reason why this film is so dark was because the greatest men in cinema had bad break ups, though let's be honest it's horrible but ladies this is what happens when you break up us guys were going to be in this dark phase where we may or may not think about total domination of the world or just make an exciting adventure film with a ton of dark moments. For years I never quite understood why this sequel was set in 1935 and yet Raiders was set in 1936-37 and really I never quite understood why they made a prequel until I did my research and Lucas states that the reason why Temple of Doom was set in 1935 was because they wanted new villains besides Nazi's, and really makes a lot of sense when you think about it because having the same villains kind of loses it flair in some ways and really cultists who practice dark magic that's most certainly a nice touch. Harrison Ford really does a fantastic job in the movie as he always does but this is a movie where he becomes evil for a little while and I swear evil Indy is so terrifying when you re watch this film again, and even when he's being tortured with voodoo magic that's really hard to watch and even some of the fights with the infamous big man Pat Roach who was the Big Nazi in Raiders, he punches him so hard it felt like he's in so much pain that you feel for Ford and as a matter of fact he did break his back on set and they had to use his stunt double to film some of the wide shots so, really this was one of the few action films Ford does where he's really put to the test and he does a great job at that. Ke Huy Quan who plays Short Round in the movie does a great job in this movie as well and this was his first film and his acting abilities were just incredible through the course of the movie as well as his chemistry with him and Harrison Ford together is so special that after Quan won the Oscar for best supporting actor as well as his film getting Best Picture award you finally have the nice reunion between him and Ford at the Oscars for which I always thought was the most special thing to witness on TV and reliving these two in this movie they both do a great job being the best companions. Sure Harrison Ford is the perfect Protagonist but with Temple of Doom I truly believe he met his match with Mola Ram aka Amrish Puri, and really I've always watched a ton of Harrison Ford's movies through the years and I don't think any antagonist can hold up to the way Puri did with the Temple of Doom I mean this guy really dived deep into his character I mean you talk about a bad guy that would haunt your nightmares from your childhood I think he really does a fantastic job, I mean this guy literally forced Indy to drink blood, almost close to ripping his heart (thought you can only do that once) and really of all the antagonist Ford fought, Mola Ram was most certainly his best match-up. And let’s not forget Mola Ram gave us the PG-13 rating so in all fairness the character of Mola Ram that George Lucas and the writers of Temple of Doom created is almost close to being a hero like Thanos wiping out all the hypocritical people of the world, though that's a theory for another time. The set design is hands down one of the greatest set pieces especially the Temple of Doom set for many reasons it has this beauty and yet haunting feel to it especially when you get to that scene and you experience your heart pounding like a sledgehammer and another legendary man who deserves a ton of credit goes to John Williams, a side from his iconic Indiana Jones theme music he also creates a just haunting music to go with the Temple of Doom scenes especially when they have the scenes of Mola Ram ripping the heart, and really when you look at that film carefully it's like then film a random person just going all in and just tearing the heart although it's just focuses on the body and the hand even though it's a disturbing feel it's also fascinating of how they were able to film it. Sure, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is everyone's least favorite movie and now question every parent in the eighties and nineties especially my parents and really, I can't blame them because really if I'm showing this to my kids, I don't want them to have nightmares or watch this late at night then going to bed with the nightmare of being sacrificed. And let’s not forget that this was Steven Spielberg least favorite Indy film and Lawrence Kasdan wasn't interested to write this film claiming that this film was clearly a chaotic period in both Lucas and Spielberg's life. Now that being said from everyone's opinion and having reliving this great film I truly think that people need to come back and re-watch the film mainly because it was just trying to capture something new and different from Raiders not just recycling the same bad guys or the same tropes of Indy always being okay but also seeing that the character is venerable and isn't sure if he's going to make it out alive or be a slave for the rest of his life which is a huge risk but is also a great risk to have for a character whose also scared for himself but also the people he's close to. But more importantly without this movie we wouldn't have the PG-13 rating, furthermore this is something of fate reaching to both Lucas and Spielberg of pushing the boundary as well as coming up with new dangers for a heroic character like Indiana Jones. So, I would highly suggest to all parents and fans of the Indiana Jones films to re-watch Temple of Doom and give it a chance and hopefully see that this is an important movie in terms of the rating system in movies now. And hopefully everyone looks at this as a fun, dark yet exciting film to watch on Halloween, hell Ghostbusters has some scary moments and nobody every talk about those scenes where Sigourney Weaver is being sucked into a closet, though to be fair nobody's heart was ripped out in that movie despite the fact that Dan Aykroyd does make a surprising cameo appearance in Temple of Doom though that’s for me to know where you can spot him and for the rest of you, you’ll have to figure that out and watch the movie.

         

The Lighthouse

 

                                     Continuing with taking a leap of faith in finding those films I wouldn't touch but need to expand my horizons, unfortunately this was one of those movies where I don't know if this was intended to be a comedy or psychological horror movie? The Lighthouse the best way I would describe the movie as a fore warning that 2020 was going to be the worst year of our lives, and this movie came out in 2019 and this was foreshadowing that two week of being in quarantined in your own home, once exposed to Covid will sure be madness. In fact, I believe Fauci's advisors told him to watch this movie, and he was like "nah, the people will be fine". Also, if you're living with a guy who says that he wants a rare steak so bad that he would have intercourse with the steak it's probably best you'd find a way out of the house or sleep somewhere else.

                                      Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England Island in the 1890's.

                                      The Lighthouse is directed by American filmmaker Robert Eggers, and the best way to describe Robert Eggers work is it has a lot to do with folkloric and mythological elements with a kiss of historical elements as well and I've recently reviewed another one of his films in The Northman which is a Viking story mixed with elements of Hamlet. Although I dig the Northman for many reasons it has Vikings moreover it does have that bizarre element but, in all fairness, I've binged four and a half seasons of the TV series Vikings and really when it comes to Norse Mythology, they clearly have a ton of weird pagan rituals. Although Northman I can get by on the Lighthouse is a whole, another level of bizarre and weirdness that I can't even explain. I've heard of this movie five years ago but like most of these psychological horror/artsy films I decided in my own personal reasons to pass on it, that is until now when I saw this Lighthouse dub with both Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck voices and showed one scene that I knew I need to see this movie and it was Robert Pattinson budging a Sea Gull and it’s in a sort of funny way because I can't go with the idea of some human being able to grab any bird because I tried to catch birds when I was a young kid and I could never be able to catch them either way this was one of those films I figured I might as well give it a try. Sadly, this film is defiantly one of those movies that could be funny but then just becomes boring from start to finish. Now, I get that this film has it's complex elements of character study and cabin fever, but the main problem is both men are crazy though William Dafoe is pre-crazy, Edward is at the start of the movie not crazy just a typical man who is putting up with Dafoe's frequent farts and his strict orders of not going up to the light and then by the end of the movie he's clearly becomes crazy and is fed up with him for which in fairness it's normal because if I was living with any of my relatives for two weeks of covid quarantine I would most certainly lose my mind though I don't remember my Dad farting constantly. The other think in what turns me off this film is when you make a psychological Horror film you must keep your audience on the edge of your seat as well as make your audience scarred from seeing the film. The thing that makes this film not so scary at all is that I personally feel like it was trying to be funny like the bizarre ax chase scene between Goblin and Edward and it's filmed like these two don't know how to run or hold an ax, to these guys getting sh**t faced as well as dancing with each other to getting into a brawl and then Pattinson jerking his boner with a mermaid doll and cuts to him literally having sex with a mermaid which I don't believe is impossible, but really that's just the problem with this movie is that you're not quite sure if this movie was intended to be funny or scary kind of like the Happening where it wasn't marketed right and was revealed to be a failed comedy, and really you can look up logs of lighthouse workers on what they did and I don't quite believed Eggers really did any research on lighthouse workers and yet again people praise this movie as a great movie. For which really I can't believe if the critics of the world really watched the movie whole and just watched the trailer furthermore how can any sane person look at this movie and say that this is scary really just like the Shining where Jack Nicholson is bonkers through the beginning and end of the movie and people say it's the greatest thing ever, it's just one of those things that I don't quite understand but in the end I'm one of the few who don't understand it. If you're into artsy, bizarre horror movies? Go nuts buddy, as for me I just can't recommend it to anyone because it feels like another movie like, the Happening where it's funny but then gets boring through the course of the movie because it's just two actors going insane through the course of the final frame of the film. Now, having watched the movie I do wish they dubbed this entire movie with just Mickey, Goofy and Donald Ducks voice then I would consider this a great comedy for the ages. 

   

                                        

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

 

                                         This Halloween themed movie is another one of those films that I myself want to expand my horizons and find those certain movies I haven't touched, turns out both Invasion of the Body Snatchers are another one of those films that I have not seen and my brother selected the 1978 version of the film, and I haven't seen any of the original movie or 78 version so you have to start somewhere and might as well start out a Phillip Kaufman movie that is somewhat of a letdown in all aspects of a movie about aliens taking over your own body. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Lenard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum in a role for which I can describe as that person whose the absolute worst and sucks the fun out of life. After watching the movie, I will say that I have officially acquired a Jeff Goldblum accent so now I can go out and help sell apartments to people in a definite fraud way possible.

                                          Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) assumes that when a friend (Brooke Adams) complains of her husband's strange mood, it's a marital issue. However, he begins to worry as more people report similar observations. His concern is confirmed when writer Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum) and his wife (Veronica Cartwright) discover a mutated corpse. Besieged by an invisible enemy, Bennell must work quickly before the city is consumed.

                                          Now, I've heard about these movies in a strange sense I picked up the alien duplication idea and rules from watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and they do whole segments of pod aliens taking over human beings. And just to let everyone know I still haven't seen the original movie so watching this movie was something new but also a big letdown in terms of this film being one of the greatest horror movies of all time. And to be fair I know what happens at the end judging by the many gifs I've seen on social media, but I never watched the whole movie, and this was the first time I slowly began to realize how boring and not so impressed in how the movie turned out. This was the first Phillip Kaufman movie I witnessed and a lot of people don't know is that he actually helped with George Lucas in developing the story for Raiders of the Lost Ark although Lucas developed Indiana Jones it was Kaufman who came up with pursuing the Ark of the Covenant and after watching this movie I will state that the man gets a quarter credit of Indiana Jones like about 25 cents worth. What I find depressing about the movie is that there's a lot of unanswered questions in terms of how the aliens begin to adapt to the humans or how there able to consume in just a few days really Mr. Spock is the leader of the consumed aliens and he's perfectly adapted to human cultures and it's not even explained, even more of editing that's a bit of a blur because at the end of the movie the aliens took over earth but it's not explained as how Donald Sutherland is consumed because he trying to hide from everyone and we see a guy looking through a hole with a flashlight and we cut to Donald Sutherland going back to his normal routine and then when he stumbles upon Veronica Cartwright it's revealed he's a Pod Person for which it would me more realistic if you'd just show him being surrounded by pod people and he screams and then we cut to normal, I mean something to make the horror more real than just automatically cutting to being chased and going back to normal. What really ruined the movie for me is Jeff Goldblum's performance in the movie, and sure it's typical everyday Goldblum role but it just him being an annoying f**k and through the course of the movie I'm just telling him through the television to shut the f**k up and go back to sell apartments, hell I prefer 90's Goldblum than late seventies Goldblum. I will say the hilarious part of the movie is Donald Sutherland and his girlfriend take speed in order to stay awake and later they’re captured and forced to take sedatives which is hilarious because it reminds me of Dewy Cox where he takes pills uppers and downers, and it reminds me so much of that joke. I will say that a movie all by itself I would highly recommend staying away from this movie for a gillion reasons it's boring and lame and the cheap visual effects just turned me off of from this whole experience but then that's basically the whole nature of the beast you have to watch these movies that could or may not be a hit and hopefully it's a success but then it's not a great success just like picturing Phillip Kaufman being a cool guy and not a weird f**k in adding a human face on a dogs body and yes this film actually has a dog with a man’s face I'm not sorry for spoiling it just telling you to avoid the movie. 

           

Dracula (1931)

 

                                          Well, having watched two Boris Karloff films, one being not so scary and the other being iconic in its own way. I figured the only way to concluded this epic monster mash trilogy I figured well I have to watch the one true monster movie that started it all the one movie in which everyone would be so creep out after participating in a staring contest with one Hungarian actor and stomp on you and make you feel like your innocence's has been taking from you, and trust me I never felt so uncomfortable after seeing everyone's eyes in this movie. The movie I'm referring to is the Bela Lugosi classic Dracula, a film that sadly was his only great success because as we should all learn that Hollywood personally sucks for many reasons, they cursed actors in being type-cast but in the end, Bela did get the last laugh in wanting to be buried with one of his Dracula capes.

                                           The Dashing, mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), after hypnotizing a British salesman, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into his mindless slave, travels to London and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon Dracula begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires. When he set sights on Mina (Helen Chandler), the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is enlisted to put a stop to the counts never-ending bloodlust.

                                           The film itself is most certainly based on Bram Stoker's novel but it's also based on the 1924 stage play of Dracula for which Bela Lugosi starred in around 1927 just a couple of years before the development of Dracula began at Universal Studio's. Although Bela Lugosi did star in the Broadway production of Dracula, he wasn't the first choice in the eyes of Universal Studio's and it took countless actors to find the right choice, they even went so far to cast John Carradine for which I don't think I can take him seriously since watching Stagecoach and a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode of The Unearthly. Director Tod Browning decided to cast Bela Lugosi in the title role though Lugosi was paid a salary of only 3,500 dollars since, he had too eagerly accepted the role though at the time not a whole lot of money but still better to be paid than living through the Great Depression with nothing. The interesting aspect when you put both The Mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula in a row only one of the three are a true monster not Imhotep for many reasons he was just a tragic character because all he wants is to be with the love of his life and will stop at nothing to bring his lost love back even if it means doing terrible things, Frankenstein's monster is on the outside a monster but on the inside is a victim for which he was never asked to be brought to world we live in now he doesn't understand the nature of the laws of men. Dracula is the true monster because all he wants is to prey on women or men and enslave them to do their bidding and has no remorse and with that type of monster who has no remorse is a true monster and Bela Lugosi did an exception job at creating that monster though this was only success and was typecast for the rest of his life. Now again I doubt people today will not be scared of the monster movies in the golden age but the one thing that's so terrifying in the entire film is the eyes and the one actor in the movie who deserves a lot of that uneasiness is Dwight Frye who plays Renfield in the movie, and holy crap the way he plays crazy is just visually stunning but also terrifying especially in on scene where they discover the ship Dracula killed the crew and he's under the brig and shows his uneasy smile it's just so great but also creepy at the same time and even one scene in which Mina starts to attack her lover and her eyes are just terrifying that you’re not sure if she's going to attack him or rape him though let’s be honest if she was intending to rape her lover he wouldn't mind it would most certainly be "oh no, please no, okay honey have your way with me" so, there's no question that everyone's eyes are the uneasy part of the entire movie in fact if I was in a staring contest I wouldn't last and would curl up in the fettle position. Now granted kids today won't be scared by these monster films of the early 30's but the positive aspect of the movie is not just the actors doing a great job but it's 73 minutes so that's always a positive aspect because that's what all scary movies should be in terms of length as well as ninety minutes and two hours but anything above two and a half hours is just way too much. As a film buff, I would most certainly recommend it for anyone to watch old school scary movies, though now I plan to go off and find real scary movies to watch.