Ken's Alternate Universe!

“It’s Risky, But It’s Worth A Try”

In that galaxy far, far away…

Apparently Solo: A Star Wars Story is a major flop for Disney. From what I’ve read, the film needs to make around $500 million just to break even and as of this writing, it’s crawling just beyond $350 million and things aren’t looking too good for the film.

The thing that drives me crazy about all of this is why is the film doing so bad? Is it Star Wars fanboys still upset with The Last Jedi that are refusing to see the film? Has burnout finally begun on the franchise? Have reviews been too negative? I’m not sure, but I do know that anyone who isn’t seeing this film, no matter their reason, is missing out on a fun adventure. My spoiler-free review of the flick is below.

Alden Ehrenreich steps into the massive shoes of Harrison Ford as he portrays Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Joonas Suotamo steps into the physically larger and almost as massive shoes (at least in the Star Wars galaxy) of Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Han’s beloved sidekick. Although to be fair, Suotamo has portrayed Chewie in The Last Jedi and all of the more active parts of The Force Awakens, so he’s a little more comfortable in his role.

The film follows Han from his youth as an orphan where he and his first love, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), are working for a crime boss named Lady Proxima (voiced by the amazing Linda Hunt) on Corellia to his unhappy time with the Empire as an ousted pilot sent to the mud planet of Mimban where he meets Tobias Beckett and his gang of thieves. Han also meets and befriends Chewbacca on Mimban, but I’ll let you find out just how they meet by watching the film yourself.

Han joins up with Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his team that consists of Beckett’s wife, Val (Thandie Newton) and Rio Durant (voiced by Jon Favreau). His plan is to use his cut from their upcoming job to buy a ship so that he can return to Corellia and free Qi’ra from Lady Proxima. As is always the case for Han, the deal goes south and the crew finds themselves at the mercy of one of the cruelest crime bosses in the galaxy, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany).

After a lot of convincing, Vos agrees to allow Beckett and Han one more chance to recover their losses. His only request is that his most trusted lieutenant, who happens to be Qi’ra, tags along to ensure the success of the mission. In need of a ship, Qi’ra suggests visiting a smuggler who happens to have the fastest ship in the galaxy. That smuggler, of course, is Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). His ship happens to be the Millennium Falcon. We also get to meet L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Lando’s co-pilot and trusted friend.

As the story moves along and Han and his fellow criminals attempt to pull off one last job, we get to see many of the things that Han talked about in the original trilogy come to fruition. We see the legendary Kessel Run. We see how relationships are built between certain characters and learn how Han establishes that a having good blaster and shooting first are two of the most important lessons to learn in the galaxy. There are also a couple of surprises in the film including a huge cameo near the end.

Solo isn’t a perfect film. Then again, none of the Star Wars films are perfect (not even The Empire Strikes Back, but it’s pretty close). I’ve read other reviews of the film that stated that it played it safe as far as the story goes. I’ve also seen where some critics claim that the film adds nothing new to the Star Wars franchise. In all honesty, I agree with both of these assertions. Despite this, it’s still fun to see a lot of Han’s background unfold on the screen.

One thing that the film definitely does is re-inject some humor into the franchise. Star Wars had quite a few lighthearted moments in the original trilogy, many of which were provided by Han and Chewie. Beginning with the prequels, Star Wars seemed to be taking a heavier and gloomier tone. The Force Awakens brought back a little of this humor, but the films that followed, Rogue One and The Last Jedi, turned back to the dark side of the franchise.

Solo was FUN. I found myself smiling throughout much of the film and laughing out loud at quite a few moments. It’s a really cool adventure and I’m glad to see that the franchise might be lightening up a little bit.

The film also features some great chase and battle sequences and a pulse-pounding train robbery (okay, it’s probably technically called a space train) that reminded me of similar sequences from the original films and even in the prequels. The fact that the effects were nearly flawless only added to the wonder as the film played out on the screen.

The film’s music was sufficient, but much like with Rogue One, I found that the music took more of a backseat to the story than it did in the original trilogy, the prequels, and even in the new trilogy. John Powell’s music seemed to be a dialed back version of John Williams’ classic scores. Perhaps this was intentional, but in any case I really have no complaints with the music overall.

I also have no complaints about the cast. Ehrenreich did a great job as a young Han Solo. Is he Harrison Ford? Absolutely not, but that’s no reason to write him or his performance off as something terrible. I hope to see Ehrenreich continue in the role if and when young Han is needed again. Suotamo gives a youthful kick to Chewbacca, and he also manages to show a great deal of emotion at certain points in the film. Harrelson is great as Beckett. I don’t trust him at all during the film. He really sells the shady side of his character to perfection.

There’s been a lot of talk about Donald Glover and his performance as Lando, and all of the praise is warranted. Glover bleeds Billy Dee Williams in this film and I want to see him do more with the character. Emilia Clark does a fine job as Qi’ra, but I felt like the writing actually held back her performance. Much like the scene stealing K-2SO in Rogue One, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s L3-37 steals pretty much every scene that she is in as well. I really enjoyed her work on Flea, and was happy to see her become a part of the Star Wars franchise. Paul Bettany is a somewhat standard villain, but he’s sufficient enough in his role.

Erin Kellyman appears as Enfys Nest, a new character that leads a group of marauders known as the Cloud Riders. While her role is brief, it’s important to the development of Han’s character, as is the brief appearance of Jon Favreaux’s Rio Durant, who gives Han a little timely wisdom during a tense moment in the film.

HS-469196_R — Joonas Suotamo, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover, Ron Howard, Emilia Clarke and Alden Ehrenreich on the set of SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the production of Solo. Original co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were ousted from the project well into production and Ron Howard was brought in to pick up the pieces. I believe that Howard did an excellent job with the film and would like to see him take on another Star Wars project that’s all his in the future.

Ultimately, Solo: A Star Wars Story is an imperfect romp that’s a whole lot better than it is given credit for and I highly recommend that you check it out. There have been much worse films that have pulled in bigger audiences and for the life of me I can’t figure out why Solo is doing so poorly. Give it a chance. “It’s risky, but it’s worth a try.”

Thanks for reading my review. I really do believe that people are missing out by skipping Solo. Be on the lookout for a post about my recent trip to Austin and I’ll have a Throwback Thursday post later today (cuz it’s passed midnight).

Throwback Thursday: Cat-Women Of The Moon!

1953

This week I’m taking the Wayback Machine to the 1950’s, a great time for film thanks to the release of such great classics like The Ten Commandments (1956), The Wild One (1953), and Some Like It Hot (1959). It was also an exceptionally wonderful time for science fiction. Classics like Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956), The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) and Forbidden Planet (1956) were released in the decade as were a multitude of other classic genre films too long to list in this post.

Tucked in among these classics is a much loved (but not always mentioned) B-film that is the epitome of cheese and one of the first films in a long line of films featuring planets full of attractive ladies in (at least for its time) revealing outfits that were usually attempting to take over mankind in some sort of brilliant scheme. That film was Cat-Women of the Moon. It was also released in 3-D, which would explode in the 1950’s and be featured in multiple films.

The film’s plot is simple but effective. A scientific crew is sent to the Moon on an expedition. As they get closer to their destination, the team’s navigator, Helen (Marie Windsor) begins to have dreams and visions that make her feel as if she’s already been to the Moon. Once the team lands, Helen leads the group deep into a maze of caverns where the atmosphere is breathable…..and giant spiders reside!

Eventually the group meets up with the desirable Cat-Women, who have been using telepathy to influence and control Helen’s actions. They reveal to Helen their grand scheme to take over Earth and save their civilization which is almost extinct. In order to do this, the Cat-Women have to eliminate the men, learn how to use the expedition’s spaceship, and steal the crew’s spacesuits in order to make it out to the ship which is not in a breathable atmosphere.

The film is rather brief (just over an hour long), but that actually helps since the story plays out very quickly and, in all honesty, probably didn’t have to be as long as it was in the first place. The acting is sufficient and the special effects are exactly what you’d expect from a film made in the early 1950’s.

The music was composed by prolific composer Elmer Bernstein, who would go on to win an Academy Award and multiple other awards for his work in films such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, To Kill A Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, Cape Fear, and The Ten Commandments. Bernstein is one of only four composers to have two of their scores listed on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years Of Film Scores list. Only one composer, John Williams, has more. He has three on the list.

The film has a few notable cast members who would go on to bigger and better things. Marie Windsor worked in over eighty films in her career and had multiple roles on television as well. Dubbed “Queen of the B’s” for her work in the genre, Windsor had steady work up until her death in 1991. Victor Jory (who portrayed Kip) is best known for his work in Gone With The Wind, the television series Manhunt, and his work as the Shadow in the classic film of the same name. Also of note is Douglas Fowley (who portrayed Walt) who portrayed Doc Holliday in The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp. He is the father of Kim Fowley, best known as the manager of the influential rock group The Runaways, the band that introduced the world to future solo stars Joan Jett and Lita Ford, as well as Michael Steele of The Bangles.

As stated before, Cat-Women of the Moon was one of the first films to use the concept of a planet or civilization made up primarily of attractive women intent on taking over mankind. This would lead to a long line of exploitation films including Fire Maidens From Outer Space and Voyage To The Planet Of Prehistoric Women. The film is regularly featured at film festivals and has even received the Rifftrax treatment. I recently watched it at Sci-Fi Saturday at The Mines Theatre in Sulphur, LA.

The film is both loved and despised for its camp and exploitation. Honestly, is a dance number necessary in the middle of the film? No, but you’re gonna get one anyway! If you’re interested in checking this film out, it’s currently available to watch on Amazon Prime and is also available on DVD. It can be purchased individually or as part of discounted collections. I do not believe that it is available on Blu-ray as of this writing.

Thanks for reading. I really do hope that some of you check out this film if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s worth watching even if it just gives you the chuckles.

Hurricane Pro: The Crowning

Beaumont, TX

On Saturday, June 16th, I took my son and daughter to the best professional wrestling event that I’ve been to in a very long time. Hurricane Pro’s The Crowning, which took place at the Beaumont Civic Center, was simply awesome. There’s no other way to describe the event.

We purchased VIP tickets that gave us early access to the venue, a meet-and-greet with some of the featured wrestlers, and hot pink t-shirts commemorating the event. My kids really enjoyed meeting the women of The Crowning. All five competitors met with VIPs before the show and took photos and signed autographs with everyone. As a rule, I don’t post photos of my children on my blog, but know that the kids were excited to meet the competitors before the matches began.Our seats were ringside, meaning we had an up-close-and-personal view of everything that went down during the night and things definitely went down!

Things opened up with Ayden Cristiano taking on Jordan Jensen. Cristiano didn’t get a very warm reception from the crowd. They cheered on fan favorite Jordan Jensen throughout the match. Both men and Cristiano’s manager, The Don, put on a great show. The Don interacted with the crowd and took a lot of verbal punishment for his troubles. He also ended up on the business end of Jordan Jensen’s fists a few times as well. Jensen was victorious, but he wasn’t done for the evening. I’ll get to that later.

Next up was an interesting pair of matches pitting two tag teams against each other in singles matches. Make Your Own Path’s Alex Lane faced off against the Dark Alliance’s Heinz Emmerich. Lane’s high energy dominated the match despite interference from Emmerich’s partner, Billy W. Fletcher. Lane and Emmerich took things outside of the ring and into the crowd at one point. Blood was also drawn as Lane started bleeding from the mouth during the match.

Lane succeeded in his match, but for him and his teammate, Ricardo Cage, to become the number one contender for the tag team titles, Cage had to defeat Fletcher in singles competition. That match started immediately after Lane pinned Emmerich, and unfortunately for Make Your Own Path, Fletcher defeated Cage. During that match, though, myself and the crowd had a lot of fun taunting Emmerich. He even told me to shut up a few times.

Next up was the Hurricane Pro Heavyweight Title Match between challenger Bu Ku Dao (my son’s favorite wrestler) and champion Terrale Tempo. In all honesty I’m a fan of both of these guys, so I pretty much sat quietly as this match unfolded. Neither wrestler disappointed as Tempo managed to keep his title for another day. After the fight, the crowd applauded both wrestlers and Bu Ku Dao left the arena knowing that he did a great job. During his exit, though, another wrestler entered the arena, grabbed the heavyweight belt, and walked around the ring with it a few times before finally giving it to Tempo. That wrestler? Jordan Jensen, a man who has wanted a shot at Tempo’s belt for awhile. It looks like he’ll get his shot in July! More on that in a minute.

The next match-up was a a two on three handicap match between the Pump Patrol and Brysin Scott and Estrella Galactica. Despite the handicap, Scott and Galactica held their own throughout the match. Things even went outside of the ring a few times, as Scott and Galactica utilized their aerial moves on the Pump Patrol numerous times. Ultimately it was a failed attempt at cheating that cost the Pump Patrol the match. setting up Estrella Galactica for the win.

The event was capped off by the first ever Hurricane Pro Women’s Championship match that featured five excellent wrestlers. Miranda Alize, Chelsea Green, Phoebe, Hyan, and Simply Luscious faced off in a gauntlet match. Phoebe and Luscious entered the ring first, with Luscious brutally attacking Phoebe. Simply Luscious never let up on Phoebe, but Phoebe eventually managed to get the best of Luscious and scored a victory. She had no time to catch her breath, however, as Hyan entered the ring immediately after Simply Luscious’ exit. Hyan focused on Phoebe’s damaged arm and wore her down with a series of holds and attacks. Phoebe eventually succumbed to Hyan’s perfect execution of moves and was sent packing despite a solid effort. Miranda Alize was next in the ring and she and Hyan squared off in an excellent contest that showed both ladies take a ton of abuse. Miranda managed to defeat Hyan, but Hyan definitely left her mark on Miranda, Phoebe, and the fans of Hurricane Pro.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The final competitor to enter the match was Chelsea Green. Demanding that the crowd cheer louder for her, she strutted into the ring full of confidence and she and Miranda began circling one another until they finally commenced their battle. The competition was very close as both ladies gave as much as the got during the first half of the match. Green verbally sparred with the crowd while holding her own against Miranda.

About halfway through the match, and possibly as a result of two running corner kicks from Miranda, Chelsea Green snapped, whipped out some lipstick, and turned into the highly unhinged Hot Mess of Professional Wrestling that she is known and loved for by her fans. Her attack became more brutal and relentless, eventually tossing Miranda into the crowd. Neither Miranda nor popcorn buckets or chairs were safe as the Hot Mess savagely beat her opponent. The action spread all over the arena and eventually ended up in the row behind our seats.

It was at this point that Miranda started to regain control of the match and the two wrestlers finally found their way back into the ring. Miranda eventually got the win over Chelsea Green to become Hurricane Pro’s first Women’s Champion, but none of the ladies involved in the match did a bad job. All of them were deserving of the title, and hopefully we will see Miranda defend her title against all of them in future matches.

After the match was over, the announcer let everyone know that both Miranda and Chelsea and many of the other wrestlers from the event would be out signing autographs and taking photos. My daughter got a second photo with the ladies and my son grabbed a quick snap with Estrella Galactica. I had to get a selfie with the Hot Mess in full psycho mode, and she happily took a photo with me. I also got an autographed photo from her.

Just a few hours ago, Hurricane Pro officially announced that their next big event is coming up on July 28th and it will feature Terrale Tempo defending his belt against Jordan Jensen. More matches and ticket information will be coming in the near future, so be sure to check out Hurricane Pro’s website and follow them on Facebook to keep up with everything that is happening at the next show!

I want to thank each and everyone of my readers for viewing this post and everything else that I’ve posted over the years. Please note that I have received no compensation for this post or any other post that I’ve made from the beginning. I do this on my own and at my own expense. I do this because I love everything from movies and books to cartoons and professional wrestling. As long as I see that people are reading my content, I’ll content to post to this blog.

Keep an eye out for my eventual Solo review and also for a recap of my recent visit to Austin, TX. I had a blast out there and have a ton of things to talk about from my trip. Again, thanks for reading!!!

Throwback Thursday: Jurassic Park

Isla Nublar

Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park got the Steven Spielberg treatment with 1993’s film of the same name. The movie blazed new trails in practical and CGI effects. In fact, the CGI in that film is still considered by some as some of the best CGI in cinematic history. John Williams handled the musical duties and knocked it out of the, cough, park. The cast featured Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant and Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler, two scientists sent to Isla Nublar, home of a new park that features dinosaurs brought back to life through science, in order to give it their stamp of approval. Along for the ride is Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a chaos theorist who attempts to be a voice of reason, Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), a lawyer representing investors, and John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), the man who hopes to bring his dream of a dinosaur park to life.

Of course, everything goes wrong and the small group (including Hammond’s grandchildren played by Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello) end up in a fight for their lives. If you haven’t seen this film, you’re missing out big time.

The film would spawn four sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (loosely based on the second novel with some of the first book crammed in for good measure), Jurassic Park III (utilizing characters from Crichton’s books in a new story), Jurassic World (featuring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard), and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (releasing in the United States on June 22, 2018). Each one of these sequels has proven to be profitable, but the consensus is that the story quality deteriorated with the second and third films. The fourth film, which takes place over twenty years after the original, has managed to correct the franchise’s course, but still lacks the magic and wonder that the original film had in my opinion.

While the films have had some memorable supporting characters portrayed by actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, B.D. Wong, Wayne Knight, Bob Peck, Richard Schiff, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Tea Leoni, William H. Macy, Michael Jeter, Irrfan Khan, and Vincent D’Onofrio, it’s the dinosaurs that are the real stars. The Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus, and a genetic hybrid known as the Indominus Rex have all been key dinosaurs over the course of the films, but it is the Velociraptor that has become the most popular dinosaur out of the bunch. They became so popular, in fact, that some of them were given names in the newest films in the series, with Blue being the one raptor that stood out from the rest.

There have been quite a few deviations from the books in the films, especially when it comes to who lives and who dies. Muldoon was one of my favorite characters in the first book and he survives the raptor attack on the page. I was ticked off when he wasn’t as lucky in the film. Hammond survived in the film but dies in the book. Gennaro survived in the book but dies in the film. He’s also a lot braver in the book. A number of characters have much larger roles in the book, in particular Dr. Wu ( portrayed in the films by BD Wong), who appears to have become a primary villain in the newest sequels.

As time has passed, Jurassic Park has become one of the most beloved films in cinematic history. It paved the way for modern CGI but also did an excellent job of blending practical effects with computer generated effects. It did a great job of building suspense and had quite a few genuinely scary moments. Many of the cast members went on to star in other big films or had solid careers as character actors.

There’s no denying the legacy of Jurassic Park and its sequels. People still watch the original film and continue to collect any and all things Jurassic that they can get their hands on from clothing to toys and other collector’s items. The film also triggered interest in paleontology and dinosaurs in general. My son is one of the many young minds that has been inspired by the film and its sequels.

As always, thanks for reading. Let me know what you think about the film in the comments section and look out for my review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in the near future!

“None Of This Is Real…..”

“It’s Just A Game”

Daniel Emery Taylor (The Return of Swamp Thing) took on the duties of writing, producing, directing, and, yep, even acting in Debtor Entertainment’s It’s Just A Game. The film’s teaser trailer was recently released (on Friday the 13th of April) and being a fan of independent film, I have to admit that I’m intrigued. Take a look at the trailer for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments.

The film stars Hannah Cohen-Lawlor as Brianna, a shy young lady looking to get even with some of her tormentors by having them play a game with her…..a game that is more real than she believes and, based on the teaser trailer, has some pretty terrible parting gifts!

18056438_1856792307909265_6141137456374724224_o — Hannah Cohen-Lawlor in *It’s Just A Game*.

The cast includes the aforementioned Daniel Emery Taylor as Brother Thaddeus, as well as Leah Hudspeth as Sister Amelia, Alex Zuko as Brother Marco, Rachel Marshall as Skullgirl, and Sarah Kopkin as Ruby.

The film will be out soon, so keep an eye out for it. Until then, here are a few stills from the film taken from the official Facebook page for the movie.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thanks for reading this post. If you have any comments about this film or any other upcoming flicks, let me know in the comments section.

Throwback Thursday: Space Rangers

Space Rangers was a short-lived science fiction series that debuted in January of 1993 on CBS. Only six episodes of the series aired and it was quickly removed from CBS’ schedule. Despite being created by Pen Densham (best known for his production work on The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone revivals) and boasting a cast that featured Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously, Dune, The Relic, Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat, The Phantom, Pearl Harbor, Johnny Tsunami), the series failed to find its audience.

I was very fond of the series and its cast, especially Tagawa, Jeff Kaake (who would go on to star in another short-lived series, Viper), and Marjorie Monaghan (who has had numerous sci-fi roles including Theresa Halloran on Babylon 5).

The series also had some excellent guest stars including The Karate Kid‘s Pat Morita, character actor Clint Howard, and comedian Buddy Hackett.

The series was released on DVD in 2013 and is currently available on Amazon for the price of $15.99. I’m tempted to purchase it.

I’ll have another blast from the past next Thursday. Thanks for dropping by and feel free to let me know if there’s anything you’d like to revisit in future Throwback Thursday posts.

Focus On: Michael Keaton

The Ghost With The Most

In this Focus On segment, I visit the wonderfully insane talent that is Michael Keaton. If you grew up in the 1980’s like me, you are well aware of the comedic excellence of Michael Keaton. You are already familiar with his string of popular comedies such as Night Shift, Johnny Dangerously, Mr. Mom, and the legendary Beetlejuice.

You were probably just as shocked as I was when it was announced that Keaton was Tim Burton’s choice to portray the Dark Knight in Burton’s 1989 film, Batman and its sequel, Batman Returns. Heck, even Warner Bros. knew what they were getting into, placing almost all of the film’s promotional focus on the villain, the Joker, portrayed by the much loved and respected Jack Nicholson.

How could a guy known for playing comedic roles successfully nail down the dark, brooding Batman and his billionaire playboy alias, Bruce Wayne? Well, Keaton did it. He did it better than probably anybody else could have at the time. He was a perfect fit for the role and solidified himself as an actor with tons of range. Prior to Batman, Keaton’s only serious role was as substance abuser Daryl Poynter in Clean and Sober. Keaton did a great job in that film, but doubts were high for him as Batman.

Keaton didn’t stop with his success in Batman. Instead, he took on more dramatic roles throughout the 1990’s in films such as One Good Cop and My Life. He continued doing comedies like Jack Frost as well, but he proved time and again that he was a great actor by taking on various roles throughout the rest of the decade and into the early 2000’s.

Keaton started doing more independent films as the 00’s rolled along. He also focused on voice over work in films such as Cars and Toy Story 3 and took on smaller roles in big studio projects like Herbie: Fully Loaded. His career seemed to be leveling off with starring vehicles such as White Noise and the Robocop reboot not getting as much attention as his work in the 80’s and 90’s, but his star rose once again with his performances in Birdman and The Founder.

In 2017, Keaton returned to the summer blockbuster with his performance as Adrian Toomes/ The Vulture in Marvel/Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Keaton gave Marvel fans something that had been severely lacking in the MCU up to that point. He gave them a great villain. Prior to the Vulture, the only villain that had any mass appeal was Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Almost every other MCU villain had been a bland figure for the heroes to slap around in the climax. Keaton lifted Homecoming above its lighthearted tone and gave it a character that viewers could identify with and, especially in the scene where he drives his daughter and Peter to the homecoming dance, fear.

Keaton has signed on to return in the Spider-Man sequel and will be in the live action Dumbo directed by his Batman bud, Tim Burton.

He’s come a long way from being the goofball that I watched as a kid. He has proven time and again that he can act in just about any type of role that you throw at him. I highly recommend that you take a look at Keaton’s filmography. He’s been in a ton of great films and has been nominated for and won many awards for his work. Start with some of his early comedies and work your way up to his current projects. He’s great!

As always, thanks for reading. Be on the lookout for a Throwback Thursday tomorrow and hopefully a review of Solo in the next few days.

Throwback Thursday: The Monster Squad!

Still_MonsterSquad_758_426_81_s_c1

Remember these guys??? It’s hard to believe that this film is over thirty years old. Featuring Andre Gower as Sean, leader of the Monster Squad, and Duncan Regehr as Count Dracula, leader of the monsters, this film didn’t make much noise at the movies but eventually gained a cult following (myself included).

It also featured early performances from Jason Hervey and Jonathan Gries, both of which would go on to bigger things with The Wonder Years and Napoleon Dynamite.

Written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker, the film featured the special effects of the legendary Stan Winston.

Along with Focus On, Throwback Thursday is a new feature that I’m adding to my page in order to provide more content for my readers. Let me know what you would like to see featured on Throwback Thursday in future posts!

Not Your Daddy’s Oklahoma!

Sheol, OK

I enjoy watching independent film productions. They find brilliant ways to use their limited resources to give the viewer the best possible version of their particular vision. Independent horror is particularly interesting to me because these films often push boundaries and explore dark corners of the mind that large studios won’t risk funding at a potential loss of profit. The big boys are quite happy producing mediocre PG-13 horror films that will draw in a certain demographic and make at least a minimal profit from with minimal risks.

Once in awhile an independent film comes along that blazes new trails for the horror genre. The Evil Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are two well known independent horror films that took horror into new territories of gore, terror, and even humor (especially The Evil Dead). Newer indie films like The Babadook and Wolf Creek continue to push the envelope with gore, mental anguish, etc.

Meet Me There doesn’t necessarily blaze any new trails, but it does attempt to follow the paths of many of its predecessors. The film opens up with what is apparently supposed to be an unnerving event that opens the viewer’s mind to a ton of questions. Then the focus shifts to Ada (Lisa Friedrich) and her beau, Calvin (Micheal Foulk), as the duo return to Ada’s small hometown of Sheol, Oklahoma in an attempt to remedy her issues with intimacy. Ada can’t recall many memories from her childhood and she and Calvin think that by visiting her old home, her memory will be triggered and she can remove any blocks that might be putting a strain on their love life.

The film follows the couple on their journey to Sheol from Austin, Texas, giving us more insight into both characters. Ada talks about the few memories that she can recall and Calvin brings up a light memory of him dealing with Smurfs. The entire sequence is rather long, bordering on mediocrity.

Once the pair arrive in Sheol, a bizarre sequence of events begins to unfold that includes everything from locals pulling a gun on Calvin for being an outsider in a Cleveland Indians cap to a visit with Ada’s strung out aunt who accuses her of bringing evil to the town. There are also two interactions with Preacher Woodward (Dustin Runnels) who I’m sure WWE fans will recognize as Goldust and his daughter, that can be described as uneasy (the first one) and completely whacked out (the second one).

The film rambles all over the place with no real direction in sight. As is standard for most horror films, the lead couple make one bad decision after another and get into more trouble and more bizarre situations. Also, one thing that I found puzzling was that despite being from the small town, no one seems to recognize Ada outside of her aunt. Everyone just seems to want her and Calvin to end up dead and they are more than eager to help them end up that way.

Light humor is injected throughout the film, much of it being delivered by Foulk, but it’s very forced in some instances. There are also shots of druids in the forest doing things in various states of undress. I didn’t know whether to laugh at these moments or be terrified by them. I ultimately just stared at them wondering what the heck was going on in the scene.

Eventually the film ends and the viewer is left with just as many questions as he or she might have had at the the beginning of the film. It’s a very bizarre flick that really doesn’t seem to have any defined end in sight. While this works for a lot of horror films, it fails pretty hard in Meet Me There.

I will say that I enjoyed the performances of Friedrich, Runnels, and Jill Thompson (who portrayed Ada’s Aunt Lindsay). Friedrich in particular really put herself out there in the film, and I commend her for her work. Runnels does well with what he has to work with, and in all honesty I’d love to see him take on a slasher type role in the future. Thompson plays up her character’s addictions and gives an excellent performance as a woman in an abusive relationship that has given up on life and has become a bit unhinged.

The film isn’t terrible, but I don’t see it making any lasting impression. It is apparently loosely based on the hometown stories of Destiny Talley (who co-wrote the film with Brandon Stroud) and seems to try and fuse these small town stories (every small town has at least one weird story) into a horror film. Hopefully the cast and the writers will continue working on projects like this, as I did see a few flashes of greatness within Meet Me There, but not enough to recommend buying this film. It’s currently available to stream for free on Amazon Prime, so if you’ve got a little time to kill, give it a chance. You might like it more than I did.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Be sure to go out and support indie films, especially if they are created locally. I’ve been involved with a few short films myself, and they are extremely fun to work on with friends and locals. Even if the end product isn’t all that great, it’s still a great feeling to put something out there for others to see and tell them, “I made this.”

Who Knows….

What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men?

Having recently revisited The Rocketeer and The Phantom, two 1990’s films set in the 1930’s, it’s only natural that I also take a look at 1994’s The Shadow, an Alec Baldwin vehicle that had high hopes just like those films did but ultimately fell flat at the theater. Of these three films, The Shadow is my least favorite. I liked it, but not as much as the other films. I’ll give my reasons below.

Based on the character made popular in pulp novels, a highly successful radio program narrated by the legendary Orson Welles, and classic serials, the film seemed to struggle to find its way. Lamont Cranston’s (The Shadow’s alias) background story was okay, but I felt that it was poorly explained in the film. I also felt that the villain, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), wasn’t impressive or consistent enough to be a real threat.

Jerry Goldsmith’s score also seemed a tad lazy. While the film had style for miles, the music felt a tad phoned in and the hero’s theme sound very similar to Danny Elfman’s 1989 Batman theme. Oddly enough, it was the success of Batman (who was created with partial inspiration from the original Shadow) that apparently triggered this short run of superhero films that also included Dick Tracy. I also wasn’t a fan of Original Sin, the end titles song performed by Taylor Dayne. Dayne did a great job vocally, but the song just seemed dull and uninspired.

The special effects were brilliant in almost every aspect. The look of New York in the 1930’s was brilliantly executed with both sets and matte backgrounds. That’s right, kids, even in the 90’s we were still using traditional paintings as part of the background. That, in my opinion, gave the movie an even more classic look and feel. The Shadow’s facial features were apparently prosthetic, and worked quite well. Animation (not CGI) appears to have been used for the Shadow’s shadow as well as the fight sequences (which featured the Shadow fading in and out of the scene), which were simply wonderful.

Where the effects failed was when Phurba, the knife of Tulku (Cranston’s trainer and mentor), appeared on screen. The effects were terrible for this knife and it jarred me out of the movie every time I saw it. Thankfully Phurba didn’t spend a lot of time on the screen.

The film had a solid main cast that included Baldwin, Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Tim Curry, and Ian McKellan. It also featured a stellar lineup of supporting actors that included Peter Boyle and Jonathan Winters (who had major supporting roles), and a whole smorgasbord of character actors that we’ve all seen on television or film over the years. Sharp-eyed viewers will recognize Max Wright, Joseph Maher, James Hong, Sab Shimono, Ethan Phillips, Abraham Benrubi, Steve Hytner, Wesley Mann, and Al Leong.

For a film that was a tad hit and miss, The Shadow is still worth a look. It’s got plenty of style and a great all around cast that gets bogged down in a script that can’t find its legs. I’d love to see The Shadow get another shot on the big screen in the near future, but I don’t know if it will happen any time soon.

For now, fans will have to be content with the 1994 film and the classic serials and older films. Personally, I think I’ll stick to the pulp novels. The movie has plenty of things going for it, but it doesn’t hold my attention as well as The Phantom and The Rocketeer. Still, I highly recommend that you give it a look.

As always, thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought about the film in the comments section. I hope to have a review for Solo: A Star Wars Story in the very near future, so be on the lookout for that and other upcoming posts including another Focus On feature, and a look at collecting blind bag items.

In that galaxy far, far away…

Share this:

1953

Share this:

Beaumont, TX

Share this:

Isla Nublar

Share this:

“It’s Just A Game”

Share this:

Share this:

The Ghost With The Most

Share this:

Share this:

Sheol, OK

Share this:

What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men?

Share this: