MONTH OF INTERNATIONAL FILMS

February 2021 is a special month for my viewing this year as I’ve labeled it my Month of International Films.  Each month this year I’m giving a theme in the hopes that I will (finally) catch up with a lot of the films that have been on my “watch list” for quite some time.  In January, I watched a lot of 2020 films that I had missed and now we are on to the Month of International Films.

 

I’m a huge lover of foreign films but sometimes you have to be in the mood to read subtitles (my preferred way to watch a foreign film).  This being said, my viewing spanned all genres and all parts of the world as I love to explore the many different cultures through their art and film.

 

ACTION.

I should first mention that I finally got around to viewing the cult favorite Female Prisoner Scorpion films (the original series) with Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972), Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song (1973), Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973), and Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse (1972).  This is quite a film series of the ‘70s with its nudity and violence glorified to the 100 power.  These were actually very stylized productions that had some amazing cinematography .  There are many more films that have expanded the franchise but these are the core films (maybe one day I’ll get around to those other films).   I also watched a couple Jackie Chan films this month that had been sitting on my shelf for years – 1911 (2011) and Railroad Tigers (2016), of which both were quite good and very different from one another.  Chan is a very versatile actor and producer and hopefully I will get around to the other films of his that I’ve yet to get around to.  He is still an amazing actor that I try to view as many of his films as I can.

DRAMA.

Moving on to drams, of which Chan’s 1911 fits better, I ended up viewing several dramas on the streaming service that I believe were marked as Horror.  The films Blue My Mind (2017) and Zombi Child (2020) are both very much dramas with motifs and themes from the horror genre but if you go in thinking they are horror films then you will be completely disappointed.  These two films are amazing at creating character and drama within stories not typical of the genre.  Some audience members may never take a look at them believing they are horror while horror fans may be disappointed because they are horror at all.  They both occupy a unique middle bridge and successful tell their respective stories with no compromises due to genre.

 

Another drama film I’d like to mention is Pete Walker’s Home Before Midnight (1979), one of the director’s non-horror films that has to deal with a musician who gets involved with an underage woman and controversy surrounds.  Not what I was expecting (since I was expecting a horror film) but a film whose themes still resonate and are current even today forty years later.

 

THEATRICAL & FANTASY.

I only saw one international film at the Box Office this month and it also happens to be the only fantasy film as well – A Writer’s Odyssey (2021).  This was an amazing film with a huge story whose themes and influences encompass many different genres.  Some critics have said that the film is too complicated but I loved the complex story and the many different elements that will make repeated viewing richer.  It is by far one of my favorite films of 2021!

ANIMATION.

I did manage to get a couple animated films through into the mix!  First up is Ne Zha (2019) the hugely successful animated film that presents audiences with everything missing from a Disney animated film.  I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to this film as it was one at the top of my “watch list” but I’m glad I had the chance to watch it this month instead of waiting around any longer.  I loved this film and will watch it again because of how different it is from other films being produced by American animation studios.  The same can be said of the cryptic and mind bending The Wolf House (2020), which is unlike anything out there right now.  It’s style of storytelling reminds me of Triplets of Belleville while the animation style is pure experimental filmmaker yet it has a charm all its own like something David Lynch would create.  This is a film in which repeat viewings will be needed (and maybe even a few shots of alcohol).

 

HORROR.

As can be expected, the horror genre made up the largest segment of films I got around to!  I spent most of the month buried on Shudder catching up with tons of films that I hadn’t seen yet.  The first selection of films being Italian Giallo genre but also includes films inspired by these films as well.  Some of them were – Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971), The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972), The Fifth Cord (1975), The Corruption of Chris Miller (1975), Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971), The Strange Vice of Ms. Wardh (1971), and What Have You Done to Solange? (1972). Once I started I just couldn’t stop until I had finished them all.  I’m a huge fan of the Giallo film by way of Dario Argento and Mario Bava so finally getting around to seeing some of these cult classics was great (thank you Shudder!).  Now, unfortunately, they were all as great as an Argento or Bava film but they were entertaining even when the plots were completely ludicrous.

 

The rest of my horror viewing list was all over the map with the original and modern remake of The Queen of Black Magic (1981, 2020) followed by the sequel May the Devil Take You Too (2020), which I didn’t even know was a sequel until I already was watching it (I’ll eventually get around to watching the original).

 

Other films include The Canal (2014), Demon (2015), and Noroi: The Curse (2005).  I didn’t care for The Canal at all while the Demon was an interesting take on a possession film.  Noroi is the film that was recommended to me but I just didn’t really care for it at all.

 

 

I also watched some more recent films like 32 Malasana Street (2020), Belzebuth (2019), DeadTectives (2019), Hunted (2020), and The Platform (2019).  A lot of these made their debuts at film festivals before being picked up by Shudder and other streaming services.   I especially enjoyed Hunted and The Platform!

 

This makes up all the films for my Month of International Film which allowed me to reach my goal of at least thirty films!    I hope that you seek out some of the films mentioned here as there were some gems but if none of them interest you then maybe of March Month of Action Films (!) will have something for you!

BEST OF 2020: BOOKS

Overall, 2020 was a good year for me to get through a lot of books that had just been sitting on my shelf but the most notable thing I can say about last year is that I read a lot of art books and a lot of film books that made up half of the thirty books I did get through.

 

I can honestly say that I only read one book that was actually published last year which is Don Delillo’s The Silence: A Novel.  It is the first book of his that I have read although his Cosmopolis is still sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.  Delillo has a very unique style of writing like Hunter S. Thompson or if you’re not into reading style then this is definitely not for you, but it is a quick read.

 

STEPHEN KING & CLIVE BARKER:

Two authors that I had not read in years I finally decided to get back to during the downtime I had during the pandemic.  Regarding King, I decided to start off small with his short novellas Elevation and Gwendy’s Button Box (with co-author Richard Chizmar).  I loved both and they reminded me why I enjoyed reading King so much which is his great use of character.  For Barker I read his First Tales, The Adventures of Mr. Maximillan Bacchus and His Traveling Circus and the art book Clive Barker Illustrator.  It has been a while since I have read both authors, but it was great to get back to them as I picked up a couple of their other novels to read for 2021!

 

ART BOOKS:

I took some time during 2020 to get back to my art studies.  In addition to Clive Barker Illustrator which delved deep into his art and influences I read Pandemonium: Further Explorations into the Worlds of Clive Barker.  The later book delved deep into both Barker’s art, theater, and film work.   I got through two books by David Mack – Dream Logic and Reflections: Art Book Vol. 1.  I have always loved his work and sense of style and technique and have been following his career for years.  These two books allowed me great insight into his art and process.   The next actual artist whose book I looked at was Dave McKean’s Dust Covers: The Collected Sandman Covers 1989-1997.  I have been a fan of his for as long as the original Sandman series was published (that is when I was first exposed to his amazing style and art).  This book allowed me to read his insights and hindsight on how many of his most iconic pieces were created for the series.  The last artist that I will mention is celebrated graphic novel artist Will Eisner and his book Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative. So, anyone who has been keeping up with me will know that I was only exposed to Eisner two years ago and I have been on a quest to read everything he is written.  Now I am moving on to his non-fiction and art books of which this is the first.  I am sure I will have plenty more to speak of in 2021 once I read more of his books.

For 2020 I only read two art history books – The Origins of Christian Art (by Michael Gough) and Baroque And Rococo Art (by Germaine Bazin).  I need to read more of these for 2021 as I would like to get through about 5-8 of these style books a year to keep my brain learning about art history.

 

FILM BOOKS:

I love reading about the making of films which makes up a huge number of the books I read each year and 2020 was no different.  I read three books in the Devil’s Advocates library which include In the Mouth of Madness (by Michael Blyth), Ju-On: The Grudge (by Marisa Hayes), and The Thing (by Jez Conolly).  Each of these books do an excellent job of breaking down all the elements of these films.  They are also short yet very comprehensive so that fans of the films and filmmakers can get a grand insight into the film and its legacy.  This series does focus more on horror and cult cinema.  The next series of books I read are two from the World Directors series.  From that series I read the books on Atom Egoyan (by Jonathan Romney) and Jane Campion (by Dana Polan).  Atom Egoyan is a great read and I love the way that Romney organized and presented the material.  I was not as taken with Polan’s Jane Campion book, but I did the added insight on Campion’s career and influences.

Regarding non-series books, I did (finally) get around to reading On Location…On Martha’s Vinyard: The Making of the Movie Jaws by Edith Blake which is one of the most famous behind the scenes books ever written.  It is indeed an amazing and candid look at the making of the film and a book I recommend to anyone wanting to know what a real film set is like.  With Tom Savini’s book Night of the Living Dead ’90: The Version You’ve Never Seen readers get a look at Savini’s film the way it was originally intended through storyboards and annotations that put the film a whole different light.

The final book in this section that I would like to discuss is The Name of the Book is Dogma95 by Richard Kelly.  I have an interest in this film movement and this book is made up of interviews of everyone who was involved with it in addition to giving a history and a context for the movement.

 

NOVELS:

My interests in 2020 was all over the map!  In addition to all the novels I have already mentioned I read several that were based on films and television shows or vice versa like Jack Sharkey’s The Addams Family (an anthology of different stories that could easily be episodes of the show), The Nightmares on Elm Street Parts 4&5 (by Joseph Locke), A Monster Calls (by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd, and Jim Kay), The Thing (Novelization by Alan Dean Foster based on the Screenplay by Bill Lancaster), Solaris (by Stanislaw Lem), and Annihilation (by Jeff Vandermeer).  Now I enjoyed all these books, but Solaris and Annihilation were amazing!  I am now going to start reading more from both authors because I love their sense of storytelling and style.  The Thing has a lot of scenes that went missing from actual film which made reading the novelization that much better whereas The Nightmares on Elm Street were pretty much spot on except Part 5 changed a lot regarding the way in which people were killed.

The novels that fell outside of those is Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children (by Ransom Riggs), The Tibetan Book of the Dead (which had no author), and my second Ryu Murakami novel Sixty-Nine.  Murakami is an excellent writer that more people should get to know his work.  I have finally started to return to Riggs series and my hope is to catch up by the end of 2021!

 

***

With having read thirty books in 2020 I kind of hit my goal since the plan was to read between 25 and 35.  It was 50 percent both non-fiction verses fiction which is also good.  Normally, I end up reading more non-fiction than fiction which is why my shelf of unread books never seems to go down, but I am hoping that 2021 will be a change in the right direction. 

For 2021 I am hoping to finish the Southern Reach and Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series in addition to catching up with my Steve Alten Meg series (which I did not read any last year).  I am hoping to get maybe five King novels read and a whole lot more art and film books, so it will be interesting to see how 2021 stacks up to 2020.

 

Now I want everyone to go away and pick of a book and turn off Nextflix for once.

 

MONTH OF 2020 FILMS

For 2021’s January themed month of film watching I decided that it was best to catch up on films from the previous year that had managed to pass me by, so this was the Month of 2020 Films!  This being said, I caught up with a lot of films from every genre which in turn will help me decide my 2020 Best of film lists.

 

DOCUMENTARIES:

I should start by saying that I (finally) jumped on the band wagon and watched the entire Netflix Tiger King mini-series which also meant that I watched the stand alone special The Tiger King & I.  I enjoyed the whole true crime docu-series and this film added to the overall series by placing it in our current quarantine times.  Injustice and true crime are appealing subjects for non-fiction films so of course I watched the following films Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story, The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo, and Athlete A.  Of the three, Athlete A was the best, but they all were eye opening in regard to their subject matter and overall execution.  Athlete A is one I recommend everyone watch.  The last two documentaries that I watched of the month were Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.  Dance Dreams is an amazing look at one of the premiere dance studios in the United States and their production of the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.  Crip Camp is overall one of the best documentaries that was released in 2020. 

 

DRAMA:

Only caught up with three dramas this month.  Wished I had gotten around to more, but January was not an ideal month for dramas.  What I did get around to was an eclectic mix.  Watched Hillbilly Elegy, Mank, and Trial of the Chicago 7.  Mank was clearly the best of the bunch overall but Trial of the Chicago 7 and Hillbilly Elegy had some stand out performances even though there were other areas that were lacking.  Mank is by far one of director David Fincher’s best films in years and deserves the accolades it is being given.  I am surprised that Glen Close in Hillbilly Elegy is not being given just as much praise as she is phenomenal but then again, she is phenomenal in most everything. 

 

ACTION:

I only watched three action films in this month and two of them were based on comic books.  The first one is Extraction which had some amazing cinematography and action sequences.  Some of the best I have seen all year.  The two I watched that were based on comic books were vastly different from one another - The Old Guard and Wonder Woman: 1984.  Now, I have read the graphic novel on which The Old Guard is based and its pretty much spot on.  The film does a better job with bridging all the stories of the characters together and it does an amazing job with setting up the world of the film.  There are even whole scenes in the film lifted directly from the comic book.  Wonder Woman on the other hand is a mixed bag but it does a great job servicing the young female audience that it was designed to appeal to whereas the typical comic book fan may not be as impressed.  Some questionable CGI at the end does take away from the overall film.  The funny thing is that I believe all three of them will be getting sequels sometime soon.

 

HORROR:

The horror genre is what films I ended up watching the most of partially because so many more horror films were released last year than practically every other genre, so I felt like there was a lot for me to catch up with.  My Top 5 favorites were The Cleansing Hour, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, La Llorona, The Mortuary Collection, and Spiral, which were all different from one another.  Although not your standard horror film, Sarah Bolger gives a phenomenal performance in A Good Woman is Hard to Find.  Spiral gives one of the most genuine same sex relationship portrayals in a horror film which elevates the film about the new people moving into the neighborhood that has a supernatural cult in its mist.   The Mortuary Collection is one of the best anthology films to come around in several years that also has a great wrap-around segment and The Cleansing Hour is both fun and suspenseful with a fake internet exorcist having to contend with a real demon possession.  These are all films I highly recommend.

 

On the flip side are those films I would not recommend which include The Deeper You Dig and The Beach House which both had interesting concepts but bad execution.

 

The other horror films that were just okay were Blood Vessel, Castle Freak (remake), Confessional, Death of Me, Lingering, Porno, Scare Me, and The Soul Collector.  Lingering almost made the Top 5 and would probably be at #6 and Porno and Scare Me are great fun.  Blood Vessel is for those that enjoy vampire films, but I got bored (even though there is plenty of gore and is quite entertaining).  The original Castle Freak did not need a remake but at least this version has plenty of gore and takes on an overly Lovecraftian ending that is at least a good payoff.  Confessional was an interesting concept that was well done but just did not hold my attention.  Lingering and The Soul Collector are equally fine films that delve into their respective cultures and are easily some of the other highlights that I saw.

Overall, January ended up being a great month of film watching and catching up with a lot of films from 2020 that I had missed.  There were plenty more that I still did not get to but that will be for another time.  In the meantime, I hope you look out for some of these films and I hope my insight will be valuable for you.

 

Now, go away.  For February, my focus is a Month of International Films, so I have a lot of subtitles to read!

BEST OF 2020: MAGAZINE SPECIALS

I usually include these with books that I have read since reading one of the many magazine specials highlights a piece of history that is worth a feature length book just in magazine format.  The reason why these are important is because several publishers produce these magazine specials every year on important subjects and surprisingly these magazines are more expensive than if they had just been put in book form. 

 

Most of the publishers are SPC (through History, Life Explores), TISP (through Time Special Editions, Life Books) and AMI (which does a host of varying subjects).  What I have learned over the last two years of reading these magazines is that they are very topical and of varying subjects to appeal to a multitude of interests and hobbies.

 

Because of the pandemic and quarantine, I had a lot of time to catch up on a lot of magazine specials that had been on my shelf.  I ended up getting through twenty-two of these specials and most of them kept to the theme of religions, presidents, and secrets & civilizations.

 

In terms of presidents, I read Andrew Jackson: An American Populist (TISP), The Day Kennedy Died: 50 Years Later Remembering the Man and the Moment (Time Inc. Specials), and The United States Presidents: The Best and Worst of All Time (Centennial Spotlight).  These were not all printed in the last year by the way but because 2020 was such a politically charged year I wanted to read what I had on hand about some of our nation’s presidents.  I learned more about our presidents reading these three magazines then I ever thought I wanted especially through the Best and Worst of All Time.  Our political and presidential climate has changed so much over the years.  Some of this bled into the America’s National Parks: Celebrating Our Land and Heritage (TISP) as well since the national parks are so connected to our government.

 

This interest then bled into my look into a lot of religious figures and religion.  It started off with the Bible through Amazing Places of the Bible: Travel Through Time to Sacred Sites That Shaped the World (Centennial Entertainment), Jesus: How His Lessons, Miracles and Devotion Changed the World (SPC), and Mysteries of the Bible: Uncovering Its Origins, Characters, and Miracles (SPC).  I have always had an interest in world religions and religious figures.  These lead to me reading Mary: Blessed Art Thou Among Women (SPC), Mother Teresa: The Life and Works of a Modern Saint (Time Inc. Specials), and Francis: The Pope’s Bold Message Comes to America.  The amazing thing about these last three is that they gave me a better understanding of the subject and the deep belief that people have. 

 

A huge selection of these magazines has to do with secret civilizations, secrets societies and mysteries that would normally only be read in tabloid magazines.  Some of the ones that I read during the lockdown were Ancient Civilizations: The Secrets of Lost Empires (SPC), Ghost Towns: The Places That Time Forgot (TISP), PBS Secrets of the Dead: Ancient Mysteries Unearthed (TISP), Secret Societies (SPC), and Mysteries of the Loch Ness Monster (AMI).  Surprisingly, these were not as interesting as some of the others, but they were informative.  I think since these were made more as like a catalogue of info instead of dedicated to a specific person, place, or thing, they were not nearly as effective a read.  They were a quick read which was a good thing.  They also had some pretty damn good photographs and artwork as well.

 

There were a few people that I was particularly interested in which is why I read the following Aladdin: The Origins and Journey of the World’s Most Magical Tale (TISP), Martin Luther King Jr.: His Life and Legacy: 50 Years Later (Time Inc. Specials), Mickey Mouse: Life Celebrates an American Icon (TISP), Mister Rogers: The Magical World of an American Icon (TISP). 

 

The publications were all of various different years.  After I started getting into these during the pandemic, I ended up buying more through eBay and discovered that there were tons of these specials out there and even more with overlapping subjects between different publishers.  It’s a good thing to keep in mind that these specials are a very valuable tool to get info out there to a larger audience (who would rather probably not pick up a book) but another important element is that they also seem to be more up to date with current info rather than out of date or older info (like you would find by reading an older book).  I am hoping that in 2021 I’ll be able to get through even more as there are plenty of specials still sitting on my shelf waiting to be read!

 

BEST OF 2020: LEGIT THEATER

I wish I could say that 2020 had been a profound year for live theater production but once the pandemic hit pretty much every theater closed its doors for the remainder of the year.  Most postponed an entire season of shows as a precautionary measure.  The only saving grace for most theater companies was government funding and if they were bigger theaters or venues, they were able to offer older shows that had been recorded at a fraction of the cost that it would have been if you had seen it live with full production.

 

This being said, I did manage to see two shows before the lights deemed on the world of live theater.  They were both the only shows that the Atlanta Opera completed for 2020 which were “Porgy & Bess” and “Salome.”  I will not say much of each of the individual shows because they were both amazing productions as brought to you by The Atlanta Opera.  There is nothing like seeing a live performance of an opera show.  Part of the enjoyment is the live orchestra and the singers as they bellow into the venue hall and the dancers as they make every inch of the stage their playground.

 

For this reason, my wife and I decided to forgo the Opera’s two tent shows and decided not to get the subscription to their old shows online.  Part of the great thing about live theater is the atmosphere and the opportunity to meet fellow annual subscription seat holders.  We have generally had the same people sitting on both sides of us for the last two years and even though we cannot always remember their names it was always a joy to see them at the show.  This is one of the experiences that watching a show at home just cannot replicate…ever.

 

Now, I bring this all up because as of now there is still no telling when live theaters will be back up to something even remotely calling normal.  The live theater experience is something extremely important to the communal identity that we have whether we know the people around us or not.  This is one of the reasons why people crave the live theater experience.

 

2021 is looking to be just as hard a year as 2020.  Most theaters are still closed and shall remain closed for the better part of the year if something big does not happen.  I am not anticipating much for this year and when I write this same article for 2021 there may not be much difference.  But I can still hope as should you all.

RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR - “Disney’s ALIEN Franchise Coming Soon!”

“Disney’s ALIEN Franchise Coming Soon!”

One of the most disturbing aspects of Disney’s acquisition of the 20^th Century Fox assets is that they will now control what happens to the ALIEN and PREDATOR franchises.  The family oriented company has in its control two of the best horror-sci-fi franchises ever made in these two iconic cinematic monsters and yet I can’t help fearing the worst.  My fears have just been realized when Disney announced new versions of both franchises and for the purpose of this article I will only take a look at the Alien franchise mostly because Predator, in my opinion, can work either as a PG-13 or R franchise.

 

The Alien films have all been pretty much individual film-maker endeavors from Ridley Scott (Alien, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant), David Fincher (Alien 3), James Cameron (Aliens), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien: Resurrection), Paul WS. Anderson (Alien Vs Predator), and The Brothers Strause (Alien Vs Predator: Requiem).   Despite the mixed audience and critical response between each of the films, they are a singular vision of the director with the exception of Scott who is the only one to do more than one film.

 

Disney, on the other hand, is a company that produces film by committee so that they can appeal to all audiences.  They want their films to be all inclusive and homogenized and to not offend anyone.  So, in reality they don’t want creative filmmakers, they want filmmakers who understand their brand and can continue that brand.  This is most evident in the franchises surrounding their MCU and Star Wars universes which are homogenized and indistinguishable from one another.   These are all PG-13 films that focus on action and adventure and not horror or gore.  The Alien Xenomorph is not like the kaiju from Pacific Rim; these monsters hide in darkness, have acid for blood, and kill everything – violently. 

 

In Anderson’s Alien Vs Predator the horror is toned down for the action and adventure aspects that he is best known for and even though the film was financially successful fans of the franchise felt a little let down, so with the sequel Requiem, The Brothers Strause decided to craft a slasher film with monsters.  Anderson’s film was Rated PG-13 while The Brothers Strause sequel was Rated R and thought to be a return to form but a slasher film is also what audiences didn’t expect from the franchise.  This film did not sit well with anyone.

 

I mention this because at this point 20^th Century Fox had no idea what to do with the franchise as they couldn’t craft a film for all audiences (Alien Vs Predator) nor a film for the fans (Alien Vs Predator: Requiem).  The franchise has been through many different creative hands so why not let the director who started it all come back!

 

Scott’s vision with the franchise was to craft a story that went back to the beginning and in 2012 after a five year gap Prometheus was released to a divided audience that  were disappointed by the film that lacked Xenomorphs and had logic problems.  Scott tried to rectify this with Alien: Covenant but by the time this sequel saw release audiences were no longer interested.  It’s hard to determine what general audiences want from an Alien film especially since the films have had such mixed results, which is not a problem the comic books from Dark Horse Comics have ever had.

 

Two years after Cameron’s Aliens became a Box Office sensation, Dark Horse Comics purchased the rights and created the first mini-series that would help put their company on the map (along with Predator, Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, etc. a lot of film franchises).  This original series was a direct sequel to the film and would bring back popular characters from the films (the character of Ripley would eventually return in the third series Earth War which would conclude the storyline of these film characters).  The most astounding thing about the comic book franchise is the fact that over the last 30+ years the franchise has been kept fresh and interesting and almost at a non-stop pace.  Subsequent series would see the Xenomorphs cross into the DC universe and battle Superman, Batman, and W.I.L.D. Cats as well as battle such iconic figures as Judge Dredd, Hellboy, and Vampirella, to name just a few.  Cross-overs with both the Predators and Prometheus franchises happened on a regular basis but within those thirty years the franchise has remained fresh because of the many different characters and stories that were possible.

 

Dark Horse never had a loss for ideas, so why have the films?

 

One of my fears with Disney is that they will take the franchise and craft something more in line with their MCU and Star Wars franchises.  As the Dark Horse Comics have proven, there is a way to integrate all the different franchises into a “shared” universe (which will make Disney happy) but it couldn’t happen unless you could find a way to make it darker and Rated R (to make the fans happy).  Borrowing from the Dark Horse huge history of storylines would be the best way but since I’m sure Disney will yank their license with the characters (like they did with Star Wars) is soon coming if it already hasn’t happened (I’ve heard that Marvel is now doing a series which I’ll have to see how that all comes about).  It’s not too far off to see the Xenomorphs show up in a MCU television series since they already know aliens of all types exist (so why not just add the Xenomorphs?).

 

I can’t really see Disney making an R Rated film that will be in line with the original franchise.  What I do see is a remake or reboot to fit the Disney mandate which is not something I’d be interested in.  I’ve been a huge fan of the films and comic books since the Cameron film so I’m not looking forward to seeing anything Disney has planned either for the films or comic books.  I can only see it as a complete disaster, but then again I can’t say that all the films in the current franchise have been all that successful but at least they had a vision from their respective directors.

 

Only time will tell what will become of the Xenomorphs under the guidance of the Disney machine and unfortunately if I want to see another film come to fruition that is the only version I’ll be able to see.

Film Review: SPOOKERS (2017)

There is a lot to be said for the people that run haunted houses and those that subject themselves to the terror every year.  That is at the heart of the documentary film Spookers (2017) which takes a personal look at the people that work at the New Zealand based haunt house Spookers.  Spookers now resides in a former mental hospital which adds to the spook factor of the facility but it is the haunters in which the heart of the place resides.

 

Through behind the scenes footage and interviews audiences get a candid look into the people who operate the facility and the haunters who have become a family of diverse people from all types of backgrounds.  You get the sense that everyone and anyone is welcomed into the Spookers family as they do more than just reside at the spook house but they interact with the community.

 

The film contains many personal stories of people finding a place where they aren’t judged and that they can be themselves or virtually anyone they want to be in a place that is completely accepting of everyone.

 

The film doesn’t really reveal much that hasn’t been showcased before in other similarly themed films about the people that run spook houses but this one presents some unique and personal stories as well as is one of the few that is located in a formed mental hospital.  This is a candid look at the world of spook house that does an amazing job presenting a complex and accepting community of diverse people.