tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76573751405090784442024-03-13T08:07:23.350-07:00Five-Legged IguanaDavid Hontiveros is a writer and Luddite who loves watching movies. This is where he prattles on about them (and his work).space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.comBlogger1108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-8212919658706072632023-02-01T03:37:00.000-08:002023-02-01T03:37:04.781-08:00THE MENU (September 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1x4qjYdIM-vGmGhO1_At2n1JRuZ1ObagVByd54Cjw4fJvFn2sI0F_lhV4b7PAINxpLoq6vwBwueaq5IO9NgY9Kf1C6hjImLlPvZixcWEYMKMu9_FJ4WKiQmCyVtG7AWOQkvWQLrdTsMx_u_VB5a2W3THV354IIPd1PYDY4Zd_M97JY3FX6O108LUA/s755/the%20menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1x4qjYdIM-vGmGhO1_At2n1JRuZ1ObagVByd54Cjw4fJvFn2sI0F_lhV4b7PAINxpLoq6vwBwueaq5IO9NgY9Kf1C6hjImLlPvZixcWEYMKMu9_FJ4WKiQmCyVtG7AWOQkvWQLrdTsMx_u_VB5a2W3THV354IIPd1PYDY4Zd_M97JY3FX6O108LUA/s320/the%20menu.jpg" width="214" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>THE MENU</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(September 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><i>“Twelve customers, t</i></span></span></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">otal.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“A night? How
do they turn a profit?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Twelve-fifty
a head. That’s how.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You’re
f*cking kidding, right? What are we eating, a Rolex?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>earchlight Pictures invites us to experience <i>The Menu</i> (or so the opening title cards
tell us).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Mark Mylod, largely known for directing some major
HBO titles (like <i>Entourage</i>, <i>Game of Thrones</i>, and <i>Succession</i>), takes a script written by
Seth Reiss and Will Tracy*, and presents us with this darkly humorous, class
conscious piece that sees Ralph Fiennes as noted celebrity chef Julian Slowik.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Here, we are
family.</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Each day
starts at 6, with 5 hours of prep work.</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“We harvest.
We ferment. We slaughter. We marinate. We liquefy. We spherify. We gel.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>lowik, who we are told has “… always been keenly
aware of food as a history of class” has risen in the ranks of celebrated chefs
and now runs an exclusive restaurant on Hawthorne Island (apparently named
after the restaurant, the island is “twelve acres of forest and pasture”
surrounded by “the bounty of the sea”, as explained during the guided tour).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A restaurant that charges largely self-involved,
entitled richies $1,250 a head for the privilege.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A restaurant described by Slowik as his “entire
life”.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A restaurant run obsessively by Slowik in a
practically cult-like manner, on an island without a boat or phone service.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">So</span></i><span lang="EN-US">
many red flags…</span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Trust me,
he’s telling a story. That’s what makes his food so exciting. He’s not just a
chef. He’s a storyteller. And he doesn’t give a f*ck about the rules.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">T</span>o say any more would risk ruining the “wonderful surprises”
indicated on the one sheet featuring Fiennes, so perhaps we should leave it at
that, for those of you curious enough to seek this title out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Not exactly a comedy, but not really a full-on
horror movie either**, <i>The Menu</i> is
smart, biting commentary with a killer cast (yes, that <i>is</i> indeed Anya Taylor-Joy on the second one sheet) that just begs
to be <i>savored</i> and <i>relished</i>, as Slowik would have it…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So go on and do just that, yeah?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You will eat
less than you desire and more than you deserve.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHAB7k5_fOguYz6L7jz8_giqOm-SgJqO2zlyBNqazv6DID_IGM4bQGP6KwnwD8L6HHSY48IeDBNZ3gwh-aAtUqmH5kY7zcS6wo0ZhuOyPJqrA5x1dOU1KKU7EgVcvxaOL-VfGPZBLAifG2FqbkbyxRltEf2beobCJleYkeIM4b7GQg5ZS-7ha9KHdp/s755/the%20menu_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHAB7k5_fOguYz6L7jz8_giqOm-SgJqO2zlyBNqazv6DID_IGM4bQGP6KwnwD8L6HHSY48IeDBNZ3gwh-aAtUqmH5kY7zcS6wo0ZhuOyPJqrA5x1dOU1KKU7EgVcvxaOL-VfGPZBLAifG2FqbkbyxRltEf2beobCJleYkeIM4b7GQg5ZS-7ha9KHdp/s320/the%20menu_ver2.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">*</span> The script appeared on the 2019 Black List,
alongside the screenplays for:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Unbearable
Weight of Massive Talent </span></i><span lang="EN-US">(Kevin Etten and Tom Gormican);</span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Don’t Worry
Darling </span></i><span lang="EN-US">(Carey Van Dyke and Shane Van Dyke; the screenplay
as filmed is credited to Katie Silberman, with the Van Dykes and Silberman
getting “Story By” credits);</span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">a</span>nd the upcoming <i>Knock at the Cabin</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What appeared on the 2019 List was the initial
draft, still titled <i>The Cabin at the End
of the World</i>, adapted by Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman from the Paul
Tremblay novel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What we’re going to get with <i>Knock at the Cabin</i> is the script, as rewritten and directed by M.
Night Shyamalan (on the one sheets, the credits read: Screenplay by M. Night
Shyamalan and Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">** Even the awards-giving bodies seem torn; most of
the film’s nominations fall under the Comedy category, but Colin Stetson was
nominated for his score at 2022’s Hollywood Music in Media awards under the
Horror/Thriller Film category…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">To be fair though, the HMMA apparently has no
Comedy categories…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And, for the record, Michael Abels took home that
particular award for his <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2023/01/nope-july-2022.html" target="_blank">Nope</a></i> score…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>The Menu </i>OS’
courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-87798754281087958182023-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:002023-01-27T21:30:01.588-08:00BARBARIAN (August 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZlt6tPZo7Jd5lDvdrdT6bJfj2UFRaus7YnzVQPQU_zgAHCvl9Z1da82b2zusrDOVh2gQEK-GPBr2GMIUPPW8RDrHppsNdLH7QOKL9H0X4ubj4YScu1sBYk49cFOGVVEbyvfM6pG7gdmR4jIP3sPE9xtziia5s8dUg7CY2b9EMrTt8gTJc3jiBZZP/s755/barbarian_ver4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="519" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZlt6tPZo7Jd5lDvdrdT6bJfj2UFRaus7YnzVQPQU_zgAHCvl9Z1da82b2zusrDOVh2gQEK-GPBr2GMIUPPW8RDrHppsNdLH7QOKL9H0X4ubj4YScu1sBYk49cFOGVVEbyvfM6pG7gdmR4jIP3sPE9xtziia5s8dUg7CY2b9EMrTt8gTJc3jiBZZP/s320/barbarian_ver4.jpg" width="220" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>BARBARIAN</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(August 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><i>“That's not... A</i></span></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">n Airbnb. In
Brightmoor?”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">M</span>ore so than any other horror film released last
year that I had the opportunity to see, <i>Barbarian</i>
is definitely the title that begs to be seen as arctic cold as possible, with
the <i>barest</i> minimum of knowledge about
what the movie is about. (Arguably, even more so than Jordan Peele’s <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2023/01/nope-july-2022.html" target="_blank">Nope</a></i>.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And, for those of you who are familiar with the
Iguana environs, you’ll know that I’d sooner say what the movie is <i>actually</i> about (its thematics) than say
what the movie is <i>apparently</i> about
(its narrative/plot).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The thing is, I can’t even get into <i>Barbarian</i>’s thematics without possibly
spoiling what could be a very enjoyable and surprising horror ride for you, so,
this is all you’ll get here:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) arrives at 476
Barbary only to discover that there’s apparently been a double-booking, with
Keith Toshko (Bill Skarsgård, also an Executive Producer) already there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Then… let’s just say things go on and develop from
that starting point, leading to some very dark and twisty places, territories which
are <i>not</i> for any sensitive, faint of
heart souls…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You’re just
as put out as me.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">W</span>riter/director Zach Cregger cites Jordan Peele’s <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_80.html" target="_blank">Get Out</a></i>* as a prime motivator for <i>Barbarian</i> (like Peele, Cregger has a
background in comedy), which is just one more reason to thank the esteemed Mr.
Peele for his role in helping enrich and enliven contemporary horror cinema.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Now, <i>get</i>
on <i>out</i> there (heh) and seek this one
out to see what all the fuss is about…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“No, you
shouldn’t be there.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGneqRY6reyUTxCJjN-t5hM6t6d946zVzdCux3hpOT_nyiCqpAwzUhni7h9JuEXKdhLqMg2RRTjM-jzpMatWH7X4KX-cKRLeLh07-QFRESQxBlDcAYYDEOxPl8RqmCUknQgdmwbs5lebnD-do_k7ISVWd6h8bGkt51EmR3W2b8FUd4MAwx7vF9D45/s755/barbarian_ver5%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="489" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGneqRY6reyUTxCJjN-t5hM6t6d946zVzdCux3hpOT_nyiCqpAwzUhni7h9JuEXKdhLqMg2RRTjM-jzpMatWH7X4KX-cKRLeLh07-QFRESQxBlDcAYYDEOxPl8RqmCUknQgdmwbs5lebnD-do_k7ISVWd6h8bGkt51EmR3W2b8FUd4MAwx7vF9D45/s320/barbarian_ver5%20(1).jpg" width="207" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">*</span> In Cregger’s own words: “[<i>Get Out</i>] is a perfect movie and it gave me permission to change
genres, write for myself, be funny and have something to say.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Barbarian</i>
OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-35301364852274838852023-01-25T21:54:00.000-08:002023-01-25T21:54:31.669-08:00NOPE (July 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpowv-AWfqUMjYJssardxdN76Zm9uUeiPiCHXOZigfmmW4DUIYDqXWj5ilv41pL5sK72kLVaCjfkyJXw-LeLECuzYEePXbvkZzhGD0TvpswBYsVrxpcp-oSkd1hROOJljNNZkB9TIPXi21-qTe5x00KHgUCCtIUBg1K54BQBo70jITw-paVOUQIuWF/s755/nope_ver8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="604" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpowv-AWfqUMjYJssardxdN76Zm9uUeiPiCHXOZigfmmW4DUIYDqXWj5ilv41pL5sK72kLVaCjfkyJXw-LeLECuzYEePXbvkZzhGD0TvpswBYsVrxpcp-oSkd1hROOJljNNZkB9TIPXi21-qTe5x00KHgUCCtIUBg1K54BQBo70jITw-paVOUQIuWF/s320/nope_ver8.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>NOPE</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(July 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><i>“I will cast a</i></span></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">bominable
filth at you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">-</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">-Nahum 3:6</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“What if I
told you… that in about an hour… you’ll leave here different?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">J</span>ust as <i>Us</i>
was a different cinematic animal than <i>Get
Out</i>, so is Jordan Peele's latest, <i>Nope</i>, a different
beast, perhaps even more so.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>It isn't the <i>same</i> kind of </span>“social
thriller” <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_80.html" target="_blank">Get Out</a></i> and <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2019/10/13-slots-for-best-horror-ive-seen-in_31.html" target="_blank">Us</a></i> most definitely were.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">His assertions regarding “the big summer
blockbuster spectacle film” and “the violence of attention”? Well, he rather
effectively addresses those with <i>Nope</i>…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Who is gonna
go down there and get the star out of his trailer?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">E</span>ven more than his two previous films, Peele’s <i>Nope</i> asks its audience to enter it
knowing as little as possible and with the least amount of preconceived notions.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Which, admittedly, could be a big ask for some
simply because <i>Get Out</i> and <i>Us</i> were so very clearly about Something.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Well, <i>Nope</i>
is about Something too, just not in the same way…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Or, you could look at it as Peele choosing to
interrogate that Something in a different, more subtle way than his previous
efforts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3CeHGP7zW5vYFoCO1s-fsJuqsIHLpcJ1ba0edy2kt7PJJ_h0oLKyClnYSuvHeyXLfNyQRghmq2Ff-lUrZi8k9w1aUAllI3G473rT1kSCJMDUfKopXmo-bi2CM4fbmUQhHUVtnNjcRNC7nrfQYYcGHOb_kHZXVILSH87RLHoJHZ7veAlkFr9jplQr/s535/nope_ver15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="156" data-original-width="535" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_3CeHGP7zW5vYFoCO1s-fsJuqsIHLpcJ1ba0edy2kt7PJJ_h0oLKyClnYSuvHeyXLfNyQRghmq2Ff-lUrZi8k9w1aUAllI3G473rT1kSCJMDUfKopXmo-bi2CM4fbmUQhHUVtnNjcRNC7nrfQYYcGHOb_kHZXVILSH87RLHoJHZ7veAlkFr9jplQr/s320/nope_ver15.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“We don’t
deserve the impossible.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>o let’s just talk about that cast instead, shall
we?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Not only do we get some strong, noteworthy
performances from the three top billers, <i>Get
Out</i>’s Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer (as the Haywood siblings) and Steven
Yeun, but the fine character writing by Peele extends even to Brandon Perea’s
lovelorn retail jockey, Angel, and to Michael Wincott’s “legendary
cinematographer,” Antlers Holst (particularly to the latter).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And speaking of that cast, we also get familiar <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">¡<em><span style="font-style: normal;">Q</span></em></span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">ué<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> h</span>orror</span></em><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">! </span>face Osgood Perkins*, sadly appearing
all too briefly as Fynn Bachman.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We even get Donna Mills (<i>Knots Landing</i>, yo!) in the package!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“How
exquisitely stupid is that?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>o just trust in the Peele, and go into <i>Nope</i> with as blank a slate as possible,
and simply allow yourself to be dazzled by a genre virtuoso who very clearly
levels up his filmmaking craft with his latest…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Nobody f*cks
with Haywood, b!tch! Nobody! You hear me?!”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDoehrH57EGfwBWNNFxjpU7eBuY7lGQ2kn8NFHaiShs7b1xR2QMSe22SY_Hbpfg5XPJz7QY1qIC84s87wASNfd37BXPSoxE-BgA1BA5U1d468y9fzvX7NQ1eTl-cBNAfvTitdDQwbJD_kAXfqIbB9segVYZq2pTyMVerR16gXpDcDMhkS9hHXSiTf/s755/nope_ver9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDoehrH57EGfwBWNNFxjpU7eBuY7lGQ2kn8NFHaiShs7b1xR2QMSe22SY_Hbpfg5XPJz7QY1qIC84s87wASNfd37BXPSoxE-BgA1BA5U1d468y9fzvX7NQ1eTl-cBNAfvTitdDQwbJD_kAXfqIbB9segVYZq2pTyMVerR16gXpDcDMhkS9hHXSiTf/s320/nope_ver9.jpg" width="202" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">*</span> Peele and Perkins previously worked together on <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2020/09/que-horror-2020-premature-wrap-up-so.html" target="_blank">The Twilight Zone</a></i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2020/09/que-horror-2020-premature-wrap-up-so.html" target="_blank">’s “You Might Also
Like”</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Perkins, of course, has also appeared ‘round these
parts for <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_2.html" target="_blank">The Blackcoat’s Daughter</a></i>
and <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_94.html" target="_blank">I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House</a></i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(I really <i>should</i>
get around to catching up on <i>Gretel &
Hansel</i>…)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Nope</i> key
art courtesy of impawards.com & bloody-disgusting.com)</span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-74085256225394655742023-01-13T23:45:00.000-08:002023-01-13T23:45:43.181-08:00SOMETHING IN THE DIRT (January 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAmwydjMkWtNfZWzyrOxxBD16FVa4TvXZ4rnkmUs9PEbx5R1OzkXpAjzUDmE7cM0PxhQC-P1jSSw0b8valGKLglLO3IbuWv5GPKH_Hc3d906H6mESc2mH6HrlGlQOVAgek93RQTP-BbDwYXNBX-X1cj1JrAMKDvFxUvGCu2uw0VO1zMPcVwJwaCFJ/s755/something_in_the_dirt_ver2%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="515" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAmwydjMkWtNfZWzyrOxxBD16FVa4TvXZ4rnkmUs9PEbx5R1OzkXpAjzUDmE7cM0PxhQC-P1jSSw0b8valGKLglLO3IbuWv5GPKH_Hc3d906H6mESc2mH6HrlGlQOVAgek93RQTP-BbDwYXNBX-X1cj1JrAMKDvFxUvGCu2uw0VO1zMPcVwJwaCFJ/s320/something_in_the_dirt_ver2%20(1).jpg" width="218" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>SOMETHING IN THE DIRT</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(January 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><i>“Well, a lot of things are still mysteries. Y</i></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">ou just don’t
expect to witness one on a sh!tty afternoon in your cheap apartment.”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">Y</span>es, <i>another</i>
Moorhead & Benson Film crash lands ‘round these parts…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“I mean,
what’s crazier? Believing every single coincidence you ever see or just
ignoring them all?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">I</span>n <i>Something
in the Dirt</i>, Levi (Justin Benson) has just moved into his “cheap” L.A. apartment,
when some strange phenomena start, drawing in neighbor John (Aaron Moorhead),
and resulting in both deciding to make a documentary to get everything on
record and hopefully, find an explanation along the way. (And maybe, make some
scratch too, if they can sell the doc to, oh, say, Netflix?)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Well, why
can’t it be a group like the Freemasons or the Moose Lodge or… what’s the one
that’s on Discovery Channel all the time? It’s the Rose Croutons.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“‘The Rose
Croutons’? The Rosicrucians?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">M</span>oorhead and Benson’s latest--which, from a certain
perspective, is essentially their attempt to make <i>The X-Files </i>today--is a fascinating exploration of how people
impose their own meanings onto everything that surrounds them, and how, in
trying to solve the mysteries that face us, our own imperfections and
obsessions tend to obscure and tarnish what should otherwise be the purity of
the unknown and the unexplained.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Stop being
paranoid. It’s weird.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">P</span>arting Shot: The duo’s past <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">¡<em><span style="font-style: normal;">Q</span></em></span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">ué<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> h</span>orror</span></em><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">!</span> mentions can be found <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-rundown-of-13-1-best-horror-movies_9799.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2015/10/que-horror-2015-preliminaries-this-has.html" target="_blank">here</a>,
and <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2018/10/10-slots-for-best-horror-ive-seen-in_1.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2022/02/synchronic-september-2019.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Something in
the Dirt</i> OS courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><br /></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-36233381659280751642023-01-10T21:44:00.000-08:002023-01-10T21:44:13.883-08:00SHE WILL (August 2021)<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJr_U9f_x_5wFCjhSw9-PEDfnxhBYhwcb2QhxoCSkkdiskw624iFSEx4MvRC5lMfJCyHKHSuAYGVUZ2RkEIq3x4V-u3Z5meNgPMzQojMD_HiN15q1Bzhwn6F60CupLolAAgwBLiCJxLrc1d838Y15wiWyBEoSBcehzmhBw1WD_8Gec2M8Pgk8QZfKM/s1536/She%20Will%20(b-d).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1037" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJr_U9f_x_5wFCjhSw9-PEDfnxhBYhwcb2QhxoCSkkdiskw624iFSEx4MvRC5lMfJCyHKHSuAYGVUZ2RkEIq3x4V-u3Z5meNgPMzQojMD_HiN15q1Bzhwn6F60CupLolAAgwBLiCJxLrc1d838Y15wiWyBEoSBcehzmhBw1WD_8Gec2M8Pgk8QZfKM/s320/She%20Will%20(b-d).jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>SHE WILL</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(August 2021)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><i>“We must all keep t</i></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">erribly,
terribly calm.”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">I</span>mperiously curt and dismissive, Veronica Ghent
(Alice Krige) is an aging actress who’s recovering from a major medical
procedure. Accompanied by her private nurse, Desi (Kota Eberhardt), Veronica is
spending some time away from the glaring tabloid scene, at a retreat located in
an area in Scotland where “about 3,000” women were once tried for witchcraft
(these unfortunates referred to as “the burnt”).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It’s a place where the soil has a “very high
proportion of human ashes”, the wind “sounds like whispers”, and it occasionally
rains soot, which the locals call “witch feathers”…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“Desi, if you
think you’re gonna survive this sh!tstorm called life by doing what’s
‘advisable’, you are </span></i><span lang="EN-US">seriously<i>
mistaken. You have to be all teeth. Claws. Trust me. The bastards will stop at
nothing to grind you down.”</i></span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">A</span>s it turns out, Veronica once worked on a film
called <i>Navajo Frontier</i>, and was said
to have had “a special bond” with the film’s director Eric Hathbourne (Malcolm
McDowell).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Please note that she was just 13 years old at the time.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Imagine that.
To be able to love without ghosts in your bed. Look in the mirror. Feel
hopeful. Clean the bastards out of you.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">B</span>oth Veronica and Desi are haunted, each in their
own measure, and the dark territories they find themselves in have much to say
about what these women should do with their personal ghosts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Now, I’ve been a fan of Krige going all the way
back to John Irvin’s adaptation of Peter Straub’s* <i>Ghost Story</i>, and she does not disappoint here.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, Eberhardt is a revelation as Desi. It’s
a quiet and fiercely intelligent performance that serves to complement Krige’s
more cutting and acerbic Veronica.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Foucault
wrote of the male gaze, that the act of seeing is neither transparent nor
neutral, but an imposition of power.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Millennia of
patriarchy dictate how we see.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">D</span>irected by Charlotte Colbert (an impressive
feature debut), from a script written by Kitty Percy and Colbert, and with
Dario Argento as one of its executive producers, <i>She Will</i> is a potent concoction that signals Colbert as a name to
watch for.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Please note the score by Clint Mansell, and the
cinematographer/editor(s) combo of Jamie Ramsay and Peter Strickland’s frequent
editor, Matyas Fekete**, tag-teaming with Yorgos Lanthimos’ frequent editor,
Yorgos Mavropsaridis***.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There is also the presence of Rupert Everett as
Arturo Tirador! (I honestly did not recognize Everett and had no idea he was in
the film till the end credits roll.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Oh, and props for the end credits song choice, a Nouvelle
Vague cover of a song from 1984…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Just need the
famine, the pestilence. We’ll have our very own apocalypse.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">S</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">he Will</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is
a darkly evocative portrait of female rage, the kind that simmers just beneath
the surface, silent, as if muffled and restrained by a scold’s bridle, often
emerging in sublimated form, simply waiting for something to trigger the
catastrophic eruption, and the smothering rain of witch feathers in the
aftermath…</span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“It will
torture you.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">*</span> RIP. (Just one of many heart-breaking losses on
the creative front we suffered last year.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">** Apparently, the only Strickland feature film
Fekete did <i>not</i> edit was <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2013/01/berberian-sound-studio-june-2012-normal.html" target="_blank">Berberian Sound Studio</a></i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">*** Mavropsaridis was the editor on <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2011/12/que-horror-2011-auxiliary-list-4-of-4.html" target="_blank">Kynodontas</a></i>, <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2018/10/10-slots-for-best-horror-ive-seen-in_98.html" target="_blank">The Killing of a Sacred Deer</a></i>, and Dennis Iliadis’ <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-rundown-of-13-1-best-horror-movies_17.html" target="_blank">+1</a></i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Parting Shot:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If this kind of narrative speaks to you, then might
I humbly suggest an interesting double bill with Elle Callahan’s <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2021/11/witch-hunt-march-wichhunt-noun-search.html" target="_blank">Witch Hunt</a></i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>She Will</i>
OS courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)</span></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-24958536383469629162023-01-02T22:14:00.000-08:002023-01-02T22:14:40.253-08:00FLUX GOURMET (February 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMtZ5ZDBOvmx2YeutuobyWwH_lp4h20xBXF8-4Lb1-TWnzYRs1tcp68fheuh8-MEprHUV0sPvdXs9KJyxzXO19j1nR7h-TwGYPTQ_ogNoDeEqVlU6vHKXjaJIRHT7_H4xuzCDXFlewI3qcI10Q4tHPi1MaHchvM1OxY57cEZllx9wfCneCyEL4SBu/s755/flux_gourmet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMtZ5ZDBOvmx2YeutuobyWwH_lp4h20xBXF8-4Lb1-TWnzYRs1tcp68fheuh8-MEprHUV0sPvdXs9KJyxzXO19j1nR7h-TwGYPTQ_ogNoDeEqVlU6vHKXjaJIRHT7_H4xuzCDXFlewI3qcI10Q4tHPi1MaHchvM1OxY57cEZllx9wfCneCyEL4SBu/s320/flux_gourmet.jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>FLUX GOURMET</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(February 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><i>“Cooking and performing is</i></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> always a
hazard.”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">P</span>eter Strickland is in the shops, going through the
aisles and tossing performers he’s worked with in the past into his shopping trolley--Gwendoline
Christie and Richard Bremmer and Leo Bill from <i>In Fabric</i>, Fatma Mohamed from <i>all</i>
of his feature films <i>and</i> the
“Cobbler’s Lot” segment from <i>The Field
Guide to Evil</i>--then adding Ariane Labed, Asa Butterfield, and Makis
Papadimitriou to the lot.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He then breezes through the checkout and rushes
home so he can whip up yet another luscious Technicolor dish for us with <i>Flux Gourmet</i>, perhaps the oddest effort of
his that I’ve seen yet.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Christie plays Jan Stevens, Director of the Sonic
Catering Institute, which sponsors “culinary collectives” (otherwise known as
Sonic Caterers) on a monthly residency basis, to actively “…encourage the
artistic pursuit of alimentary and culinary salvation.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Described by one of the film’s characters as “feckless
faux provocateurs”, Sonic Caterers are basically performance artists working to
find the “sonic and performative potential” of foodstuffs.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Or something like that…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Like I said, it’s the oddest film I’ve seen from
Strickland yet…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“To taste
their shock is to be controlled by it.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">F</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">lux Gourmet</span></i><span lang="EN-US">
follows the residency of the collective led by Elle di Elle (Mohamed), and the
tension engendered from the conflicts between Elle and, well, <i>everybody</i>. (Weeks into their residency
and Elle still hasn’t decided on the band’s name.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">N</span>ot to mention the “escalating threat” from The
Mangrove Snacks, another collective that was denied residency…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There’s also a (possibly life-threatening) gastrointestinal
illness and some scatological hijinx somewhere in there as well…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“I do wonder
sometimes if you’re perpetuating an archetype of epicurean toxicity with all
this culinary hysteria. I don’t want to give the public the impression we’re
espousing any kind of dysfunctional alimentary ideology.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">A</span>bsurdly humorous with some oddly touching moments
sprinkled throughout, <i>Flux Gourmet</i>
doesn’t really have the horror-tinged streaks found in <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2013/01/berberian-sound-studio-june-2012-normal.html" target="_blank">Berberian Sound Studio</a></i> and <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2022/12/in-fabric-september-2018.html" target="_blank">In Fabric</a></i>, but it is, nonetheless, clearly a Strickland piece, with his aesthetic
fixations and preoccupations plain to see.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So if all that sounds like something that might
agree with your cinematic palette (and stomach), then by all means, dig in…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“When I see
joy and abandon, my mind always reverts to this: why can one stomach be so free
and another can’t?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">(</span><i>Flux Gourmet</i>
OS courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><br /></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-65768352875680155922022-12-29T21:35:00.000-08:002022-12-29T21:35:16.286-08:00GLORIOUS (July 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3-6bFXOpOnyv7mrQ0VkP0GriuzmA2Y0GQxU9JCxKXIMX_GFGP2yx28RbQ_bZ1k14qDYTNWUMFVWm7yQPQcJfR3J91CcVcu6MjxDce31wd_PU2L_Yk19EcaHXLjKAwhHWNfF6fxfFPeWN7RC2oIPP_sB_sIrhjR1dC_RsDKJvM_rVIFJL9nm-v4cf/s755/Glorious%20(imp).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="503" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3-6bFXOpOnyv7mrQ0VkP0GriuzmA2Y0GQxU9JCxKXIMX_GFGP2yx28RbQ_bZ1k14qDYTNWUMFVWm7yQPQcJfR3J91CcVcu6MjxDce31wd_PU2L_Yk19EcaHXLjKAwhHWNfF6fxfFPeWN7RC2oIPP_sB_sIrhjR1dC_RsDKJvM_rVIFJL9nm-v4cf/s320/Glorious%20(imp).jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>GLORIOUS</i></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(July 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><i>“Piss stinking i</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US">nebriated.
All by my lonesome at this rest stop here in… wherever the hell this rest stop
is.”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">T</span>he “piss stinking inebriated” Wes (Ryan Kwanten,
also one of the executive producers*) is actually in the comfort room of the Route
37 Rest Area.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And he isn’t alone. Not at all.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Though he will eventually come to wish he was (even
if he <i>is</i> being kept company by J.K.
Simmons… or Simmons’ <i>voice</i>, at any
rate)…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Will it hurt?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Very much.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">B</span>ased on a story by Todd Rigney (which can be found
in his flash fiction collection <i>Taste
Level Zero</i>), <i>Glorious</i> is directed
with a steady and blackly humorous hand by Rebekah McKendry, from a screenplay
credited to Joshua Hull and her husband, David Ian McKendry.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Save for a few brief exceptions, the film is an odd
sort of horror two-hander, in that Kwanten is basically bouncing off Simmons’
voice, but hey, it’s J.K. Simmons, so wotta voice!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“I’m sorry,
but you’re not going to able to leave until we’re done here.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">G</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">lorious</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is
an exquisitely grotesque paradox, an unsettling vision of cosmic horror, told from
within the cramped confines of a filthy, rest stop comfort room…</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>o if that sounds like the sort of title that
floats your horror boat, then check it out!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“F*ck it. Let’s
do this.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">*</span></i> Along with horror stalwart Barbara Crampton.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Glorious </i>key
art courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-2307070972748381202022-12-28T22:07:00.000-08:002022-12-28T22:07:40.003-08:00IN FABRIC (September 2018)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqtLgAhQaWnwsb1q8BfeVPqNwexm7aAEvPpz45zZwRCFr9MxatezK9bPLXgKvsGFbqDNDmV6248T1WKp0e8eY92WA2v33bS-mtIR9YLOhKR_DzBV2I24l2uqOEWjzo-G23CK_fajeDndYxQsinCn4edLbe7GQ9jL8d9C7DjwSjZWv97LxgvcoRQuy/s535/in_fabric%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="535" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqtLgAhQaWnwsb1q8BfeVPqNwexm7aAEvPpz45zZwRCFr9MxatezK9bPLXgKvsGFbqDNDmV6248T1WKp0e8eY92WA2v33bS-mtIR9YLOhKR_DzBV2I24l2uqOEWjzo-G23CK_fajeDndYxQsinCn4edLbe7GQ9jL8d9C7DjwSjZWv97LxgvcoRQuy/s320/in_fabric%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>IN FABRIC</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(September 2018)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“A purchase on a horizon, </span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">a panoply of temptation.
Can a curious soul desist?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“I’m just
looking, thank you.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“The
hesitation in your voice soon to be an echo in the recesses of the spheres of
retail.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">I </span>don’t know about you, but if a salesperson walked
up to me with <i>that</i> spiel, I would <i>not</i> hang about to hear more…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>P</i><i><span lang="EN-US">articularly</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> if
I’ve already seen the creepiest TV advert <i>ever</i>*
for the shop’s latest sale…</span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You who wear
me will know me.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">P</span>eter Strickland’s <i>In Fabric </i>kicks off with Sheila Woolchapel (Marianne Jean-Baptiste),
a lonely mother just trying to find love and intimacy who happens to visit Dentley
& Soper’s, leaving the premises with the singular “Ambassadorial Function
Dress”--a chiffon and silk and satin number in, get this, <i>artery red</i>--in stock.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A dress that happens to be, gulp, haunted.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLRFh2pHy8e0okqcM53pkUtaTjKn-DGdYkZXINUVqcvp57E4yM_rOP9SS7UbLK7oObOu8_BYb6E1Z6NqcPqqFepKffAoH-PFq8ooMTY4et5vYBSPdtvMZFb1LKcIRe9XHlH72Y0zMcZ7e4UTGUyJrcgp7BcE44piUGnhQbX7ycTf_g8NJsjo_i8TT/s755/in_fabric_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="513" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLRFh2pHy8e0okqcM53pkUtaTjKn-DGdYkZXINUVqcvp57E4yM_rOP9SS7UbLK7oObOu8_BYb6E1Z6NqcPqqFepKffAoH-PFq8ooMTY4et5vYBSPdtvMZFb1LKcIRe9XHlH72Y0zMcZ7e4UTGUyJrcgp7BcE44piUGnhQbX7ycTf_g8NJsjo_i8TT/s320/in_fabric_ver2.jpg" width="217" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“The very
purpose of this seasonal retail occasion is to expunge. Returning what has
already left the Ladies’ Fashion Boutique of Dentley & Soper’s Trusted
Department Store goes against the nature of things.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">A</span> haunted (or in some cases, cursed) fashion item featuring
in a horror film is nothing new, of course.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Some that come quickly to mind: Kim Yong-gyun’s <i>Bunhongshin</i> (<i>The Red Shoes</i>), Won Shin-yeon’s <i>Gabal</i>
(<i>The Wig</i>, AKA <i>Scary Hair</i>), the more recent <i>Bad
Hair</i> (from Justin Simien, which features a “possessed weave”), and Elza
Kephart’s <i>Slaxx</i> (killer jeans, natch).**</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And while some of those titles lean more into the
comedic side of their horror-comedy combo, there’s still something undeniably
unnerving about having something that you’re wearing--that, by its very
nature, is something that rests <i>snugly</i>
against your body--have a malevolent mind of its own, even <i>if</i> there are some laughs mixed in with all of the chills.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Trust Peter Strickland to toss his hat into this
particular horror movie ring…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“But your
dismissal of such a prestigious consumerist festivity leaves me bereft.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">I</span>f you’ve seen <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2013/01/berberian-sound-studio-june-2012-normal.html" target="_blank">Berberian Sound Studio</a></i> (and if you haven’t, please, please, <i>please</i> do yourself a favor and seek it out), you’ll know what I
mean when I say that Strickland is the kind of director whose work is
definitely <i>experiential</i>. Like David
Lynch, the way he combines visuals with sound and music is alchemical in nature,
disturbingly bewitching.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Just like that artery red dress.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And while there is a ribbon of drily absurd humor
that flows through its runtime, <i>In Fabric</i>
also drapes us with an unsettling, inescapable tone, almost like that artery
red dress settling down all around us, brushing up relentlessly against our
bare, viewer’s skin…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The inner, hidden workings of the retail world have
never been quite this surreal and creepy on film***…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Don’t tell me
you’re scared of a dress.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">*</span></i> Courtesy of Julian House, who also worked on
Strickland’s <i>Berberian Sound Studio</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">** For the record, I’ve seen all of these, <i>except</i> for <i>Slaxx</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">*** The closest I think we’ve come to something
like this is Kim Sung-ho’s <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2007/12/in-interests-of-all-things-recyclable-3.html" target="_blank">Geoul Sokeuro</a></i>
(<i>Into the Mirror</i>), in which bizarre goings-on
mar the intended re-opening of the shopping mall, Dreampia. Though to be frank,
that film doesn’t even come <i>close</i> to
the unsettling strangeness of Strickland’s vision of Dentley & Soper’s…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Comics, though, are another matter entirely…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Eerie retail hijinx may be found in Christopher
Cantwell and I.N.J. Culbard’s <i>Everything</i>,
from Dark Horse comics, edited by the one and only Mother of Vertigo, Karen
Berger…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwr1kNOkm8JBMdUysinDi8lzjkBwLX18Sdf6G0rGAjleEBkI4CfADuP2vPI-97fqGJpGCEjRSN8gFFEc3U0gWNheg3iYTZOMjqBqK3pZunXEwWL5WG0fBCFAwuE7VM-KynRhCitQrtDxjWFOEZ_gDAy3KZ521Dj_XomKyNiPdJuKjKcrF7_7c9eLiZ/s755/in_fabric_ver3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwr1kNOkm8JBMdUysinDi8lzjkBwLX18Sdf6G0rGAjleEBkI4CfADuP2vPI-97fqGJpGCEjRSN8gFFEc3U0gWNheg3iYTZOMjqBqK3pZunXEwWL5WG0fBCFAwuE7VM-KynRhCitQrtDxjWFOEZ_gDAy3KZ521Dj_XomKyNiPdJuKjKcrF7_7c9eLiZ/s320/in_fabric_ver3.jpg" width="224" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div><br /></div>Parting Shot: If you find yourself enamored with
Strickland’s aesthetic, then I implore you to also check out his definitely not
horror piece, <i>The Duke of Burgundy</i>,
as well as his contribution to <i>The Field
Guide to Evil</i>, “Cobblers’ Lot,” loosely based on the Hungarian folktale,
“The Princess’s Curse”.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>In Fabric</i>
quad and OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-38416481015185539142022-12-27T22:10:00.000-08:002022-12-27T22:10:24.737-08:00ANTLERS (October 2021)<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPl1KnGuXGR65V0PxTt7J-GbeCfCbLjLHCOeMf_4kxyBrMbuGLOM9SnlxfP2-LRkA6yRnK3uNfSMFB_E5RvAB1LOum1tDn7pScJ6asMBUvQtdocx5xiK8KhPOMDVW-HtxGcLMD57buxXDsg3KxkCT93bJm9FOTnQvvHXK8Dj6bcJWOjVftKG2SA4F/s755/antlers_ver2%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPl1KnGuXGR65V0PxTt7J-GbeCfCbLjLHCOeMf_4kxyBrMbuGLOM9SnlxfP2-LRkA6yRnK3uNfSMFB_E5RvAB1LOum1tDn7pScJ6asMBUvQtdocx5xiK8KhPOMDVW-HtxGcLMD57buxXDsg3KxkCT93bJm9FOTnQvvHXK8Dj6bcJWOjVftKG2SA4F/s320/antlers_ver2%20(1).jpg" width="214" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>ANTLERS</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(October 2021)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Yeah, he said
he was, uhh, hiking up near Greymouth, when a stench led him to a man half
buried in the woods. I guess the other half was found in the mine, near a meth
lab. Was probably a, a bear or a cougar, something.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Jesus.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“From what he
just told me, I don’t think Jesus was anywhere to be found.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">G</span>uilt-ridden Julia Meadows (Keri Russell) finds
herself back in her hometown of Cispus Falls, Oregon, still trying to “resolve”
her lifetime of “issues” (which reveal themselves gradually during the first
act, proving her own terms blatant understatements).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It’s a place she admits she barely recognizes
anymore, an economically depressed mining town, in the midst of a so-called
“war on American energy.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But, given that this is a horror movie co-produced
by no less than Guillermo del Toro*, it should come as no surprise that there
are even darker (and bloodier) things afoot.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Daddy said
God is dead.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">D</span>irector Scott Cooper (working from a screenplay
credited to C. Henry Chaisson, Nick Antosca, and Cooper, based on Antosca’s
short story, “The Quiet Boy”) gives us a horror film that isn’t just about
literal, supernatural monsters, but also the kinds of monsters that lurk behind
the unassuming masks of men.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">While the “Creature”** is, naturally, the main
attraction, <i>Antlers</i> is also about
generational trauma, and the tragic and grotesque scars left behind by abuse.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It’s about “the lost, the frail, and the depraved”.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“I just have
to feed him, and he’ll love me.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">T</span>here’s also an interesting supporting cast here,
with the likes of Jesse Plemons (as Julia’s brother, Paul, who also happens to
be Cispus Falls’ Sheriff), Amy Madigan, Graham Greene, and Rory Cochrane.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Sadly, three of the above mentioned are relegated
to either Exposition Delivery, or those sad, thankless horror movie roles that
ultimately underutilize the actor.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You can’t win ‘em all, I guess.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Still, <i>Antlers</i>
is most definitely worth a look.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I came to it because of the lure of Antosca***, del
Toro, and Felicity herself, and was, in the end, happy I did.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Check it out, if you’re so inclined, and maybe
you’ll be glad you did, too…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>W</i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">ill you, I pray, demand that demidevil</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">W</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">hy he hath thus ensnared my soul and body?</span></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">-</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">-Othello</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> Act V - Scene II</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">*</span> David S. Goyer is another co-producer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">** For my fellow comic book nerds out there, the
one and only Guy Davis is credited for Lead Creature Design, as well as a bunch
of drawings that appear onscreen.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Davis is also the main Creature Design dude for del
Toro’s <i>Cabinet of Curiosities</i>, and has worked with him on a whole bunch of past productions…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>In del Toro's own words: </span>“Guy Davis, to me, is one of the best monster designers alive right now.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">*** And, speaking of, those, ahem, antlers on the
one sheet should remind you of <i>another</i>
thing Antosca worked on, that should in turn, tip you off as to the nature of <i>Antlers</i>’ Creature…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(That other thing is also to be found in the Iguana
Archives.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Parting Shot 1:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The short story “The Quiet Boy” can be read online
<a href="https://www.guernicamag.com/the-quiet-boy/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">My personal recommendation is, if you haven’t
already read the story but are curious to see the original source material,
then check it out <i>after</i> you’ve seen <i>Antlers</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Parting Shot 2:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In <i>Antlers</i>’
end credits roll, Christian Bale is one of the names under “Special Thanks”.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Cooper has worked with Bale on three films to date,
the latest, the Netflix adaptation of Louis Bayard’s <i>The Pale Blue Eye</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Looking forward to that one…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Antlers</i>
OS courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div><div><br /></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-19310478890287049822022-12-26T02:01:00.000-08:002022-12-26T02:01:38.161-08:00NOCEBO (October 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcugrrE9_8WISwPkKH2uCFzOqmEA707Dt8BCovagvRpJNua3PXfVcG06cVOIjNHaJR7Hh9Z0c5vP71wXjSFGhU2YP_mfe5M1ogoa2oIhUzORUsPp1t1GRknQlJc7RLSGYQetFV1vLs0eqlp4YOXadhqLdofdZWACKdOuRlpIyoe6yk8z_RpPUQ5_Zc/s950/Nocebo%20(imdb).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="641" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcugrrE9_8WISwPkKH2uCFzOqmEA707Dt8BCovagvRpJNua3PXfVcG06cVOIjNHaJR7Hh9Z0c5vP71wXjSFGhU2YP_mfe5M1ogoa2oIhUzORUsPp1t1GRknQlJc7RLSGYQetFV1vLs0eqlp4YOXadhqLdofdZWACKdOuRlpIyoe6yk8z_RpPUQ5_Zc/s320/Nocebo%20(imdb).jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>NOCEBO</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(October 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span>“Something is hidden inside of you, C</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">hristine.
Something you hide from yourself. It is invisible to you, and you must see it.
It makes you sick. I will draw it out of you and show it to you.”</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">A </span>children’s fashion line called Tykie comes to a
screeching halt after a distressing phone call, and the disturbing “encounter” that
accompanies it (one of the creepiest dog scenes I’ve ever seen; at one point in
the film’s runtime, that dog is described as “a hideous thing”).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the aftermath, fashion designer Christine (Eva
Green) suffers through a debilitating months-long ordeal, broken only upon the
sudden arrival of Diana (Chai Fonacier), who hails from a “very special place”
in the southern area of the Philippines, and who claims to have been hired by
Christine, though she has no memory of it at all.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It’s very
pretty.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“It is?”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“We will make
it pretty.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">M</span>eanwhile, the other members of the household,
daughter Roberta (Billie Gadsdon) and husband Felix (Mark Strong), need to
acclimate to this stranger suddenly living under the same roof. One is initially
rude, the other, increasingly suspicious, while Christine becomes more trusting
and dependent on Diana.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“This is just
different medicine, Christine.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">T</span>hat’s the basic set-up of Lorcan Finnegan’s latest,
<i>Nocebo</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you’ve been paying attention, Finnegan landed ‘round
these parts previously for <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2020/04/que-horror-2020-candidate-5-vivarium.html" target="_blank">Vivarium</a></i>,
and this film, like <i>Vivarium</i>, ends up
being a potent title with a very singular, unsettling vision, proof positive
that Finnegan continues to be a name to look out for.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>N</i><i><span lang="EN-US">ocebo</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is
also of particular interest to me since it’s an Irish-Philippine co-production,
significant portions of which were shot on location in the Philippines.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">A</span>lso noteworthy are Fonacier’s commendable
performance, and the film’s score, courtesy of Jose Antonio C. Buencamino. This
seems to be Buencamino’s first feature film credit, and it’s an impressive one.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfK6VuUpQTn44oaciJCDXfkjZ8kthrgAZY2RyqKlNY3_wOfiExN0iezTfvqm-614s8vICIUITZeIcrcQFbcuya4r535M6xczWiZQMI_zyoFp8KAhVsMXgKIfeRYoCs93_NL2BGkoYX_nGk1keI7Gd32G9mL7-3PjssyFr0IAnL5Xxxtr5D45IxuxQD/s750/Nocebo%20(twitter).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="503" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfK6VuUpQTn44oaciJCDXfkjZ8kthrgAZY2RyqKlNY3_wOfiExN0iezTfvqm-614s8vICIUITZeIcrcQFbcuya4r535M6xczWiZQMI_zyoFp8KAhVsMXgKIfeRYoCs93_NL2BGkoYX_nGk1keI7Gd32G9mL7-3PjssyFr0IAnL5Xxxtr5D45IxuxQD/s320/Nocebo%20(twitter).jpg" width="215" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“This is so
much better than a cure.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">T</span>here’s also a particular scene in <i>Nocebo</i>--during Diana’s recounting of her
past--that should be a treat for any lovers of Philippine folklore out there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The term Diana uses may not be the one that might
be expected, given what unfolds onscreen, but it’s a nonetheless <i>familiar</i> image to a folklore lover, and that
scene’s imagery goes off like <i>gangbusters</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ultimately though, while the horror in <i>Nocebo</i> is shudderingly effective, it’s
the tragic underpinning of the narrative* (scripted by familiar Finnegan collaborator
Garret Shanley) that serves as the iron-hard core of this film.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It’s been a long, long, <i>looooong</i> while since I’ve seen a Filipino horror movie that’s <i>this</i> effective.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And sure, it’s a <i>co</i>-production, but still…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So, hopefully, that’s piqued your interest enough to
seek this one out…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You must
allow me in, Christine. I will prepare you to face it. You will know it when
you see it. You will understand what must happen. And you will be free.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">*</span> An incident based on an actual tragedy in recent
Philippine history. To say any more at this juncture would be to spoil a key
plot point.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There <i>is</i>
a prominent statement though, during the end credits roll that will acknowledge
and shine a spotlight on that tragedy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxJOVicFZmwcNiIqfrY6eL6FC7YuJSj-KmR1V25O1yxryZhofwtkkCxQeqzq_Wf8YUeIXfwPRBg9sT5X-Wne42M30noULzhI4XAMQe-YUr93GfO4wZ0P4tOmtpvRn1k3phU2FsJgfpT_LykVF16fkl-FbCLsSs6bV-GJM9G5hVDukY_ckXYO1f2-X/s800/Nocebo%20(themoviewaffler%20com).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxJOVicFZmwcNiIqfrY6eL6FC7YuJSj-KmR1V25O1yxryZhofwtkkCxQeqzq_Wf8YUeIXfwPRBg9sT5X-Wne42M30noULzhI4XAMQe-YUr93GfO4wZ0P4tOmtpvRn1k3phU2FsJgfpT_LykVF16fkl-FbCLsSs6bV-GJM9G5hVDukY_ckXYO1f2-X/s320/Nocebo%20(themoviewaffler%20com).jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Nocebo</i>
OS’ and quad courtesy of imdb.com, twitter.com, and themoviewaffler.com.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-17215201569670810262022-08-24T01:52:00.001-07:002022-08-24T02:25:45.461-07:00CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (May 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7n4MBmbeoB7yZ-HtGFmHHpyB00mMW9Kh2F4VXcJdaov6h-HEtmt8EwyWD6iLOXR5VOTpLcGB0YOj5Ozbg8reFdRPK6Lc-EkNlNXV3deNUNG8LOoUfFiarbioxUOlTrFoMqQ7C7Nxu4uvVgmP8VJ64WxVQMkuuSEw_eBEN9JPf2CJ4suemw8gG8f0A/s755/Crimes%20of%20the%20Future.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7n4MBmbeoB7yZ-HtGFmHHpyB00mMW9Kh2F4VXcJdaov6h-HEtmt8EwyWD6iLOXR5VOTpLcGB0YOj5Ozbg8reFdRPK6Lc-EkNlNXV3deNUNG8LOoUfFiarbioxUOlTrFoMqQ7C7Nxu4uvVgmP8VJ64WxVQMkuuSEw_eBEN9JPf2CJ4suemw8gG8f0A/s320/Crimes%20of%20the%20Future.jpg" width="220" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>CRIMES OF THE FUTURE</i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(May 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><i><span lang="EN-US">BODY IS </span></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US">REALITY</span></i></span></div><div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The senior Cronenberg is back ‘round these parts
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crimes of the Future</i>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">N</span>o, not his second, hour-long feature from 1970,
but an all-new film that feels like a thematic extension to some of his previous
works like <i>Videodrome</i> and <i>eXistenZ</i>. (Little wonder, that, since
the screenplay was originally written over two decades ago.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“‘Human’ is
the operative word. Human evolution is the concern. That it's going wrong. That
it's... uncontrolled, it's... insurrectional. It might lead us to a bad place.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">W</span>e find ourselves in an indeterminate point in the
near-future, when the human body has begun to spontaneously grow new organs of equally
indeterminate function (so-called “neo-organs”), and thus, bear witness to the
violent (and virulent) collision of biological evolution, art, society, politics,
pollution, and revolution.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“The creation
of inner beauty cannot be an accident.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">W</span>ith a haunting sonic backdrop by frequent
collaborator Howard Shore, the senior Cronenberg once again drops us into an
unsettling, disorienting reality, a world where the most mundane of activities
like sleeping or eating become disturbing visions of the human body juxtaposed
with pieces of shuddery, nightmare furniture.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“An organism
needs organization. Otherwise, it's just designer cancer.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>o, yes, if it sounds like old school Cronenberg is
back, then you heard right.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Don’t get me wrong, I love <i><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2007/12/eastern-promises-review-i-have-two-all.html" target="_blank">Eastern Promises</a></i>, and as he himself has asserted, he sees no
difference whatsoever between that kind of film and this new<i> Crimes</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In his personal assessment, there is no such thing
as “body horror.”</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">But what there is, is that very Cronenberg
obsession with carnal transfiguration, the (r)evolution of the human body, and
the impact that has on the world outside of all that shuddering skin and mutating
meat.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Long live the New Flesh,” indeed.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“We understand
human bodies are changing. I know this quite well.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6o1MlY-5tBFe7yW7VLk-ylq4it73DWm9aQDaK0Xc11LwPc6zBMxQH0taZ6rOQaZAjyMPm1ZAYHbtCqCF85aqK0zCLalXv_2BfDpD_cVjCmQOSV63d0w5ybQyYqAFhQXc55V8pLhGu5sLY_cB1C9aewmhuPe8sDYEsSkrAYivXlWrxcvSxE_hkZkeu/s1024/Crimes%20of%20the%20Future%20(b-d)%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="819" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6o1MlY-5tBFe7yW7VLk-ylq4it73DWm9aQDaK0Xc11LwPc6zBMxQH0taZ6rOQaZAjyMPm1ZAYHbtCqCF85aqK0zCLalXv_2BfDpD_cVjCmQOSV63d0w5ybQyYqAFhQXc55V8pLhGu5sLY_cB1C9aewmhuPe8sDYEsSkrAYivXlWrxcvSxE_hkZkeu/s320/Crimes%20of%20the%20Future%20(b-d)%203.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">(</span><i>Crimes of
the Future</i> key art courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)</span></div><br /></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-57906104210750680902022-07-29T22:58:00.000-07:002022-07-29T22:58:00.997-07:00<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">CHECK THIS OUT! (July 30, 2022)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">ARENA Glossary (1)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><div style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/arena-/so-savage-and-cruel/viewer?title_no=792084&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="727" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb67_tK-gSoYgGaHZJX7Ura9QDORYu_8O6muJ8KK6CNgdI2vcO1JzsTTaPKm-KdS3RJyKjqABjNZHYfk6yAPsejR2HkNUuwrjHVxy-kKoSWgM57kAc-vVdNk0y8-WqZ7X_dqJ_3VCnOcpL_2GO0thfjxZrPFmjx5pmpRHaOC-eOAh5GuYvmHpkrOAt/s320/ARENA%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">ARENA GLOSSARY</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">domaz</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">the winner of the previous Tornos, who acts as a scorekeeper/referee/impartial observer for the current one</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">numen</span><span style="color: #454545;"> (pl. </span><span style="color: red;">numina</span><span style="color: #454545;">)</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">omnipotent entity (considered by some as a deity) who views the Tornos as idle entertainment; each <i>numen</i> acts as a patron for a <i>pehon</i></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">pehon</span><span style="color: #454545;"> (pl. </span><span style="color: red;">pehonem</span><span style="color: #454545;">)</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">fighter chosen (and often abducted from their home dimension) to represent a particular <i>numen</i> in the Tornos</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">taumaz</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">a group of four <i>pehonem</i> temporarily allied together</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">Tornos</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">a tournament the <i>numina</i> mount on a regular basis, in which <i>pehonem</i> battle each other till only one remains undefeated, becoming the winner, and subsequently, the <i>domaz</i> for the next Tornos</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">Vahta</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">the isolated location from where the <i>numina</i> observe the Tornos</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #454545;">(the) </span><span style="color: red;">Vanayis</span><span style="color: #454545;"> (The Wish Without Limit)</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">the ultimate prize of the Tornos, a reality-altering wish</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">If you haven't read the first episode of ARENA yet, and have absolutely no idea what those funky words are all about, then please click on the logo above for front row seats to the Tornos.</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #454545;">Click on the logo, people...</span></div></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">Click on the logo and engage...)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="color: #454545;">ARENA is brought to you by</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"> the tag team responsible for the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">DAKILA: Siyudad</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"> story arc--the mighty fine Pytr Mutuc on art and colors, Ye Olde Space Monkey on script and letters.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">As with PODERICO POWERBOMB!, ARENA is also </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">one of the many, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">many</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"> entries in the Webtoon "Call to Action" contest, so, we need as much support as all you mighty fine folk can muster...</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We need what Webtoon calls "engagement"...</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">So, please, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">engage away, people!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">And p</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">le</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">ase be kind enough to help spread the word; feel free to share the ARENA link to any and all, particularly those you feel would groove to its distinctive beat.</span></span></div><div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">As I've said before, m</span><span style="color: #454545;">y mighty fine collaborators Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc, and I, need all the support we can get, and all the support all you mighty fine people out there can muster.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx so much!</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">y</span><span style="color: #454545;">ou can’t drink just six,</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dave<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">Thanx to my mighty fine co-creators on </span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;">, Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx to all you mighty fine folk helping to spread the word.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">(</span></span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><span style="color: #454545;">logo designed by Pytr Mutuc</span><span style="color: #454545;">.)</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-59818014472403714622022-07-27T00:32:00.002-07:002022-08-24T01:36:24.717-07:00CHECK THIS OUT! (July 27, 2022) PODERICO POWERBOMB! Glossary (1)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">CHECK THIS OUT! (July 27, 2022)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">PODERICO POWERBOMB! Glossary (1)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;"><div style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="906" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeyjT-ifZfDMgj6d1RK9Kt_QqbJbyQV9c87fdgpNczichx9z0sgkMrsLn-taoFzSGGYGt1LhfLU6XWYenlv3N_jY2DDrT4_vL1vyMdhhKxHWNQo8HBF07OBlCcFSHMSR0LKcg937XFq1V1xT-68kImmoXSJjnBYHNNs8u-FSTJ0WWMuxa-z9lviIY/s320/PODERICO%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">What you'll find here, though we're calling it a glossary, can actually be looked at as a primer as well.</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">For anyone who's read (or is about to read) PODERICO POWERBOMB!, and who happens to be unfamiliar with Filipino myth and folklore or things like Filipino place names, then we've got you covered here.</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Our intent is to present an updateable glossary/primer, in that new terms and entries will be added as new episodes are released, and these updates will hopefully be of service to those who may be encountering these terms for the first time.</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">To wit:</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">PODERICO POWERBOMB! GLOSSARY</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">BGC</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">Bonifacio Global City, a “financial and lifestyle district” located in the city of Taguig in Metro Manila</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;">bruho</span><span style="color: #454545; font-weight: bold;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400; font-weight: bold;"><i>broo</i>-ho</span><span style="color: #454545;">; from the Spanish<i> brujo</i><b>]</b></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">male witch, sorceror, witch doctor; often a practitioner of so-called “black” magick</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">danag</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;">da-<i>nag</i></span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">race of vampiric humanoids</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">datu</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i>da</i>-too</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">title used to denote the ruler of a particular group or community; equated with “chief” or “prince”</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">diwata</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;">di-<i>wa</i>-ta</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">spirit who protects the land and those who dwell upon it </div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">huevos</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;">hoo-<i>we</i>-vos</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">eggs</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">huevos rancheros</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;">ran-</span></b><b><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i>che</i>-ros</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">literally, ranch-style eggs</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">kantahan</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;">kan-<i>ta</i>-han</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">singing</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">mijo</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i>mee</i>-ho</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;">contraction of <i>mi hijo</i>, "my son"; a term of endearment sometimes used regardless of blood relation</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Pasay</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i>Pa</i>-sai</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">city located in Metro Manila</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Pasig</span><span style="color: #454545;"> [</span><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i>Pa</i>-sig</span><span style="color: #454545;">]</span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">city located in Metro Manila</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;">We hope that helps those who might have stumbled on some unfamiliar terms...</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #454545; margin: 0cm;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">PODERICO POWERBOMB! is brought to you by the tag team responsible for the Dakila/Fr Trese DEVIATION crossover, "Iunctura"--that would be the mighty fine Marv del Mundo on art and colors, and Ye Olde Space Monkey on script and letters.</span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Click on the image below to join Team 'Rico!</span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; margin: 0cm;"><br /></div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzKxgpHHf-jnKPzgisWxMYp9FapwytFVGxUaojdgzHdahPXRWQll3xy1MGcVLsK0P3oIqIuDSGSNfaAYXKziRA2yThnKHRy2yNOYuJLDdh0yDaZHcHIPM-bzvWHmgmOmoRKbLyX32nkGb224pSlR1g36QzPJ6ycmbQsuhtarsQ58OPoSaQAKfOf9U/s320/PODERICO%20Ep%201%20Link%20(blog)%20v2.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /></div></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Ple</span></span></span><span style="color: #454545;">ase be kind enough to help spread the word; feel free to share the PODERICO POWERBOMB! link to any and all, particularly those you feel would groove to its distinctive beat.</span></span></div><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">M</span><span style="color: #454545;">y mighty fine collaborator Marv del Mundo and I would greatly appreciate the support</span></span><span style="color: #454545;">.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx so much!</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">y</span><span style="color: #454545;">ou can’t drink just six,</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dave<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">Thanx to my mighty fine co-creators on </span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;">, Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx to all you mighty fine folk helping to spread the word.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">(</span></span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><span style="color: #454545;">logo designed by Marv del Mundo</span><span style="color: #454545;">.)</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-72384437122636473072022-07-23T21:54:00.002-07:002022-07-28T03:09:42.837-07:00CHECK THIS OUT! (July 24, 2022) [Updated with New Link]<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">CHECK THIS OUT! (July 24, 2022)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">[UPDATED with NEW LINK]</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;"><div style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/arena-/so-savage-and-cruel/viewer?title_no=792084&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="727" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb67_tK-gSoYgGaHZJX7Ura9QDORYu_8O6muJ8KK6CNgdI2vcO1JzsTTaPKm-KdS3RJyKjqABjNZHYfk6yAPsejR2HkNUuwrjHVxy-kKoSWgM57kAc-vVdNk0y8-WqZ7X_dqJ_3VCnOcpL_2GO0thfjxZrPFmjx5pmpRHaOC-eOAh5GuYvmHpkrOAt/s320/ARENA%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="background: white; color: black; font-weight: 400; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Is!</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; color: black; font-weight: 400; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; color: black; font-weight: 400; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Now!!</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; color: black; font-weight: 400; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; color: black; font-weight: 400; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Live!!!</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">Click on the logo, people...</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">Click on the logo and engage...</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="color: #454545;">ARENA is brought to you by</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"> the tag team responsible for the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">DAKILA: Siyudad</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"> story arc--the mighty fine Pytr Mutuc on art and colors, Ye Olde Space Monkey on script and letters.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">As with PODERICO POWERBOMB!, ARENA is also </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">one of the many, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">many</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"> entries in the Webtoon "Call to Action" contest, so, we need as much support as all you mighty fine folk can muster...</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We need what Webtoon calls "engagement"...</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">So, please, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545;">engage away, people!</span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">If all goes well, this will hopefully be our foot in the Webtoon door, and for those of you who are familiar with my writing, you'll know that there is still <i>so</i> much more story to be told...</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">And, if you haven't checked it out yet, there's also</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="906" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeyjT-ifZfDMgj6d1RK9Kt_QqbJbyQV9c87fdgpNczichx9z0sgkMrsLn-taoFzSGGYGt1LhfLU6XWYenlv3N_jY2DDrT4_vL1vyMdhhKxHWNQo8HBF07OBlCcFSHMSR0LKcg937XFq1V1xT-68kImmoXSJjnBYHNNs8u-FSTJ0WWMuxa-z9lviIY/s320/PODERICO%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">which you can find</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzKxgpHHf-jnKPzgisWxMYp9FapwytFVGxUaojdgzHdahPXRWQll3xy1MGcVLsK0P3oIqIuDSGSNfaAYXKziRA2yThnKHRy2yNOYuJLDdh0yDaZHcHIPM-bzvWHmgmOmoRKbLyX32nkGb224pSlR1g36QzPJ6ycmbQsuhtarsQ58OPoSaQAKfOf9U/s320/PODERICO%20Ep%201%20Link%20(blog)%20v2.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /></div></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">PODERICO POWERBOMB! is brought to you by the tag team responsible for the Dakila/Fr Trese DEVIATION crossover, "Iunctura"--that would be the mighty fine Marv del Mundo on art and colors, and Ye Olde Space Monkey on script and letters.</span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">Y</span><span><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">ou can </span></span></span><span style="color: #454545;">check out some promo art </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=467193735407683&set=pcb.467193985407658" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=467195148740875&set=pcb.467195348740855" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545;">, or as a tag team combo, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=461438585985487&set=pcb.461439112652101" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545;">.</span></span></div><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Ple</span></span></span><span style="color: #454545;">ase be kind enough to help spread the word; feel free to share the PODERICO POWERBOMB! and ARENA links to any and all, particularly those you feel would groove to their distinctive beats.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">As I've said before, m</span><span style="color: #454545;">y mighty fine collaborators Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc, and I, need all the support we can get, and all the support all you mighty fine people out there can muster.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Engage away, people!</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx so much!</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">y</span><span style="color: #454545;">ou can’t drink just six,</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dave<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">Thanx to my mighty fine co-creators on </span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;">, Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx to all you mighty fine folk helping to spread the word.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="color: #454545;">(</span></span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><span style="color: #454545;">logo designed by Pytr Mutuc; </span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><span style="color: #454545;">logo designed by Marv del Mundo</span><span style="color: #454545;">.)</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-30775558512555751662022-07-18T22:55:00.001-07:002022-07-23T21:29:54.849-07:00CHECK THIS OUT! (July 19, 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">CHECK THIS OUT! (July 19, 2022)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="906" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeyjT-ifZfDMgj6d1RK9Kt_QqbJbyQV9c87fdgpNczichx9z0sgkMrsLn-taoFzSGGYGt1LhfLU6XWYenlv3N_jY2DDrT4_vL1vyMdhhKxHWNQo8HBF07OBlCcFSHMSR0LKcg937XFq1V1xT-68kImmoXSJjnBYHNNs8u-FSTJ0WWMuxa-z9lviIY/s320/PODERICO%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Is!</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Now!!</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Live!!!</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlJ3FaJC3oz1IOvkKvkxgxcWceywg-G-XgbuTmQz4DePcrXetyYJ5NqXcWQV8gOnuTDYDi9owGF0Ocqs3K8yD-OFPr9pqbPKFKBWpEv0ZXF7iS5ObQs9BjSrY4a5MJCLuskoHa8lErBGYn5zXob323nKSXMZrS_NG-quzIJ_cCk3ZjEzu2-BWSgZe/s320/PODERICO%20Ep%201%20Link%20(blog).jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #454545;">See?!</span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/poderico-powerbomb/all-manner-of-things/viewer?title_no=787924&episode_no=1</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">(Actually, both images above are links too, so, hey, please feel free to click away...)</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Brought to you by the tag team responsible for the Dakila/Fr Trese DEVIATION crossover, "Iunctura"--that would be the mighty fine Marv del Mundo on art and coloring, and Ye Olde Space Monkey on script and letters--PODERICO POWERBOMB! is one of the many, <i>many</i> entries in the Webtoon "Call to Action" contest, so, as I said in an earlier "Check This Out", we need all the support all you mighty fine folk can give us...</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">While a majority of the judging percentages lies in the work itself and is determined by Webtoon's judges, there <i>is</i> a percentage taken up by "engagement."</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">So engage away, people!</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">If all goes well, this will hopefully be our foot in the Webtoon door, and for those of you who are familiar with my writing, you'll know that there is still <i>so</i> much more story to be told...</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">As for</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb67_tK-gSoYgGaHZJX7Ura9QDORYu_8O6muJ8KK6CNgdI2vcO1JzsTTaPKm-KdS3RJyKjqABjNZHYfk6yAPsejR2HkNUuwrjHVxy-kKoSWgM57kAc-vVdNk0y8-WqZ7X_dqJ_3VCnOcpL_2GO0thfjxZrPFmjx5pmpRHaOC-eOAh5GuYvmHpkrOAt/s727/ARENA%20Logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="727" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb67_tK-gSoYgGaHZJX7Ura9QDORYu_8O6muJ8KK6CNgdI2vcO1JzsTTaPKm-KdS3RJyKjqABjNZHYfk6yAPsejR2HkNUuwrjHVxy-kKoSWgM57kAc-vVdNk0y8-WqZ7X_dqJ_3VCnOcpL_2GO0thfjxZrPFmjx5pmpRHaOC-eOAh5GuYvmHpkrOAt/s320/ARENA%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">from the tag team responsible for the <i>DAKILA: Siyudad</i> story arc--Pytr Mutuc on art and colors, Ye Olde Space Monkey on script and letters--this should hopefully go live sometime later this week...</span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">You can </span></span></span><span style="color: #454545;">check out some promo art </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=467193735407683&set=pcb.467193985407658" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=467195148740875&set=pcb.467195348740855" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545;">, or as a tag team combo, </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=461438585985487&set=pcb.461439112652101" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #454545;">.</span></span></div><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Ple</span></span></span><span style="color: #454545;">ase be kind enough to help spread the word; feel free to share the PODERICO POWERBOMB! links to any and all, particularly those you feel would groove to its beat.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">As I said, m</span><span style="color: #454545;">y mighty fine collaborators Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc, and I, need all the support we can get, and all the support all you mighty fine people out there can muster.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Engage away, people!</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx so much!</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">y</span><span style="color: #454545;">ou can’t drink just six,</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dave<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">Thanx to my mighty fine co-creators on </span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;">, Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx to all you mighty fine folk helping to spread the word.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">(</span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><span style="color: #454545;">logo designed by Marv del Mundo;</span><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;"> </span><span style="color: #454545;">logo designed by Pytr Mutuc</span><span style="color: #454545;">.)</span></span></p><div><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-92213330091091695322022-07-04T23:43:00.001-07:002022-07-18T22:04:46.325-07:00CHECK THIS OUT! (July 5, 2022)<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000099; font-weight: bold;">CHECK THIS OUT! (July 5, 2022)</span></span></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeyjT-ifZfDMgj6d1RK9Kt_QqbJbyQV9c87fdgpNczichx9z0sgkMrsLn-taoFzSGGYGt1LhfLU6XWYenlv3N_jY2DDrT4_vL1vyMdhhKxHWNQo8HBF07OBlCcFSHMSR0LKcg937XFq1V1xT-68kImmoXSJjnBYHNNs8u-FSTJ0WWMuxa-z9lviIY/s906/PODERICO%20Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="906" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeyjT-ifZfDMgj6d1RK9Kt_QqbJbyQV9c87fdgpNczichx9z0sgkMrsLn-taoFzSGGYGt1LhfLU6XWYenlv3N_jY2DDrT4_vL1vyMdhhKxHWNQo8HBF07OBlCcFSHMSR0LKcg937XFq1V1xT-68kImmoXSJjnBYHNNs8u-FSTJ0WWMuxa-z9lviIY/s320/PODERICO%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>and</span></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb67_tK-gSoYgGaHZJX7Ura9QDORYu_8O6muJ8KK6CNgdI2vcO1JzsTTaPKm-KdS3RJyKjqABjNZHYfk6yAPsejR2HkNUuwrjHVxy-kKoSWgM57kAc-vVdNk0y8-WqZ7X_dqJ_3VCnOcpL_2GO0thfjxZrPFmjx5pmpRHaOC-eOAh5GuYvmHpkrOAt/s727/ARENA%20Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="727" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb67_tK-gSoYgGaHZJX7Ura9QDORYu_8O6muJ8KK6CNgdI2vcO1JzsTTaPKm-KdS3RJyKjqABjNZHYfk6yAPsejR2HkNUuwrjHVxy-kKoSWgM57kAc-vVdNk0y8-WqZ7X_dqJ_3VCnOcpL_2GO0thfjxZrPFmjx5pmpRHaOC-eOAh5GuYvmHpkrOAt/s320/ARENA%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Yeah, these are what have been keeping me busy (and sane) recently...</span></span><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Please check out the promo art <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=467193735407683&set=pcb.467193985407658" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=467195148740875&set=pcb.467195348740855" target="_blank">here</a>, or as a tag team combo, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=461438585985487&set=pcb.461439112652101" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">If these teasers pique your interest, then please be kind enough to help spread the word.</span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">My mighty fine collaborators Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc, and I, will need all the support we can get, and all the support all you mighty fine people out there can muster.</span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">Please keep your eye out and watch those spaces (and <i>this</i> space, too), for updates.</span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;">And...</span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2828c6uIJlTGGapiVkQb1RFEKTPCnCxGV7QkS-FdpAdXIyAn1VnpU8kNnWcXdiQv_rxHc0lacTRXJdYo-edXqvkmz_0OfYruFLCC07OJaxpQEO19heg4bvH-rx7gA8xyABF7FhUbT1yxsCEXUun5Tak25lQGhYDrS6tu_Fs_w6CaqOr3a0CQbsOx/s499/511hJkyKz7L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="393" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2828c6uIJlTGGapiVkQb1RFEKTPCnCxGV7QkS-FdpAdXIyAn1VnpU8kNnWcXdiQv_rxHc0lacTRXJdYo-edXqvkmz_0OfYruFLCC07OJaxpQEO19heg4bvH-rx7gA8xyABF7FhUbT1yxsCEXUun5Tak25lQGhYDrS6tu_Fs_w6CaqOr3a0CQbsOx/s320/511hJkyKz7L.jpg" width="252" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><br /><span style="color: #454545;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>and</span></span></span><p></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwmsABxjc1oo-femPkmtfwyIKAxLp3lh-lQ-TjSrKkFOTQUXQVmsCPK_csZNnzCmdvWnXxDXKNd4C-pkYGWFhhqCnGjt5siNqEi_01mHbGB4Ew9CzBfhhN3ZPWALKKV6fan3FMav1sIsuNOO03HCQoXM3CN5FwFqtp1KyQLaQZW-5FDcGsnJjtrwC/s499/519HfpMG9kL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="392" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwmsABxjc1oo-femPkmtfwyIKAxLp3lh-lQ-TjSrKkFOTQUXQVmsCPK_csZNnzCmdvWnXxDXKNd4C-pkYGWFhhqCnGjt5siNqEi_01mHbGB4Ew9CzBfhhN3ZPWALKKV6fan3FMav1sIsuNOO03HCQoXM3CN5FwFqtp1KyQLaQZW-5FDcGsnJjtrwC/s320/519HfpMG9kL.jpg" width="251" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The hardcover Tuttle editions of <i>The Lost Journal of Alejandro Pardo</i> and <i>The Black Bestiary</i> are now available for pre-order at Amazon, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Journal-Alejandro-Pardo-Philippines/dp/0804855773/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2HEOTUG0HLX8V&keywords=lost+journal+of+alejandro&qid=1655900615&sprefix=lost+jounal+of+alejandro,aps,52&sr=8-1" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Bestiary-Phantasmagoria-Monsters-Philippines/dp/0804855781/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AMA0ACZYFEFZ&keywords=black+bestiary&qid=1655900644&sprefix=black+bestiary,aps,69&sr=8-1" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you haven't had a chance to check these out via the original Summit releases, then here's your chance, 'cause...</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Hard.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Cover.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And if you already have copies of the Summit editions, you still might want to consider these because...</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Hard.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Cover.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Just sayin'...</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Curiously enough, they are apparently releasing <i>Black Bestiary</i> first, on October 18 (just in time for Ha-ha-halloween), while <i>Lost Journal</i> hardcovers its way out into the wide world on November 22.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I'm <i>so</i> glad something I co-wrote and was creatively involved in is being described as a "phantasmagoria"... on the cover!</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And I love it that in the copy on the Amazon order page, good old A.P. is described as being "... a bit of a lout".</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Go, Pardo! Alienate as you educate!</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Hope you're all staying safe and sane in the Still On-Going Crazy that our lives have apparently become...</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">y</span><span style="color: #454545;">ou can’t drink just six,</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span class="yiv5797438647s1"><span style="color: #454545;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dave<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #454545;">Thanx to my mighty fine co-creators on </span><i style="color: #454545;">PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i><span style="color: #454545;"> and </span><i style="color: #454545;">ARENA</i><span style="color: #454545;">, Marv del Mundo and Pytr Mutuc.</span></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanx to all you mighty fine folk helping to spread the word.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And thanx to the Summit Crew (past and present), for helping get Pardo out into the wide world.</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>PODERICO POWERBOMB!</i> logo designed by Marv del Mundo; <i>ARENA</i> logo designed by Pytr Mutuc; <i>The Lost Journal of Alejandro Pardo</i> and <i>The Black Bestiary</i> Tuttle edition cover art courtesy of amazon.com.)</span></p><p class="yiv5797438647p1" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-26967700116138695262022-06-11T00:23:00.000-07:002022-06-11T00:23:38.585-07:00X (March 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDu9rV12inKuSBQe5fFP6Usie5-fTrmQFJMVIoOj9Tpwu2oq5Sxe9BDytqjjRVCwMNgnma8mk-OIDex8SHXF9Eu3436NuyN_KsSf8U2m2xqvr_nUx96o_UMiYTsDNdpzPGATQjZPsiL50J1pmkZ3W4c0mxL7jJ5e8kMSVQ1rMkrU6QriysrpfGhKQt/s755/x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDu9rV12inKuSBQe5fFP6Usie5-fTrmQFJMVIoOj9Tpwu2oq5Sxe9BDytqjjRVCwMNgnma8mk-OIDex8SHXF9Eu3436NuyN_KsSf8U2m2xqvr_nUx96o_UMiYTsDNdpzPGATQjZPsiL50J1pmkZ3W4c0mxL7jJ5e8kMSVQ1rMkrU6QriysrpfGhKQt/s320/x.jpg" width="216" /></span></a></div></div><div><b style="color: red;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></b></div><div><b style="color: red;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">X</span></i></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(March 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>“That's right. The deviants are </i><i><span lang="EN-US">already
amongst us, waiting for our sons and daughters. So heed dire warnings and </span></i><span lang="EN-US">re<i>pent before it is too late.”</i></span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">L</span>ess than 24 hours in rural Texas in 1979 turns out
to be enough time to build up to a disturbing and horrendous bloodbath in Ti
West’s thunderous Iguana return with <i>X</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As intimated by its title, <i>X</i> follows the cast and (minimal) crew of the, ahem, “adult” film, <i>The Farmer’s Daughters</i>, as they shoot on
the sly at an isolated Texas farm.</span></div><div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dreams of wealth and fame all come crashing down
though, because this is “one G*ddamn f*cked up horror picture” from Ti West,
after all…</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“We shouldn’t
disturb him. It would only make him angry. You wouldn’t like Daddy when he’s
angry.”</span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">West has been messing about on the TV front for the
past few years (stray episodes of <i>The
Exorcist</i> and <i>Wayward Pines</i> among
his small screen work), so his return to silver screen horror is <i>most</i> welcome.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The fact that <i>X</i>
comes not just with a soon-to-follow prequel (<i>Pearl</i>) but also a planned sequel, makes things all the more (heh) <i>X</i>-citing, even though this <i>does</i> look like the beginnings of the
dreaded “F” word.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(Uurrmm… franchise?)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">S<span lang="EN-US">till, West <i>does</i>
remind us, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">“You can’t make a slasher movie without a bunch of sequels.”</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And the fact is, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">X </i>does
position itself as a slasher, albeit one with other things on its mind aside
from gory kills.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Prominently, it takes cues from cinema (and cinematic
movements) at large to inform its narrative approach.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">X</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"> </span><span lang="EN-US">is
also juuuust self-aware enough so that West can occasionally remind us that
there’s some grindhouse fun to be had here as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Everybody
likes sex. It’s a gas. We’re just not afraid to admit it. Queer, straight,
black, white… It’s all disco.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">While there <i>is</i>
an actual drug that’s showcased in <i>X</i>,
the addiction that ultimately proves to be the most dangerous here is our very
human attachment to youth (with the promise of ever-elusive fame coming in a
close second).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Most of the film’s characters (played by familiar
genre faces like Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, and Brittany Snow)
still have their youth and are quite brazen about that; a couple of other
characters don’t, and it’s the friction between those two groups that sets off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">X</i>’s slasher powder keg.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span>o, come in for readily on-display “f*cked up
horror,” but stay for all the <i>substance</i>
beneath the bloody celluloid skin that West manages to explore here.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Porn ain’t
only gonna be for perverts no more.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Awww… Toast to the perverts. They’ve been payin’ our bills for years.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Hear, hear. To the perverts.”</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8KuBw2LPdvhhdRXuh8BwDmJTwkI5qRWQFfO42Sjh0LD5WaJ61hxVhsNeVjVhjP2nYbQYv_rpiQnToVERty-OhEZj_8jcIlNbEMP8QcceXng0IKK7qTIrVwIGbKv4cP2xBV_tsxWR_B8FWy0k7sIw1ba6Q4cBuin3bB3XH-hF0HFDewDtNo090CLq/s755/x_ver6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="604" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8KuBw2LPdvhhdRXuh8BwDmJTwkI5qRWQFfO42Sjh0LD5WaJ61hxVhsNeVjVhjP2nYbQYv_rpiQnToVERty-OhEZj_8jcIlNbEMP8QcceXng0IKK7qTIrVwIGbKv4cP2xBV_tsxWR_B8FWy0k7sIw1ba6Q4cBuin3bB3XH-hF0HFDewDtNo090CLq/s320/x_ver6.jpg" width="256" /></a></div></i><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Parting Shot:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Previous Ti West Iguana appearances may be found
<a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2010/10/rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_1650.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-rundown-of-13-plus-best-horror-movies_115.html" target="_blank">here</a>, while mentions of TV’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Exorcist</i> may be found <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_76.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2018/06/que-horror-2018-candidate-7-exorcist.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>X </i>OS’
courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com & twitter.com.)</span></div><br /></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-30674415998463064562022-06-05T01:29:00.000-07:002022-06-05T01:29:16.624-07:00SEVERANCE Season 1 (February 2022)<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBWXJNPiyAYIBn2mPUJgw4x47-6_J4neWzTU-_1iakbY9wcw7RKd6KWZ_FzimSub6PUzbAyiTfQa4zVj47278J2AwIx5un_LMMZq4Zh2jaUDu9dLwLt8EkYIOTyfUKPf7gjc-m_uyPr8Nkq_tH7tnuHBAt_NdXww8QSuNDFmqsVkmWXDua5SjlRur/s755/severance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="503" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBWXJNPiyAYIBn2mPUJgw4x47-6_J4neWzTU-_1iakbY9wcw7RKd6KWZ_FzimSub6PUzbAyiTfQa4zVj47278J2AwIx5un_LMMZq4Zh2jaUDu9dLwLt8EkYIOTyfUKPf7gjc-m_uyPr8Nkq_tH7tnuHBAt_NdXww8QSuNDFmqsVkmWXDua5SjlRur/s320/severance.jpg" width="213" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: red;"><i>SEVERANCE</i> </span>Season 1</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>(February 2022)</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span><i>“The numbers were s</i></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">cary…”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Severance</span></i><span lang="EN-US">*
takes the idea of work/life balance to its chilling extreme, as we bear witness
to the denizens of Lumon Industries’ “severed floor,” where the employees have
elected to undergo a surgical process that effectively separates the work
persona (who only becomes active and awake at work) from who the individual
actually is in their home life.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Work memories are not accessible when the person is
out of the office, and the work persona has no idea what their home life is
like (are they married? Do they have kids?).<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">It’s the kind of scenario that a corporation will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">absolutely</i> love (no pesky personal
problems to interfere with productivity; industrial espionage… what’s that?)
but isn’t necessarily beneficial to the employee.<br /> </span><span lang="EN-US">As we see over <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Severance</i>’s
nine-episode season, hopefully only the first of many more…<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“I trusted
you, and you abused that trust.<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Your inefficiency
and free range chicken roaming is ultimately your responsibility.<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Escort him…
to the Break Room.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">It’s odd, going over the quotes I’ve gathered here.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">You read them and some are so patently absurd that
the overall effect is whimsy.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">And while, yes, the absurdist office humor is
indeed off-the-wall, it is also, in practice, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">disturbing</i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">There are shades of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twin Peaks</i> here, not just in a visual sense, but in the way that
the crackpot, occasionally non sequitur humor serves to mask the cold, inhuman
horror that lies beneath the cheery, quirky facades.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">A worker may
suffer injurious pain or ghastly dehumanization, and no workspace is without
its perils. But whatever your task, dear worker, see that you perform it with
love. Endow in each swing of your axe or swipe of your pen the sum of your
affections, that through me they may be purified and returned. No higher
purpose may be found than this. Nor any higher love.<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">So join us at Lumon, where no one quite knows what
it is they’re actually doing (even in the office!).<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Spend the work days with a truly excellent cast
that includes Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, and Christopher Walken!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Thrill to passages of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The You You Are</i>, by the one and only Dr. Ricken (Michael Chernus)!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">And watch out for the MDE!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Our job is to
taste free air. Your so-called “Boss” may own the clock that taunts you from
the wall, but my friends, the hour is yours.<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Severance</span></i><span lang="EN-US">: A
damning indictment of corporate culture, with all its perks and
incentivizations and sudden terminations.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">It’s a world where the terms “Break Room” and
“overtime” are positively <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chilling</i> to
hear.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Let’s burn
this place to the ground.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">* Brought to us by an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">excellent</i> team headed up by creator Dan Erickson, and Ben Stiller
(yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> Ben Stiller), who directed
2/3 of the season.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">(<i>Severance</i>
key art courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-83011714723339555572022-05-16T03:21:00.000-07:002022-05-16T03:21:10.805-07:00FRESH (March 2022)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXGyoV-RGMHaNMKzOdj4VTHXo0bj0zhBOPWR7u_GSotU3d3IcP1vnKRJarl6L20wjgc2YT7aV-ZHUBs0PkFXG7QgO-BUELD3CsoTPRWvUwG2-IgwoySPndCUy-P9COzk2V3pqvVHJAYVWl_26YGOTAICQ6-0HslFDw2OeGeUCfekDnBXRAega0t80/s755/fresh%20(imp).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXGyoV-RGMHaNMKzOdj4VTHXo0bj0zhBOPWR7u_GSotU3d3IcP1vnKRJarl6L20wjgc2YT7aV-ZHUBs0PkFXG7QgO-BUELD3CsoTPRWvUwG2-IgwoySPndCUy-P9COzk2V3pqvVHJAYVWl_26YGOTAICQ6-0HslFDw2OeGeUCfekDnBXRAega0t80/s320/fresh%20(imp).jpg" width="214" /></span></a></div><p></p><div><b style="color: red;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">FRESH</span></i></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(March 2022)</b></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You are an obsession</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I cannot sleep</span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>I </i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">am a possession</span></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">U</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">nopened at your feet…</span></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">--</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"> “Obsession”</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US"> A</span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124;">nimotion</span></i></span></div><div><i><span style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You do not need a man, okay? Or anybody, for that matter.
It’s just… the way we’ve been raised since f*ckin’ Disney movies.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Yeah. F*ck Ariel.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“F*ck her. Stupid b!tch left the whole sea for a man. Come
on, now.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">N</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">oa (Daisy
Edgar-Jones) is definitely </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">not</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"> a
skilled player at the dating game, so much so that she tells herself she’s “very
okay with” being alone.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">B</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">ut then…</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">O</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">ne meet-cute at the
grocery later, and “cute” and “funny” Steve (Sebastian Stan) is suddenly in her
life.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">D</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">espite initial
appearances and that opening stretch of pre-credits runtime though, this isn’t
some random rom-com--that key art should be the tip off, right?--and Noa will
ultimately have even </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">more</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"> reasons to
hate dating… </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">if</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"> she survives “cute”
and “funny” Steve’s attentions…</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“… if it’s done right… it’s f*cking exquisite. It’s like
nothing you’ve ever had before…”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">F</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">resh</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"> is director Mimi
Cave’s feature film debut, off a script by Lauryn Kahn, and this was a
surprisingly gruesome title, with some serious teeth.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">A</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">nd a number of…
wait for it… </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">dance montages!</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">P</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">lus the Yeah Yeah
Yeahs burning up the end credits roll…</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">W</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">hat more can you
ask for?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">his is some
seriously twisted sh!t, no lie, so be prepared…</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“You know how I knew you were special? ‘Cause you’re f*cked
up, too.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">I </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">feed you, I drink you</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">B</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">y day and by night…</span></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">I </span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">need you, I need you</span></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">B</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">y sun and candlelight</span></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124;"><span style="background: white;">-</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124;">-</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">
“Obsession”</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span> </span><span> </span>A</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white; color: #202124;">nimotion</span></span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white; color: #202124;">(</span></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">Fresh</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"> key art courtesy of
impawards.com.)</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-7256868233874370172022-03-16T00:24:00.000-07:002022-03-16T00:24:20.234-07:00THE VIGIL (September 2019)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWzfYvnCUqM0ibcG9hTR-eWnLjZrA0Cuaa0bdEiEzx0IBPi5k5XwVBzdLeUeZn5KwL7-xXMS014JRUKdqorP2-IexO9yFJIz2Mfcs7qyMdXvTv-d-h_Io_2O0rcE8vEwZfh58qBYM8OFHq8bLIrCOowWF6M34HPCRpYKJb4Z67H3iKVrTT-UAUd02w=s755" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgWzfYvnCUqM0ibcG9hTR-eWnLjZrA0Cuaa0bdEiEzx0IBPi5k5XwVBzdLeUeZn5KwL7-xXMS014JRUKdqorP2-IexO9yFJIz2Mfcs7qyMdXvTv-d-h_Io_2O0rcE8vEwZfh58qBYM8OFHq8bLIrCOowWF6M34HPCRpYKJb4Z67H3iKVrTT-UAUd02w=s320" width="216" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: red;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: red;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">THE VIGIL</span></i></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(September 2019)</span></b></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><i><span lang="EN-US">For </span></i></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">thousands
of years, religious Jews have practiced the ritual of “the vigil”.</span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">W</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">hen a member
of the community dies, the body is watched round the clock in shifts by a
Shomer, or watchman, who recites the Psalms to comfort the deceased’s soul and
protect it from unseen evil.</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">T</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">his watchman
is typically a family member or friend, but there are paid Shomers.</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">H</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">ired to sit
the vigil when no one else can.</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">A</span>nd this is exactly the situation Yakov Ronen (Dave
Davis) finds himself in.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Struggling with the rent, finding himself “… having
to choose between medication and meals,” Yakov expects a vigil like those he’s
sat before.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Which, of course, is <i>so</i> not what happens to poor Yakov…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>T</i><i><span lang="EN-US">he Vigil</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is
writer/director Keith Thomas’ feature debut* and it’s a tight, expertly crafted
film, as cramped and oppressive as the Litvak home, in whose dim rooms and shadowed
halls Yakov must face the terrible weight of his guilt.</span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“He was broken
by memories. Hmm! Those kind of memories that you saw. They bite. They bite and
the biting never stops.”</span></span></i></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">* </span>Which he’s following up with not just the <i>Firestarter</i> remake, but an episode of
Guillermo del Toro’s <i>Cabinet of Curiosities</i>
anthology as well…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>The Vigil </i>OS
courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-14466063265807627702022-02-07T22:54:00.000-08:002022-02-07T22:54:21.851-08:00SYNCHRONIC (September 2019)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-69o9l83dtnI/YMR3_wP83kI/AAAAAAAAIbA/MvQfwYtwNTwSWHT4Ng3Orfbyo9FLDwAAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s755/synchronic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-69o9l83dtnI/YMR3_wP83kI/AAAAAAAAIbA/MvQfwYtwNTwSWHT4Ng3Orfbyo9FLDwAAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/synchronic.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>SYNCHRONIC<br /></i></b></span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(September 2019)</span></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><i><span lang="EN-US">“You drop the needle on the song </span></i></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">you wanna
play, but they’re all always there. These tracks are like time. Synchronic is
the needle.”<br /></span></i></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The excellently adventurous Messrs. Benson and
Moorhead are back* with the compellingly absorbing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Synchronic</i>.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In it, Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan play best
friends and paramedic partners whose job brings them into the orbit of the
latest designer drug to hit Louisiana, the titular “Synchronic.”<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Originally “… meant to be a DMT-like drug,”
Synchronic turns out to be something else altogether.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I’ve loved these guys’ feature work since their
co-directorial debut, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-rundown-of-13-1-best-horror-movies_9799.html" target="_blank">Resolution</a></i>,
on to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2015/10/que-horror-2015-preliminaries-this-has.html" target="_blank">Spring</a></i>, and their
contribution to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">V/H/S: Viral</i>, <a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2015/10/que-horror-2015-preliminaries-this-has.html" target="_blank">“Bonestorm,”</a>
through till <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2018/10/10-slots-for-best-horror-ive-seen-in_1.html" target="_blank">The Endless</a></i>.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And now, we can add <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Synchronic</i> to that list.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There isn’t much to say beyond that, except I
suppose, to note to prospective viewers that, while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Synchronic</i> comes highly recommended, this doesn’t have the usual
horror stylings of their past work.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">While there <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i>
traces of horror here, it’s decidedly more muted and subtle than their previous
films.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Okay.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">That’s all you’ll get here.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Go on.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Check it out.<br /></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“The clock
just… keeps tickin’ down and the lower that number gets, you realize how f*ckin’
amazing now is. The present is a miracle, bruh.”<br /></span></i></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">* Actually, they're even <i>more</i> back with <i>Something in the Dirt</i>, which just screened last month at Sundance, so you can also look to <i>Synchronic</i> for a sweet Benson/Moorhead fix whilst we wait for <i>Something in the Dirt</i> to be unleashed upon us...</span></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(<i>Synchronic </i>OS
courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-89177188935297709632022-02-01T01:30:00.002-08:002022-02-07T22:46:14.096-08:00WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR (March 2021)<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjPX7USUt9nxLJ3k9IUYoz9Kk8i3yNimNZEzPiFHAqBWI4SvvPEuCiKvEysyX8aW2rDAZzehx8Kcz3zmKn_XxgX213EKTRrLnXvBfYh4QeWyKUdVWC8Uz_b_LzR7TMI01VS1u2Yj1_G3gnKOCrnNe7oP8cYCkE3BMk85EriUOhZGpKtEAJcU1bLQQE=s550" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="476" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjPX7USUt9nxLJ3k9IUYoz9Kk8i3yNimNZEzPiFHAqBWI4SvvPEuCiKvEysyX8aW2rDAZzehx8Kcz3zmKn_XxgX213EKTRrLnXvBfYh4QeWyKUdVWC8Uz_b_LzR7TMI01VS1u2Yj1_G3gnKOCrnNe7oP8cYCkE3BMk85EriUOhZGpKtEAJcU1bLQQE=s320" width="277" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED:</i></span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR</i></span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>(March 2021)</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span><i>“Folk horror very much channels p</i></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">eople’s
relationship to the land, to this sort of shared consciousness, these
traditional beliefs that are somehow in the soil, in the landscape.</span></i></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">--Kat Ellinger<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Editor,
</span></i><span lang="EN-US">Diabolique Magazine<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">Writer/director Kier-La Janisse brings us the incisive
and absorbing 3-hour plus documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Woodlands
Dark and Days Bewitched</i>, which is, as its subtitle indicates, an expansive
study of folk horror, from its literary roots onto its notable presence on both
the film and television mediums.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Like any
decent piece of work, [</span></i><span lang="EN-US">The Wicker Man<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">]
survives. It has, coiled at the heart of it, a mystery. </i>Peter Pan<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> has it. It’s overtly a very silly play. But
it isn’t, because it’s about something other than what its surface purports to
be.”<br /><o:p></o:p></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">--Anthony
Schaffer<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writer,
</span></i><span lang="EN-US">The Wicker Man<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">If you’re the sort of horrorhead who loves to delve
beneath the surface, who is (to use a morbidly appropriate analogy) drawn to
rummage amidst the bloody innards of the slaughtered sacrificial lamb to see
what makes it what it is, to study its innate lamb-ness as it were, then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Woodlands…</i> is, as they say, a “must-see”.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Generally
speaking, we wanna believe that the thoughts and fears and beliefs of a past
generation, we’ve sort of transcended them, we’ve grown out of them, we’re
above them. Horror films always pose this problem that in fact, it’s not as
simple as that.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US">-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-John
Cussans<br /><o:p></o:p></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Author,
</span></i><span lang="EN-US">Undead Uprising: Haiti, Horror and the Zombie Complex<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">There’s a host of experts and writers and filmmakers
interviewed during its runtime, and a whole bunch of films are touched on,
including a number of personal favorites and titles that have been mentioned ‘round
these parts.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">As such, I could just go on and on with the quotes,
but I imagine I should just leave you with this…<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1JxLXXNmrLXcK65CUPMGfWI-BxFIiryC-1YRHJsLYRJALSRdV-GiDOrHaWZhS-SMaKGw4JY9dSxSxtCKmgwqK69kpeT04jh0FF-lWCWxuFPKlEuVjaXufYo_SQ6Fs_Jf699H5NfP-4WAGFnsRq1v1A35wRuR-KYuhED8mO3X28Q6hRRafx7oNtDx3=s913" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1JxLXXNmrLXcK65CUPMGfWI-BxFIiryC-1YRHJsLYRJALSRdV-GiDOrHaWZhS-SMaKGw4JY9dSxSxtCKmgwqK69kpeT04jh0FF-lWCWxuFPKlEuVjaXufYo_SQ6Fs_Jf699H5NfP-4WAGFnsRq1v1A35wRuR-KYuhED8mO3X28Q6hRRafx7oNtDx3=s320" width="210" /></a></div><br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“So I think it’s
super-interesting how these myths are, like, all around the world, they just
have different names, and we make it local.”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">--Abraham Castillo
Flores<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Head
Programmer, Morbido Film Festival<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">The fifth (and penultimate) chapter of the
documentary, “All the Haunts Be Ours: Folk Horror Around the World,” is a key
section that further expounds on the definition of folk horror and expands its
borders to make room for a more diverse catalogue of titles beyond the usual
suspects like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wicker Man</i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">It’s somewhere towards the end of that section though,
that I was starting to despair of seeing any kind of Philippine representation,
when lo and behold, the film I consider, hands down, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">best</i> horror film our shores have managed to produce (and by this, I
also mean it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one of the best horror
films ever made, regardless of country of origin</i>) appears here under its
international title, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rites of May</i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Go, Mike de Leon!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">So, yes, check this out if you’ve a mind to, as it
also makes the sobering case for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">timeliness</i>
of folk horror in this very fraught moment in our race’s history…<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“And ‘We don’t
go back’ is the fundamental tension of folk horror.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US">-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-Howard
David Ingham<br /><o:p></o:p></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Author,
</span></i><span lang="EN-US">We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">(<i>Woodlands
Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror</i> Blu-ray cover art courtesy
of bloody-disgusting.com; <i>Itim</i> OS
courtesy of imdb.com.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
</div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-87347666783082770452022-01-17T02:49:00.003-08:002022-02-07T22:44:44.392-08:00YELLOWJACKETS Season 1 (November 2021)<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2sIvnLHnWKBmymosEZDYdo-tl0BDSEyTxDPGLR3Us1dXhbCbRGy3kzQBJZbQQe6HUx_oB-v8xKFso7-u31VA1hLpln1v-9tv_tXAeOlgj7pK_VEZOkBYHFMB96Nq2VnsLqpLmVxGDSByf6IyyckIJNuC8tqdjjCcFVd7L0cdRABX09AqR6-CRnGik=s960" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2sIvnLHnWKBmymosEZDYdo-tl0BDSEyTxDPGLR3Us1dXhbCbRGy3kzQBJZbQQe6HUx_oB-v8xKFso7-u31VA1hLpln1v-9tv_tXAeOlgj7pK_VEZOkBYHFMB96Nq2VnsLqpLmVxGDSByf6IyyckIJNuC8tqdjjCcFVd7L0cdRABX09AqR6-CRnGik=s320" width="213" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: red;"><i>YELLOWJACKETS</i> </span>Season 1</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>(November 2021)</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span></span></span></div><div><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>“Something's coming</i></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">.”</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>Now </span>here’s a recipe:</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">Take a couple of chunks of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost</i>; the first, a plane crash; the second, a narrative timeline
sliced into two, where we toggle back and forth between the crash and the
mysteries and horrors of its direct aftermath, and 25 years later, where we see
the survivors still dealing with all their shared, secret trauma.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Oh, and maybe grab some handsful of possibly
supernatural craziness from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost</i> as
well, and sprinkle that all over.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">Then take a chunk of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Flies</i>, and gender-reverse it, as we witness the trials
and terrors of a girls’ high school soccer team who spend over a year and a
half(!) out there in the wilderness doing shuddery, unimaginable things in
order to survive.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">Take a number of stand-out established actresses (Tawny
Cypress, Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, and Christina Ricci) and cast them as
the adult survivors, then take a number of young and very capable up-and-comers--among
them Jasmin Savoy Brown (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Leftovers</i>
and the current <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i>) and Liv
Hewson (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Santa Clarita Diet</i>)--to fill
out the teen roles, some of which are of course, the younger versions of the
aforementioned established actresses.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">Then take a whole bunch of suh-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">weet</i> needle drops and sprinkle those around too, and what you get,
is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yellowjackets</i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Of course
that’s how it ends. That’s all we are the whole time. It doesn’t matter; we’re
just shells with nothing inside.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">T</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">he
feeling has gone, only you and I<br /><o:p></o:p></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">It means nothing to me<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">This means nothing to me<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Oh, Vienna<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">--“Vienna”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ultravox<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">So
yeah, on the way to Nationals, the Wiskayok Yellowjackets’ plane crashes in the
depths of the Canadian wilderness, the inciting incident of this compelling and
compulsive series, which, thanks to that dual timeline, is both a brutal and
twisted coming-of-age tale, and an examination of women creeping up on middle
age whose lives’ trajectories were forever altered all those years ago, out in
those deep, dark woods.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">And,
just to assure you, lest you start to think this is all doom and gloom, let the
records show that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yellowjackets</i> has a
sense of humor.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Sometimes
dark and bleak and black, other times absurd yet somehow still emotionally
resonant.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">So
yes, there are laughs, in betwixt the secrets and the mysteries, the blackmail
and the blood and the… ummm… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">disturbing
diet</i> these girls may have had to resort to in order to survive.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">And,
speaking of surviving, that’s one of the key mysteries that drives the
narrative: who exactly survived long enough to get rescued, and what exactly
did they have to do to make it out of there.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">We won’t be hungry much longer.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">And if you
bore me,<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">You lose your
soul to me…<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">--“Gepetto”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Belly<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">And did I mention the needle drops?<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Aside from the ones that get quoted here, you can
also savor tracks by Liz Phair, Kim Wilde, The Prodigy, Portishead, and
Dinosaur Jr.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Yum!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">And that theme song!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">“No Return” indeed!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Brought to us by Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker
(who also score the show), and wedded to that disturbo found footage credits
sequence!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Chef’s kiss!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“I know what I
saw. I don’t know what it meant… but I know I saw something. Something was out
there with us.”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">I think it’s
strange you never knew…<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">--“Fade into
You”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mazzy
Star<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">So if all that smells enticing, then hey, you’re
cordially invited to this scrumptious mystery box feast, with the Pilot episode
directed by Karyn Kusama, and the season finale by Eduardo Sánchez, both names
that have graced the <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">¡</span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Qué Horror</span></em><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">! </span>Archives.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Kusama gave us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2016/09/a-rundown-of-13-best-horror-movies-ive_89.html" target="_blank">The Invitation</a></i>, while Sánchez was at the helm of <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">¡<em><span style="font-style: normal;">Q</span></em></span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">ué<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> h</span>orror</span></em><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">! </span>2010 title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2010/10/seventh-moon-review-though-i-found.html" target="_blank">Seventh Moon</a></i>, 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-rundown-of-13-plus-best-horror-movies_17.html" target="_blank">Lovely Molly</a></i>, and the pre-online <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">¡<em><span style="font-style: normal;">Q</span></em></span><em><span style="font-style: normal;">ué<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> h</span>orror</span></em><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">! </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com/2008/08/altered-review-brought-to-us-by-eduardo.html" target="_blank">Altered</a></i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">And don’t worry, ‘cause the show’s been renewed for
a second season, so we’re at least assured of still more hijinx beyond the
kookoo bananas craziness of this wondrously glorious first season.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Goooooo, Yellowjackets!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“What? There’s
no book club?!”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">O</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">h help me Jesus,<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">get through the storm.<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">I had to lose her –<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">to do her harm.<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">I heard her holler.<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">I heard her moan.<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">My lovely daughter –<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="background: white;">I took her home.<br /></span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">--“Down by
the Water”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PJ Harvey<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Parting Shot:<br /></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Yellowjackets</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">
has just received two nominations at this year’s Writers’ Guild Awards, for
Drama Series and New Series.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Competition is stiff in both categories, so we’ll
just have to see how things turn out on March 20, when the winners are
announced.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Yellowjackets
</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">also gobbled up two nominations at this year’s Critics Choice
Awards, one for Best Drama Series, and the second for Best Drama Actress
(Lynskey).<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Competition is likewise stiff over there, so we
shall see on March 14 how the Critics Choice Association vote…<br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">For what it’s worth, once more: Goooooooo, Yellowjackets!<br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">“What if the
truth is just that we’re all f*cked in the head from what happened to us?”<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">(</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Yellowjackets</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> key
art courtesy of amazon.com.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
</div></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-35396903481148200782022-01-09T22:56:00.001-08:002022-02-07T19:27:15.185-08:00reVIEW (51) SCREAM 2<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8SuV2LaPGkdrSz1V4Wub4Ko-NPt4fA-u25HgalZYkin-_FZLR8gIoP9O4pMgUczo-Mh85ypjCfVnbAMS8wenVGQPDv7Q9YUfBoLmMMjppqIHOX8AwddpTIgtqR4HZmV4V0a5-bn4EVWz7J_HzthIUTwx6U6dte5pEBzDJQdrffzI5G2Z9BeiPVYFE=s755" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="511" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8SuV2LaPGkdrSz1V4Wub4Ko-NPt4fA-u25HgalZYkin-_FZLR8gIoP9O4pMgUczo-Mh85ypjCfVnbAMS8wenVGQPDv7Q9YUfBoLmMMjppqIHOX8AwddpTIgtqR4HZmV4V0a5-bn4EVWz7J_HzthIUTwx6U6dte5pEBzDJQdrffzI5G2Z9BeiPVYFE=s320" width="217" /></a></div><br /><strong><span style="color: #800180;">reVIEW (51)</span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="color: red;"><i>SCREAM 2</i></span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">... and with a brand new </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">j</span></span></span>ust
around the corner, here’s the other zombie I wanted to resurrect…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Go,
zombie, go!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Shamble
across the Interwebz!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Let’s face it, Sidney. These days, you
gotta have a sequel!”</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span><i>- Stu (from </i>Scream<i>)</i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The
menacing drone of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “Red Right Hand” plays over the
opening credits of a film called <i>Stab</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Yes, <i>Stab</i>--the film based on the novel <i>The Hillsboro Murders</i>, written by the
Antichrist of tabloid TV, Gale Weathers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">With
an audience of howling gorehounds in white masks and black cloaks, the sneak
preview of <i>Stab</i> (presented in
“Stab-O-Vision,” naturally) serves as the opening sequence of <i>Scream 2</i>, an opening that is both a
sobering indictment of how fanatical some gorehounds can get about their horror
movies, and a brilliant follow-up to <i>Scream</i>’s
taut opening; we even get to see Heather Graham (a long way from <i>Twin Peaks</i>, she is) do Drew Barrymore’s
Casey Becker, in a great <i>Psycho</i>
homage.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Slamming
us with a coda that is a chilling example of what <i>Scream 2</i>’s “freaky Tarantino film student,” Mickey (Timothy
Olyphant), terms “life imitating art imitating life,” the sequence drags us
bodily into the second chapter in Kevin Williamson’s envisioned trilogy, a
stunning continuation of the first film, many of its plot elements and
surprises logical ramifications of events that occurred in the original.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“It’s starting again, Randy.”</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span><i>- Sidney</i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Two
years after the bloodbath at Stu’s house in <i>Scream</i>’s
climax, Sidney (Neve Campbell, back for a second round) and fellow Woodsboro
massacre survivor Randy (Jamie Kennedy) have gone on to university, where they
are pursuing a “pseudo-quasi-happy existence,” trying to put the past behind
them. A past that refuses to go away, as not only has Gale Weathers (Courtney
Cox) written a book about Woodsboro, but a film has been made from that novel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Then
there’s Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), falsely accused by <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sidney</st1:place></st1:city> for the murder of her mother (as seen
in <i>Scream</i>), still trying to clear his
reputation by getting on the tube to tell his story.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">With <i>Stab</i>’s opening just around the corner,
all these media prods set the stage for the renewed mayhem; as an Omega Beta
Zeta sister puts it so succinctly, “It’s that movie, <i>Stab</i>. It’s bringing out the crazies.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“If there is some freaked-out psycho
trying to follow in Billy Loomis’ footsteps, you probably already know him. Or
her. Or them. They’re probably already in your life. They get off on that.”</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span><i>- Dewey</i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The
sly intelligence and self-referential wit evidenced in <i>Scream</i> is still here in the sequel, proving that Williamson’s skill
at writing a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat horror film that is also a
statement on the genre and the medium, was not a one-off fluke.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">From
the broad thematic (and cinematographic) nods to <i>Psycho</i> (and, to a certain extent, <i>Psycho II</i>) to the particular--and peculiar--workings of the <i>Scream</i> universe (what could just have
very well been a throw-away line from the first film crystallizes into
“reality” as we see Tori Spelling essay Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott in <i>Stab</i>; it’s just too bad we don’t get to
see David Schwimmer’s Dewey), Williamson displays firm control of plot and
character, taking the survivors from the original and bringing them two years
forward, each of them displaying scars--both physical and psychological--from
the events in Woodsboro.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And
given the strong sense of continuity between the first two chapters of the <i>Scream</i> trilogy, my mentioning <i>Psycho</i> may be very appropriate, since,
the way I see it, after all the trauma the survivors of <i>Scream 2</i> go through, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if <i>Scream 3</i> opens with said survivors
running a motel just off the highway, dressing up in masks and cloaks and
murdering unsuspecting secretaries on the lam.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“So it’s our job to observe the rules of
the sequel. Number one: the body count is always bigger. Number two: the death
scenes are always much more elaborate. More blood. More gore. Carnage candy.
Your core audience just expects it.”</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span><i>- Randy</i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Though
the death scenes here are not necessarily any gorier than those in the
original, what are certainly more elaborate this time around are the set pieces
leading up to those deaths; the chases, the thrills, the suspense. In an
astoundingly nerve-wracking sequence, Williamson actually outdoes the “potential
slasher victim trapped in the back of a cop car” scenario in <i>I Know What You Did Last Summer</i> with the
one in <i>Scream 2</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Williamson
and director Wes Craven also utilize the Windsor College setting to its utmost,
wringing all they can out of the “college campus as stalking ground” milieu.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Just
as <i>Scream</i> played with the slasher
setting archetype of the small town terrorized by the mad killer (as
established in <i>Halloween</i> and done to
death in many a subsequent film, such as <i>The
Prowler</i> and <i>My Bloody Valentine</i>),
<i>Scream 2</i> trods the well-worn
footpaths of such slasher fare as <i>Graduation
Day</i> and <i>Final Exam</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">True
to form though, Williamson takes it that one, smart step further. The script is
so cognizant of its setting that the environment is exploited for all its thrill-worthy
potential.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">At
one point, Kennedy, David Arquette, and Cox share a particularly intense scene
set on the sprawling campus lawn <i>in broad
daylight</i>, and in another (in what I like to think of as the film’s T.S.
Eliot “Who is the third” moment), Campbell does a great turn in a slightly
surreal dress rehearsal where Sidney plays the doomed prophetess Cassandra
amidst a masked Greek chorus.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Even
Sidney’s identification with Cassandra--who is doomed to live out a future she
is intimately familiar with, because she can convince no one of its impending
reality--is a stroke of genius on Williamson’s part. At one point in the film, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Sidney</st1:city></st1:place> laments, “I knew
this was going to happen”; the police stations and reporters are now a
painfully familiar sight for poor Ms. Prescott.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">“Wow. That was intense.”</span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">-</span><i>- Cotton</i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Crackling
with an air of tense expectancy and boasting a climax that has some last-minute
mind screws and plot curveballs, <i>Scream 2</i>
is an expertly executed film that highlights not only the fascination of the
movie-going masses with violence, but also the omnipresence of the media in our
lives.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It is
a film that once again proves that, 1) Wes Craven is alive and well and still
quite capable of eliciting the scares, 2) it doesn’t hurt for horror to have a brain,
and 3) Kevin Williamson is a brilliant writer with a deep respect for the genre
and a great sense of humour.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Described
by one critic as “a fascinating piece of work for a post-media society,” <i>Scream 2</i> is a film that holds a mirror
up to itself, the horror genre, and the audience, all in one graceful, knowing
gesture (the audience being a microcosm of society at large); a film that gives
you pause for reflection, as you’re running scared silly for your life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“</span></i><i>You </i>do<i> realize that if we were in a </i>Scream<i> movie, </i>you'd<i> be the prime suspect...</i><i><span lang="EN-US">”</span></i></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">-- Mark Gatela to me</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>[</i><i><span lang="EN-US">The above review existed in a former published
life, and in slightly altered form, in the year 1997, under the identity of “Scream
and Scream Again.”]</span></i></span></div><div><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">(</span><i>Scream 2</i> OS courtesy of impawards.com.)</span></div></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7657375140509078444.post-43768457495731149572022-01-08T00:40:00.002-08:002022-02-07T19:26:27.959-08:00reVIEW (50) SCREAM<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIcfE-UzHNu68n5l50U8g8Sig5GK2AscJqO_C_q7_WWOlV3-1-gaF0zyYj4_H4jYVnidNVK0X-YXiVjMcj0DBvkJxMz6_KOSfcoPrsi0fG6nFAptgs_gYFOfD136Ngjg4embTO-WozO03toyaRXQQbxZ0_RJnLOLe8qHgKEFrVUuj8K7xVq4jmHoSH=s755" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="507" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIcfE-UzHNu68n5l50U8g8Sig5GK2AscJqO_C_q7_WWOlV3-1-gaF0zyYj4_H4jYVnidNVK0X-YXiVjMcj0DBvkJxMz6_KOSfcoPrsi0fG6nFAptgs_gYFOfD136Ngjg4embTO-WozO03toyaRXQQbxZ0_RJnLOLe8qHgKEFrVUuj8K7xVq4jmHoSH=s320" width="215" /></a></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="color: red;"><i><br /></i></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #800180;">reVIEW (50)</span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="color: red;"><i>SCREAM</i></span></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">With the impending r</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US">elease
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i> (the fifth installment and
the first without the late, great Wes Craven at the helm), I figured I should
resurrect a couple of corpses and let them do the zombie shuffle across the Interwebz,
so… here’s one…<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">[The review below existed in a former published
life--and in an altered form--in the year 1997, under the identity of “Hitting
the Right Pitch.”]<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“What’s the point [of watching scary
movies]? They’re all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted
girl who can’t act, who’s always running up the stairs when she should be going
out the front door. It’s insulting.”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">-- Sidney<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">In
1977, former literature professor Wes Craven--who had already helmed 1972’s
lurid <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Last House on the Left</i>--directed
the aridly vicious <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hills Have Eyes</i>,
cementing his reputation as a creator of gritty and uncompromising horror
films.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">A
year later, on the last night of October, Michael Myers haunted the streets of
Haddonfield in a blood-drenched homecoming that would spawn a whole sub-genre
within the horror field, and would make the careers of director John Carpenter
and actress Jamie Lee Curtis.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">It
would be six years later, in 1984, that Craven’s path would intersect with the
trajectory of the slasher film genre, when he ended up creating a horror icon: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Nightmare on Elm Street</i>’s “bastard son
of a hundred maniacs,” Freddy Krueger--an icon that would later lose all of its
potency to the insidious disease, sequelitis.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Flash
forward a dozen years, and Craven once again plunges into the slasher genre
with a little scary movie called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“See, the police are always off-track
with this sh!t. If they watch </span></i><span lang="EN-US">Prom Night<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, they’d
save time. There’s a formula to it! A very simple formula! Everybody’s a
suspect!”<br /><o:p></o:p></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">-- Randy<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">From
its intense opening sequence which features a wicked ‘90’s take on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When A Stranger Calls</i>, coupled with a
game all horror hounds would both love and dread to play (watch out for the
trick question), Craven makes it clear he’s out for blood.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">The 13-minute
sequence is so taut and solidly crafted, it makes far better viewing than any
number of random full-length slasher entries you might name.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">It also
utilizes a device hardly seen in the 36 years since 1960’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psycho</i> (though Chuck Russell’s remake of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Blob</i>, and Craven’s own original <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightmare</i> actually, also used it to good effect).<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">With
that brilliant sequence, we are rushed headlong into what can perhaps be best
described as a postmodern slasher film that could very well have been the final
word on the genre.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“You should never say ‘Who’s there?’
Don’t you watch scary movies?! It’s a death wish. You might as well just come
out here to investigate the strange noise or something.”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">-- Ghostface<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">It
will be remembered that Craven first attempted to do the postmodern meta thing
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wes Craven’s New Nightmare</i>,
where Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, and Craven himself, all appeared in a
tale that presented them struggling against the evil they had created on the
screen, now bursting through into the “real world.”<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">John
Carpenter’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the Mouth of Madness</i>
would also explore similar terrain.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">However
you may feel about either title though, I think it’s fair to say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i> hits just the right (meta) pitch.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">It’s
a wickedly self-referential film that speaks the language of the movie buff:
from the general (rated relationships and the “life is a movie but you can’t
choose the genre” analogy) to the specific (the exposure of a slasher film’s
conservative, puritanical heart in one of the cardinal rules of the genre: sex equals
death, the virgin gets out alive--oft-discussed by the more critically-minded
of us gorehounds in the nearly 20 years between Carpenter’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Halloween</i> and Craven’s second slasher
triumph).<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">In
loving tribute to the very audience who had, by that point, held him in awe for
decades, Craven’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i> is a genuine
joy for horror film fans, making reference to a whole slew of movies, from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terror Train</i> to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Silence of the Lambs</i>.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">It
even turns the entire “Do horror films create violent psychos?” debate on its
head in one swift, clean stroke.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">With
the skill of a surgeon (or an anal-retentive serial killer), Craven and
scriptwriter Kevin Williamson play with audience expectations, utilizing every
trick they can get their hands on, including time-honoured horror movie clichés
and the genre formulas we all know and love, to give us a solid slasher flick
that cuts right to the bone.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“What movie is this from? </span></i><span lang="EN-US">I Spit On Your Garage<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">?”<br /><o:p></o:p></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">-- Tatum<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Scream</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> is a horror movie that manages to
entertain, set you on edge, and study the genre it belongs to, all in one fell
swoop. In doing so, it places the entire slasher genre on the hot spot.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">Even
Craven is not safe from himself. From the conspicuous-looking janitor to the
throw-away line, “You’re starting to sound like some Wes Carpenter flick or
something,” it’s clear this film also has a sense of humour.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">But
like all great horror movies, it’s also relentless and persistent--the
Energizer bunny wearing a hockey mask, coming at us again, and again, till the
bloody end; an end orchestrated to perfection with a videotape of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Halloween</i> playing as counterpoint.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“Only virgins can outsmart the killer in
the big chase scene in the end. Don’t you know the rules?”<br /></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">-- Randy<br /></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKkGMtSZyB1oYfcCLynjw5N9rWYF8fdr9j09YfVRdqRykhtsrX-6LiI6SJQUNEOPtGTxI9cV6gmJccxzXSCT5jCyzgYUewgB-f0u9zCVFZMdk8bm6rQZ4ZJCGHc-tGZmjis1r4VX08EKnyeE10jzpmXirADg5kkEtYOABbwY1CTui4Y0yESybBVOQC=s535" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="535" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKkGMtSZyB1oYfcCLynjw5N9rWYF8fdr9j09YfVRdqRykhtsrX-6LiI6SJQUNEOPtGTxI9cV6gmJccxzXSCT5jCyzgYUewgB-f0u9zCVFZMdk8bm6rQZ4ZJCGHc-tGZmjis1r4VX08EKnyeE10jzpmXirADg5kkEtYOABbwY1CTui4Y0yESybBVOQC=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">As I
mentioned earlier, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i> could very
well have been the final word on the slasher genre.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">But its
box office success would prove to be a siren song Hollywood was loathe to
resist.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Which,
in the final analysis, was still a very good thing, as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream 2</i> (reView post to follow soon) proved to be a crackerjack
sequel.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">And
while I was ultimately disappointed by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream
3</i> (Williamson did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> write the
screenplay), the 11-years-after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream 4 </i>(with
Williamson back on scripting duties) turned out to be a curious title for me.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">I
didn’t much care for it back in 2011 when it was released. But I went back to
it just last year as a refresher and was pleasantly surprised to discover a
newfound appreciation for it.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Whereas
my initial reaction was that it was an ultimately pointless retread, it turns
out my reconsidered opinion is now that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">4</i>
is a slyly wicked subversion of the “Let’s introduce the new generation to replace
the OG characters” type of reboot, where<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #800180;">[SPOILER!!!]</span><br /></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">some
of the very characters you fully expect to have the torch handed over to reveal
themselves to be the ones under the Ghostface mask.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Bravo,
Craven and crew.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">And
now, we have the 11-more-years-after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scream</i>
to look forward to…<br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Hopefully,
it does Mr. Craven proud.<br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span><span lang="EN-US">(<i>Scream</i> OS & UK quad courtesy of
impawards.com.)</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>space monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304734837068508044noreply@blogger.com0