Inspired Cover Art: Thanksgiving (2023)

 Who loves leftovers?!?

While getting my Screenshots for Thanksgiving, I found some alternative Posters for the Films.

If these are fan art, feel free to tag this and I'll mention the creator.

There's this one that is inspired by a lucky day...

Let's keep my previous month's loose theme going as well.

This one is based on a certain Film out of Texas...

Just for a highlight, it is neat to see the tweaks they did here.

It isn't just a copy-paste.

Good work, whoever made them.

Holiday Flix: Thanksgiving (2023)

 Another year has gone by without me watching Thankskilling or its Sequel.

I'm committed to this bit now!

Instead, here is a Holiday Slasher from Eli Roth.
I didn't see it in Theaters last year, but I am seeing it at home now.

Will it be as good as the best stuffing you can find or as bad as that canned cranberry sauce?

Let's find out...

In a long, Cold Open, a man opens his Walmart-eque Store on Thanksgiving, but a big crowd is formed.

This can't be good.

All sorts of dominos fall into place to make the crowd break down the doors!

A riot ensues, with multiple deaths and a horrific (and scientifically impossible) injury!

A year later, things are recovering.

The Sheriff is trying to keep the piece, while one of our 'Teen' Protagonists goes missing for the next 11+ months.

It is Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the celebration of its first Mayor John Carver- a turducken of a celebration!

Unfortunately for the Town, there is a killer on the loose!

He/she/they begin targeting people involved in the riot to one degree or another, with our Heroes being the prime targets.

They need to watch their backs.

As you may or may not remember, this is the second of the Fake Trailers from Grindhouse to become real, following 2009's Machete (and Machete Kills).

How many moments from that Trailer will show up?

Well, I'm a nice and trustworthy guy, so I won't SPOIL things too much for you.

Just know that people die, giblets are spilled and a killer is revealed.  

I'd say more, but, again, I'm just too nice.  The End.

A modern Slasher in all of the best and worst ways.

If you're a big fan of '80s Slashers, you know what I mean.  Once you got into the '90s, they started to get META with Scream and the like.

This one is mercifully free of that stuff, but it still has my one big gripe- Victims that you want to die.

So many of the people are awful and you're supposed to take some sort of joy in their violent deaths.  At least our Leads are relatable and mostly good.

The Plot is fine, with plenty of people that could be the killer.  They do a decent job of making one person not just the most obvious one there.  It's a decent enough mystery.

I won't SPOIL who the killer is, obviously.  Duh.

The Holiday Theme here mostly works well too, as we get all sorts of implements used that fit thing.  

A turkey baster, corn cob holders and the like get used in ways that Martha Stewart would not approve of!

Will this become a franchise?  Only time will tell.
It did give me a bit of Deja Vu though...

A Film that will appeal to fans of Modern Slashers- no question.  It does contain a good amount of mystery and doesn't play the formula too much.

Riffed Trax: Virus (1980)

No, it is not the Jamie Lee Curtis one with robots.
No, it is not the Zombie one (which Rifftrax also did).

This is the 1980 Film about the end of the World due to the mismanagement of a pandemic.  It's sure not awkward to watch post-2019.  No sir!

The Film comes to us from the Director of Battle Royale and many, many Samurai Films- Kinji Fukasaku.
The Cast is a who's who of Character Actors from America- from Glenn Ford to Chuck Connors to George Kennedy.

This cost $16 million to make in 1980, which is over $60 million today.  For comparison, the top-grossing Film in Japan this year- a Detective Conan Anime- grossed just over $100 million in Japan.

So, awkwardness aside, is this a good Film?  Well, I watched it via Rifftrax, so guess what my expectations were...

In 1982, someone accidentally made a bio-weapon- as you do.

Through a series of accidents, a shoot-out and a plane crash, it gets released.

In a bit that is not even remotely feasible in today's World, the Government is aware of the threat and a Leader- a General- locks away the guy who knows how to help.

The so-called Italian Flu (this was written in 1964 as a Book, no doubt riffing on real events) wipes out most of the World.

A General- Henry Silva- wants to bomb Russia, but they aren't at fault.

As I learned from comparing Godzilla 1985 to The Return of Godzilla, Japan doesn't make them the bad guy- even then.

Most of the big names- like Ford and Vaughn- all die off in the one Set that all of their Scenes were filmed in (likely in a day or so).

The only hope lies in the Arctic, as the bacteria can't flourish at -10 degrees or less.  So Chicago and Michigan are safe 9 months of the Year?

A pair of Japanese men there find a shot up base belonging to the Norwegians and find one survivor- a pregnant Olivia Hussey.

Life moves on for the survivors in the Arctic- include George Kennedy, Edward James Olmos and Chuck Connors.

All seems well, until an expert on Plate Tectonics reveals that an Earthquake will hit Washington D.C. and set off our nukes- which were left primed and ready to 'retaliate.'

Can 2 men- including Bo Svenson- get to D.C. and shut down the Nukes in time?

Can the small amount of the World be saved?

Well, no...but Rifftrax only did the American version.
That one ends with the bombs, but the Japanese Version (on Tubi) shows that the one guy walked all of the way back to the survivors.

That's...happy...ish...maybe.  The End.

A Film that sure is about hope...that you'll make it to the end of this one with your sanity intact.

This sure is grim.  It is so grim, in fact, that Rifftrax labeled as a 'Grimtrax' Feature.  It is warranted.

Over the course of 80 to 108 minutes (per cut), millions die and all hope is lost.  Somehow one guy finding a group of like 80 people is supposed to be an uplifting Ending.

I think the idea is that any life surviving means that we can start over.
Even so, yikes- this Film is brutal.

There is a certain charm to this one.  The American Guest Stars generally act either well or at least loudly in their Scenes.  Some- like Kennedy- stand out more than others- like Olmos.

That said, it also features the most American man available at the time- since John Wayne died in 1979- Chuck Connors as...a British Submarine Captain?!?

A Film that is very, very bleak.  It does, as noted, have a weird charm to it, in spite of all that.

How 'The Batman' Didn't Lead to a New Justice League Cartoon

 A while back, I wrote about how Superman: The Animated Series did some work to set up a Justice League Cartoon.

That Show did exist, but most of the work- like introducing Hal Jordan and Aquaman to the team- didn't go anywhere.

Well, after Justice League Unlimited ended, The Batman began!

At the end of Season 4, they had a big Finale Episode which featured a group of Aliens known as The Joining.

Martian Manhunter would debut and help save the day.

Season 5 began with a two-part crossover with Superman, featuring Metallo, Lex Luthor and Poison Ivy, doing a beat-for-beat remix of their interaction in Hush.

After that, a guest-starring Episode for Green Arrow (one of my favorite JLA Members).

The two team up to stop Count Vertigo and there's mention of the Justice League.

After another Episode, The Flash would show up to help him stop Mirror Master.

Kind of a weird connection- he's voiced by John Laroquette, who I just covered as the Narrator in the TCM Remake!

After another non-team-up Episode, 'Ring Toss' would bring Hal Jordan into the, um, TBAU (I guess?).

Hijinks would ensue with The Penguin getting the ring for a bit, but it's Sinestro who's the main villain.

Yes, just like in Superman: TAS.

4 Episodes later, the last piece is put in place as Hawkman debuts!

He teams up with Batman to stop Black Mask and Shadow Thief.

That brings us to Episodes 12 and 13- Lost Heroes.

Some force keeps kidnapping the powered members of the League exploiting their weaknesses!

That leaves Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Green Arrow to save the day.

That and stop an Alien Invasion.

As you probably guessed from the Title here, that's it.

This didn't lead to a new Cartoon with this, followed up only with a Comic called The Batman Strikes...which ended in October of the same Year.

Granted- we got The Brave and The Bold in November 2008, which is (of course) a great Show and is all Team-Up Episodes.

That Show brought together a version of the Justice League International- which features Fire, Ice, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner.

We would get a pair of Episodes eventually with Superman, one of which also features Wonder Woman.
That would be in Season 3 (of 3), mind you.

I guess my question is this- Why is it so hard to set up a Justice League Cartoon?

Anyone know?

Tubi Thursday: Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)

You think that the real 2024 is pretty bad right now?  
Well, according to this 1960 Sci-Fi Film, it could be far worse...

In 1960, Colonel Allison does a Test Flight that defies all known laws of physics and common sense.

He somehow flies a jet into the Upper Atmosphere at 50,000mph and lands.

When he gets down, he finds that things are way different!

He wanders around a bit confused until he sees a Matte Painting.

Oh right- this is apparently a City.

He gets zapped.

He learns a bunch of stuff, so here we go...

He's in the future of 2024.

In 1971, we started to travel into Space, beginning to colonize Planets in '73.

Radioactive fallout mutated people and now society was broken into 3 factions.

Mutants were people fully under the plague.
The people in city were mutated so that they were deaf, dumb and incapable of procreating.
A trio of people also got stuck in the future.

The Captain doesn't trust Allison.
He really doesn't trust the others as well, who keep finding way to not be observed.

He's got a Meng the Merciless look going on, so can you trust him?

They expose Allison to the Mutants (one of whom is played by the Screenwriter Charles B. Pierce).

We only see about 4 of them, the rest of them being made up for via Stock Footage from an Indian Film from 1959.
No, really.

The guy realizes that maybe he can go back and fix things.

He knows about the disaster that happened.

Then again, he could stay in the Future and mate with her.

Decisions, decisions.

To find out how oddly this thing ends, stream it now.

A Film that really shoots for the Moon...and can't afford the trip.

Simply put, this is a Film that was written with something like a $10 million Budget and was made for something like $50,000.

There are so many shortcuts and cheap effects here.
It really tries to be so much more!

The Plot is all sorts of silly- their explanation for time travel is odd- and is played 100% straight.  It can be pretty vanilla as well, with only about 3 sets in use.

They don't have all that much going on.

It is also one of those Films where all of the twists are thrown in at the last Act.  It is silly.

If you're more forgiving, this one has a weird kind of charm.  It also features reused outfits from a far more well-known Sci-Fi Film- It: The Terror from Beyond Space.

A decent Film that really struggles under a low-budget and 2-week shooting schedule.  It has so much potential that it legit deserves a good Remake.

Poor Bastards of Cinema: Another 48 Hours (Part 2)

 A guy so unlucky and random that even I forgot to cover it!

In Another 48 Hours, they are tracking down these Bikers that want our Heroes dead.

Like in the last Film, they find them at a cheap place (a Hotel, not an Apartment Building).

It's also in Chinatown.

The plan to get the drop on them fails, however, as the other Biker- aka The Wishmaster- spots them and a shoot-out begins.

It is all sorts of chaotic.

Somewhere in the middle, it cuts to this random guy walking out of his Room to see what all the noise is...

...and he's immediately shot.

He's never mentioned before or after.

Within the span of about 10 seconds, he appears, gets killed and disappears from the Film completely.

It seriously took me about 4 tries to get these Shots (no pun intended).  It is so fast and random!

Why did this guy die?
Because he just happened to be in the wrong Building on the wrong night.

The moral- enjoy your free Showtime/HBO and don't leave the room at night. 
You'll be better off for it.

Next up, a really inexplicable one with a fun connection to my childhood.  Poor lady.  Stay tuned...

Shudder-day: Chucky- Season 1

 At the recommendation of a family member, I finally checked this Show out.

Naturally, I start watching it once it is cancelled.  Oy.

This is the first Season of...

A young guy named Jake is not the most popular guy in School.

He's openly gay and is into making Art out of dolls.

He finds a 'vintage' Good Guy doll to use for his sculpture, but it won't come apart.

With his drunk Dad at home, he can't keep it there, so...

He soon learns that Chucky is alive and has been in hiding since the events of Cult of Chucky (I guess I need to see that one, eh).

He tries to get Jake to kill for him, 'earning' that by killing his Dad with a loose wire.

Jake is antagonized by his classmate Lexy, who is also dating his Cousin.

He tries to resist Chucky's push to kill, while also trying to get anyone to believe him.

Somehow Chucky has killed people since 1988 and nobody believes it.

The Season is 8 Episodes long and I won't recap it all.

I'll give you a brief summary to end this though...

A fiery dance party.  

Death in the Hospital.  

Old(er) faces from the past Films.

To see it how it plays out stream it now.

A Show that is a must-see for fans of the Franchise.

I've never hated the Films (like, say, Hostel), but I've also never been a huge fan of it.

Did it win me over?

Kind of.  I liked the Show's Story, connecting with Jake and his friends.  I wanted to see them win.

Dourif, as always, is great as Chucky.  I was less of a fan of watching him dub over someone who looks like Tommy Wiseau that was supposed to be him from 1988.

The returning Characters was a nice thing.  As someone who didn't watch Cult of Chucky, I was definitely missing some details.

The new additions to Chucky lore were good, but a bit weird.  Things don't get explained super well.  When they resort to the 'it is magic, we don't have to explain it' thing, you know something is a bit off.

The Show is also pretty gory at times, so be warned.

With all that said, I'm curious to see how it all plays out in the next 2 Seasons, regardless of how USA treated it...

A Show that has renewed my interest in the Chucky Franchise.  Let's see where it goes from here.

Almost Heroes: Roger from 'Trick or Treat'

 This old segment returns.  

A new Hero has entered the fray!

In Trick or Treat, a young man accidentally summons a dead rocker via backwards playing of a record.

His friend Roger is with him, even if he doesn't know that last part yet.
He's just a good friend.

When he realizes that the Tape is now key to the villain's power, he asks Roger to steal it.

He actually does, risking his health to help his friend.

Of course, he also plays it, in spite of being told not to...

This gets the Rocker summoned at the Halloween Party.

After many people are killed, he sees his friend and our Final Girl in danger.

He tries to blow out the power in the School, robbing the Rocker of his strength.

It works, the breaker exploding in sparks.

It doesn't take out the Rocker permanently, of course, as our Lead has to.

Even so, he saves the day in one moment and pays for it.

Roger was a good friend.
He made mistakes.
We all do.

In the end, he was Almost a Hero.