Import/Export: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)

 Will this Finale deliver like it should?

This is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the 2009 Finale to the Dragon Tattoo/Millennium Trilogy.  It's been building up so many things, characters and setting up moments.

As crazy as it sounds, the original title of the Story was 'The Castle in the Air That Was Blown Up.'
I like the new Title better.

Events have left Lisbeth very injured and now in custody for her 'crimes.'  Granted- she did do some crimes, but not the ones they are trying her for.

As the Title implies, her actions are agitating a whole group of people who want her put away to cover their own tracks.

Will they succeed?  To find out, read on...

After being shot several times by her terrible Dad, Lisbeth is in the Hospital.

The Cops also know where she is now, stating that she'll face charges once she recovers.

The Dad- who she struck with an axe- is in the same Hospital, which seems like a big oversight.

He's connected to a group called The Section, who then send a man to get answers.
He tries to blackmail the group instead and it ends...poorly.

With him now dead and the assassin also dead (at his own hands), the group focuses in fully on Lisbeth.

They want her locked away again, which will make any evidence she might present against them moot.

Thankfully, they have the Doctor who abused her as a kid under State 'care' (and Kelsey Grammer's Swedish Twin) to help with just that.

Thankfully, she has help.

Michael is planning a big issue to expose the bad men and gets help from a special group of Police.

It's a good thing too, since his refusal to cancel the planned issue has led Section to send men to kill him (after a plan to frame him fails).

Elsewhere, Lisbeth's creepy half-Brother is hiding out, using money he stole from his former companions in the Biker Gang.
This will matter later.

While recovering, Lisbeth has been communicating with her allies like Michael and her Hacker buddy Plague.

The time has come for her Trial, so she dresses the part (and finally pays off the DVD's Cover).

Plague does well when he manages to hack into the evil Psychologist's Computer.  Not only does it reveal all of the communication between him and Section, but, well, he's worse than Gary Glitter.

That's all I can say here without running into content guidelines.

The whole case unravels- especially after the video of Lisbeth's assault is played- and the Police move in to arrest all of Section, as well as the Psychologist.

Lisbeth learns that she's inheriting her Father's land (and learning about her twin Sister- but only in the Book version) and suspects that this is where her Brother is hiding out.

She's correct and she manages to nail his feet to the floor (remember that he feels no pain)...and leave him for the Gang to take care of.

In the aftermath of all that, Michael has reunited with his lady at Millennium and gives Lisbeth the news about her Brother (likely knowing that she's already aware).

She thanks him for his help and...yeah, that's it.

Were you expecting romance?
The End.

A fitting, if oddly paced finale.

The Plot here is strong, so I really don't get the general gripes I've seen.  This one is all about finally revealing the people behind the Scenes.

They enact their schemes and our Heroes fight against them.

For me, the Film really picked up when the Trial started.  For better or worse, Lisbeth is fairly silent and stoic in the first half of the Film.

This is paid off well, in my opinion, when she finally speaks up at the Trial and defends herself.

This is the Film that finally makes Plague truly important to the Story.  Yea.

Michael gets a nice bit of build here, as he refuses to back down from the danger to do the right thing.
Lisbeth as well, finally showing some vulnerability.

The Ending makes sense, but will certainly be more sedate than American audiences might expect.

Now it is all settled...well, except for WWE's Gunther still being on the loose!

Next up, a chance to revisit a Film that I covered a Decade ago.  Will it bite me back this time?  Stay tuned...

Shudder Day: 'Tales From the Crypt' Meets The Terminator!

 As stated before, I wasn't allowed to/didn't get to watch the original Tales from the Crypt when it ran.

I'm weird enough as it is, so it was probably for the best.

With that in mind, I want to look at an Episode that is quite famous for the unique person who Directed it.

This is 'The Switch'...

A rich guy- William Hickey the OG Puppet Master- has so much, but he doesn't have the thing he really wants...

Kelly Preston.  I can't blame him, even if she wasn't exactly a good lady in the last thing I saw her in.

He wants her to love him for himself and not his money, so he never tells her about his wealth.

She can't marry him, however, because he looks old.

Desperate, Hickey tries a few logical options before just going to a Mad Scientist.

I'd say this is silly, but this is Los Angeles.  There have to be a few (besides Bruce Campbell) if all of those Shows about botched plastic surgery are a thing.

Hickey gets the young man's face and...I'm torn on which outdated reference to use here.

Does he look like Max Headroom?
Does he looks like someone from the Land of Confusion Music Video?
Does he look like the Fake Crispin Glover from Back to the Future II?

You decide!

She's happy with the new face, but his body is old.

He can fix that, even if it costs another $2 million!

He ends up spending all of his money to fully replace his body and goes to marry her, but she's gone!

He finally tracks her down and learns that she really wanted someone rich to take care of her.
The guy he (now fully) switched bodies with fits the bill, since he has all of Hickey's money!

The End.

A fun Episode with a moral, even if it is not the usual one you'd get.

I suppose you could argue that it is 'Be yourself,' but the whole thing hinges upon the lady you want being a 'gold digger.'
I guess they could have been happy- Anna Nicole Smith sure seemed to be for a while.

This is the only Episode to be based on an actual tale from the original Tales from the Crypt Comic Series.  The rest are from other EC Comics.

Turning the whole thing from a simple quest for youth into a quest for peak physical perfection is probably a big reason that its Director got involved.
You get some less recognized people Rick Rossovich and Roy Brocksmith here, as well as Hickey.  Don't forget that his Butler was Alfred on Birds of Prey- Ian Abercrombie.

Yes, he was also in Puppet Master III, so we have two Full Moon Actors here.

The whole thing has a pretty simple gimmick, but is memorable for the execution and, as noted, the man behind the Camera...

A fun Episode, even if the twist won't shock you all that much.  This one works on its own AND happens to be a historical oddity due to its Director.

Fiction vs. Fiction: The Shawshank Redemption

 Stephen King is practically a money factory when it comes to Hollywood.

As such, many many Books and Short Stories have been written for the Screen.

Let's take a look at how a 106-page novella into one of his most beloved adaptations.

***VS***

What's the Same?

The Plot is 100% the same here.
Two Prisoners form a bond, time passes and one of them makes a famous escape.

So...

What's Different?

This is a good example of how you take a Novella and tweak things to a more normal, Film narrative.

For starters, the Casting is a bit different.  Andy is short and wears glasses in the Story.  Red is Irish, so presumably a Ginger.

In the Film, Andy gets in with the main Guard to get the 'Sisters' off of his back (and to break theirs).  In the Book, he takes care of that himself and helps out the current Warden.

The Guards change out quite a bit in the Story, as Andy is imprisoned for 27 years.

He's only in it for 19 in the Film, but I'm not sure why they changed that.

There's also more than one Warden in the Book, which would make sense with the timespan here.  The Film makes it one Warden the whole time for maximum drama.
It is a logical change.

Andy's famous moment of protest with playing the record is NOT in the Book.  He's punished by the Warden just for wanting to get proof of his innocence.

On that note, the Warden has the guy who get Andy acquitted killed off, as opposed to getting them sent to a Minimum-Security Prison in the Book.

Speaking of death, Brooks (the old Librarian) just dies of old age in the Book (stating that they took everything from him), while he actually kills himself in the Film (as he's too used to Prison).

In the Book, Andy explains that he had a friend make a fake identity for him to invest his money in before he was sent to Prison.  Said friend is now dead, making Andy wait to figure out how to pull off the scheme.

In the Film, he uses money made in Prison to set it up.

Andy's escape plays out the same way, though he's got a Linda Ronstadt Poster in the Book.  The Warden retires in shame in the Book, but the Film has him commit suicide to avoid justice.

Lastly, Red complains about normal life and being around women for the first time in 4 Decades on the outside (complaining about being 'half hard all day'), while that part was wisely excised.
The Book is also more ambiguous about the duo meeting, which is what Frank Darabondt wanted too.

Thoughts

The Film makes many obvious changes, focusing the tale more on certain people and consolidating them into one or more people from a dozen.

I do like the original Story and its structure.  It features Red as the sole Narrator and leaves the blanks of Andy's life open until the end.

Either way, it is a good Story.  The Film has great people behind it- including Roger Deakins as Cinematographer- so it is hard to complain much.

Which Is Better?

The Film

Not a knock on the original Story at all, but with a tighter narrative and great production, it really delivers on the potential that the Story promises.

(FYI, I have 'Different Seasons,' so I can easily get at least 2 more King Comparisons out of it)

Tubi Thursday: Gothic (1986)

Oh boy- Ken Russell is back!

Is this a legendary Film for the right reasons...or the weird ones?

Welcome to the House of Lord Byron!

He's in exile from England for, well, lots of stuff.

He's joined by a number of people, including his sometimes girlfriend Claire, Lord Shelley, Mary Shelley and his Doctor/Writer Polidori.

It is a dark and stormy night...and they're taking, well, liquid opium.

They go a little bit crazy, especially after they read a ghost story.

In typical Russell style, it changes and gets tweaked by each reader.
Freaky stuff.

The night gets weirder as everyone gets a bit crazier and more intoxicated.

Nobody is in their right mind and the growing fear and paranoia is only making things worse.

There's also some personal drama going on between Shelley, Mary and the rest.

Things get weird.
Things get spooky.

How will this all work out?
Stream it now to find out.

This one is weird and sure has alot to say.
What that is?  Nobody can quite be sure.

There are some obvious Themes- mortality, insanity vs creativity- and some good Acting.  The positive and negative is that everyone plays this so loudly, crazily and wider than the mass of a gas giant!

Many good Actors- Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Timothy Spall- are here and they all play crazy quite well.

This Film is very chaotic and it will certainly not be for everyone.

This is a Ken Russell Film that will be beloved by his true fans and befuddling to casual fans.
If this is you, stick to other stuff.

A Film that is absolutely a must-see for Ken Russell fans.  For everyone else, give it half an hour and see how you feel.

Forgotten TV: Is This the 2nd Worst Episode of 'The Outer Limits?'

 After finishing the Disc, I decided- with some help- to find a new approach to covering this Show.

Let's see how the 2nd lowest rated Episode of the Show on IMDB is.

(Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm doing the 2nd one, it's because I've already reviewed the lowest rated Episode.)

An Astronaut (Greg Evigan) approaches a Couple for their help.

They have found a crazy wormhole and needs their help, since she's an Astrographer and he's a Doctor.

They assemble a crew, dress up in Enterprise uniforms and go into the wormhole.

I'm not even joking about the uniforms- they have a shared wardrobe.

The wife- Callie Whitehorse- is troubled by a previous pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage.

She finds out that she's pregnant again once they are in the other world (it was a matter of days and wasn't caught).

She's having weird visions of her Mother as well and is warned about how the World is like a body- it's all connected. 

The ship is surrounded by strange gravitons.

Meanwhile, Callie is also experiencing weird symptoms as they experiment in this realm.

Why is this affecting only her?

Well, it turns out that this world is essentially the 'blood stream' of the Universe.  Picturing their entry like a stent being put into a vein.

Scanning this area seems to even show that the area matches a DNA profile!

They have to get out and report this, but it would require detonating the ship and poisoning the area.

As such, Callie sends the others away to stop the ship from blowing up, dying in there and seemingly forming a new World!

The End.

This is truly the 2nd lowest rated Episode of all time?  Weird.

There are obvious reasons I could point out- it is about a 'magic' pregnant lady (that is also a Native person).  All of the user Reviews (admittedly there's like 6) are all saying this.

I mean...that's a weird way to see it.

The Episode states the idea that since she's carrying life (being 10 days pregnant), this force made a connection with her.  It's nothing about her being magic or anything.

I've covered this Show giving us Android Nannies, alien souls inhabiting the dead, the dead literally coming back to life and aliens kidnapping people to restart the World.

Why was the line drawn at 'lady is affected by vague/weird science?'

Rant aside, it can be a bit melodramatic, Evigan's accent pops in at random and there's likely more that could have been done with this concept.

But, I mean, is this nearly as bad as the Clip Show Finale?  Hell.  No.

Next time, let's keep going up in the User Ratings.  How about a tale of bad neighbors and electricity?  Stay tuned...

Screener Flix: Killer Whale (2026)

 Aquatic Creatures can be beautiful...and deadly.

Given that 'Killer' is in this creature's name, it can't be good.

To see how you can do both more and less with this concept, read on...

A Cold Open sets up the Character Arc of our Final Girl.

It involves a gun, a Diner and a boyfriend.

A year later, her friend convinces her to go on vacation with her.  She really wants to make things up for her...for some reason.

They visit an aquatic park with a Killer Whale...and then things take a turn.

The next day, they go out on a trip to a private atoll with the guy they met earlier.

It looks beautiful.
It looks...enclosed.

Our Heroine wants to just take in the sun, while her friend and the guy drive around in a jetski.

However, as you'd guess from the Title, they are not alone...

The duo end up trapped on a rock to stay safe from the creature.

The other problem, of course, is that they have no food and water on this random rock they fled to.

How will they survive?
Can they?
Will they escape?

To find out, stream it now.

A Movie that manages to do more than I was expecting...but also less.

The Plot is pretty simple, with a dramatic beginning to set up later events (which I won't SPOIL).  They get to the Atoll pretty quickly, since the focus is on them being trapped.

I am at least glad that we didn't get this one done in the 'arty way' (showing them on the rock and then showing flashbacks to how they got there).

I liked the Acting from both ladies here.  They felt very natural and they certainly make me want to see them in more.

In older Films, there would usually be a(n often) flimsy pretense for more people to either show up or be there. 
Link, for instance, has 3 guys from earlier go to the House to up the body count.  
That or you get Films (like Piranha 3-D) that make it a larger group of people that are often cliches.

This one is stronger in terms of story for not doing it, but weaker in terms of action and scares for not doing it.
And yes, this is similar in certain ways to a tale of a lady hiding on a rock from a shark.

And also yes, the green/blue screen work here is not always great.  I did like the Whale though.

In summary, Killer Whale is a strong Film for Story, but just know that it is more about that than it is a Creature Feature.

A Film that may not please people looking for the usual Killer Animal Film.  That said, it has many high points and nails the Story.

Forgotten TV: 'The Outer Limits' Lets You See Dead People

 At last, I've reached the final Episode on the Disc.
Will this one be good?

Let's find out as we learn about the...

A man- Joel Grey- meets a sad woman and gives her a substance.

He tells her to take one drop, but she obviously takes more.

She sees her dead Husband and 'dances with him.'

Through some somewhat clumsy expedition, we learn that most of the World's population died off in a viral plague around the year 2000.

To help restore things, grieving was outlawed (how do you enforce that) and Grey is helping people.

A Cop- Daniel (looking more like Alec) Baldwin- is on his tail.

They set up a sting operation to meet him and Baldwin gets some of the drug- called S.

He takes it home, planning to bring it in for study the next day.

...but, being a widower, he takes some anyways.

This makes him see his dead wife- Daphne Zuniga- and, as we find out later, he imagined having 'relations' with her.

Only MacGruber dared to actually show this.

He uses it all, so he meets up with Grey again.

Meanwhile, he has to keep this secret from the organization- he's supposed to bring Grey in, after all.

His visions of Zuniga soon get less...friendly.

We eventually learn that his tragic backstory involves her caring for him before getting ill (not defined how) herself.

He drank to 'keep sane' during this and his guilt is palpable.

Honestly some good work here.

The Organization finally makes the connection and goes to find Grey at a Funeral Home (why does this exist in this world still?).

He takes the fall, giving the stuff to make more to Baldwin.
He knew who he was the whole time and wanted a replacement.

Baldwin and his Partner flee, but she's skilled by a stray bullet.

The Organization thinks that everything is wrapped up as Baldwin is making more S- lots more!

The End.

A strong Episode that uses sci-fi to really encapsulate the Drama.

People tend to think of this Show as being hard Sci-Fi and that's a bit misleading.
I suppose the fact that it was syndicated by the Sci-Fi Channel didn't help matters.

The Plot goes for a big swing and mostly nails it.
I'd love to know more about the plague that killed most of the World, how they decided to ban mourning, how they enforced this and how Grey actually made S.

We don't get that.  Oh well.

In its place, we get a focused tale of love, loss and acceptance with a renowned Actor (except for that one thing), a Baldwin and a prolific TV Show Director at the helm.

It's not perfect, but it was engaging.
Now what emotion is he going for here?

An Episode that wisely has enough Sci-Fi to make things work.  Otherwise, this is just good Drama.