Impossibly-Cool Cover Art: Demonwarp

I survived Irma and this is your reward!

This is a Film that I intend to watch quite shortly.  To wet your appetite and build up way too much expectation, here is a kick-ass Poster for the Film...

Aliens!  Hunters!

Please don't be Alien vs Hunter!

Seriously though, how amazing is this thing?!?

Here's the original...

Mostly just clean-up here.  What else could you possibly improve?!?

Twin Piqued: Part 15

I won't let the Weather keep me from visiting my favorite crazy-ass Town...

Important Moments

- Out of the blue, Nadine gives Big Ed permission to hook up with Norma.  They agree to get married...which they already did TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO (and 16 Episodes ago).  What's up, Mr. Lynch?
- BOB Cooper goes to the Gas Station and talks to a giant Teapot, which is now the representation of David Bowie's Character.  Only on this Show, folks.

- BOB takes Richard Horne with him to do something.
- Drug Addict Asshole Boyfriend is freaking out with Gersten Hayward.  After a Warren Frost Cameo, he fires a shot.
- Audrey continues to be stuck at home.  This is going to be The Cabinet of Caligari isn't it?
- 1/4 of The Hateful Eight kills a random Supporting Character No Country-style.  Alright.

- The guy with the super-strength glove helps James in a Bar Fight.
- Log Lady gives one last message and dies.  Aww.
- After seeing a fateful bit of Sunset Boulevard, Dougie Cooper is inspired to...stab a light switch.

Theme(s)

With this hodge-podge of Plot, I'm going to have to be pretty vague here.  How about...The End.

- One Character meets his bloody end.
- Did we see the end of Dougie Cooper?
- Did we 'hear' the end of another Character?
- A lady freaks out at 'the end' (shut up- you write this at 1 am!)

Weird Moment(s)

This has slightly-less crazy than last time.  With a random, silly death, a pair of super punches and sudden Big Ed Plot, this one had some still!

I still have to go with the bit with BOB Cooper meeting Tea Pot Bowie, awkward voice dubbing guy (a shame that Bowie couldn't record some lines for this!) and the Bray Wyatt-style Editing.

Run.

Another crazy Episode where a lot happens and nothing happens.  Am I the only one that remembers how Nadine gave Big Ed permission to be with Norma?  Did that fill-in book somehow undo that major Plot Point just to abruptly take up 10 minutes of Screen Time as the Show is more than half over?  I love Big Ed and Nadine, but what the hell was this?!?  It kind of reminds me of the 'Norma's Mean Mother Comes to Town' Sub-Plot from Season 2.  Getting past that, the stuff with BOB Cooper was more of the usual insanity.  It is a real damn shame that Bowie could not film/record something for this Show- not that I hold it against the guy.  Speaking of people that are no longer with us, Log Lady's final Scene was great, even if it was sudden.  She still appeared way more than I expected, so good for her.  All of the Sub-Plot stuff seems to be going somewhere- save for Audrey's bit-, so that is sort of a plus.  I don't pretend to understand what Lynch is 'up to' here, but I still hope that it ends with something better than 'the 2 Coopers meet and merge back together.'  Will this strange journey be worth it?  I sure hope so!  What do you think, Obvious Dummy?

Next time, some Plot and closure- right?  At this point, it could be anything really.  See you then...

Prime Viewing: The Tick (2017) - Part 1

After reviewing the Pilot long, long ago, I can finally see the actual Show.

Well, okay, the first half.  Yes, there are apparently Mid-Season Breaks with Binge-Watchable Shows on Amazon!

How does it turn out?  Let's see...

The Tick steals the suit for Arthur from some Villains.  He is going to make him accept his destiny, no matter what.

Arthur is now stuck with the suit and he's a target of many criminals, including Ra and Lint.

Kudos to the Show for addressing the obvious too...

It all revolves around The Terror, the Dr. Doom of this Universe who is seemingly-dead, but connected to most of the Cast.

In lieu of Die Fledermaus or American Maid, we get Overkill.  He's an over-the-top Punisher...so he's just The Punisher.

Is he evil or just a violent good guy?

With Villains after him and The Tick trying to push Arthur to embrace his destiny, how will things work out?

To find out, watch the Show (that they gave us so far).

Great fun!  The whole thing totally worked for me and I make no apologies!  I've always liked The Tick.  As a kid, I grew up on the crazy-ass Cartoon.  As a Teenager, I liked the Live-Action Show, even if it only ran for like 2 weeks on TV.  After a long wait for the official Series to debut, this one had a lot to live up to.  Thankfully, it worked.  Peter Serafinowicz totally nails the character, playing him as both insane, fun and sincere.  I still prefer his actual accent, but the voice grew on me after 5 Episodes.  The rest of the Cast is quite good, as they balance Arthur's awkwardness and give depth to all of the Villains.  The Show continues to be quirky, but still maintains some stakes.  Within 6 Episodes, I still don't know all that much about The Tick, but...eh, that's kind of the point.  His background mystery is played quite well.  If they don't ever pay it off, I'll take an issue with it.  All in all, these first 6 Episodes are quite fun, delivering on the premise and making me yearn to see more.  If you're wondering about the original Tick Actors, one is a Producer and the other...is here voicing a Dog.  Of course I'm not kidding.

Coming back from the arguably-overly-dark Pilot, this one gets the crazy balance right!  I still want Chairface Chippendale though.

Streaming Flix: Little Evil (2017)

Another Netflix Original?  Why not?  After all, I love Comedies and Satan...

Adam Scott is happy.  He's got a good job.  He's newly-married to Evangeline Lilly.  What could go wrong?

Oh right- her Son appears to be the Anti-Christ.  Who hasn't been there?

Can he prove this?  Can he try to get along with the kid either way?  

Will this kid be the end of mankind as we know it or just the end of our Hero's marriage?

It is up to Scott and a cadre of Stepdads to save the World.

We're boned, right?

Can he get through to almost-Damien and save the World?  Will he have to kill?

To find out, watch the Film.

A good mix of Comedy and Horror.  As I've mentioned many, MANY times, Horror Comedies are not as easy as people seem to think.  You have to balance the jokes, the Plot AND keep a life-or-death scenario going at the same time.  Why does everyone think that they can do this?!?  Thankfully, this one gets it pretty right.  Adam Scott, as always, is funny and relatable.  He's a good foil to Lily's seemingly-naïve Mother and the kid's silent, steady evil.  As things get stranger and stranger, you need him there as a Lead.  Things certainly get mighty strange!  The Film is chock full of strange folks, strange sights and is just all around weird.  It does manage to stay grounded in a certain reality, which helps.  Without SPOILing anything, the Film shows that it has some ideas other than just 'Make a Comedy Version of 'The Omen.''  The Story goes in a neat direction, which I liked.  All in all, Little Evil can be big fun.  Yeah- I made a pun.  What are you going to do about it?  Oh...crap...

Seriously though, the Film works as a Horror-Comedy.  That's a bigger achievement than many realize.

Impossibly-Cool Cover Art: Stunt Rock

I don't know what this is...but I totally want to.

All I can say is that this one looks like it totally shreds!

Hot damn!

I can only hope from the tag line that Charles Bronson is in it.

As per usual, here is the original....

Creases are a real pain to remove in Photoshop.  Thanks a lot, Internet!

Streaming Standard: Marvel's The Defenders

After the outrage over Iron Fist and the mixed reaction to Daredevil's 2nd Season, how will this turn out?

The 4 disparate Heroes of the Marvel Netflix are all doing their own thing.  The Hand makes their big move...

This draws them all together, even if they don't necessarily want to be a team.  Can they become a group that will save the day?

All of your favorite Heroes- and Iron Fist- are going to fight a ton of Ninjas, so put up or shut up!

To find out how it turned out, watch the Show.

The culmination of a number of Shows- good or bad.  To truly get the most of it, you need to have at least a passing knowledge of Daredevil (especially Season 2), Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist.  If you don't know them, the Recaps will help a little- but not quite enough.  For example, Jessica talks about her Sister, but you only know that since he told her.  With that said, the big issue is dealing with the whole Hand thing.  You either love or hate how much attention they pay to them.  Some people just wanted it to be over with after Daredevil's 2nd Season.  When Iron Fist was all about that, hope was not high.  This is all about The Hand.  Lots of Ninjas.  Lots of intrigue.  Lots of Monologues about Immortality.  If you can get past the overall idea (or if you like it), the Action is good, the Acting is good (especially Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter) and they played with the Characters quite well.  I liked it.  I don't apologize for not hating the Netflix Marvel Shows.  Take us away, callback to the famous Hallway Fight.

If you don't like the previous Shows, this is a harder sell.  I was on board for them all, so I was quite happy with it.

Twin Piqued: Part 14

There's not a huge bit of Plot this week, but plenty of strange!

Important Moments

- Lynch calls Twin Peaks and is given the clue about 'two Coopers' from Laura's Diary.  He later learns that Naomi Watts is Diane's Half-Sister and make a connection to the mysterious death in Episode 1.  Yes, THAT long ago.  He makes her and Dougie a target for the FBI.
- He shares a long, strange dream of his involving a Monica Belucci Cameo and a random recap of that bit in Fire Walk With Me involving David Bowie.  Suddenly that all makes...maybe some sense!

- In Twin Peaks, they arrest the corrupt Cop and go out looking for the Portal based on Briggs' clues.  They find...a trip for one of them to meet ????? and find a naked lady with mouths for eyes.  Why not?
- James hears a strange story from a British Co-Worker (as Security at The Great Northern) about how he got magic, rubber gloves.
- We learn from very ancillary folks that Billy is still around somewhere.
- Mrs. Palmer has a very strange encounter with a man at a Bar which ends with his death!

Theme(s)

The main Theme is Dreaming.

- Lynch's dream/clip show is revelatory.

- The Lodge bit is all but a dream.

- The Guard's whole Story is driven by his dream.

- Most of the crazy visuals could only happen in a Dream!

Weird Moment(s)

This one is a tricky choice!  So much crazy this Episode, so...

The runner-up is the whole bit in the Lodge.  A bunch of crazy visions- why not?

Just for the sheer randomness of it, the Winner for me is Lynch's dream, especially when Monica Belucci actually shows up!

This one is probably the craziest one since Episode 8.  This one at least had a more clear narrative.  There tend to be 3 kinds of Episodes this Season, which work differently to varying degrees.  First, there is the Plot Heavy Episodes, dumping lots on you in one Hour.  Second, there is the Random, Seemingly-filler Episodes, giving you lots of little things about everyone but Cooper.  That leaves us with what Episode 8 is, a class in and of itself.  This one did a good job of being the 2nd while still feeling like the first.  There's no new bits directly with Dougie (or Doug-E?!?) or BOB Cooper this time.  There is, however, more of him via the dreams and revelations than just a 10-second shot of him not catching a baseball!  We at least see the Characters learn more about what is going on with him.  Seeing the whole bit from Fire Walk With Me was a bit indulgent, but I guess makes up for Lynch not being able to get new Bowie footage.  You just know that he wanted some!  This Show is all about the journey, but will the destination be worth it?  I feel compelled to stick around to see how this Story plays out...

Next time, we'll have more craziness and I hopefully won't be late!  This is not going to go to a sane place any time soon.  See you then...

Impossibly-Cool Cover Art: Shark Week

Leave it to Japan to raise the stakes yet again!

This is another cheesy Shark Movie with a kick-ass Poster courtesy of Japan.  I've got like 4 more, so I need to space them out.

This time, they go arty...

I love the gory simplicity of it all.  There's no way that the Film is this neat.

This is one of the few ones where I did a big change.  See below...

What can I say- I went all in.  More red, more fun!

New Streaming Flix: Netflix's Death Note

After doing the Anime and both Live-Action Films from Japan, I might as well do this new Netflix one...I guess...

We've only got 90 minutes here, so let's get moving...

Light (name unchanged) discovers a magic Book.  Yadda yadda yadda he kills people.  This time- Final Destination-style Gore.  Yea?

This time, Ryuk (named unchanged) drops all of the rules on him one big exposition dump.  We can thank a big name Actor being Cast as the Voice for that no doubt.

This Version of Light isn't all about changing the World though.  He just wants revenge and everything else is cherry.

L shows up in Japan (got to fill the quota) and instantly sees through Light's plan to make people think he's Japanese.

He's still a Mary Sue, but at least they vaguely-explain why.

Ryuk continues to push Light to kill more people, but the real manipulator is Mia- a Character who is the Amalgamation of Misa and Shiori.  She connects with Light and pushes him to expand his scope.

With L on the case, will Light be able to make it without being caught?

More importantly, what does this Version add with another Live-Action Adaptation TV Show from Japan already around?  Oh and a 2016 Sequel to the Films as well!

To find out, stream away.

It isn't bad, but it has many issues.  In case it wasn't clear earlier, I've seen and Reviewed both the Anime Series of Death Note and the Live-Action Films from Japan.  It makes me a bit biased as this is now the THIRD time I've seen some Version of this same Story.  As such, it is hard to talk about this just on its own.  I have to compare it to them- I just do.  The big problem is just the Pacing due to this being a Film and not a Show.  I did the Math back in a previous Review, but the length of the Show adds up to something like 800 minutes.  The 2-Part Live Action Film from 2006 equals out to around 250 minutes.  This one is 90 minutes.  Even assuming that this WILL BE the first of two Parts, there is still no way that this evens out.  Looking at this solely on its own merits for a moment (I'm trying!), the Acting is fine, the actual Story is still good (it is still Death Note) and the Effects look good.  I wasn't as sold on the penchant for big, bloody kills here though.  I'm not shy about blood, but they are almost a bit too distracting for me.  I would say that if you don't know the original Versions by heart, you will probably enjoy this one alright.  If you know the source material all too well, this is a bit of a confusing attempt to consolidate the Story into one Film.  Speaking of Films, what was wrong with this effect?

Not bad as a Film if you only see this Version.  If' you've seen longer, expanded Versions though, you'll know what is missing.

New Flix: Batman and Harley Quinn

After all of the *stuff* that went wrong in regards to Batman: The Killing Joke, is this a return to form or...more of the same?  Let's see...

Some vague time after all of the Animated DC Shows, Poison Ivy is teaming up with Floronic Man (who once made super Weed for her).

Their plan- to make everyone Plants.  Ugh.

Batman spends his time threatening to out a Government Agent as a lover of BDSM (no lie), while Nightwing's night begins with a fight and ends with...ugh...I can't SPOIL this...but ugh.

They recruit Harley to find Ivy, even though she hasn't seen her in at least a year.  Clearly nobody could do it.

Oh and she farts in the Batmobile.  Repeatedly.

To find Ivy and save the World, they must...sigh...stop at a Henchman Bar.  Here are 2 dancing Robots.  

This is not even the dumbest part.  That would be the TWO Filler Music Numbers in this 74 Minute Film (with Credits).

In a Film full of deaths (including one man impaled through the heart!), this happens.

Can Harley be the one to turn the tide and save humanity?  Will the Film end on a high note?  Why is Swamp Thing such a big part of this Story all of a sudden?

To find out, watch the Film (or not).

Ow- my childhood!  This one is bad, but I feel like it bears truly exploring as to why.  First off- the Tone is all over the place.  In one Scene, Harley bemoans her sad, post-Prison life.  In another, she farts in the Batmobile.  In yet another Scene, she is consoling a dying Scientist (she didn't know).  In yet another another Scene, she is making a pouty face to try and save the World.  This Film has murder, 2 musical numbers, mostly-just-about-rape, a joke about Bat Boners, an Ecological Conservation message, people eating magic vegetables, Harley pleading for independence AND the most insulting anti-climax in recent memory.  What. Is. This. Film?  This is my best Theory- Bruce Timm helped Write an ode to his (alongside Paul Dini and others) Series.  Meanwhile, Doug Benson woke up one morning with his own Script (somehow).  Finally, the people who stitched the Suicide Squad Script together ground these two together into a Sausage that would make Upton Sinclair vomit & we got this Movie.  As some weird, stand-alone thing, this would be dumb, but acceptable.  However, this is meant to be following Batman: The Animated Series, Mask of the Phantasm, Superman: The Animated Series, SubZero and Justice League.  Those are good.  This is not.  I want to love Bruce Timm, but he makes it so hard these days!  While this is insulting, dumb and mostly a waste of time, at least they gave up on over-sexualizing Barbara Gordon after...dammit.

Considering the source material and the man behind it, this is a big disappointment.  Who are you and what have you done with Bruce Timm?!?!?