I'm Not There

Annual Thanksgiving Post  Have a great Thanksgiving and please be aware of where and how you seat your guests. Better yet, if you don't like someone, don't invite them over for dinner over some fleeting self serving act of kindness.  Although Peppermint Patty took it upon herself to invite herself and her friends, don't be wishy washy and accept it.  If the Peanuts kept getting together like this for Thanksgiving up until they were adults and the seating arrangement was the same, I bet the addition of alcohol would make for some interesting conversations. I should write that story. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: the 30 Year Reunion.  Have it take place in modern day and Linus trades his blanket for a MAGA hat and makes everyone uncomfortable when he starts praying and Lucy is still nowhere to be found.  Hopefully in prison for taking away the ball from Charlie Brown and giving him a head injury so he has to keep making the same Thanksgiving dinner every year because he

All of you are very pretty, I love you.  The final screening for this year's festival takes us back to a time of endangered teenagers,  sloppy gore and nudity: the 80's .  The Slumber Party Massacre really lives up to its name and the expectations it suggests.  Spoilers ahead. The first half of the movie tries to find that sweet spot of comedic horror while the second half is more of a survival game.  It's interesting that a woman wrote the script and another woman directed this movie, pretty rare even today.  There are a couple of gratuitous and unnecessary nudity shots in the beginning to probably draw in teenage boys and perverts.  There's a shower scene in the girls locker room where the camera very slowly tilts down to a girl's butt, for no reason, the shower scene didn't need to be as long as it was but... you know.  I wonder how the writer and director felt about having such a blatantly exploitative scene in the movie, (I haven't listene

Keep us Asleep Keep us Selfish Keep us Sedated Continuing with the John Carpenter train, They Live is a film whose themes resonate as much today as they did in 1988.  Be woke.  Nearly everything being talked about   we are still dealing with today, except maybe police brutality, oh wait.  The theme of the film is keeping the population dumb and sedated while the powerful (ie rich) live off their labor.  The powerful in this case happen to be aliens from another planet which makes this film "horror" and thus, more palatable to the masses.This is also reflected in the title of the movie which is expanded in an early scene (They Live, We Sleep). The people in the movie tend to zone out watching television, allowing all the subliminal messages to influence their decisions and lifestyle.  Imagine what the film makers would think now that we have increased the number of screens we are exposed and addicted to (phones, computers, tablets, watches etc). Politically, this film

Trust Me The new  Halloween  movie stands out because it provided me with  the best movie viewing experience out of all the other movies in the franchise.  The only thing better than the Dolby Surround sound, the Blue Moon and reclinable seats, was the company.  As a result, I am unable to write a objective response to the film, at least until I re-watch it.  Instead, let's talk about something scarier than Michael Myers stalking victims; interpersonal relationships. The scary part comes primarily from the uncertainty of the other person's intentions and purposes.  Obviously if a person's last relationship was trash or ended badly, this fear is understandable.  It seems that learning to trust again, specifically in dating is the biggest obstacle both sexes face.  It' seems almost tragic that the most basic and essential concept is the most difficult to regain.  Add to that, the fear of what others are going to think when they find out your decision to date a speci

I feel like a new toothbrush.  Even in the 50's, Universal still followed the same formula of ending their monster pictures with a sad death interrupted by the glaring high note Universal theme.   This Island Earth  is a film which I had heard about but never knew what it was about.  Seeing as how this year's festival hasn't explored sci fi alien elements much, this was a fine film to choose.  As mentioned, Universal seems to re use their monster formula over and over up until this film which is considered by many, the very last original Universal monster film,  Sure there were Creature sequels but I said original, didn't you read that?  As such, the formula of the tri tone music introducing the monster is there as well as the monster itself not really being good or bad. In this case, they were created as slaves and then attacked, the monster is just fighting back in the limited screen time it has.  It first appears within the last 20 minutes it appears maybe for

Was that the Boogeyman? After watching the original Halloween, I came to the conclusion that the movie would have been way shorter if the characters had cellphones.  It will be interesting to see how they deal with this in the new Halloween which I am watching tomorrow.  Will Michael know how to use a cell phone?  How will this affect his stalking tactics?  On a side note, I noticed that most of the kids went trick or treating while the sun was still out.  I don't know if that is supposed to be an East Coast thing but in all my years of trick or treating, I have NEVER seen kids go out for candy while the sun is still out.  I have only seen this in movies like E.T. and Freaks and Geeks; that's it.  Every time I would see these scenes it would catch me off guard and I would question why the kids were out so early, it seems really boring.  In Halloween, the kids are already out as Laurie and her friends are walking home from school.  This means that the latest they could be

Braiiins... The Return of the Living Dead  is a movie I had heard about a lot that spun off a couple sequels but I had never actually seen.  It is considered one of the most popular cult classics and is representative of 80's horror.  After watching the complete film, I can see why it is beloved by many and I can only speculate,  superior to its sequels. The acting is over the top, the story is far fetched and the effects are sub par.  The detail in the props is great as seen above but the practical effects themselves are not.  This is not a negative as all the aforementioned things make this movie a fun "popcorn" movie that would have been great to see on a date back on 1985.  Also, there's gratuitous nudity that really did not need to be there but just was, classic 80's. The movie addresses the concept of why the undead eat brains and also acknowledges the existence of Night of the Living Dead and   by acknowledging I mean they reference it and steal its en

(Horn honk) Terrifier  had me terrified because I really hate clowns, I hate that I had to watch it, alone but this is the job.  Cinematically, it is a good horror movie, a throwback to the slasher film.  Visually, the clown's makeup is fantastic, reminiscent of the Gentlemen from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The special effects were also great  and overall a pretty good story.  The character of Art the Clown has very creepy mannerisms in this movie, things that made me smile because they were done right.  His stupid smile, the fact that he doesn't speak and when he rides around in a little bicycle. He is a believable maniac clown which makes the kills that much better.  I was thinking that this film would kind of go downhill after the first half but thankfully it did not and I have to respect Damien Leone. I mentioned this is a throwback film and the fact that they used mainly practical effects combined with the grainy look of the film accomplish that nicely.  There are al

Do it! Finish it. Bad Moon is a movie about how sibling relationships influence family dynamics.  It's a movie about a boy's undying love for his dog, his only friend.   Also, it is a werewolf movie from the late 90's that hardly anyone remembers. It is so 90's that the kid in the movie is played by Dennis the Menace.  Mason Gamble will forever be Dennis the Menace, regardless of how much he thinks he's changed and how much facial hair he tries to grow.  Maybe on his tombstone it will say " Hey Mr. Wilsoooon."  That was unnecessarily dark and I will now continue discussing this movie. The story is about a single mother (Janet) and her kid (Bret) who get a visit from the Janet's brother (Ted)who  moves his Airstream trailer into the woman's beautiful isolated house, bought by her fancy lawyer money.   However,  Ted is carrying a secret,because when he was in the jungle in an Asian country, he got bit by a werewolf whom he eventually kill

You... are Paimon. I had heard several people praise Hereditary when it was released earlier in the year and I knew I had to screen it for this years IFFF.  We live in a society where a horror film is released every couple of weeks but sadly, most of them are not received that well by both critics and the public. I glanced at a review for this film that compared it to The Exorcist which in the horror world is high praise.  Personally, I saw The Exorcist for the first time about three years ago and thought it was very slow and boring, even if I was an audience member in the 70's I would have been bored.  Still, that comparison means something to a lot of people and I gave this film a shot and it turns out it is way better than The Exorcist. Even while watching this, I was thinking, ney, hoping that this film would make me feel like everyone else seems to feel about The Exorcist.  I prefer my horror filled with monsters and slashers, the supernatural has always been very bor

The character of man is such a shiftable thing. Seeing as how the Harvest Moon is tonight, I had to watch  The Wolfman earlier today.  Ever since I started screening these movies, this one has been calling my name and tonight was the perfect night.  I've heard both good and bad reactions to this and the bad are mostly trolls and nerdy fanboys who just don't want to see change and there is no version of this movie that would appease them.  This phenomenon has and is still plaguing all of Universal's monster remakes in their Dark Universe.  The "fans" who aren't happy are the loudest and get the most attention.  On the other hand, if Universal hadn't stopped caring about their monster properties and did something with them prior to these remakes, it might be a different story.  It's like having an older cousin that everyone praises but you've never met and then one random day you meet and are expected to get along great.  NOt gonna happen.  Also

(Predator Noise) I was debating whether to classify this as horror or simply an action/suspense film and ultimately decided it belongs to the horror genre.  Why?  Firstly, the obvious minorities are the first ones to die. Furthermore, the predators are like serial killers silently stalking their prey until they catch them and rip their spine out or kill them in bloody gory ways.  If Saw can do this and get away with it being called horror because they put in a few jump scares, then this movie is fair game too. I was told this was the better of the Predator sequels and I will say that this is an absolute factual statement.  However, I have not seen any of the sequels except for Alien Vs Predator which I thought was ok but this movie definitely surpasses it.  There is a lot of action and intense moments that will make this movie enjoyable for anyone that is not a fan of horror or is unfamiliar with the Predator franchise.  The concept is original for the universe and it is diffi

Brother and sister no more, now husband and wife! Probably the most problematic line in the entire film, especially since the scene right after that is a long intercourse scene.  Anyway, I had never seen Mary Shelley's Frankenstein  until today and for the most part, it's an entertaining film.  The first half hour is rubbish backstory that establishes the characters in a boring, drawn out way.  If the rumors are to be believed, this is all director/star Kenneth Branagh's doing.  To be fair, most periods pieces set in the 1700's/1800's are boring as hell.  Fight me on this. Aside from the source material, it is very difficult to label this film in the horror genre along with all the other Frankenstein films.  It very much feels like a dramatic film from the 90's with all the music playing over long shots of sunlit landscapes.  Still, it has elements of horror such as two jump scares and deals with the non-living, so it counts.   DeNiro as the creature rea

It's Robot Blood  Like any good horror film from the 80's the image on the poster is nowhere in the actual film.  It's a shame because I would kill to see that movie, haha "kill".  Chopping Mall is the definitive cult film, it's not very good but it is not completely terrible.  It follows the familiar tropes, with the cool guys and the nerds fighting together, the evils of sex which means nudity! Well, boobies.   The intro was reminiscent of Fast Times with people going to and fro inside a mall depicting restaurants and arcades.  Although Dawn of the Dead tackled the "trapped in a mall" theme eight years earlier, this film is not as eloquent and doesn't seem to provide social commentary on the shopping obsessed culture of the time.  Instead, we get a fun, fairly entertaining story about killer sentient robots brought to life a la Frankenstein.  The 30 something looking "teens" get together to try to eliminate three evil r

The second film in this year's Images of Fright Film Festival was Another Wolfcop .  Seeing Wolfcop in 2016, I was refreshing in the sense that it was an original take on a werewolf movie that was not afraid to be campy at times.  Despite the tagline on the poster above, this sequel was bizarre and disappointing me as a fan.  Spoilers below. It started with an over abundance of sex and fart jokes that really took me out of the movie.  Granted, Wolfcop had sex scenes and boobies but for some reason the director thought it would be hilariouuuuuuuuus to keep coming back to these tired tropes throughout the movie.  A fourth grader would probably find the first couple times funny and then get worn out by the same joke.  Stupid jokes aside, my main issue with this film was it did not respect the intrinsic reality established by the first film. Basically, some rich mogul named Sydney Swallows creates a beer called Chicken Milk that when drank by people, has the capacity to have a

My Images of Fright Film Festival began today for the ninth straight year.  The firs screening wa sthe gem above and after hearing how much better it was than the classic Lugosi version, I have to agree, kind of.  Truth be told, I have never seen the entire Lugosi version straight through in one sitting.  Dracula has always been my least favorite monster and I have never had much of an interest in him.  The reasoning behind this lies behind the fact that he just looks like an ordinary guy and not a monster.  Personally, I like my monsters to look and act animalistic or dead or something to really stand out from humans.  Additionally, films like Monster Squad and that abomination that Stephen Sommers vomited a couple years back with Hugh Jackman have made Dracula the "main villain" as if he was smarter or better than the other monsters.  I think this is due to stupidity on the studio's part thinking that if moviegoers see a villain that looks like them (human) it will b

RIP Toys R Us The elimination of Toys R Us has hit a lot of us pretty hard.  Those that grew up during the hey day of the "world's biggest toy store" will remember that was the greatest store a parent could take you to.  Every toy imaginable and those featured on Saturday morning cartoon commercials could be found din one place.  Those of us who did not have the latest and greatest video gane systems could come here and play Super Mario World 2 and also the Virtual Boy (sadly). As an adult, many times bad situations lead to alcohol consumption.  Some people drink and fight while others drink and hand on to their friends telling them how much they love them,  Then there are others who while intoxicated make videos like this:

Hello!  I'll post this here too.  I saw the film today, really enjoyed it and I made this meme because why not?

You'll seee.....

                                                                            MIA Mia was the name of a girl in college who was very hot and ended up in some music videos however, this post is not about that.  As Zac Effron's "Sowwyyy" face implies, this is just to inform those who have been asking about new posts that I've been M.I.A. because I am taking a course that turned out to be more of a pain in the a$$ than it should be.  The point is, in the end, it will help me create better content.  I don't want to half ass posts here just for the sake of having something so I will definitely keep posting here once some technical academic issues resolve.  In the meantime, feel free to look through my archives here going all the way to last year. Also, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @ FilthyLobo. P.S. Congrats to my boy Guillermo and his masterpiece on the Oscar wins, I called it.  Also, while watching the Oscars I called the first eleven awards.  I

1. Call Me By Your Name This international co-production takes place in the 80's and the cinematography nicely reflects that.  Very strong performances by both the Lone Ranger Army Hammer and the kid  Timothée Chalamet (who was also in Lady Bird ).  The story deals with a boy and his father's adult professorial assistant falling in love/lust.  Hold ooon, hold on, it takes place in Italy where the age of consent is probably lower.  Probably. In any event, the film looks like it belongs in the Criterion collection where were it not for the date on the credits, would be indiscernible from a movie shot in 1983.  The story itself feels like it drags on a little too much, they make the audience wait for the payoff where both characters realize how they feel about each other.  The sex scenes are not explicit, they are minimally shown and/or implied.  This movie reminded me of Brokeback Mountain , not because of the homosexual overtones but because it really seems like it is a b

Happy Belated New Year This is the first post in 2018 and I wanted to make it a nice one. The Reason?  Not just a Hoobastank song but sometimes life and things get in the way.  I've been busy going back to school part time, and work has been silly.   Anyway, in addition to that, the 90th Academy Awards are coming up and I decided to watch every single best picture nominated film along with a few others and write about it.  I had to space these out between homework and annoying responsibilities and relationships thus, it took a while but at last, here we are. I will split this into two posts because I read an article saying people won't read stuff if there's too many words.  Except when it comes to dating, people like things nice and short.  Therefore, in no particular order, my short responses to last year's best movies (according to the Academy).  1. Get Out Jordan Peele 's directorial debut of a smart and socially aware thriller. Who knew Meega