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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Wednesday (Season
One) G
Welcome back, Tim Burton! He was the executive producer of this Netflix
series and directed the first four of the eight episodes (each around the
50-minute mark, give or take). He needed
a comeback after the awful Dumbo
remake (you can read my review for that here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2019/04/dumbo.html). This follows the titular daughter of the
Addams Family (made famous in the original TV series that ran from 1964 to
1966) as she’s forced to attend a boarding school called Nevermore Academy
(where her parents met) after an incident involving piranhas at her other
school. This new school contains
“outcasts” consisting of werewolves, vampires, gorgons, and sirens in a Vermont
town called Jericho (filmed in Romania though) inhabited by “normies” outside
the school grounds. Sure, we’ve seen the
theme of outsiders amongst “non-outsiders” before, especially in Tim Burton
creations, but this ultimately takes more of a gothic Nancy Drew approach. A monster has been attacking people at school
and in town and our titular heroine tries to get to the bottom of it. Jenna Ortega is great as Wednesday, she
nailing the stereotypical goth with a deadpan manner while desiring solitude
and having a death fixation, but underneath that gloomy veneer lies a smidgen
of a heart (no one is born an introvert, after all). She will likely inspire a new generation of
babybats and kindergoths, or at least provide a new image for the
subculture. Now, the series wasn’t
excellent; namely I wasn’t particularly a fan of the few creature designs we
did get to see (they weren’t horrible though) and I think the ending was a bit
feeble, especially after all the build-up.
However, it generally has the signature Burtonesque touch and was
engaging enough to make me want to continue (I would’ve finished anyway due to
Burton’s name attached, but still), so the pros do outweigh the cons (there’s
actually some substance to go with the style).
I think I would be okay with an ongoing series featuring Wednesday Addams
figuring out a different mystery each time, as long as Tim stays involved, or
the style remains intact. Say what you
will about this new series, but I would definitely call it a decent comeback
for Mr. Burton. 11/28/2022Chucky (Season 2)
There are eight episodes again (all roughly 40-something
minutes, again) which you can now binge instead of tuning in weekly like I
did. I didn’t love the first season (you
can read my review in here---https://vampireclown82.blogspot.com/2021/12/chucky-season-one.html),
nor did I love this one, but I somewhat enjoyed them on different levels than I
enjoy the films (namely the first four).
There’s a different feel to this series than the films, in tone and
overall production. Chucky certainly
became a fixture of pop culture (which some might label sellout) and some of
this is a bit too self-aware (i.e. Chucky appearing on a talk show and the
appearance of Jennifer Tilly’s Bound
castmates). As far as whimsical villains
go though, I’m Team Chucky over Team Freddy Krueger, that’s for sure. I do like the appearance of the Kyle and Andy
characters (played by Christine Elise and Alex Vincent, respectively) since
they tie in with the franchise, and both are part of my favorite entry in the
series (Child’s Play 2). I also like how the title in the beginning of
each episode contains specific items in the letters. Being it’s a Chucky series, there is violence,
needless to say, much of it over-the-top (I did like the violence in the last
episode, which was also a Christmas one that ironically aired the night before
Thanksgiving). As of now, there is no
season three confirmation, but I will continue if there is one. Even if the property ends up being less than
stellar, I’m always going to watch anything with Chucky involved. I love Chucky and he’s my friend to the end…11/26/2022
Bonus reviews:
Bros G
This is allegedly the first rom-com featuring two gay men
released by a major studio (that studio being Universal Pictures). Wow, that really says something about humanity,
huh? 2022 is the first time a major
studio released a rom-com featuring gay men?
Homophobia should’ve ended 1,000 years ago, but that’s a discussion for
another time. I was a self-loathing gay
man for many years, more so before I came out to everyone other than my
parents, and that’s likely due to society making me feel ashamed. I admittedly am not a fan of LGBT films since
I feel they are often stereotypical or too fabricated (like much of cinema, I
know), but I have liked some (Chasing Amy,
Go Fish, and But I’m a Cheerleader come to mind). It could be I also don’t like being
pigeonholed; I actually prefer if a movie just contains gay characters. I’m not the biggest fan of rom-coms either,
but I have liked some (ones featuring Sandra Bullock come to mind). Here is a gay film, rom-com too, for that
matter, emphasis on the gay film, that I actually liked. It is funny at times, often well-written, and
I saw some of myself in both of the leads played by Billy Eichner and Luke
Macfarlane (two gay actors). Angry gays
aren’t often portrayed and, trust me, we do exist; plus, cis white gays may
look like the “majority,” making us feel like an invisible minority. That’s another discussion for another time
though, and, as they say, you shouldn’t compare suffering. Now, do I think only gay viewers (namely gay
men) will enjoy this? I know there are
plenty of open-minded people out there, and, hey, we’ve been watching
entertainment with straight couples all our lives, no? All I can say is, you know what you’re
getting into---I remember seeing a man in the video store (yes, I’m that old)
back when Brokeback Mountain came out
and he claimed he would’ve never rented it had he known what it was about
(apparently he didn’t hear a single person talk about it, and/or he didn’t know
how to read the back cover)---so, in case you might be like that guy I met in
the video store, this is a film about two gay men, just to let you know…11/22/2022
Blood Relatives OK/G
New vampire film available on Shudder that isn’t a horror
movie. There’s violence at times, but
it’s not horror. It is a road movie and
a drama involving a father-daughter relationship. Noah Segan stars as said father (he also
wrote and directed) whose teen daughter catches up with him on the road (she
was conceived while he met her mother on the road). Thus begins the relationship they never had,
eventually trying to live as humans (the daughter is only half-vamp and has the
ability to walk in daylight with sunblock).
It is a vampire flick---they sport fangs when feeding, they drink blood
(human and animal), and the father can’t be in the sunlight, nor can he enter
somewhere without being invited---but it’s not horror, not at all. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work though; not
all movies that feature vampires (or anything unhuman) are horror. I did enjoy a decent amount of this, but it
ended too soon. Some may say that’s a
positive since it was over before I knew it (it’s roughly 87-minutes), but it
seemed like it was just getting started when it ended. I’m not sure if a sequel is planned, but I
would actually welcome one since it might make this feel more complete. 11/22/2022
Other
movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
Dead Time Stories (1986) >>>EH
Don’t Worry Darling >>>OK
The Inhabitant (2022) >>>EH/OK
---Sean O.
11/29/2022
