Justice League

2017 is going to go down as one of the best years ever for the cinema. Just flat out, from beginning to end this year has been filled with incredible flicks with deep meaning and amazing blockbusters that broke records and set new bars. So it's going to be a pretty hill to climb when I'm looking at Justice League and I'm seeing something that would absolutely shine in any other year.

Before we get to the meat and gristle, let's talk about the presentation; Zack Snyder previously brought us Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, both of which were somewhat dour and colorless looks at the DC comic heroes. There huge action set pieces, amazing effects, but the whole thing felt like a bit of a drag for me as a viewer. Suicide Squad saw the DC universe expand with a couple of villains, but ultimately felt rudderless. It wasn't until this past year where Wonder Woman hit the mark that DC felt like it was on the right track. Justice League continues to ride that wave, introducing us to new heroes in the form of Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash.

The character interaction in this film brings more humor to the table, with the Flash's refreshing enthusiasm acting as a fulcrum with which to bring light to what had been a world of darkness. Cyborg could have easily become a dark and brooding caricature, but was brought to earnest life and carried the heart of the team. Aquaman was bombastic, Wonder Woman was engaging, and Ben Affleck once again donned the cape and cowl to deliver one of the best Batman performances in ages.
But nothing prepared me for the performance delivered by Henry Cavil as Superman. Because, yes, he is back and yes he plays an important part to the formation of the League... but more than that, and the reason I'm not putting a spoiler warning about this, is that Cavil delivers the Superman of my childhood to the silver screen. He's the earnest boy scout, the hope, the willingness to be good and be human and be HUMANE. It was something I wanted from Man of Steel but didn't feel I got. This movie brings it.

But, unfortunately, the film does suffer some missteps. Mainly, the films antagonist is a cartoon... a computer generated cartoon that didn't look or feel real in any way. Steppenwolf's threat is poorly realized, his motivation a mystery, and his story is thin at best. The film felt at it's best when the team wasn't even engaged with him.

But, all in all, a recommend. 8 out of 10

31 Days of Horror Challenge completed! 2017!!!!

I finally completed the full 31 Days of Halloween horror challenge! I’ve tried to tackle this task every year and every year there always a few days that slip away from me… sometimes even an entire week. But I set myself down to the task… far harder to achieve than I originally thought, as I wasn’t always in the mood for a horror film. Even a horror comedy. But I persevered…. So now, without further ado:

1. Gerald’s Game

2. Graveyard Shift

3. Cult of chucky

4. Silver Bullet

5. The Wolf Man

6. Hatchet 3

7. Sleepwalkers

8. Victor Crowley

9. Don’t Kill It

10. Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare

11. Curse of the Devil

12. The Evil Dead

13. Friday the 13^th 4: The final Chapter

14. The people under the stairs

15. My Bloody Valentine

16. The Babysitter

17. A Nightmare on Elm Street

18. Equinox

19. 13 Demons

20. Phantasm

21. Young Frankenstein

22. Residue

23. Prince of Darkness

24. Night of the Living Dead

25. The Thing

26. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

27. In The Mouth of Madness

28. The Prowler

29. Zombie 2 (AKA Zombi, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Zombie)

30. Creature from the black Lagoon

31. The Monster Squad

She Kills Monsters 2017 Watsonville Highschool

She Kills Monsters

Monsters, demons, “Dungeons & Dragons”, and tragedy smash together in this irreverent comedy recently produced by Watsonville High School. Qui Nguyen’s “She Kills Monsters” is one of my favorite play reads from 2013 and I’ve seen it performed locally to hilarious results in 2015. But, while I’d been aware that Nguyen had adapted a script for a “teen” production, I was curious to see how several of the story elements would change. Agnes the Ass-hatted is now a teenage girl whose boyfriend is on the football team, her best friend works in the gap, but she is still trying to cope with the loss of her younger sister. And that loss stings in the opening moments of the play and lead her to seek solace in her sister’s homespun gaming module, a game that Agnes will need Chuck Biggs (hilariously presented by Bowen Hayes) to run.

As Agnes (stoically played by Alexandra Rocha) attempts to connect with the memory of sister, the module reveals startling truths that reveal a sister that Agnes didn’t really know. It reveals painful moments, glorious moments, and depth to the socially awkward Tilly that Agnes had never seen before. Tilly’s energy (Ezra Soto) is endearing and her joys and pains play out with steady professionalism. The play utilizes the “game” as a mechanic to tell the story with plenty of stage combat, references to geek culture, and tackles issues of loss, teen angst, bullying, gender roles, sexuality, and the nature of peoples’ relationships with one another.

The young cast is enthusiastic and tackles the material that many casts would find challenging. Everyone takes advantage of their moment on stage to present their characters and revel in the script and story that they are telling. There are some marked differences between the adult and teen versions of the script, as much of the profanity is lost and a few of the “adult” issues are replaced with more teen-centric subjects. But many of the controversial subjects remain intact. And that’s a good thing, because this is a truly wonderful play.

7.5 out of 5.

Nuclear Heat from The Rocky Horror Show 2017

His lips quirk, equal parts disdain and hunger. Eyes burn with a challenging fury, “Here there be monsters!” they warn. Douglas Duffy Johnson slithers like a serpent in the garden of Eden, opens his maw, and swallows The Rocky Horror Show with a punk rock energy that demands to be seen. He leads the new cast for Paper Wing Theatre’s Halloween show with an infectious energy that breathes new life into the fall tradition and the rest of the cast rises to join him.

Richard O’Brien’s irreverent rock opera has become a steady tradition in the Monterey Bay, and Paper Wing Theatre has long played home to the raucous entertainment. I’ve seen the show more times than I can literally count, both in the audience and as a performer on the stage. I’ve written about the show a few times, each time after the first believing that I wouldn’t have anything left to write.  But this year promised a new beginning as the role of Frank N Furter would be newly cast and the double billing of separate casts promised a refreshing take on the material. But it was going to take a nuclear level performance to inspire me to write anything beyond “great show” on my facebook.

Johnson is joined on the stage by the playfully adoring Leia Dilley as Columbia, the scheming rat-like Justin Azevedo as Riff Raff, and the dangerously psychotic Kelly Machado as Magenta. All bring their amazing vocals to the numbers and follow Johnson in the new direction and play to his dangerous allure. Whether worn by his shenanigans or adoring in their idolatry, they never forget that Frank is the center of their world. The creation of Rocky (Xun Zhang) isn’t just the culmination of the Doctor’s efforts, he is the catalyst that sends their world spiraling out of control.

And his world begins to melt with the arrival of the boyishly innocent Brad and naïve Janet, both skillfully brought to life by newcomers Jay Jones and Anjoli Johnson.  From their vocals to their portrayals, they become innocent victims to the doctors mad schemes. The incredible finale of “Superheroes” bleeds on stage.

When a nuclear reactor approaches critical mass, you feel it in the air…. Radiating heat, energy, and something is going to give. The first act builds with several introductions leading to the arrival of Frank, the audience explodes.   Then the monster is born and we feel the burning aftermath of that explosion bake us into our seats. And then the world crumbles and the Doctor’s sins return in the form of Randy Spires’ rendition of Eddie, the Rockstar rebel whose parts were harnessed to create the monster. And there’s an angry chill that washes over the audience as Spires vocals deliver a vengeful nuclear winter that rains on the good doctor’s parade.

The new world, a desolate wasteland aftermath of the Doctor’s dreams come true settles in as our heroes fall to temptations and danger. But there’s one more surprise in store for the Doctor, one more sin to haunt him, one more message from beyond the grave as Frank’s nemesis, Dr. Everett Scott, arrives in the form of Steven Howard. And he delivers his message with passionate vocals that bring the original Meatloaf’s performance of Dr. Scott to life and rekindles the burning fires of that nuclear energy with a beautiful rendition of “Eddies Teddy”.

And so the new cast of The Rocky Horror Shows melts with radiation levels and the nuclear blast wipes detritus from the face of mother earth. The battle hardened mean machine devours all in its wake.

10 out of 10.

7 MORE DAYS OF HORROR!!!! (31 Days Horror Challenge.

Day 11:
 CURSE OF THE DEVIL

A Waldermar Denisky story, somewhere in the series of the cursed werewolf made famous by Spanish Horror Legend; Paul Naschy. This film follows the doomed Lord as he unknowingly becomes a werewolf by night and slaughters the innocent people of his village. The killings are blamed on an escaped axe wuelding maniac.

A fairly well done gem of 70s horror, Curse delivers gothic trashiness complete with satanic rituals, bloody murder, and a solid performance from Naschy. The film is dated, however an the pacing may be a little difficult for modern audiences.

DAY 12:
The Evil Dead

Day 13:
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

DAY 14
The People Under the Stairs

DAY 15
My Bloody Valentine (1981)

DAY 16:
The Babysitter

Directed by McG? Seriously? That's his name? Okay. Fine.

Anyway, The Babysitter is a pretty fun ride. A twelve year old boy decides to stay up late and see what his babysitter gets up to after he goes to sleep. The results aren't what he expects, and shenanigans result where the young boy is forced to fight for survival against a satanic cult. What sets this film apart from others is the character dynamic between the sitter and our male lead. There's genuine affection between the two characters and we're sort of caught hoping that things turn out. But things can't ALL turn out well... right?

6 out of 10.

DAY 17:
A Nightmare on Elm Street
 

Day 17 was pretty special for my 31 days of horror. A Nightmare On Elm Street isn't the greatest film, but it has a special place in my heart and it ran at one of our local theaters for a night. The Theater just happened to get some new recliner seats so it was pretty heavenly... not really a review of the film, but rather I enjoyed experience.

Sleeping over a friends’ house, we started to tell each other some scary stories. He suddenly hits me with this story about a man who creeps through a girl’s dream and ultimately kills her- scares the living hell out of me. His story was basically the first few minutes of Nightmare on Elm Street, as I would come to learn a few months later when my mother’s friend rented the movie for us one night. And I see the very story that kept me up late at night come to life… I forgave the plagiarism and my friend and I excitedly watched a few more movies his parents had in their collection when they weren’t home.

I have some issues with the third act of the film in that the movie starts to fall apart a little bit. It loses focus and it doesn't really have a solid ending, it sort of fizzles out with a sputter rather than a bang. But that's just my opinion.

31 DAYS OF HORROR!!! DAY 10 Yokai Monsters Spook Warfare

DAY 10: Yokai Monsters Spook Warfare

An odd film out of Japan featuring monsters of Folklore attempting to do battle with an invading demon Yokai named Daimon. The Samurai, Shinhachiro, tries to save the daughter of the possessed magistrate from her father's depredations.He is helped, somewhat without realizing, by a number of Yokai creatures from ancient times.

As the tenth film in my 31 Days of Horror Challenge, the film borders on being more of a kids movie but the violent bloody deaths make up for it. However, many of the children are bordering on HR Puffnstuff effects. This may be a sign of the time it was made, however... but the make-up is still endearing.

6.5 out of 10 and a definite recommend for Japanese genre film enthusiasts. 

31 Days of Horror Challenge: DAY 9: "Don't Kill It!"

31 Days of Horror: DAY 9

Wow... I went into this movie with no real expectations and came out with my mind blown. A terrifically gory little piece of cinema, Dolph Lundgren is a tired demon hunter looking for a missing spirit he and his father had exorcised once upon a time in a flashback. The demon is a mass murdering thing that leaps from one body to the next one that had killed it. The deaths are spectacularly gory and the film definitely has a darkly comic feel to it. Lundgren also shows how underrated he is as a leading man, carrying much of the film on his back.

Totally worth the watch and is currently, as of this writing, streaming on Netflix.

7.5 out of 10.