Premise: A man’s obsession with his designer deerskin jacket causes him to blow his life savings and turn to crime.
It’s a tale as old as time: man buys a secondhand deerskin jacket. Man falls in love with said jacket and begins talking to it as if it’s a real person. Man begins converting his entire wardrobe to 100% deerskin. Man’s jacket tells him that it’s so great that it wants to be the only jacket left in the entire world. Continue reading
Posted in Ben Sears' Columns, Movie Reviews
Tagged 2020, Ben Sears, columns, Movie Review
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In the midst of a global pandemic and stay at home orders all over the country, I am coping by watching movies and podcasting about them as if they were part of a Film Festival. In this episode, Kyrsten joins me as we review 2019’s Richard Jewell and the brilliant Middleditch & Schwartz improv specials on Netflix. We then chat about a bunch of other comedy streaming selections.
Runtime: 1:34:27 Continue reading
Premise: A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses.
In concept, Vivarium (Latin for “place for life”) has all the makings of a mind-bending sci-fi thriller that should be rich with character development and social commentary. The film features an ominous set design showcasing an empty and endless housing development in which the film’s protagonists become trapped. It’s an idyllic, yet monstrous prison of suburbia and the only inkling of hope they have toward being released is to raise a bizarre alien child that appears in a box on the street.
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Posted in Matt Hurt's Columns, Movie Reviews
Tagged 2020, columns, Matt Hurt, Movie Review
Premise: Clancy, a spacecaster with a malfunctioning multiverse simulator who leaves the comfort of his home to interview beings living in dying worlds.
It’s hard to imagine what TV’s cartoon landscape (outside of Fox’s primetime lineup) would look like today without Cartoon Network’s already-classic Adventure Time. The show may not have been the first cartoon aimed at children that adults could appreciate, but was one of the longest-running and most unique offerings, thanks in no small part to the vision of its creator, Pendleton Ward. Ward left the critically acclaimed show after the fifth season and has now returned on Netflix with The Midnight Gospel, a nuttier, decidedly more adult-friendly version of what he started at Adventure Time. While the two shows share nothing in common beyond a colorful aesthetic, it wouldn’t be a stretch to consider them in the same universe, so to speak. Continue reading
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In the midst of a global pandemic and stay at home orders all over the country, I am coping by watching movies and podcasting about them as if they were part of a Film Festival. Here is my coverage of cOVid-19 Film Festival Days 20-38: Sci-fi Showcase (April 6-24, 2020). For the spotlight review, frequent guest ad contributor Ben calls in to talk about Alex Garland’s Devs with me in a non-spoiler and spoiler review.
Runtime: 1:54:18 Continue reading
Premise: One of the sons of Frankenstein finds his father’s monster in a coma and revives him, only to find out he is controlled by Ygor who is bent on revenge.
Son of Frankenstein finds Baron Wolf Von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) traveling to the village in which his father’s monster wreaked havoc many years after the tragic events transpired. The young baron brings his bride Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and son Peter (Donnie Dunagan) to the Frankenstein castle where Wolf is set to collect his inheritance. In the village, the Frankensteins are met with hostility while, in the castle, the Frankenstein patriarch faces off with the heavy shadow of his father’s legacy.
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Premise: Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska seeks the aid of a noted psychiatrist, hoping to free herself of a mysterious evil influence.
The Universal Monsters’ second direct sequel, 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, takes a different approach than Bride of Frankenstein before it. Like Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula’s Daughter begins immediately after the events of its predecessor. However, there is no retconning to be found here. Dracula is dead. Long live Dracula. This sequel examines the fallout of the events of the first film through Van Helsing’s (Edward Van Sloan) interactions with the law and the introduction of Hungarian countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), who is seemingly possessed by the re-deceased Dracula.
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Premise: The juice of a rare Tibetan flower is the only thing that keeps Dr. Glendon from turning into a werewolf during a full moon.
Though it underperformed commercially compared to the success of The Wolf Man six years later, 1935’s Werewolf of London has the distinction of helping to create much of the mythology that is still associated with werewolves today. Prior to the film, transforming into a werewolf involved witchcraft, did not involve a full moon, and bites were not transformative to humans. Thus the legacy of Werewolf of London is indelible even if the film itself is slightly uneven and muddled with too many protagonists.
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Premise: Poppy and Branch discover that they are but one of six different Troll tribes scattered over six different lands devoted to six different kinds of music: Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock. Their world is about to get a lot bigger and a whole lot louder.
Dreamworks Animation made history by adapting to the rapidly changing circumstances of the novel coronavirus and, instead of postponing its release of Trolls World Tour, the studio gambled by making the film the first to forego any kind of theatrical release by dropping it for home viewing on the same day it was scheduled to hit the cinemas. The strategy honestly makes perfect sense for a family-friendly film like this: rather than wrangling the kids, finding a babysitter for the siblings that are too young, shelling out major dollars for marked-up snacks, and all the other hassles associated with taking kids to a movie, families can sit down and watch the film at their own leisure, even having the luxury of pausing for a bathroom break. Just make sure your home internet connection isn’t more reliable than that of yours truly. Continue reading
Posted in Ben Sears' Columns, Movie Reviews
Tagged 2020, Ben Sears, columns, Movie Review
RIGHT CLICK IMAGE, SAVE LINK AS TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE…
In the midst of a global pandemic and stay at home orders all over the country, I am coping by watching movies and podcasting about them as if they were part of a Film Festival. Here is my coverage of cOVid-19 Film Festival Day 16: Netflix Spotlight (April 2, 2020). For the spotlight review, Tiny calls in to talk about Tiger King with me in a spoiler review.
This week’s stinger comes from our Patreon-exclusive Vlog: COVID-19: Vlog 2 – TV Shows in Quarantine & I Can’t Grow a Beard – March 30, 2020
Runtime: 1:16:45 Continue reading
Premise: Mary Beth and Priscilla Connolly attempt to cover up a gruesome run-in with a dangerous man. To conceal their crime, the sisters must go deep into the criminal underbelly of their hometown, uncovering the town’s darkest secrets.. Continue reading
Posted in Ben Sears' Columns, Movie Reviews
Tagged 2020, Ben Sears, columns, Movie Review
RIGHT CLICK IMAGE, SAVE LINK AS TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE…
In the midst of a global pandemic and stay at home orders all over the country, I am coping by watching movies and podcasting about them as if they were part of a Film Festival. Here is my coverage of cOVid-19 Film Festival day 6: Programmed by Mike White. For the spotlight review, Mike calls in to talk about Freaks with me in a mostly non-spoiler review.
This week’s stinger comes from our Patreon-exclusive Vlog: COVID-19: Vlog 2 – TV Shows in Quarantine & I Can’t Grow a Beard – March 30, 2020
Runtime: 1:13:57 Continue reading
Premise: Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
The first direct sequel in the Universal Classic Monsters chronology is also the final one to be helmed by James Whale (after Frankenstein and The Invisible Man). Bride of Frankenstein is replete with themes of creation and destruction amidst subtext involving identity politics, nature vs nurture, and a healthy of dose of homosexual undercurrents thrown in for good measure. The film builds upon what was previously established in Frankenstein by introducing a more menacing mad scientist character and further humanizing Boris Karloff’s monster. It also pays homage to the woman who created the monster and brings some light religious commentary to the forefront as well.
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Premise: A scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.
A man enters an inn, demands privacy, and works tirelessly at mysterious experiments. He’s isolated, agitated, and slowly growing more and more insane. Also, he’s invisible. The Invisible Man is the mind-blowing journey of a man overcome with the conflicting feelings of the power he has gained and the longing to come back to the one he loves. It’s a mad scientist motif that drives a narrative more and more toward an ending that may not be as redemptive or emotionally satisfying as one might expect. With a powerful lead performance by Claude Rains and spectacular visual effects, The Invisible Man leans into its mad scientist’s descent as it leads to a thrilling conclusion.
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Premise: A resurrected Egyptian mummy stalks a beautiful woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his lover and bride.
A year after making his mark as the monster in Frankenstein, Boris Karloff cemented his icon status with his portrayal of Imhotep in 1932’s The Mummy. Despite having a plot that is heavily borrowed from Dracula, The Mummy showcases Karloff’s strength and range as an actor behind it. The film also features an exotic Egyptian locale and set design that is noticeably different from the Gothic horror of Dracula or the villages of Frankenstein. More importantly, The Mummy has tense atmosphere and a sense of grandeur to its monster that keeps it from simply being a rip-off of Dracula.
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Letterboxd – ObsessiveViewer
