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R.I.P. Lance Reddick

Read More Bosch Out of nowhere, I got notification that the new Season 7 of Bosch just dropped on Amazon Prime! I was so excited that I launched the pilot and after viewing the “Last Season on Bosch” recap… …

Actor and musician, Lance Reddick has died at the age of 60. According to Variety, “His rep at Portrait PR confirmed the news, saying he died of natural causes but not providing other details.”

Although Reddick is best known as an actor in roles such as Cedric Daniels in The Wire (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in Fringe (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in Bosch (2014–2020), and as Charon in the John Wick films… not many people know that he started studying music as a teenager at the Peabody Preparatory Institute. He actually earned a Bachelor of Music degree at University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music.

Lance Reddick (02 May 2015)

We saw Reddick at Wizard World Minneapolis in May 2015 and wrote, “One of the hardest working Hollywood actor, Lance Reddick spent his time at his panel answering questions about Lost, The Wire, and, of course, Fringe. Recently, Reddick is most recognizable from American Horror Story, and per a fan's request, he re-created his Papa Legba character and did a line in the Cajun voodoo accent.”

Rest in peace, Lance Reddick.

Read more Musicians who died in 2023

[17 Mar 2023] Lance Reddick (American actor and musician), 60 Lance Reddick was best known for playing Cedric Daniels in The Wire (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in Fringe (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in Bosch (2014–2020). As a teenager, he studied music at the Peabody Preparatory Institute and studied classical music composition at University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. … via deadline

[17 Mar 2023] Fito Olivares ( Mexican cumbia musician), 75 The music ringing out at Fiesta next month will have a note of sadness as social media posts report that Mexican musician Fito Olivares has died. A Facebook post from San Antonio’s Tejano station KXTN on Friday, March 17 reported Olivares’ death … via mysanantonio

[16 Mar 2023] Tony Coe (English jazz musician), 88 Sad news. One of the understated greats of British jazz, saxophonist and clarinettist Tony Coe, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 88. … via londonjazznews

[15 Mar 2023] Théo de Barros (Brazilian composer), 80 Composer Theo de Barros, known for "Disparada", alongside Geraldo Vandré, and for his partnership with singer Elis Regina, died early this Wednesday (15th) in São Paulo. … via folha

[15 Mar 2023] Daniel Bourgue (French horn player), 86 The virtuoso horn player Daniel Bourgue, ‘surely be the last representative of the old school of French playing’ according to the IHS, has died at the age of 86. … via slippedisc

[14 Mar 2023] Bobby Caldwell (American singer and songwriter), 71 Singer Bobby Caldwell, known for his smooth blue-eyed soul voice, is dead after battling illness for several years ... TMZ has confirmed. Bobby, whose biggest hit is the classic "What You Won't Do for Love," died in his sleep Tuesday night at home in New Jersey, according to his rep. … via tmz

[14 Mar 2023] Dix Denney (American guitarist for The Weirdos, Thelonious Monster), 65 Dix Denney, guitarist and co-founder of pioneering LA punk band The Weirdos, has died. Along with his brother John, Dix Denney formed The Weirdos in Los Angeles in 1975. Although initially inspired by The Ramones, they soon became trailblazers … via louderthanwar

[13 Mar 2023] Canisso (Brazilian bassist for Raimundos), 57 Bassist José Henrique Campos Pereira, known as Canisso, died this Monday (13/3), aged 57. The information was confirmed by the band's manager, but the cause of death was not disclosed. The musician was part of the original formation of the Brasilian rock group Raimundos. … via metropoles

[13 Mar 2023] Jim Gordon (American convicted murderer and musician for Eric Clapton, Derek and the Dominos), 77 Jim Gordon, a top drummer for Eric Clapton, George Harrison and countless others who was diagnosed with schizophrenia after murdering his mother in 1983, has died. … via variety

Read more Musicians who died in 2023.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Poker Face

Read More Lie to Me I got a chance to watch the premiere episode of Lie to Me, courtesy of Best Buy. The series will debut on Fox Television on January 21st. I was very impressed with the first episode… Chloe Sevigny So the first item on there is that The Slits to help Chloe Sevigny's new clothing line. If you like any Riot Grrls you know that many of these bands were hugely influenced by The Slits, an early 80s punk … The Mountain Goats It is well known that John Darnielle, the force behind the Mountain Goats, likes heavy metal music. It comes up in interviews often, and hearing him speak … John Hodgman Comedian/actor/author John Hodgman will be at the Cedar Cultural Center on September 29th (details at thecedar.org). I think the first time I heard of Hodgman, it was seeing him as the "PC" in the funny Apple …

I was hesitant to getting into NBC’s Poker Face television show because of its name. I thought it was some Lady Gaga thing or about some casino show. The title is deceiving, because it’s really a “crime of the week” television show about Charlie the human lie detector. The pilot was phenomenal, it managed to setup Charlie’s character and her situation.

I do have some gripes about the show: I don’t really love the lead actress, Natasha Lyonne. She basically plays the same character from Russian Doll, which I love Season 1… but that character got super annoying. In Poker Face she’s also trying to channel Columbo or something. Don’t get me wrong, that no-nonsense, I don’t give a flying F attitude is really fun at first… but after a while, it just gets old.

My other complaint is that the show doesn’t know if it wants to be a comedy or a crime drama. Some episodes are just way too silly, like “Exit Stage Death”, which is about Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows plotting a murder while being live on stage…. Or “Time of the Monkey”, which is about a couple of retired ladies who murdered a resident in their retirement housing. I don’t mind a goofy time, but how can I take the casino mafia threat seriously if the show is a comedy?

So far, from what I’ve seen, my favorite is the pilot and “Rest in Metal”. This is about a has-been/one-hit wonder band DoxXxology. They had a massive hit single called “Staplehead” and the song became the band’s curse. You see, the song was written by their drummer (who shortly retired after making millions off the royalty), and DoxXxology has to play that song every night. It sounds like the band hates the song, but they must play it.

So the band hired a new drummer via Craiglist and he demoed a song he wrote to the band… and the band knew the song was a hit. They plot to murder the new drummer and steal his song. In the end, DoxXxology got their just deserts, and it’s an awesome ending.

This episode teeters funny and dread, especially when you spotted John Hodgman in the scene, looking for his wife “Molly” or finding his friend “Lucy”. The band itself, Ruby Ruin stars Chloë Sevigny, Chuck Cooper, and John Darnielle - who is actually the guy from The Mountain Goats. I’m pretty sure Darnielle wrote the song for the show, singing “Living on discount macaroni. Can't even get a job with my Uncle Tony. You sent your goons to repo my truck. What the actual f***. I can play guitar and I’m a decent singer, they’ll cut my wedding ring off my dead finger. You say you want a deal but you’re such a phony. You’re never going to get that alimony.”

I like the song, but the lead singer, Ruby Ruin, called it “a turd”.

Later, after the murder, Darnielle would write a song, confessing their wicked deed: “You must learn, you’re all gonna burn, because you can’t unmurdered someone.”

Anyway, the human lie-detector thing is pretty neat. It reminded me of another show called Lie To Me, starring Tim Roth. That show has a similar premise, in which Tim Roth can tell if someone is lying, based on “science”. His group, the Light group helps solves crime with law enforcement.

The season finale to Poker Face aired today, March 9th.

Read more Television.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Two Years Later...

You: Season 4, part 1 Read More You The third season of You recently aired on Netflix and it got everyone talking about the series. So I decided to check out the first season (which originally aired on Lifetime). …

You
netflix.com

I love You. I know he’s terrible. I know he’s a serial killer. I know he’s a stalker… but I love rooting for Joe.

I started watching it in Oct 2021 and couldn’t stop watching it. I thought that was the end of it, with Season 3, as there’s only been three books.

A fourth season, would mean that that the story would be made up entirely for the television… and we all know how that turned out when they ran out of books for Game of Thrones or Dexter. Simply put, without the source material, the television show suffers without proper direction.

After two years in hiatus, due to the pandemic… You is back with a Season 4, courtesy of Netflix. With no books, is Season 4 good? I don’t know honestly, because we’re only given half the season to whet our appetite… The last five episodes will be available March 9, 2023.

In the new series, Joe gets obsessed over a new “You”, in the compelling Charlotte Ritchie. She suspects Joe is stalking her and doesn’t make it easy for Joe to get close to her. Of course, the two bonds over a few murders… in true You fashion.

I’m calling the new season, the “You in England.” I think it is because I don’t like any of the rich/royalty English characters. I’m assuming that’s what the show runner intended… but when you don’t like or care for anyone, why would I feel anything when one of the rich dies?

The Nevers: Season 1, Part 2 Read More The Nevers Joss Whedon created The Nevers, but due to the scandals, he removed his involvement with the HBO show. It’s still very Whedon-ly, like Victorian British girls fighting in corsets. …

The Nevers
hbo.com

After a long two-year gap, part two of The Nevers has finally aired in mid-February 2023. This show had trouble from the start, particularly with the original creator, Joss Whedon. Then the pandemic hit, and filming had to be put on hold.

It’s been so long, I’d forgotten everything. And the big problem with The Nevers is the large cast of characters. Who’s this person, who’s that? Why should I care about this club owner? Why am I watching this evil murdering little girl? What is going on?

Let’s step back. From what I can remember, there was an alien that landed in London, circa 1880-ish, and all these women developed superpowers… Then in the series, you find out that men also got powers.

Part one setup and orphanage for “touched” women. There were bad-touched women, and good-touched women.

In part two, it seems that all the touched have teamed up. Now the normal humans are at war with “the touched.” The whole story and concept is a big mess… and it’s probably due to the lack of guidance and direction from Whedon.

I like the two lead characters, Amalia (Laura Donnelly) and Penance (Ann Skelly). Amalia is like a soldier (who is a time traveler?) and Penance is an inventor. Everyone else, including the giant debutante, the doctor, and the fire-throwing woman, I wish they got rid of all these characters and just focus on Amalia and Penance. Keep it simple.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

My Movies 4 Pro

Read More DVD I usually put on one of my DVDs (see picture) and sleep mode on my television, the noise it makes gentle puts me to sleep. ...

As many of you guys know, I’m an avid collector of DVDs since 1997. I even bought my first DVD of Reservoir Dogs before I had a DVD player! I love this format, because coming from VHS and Laserdiscs, this new DVD format was smaller and more versatile and collectible.

I had a very large collection of DVD, so it made sense, at least for me, to keep track of them using an application on my computer. And since 2000, I was using DVD Profiler. When they released their software for iOS in 2010, I was one of the first people to buy it. It was great for a while… but unfortunately, the software has not been updated since 2018. There are some bugs in the iOS software that drove me nuts. For example, you couldn’t create a brand new DVD entry - it would only add DVD that exists in their catalog.

Then recently, when I bought my Lenovo Legion Gaming PC, I tried to sync my DVD Profiler on my phone to my computer and my DVD was destroyed through bad syncing. I didn’t have a DVD Profiler backup (my only backup was on my old Fallout Gaming PC). No problem, I guess I can start over. Unfortunately, scanning in the UPC of DVDs and Blurays was not great on DVD Profiler. It took forever for the camera to focus on the UPC, it would be impossible to scan in my entire collection.

The final straw happened on Friday, when nothing worked on DVD Profiler, because their servers was offline. It was time for me to move on.

Looking online for alternatives, I came across My Movies 4 Pro for $15. There is a ‘demo’ version for you try out, if you aren’t convinced. The demo only lets you add 50 entries.

So far, it’s a massive improvement over DVD Profiler. The UPC scanner is amazingly fast, and if you have a lot of films, like I do, this will save you a lot of time.

My Movies 4 is also available for the PC, but it actually works a little differently on the PC. It’s more of a movie streaming application that uses Windows Media Server… so I recommend just using the My Movies 4 app as a standalone app.

My only complaint is that My Movies 4 may take forever to “synchronize” with their servers. It takes a long time sometimes because the app takes a moment to download the high resolution front and back cover of the DVD or Bluray. Since I set my app to the highest resolution, it takes a moment for everything to sync. When it syncs, the app won’t allow you to add anything, so you’ll just have to wait until it is all downloaded.

The beautiful thing about the syncing process is that any DVD/Bluray that you add on your phone will magically appear on your iPad. This works much better than the old DVD Profiler, which requires you to manually sync to your PC (since the database is stored on your local computer).

For the most part, My Movies 4 catalog works well. Sometime I do run into a film that is not on their database. You can manually add in the UPC and photos of the cover artwork, so it works as you would expect (you couldn’t do that on DVD Profiler if you have a new iPhone).

Pro Tip: If you own a lot of discs, set the scanner to Multi-Scan and also set the Country to “All”. This is especially useful if you own a lot of movies from other countries. I wish I had known this when I started rescanning my collection!

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

7 Grandmasters (film) at Trylon Cinema, Minneapolis (05 Feb 2023)

Jue quan (1977) An aging martial arts expert is gifted a plaque from the Emperor declaring him the Kung Fu World Champion. Unsure of whether or not be is deserving of this title, he embarks on a journey to defeat the 7 Grandmasters. Director: Joseph Kuo Writers: Da-Wei Kuo (story), Joseph Kuo, Ching-Kang Yao Stars: Yi-Min Li, Jack Long, Kuan-Wu Lung Read More Shaw Brothers As you know, I’m a big Shaw Brothers fan, and have personally own over 75 DVDs and Blurays. As I previously mentioned, unfortunately these movies don’t sell well in America, so many of these Shaw Brothers titles never made …

We caught the last showing for 7 Grandmasters, as part of the An Exploitation Extravaganza showcase, at the tiny 90-person non-profit Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis.

Turn out was terrific, although I heard Friday night’s showing was entirely sold out and there were talks that it might sell out based on pre-sales. Fans who showed up have never seen this independent 1977 production from Taiwan.

7 Grand Masters (DVD)

Of course, as an avid film collector, especially in the Kung Fu genre, I own the DVD release from Tokyo Shock (Media Blasters). The disc came out in 1999, and the video was taken directly from the source at Mei Ah Film Production Co., Ltd., which did a great job restoring the film for licensing. In many ways, the DVD copy is a better representation of the film, because it has the English dub (as well as original Mandarin with English subtitles).

According to film collector and programmer, Dan Halsted, he spoke to director Joseph Kuo, and said that what we’re about to see is the only 35mm print of the film. It’s a rare treat to see these films on 35… but unfortunately, due to time passage, the print has not aged well. Colors were washed out, in some area of the film, looks like it could be a black and white film.

Despite poor subtitle translations (and sometime impossible to read when there’s a white shirt in the shot…), you do get the general idea of the story. Speaking of which, the story is about a retiring Kung Fu master named Sang Kuan Chun who was challenged before his retirement. He takes his three students and his daughter to defeat the 7 Grandmasters to become the ultimate Grandmaster.

Along the way, an unknown young man begs the Grandmaster to take him as a student. It’s a fairly simple story, but they try and add in more plot, such as how the Grandmaster only knew 9 of the deadly Pai Mei strokes as a masked man stole the other 3 deadly strikes. It seems sometime that the filmmakers were making up the story as they started filming (since so many of these elements weren’t established early in the story).

Look, you don’t watch these films for the amazing stories, you watch them for the action… and this film delivers. The teacher has to fight 7 fighters, resulting in what seems like a super long fight after fight. In fact, during his fight with the Mantis Fist style, I was left wondering, “Is this number 5 or 6?” There were so many masters to keep track of!

With these films, it’s always better to watch it with an audience. The audience would laugh at some scenes… which you wouldn’t know it was funny if you watched it alone. Also, when the film ended, everyone was clapping in approval. I love that kind of experience; it tells me that there are many fans who appreciate these films.

Dan Halsted at Trylon Cinema, Minneapolis (05 Feb 2023)

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

How to unblock Vudu on Verizon Wireless

Read More Vestron The latest Vestron Video release is Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection), which came out December 13th. I found it at Walmart for $17, which is a great price for three remastered films. ....

I recently purchased The Dentist Collection, the latest Vestron Video Collection, and I tried to redeem the digital code on Vudu.

When I went to Vudu’s website on my desktop, I couldn’t use it. At first, I thought Vudu’s website was down… maybe I can check it on my iPad. Nope, it wasn’t working on my iPad or iPad’s app. In fact, no devices on my network could reach Vudu.

After a little research, I found out that Vudu was blocking or banning Verizon Wireless because of their usage of proxies. Apparently this was a problem since 2013, but I only know about it because it’s affecting me. You see, I had switched over to Straight Talk Home Internet in October 2022 and Straight Talk is own and operated through Verizon.

You can get around the Vudu problem:

1. Use a different ISP… you can always leave Verizon.

2. Use your cellular data on your phone, share it with your computer via hotspot or tethering.

3. Use a VPN. Make sure to use USA location on the VPN. I’m using Atlas VPN (New York location), which worked for me.

If none of that works for you - I am truly sorry! I hope that this Vudu vs Verizon thing is only temporary, I will check back in a few weeks to see if Vudu resolve this. Otherwise, I think I’m moving away from Vudu as for my digital video choice, going forward. It’s really a shame, because every since Walmart sold Vudu to Fandango, I’ve had my worries.

You can say that the whole process of trying to redeem a digital copy of The Dentist was like pulling teeth.

As for the movie, The Dentist and The Dentist 2: don’t watch these movies if you’re planning on going to the dentist in the future. It’s truly horrifying…. Scarier than any zombies and vampires movies!

How to unblock Vudu on Straight Talk Internet (or any ISP that Vudu blocks)

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

More Morrissey: Blitz Vega and The More You Ignore Me

Read More The Smiths I was excited to see that This Day Is Music is publishing The Smiths - The Day I Was There, a new book on the Manchester band. This book is more or less a collection of memories from various fans, compiled and edited by Richard Houghton. …

Blitz Vega
twitter.com/blitzvegamusic

I know I’m late to the party, but I just got around to hearing Blitz Vega’s “Strong Forever”, the November 2022 single from FutureSonic Records/CEN/The Orchard.

What is incredibly important about this single is that it features a team-up of Andy Rourke and Johnny Marr, a long time The Smiths reunion of some sort… a meeting that only took 35 years in the making. We all know that Morrissey has never forgiven the other band members (and in fact had an online spat with Marr a few years ago), so seeing Rourke and Marr together is good enough for me!

Andy explains: “We approached a few people to guest on the track and I asked Johnny, who very kindly recorded some guitars and sent them over. Johnny and I have remained friends, we’ve known each other since we were 13 years old. He’s my oldest and dearest friend and I feel our friendship gets stronger as time passes."

Hearing the song, it’s pretty good! Kind of powerful, but familiar and dance-able. I feel like this is a song you want to hear before a big battle or an intense workout. It’s very catchy.

Kav Blaggers from The Happy Mondays and Andy Rourke wrote the “Strong Forever” as a campaign song against discrimination in soccer.

You can purchase the single or preview it on Amazon.

Read More Morrissey As you know, I used to be a devoted The Smiths and Morrissey fan. Like many of you, I have grown up and may have been a little disenchanted by singer Morrissey’s beliefs and personality... but I still love the music .…

The More You Ignore Me (2018)
twitter.com/TMYIMFilm

When I first saw the title The More You Ignore Me, I simply thought it was Morrissey-related, as he had a big hit with that song, “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get”. Personally speaking, I don’t really love the song, but it’s popular song. Even Bill Nye the Science Guy parodied the song with Momentisey’s “The Faster You Push Me, the Further I Get” from Not That Bad Records.

Anyway, so, indeed, the film The More You Ignore Me, is a story about love, family, and 1980s rural England. The film starts with a mental mother and her daughter Alice. One day, she discovered The Smiths on television, playing “This Charming Man”, and instantly fell in love with Morrissey and his music.

I don’t really love drama, and probably wouldn’t have watched it if it wasn’t available for free via TenaaTV.

So if you’re into Morrissey and English humor (which is not funny to some people), check it out.

Description:

The More You Ignore Me is both a poignant and darkly funny coming-of-age story of dysfunctional family life in 1980 s rural England: Gina (Sheridan Smith) whose efforts to be a loving mother and wife are undermined by her declining mental health and her growing obsession with the local weatherman and Alice (Ella Hunt) her daughter, who struggles to relate to her mum. Written by, and starring, Jo Brand based on her critically acclaimed novel of the same name using all the insight gained during her years as a psychiatric health worker, The More You Ignore Me is set to the songs of The Smiths and also stars Mark Addy, Sally Phillips, Sheila Hancock, Tom Davis and Ricky Tomlinson and is directed by Keith English.

Read more Movies and Television.

The More You Ignore Me (2018)

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Smile for M3GAN

M3GAN Read More Chucky Child’s Play is not one of my favorite. That’s because I just find the doll killer just too silly. In fact, in the later films, they are just straight up comedies. …

M3GAN (2023)
universalpictures.com

The first horror film of 2023 is called M3GAN. To be honest, it’s not really a horror film, more like comedy/horror…

M3GAN is from James Wan, who created Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring franchises.

The story is simple, it’s about a doll with artificial intelligence, designed to be a friend and protector to recently orphaned 8-year-old. Unfortunately, M3GAN’s programming and logic is out of control, as the doll murders everyone it thinks is a treat.

The film suffers a little from pacing. It took a long time before we’re introduced to M3GAN. I thought they spent too much time setting up back stories and build characters. However, once M3GAN is introduced, every moment the doll’s on screen is a treat. You love watching the evil doll and attitude. At times it felt like this could be the latest Child’s Play film and sometime I thought wouldn’t it be cool to have a M3GAN vs Chucky film?

I know it’s not the child’s fault, but at times, I found the character infuriating. When M3GAN is taken away from her, she’s screaming and crying and I just wanted to shut her up! I guess it’s great acting on Jenna Davis’ behalf, but I hated the spoiled brat so much towards the end of the film.

My one big complaint about the film was the dancing/killing part of the film. It just comes out of nowhere, there was really no setup why she’s doing it.

If you saw the trailer and loved it, you’re going to love the movie. It’s all very predictable… if you were hoping for more, you’re not going to find it.

For those wanting a Rated-R cut of the film, look for the new version on streaming soon.

Smile Read More Horror This is one of my favorite horror film this, and last year. The film was actually based on a short story (Oculus: Chapter 3 - The Man with the Plan) which may explain the lack of story... but what it lacked, it made up for such a horrific, satisfying ending. …

Smile (2022)
amazon.com

One of last year’s best horror film, Smile, is out now on Bluray/DVD and streaming on Paramount+. If you’ve seen the film It Follows, it has a similar premise.

In Smile, the main character Rose Cotter witnessed a horrific suicide, with the person smiling as they killed themselves. Since then, she’s plagued with this supernatural entity. After researching, with the help of her ex-boyfriend, a police detective, she finds out that she can only break out of this chain if she murders someone.

It’s a very good film. Very good pacing, and very good uses of sound to create tension and unease.

Perhaps the reason why the film seems so refined, it is because the director Parker Finn, actually kind of a did a test run with his short horror film Laura Hasn't Slept. I haven’t seen the original movie, but I’m assuming he took what he learned from making that original film, and, with a bigger budget and extra casting, he was able to put together a better film.

While audiences overwhelmingly loves the film, some critics said it was too formulaic and felt the story was padded to a two hour feature from its original 11-minute short. You know what I say, critics have never liked genre films, particularly gruesome, horrific films like Smile. If you like The Ring (both the American version and the Japanese version) or It Follows, you’ll be entertained by Smile.

Read more Movies and Television.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Which Witch

Mayfair Witches Read More Walking Dead Are you excited that The Walking Dead is back? New episode, "The Suicide King", is airing tonight on AMC. This is just an announcement that you can start your pre-order for The Walking Dead AMC …

Mayfair Witches
amc.com

With the final 11th season of Walking Dead just aired in 2022, AMC is shopping around for a new IP to bring in new viewers. To me, it looks like AMC decide to put their chips in Anne Rice. Their first effort was Interview with the Vampire, based on Rice’s 1976 novel.

I only know about this Interview with the Vampire story through the 1994 movie adaptation, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Between this movie and its sequel, Queen of the Damned, I can’t say that I was that interested in gothic vampires. I do eventually intend to watch the AMC TV show of Vampire… but, at the moment, I’m in no hurry.

However, I am very interested in the upcoming Mayfair Witches show, mostly because I’m in love with leading star Alexandra Daddario. She was amazing in The White Lotus and was the best thing in Baywatch (2017).

While Mayfair Witches is the second series in the Anne Rice universe, titled “The Immortal Universe”, you do not need to watch Interview with the Vampire to understand Mayfair Witches.

I have not read the novel, but I have some comic book adaption of The Witching Hour (with some great John Bolton cover art), so I’m somewhat familiar with the first novel.

It would seem that the new television series made some drastic changes to the story. First of all, they future jump the story, so everything takes place in the modern age (people talking about Uber driver and Minecraft just makes me cringe).

Another thing is they removed an important character in the novel: Michael Curry. Instead, AMC decides to create a new character called Ciprien Grieve, which combines Michael and Aaron Lightner.

I can’t say that after watching the pilot, that I’m that excited to see the rest of the series. The pilot doesn’t really clue you in where the story is going, why we should care about anyone, and what are the rules of these supernatural witches. The only thing it does is set up some of the main characters, primarily centered around Dr Rowan Fielding. Maybe it’ll get better with the second episode.

Mayfair Witches will air on AMC on January 8, 2023.

The Witcher: Blood Origin Read More The Witcher The second The Witcher season is upon us! Man, it’s been so long (the first season aired in 2019!), I have forgotten much of the first season. I do recall that I loved it… however the critics hated it because they just couldn’t follow the three different …

The Witcher: Blood Origin
netflix.com

Netflix’s The Witcher spinoff series, The Witcher: Blood Origin is universally hated by fans and critics.

There are several reasons why no one likes the new television series… from my perspective, it just comes down to a poorly written story… and completely unnecessary. It has nothing to do with the Witcher… and, in fact, if they remove that name in the title, you can just treat it as a dumb fantasy about some elves.

When Witcher star Henry Cavill announced that he is stepping down as the Witcher, I read it was because the writers of the series was not respecting the source material. Based on watching The Witcher: Blood Origin, I’m going to agree.

You see, the regular Witcher series are based on novels by author Andrzej Sapkowski. His story and characters are from Polish myths and legends, combined with J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth fantasy creatures of Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves.

Instead of adapting one of Sapkowski’s novels, the Blood Origin creators decides to make up their own story to explain the origin of The Witcher. That does sound pretty cool, but when you watch it, it’s pretty awful. It starts with two characters meeting randomly after a failed assassin attempt. Their journey takes them to find Michelle Yeoh, the last of the Ghost Clan, and then they randomly meet other characters who bumped into them walking in the road. The seven outcasts join forces to fight an evil empire… and accidentally created the very first Witcher.

While I don’t hate myself for watching Blood Origin, I think I could have just skipped this. I have enjoyed the regular The Witcher television show, and I love the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt… I just felt Blood Origin was a waste of everyone’s time, and not worthy of the Witcher name.

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vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Violent Night, Deadly Night

Read More Stranger Things I’ve been enjoying Stranger Things since it debut in 2016, and, personally speaking, I think Season 4 is one of their strongest season yet. The show’s really matured, and that’s not to mention how all the child actors have all …

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Violent Night (2022)
universalpictures.com

Violent Night is a super violent comedy movie, starring David Harbour (Hellboy and Stranger Things) as Santa Claus. To best describe it, it’s a Die Hard meets Home Alone, in the holiday traditional movie.

The violence is over-the-top, so you cannot take it too seriously. I found it funny, but for the faint of heart, it is sometime a bit gruesome. Personally speaking, I found it funny, but that’s my sense of humor.

It turns out that Santa Claus used to be a Viking marauder who worked miracles with his trusty bloody hammer… somehow became Santa Claus. He has a magic bag that delivers wrapped gifts to good boys and girls. For the naughty, he leaves them a lump of coal.

Anyway, during his delivery to a wealthy family, Santa Claus found himself caught in a home invasion/hostage situation. He must fight the mercenaries to save a little girl.

Like I said, I found the movie funny, in some parts. I love that sleight diss to Halloween by citing that line, “Christmas dies tonight!”. I laughed so hard at that line. If you’ve seen the new Halloween film, you know how dumb that “Evil Dies Tonight” line was.

I don’t think the film was critically acclaimed. In fact, I’m pretty sure the critics hated it. It’s not really the type of film that would appeal to critics… I think this holiday/comedy film appeals to a very small group of people, like myself, that enjoys these super cheesy violent deaths and equally cheesy lines (delivered in a serious tone).

Read More Vestron Video One of the Bluray that I recently purchased during my Black Friday purchases was Earth Girls Are Easy, number 27 in the latest Vestron Video Collection. …

Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection)
lionsgate.com

The latest Vestron Video release is Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection), which came out December 13th. I found it at Walmart for $17, which is a great price for three remastered films.

As usual with these newer Vestron releases, they all came with a digital code, which you can redeemed at Vudu or iTunes (I usually choose Vudu as that service is available everywhere).

Before you complain, yes, this “collection” does not include the first two films or the last film (which came out in 2012). This collection is strictly Vestron Video-released films: which is Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

You see, what happened was when the filmmakers were shopping for a distribution for their third film, they decided to sign with Vestron (International Video Entertainment). When the people at Vestron saw that they were making a third film, they made the creators an offer take over creating the film (from writing to filming to distribution). Negotiations led Vestron doing a three-film deal.

Based on the 4:3 aspect ratio for all three films, I believe these were “direct to video” (or direct to television) films.

In Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!, this brought back the killer who died in Part 2 with a weird see-through brain cap. The protagonist is a blind girl with psychic powers.

In the fourth film, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation, this is where the series goes off the rail. Instead of Santa-turned-serial-killer theme, it’s actually about witches. While it’s the strangest of the series, I also think it’s one of the better films, thanks to Brian Yuzna (who is famous for Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Warlock).

The last of the Vestron films, Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker continues the none-serial killer theme. You do not need to watch the previous films, but some of the same characters (such as Clint Howard’s character) returns in this film.

All three films includes audio commentaries, so it’s worth checking out if you want to learn more about each of the film.

Most fans have never seen these films (including myself) or have forgotten them… so it’s nice to see that these films are available in glorious high definition. Even though some people think they’re trash cinema, I am happy to see that Lionsgate have treated these films with the respect they deserved.

I will be buying all the Vestron releases and was very happy to add this to my collection.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com