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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

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

Old Men

Read More Jason Bourne We just saw an advance screening of the spy action thriller film Jason Bourne, the fifth film in the Bourne film series, on Tuesday, July 26th at the AMC Southdale 16 in Edina. The new film reunites actor Matt Damon with writer/director …

Read more Movies and Television.

The Old Man
fxnetworks.com

Based on the 2017 novel by Thomas Perry of the same name, The Old Man is the new television drama thriller from FX. After its premiere on June 16, 2022, it was renewed for a second season.

The show is about an ex-CIA agent, named Dan Chase (played by Jeff Bridges), living off the grid for over thirty years. After killing an intruder with a gun and silencer, Chase realized he’s been compromised. He goes on a run, and that’s how the pilot starts.

There’s also the team trying to capture Chase, headed by FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Harold Harper (played by John Lithgow). Harper doesn’t really want Chase caught, but at the same time, he has to do his job.

The first few episodes will have you on your seat, I’m very engaged in this cat-mouse game.

What I don’t really like about the show, because it’s about 7 hours long (in 7 episodes), there are a lot of flashback and backstory that I really didn’t care for. There are actors, playing younger version of Chase and Harper, but all they come off is like trying to imitate Bridges & Lithgow (who has very specific speech patterns).

If you like spy drama, thriller, such as the Jason Bourne, James Bond, or Jack Reacher, you’ll like this television show.

Old Man
rljentertainment.com

Old Man is a new 2022 American thriller/horror movie by Lucky McKee from an screenplay by Joel Veach, distributed by RLJ Entertainment (formerly known as Image Entertainment).

The film is about a lost hiker (Marc Senter) who stumbles upon a strange old man living in the woods (Stephen Lang). It’s really a low budget film, so there’s just a lot of dialogue between the old man and the hiker. It’s clear that the old man is mentally crazy, why the hiker would still engage in conversation, it’s somewhat unbelievable to me.

The problem with the film is that you do not like either character, the crazy old man or the naive hiker… and when you don’t like the characters, it’s just so hard to root for anyone. Everything is answered in the end, all the mysteries are answered… but getting there, I’m not sure if it was worth all that dialogue.

It’s weird to see how Stephen Lang, is playing these old men, who you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. In Don’t Breathe, he plays an old blind man, who has his home invaded. Of course, it’s the invaders that should be worried, not the blind guy!

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

Evil Dead: The Game

Read More Evil Dead I have just seen an advance screening of the Evil Dead movie. The movie is officially release to the public next week, April 5, 2013. Although at the time of screening, the film has yet to get a rating from the MPA, but I can tell you it is a hard-R, for sure. ....

You guys know I love Evil Dead and I have video games… so it would make sense that I would be all over this Evil Dead: The Game! .… Unfortunately, I had no interest in this 2022 survival horror game. From my understanding, this is an online game, meaning you can play with others cooperatively or you can murder each other. As you know, for many years, I didn’t have “fast internet”, so I was just not interested in online games at all… even if it’s not an online game, I didn’t care for it.

So there are several good news. First of all, there is a is a single-player mode (but it still requires an internet connection to play), and, best of all, the base game is free on Epic Games until November 24 (so grab ‘em while you can).

As with all Epic free games, I basically just log in to get the free games and then never installing or playing them…. But hey, one day… one day… I will launch Epic and holy cow! Look at all the games I own!

The cool thing is that the game does star Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams, with Dana DeLorenzo as Kelly Maxwell and Ray Santiago as Pablo Simon Bolivar (from the television series Ash vs Evil Dead).

Evil Dead: The Game is free on epicgames.com.

Details:

Evil Dead: The Game
Step into the shoes of Ash Williams or his friends from the iconic Evil Dead franchise and work together in a game loaded with over-the-top co-op and PVP multiplayer action! Play as a team of four survivors, exploring, looting, managing your fear, and finding key items to seal the breach between worlds in a game inspired by all three original Evil Dead films as well as the STARZ original Ash vs Evil Dead television series.

Iconic Characters
Play as characters from throughout the Evil Dead universe, including Ash, Scotty, Lord Arthur, Kelly Maxwell, & more, with new dialogue performed by Bruce Campbell & others!

Play As Good or Evil
Fight for the forces of good or take control of the Kandarian Demon to hunt Ash & others while possessing Deadites, the environmental objects & more as you seek to swallow their souls!

Off-the-Wall Visuals
Whether you’re tearing a Deadite in 2 with Ash's chainsaw hand or flying across the map as the Kandarian Demon, realistic visuals & physics-based gore brings the horror to life!

This...Is My Boomstick
Brandish your short barrel shotgun, chainsaw, cleavers and more to do some delightfully gruesome violence against the armies of darkness.

Enjoy,

- Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

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

Countdown to Halloween

Read More Hellraiser Some commonly seen t-shirts were Nightbreed and Hellraiser, which I thought were cool, since I have always thought Clive Barker is genius. Also, this year they had music as part of the show. …

October is the month of horror, as we countdown to Halloween.

Hellraiser (2022)
hulu.com

The first really good horror film to come out this year is the new Hellraiser film, exclusive to Hulu. The 2022 Hellraiser film based on and re-imagined Clive Barker’s Hellbound Heart novella. Barker, himself, wrote and directed the original Hellraiser film in 1987, which set a new standard for horror films.

Instead of just another sequel, like so many of the other Hellraiser films, this new Hulu version created new rules and lore on the Lemarchand’s puzzle box… namely that the box can cut you with hidden blades to feed the box. Once you are marked, the Cenobites will appear to destroy you. The other new rule is that if you solve the box’s six configuration, you are granted with an audience with the Cenobite’s god Leviathan.

I like the new additions to Clive Barker’s original story, and I think it is fresh and exciting to get new ideas to this franchise. I didn’t even mind that Pinhead is now played by a woman. We’ve had different actors played Pinhead in the past, so it’s not out of the realm of possibly to replace the original Pinhead played by Doug Bradley. There’s also a new Chatterer, a new Angelique, and some new Cenobites that I’ve never seen before.

Next to Hellraiser and Hellraiser II: Hellbound, this new 2022 Hellraiser is worthy of the title.

Note: When I first heard that Hulu was making a Hellraiser film, I immediately thought it was a television show. To me, that made a lot sense, to treat the franchise as a regular television program. For example, you can have a death every episode, as the box travel from hand to hand. You can tell so much different stories, based on the box. The comic book did a good job in telling different stories in that universe… and a television show could have the same structure.

Read More Let the Right One In I will admit to having reservations about the American re-make of Let the Right One In, called Let Me In. I mean, if you ever saw the 2008 Swedish film (based on the 2004 best-selling book "Låt den rätte komma in" …

Let The Right One In (2022)
sho.com

I’ve never read the original book, but I am a fan of the 2008 Swedish horror film Let the Right One In. I even thought the American re-make of the film, titled Let Me In (2010), starring Chloë Grace Moretz, was not bad and it told a more cohesive story.

If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s about vampire child who befriends a 12-year-old boy. The way the story is told, it’s not really a horror film, but more like a weird love story.

The new Showtime television series, Let the Right One In, is loosely based on the book. Right away, they made all sorts of changes to the novel, like changing the race of the 12-year-old boy. Eli the vampire girl, they made her Spanish. Her father (perhaps?) is Lebanese, and the whole story takes place in America. They also introduce this secondary story about how they are trying to solve the vampire problem by hunting down and killing the original vampire. There’s also another family with a vampire child. I don’t think these new storylines … I think they did this so they can stretch out the story in a new directions. Again, I haven’t read the novel, so I don’t know how true they are to the story, but I suspect these new ideas were created for the television show.

While it’s too early to judge the series, right now, I am not loving this new TV show. The only exception is that they cast Grace Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter) as Claire Logan. I love Gummer when she was in Mr Robot, so I love seeing her in Let the Right One In.

Read More Werewolves In my final installment of Halloween treats, I'm going to compile some songs about Werewolves. I actually had a lot more Halloween-related posts I wanted to do, but lately I have not been home. …

Werewolf by Night (2022)
disneyplus.com

Based on the Marvel Comics of the same title, Werewolf by Night is the latest horror film from Disney Plus.

This might be the first of the new type of Marvel’s Horror titles, which will likely to include Blade, Son of Satan, and other Supernatural horror in their back catalog.

While I understand the film maker’s decision, I actually did not like watching Werewolf by Night as a Black & White (with some splashes of red) film. I think the B&W made it look hokey and cheesy. Like it is a bad Roger Corman film… and perhaps that is what they were going for.

The one redeeming thing about Werewolf by Night is that they introduced Man-Thing, which is one of my favorite “Swampy” creatures (with Swamp Thing and The Heap in that same family).

Description:

On a dark and somber night, a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader. In a strange and macabre memorial to the leader’s life, the attendees are thrust into a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic—a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monster. Inspired by horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, the chilling special aims to evoke a sense of dread and the macabre, with plenty of suspense and scares along the way as we explore a new corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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

From South Korea

Read More South Korea If you haven’t heard, Squid Game is Netflix’s blockbuster television show. Everyone, at least over 111 million, is watching this South Korean drama/thriller. …

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The Witch: Part 2. The Other One (2022)
wellgousa.com

A few years ago, I bought the film The Witch: Subversion on Bluray and was both blown away at the story and was also disappointed to learn that it’s only part of the story.

In The Witch: Subversion, it’s about a young girl who decides to enter a contest. She has telekinetic powers that she used to win the contest. When news of this reached this shadowy superhuman killers, they sought her out. It turns out “the witch” was part of a government super soldier program… and she must’ve escape and lost her memory.

In the sequel, The Witch: Part 2. The Other One is actually a story about another girl with powers… although the way the story is told, you thought it was the origin story of the original “witch”.

You’re also introduced to this elite Australian/Korean duo, who goes around killing superhumans. Their task is to kill the girl, but they end up kind of like the heroes, as they fight against the killer hit squad. I know this doesn’t make any sense, until you watch the film.

The original was a hit, and this new film is also a hit, becoming South Korea’s highest grossing film.

I recommend watching the first one, as a refresher, as I’ve forgotten many of the characters and their motivations.

Like the first film, I’m disappointed that this second film is still only part of the story... and there will be a third film. I hope they resolve everything in the third film, I don’t want the story to go on forever.

Read More John Woo Pushing it to an LP status and re-titled to "A Much Better Tomorrow" in 2000. The title, looks like, was taken from John Woo's crime trilogy of the same name. …

The Killer (2022)
thekiller2022.com

Not to be confused with John Woo’s The Killer (1989) or David Fincher’s The Killer (2023), this new The Killer (aka The Killer: A Girl Who Deserves to Die) is a South Korean action film.

Critics mentioned that this was Korea’s John Wick, but I thought it felt like another Korean film, Deliver Us From Evil (2020). In Deliver Us From Evil, the story is about a hitman on his final hit before retiring, finds himself trying to save a young girl. He’s pursued by a crazy mobster. I really like Deliver Us From Evil, because they took the film seriously and portrays it in a realistic world.

The Killer (2022) is just an over-the-top, stylized, unbelievable story of a retired hitman. It starts off simple enough, our hero, Bang Ui-gang, is babysitting a 17 year old girl… who gets in trouble with the wrong crowd. In order to fully keep the girl safe, he has to take down an evil criminal organization.

His main nemesis throughout the film is played by Bruce Khan, who looks like Donnie Yen. Khan is supposed to be a Russian assassin, but I never thought he looked Russian at all. I mean, what kind of Russian speaks fluent Korean?

My main problem with the film is that it’s just too unrealistic. It portrays Bang as an unstoppable badass, who cannot be taken down. It’s just boring to watch, when you know he can never lose a fight! I feel like they should bring it down to earth a little… maybe show that Bang has some weakness.

I guess it’s not meant to be taken seriously, just watch it for the action and have some popcorn. It’s a summer action blockbuster-type of film.

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

Strange Tales: Men and Crimes of the Future

Men (2022) Read More Alex Garland I am a big fan of A24, the film distributor/producer, ever since Alex Garland’s excellent film Ex Machina in 2015. To be fair, I’m a big Garland fan, owning all his films, including Dredd (owned this twice!), 28 Days Later …

Men (2022)
a24films.com

I love Alex Garland, I love A24, so naturally, I sought out this film. Men is a folk horror film. The Green Man element (the nature part) of the film really reminded me of former horror films like The Wicker Man and Midsomer… all under that folk horror subcategory.

Men is about a woman named Harper Marlowe, who is trying to heal and cope after her husband’s suicide. She goes on holiday at a nice quiet Cotson manor in a small village.

It’s anything but a relaxing stay, as slowly it becomes a horror story about a woman trying to survive all alone. At first, it’s just small, everyday out of place things, like seeing a shadowy figure on the other side of the tunnel. Seeing a naked man outside of an abandoned structure. Those kind of weird unsettling things.

While the first half of the film is slow-burning horror… the second part is more intense and in your face. It’s clear that someone, or perhaps something supernatural, is stalking Harper. Is it in her head or is it real?

Personally speaking, I would have prefer if the movie would have been vague about reality vs the supernatural… but at the end, it’s all supernatural, especially the end with the various birthing.

To me, how I interpreted the film, that the whole thing was in Harper’s head, down her her crashing her car.

Like Garland’s previous Devs television show, I thought the title was bad. My thoughts for Men is the same… the name is just a bad name for a horror film. I know it’s cliché, but they could’ve just called this A Haunting at Cotson Manor, and it would’ve been a better title.

Crimes of the Future (2022) Read More David Cronenberg I'm a big David Cronenberg fan, owning many of his releases on DVDs (including Rabid, Fast Company, The Brood, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Crash, Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises) so I'm really in no hurry to make …

Crimes of the Future (2022)
crimesofthefuture.film

I love David Cronenberg and own many Cronenberg films, including Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly. I even thought eXistenZ was genius, but for whatever reason, Crimes of the Future didn’t sit right (pun intended for the weird chair in the film) with me.

I actually own Cronenberg’s student film Crimes of the Future from 1970, but it’s not related to the 2022 film… it only shares the title. In this new film, it’s about how humans have evolved beyond or adapted to their polluted environment.

The story is about this guy named Saul Tenser, who has this syndrome, where his body develops new organs. They would constantly remove these new organs and use the surgery as performance art. The whole thing is weird… but it’s definitely a Cronenberg concept of using surgery as a metaphor for sex (like how he used car crashes as sex in Crash).

While I think the concepts and ideas are interesting, it doesn’t make for a good story, in my opinion. The story doesn’t really go anywhere and it just felt boring to me.

Personally speaking, I wish Cronenberg would do more of a eXistenZ sequel, or expand, on the video game/reality story. You can certainly explore more and go further, because it’s a brand new world of Cronenberg’s creation and not bound by rules of the earth… even if it’s in the future.

If you’re looking for a fresh Cronenberg perspective, I suggest checking out his son, Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor. This is a hard-core science fiction/horror film that is a lot more exciting than Crimes of the Future. If you want to stay in the David Cronenberg films, I suggest watching Videodrome and Scanners… they are classic Cronenberg.

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A24

Read More Son Lux Max Tundra, No Age, The Ruby Suns, Rustie, Son Lux, Sun Airway, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Taken By Trees, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), YACHT, and many more. …

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EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)
a24films.com

A24 recently announced the Everything Everywhere All At Once Official Motion Picture Soundtrack by Son Lux (Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia, and Ian Chang). The film was directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka “The Daniels”) and is about a Sci-Fi/Comedy adventure of a Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can't seem to finish her taxes.

I haven’t seen the film, but obviously, you know I’ll eventually check out the film.

As for the soundtrack, it’s a massive 49 songs collection, featuring collaborations with Mitski & David Byrne in duet, Randy Newman, and Moses Sumney.

With so many songs (two years in the making and resulting in over two hours of new music), I believe the soundtrack is digital-only… at least for now. If they want to release it on CD, it would have to be multiple discs.

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X (2022)
a24films.com

I am a big fan of A24, the film distributor/producer, ever since Alex Garland’s excellent film Ex Machina in 2015. To be fair, I’m a big Garland fan, owning all his films, including Dredd (owned this twice!), 28 Days Later (DVD), Annihilation (Digital), and Devs (which is not available on Bluray at the moment).

Just to give you an idea, A24 is responsible for many of my favorite films, including The Witch (2016), Green Room (2016), Climax (2018), Midsommar (2019), and The Green Knight (2021).

X is like A24’s answer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The X film follows a group of filmmakers and actors, heading to a small town in Texas in 1979, to make a pornographic movie. Basically, they all get murdered in horrible ways.

The most interesting thing about the film is that it stars Mia Goth (who got her start in the porno-ish film Nymphomaniac) and Kid Cudi who plays the “man whore”.

While earlier, I dismissed the film for its lack of story, I suppose if you look closer, especially hearing the dialogues from the porno director, RJ. RJ continuously defends his porno film, saying that he’s making “art”, etc. It’s unconvincing, of course, but in many ways, perhaps the real director, Ti West, is saying that he’s making his horror film as “art”. It’s a horror film, let’s just leave it at that.

There’s also a little twist at the end of the film, which I won’t spoil, that surprised me and suddenly one of the character’s motivation and her dialogue made a lot of sense to me.

What is even more amazing is that the end of X isn’t really the end. Apparently, the film’s sequel, Pearl was shot back-to-back during production of X. The film will star Mia Goth again, as a younger pearl (I found out that she actually played Pearl in X, but under heavy makeup).

I’m definitely looking forward to Pearl… any A24 film, I will give it a try.

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