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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 ([email protected]) ♥ 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 ([email protected]) ♥ 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 ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sci-Fi 2022: Andor, The Peripheral, and Quantum Leap

Read More Star Wars No one likes The Book of Boba Fett. The story is slow, and more than half of it is told in flashback. No one seems to know what the point of the new Boba Fett show is all about. ....

Andor (2022)
disney.com

It seems like no one is watching Andor… or at least you rarely hear people talking about this Star Wars new television show on Disney Plus. Maybe it’s because fans are tired of Star Wars or maybe they’re just not interested in this weird prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One?

For what’s it worth, I think Andor is possibly the best Star Wars television show since The Mandorian.

Andor is about Cassian Andor, five years prior to Rogue One. He starts off with an accidental murder, and follows his story of a grand heist. It’s weird but by episode 6 or 7, the show turned into a prison story. Personally speaking, I didn’t care for the prison story, but the overall story of building a rebellion against the empire is interesting. You can see how the empire started off as bringing order to the galaxy, but slowly turns dark and evil…

The cast is amazing, obviously some were from the film, including Forest Whitaker, reprising his role as a younger Saw Gerrera.

I really love the puppet master, Luthen Rael, who is trying to build this organized rebellion. That amazing starship fight at the end of Andor shows us that he is a real bad-ass! All this time the character is in the shadows and working behind the scene… but when it he’s forced to make a move - he can really throwdown!

Coming off the very disappointing (and boring) Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi television show, Andor was a true delight. It gives me hope that Disney is heading in the right direction, when it comes to quality writing… and I’m very excited to see what Andor Season 2 will bring to Star Wars canon.

Description:

The “Andor” series will explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.

Read More Westworld HBO has been struggling to find its new hit show since Game of Thrones ended (and it ended badly). Westworld potentially could have been the next-Game of Thrones, but unfortunately Season 2 of Westworld was not good. …

The Peripheral (2022)
amazon.com

There is a great new Sci-Fi television show called The Peripheral that airs on Friday on Amazon Prime. The premier was October 21st, and currently we can only view up to episode 5. So far, I’m loving it.

The series takes place in the future, and centers around Flynne Fisher (played by Chloë Grace Moretz). She thinks she’s trying out some new VR game… but in reality, she’s remote controlling something. I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m sure if you look online, you can find out more.

The show was based on a 2014 book of the same name written by William Gibson and has a Westworld vibe… maybe because Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers.

Although I am enjoying the show, there are some things that I don’t really think is realistic. For example, there are some some technology from the future that made its way to people in the past. Stuff like invisible cars or sonic blasters… yet no one in the show is surprised or calling in the government. There is also the issue of a hit squad trying to kill Fisher, but they were taken out by Fisher’s brothers and his squad. It was like, huh?

Fisher’s brother is ex-military, and his buddies are all former military… including a triple amputee character, so maybe they can take out a hit squad, but I didn’t really believe it.

Anyway, it’s a good show, I would try and tune in on Friday to see how the story unfolds. Sometime the show is super violent, but if you can stomach it, you’ll like the show.

Description:

The Peripheral centers on Flynne Fisher, a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow's America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future. Until the future comes calling for her. The Peripheral is master storyteller William Gibson’s dazzling, hallucinatory glimpse into the fate of mankind — and what lies beyond.

Read More Quantum Leap Dean Stockwell (American actor and recording artist), 85 Former Quantum Leap star Dean Stockwell, an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor whose stage, film and TV career spanned more than 70 years and 200 credits, has died ... via deadline.com …

Quantum Leap (2022)
nbc.com

You guys know I love the original Quantum Leap, so I was excited to see that NBC has brought the show back for 2022.

In the original series, Sam Beckett is trying to get home by leaping into random bodies. Each episode is a mystery, and with the help of Al, the hologram from the future, and the computer Ziggy, they work out the mystery and Dr Beckett leaps.

Unfortunately, they’ve decided to go in a different direction in the new show. In the new Asian Quantum Leap, Dr. Ben Song deliberately jumps into the past to save someone. The show is half in the past and half of it is in the future. I absolutely hated whenever you see the future. Who cares about the future characters?

The cast now is diverse, an Asian lead, a white woman hologram, they/them programmer, a black director, an Asian security person… it’s a whole rainbow roster. I hate it that they try and please everybody. I suppose none of that matters, but if only the stories and acting are good. The writing is predictable, and everyone gets so emotional. Think The CW, only on NBC.

The best episode so far is the latest, Episode 8. It’s about four runaway students from some sort of school and they get lost in the woods. In the original history, the kids are never seen again… so it’s up to Ben to save them all with the help of his girlfriend hologram.

Description:

Physicist Ben Song and a newly revamped team embark on a journey through time.

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ 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 ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Fantasy TV (Sep 2022)

Read more Television and Fantasy TV.

Read More The Sandman The next big title to be given the Netflix treatment will be Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman… it’s currently in development. Everyone is excited about the adaption, and hopefully it will bring the story to a bigger audience. … Constantine The new episode of Constantine is probably the best show so far! The best ones are the ones that is based on the comic book, and this new episode, the whole setup is quite similar to Mike Carey's Hellblazer: All His Engines. .…

The Sandman
netflix.com

It breaks my heart, but I don’t love the Netflix adaption of The Sandman.

I realized that the television show wasn’t meant for me, but for a wider audience that is not all that familiar with the original comic books. You see, I own all the original comics, starting with #1 when it first launched in 1989, when Vertigo Comics was in its infancy. I own all the spinoffs titles (including Death: The High Cost of Living, and various Specials). I am a superfan, when it comes to the Sandman.

So, that’s the problem. I’m just too close to the source material, it is hard for me to accept the new changes… especially, when I think it brought absolutely nothing to the story.

They followed most of the story correctly, making some minor changes to give the Corinthian a bigger role, and overall, the story still follows the books.

What I had a problem with is all the gender and race swaps. I know, I know, most people aren’t bothered by this… but when you are used to a character to look a certain way, you just expect them to look the same on screen.

The biggest changes were Death is played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste, a black actress, and John Constantine is played by Jenna Coleman, a woman, Rose Walker is played by Kyo Ra, a black actress, and Lucien, an old male elf librarian is played by Vivienne Acheampong, a black woman.

I know a lot of people argued that it doesn’t matter, but to me, it just didn’t feel like the Sandman from the comic books. I just wondered why they made these changes? For example, if they changed Cyborg, a black character, into a white character, wouldn’t it upset you? Another example, when they decided to make Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe to Asian, I wasn’t happy about that either. I would be upset if they changed Storm Shadow, who is Asian, to another race or gender. Another example, I was really upset that they wouldn’t show Constantine smoking in the Constantine television show... and yes, I was upset that Constantine was not blonde and English in the Keanu Reeves movie. To me, I just don’t like it when they make changes to the characters.

What The Sandman got right, such as The Corinthian, or Desire (maybe they could have gotten both a male and female to play the part!), or all the serial killers… they got it right! I’ve no complaints if they get things right.... Cain and Abel, they look like they’re from the bible. Even Fiddler’s Green looked the part, complete with his costume and glasses. When the show gets a character right, I’m going to praise it.

I guess, when it comes down to it, for someone not familiar with The Sandman, you are going to have a good time. You’re going to love the story of the Sandman, which combines the first two Sandman arcs, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll’s House, into 10 episodes. I think the story still holds up.

Also, don’t miss the bonus episode, a two-parter Dream of a Thousand Cats and Calliope, which are both excellent adaptions. No complaints here, the cats looks like cats, the muse looks like a muse.

Read More Game Of Thrones The Seven Kingdoms come to life in a way like no other as the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience kicked off its all-arena twenty-four city North American tour at the Xcel Energy Center in St . Paul. .…

House of the Dragon
hbo.com

With bitterness of the last two seasons of Game of Thrones still fresh in my mind, I wasn’t looking forward to the prequel House of the Dragons… or as the kids are calling it, “Hot D”. Going into House of the Dragons, I realized how much I love the original Game of Thrones (Seasons 1 to 5). That’s because the story and writing is strong, as it’s based on George R.R. Martin’s Blood and Fire book.

The good news is that the book has a definitive ending, so if they are adapting this book, they won’t run out of material, unlike Game of Thrones, where the showrunners were just making it up as they go along (and it shows how poorly they understood the characters).

In many ways, House of the Dragons is making me fall back in love with the Westeros world. Since the story takes place over 150 years before Game of Thrones, there are no familiar characters.

We are introduced to the ruling House Targaryen. The king Viserys Targaryen is facing a problem of not having an heir to his kingdom. He chose to named his daughter, Rhaenyra, as sole heir to spurn his brother, Daemon. This sets up conflict within the Targaryen family.

I think the best part of the show is Matt Smith, who is straight up an evil man. To call him evil might be wrong, he’s more like a big jerk. Smith does such a wonderful job in portraying Daemon, that every time he’s on screen, he dominate. All the other characters are boring compared to Daemon.

I’m only three episodes in, and knowing that HBO has already green-lit a second season, I have a good feeling about this series. I haven’t read the book, so I’m very much looking forward to how the story unfolds, and who will live and who will die, playing the Game of Thrones?

PS, I don’t like how House of the Dragons re-used the theme song to Game of Thrones. I wish it was a different theme song, so that it stands on its own, rather than being related to GoT.

Read More Lord of the Rings The Banner Saga, a game by Stoic, released on Tuesday, January 14th, is one of the best games I've ever played. The graphics is hand drawn and reminds me of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and pre-CGI Disney animation. .…

Rings of Power
amazon.com

Yes, I do have Amazon Prime, and no, I haven’t wanted to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show from Amazon. The show is based on the The Lord of the Rings and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien.

One of the main reasons I am avoiding this show is that the diehard fans are ridiculing the show for its terrible writing and that the show is changing race and gender from the books. As someone who was not happy that they gender or race-swapped characters on The Sandman, I fully understand why these fans are upset that the Rings of Power show is getting their characters wrong.

I don’t know the whole story, but I think part of the problem is that Amazon only has rights to some books, so they can’t touch anything that appears in the Peter Jackson movies. They might have to make up characters or introduce a new race that was not mentioned in the books. For example, since the Hobbits didn’t exist in the time that Rings of Power takes place, the showrunners used a race called the Harfoots.

I haven’t read the books, so those kind of things probably wouldn’t bother me, but seeing as so many fans hate all the changes to the books, I am avoiding the fantasy series for now.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

R.I.P. Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek)

Read More Nichelle Nichols Finally, did you know that Nichelle Nichols (the actress that plays Lieutenant Uhura) have released not one, but two albums ? I actually didn't know she was a recording artist until I started doing research for this article. …

Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura from the original Star Trek series, has died on Saturday. She was 89 years old.

We did see her at Wizard World Minneapolis in 2017, but were not allowed to take her photo. To be honest, I thought she looked worse for wear, requiring an assistant and wheelchair to get around.

For Star Trek and music fans, Nichelle Nichols releaesd two albums, Down to Earth and Out of This World.

Variety noted Nichols’ landmark moment:

Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in television history on “Star Trek.” That moment, with her co-star William Shatner, was a courageous move on the part of her, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and NBC considering the climate at the time, but the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which aired in 1968, was written to give all involved an out: Uhura and Captain Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so involuntarily by aliens with the ability to control the movements of humans. Nevertheless, it was a landmark moment.

There had been a couple of interracial kisses on American television before. A year earlier on “Movin’ With Nancy,” Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek in what appeared to be a spontaneous gesture but was in fact carefully planned. The Uhura-Kirk kiss was likely the first televised white/African American lip-to-lip kiss.

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Strangest Things

Stranger Things: Season 4 It's been eight months since The Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time - and navigating the complexities of high school hasn't made things easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery, that if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down. Read More Stranger Things For me, synthwave started with Stranger Things. In late July I went on a date with a fellow dungeon master who mentioned this show which started with some kids playing D&D (Dungeons & Dragons). …

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STRANGER THINGS
netflix.com

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 really grown up in the four years we’ve known them. I mean in both story and, the fact that the real actors have really grown up. Just look at the actor Finn Wolfhard, he looks like a fully grown young man. It’s clear to me that the Duffer Brothers couldn’t possibly continue telling their stories forever.

The story of Season 4 goes back to the first time we meet 11. We’re reminded that 11 killed everyone in this secret base in a flashback. The story goes deeper, and you’re given more back stories. Somehow, at least how I perceived it, that it was that 11 created “The Upsidedown”, a twisted version of Hawkins, Indiana. It’s really cool, I bought it.

Season 4 also has some of the most horrific death scenes, featuring some gruesome body breaking/eyeballs destroying moments. I feel like sometime the show borders on Rated R and PG, especially with some of its goofy moments, like the Suzie’s mad house or the crazy greedy Russian pilot.

My biggest complaint about the new season is that they’ve introduced (or focused more on) a lot of new characters. I wish they just stick to the original group of fans. Instead, we’re seeing characters like Hellfire Club’s Eddie, Robin (who was introduced last season and plays a bigger part this season), and Argyle. With so many characters, it just seems like the writers tried to devote more time to everyone… making for very long episodes. In fact, the last two episodes (which just released by Netflix) are one and half hour, and two plus hours, respectively. They are movie length!

Stranger Things Soundtrack Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4 includes essential music tracks evoking various classic eras and styles as featured in "Stranger Things 4." The soundtrack album is conceptualized and produced by The Duffer Brothers and Nora Felder.

STRANGER THINGS: SOUNDTRACK
legacyrecordings.com

As you know, one of the best thing about Stranger Things is their amazing 80s soundtrack. With Season 4, the soundtrack helped Kate Bush back on the music charts, over 35 years after “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” was originally released!

I actually own a few Stranger Things Soundtrack, so I’m looking forward to Legacy Recordings’ release of Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4. The soundtrack is available now on digital and CD.

If you’re a vinyl collector, like I am, be on the look out for the double LP 12” on November 4th. The vinyl will come in standard black (with 12inch poster insert), or exclusive retailers’ editions.

Walmart will have a Creel House cover and puzzle, Target will have a California cover and diorama, Barnes & Noble will have a Russia cover and stickers, and Amazon will feature a Lab cover with a 12x12 Butcher Billy lithograph (details here).

Surfer Boy Pizza Surfer Boy Pizza Pepperoni Pizza, 23 oz. Each mouth-watering variety contains rich tomato sauce, delicious mozzarella cheese, and a gnarly range of toppings.

SURFER BOY PIZZA
palermovillainc.com

The first time I saw Surfer Boy Pizza, I was so confused. This is an imaginary pizza brand from Stranger Things… yet, here it is, in real life at my local Walmart. I decided to try one out.

To my surprise, it was really good. Especially for only $7. Don’t believe all the food snobs on the internet, I really like the pizza. I would cut it in thirds and air fry a piece for about 9 minutes, and it’s crisp and tastes great.

The frozen pizza is made by Palermo Villa Co. and comes with a fake pair of punch-out 3D glasses. There are four types of topping available: supreme, multi-meat, pepperoni, and pineapple & jalapeno. I’ve tried them all, they’re all pretty good, except for my least favorite, the pineapple & jalapeno. It’s just the topping, the crust is still good. The best value is the supreme, so I would recommend trying that first.

At the moment, I believe the pizza is only available from Walmart. Right now, they are phasing out the pizza, since the show is over… but you can still buy a 4-pack from their website for a high price of $50.

If you can find it for $7, it’s worth checking out.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ 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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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

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.

Read More Climax Gaspar Noé’s films are not for everybody. You have to keep that in mind, as you watch his latest film, Climax. The movie is just a very long dance sequence into hell. There is not much of a … Devs I think the show’s title, Devs, is a bad one. I didn’t know what that title would imply, and it took a lot of recommendations from friends and family, before I begrudgingly decided to check it out … Kid Cudi One of the artist songwriter/producer (and actor!) Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi), has a new third album Indicud. If you're into the DJ/remix scene, chances are you've heard of Cudi, who was "discovered" …

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 ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com