Media Notes: Roundup for October 2020

 

This is a somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during October 2020.


Movies and films (links to IMDB.com for basic information unless noted otherwise). Some of these I watched via TubiTv.com or other online source. The DVDs come from the public library (unless noted otherwise). In addition, I will try to add other trivia notes, such as when a film is based on a book adding the information about the book (at least the WorldCat record if available).

Since this was October, I did make it a point to watch a few horror films. These vary from decent to cheesy to "why did I do that?" quality:

 

• Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005. Horror. Drama. Thriller). Plot description: "Years before Father Lankester Merrin helped save Regan MacNeil's soul, he first encounters the demon Pazuzu in East Africa. Merrin's initial battle with Pazuzu leads to the rediscovery of his faith." The mystery starts after World War II when Father Merrin, running from a painful past in the war, is working an archeological dig of a Christian church that predates Christianity in the area. It seems the church was built, only to be buried, but why? It is a somewhat slow film, more suspense than horror. Things happen gradually. A crippled boy treated recuperates way faster than normal. Village people seem to go mad once the church is opened, and when two British soldiers are found dead inside the church (they were stealing artifacts), the commander blames the villagers though it seems they killed each other. It all points out to an evil presence of some kind, a bit at a time. Eventually, we get a good indication that Cheche, the crippled boy, is possessed. The film focuses on Merrin's crisis of faith and his eventual battle with the devil. Gore is fairly minimal, as I said, more focused on the suspense and characters. A bit slow but I liked it, so I'd say 3 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. 
• Krampus Unleashed (2016. Horror). Plot description: "Treasure hunters unearth an ancient stone and awaken the bloodthirsty Krampus, a Christmas demon whose appetite won’t be satisfied by milk and cookies." Movie starts in late 19th century Arizona where the fortune hunters find the "buried treasure" that turned out to be a stone. The Krampus awakens, kills them all in a fairly quick and uninspired way, then movie moves on to modern day. We start here with a family on a road trip, the usual blah image of family on holiday vacation with the kids who could not care less. Fact they did about 3 minutes of credits and just looking at the car on the road already signals this movie is seriously lacking in any substance. Family is traveling from up north (where they have snow; well, implied snow from the conversation but turns out they live in Atlanta) to see the wife's family that rest of the family honestly hates. It is the stereotypical Christmas gathering where they hate each other, the kids are inwardly cursing their parents for dragging them there. Again, great set up and  you start hoping to see them killed off soon, though not soon enough for this movie. 30 minutes into a 79 minute film, and nothing is happening. Krampus can't come to kill people fast enough. Then there is the local woman with questionable taste in men, and you can't wait for them to get killed sooner, but we are 40 minutes in, and still nothing happening other than meandering between obnoxious characters. Plus the two rednecks looking for Bigfoot, who will get more than they expect, and they may just be the most interesting guys in the film who sadly are also the first killed (which happens about 40-45 minutes into the movie; why the hell could not that bratty asshole pervert teen boy be first to die? On a happy note, he does get killed way at the end, albeit in a somewhat ridiculous way sort of setting up a possible sequel). Now I am not saying the movie needed to be a gorefest from the start, but damn, this pretty much drags until the last 20 minutes or so, and by then, you honestly just wait for people to die. Speaking of the gore, fairly minimal, the special effects are so so. Naturally, because it is a crappy horror movie, when people are told that others just got killed, no one listens to the one guy with the good idea of get in the car and get the fuck out. The others decide to go outside and look around. This goes from seriously bad and boring to seriously bad, boring, and laughably predictable. They are not even trying to have a plot at this point. The survivors, at that point, meeting an old man who turns out was survivor of the fortune hunter group, telling the story of the creature they met (the Krampus) is a nice touch. Meets the you have to have an old coot warn the visitors about the local monster horror movie requirement, except he is pretty much a day late and a dollar short. Overall, this crap fest is the kind of movie you wonder who the heck thought it would be a good idea to pay to have it made. Barely no plot, plodding story where nothing really happens, and by the time it does happen, you can't wait for this to end. This movie was free to watch, and I still want a refund for the pain and suffering. Not even worth giving it a star, so zero out of five stars. Skip this. Via TubiTv. 
• The Legend of Halloween Jack (2018. Horror. Thriller. British film). Plot description: "On Halloween night, a serial killer returns from the dead to take revenge on the vigilantes who put him to death one year earlier." Movie starts with a montage of old black and white horror films as they do the credits. As we know, when they do most if not all the credits at the opening, that is bad sign; it's filler, and here, to be honest, the old films have nothing to do with this film other than filling up time, or so it seems. Turns out the serial killer is a fan of such films. Once the film does start, we get back to the trial of Jack Cain, the alleged killer, where he is released because the strong evidence was obtained illegally; heck, the cops did not even read the guy his rights it seems, which leaves the judge little choice but to release him. The four people involved: two of the victims' relatives, the cop who messed up, and the city mayor take justice into their hands. Now, it is a year later, and it is Halloween. The vigilantes then start dying, and soon we find out Jack Cain may not have been guilty, for real, after all, but he still wants his revenge. Overall, the movie is a bit slow in build up, and the deaths are relatively predictable for the most part. The writers made some effort with the plot, adding in some druid and occult elements to give Jack's return an explanation. Still, overall, somewhat predictable, and the ending was just not that satisfying. Nothing too exciting to be honest. A pity since the premise had potential. Rating it, I'd say it was OK, so 2 out of 5 give or take. Via TubiTv. 
• Scanners (1981. Horror. Science Fiction. Thriller). Basic plot description: "A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him." A security organization, sellers of weapons, is experimenting with Scanners (a type of telepath) as weapons when a rogue Scanner infiltrates a demonstration and kills someone. The scientist figures there is a Scanner underground, and they want to infiltrate it, so they send the one Scanner they got left. An issue is the organization has a traitor/mole inside giving the underground leader information. I remember back in younger days how the trailers for this film made it sound oh so scary. To be honest, the film has a nice premise, which had potential, but the film is not a big deal. Heck, aside from some scares, not that gory either if at all. It is a fairly slow film with a bit of cat and mouse in it, though the plot is not terribly consistent, seems to jump around a little. To be honest, aside from some good actors like Patrick McGoohan and Michael Ironside, and the fact Cronenberg directed (which seems to be what makes fans of this film go ga ga), this is a fairly forgettable and plodding 1980s flick.The acting is not that much better. By the way, that part of the one Scanner scanning a computer was a bit of a stretch, but at this point what the heck? Just goes along with the rest of how bad this movie is. One of those cases of it happens because the plot needs it to happen. The plot twist at the end was fairly predictable once you knew about the one mole. Interesting but again, getting there was just seriously boring. Why it seems to be so overrated I have no idea. 1 out of 5 stars at most. Via YouTube. 
• Chopping Mall (1986. Horror. Science Fiction. Comedy). Plot description: "A group of young shopping mall employees stay behind for a late night party in one of the stores. When the mall goes on lock-down before they can get out, the robot security system malfunctions, and goes on a killing spree." Not sure why this is rated as comedy although when they demo the new robots at the start, and the guy says, "trust me, nothing can go wrong," well, that is funny since we all know it will go wrong. All it takes is a little thunderstorm. Yea, a little rain and lightning and there goes the uber fancy security system. This is a very typical 80s movie from the mall to the women and their hairspray and a cigarette vending machine. The so-called teens, who look more like college kids, are the typical airhead bimbos and jocks, except for the one nerdy couple, that you just can't wait for the robots to eviscerate. Overall, light film that is not much in terms of horror and not really that funny; it's more silly than anything else. It was OK so I am giving it 2 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv.
  
• Circus Kane (2017. Horror). Plot description: "A reclusive circus master invites a group of social media stars to his house of haunts. Anyone who can make it out before being scared into submission will earn $250,000." Another entry in the genre of "surviving the night in a haunted place" but with clowns. The scene at the beginning when Kane is teaching the child is interesting, blending a bit of affection with some darker elements. After that and the initial credits, we start with a woman, wounded and traumatized, in a police interrogation room. She will tell the story, and we go from there to see what happened (and we thus learn at least one of them survived). Except for the collectibles store owner and the gamer, no one knows who Kane is. They are excited at the invitation, but the others have no idea. A small highlight of the film is an appearance by Richard Moll (you may know him from his role as a bailiff in the show Night Court). The film is a bit of a slow build but soon builds up as the danger becomes very clear, and the guests to the house start dying in various ways. The scares were no big deal; the suspense started strong but then loses steam a bit. Decent Halloween season fare, not great but alright. The revelation at the end was a nice twist, going back to the beginning and Kane's lesson on misdirection. I do not know if they made a sequel, but the ending does leave that possibility.  I'd say 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. 

I also watched some non-horror films during October: 

• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019. Biography. Drama). The movie about Mr. Rogers with Tom Hanks portraying Fred Rogers. Plot description: "Two-time Oscar®-winner Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod." The journalist's name is changed to Lloyd Vogel in the film; apparently, the journalist was known to be pretty much a cynical asshole that writes pieces that eviscerate those he writes about. Mr. Rogers is aware of this, but invites the journalist to write about him anyhow. The guy only has to write 400 words for a short profile on Mr. Rogers, and he bitches about it; that would be my dream job, to talk for a while with Mr. Rogers. The reporter's real issue, in addition to his usual cynicism, is issues with his father. If you come in expecting this is all about Mr. Rogers, you may be disappointed; some critics have been over that issue. The movie is really about the reporter, his relationship to Mr. Rogers,and the effect Mr. Rogers has on the reporter as well as on other people. With that out of the way, this is a very nice and moving film. Sure, it is mainly a feel good type of movie, but it is still moving and inspiring. The best part of course is Tom Hanks' performance. He truly brought Mr. Rogers' spirit to life in this one; this is likely one of Hanks' best performances, and the movie is worth watching mainly for that. Film is based on Junod's article that was featured in Esquire magazine in the 1990s; film's time at the beginning is 1998. I thought it was a nice touch the reporter's story was framed as Mr. Rogers telling the story in one of his episodes. An interesting detail. Overall, as I said, worth watching. I'd give it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Via DVD from Madison County Public Library, Berea branch. On a side note, a few people who saw this film recommend watching the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? to get to see more of Mr. Rogers and what he was really like. If I can find it, I will watch it. 
• This Thing of Ours (2003. Crime. Drama). Plot description: "Using the Internet and global satellites, a group of gangsters pull off the biggest bank heist in the Mafia's history." Basically, a group of young computer savvy guys want to pull the old "steal a bit from each account to add up a lot" scheme (think, for something similar, what they did in Office Space). The old school Mafia guys who have no idea how to turn on their computers are skeptical, and there is your conflict. Naturally, the FBI is trying to get them all. The young guys succeed, but the nephew of one of the old guys, who wants to follow in his uncle's steps, suddenly realizes the price to pay for admission may be too high. But in the end, it is "this thing of ours." A bit slow, but it slowly builds up to the success and then the tragic end for some. The film was alright, so I would say 2 1/2 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. 
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993. Fantasy. Animation. Holidays). Plot description: "Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion." This is one I have been meaning to watch for a while, and I finally got to watch it this month.This is a nice movie where Jack, who feels a bit tired of Halloween, finds Christmas Town and tries to steal the holiday resulting in chaos and confusion, but in the end, Old Santa makes it right. The animation is very good, and the soundtrack by Danny Elfman is good as well, very fitting. I did enjoy the blending of Halloween and Christmas a bit. A dark film with a nice holiday touch. It does feel a bit short and rushed, but it is cute and nice overall. I'd say well worth a look, and I really liked it, so 4 out of 5 stars.
  

 

Television and other series (basic show information links via Wikipedia unless noted otherwise). Some of these come in DVD from the public library. Others may be via YouTube, which, as noted before, I keep finding all sorts of other old shows in it, often full episodes:

•  Gordon Ramsay's F-Word (2005-2010. Reality. Cooking. Food magazine. British series). I commented on this in the July 2020 roundup. Continue on with the third of five seasons. 
• Season 3, Episode 6: Ramsay visits a buffalo ranch in Scotland and looks to make mozzarella cheese from their milk. Plus an update on the lambs he is raising for food this season. The amateur brigade is all female this time, their team nickname the "Desperate Housewives" (no, not the ones from the show). Overall this was an interesting episode, especially the cheese making part.
  
• Season 3, Episode 7. In this episode, Ramsay tries to get teens to eat tripe. He also goes diving for scallops. The celebrity challenger is making chili con carne. On an interesting to me note they chose to serve it with rice, which I found a bit odd. To me, you eat chili with chips, tortillas, so on, but hey, you do you. The amateur brigade this episode are female police officers. 
• The Andromeda Strain (2008. Drama. Science Fiction. Television miniseries). This is the remake of the film turned into a miniseries by A&E, which is based on the Michael Crichton novel. Basic description: "A crack team of top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what has killed the citizens of a small town and learn how this deadly contagion can be stopped." This two-part series, three hours total, has a good combination of science fiction, U.S. government black ops and conspiracy, and technothriller. I did sit and watch it in one sitting. The cast was pretty solid overall. Plus of course like any other conspiracy thriller, well, the ending leaves an opening. Entertaining as it was, the film does leave some subplots open, for example the reporter working to break the story. At a certain point, that is pretty much rendered moot. The series does take a lot of liberties with the source material. For example, the whole black ops angle is one of those liberties. I liked how it look, and it was entertaining, but does leave a lot of wholes, and if you have seen the original, or read the book, well, you see the gaps. I'll toss two out of five stars as it was OK overall. It has been a while since I have seen the original film or read the book, so I may revisit them at some point down the road. Via DVD from public library.