C Thomas Howell
Movie Review: E.T. (1982)
I can already hear some people mumbling "This isn't horror, why the hell are you putting it in the Month of Spooks?". And here's my reasoning: It's set during Halloween, which technically makes it a Halloween movie, which means that it works for Month of Spooks. Loophole, motherfuckers. So let's talk about an alien non-invasion.
Ladies and gentlemen… "E.T."!
The story follows a boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) as he one day finds and befriend and alien that he goes on to call E.T. And so we follow Elliott as he tries to keep his new alien friend hidden while trying to find away to contact E.T's species. So now we have our family friendly alien non-invasion plot. And even when I put my nostalgia aside, I fucking love this plot. It's a fun twist on an alien coming down to earth, usually we get aliens coming down to murder all of us, but this is about a friendly little guy. And the people behind the scenes of this manage to make it endlessly engaging, fun, charming, and just plain entertaining. It's perfectly paced while still telling an emotionally investing story.
The characters in this are fun, interesting, and overall entertaining. First up we have young Henry Thomas as Elliott, the child at the center of the story. He has a bit of a troubled life, with his parents getting separated, among other things. But he's still a good kid, and it's fun to see his evolution after he meets E.T. And Thomas is great in the role. Next we have Robert MacNaughton as Michael, Elliott's older brother. He's kind of a jerk, but he does get some decent development throughout the movie. And MacNaughton is really good in the role. Next we have a very young Drew Barrymore as Gertie, Elliott's young sister. Not only is she absolutely adorable, but she's also a fun character that adds a little extra charm to it all. And Barrymore is really good in the role. We also have Dee Wallace as Elliott's mother. She's under a lot of stress, and Elliott's misadventures certainly isn't helping things out. But she's still a loving and caring mother. And Wallace is great in the role. Yeah, 'tis a well acted movie.
The score for the movie was of course composed by the one and only John Williams. And as one would expect from that legend, the score here is fucking fantastic. The theme is as memorable as all his other ones, and the rest of the score of course has that magical, whimsical, and emotional quality that Mr. Williams is so damn good at. I don't need to say more, you know how good this score is.
Written by Melissa Mathison (R.I.P), this movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, and of course he did an excellent job with the direction. He has a way of creating magic and excitement from the smallest of scenes. It also helps that the writing here too is absolutely delightful. But seriously, Spielberg could direct a movie of someone reading the phone book and it would be charming. Probably starring Tom Hanks. Anyway, not only does he capture the childlike wonder of Elliott discovering this alien, he also manages to create some eerie and outright disturbing moments throughout. And the cinematography by Allen Daviau is absolutely breathtaking.
This movie has been very well received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 98% positive rating and a "Fresh" certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 91/100. Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 stars and put it on his "Great Movies" list. And on imdb.com it has a score of 7,9/10. The movie won 4 Oscars in the categories of Best sound, Best visual effects, Best sound editing, and Best original score. IT was also nominated for an additional 5 Oscars in the categories of Best picture, Best director, Best original screenplay, Best cinematography, and Best film editing.
So yeah, "E.T." is considered a classic for a reason. It has a great plot, really good characters, great performances, fantastic music, and fantastic directing/cinematography. Time for my final score. *Ahem*. My final score for "E.T." is a 9,88/10. Which means that if (of course) gets the "SEAL OF APPROVAL!".
My review of "E.T." is now completed.
My blog, my Month of Spooks, my rules.
Series Review: The Punisher – Season 1 (2017)
18/11/2017 18/11/2017 / TheMarckoguy	/ 1 Comment
I don't really think I need to make an introduction for this. I've talked about this show several times on this blog before, every time reminding you of my excitement for the show. So let's just get into the review and see if this show is any good.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is season 1 of… "The Punisher"!
After he has seemingly killed the people responsible for the death of his family, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) soon uncovers a deep and complex conspiracy that somehow relates back to his past as a soldier. So now Frank has to find out what the hell is going on while a Homeland Security agent (Amber Rose Revah) gets a whiff of him being back in town. So now we have our comic book thriller. And is this plot any good? Yeah, it is. It's not a fast-paced action/revenge plot, but it's a slightly slower conspiracy thriller that features Punisher, and I think the plot here is very intriguing. My only gripe with it is in one of the early episodes. It's not bad, but the pacing at one point dragged a little bit. But overall here we have a surprisingly deep plot that isn't afraid to tackle dark and socially relevant themes regarding guns, violence, vigilantism, PTSD, black ops, family, and it is all incredibly engaging and intriguing. 'tis a great plot.
The characters here are flawed, damaged, layered, and just really interesting. Jon Bernthal (like in season 2 of "Daredevil") plays Frank Castle/The Punisher, former soldier turned violent vigilante. Already in "Daredevil" he got a fair amount of development as a character, and they somehow managed to cram in a bit more here. As we follow him through the season we see how the war, death of his family, and the vigilantism has taken a toll on him and how it messes with his mind a bit. And it is all incredibly engaging. He's of course also a motherfucking badass, but that didn't need to be mentioned. And Bernthal is once again fantastic in the role. Amber Rose Revah plays Dinah Madani, the Homeland Security agent on Frank's trail. She's a tough and determined woman who wants to find Frank and possibly get justice. But she's not just some brash and unstoppable idiot, as she at times is shown as vulnerable, but in a good way. And Revah is great in the role. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays David Lieberman (AKA Micro), a skilled hacker and whistleblower that Frank teams up with to try to solve this conspiracy. And he brings a much needed levity to the dark and grim tale of "The Punisher" without coming off as forced or out of place. He is funny, but he is also a serious character with a good dramatic arc. And Moss-Bachrach is great in the role. Then we have Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Frank old best friend that I will not talk too much about since it's too easy to get a bit spoiler-y with him. But he has somewhat of an arc and Barnes is great in the role. And then (to not ramble or give too many character details here) in various supporting performances we have people like Jamie Ray Newman, Kobi Frumer, Deborah Ann Woll, Paul Schulze, Michael Nathanson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jason R. Moore, Daniel Webber, Kelli Barrett, C. Thomas Howell, and they all are great in this. Really, it's a great cast.
The score for the show was composed by Tyler Bates, and it was great. What we have here is a tense, exciting, dramatic, emotional, badass, and just overall interesting score that takes heavy influence from rock and blues to create a fairly unique sound for a show like this. It's not straight-up rock or blues, but there are traces of it in the score and I like that, makes it sound almost a bit western-y at times. And it all works very well for the show. There are also a couple of licensed tracks used throughout and they all work well in their respective scenes.
The show was created by Steve Lightfoot and written/directed by a whole bunch of different people (with Lightfoot having written a couple of episodes). And I think they did a good job here. While it's not as action-packed as the trailer made it out to be, there is still action here. And when action happens it is exciting, badass, and brutal. Not just brutal as in a lot of blood being spilled, but brutal as in the violence having a real impact here. And it's not just gunshots penetrating bodies, there's also close quarters fighting, and knives, and various other things used throughout to create the memorable and brutal as fuck violence. And the directing and such in the less action-based scenes is good too… got a little sidetracked there, I usually save action for after overall directing… oh well, c'est la vie.
This show just came out, but it has already gotten some mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 67% positive rating. On Metacritic it has a score of 54/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 9,6/10 (though this is very likely to change).
Season 1 of "The Punisher" is pretty damn great. It has a great plot, great characters, great performances, great music, and great directing/action. My only flaw was the slight pacing problem in one episode, but it doesn't really bring it down too much for me. Time for my final score. *One batch, two batch, penny and dime*. My final score for "The Punisher" season 1 is a 9,52/10. So it gets the "SEAL OF APPROVAL!".
My review of "The Punisher" season 1 is now completed.
I really want to get into the comics.
Series Review: Outcast – Season 2 (2017)
About a year ago I reviewed the first season of this show, and I thought it was really great. And now that season 2 is wrapped up I still wonder how this aired with little to no fanfare. At least when season 1 was airing, there was some hype around it… but no it's almost like the show doesn't exist. Oh well, let's see how this second season is.
Ladies and gents… "Outcast" season 2.
We once again follow Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit), the troubled young man with the ability to drive darkness out of a person, now having learned that his daughter (Madeleine McGraw) has inherited the same ability. And we follow them figuring this power out while also trying to stop a dark and probably evil event called The Merge. Throughout the season we get to learn more about the origins of Kyle and his abilities, while also giving us a bigger look into this world, including an in depth look into this cult that's based in the forest. And while it's interesting to see more of this world that's been set up, I feel like the plot loses a bit of it's focus. Season 1 had a very tight plot that had a consistent tension to it while still managing to be dramatic. Season 2, while containing an overall good plot filled with some good dramatic moments, doesn't have that same focus. By showing the side stories of a lot of the supporting characters and by throwing in a whole bunch more lore it doesn't feel as tight as season 1. So the plot here overall is good. Not great, but good.
The characters here are all pretty fleshed out and interesting. Patrick Fugit once again plays Kyle Barnes, the troubled young man also known as the Outcast (roll credits). After his "adventure" in season 1 he is a more determined and hardened man, not being as quiet and mopey as in season 1. And Patrick Fugit is great in the role. Philip Glenister once again plays reverend John Anderson, the priest who lost some of his faith after seeing all this dark and weird shit. And Glenister is relaly good in the role. Wrenn Schmidt once again plays Kyle's adopted sister Megan, and after the horrible shit that happened to her in season 1, she is a bit more damaged than usual. It still haunts her in season 2 and it makes her quite an interesting character. And Schmidt is great in the role. Reg E. Cathey returned as Byron Giles, local police chief and friend of Kyle and Anderson. And Cahtey is great in the role. Brent Spiner once again plays Sidney, the msyterious man with mysterious (evil) intentions. And god damn, he is creepy… gets under my skin. So yeah, Spiner is great in the role. We also get to see more of Kate Lyn Sheil as Kyle's wife, Allison, in this season, and she's really good. We also get more of Charmin Lee who plays Rose, the wife of chief Giles, and she's great in the role. We get introduced to Bob, a new ally and an old friend of Kyle's dad. He's played by M.C. Gainey and he's great in the role. We also get Hoon Lee as a doctor who is important to the plot, but I'm not saying how because potential spoilers. So I'm just gonna say that he's really good. Really, overall it's a very well acted season of television.
The score for the show was once again composed by Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Claudia Sarne. And once again it was great. It's dark, eerie, suspenseful, and jsut overall helps create a very uneasy atmosphere for the show.
The show was, like I said in my review of season 1, created by Robert Kirkman, and it's based on the comic books of the same name… which were also created by Kirkman (and Paul Azaceta). And the show was written and directed by a whole bunch of people (including Ti West, a decently well known guy). And in terms of overall craft this show is fantastic. The directing and cinematography is gorgeous, giving us plenty of "damn, that's really good!" shots. And in terms of scariness this season… yeah, it's not that scary. Season 1 was often bone chilling and actually managed to scare me a good amount. Season 2 on the other hand isn't really that scary. That's not to say that it's not an eerie show, because it is. There's a good amount of tension throughout the show which makes it a really interesting show. Also, there's plenty of brutal gore and various other disgusting things on display here… and this is one of the few shows that has made me feel queasy because of it… so good job, "Outcast".
It's difficult to say how this season has been received because it barely even exists on review aggregator sites. Really, on Rotten Tomatoes there's no trace of it. On Metacritic it exists but has no real score to it. And on imdb.com there's no seasonal average, but the show in general has a score of 7,6/10.
"Outcast" season 2 is a little bit of a let down after the terrific season 1. That said, it's still a really solid season of TV. It has a good plot, really good characters, great performances, great music, and great directing/cinematography. The problems with it comes from the plot feeling a bit unfocused, and the scares not really being there. Time for my final score. *Boo*. My final score for "Outcast" season 2 is an 8,88/10. So even though it is flawed, I'd still say that you should watch it!
My review of "Outcast" season 2 is now completed.
I hope this gets renewed for a third season.
Movie Review: Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
I've made my love for DC's animated movies very clear several times on my blog, so I'm not gonna ramble on anymore about that on this post. So let's just get into the review.
Ladies and gentlemen… "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox".
Barry Allen (Justin Chambers) wakes up one day to find that everything is different from what he's used to. His mother's alive and he no longer has his powers. So he then teams up with a very different Batman (Kevin McKidd) to try to get everything back to normal. And with that said, I do think that the plot here is surprisingly good. Sure, parts can feel a little bit rushed at times because of the 75 minute runtime, but it's still a really interesting premise that was kept me interested and entertained for all of those minutes.
The characters here are all interesting and entertaining in some way. Justin Chambers does a good job as Barry Allen/Flash. I thought C. Thomas Howell was great as Professor Zoom, he really was the perfect mix of menacing and cocky. Kevin McKidd was great as the flashpoint version of Batman, perfectly playing this very angry individual who also happens to be a little bit of a dick. Then we get a bunch of other really good vocal performances from people like Michael B. Jordan, Steve Blum, Cary Elwes, Nathan Fillion, Danny Huston, and a bunch of others.
The score for the movie was composed by Frederik Weidmann and it was pretty damn good. It's a really exciting and even at times dramatic score that perfectly works to the movie's advantage. Yeah, it's kind of awesome.
So how is the animation in this animated movie? Well, since this was a direct-to-DVD animation I have to judge it a little differently than any big Disney animations we seee in theaters. But I do overall think the animation was really good. Especially during the action scenes, they looked really good and were loads of fun to watch.
Since this is a DC animated movie, it barely exists on the sites I tend to use here. But on Rotten Tomatoes it has a 100% positive rating. On Metacritic it doesn't even exist. And on imdb.com it has a score of 8,1/10.
"Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox" is another great animated movie from DC. It has a really good plot, good characters, great performances, great music, and great animation/action (for this kind of movie). Time for my final score. *ZOOM*. My final score for "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox" is a 9,88/10. So it of course gets the "SEAL OF APPROVAL!".
My review of "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox" is now completed.
Makes you wonder what certain characters that we didn't see would be up to in the flashpoint timeline.