Film Review- The Good Dinosaur

     So, in my very ill-spent youth, I surfed the web extensively. I also had an obsession with dinosaurs. Both of those collided when I found out about the "Speculative Dinosaur Project." Basically, it was a collaborative online project which describes a world where the Dinosaurs never went extinct, and evolved into present time. It was very creative, as far as I could tell, given most of the site was blocked off (in German.) It is virtually gone now, though the Wayback Machine could access those old pages, and there are places where the ideas live on. I start my review with this, because since discovering it, I have been fascinated with the idea of a world where the dinosaurs never went extinct, and they continued to reign. If you want to go earlier, The New Dinosaurs by Scottish naturalist Douglas Dixon is also a good spin on the idea. Still, even with the my longtime fascination with the premise, I was skeptical of The Good Dinosaur. Primarily because the way it was described by the people who made it was... eh. I was not interested in watching farmer dinosaurs. The trailers didn't really help with that. Maybe because I had seen Inside Out, which was a great film by all measures, but I felt, in the end, The Good Dinosaur would not measure up. Now that I've watched the film, it doesn't measure up. But, it's still good. A lot better than I thought.
    Before I get into the film, I just briefly want to discuss the opening short, Sanjay's Super Team. It revolves around Sanjay, who was forced to do the traditional Hindu prayers with his father, rather than watch his beloved superhero cartoons. He then fantasizes about the Hindu gods (Vishnu, Hanuman, and Durga) fighting a demon (presumably Ravana) in the style of those cartoons he watched. As someone who grew up watching a lot of Cartoon Network, and was also raised in a Hindu household, it appealed to the child inside me, and I am likely more inclined to enjoy it than others, who don't share that background. Still, it was enjoyable, fun, and cute. I just wanted to bring that up.
    The actual film, as I said, is set in a world where the Dinosaurs never went extinct. Millions of years after the asteroid missed, they have some form of early agriculture. The film focuses around Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), the youngest (and smallest) of a family of sauropod farmers.(All of whom remind me of the Sinclair Oil logo) They farm corn, primarily, and raise these odd chicken like dinosaur. (This bothered me throughout the film. Sauropods have long necks, so they could feed in trees. Why would they grow corn, which is very low to the ground? And if they were herbivores, why are they raising chickens. The only reason to raise chickens is to eat them. Am I overthinking this?) Anyway, Arlo's family includes his parents, Henry (Jeffrey Wright) and Ida (Frances McDormand), his brother Buck (Marcus Scribner), and his sister Libby (Maleah Padilla). Arlo's main problem on the farm is his cowardice, which makes his main responsibility as chicken feeder difficult. While his siblings gain the respect of their parents (symbolized by a muddy print on the food storage building), Arlo struggles with his intense fear. To soothe this, Henry decides to give Arlo the responsibility of preventing a pest from feeding on their food storage, by trapping and killing it. Arlo manages to catch the little culprit, a little humanoid creature later dubbed "Spot" (Jack Bright) (He's not named Spot until later, but for convenience, I'll call him Spot), but does not have the heart to kill it. Arlo lets it go. However, Henry then scolds Arlo for letting it go, and forces him to join him in capturing Spot in a storm ridden mountains. However, Arlo is injured, and Henry is forced to turn back, right as a major flood occurs. Arlo watches as his father drowns. Arlo then encounters Spot again, and furious from his father's death, he chases him, but both are caught in the river, and Arlo is knocked out. He wakes up to find himself miles from home, along with Spot. While initially hostile to poor Spot, Arlo grows to like him, particularly after Spot leds him to some berries, and saves him from a snake with legs. Arlo, remembering his father's advice that the river will led him home, resolves to go back, with Spot by his side. All the while, he encounters colorful characters, like an eccentric Styracosaurus named Forrest (Peter Sohn, who directed the film. It is also his debut as a director), a band of pterosaurs, led by Thunderclap (Steve Zahn), who are viciously fanatical carnivores (and my sister pointed out to me later that they were meant to parody apocalyptic religious fanatics, so thanks to her), and a group of Tyrannosaur ranchers, father Butch (Sam Elliot) and siblings Nash (A.J. Buckley) and Ramsey (Anna Paquin). Can Arlo and Spot return home to their families.
   First, I really like the production design, particularly the backgrounds. I live in Colorado, and I sometimes drive through the state. It easily replicates the environments I see whenever I head into the mountains. It looks beautiful. The animation is also well done (par for the course regarding Pixar). I liked the way Arlo was animated. Loose and flexible, which allows for a lot of creative gags and fluid motion. Sort of like a classic 2-D cartoon transposed to a 3-D setting. The character designs for most of the character also benefit from this flexibility. It's also has a lot of creative ideas, like, for instance, using a cricket for a harmonica. The plot is not deeply complex, but it does have the appeal of a traditional Campbellian "Hero's Journey," which makes films like Star Wars enjoyable.
    A lot of times, Arlo makes very poor decisions, which cause problems later on. I understand this is meant to show that he is making mistakes and growing, but really, there are moments, where Arlo should have made the other choice. There is also not a lot exciting about the plot. Like I said, it's a standard Hero's Journey. Not a lot of intrigue. It's not bad, but it really doesn't hold up compared to other Pixar films. There is also a lot of things that outright don't make sense when you think about them.
   This surprised me. It honestly did. It was fairly good. Not just decent. Legitimately good. I really enjoyed it. Not one of the best films of the year, but one I'm glad I watched once. If you want a really good Pixar film, well, Inside Out's on DVD now, so go watch that. If you just want a film to watch for your younger relative, I'd say go and watch it. Thanks for reading.

Movie Review- Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part II

      If you've been cryogenically frozen since 2007, or have been astrally projected to the Kuiper Belt, The Hunger Games is a popular book series, centered around a futuristic gladitorial games held in a nation called Panem, by an oppressive post-apocalyptic government called the Capitol, against 13 districts, who had rebelled in the distant past, and the eventual rebellion against said government. The three books, Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, have become New York Times best sellers, and have essentially defined a new era of post apocalyptic, young adult novels. The film adaptations have introduced the concepts and characters into a larger pop cultural landscape. Me? I'm ambivalent towards the series. I liked the first book. Detested the second book. Never finished the third one. Conversely, I didn't like the first film. It felt bloated, excessive, somewhat overly serious, and proved to be a difficult adaptation. The second film was an improvement, both on the problems of the first film (much more focused and concise), and the book (marked differences between it and its predecessor). I liked the third film, though I wouldn't exactly call it a great film, by any measure. So, is this a good send-off to the franchise. Well, let's take a look....
      An adaptation of the second part to the third book of the franchise created by Suzanne Collins. the film picks up where the last left off. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is recovering from the beating Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutchenson) gave her. He has been brainwashed by the Capitol, and is suffering from a bout of severe paranoia and delusion. Meanwhile, as the rebels continue to press on, they plan to take a Capitol military base in District 2. Katniss joins in, but sees the rebels committing atrocities against Capitol refugees. She is shot by one of the refugees. She spirals into depression afterwards. During this time, she decides to finally end her, and the district's, suffering, by killing President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland). However, this is rejected by President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) and  Plutarch Heavensbee (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, sadly in his final role). Instead, she ultimately sneaks on a transport to the rebel held area of the Capitol, where she joins a squad, which serve as more a publicity face for the battle, not actually serving. This group includes Finnick (Sam Claflin), who recently married lover Annie (Stef Dawson), and Boggs (Mahershala Ali), and is led by Commander Paylor (Patina Miller). They are joined by Peeta, who is now functional, although still mentally unstable from the brainwashing (or "hijacking") the Capitol forces gave him. As they trudge on to Snow's mansion, they learn that the battle isn't over yet. Katniss also begins to doubt the intentions of President Coin, wondering what are her plans when they finally rid of Snow, and the oppressive policies of the Capitol....

     Technically, the film is decently made. The set design, as always, looks very impressive, very futuristic in the Capitol, very classic in the Districts. The acting, also as always, is very good. Jennifer Lawrence virtually disappears into the role of Katniss, and Josh Hutchenson is very good as the mentally unstable Peeta. The seasoned actors in the cast also give it their all. It has a good plot, and from what my sister told me afterwards, it was largely accurate to the book. It also looks and feels large and epic, which should be required of any conclusion to any long running franchise. It also has a small, very intimate ending to contrast the pomp and circumstance of the rest of the film

     This was long. REALLY LONG. Some scenes just drag minutes after it should have ended. Especially the calmer moments, which take nearly forever to conclude. This length is my primary problem with this film. It felt like an eternity for the film to get from one plot point to the next. I suppose it suffers from the same problem that Halloween II did: it essentially amounts to an extended third act. And because of that, it feels extremely padded, and you really just want it to get the interesting part, as in the end. Also, the cinematography during the action scenes made some scenes hard to see. As in, it was hard to tell what was even going on. This is apparent during a scene set in a sewer. Several characters died, yet it was hard for me to tell which had died, because the camera would not focus on the characters long enough for me to actually distinguish them. Speaking of that scene, that scene was odd. It was like the film turned into a found footage horror film for a few minutes. I was told that scene was in the book, but it felt completely incongruous with the rest of the movie.

   Honestly, I think my words are irrelevant in this case. If you were going to see it, you were likely to still see it regardless of what I had to say. Needless to say, if you watched and liked the first three movies, you're probably going to, or have already seen it, no matter what I have to say. If you haven't, there really isn't much to offer you. You do need to see the other films just to appreciate it. Me? Decent conclusion, though I would have preferred it not be split into two movies. That's all I have to say, folks. Next month is Pokecember, so join me, as I review the Pokemon films of the Advanced Generation.

Movie review- The Peanuts Movie

    Not much I could say about this one. Even you don't live in the United States, most of you are probably familiar with the Peanuts franchise largely through cultural dissemination, i.e. various uses of the characters in commercials, or cultural references in shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.  Most of you in the US are likely familiar with the basic premise either from the comic strip it originated from, or several holiday specials made in the 60's and 70's. I suppose I could tell you why it's called Peanuts. Apparently, it's an old term for "children", which fits the strip. I suppose. That's also why a rowdy audience is called a "Peanut gallery." On old TV shows, there was a children audience in the background. Shulz actually wanted to name the strip "Li'l Folks" or "Good Old Charlie Brown", but "Peanuts" was chosen isntead.

      Based on the long running comic strip by Charles M. Shulz, the film revolves around everyone's favorite loser, Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp). He is not good at much, but he is a good person at heart. He also always has the company of various colorful character, including his younger sister, Sally (Mariel Sheets), his blanket loving friend Linus (Alex Garfin), HIS sister, the very vain and condescending Lucy (Hadley Belle Miller), piano player Schroeder (Noah Johnston), tomboyish Peppermint Patty (Venus Omega Schultheis), and her sidekick Marcie (Rebecca Bloom), and of course, Charlie Brown's loyal beagle Snoopy, and his bird friend Woodstock (both voiced by Bill Melendez via archive recording). In the unnamed town they live in, a "Little Red Haired Girl" (Francesca Angelucci Capaldi) moves into town, and Charlie Brown is deeply smitten with her, and is determined to impress and grab her attention. However, he is not the most impressive of people. Lucy (in the role of "psychiatrist") advises him to remold himself as a winner. However, every one of his attempts to impress end up backfiring miserably. Can Charlie Brown overcome his various shortcomings and impress the "Little Red-Haired Girl". A B-Plot is Snoopy, inspired by his master's love story, deciding to write his own love story on a typewriter he found in the garbage. Basically, this is an adaptation of those scenes where Snoopy battles World War I flying ace the Red Baron, but with an added bonus of a love interest, Fifi (Kristin Chenoweth, for some reason; she barely says anything in the film). This B-Plot serves the same purpose as the "Tales of the Black Freighter" did in Watchmen. Just parallel the main story, and underscore the message of the whole affair.

     I was impressed by the animation of this film. It looks like those old tv specials, but expanded into 3-D. They even have moments where there are 2-D effects surrounding the characters, which was a nice touch. At the same time, they do take advantage of the more fluid animation process available, and it feels more fluid. I'm glad they took voice actors who actually sound like the people in the old specials, not just shoe-horn in celebrity voice actors, which would have ruined the effects. The main story is cute.  Snoopy is, as always the highlight of the piece, with his subplot very entertaining, and him having the best gags in the entire movie. The score, at times, also uses that very iconic jazz soundtrack, which is always enjoyable to hear.

    I suppose I did have an issue with the more openly slapstick tone of the film. From what I remember, the sense of humor deployed was more nuanced and subtle in the bits involving the kids. They revolved around more sardonic humor and failure (with sentimental moments, of course).The film uses a lot of fast paced physical humor. I suppose that's why those bits with Snoopy work the best. Those were the bits in the original cartoons, which used physical comedy, and used them to memorable effect (primarily because Snoopy spoke like he had a hairball in lungs). Again, I might be misremembering the original shorts. Maybe they did have more physical bits. I didn't read much of the comic strip, so I don't know if it was common there as well. Also, remember that soundtrack? Yeah, it's inconsistent. Sometimes, it's the piano based portion, sometimes its orchestral. Not very distracting, but got my attention.

      This is a cute movie. Something nice and simple for children. I admit, I enjoyed the film, and I did laugh alot. (Although I could have done without the kid behind making comments at the film) It has a good message of never giving up, no matter the circumstances. So, if you like Peanuts growing, you'd probably like this. If you have any relatives 10 or younger, they'll enjoy the film. That's all I have really to say.
   Next time, we go from Everytown, USA, to Everytown, USA in a post-apocolyptic dictatorship. Yeah, bad segway, sorry.  Next review is the final installment in the Hunger Games franchise, Mockingjay, Part II.



         

Masterpiece of Horror Theatre- The Babadook

     Jennifer Kent was an Australian actresss, who grew tired of acting. Seeking something new, she had asked to assist Danish filmmaker Lars van Trier on his 2003 film Dogville, which the latter accepted. She learned most of her film-making technique from working on Dogville. Using this experience, she directed a short film in 2005 called Monster, about a mother and child being tormented by a monster. At some point, she decided to expand the premise of that short film into a feature length picture. Kent, inspired by her experiences on Dogville, decided to assemble a "family" of sorts to help her make the film smoothly. Among the people she recruited was her old drama school classmate Esse Davis, Polish director of photography Radek Ladczuk (his first English picture), and American illustrator Alexander Juhasz. While the producer was able to raise $1 million, they still needed around $30,000 for sets, so they turned to Kickstarter to raise the remaining budget. The film was shot primarily around Adelaide, South Australia. A Victorian style home was built specifically for the film. Released in 2014, it was critically acclaimed, and a moderate financial success.

        Amelia (Esse Davis) is a widow struggling to raise her 6 year old son, Sam (Noah Wiseman), after the death of her husband while he was driving her to hospital to give birth. Sam is a very troubled child. He has no friends, he was kicked out of school for emotional disturbance, and he seems to be obsessed with this imaginary monster, particularly building weapons to defeat it. Amelia receives little sympathy from her sister Claire (Hayley McElhinney), but is relatively well off in her job at a nursing home. One night, Sam gives Amelia a red story book called The Babadook, about a monster, who torments a person when they learn of its existence.. Amelia is clearly disturbed by the contents of the book, and Sam is convinced that the imaginary monster is the Babadook. Soon, a number of odd occurrences happen. Almost as if a ghost was there. After one incident, where Amelia finds glass in her soup, she rips up the Babadook book. At the party of Claire's daughter, Ruby (Chloe Hurn), Claire admits that she dislikes being around Amelia's house, primarily because of Sam. At the same time, after Ruby essentially bullies him, Sam punches her. On the drive home, Sam sees the Babadook again, but suffers a severe seizure. The doctor recommends sleeping pills for Sam. After giving Sam some sleeping pills, Amelia finds the book, restitched, and featuring even more distrurbing imagery of Amelia killing the family dog, Sam, and eventually herself. However, when she goes to the police to report a potential stalker, they notice her hands are black. She also sees the Babadook in the police station....

     This is another one that's hard to talk about. Not for the reasons last time, but because it is very, very good, and I don't want to give anything away. You have to see this film in order to fully appreciate it. Merely reading the synopsis doesn't do the film justice. First, Esse Davis is incredible in this role. She knows how to be sympathetic in one scene, while also psychotic in another, but pulls it off with consistency. She was the best part of this movie. The relationship between Amelia and her son, the basic heart of the story, is done so well, some scene are difficult to watch, because it is emotionally hard to watch scenes, where Amelia has to deal with such a difficult child, or having to yell at her son, even though it is obvious she loves him deeply. Because the film shows us the relationship, and establishes it. This mother-son relationship aspect, in my opinion, overshadows the monster, though that is also handled well. In fact, I think the two are interconnected. My interpretation is that the monster was never real. It is merely the manifestation of Amelia's and Sam's collective grief at losing their husband and father, respectively. Amelia couldn't handle the stress of raising Sam alone, so she begins to hallucinate about the imaginary monster Sam keeps finding. Minor spoiler, but the Babadook is never actually shown fully, which ties into this theory quite well. Granted, I'm not sure if that is the filmmakers intention, but that's my interpretation of the film. There is actually a lot more to talk about. In fact, I could go on for hours about the film. But that would require spoilers.

    I can't think of any major flaws with this film. I could go into some nitpicking, but in the end, it still has no major flaws. This film was incredibly good. I can't praise it enough, nor can anyone else. I implore you. Even if you're not a horror fan, you should go watch this movie. Don't go in, though, expecting your typical gory monster flick, because it isn't. It is a film about a mother and son dealing with grief, while being haunted by a mysterious entity. You have to know that going in. Please, go and see this. It is definitely worth your time.

 Happy All Saints Day, everyone. Please remember not to eat candy in one go,  to rake the leaves, and always look under your bed. Just in case. Anyway, hope you join us next year. 

Masterpieces of Horror Theatre- The Hills Have Eyes

 
First, Happy Halloween, everyone.
   I admit, I didn't know what I was getting into when I chose this film to watch. Sure, I knew that it was about a family being terrrorized by cannibalistic rednecks, but... I didn't quite expect what I would get with this. I chose this because of the relatively recent death of Wes Craven, and a desire to speak of one of his works. I admit, I don't want to talk about this too much. Not because it's bad, but rather, it's gruesome. Hence, I will not go into the entire plot of the work, nor will I go into detail about the more lurid moments. So, the history. This was Wes Craven's second film, after 1972's Last House on the Left. It was initially called Blood Relations,but the producers changed it. It was heavily recut to avoid getting an X-rating (which would have damaged its box office prospects), and the original director's cut has been lost to the ages. It was made in part as a homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That's all I could find.
     The film opens with an old gas station attendant (John Steadman) encountering a young girl, Ruby (Janus Blythe). She expresses her desire to trade some items she has in a bag for food. She also pleas with him to leave, but the attendant admonishes her, about what "the pack" particularly "Papa Jupiter" will do. However, the attendant has to suddenly attend to a family passing through from Cleveland. The Carters, consisting of patriarch Bob (Russ Grieve), his wife Ethel (Virginia Vincent), their children Bobby (Robert.... Houston), Brenda (Susan Lanier),Lynne (Dee Wallace), Lynne's husband Doug (Martin Speer), their child Catherine, and their two dogs, Beauty and Beast, are heading to California. The attendant warns them to stay on the road, so of course, they go off road, and their truck crashes. Meanwhile, the atten.. (okay, Wikipedia says his name is Fred, but I didn't hear it in the film itself).. then tries to leave, but his truck explodes.The family splits ups, with Carter going back to the gas station to see Fred. Bobby heads up the hill with Beauty, where Beauty mysteriously barks at the hill. When she goes up, however, she is brutally killed. Bobby is traumatized. Carter reaches the station, and finds Fred trying to hang himself. Bob saves Fred, and Fred explains  that his wife died giving birth to a deformed son named Jupiter, and that son killed his sister, before Fred hit him with a tire iron, and put him in the hills to die. He managed to conceive his own children with a prostitute (Cordy Clark), three sons Mercury (Arthur King), Mars(Lance Gordon), and Pluto (Michael Berryman), and a daughter, Ruby. They largely degenerated into cannibals, who now roam the hills in search of victims. However, Jupiter manages to kill Fred, and subdue Bob. This is only the beginning of the terror the Carter's endure....
        One surprising thing I liked was the fact that the cannibal family talked. Yeah, normally, they would be silent, but they do talk, and that allows for a sort of comparison between them and the Carters. There are a lot of scenes at the beginning where the Carter's interact with each other, and scenes towards the end, when the Cannibals interact with each other. The cannibals, in some ways, act like a dark reflection of the typical American family, as depicted by the Carters. That was a fascinating insight, and sort of symbolizes how they aren't that different. The setting also works, a bleak landscape, with no sign of civilization for miles. An excellent location for a survival horror film.  The acting is largely good, though I had trouble discerning words from the cannibals.
     I've said this before, but I have a problem with excessive gore and violence. This film has that in spades. I'd hate to see that X-Rated cut. I was uncomfortable. Not because I was scared, but more out of my dislike for this. Hell, this is tame compared to some modern grindhouse films, but I still had some problems with it. I suppose some people would be fine with this. Me, personally, I had trouble with it. There is also some scenes, I really do not want to go into, but needless to say, made me uncomfortable. It also stops. Not ends, but stops. I heard there was a legitimate ending filmed, and I can't fathom why they cut it.
      I'm conflicted. I did appreciate the artistry behind the film, and the subtext, but I couldn't get pass some uncomfortable moments in the film. I suppose if you want something extreme, this is in some respects extreme, so you'd like it. It is too intense to be a fun horror film to watch on a lazy weekend afternoon. So, yeah, if you want something to make you uncomfortable, this is the film.
   Happy Halloween, and for my final film, once again, I look at a modern film, The Babadook.

Masterpiece of Horror Theatre- Hellboy

    Hellboy was a comic series written and drawn by Mike Magnola, and published by Dark Horse Comics, first starting in 1993, and continuing into the present. It revolved around the titular Hellboy, a demon who was summoned to Earth in 1944, as an infant, and raised by humans. He fights on behalf of a secret organization called  Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD)(Despite its name, it apparently is an international organization, not exclusively a US agency) against a slew of supernatural threats, while dealing with his own "demons" (har har). The series was quite successful, and garnered a number of fans. One of those fans was none other than Guillermo del Toro, who began to petition for a film adaptation. He directed and wrote the film version. When Magnola and del Toro met, they both said that the best choice for Hellboy was Ron Perlman, and he was signed on. The film was released in 2004 to good reviews and good box office, though it opened against Passion of the Christ, and some theaters refused to run a movie about a demon against that film. Anyway, let's dive right in.
 
      In 1944, a small American troop, accompanied by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt) head to a small Scottish island, where a Nazi occult ritual is being held to summon  Ogdru Jahad, a Lovecraftian Outer God, essentially. The ritual is being held by Gregori Rasputin (Karel Roden) (why the Nazis trust a Slav (who are considered racially impure by them) to do this is never explained), as well as his assistants, assassin Karl Ruprecht Kroenen (Ladislav Beran) and Ilsa (because all Nazi women are named that, apparently) Haupstein (Bridget Hodson). The team foil the attempt, though not before an infant demon with a large glove appears. Bruttenholm takes the demon, and actually raises him. Flash forward 60 years, and the demon child, now named Hellboy (Ron Perlman) has become something of an urban legend. However, he is actually now a superpowered government agent for the BPRD, sent to investigate various paranormal activity, under the mentorship of the now aged Bruttenholm  . FBI agent John Myers (Rupert Evans) is recruited by Bruttenholm to become Hellboy's new partner. Hellboy isn't exactly enthusiastic about having a new partner. Also working with the BPRD is ultra-intelligent fish humanoid Abe Sapien (played by Doug Jones and voiced by David Hyde Pierce, and yes, every time I heard him, I heard Niles Crane as a fishman. If you don't think about it, it gets less distracting). Meanwhile, Kroenen and Haupstein are able to resurrect Rasputin, and he summons a demon. They are sent on a mission to a museum, where said demon appears. After a prolonged fight, Hellboy defeats the creature, but two mysteriously appear near Rasputin. Hellboy than goes to a local asylum, where he meets Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a pyrokineticist, who was a former partner and love interest for Hellboy. She has poor control over her abilities. Hellboy tries to convince her to return to the BPRD, but she refuses. After one visit by Hellboy, she ends up burning down the hospital. Myers manages to convince Liz to come back to the BPRD. During a second battle with the demons, Abe Sapien is injured retrieving some eggs, and Kroenen plays dead in order for the BPRD to deliberately capture them. They learn from the eggs, that the demons (called Sammaers, apparently) hatch twice every time one dies. Hellboy gets jealous when Liz goes out for coffee with Myers, and escapes. (There is a genuinely funny scene involving Hellboy and cookies). While they are gone, Kroenen wakes up and manages to get Rasputin to the BPRD headquarters, where they kill Bruttenholm FBI director Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor), who disliked Hellboy's rebelliousness, assumes control of the organization, and plans a final assault on Rasputin's base in Russia, where he and his cohorts plan to once again summon Ogdru Jahad. A team consisting of Hellboy, Manning, Myers,  and Sherman is sent to a Moscow cemetery to stop this. Hellboy and Manning dispatch Kroenen, while Myers and Sherman go to the lair of the Sammaers. Hellboy arrives, but is subdued. Liz uses her abilities to destroy the creatures and their eggs. Hellboy awakes to find himself and Liz captured by Rasputin and Ilsa. Rasputin takes Liz's soul to force Hellboy to manifest his demon abilities, which summons Ogdru Jahad. However, Myers is able to remind Hellboy of his father's wish for him, and he shakes the influence off, using a giant horn to close the portal. However, enough influence got out, that Rasputin transforms into a giant tentacled monster, who kills Ilsa. Hellboys kills the monster by intentionally getting swallowed, with a large amount of grenades stuck to his body (he is fireproof). The film ends with Hellboy and Liz sharing a well-deserved Romantic moment.

          The action in this film was very well done. It was intense, colorful, but it was very easy to comprehend, and you can tell who is fighting who. There is also a number of inventive kills and inventive scenes, which creates a lot of tension. The plot is a typical pulp style fantasy action adventure, and that's not a bad thing at all. The plot isn't complex or deep, but it is fun. It is fun to see a demon beat up other, more grotesque looking demons.. Particularly because the characters were well-defined, and I liked seeing them do these fun action scenes. Especially Hellboy. Ron Perlman is very charismatic in the role, playing up the childish rebelliousness, while still keeping him a badass action hero. The effects are very well done. I was very surprised to see practical effects used at times, which is always a bonus in my book. Even the CGI is very good, surprising for 2004. It also had a number of very funny moments, particularly involving Hellboy and cats. (That actually didn't sound as weird as I thought it did)

     Rasputin was not particularly enjoyable or memorable as the villain. I hardly remember anything he did. I wanted to see more of Odgru Jahad. He seemed infinitely more fascinating then the designated villain. (Maybe it's my preference towards Lovecraftian beings). I also got distracted, once again, by the fact that Nazi agents teamed with a Slavic mystic. I also feel they didn't focus as much as they should have on Hellboy being a demon raised in a human world. There is that scene where he is about to bring about the destruction of the world through his demon heritage, and the scene right before Bruttenholm's death, where he sees Hellboy as the bringer of doom, but it isn't brought up as much as the film wants me to think.

       This is my least favorite film from del Toro. However, that should speak more for del Toro as a film, because it is still a fantastic film. Once again, made with vision and passion for the material. I just didn't like it as much as his other films. Maybe his more atmospheric style didn't mesh with the more comic action style the film require. I greatly enjoyed this, and I encourage you, if you think you might enjoy this film, to seek it out and watch it.
    We close out with Halloween weekend, and the film The Hills Have Eyes by Wes Craven, and The Babadook.

Masterpiece of Horror Theatre/Film review- Crimson Peak

    So, yeah, this is the crossover I was talking about. I am combining my typical current film review series with Masterpiece, for this feature, Crimson Peak. I admit, this is not the sort of film I'd normally watch. While I do enjoy the Gothic aesthetic, it really doesn't excite me as much as it does for other people.  However, I watched this because of the director: Guillermo del Toro. For the uninitiated, he is the director of works like Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, and Hellboy. I don't bring this up often, but Pan Labyrinth is one of my favorite films. It is the only film I have ever seen that doesn't have a single flaw with it. It is a perfect film. Nothing can add or take away from it. Everything in it is done with complete perfection, from the screenplay, to the acting, to the cinematography. And I really like Pacific Rim and Hellboy (I'll talk more about the later in the second part of this double feature). So, I saw this primarily because of the director's pedigree. And, it actually may be one of his best.

     In 1887, when Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) was young, the ghost of her deceased mother (Doug Jones) visited her, and warned her of "Crimson Peeak" (I think I have that right). Years later, in 1901, she is a aspiring writer, hoping to one day become the next Mary Shelley. Her father,Carter Cushing (Jim Beaver), is a prominent steel tycoon, one of the new money capitalists of the Guilded Age. She is also friends with Dr. Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam) Edith meets Sir Thomas Sharpe, Baronet (Tom Huddleston), an English lord with a decreasing budget, who hopes to acquire some capital from Mr. Cushing to fund a clay mining machine. Cushing is skeptical, especially since he has disdain for Sharpe's aristocratic background (having slowly acquired his wealth with hard work). However, Sharpe takes a liking to Edith, especially after they dance at a party. Also at said party is Sharpe's sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain, who is in everything now, apparently. Not that I'm complaining). After the party, the ghost of Edith's mother returns, and gives the very same warning about Crimson Peeak,  though once again, she can't decipher the meaning. As Sharpe and Edith become close, Cushing hires a PI to dig up some info on the Sharpes. The PI returns with some incriminating files, and Cushing bribes them to leave New York at once, while Sharpe has to break Edith's heart.However, the day after, Cushing is murdered by a mysterious assailant, while Edith pursues Sharpe, and learns the truth, AND later her father's death. A few months later, Edith and Sharpe are married, and they move to the Sharpe estate in Allerdale Hall, where they will live with Lucille. However, there is a number of strange occurances around the house, and, also, Lucille's behavior is increasingly suspicious, as is Thomas'. Eventually, she begins to see a succession of increasingly grotesque ghosts. She is understandably horrified at first, but she slowly begins to investigate the history of the Sharpe family, especially after learning that the name of the hill the estate is on is called ....Crimson Peak (duh, duh, dummm.) As she delves into the mystery, dark and ugly secrets begin to rear their heads....

        First, the acting is really, really good, particularly from Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain. I note how well del Toro writes women. Seriously, he has a long line of very strong female characters in his films. And this film is sort of the prime example this. Both Edith and Lucille (who, spoiler, is the main villain) are both well-written, and well acted. I suppose you could use any del Toro film as a guide to write good female protagonists and antagonists. Also, although it is not a horror film per se,  it is scary at times, and the atmosphere is very creepy and dark. The sets are beautiful. My eyes were stuck on the sheer detail placed on everything. It also gets... icky towards the end. No, seriously, there is a twist, which, while well foreshadowed, is just.. eww. Not, like eye balls sticking out, but more of a societal taboo. It still works, despite that, and the actions are committed by.. Okay that will spoil the film, but point is, it is icky, but it works in the context of the film.

    I could discern some flaws with this. The pacing is a little slow. There is actually more than I just described, but it isn't consequential. Somethings are unresolved, like why a little dog was at Crimson Peak. The ghosts, while interesting, kind of lose their importance after the entire mystery has been solved. I wouldn't call them unimportant, as they do initiate Edth's investigation, but I assumed they would play a big role in the climax. Okay, one does, but not that big. A hallucination could have served the same purpose.

      They shouldn't have marketed this as a horror film. It is a dark Gothic fantasy. The ghosts are scary, but they slowly become less scary, as we learn about their backstory. Some of the backlash towards this film is the fact that it isn't scary, but it wasn't meant to be that scary. It is a romance and thriller at heart, with ghosts in a prominent role. If you are interested in that, you'll love this. It has enough scares (and horrifying implications) to be a good Halloween feature, so you could watch it in that capacity too. Don't go in expecting a typical horror film, because it really isn't. Thanks for reading, and next, we delve into another de Toro film,Hellboy.