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#Just Before Dawn Blu-ray
flashfuckingflesh · 1 year
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The Devil Is Never Pretentious with His EVIL! "Satan's Little Helper" reviewed! (Synapse Films / Blu-ray)
The Devil Is Never Pretentious with His EVIL! “Satan’s Little Helper” reviewed! (Synapse Films / Blu-ray)
Bluray is Currently Cheaper than DVD!  Grab “Satan’s Little Helper” Fast! Obsessed with his new video game Satan’s Little Helper, where a little boy helps the Satan dispense murderous bloody mayhem, naïve Dougie, sporting his own hot red Satan costume and mask, swears he’ll have a chance to meet Satan himself during Halloween.  Who Dougie believes he stumbles upon is the master of darkness but,…
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equixen · 24 days
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It’s official. It’s now been one year since I rewatched the three Walden Media Narnia movies and sent myself on quite the fandom journey.
As someone who has been in and out of many fandoms over the years to varying degrees, this fandom in particular has become truly special to me and while I’m in a reflective mood, I thought I would post something in honour of my first year in this fandom.
I will probably take this down In future when I inevitably become self-conscious about how much I have shared about myself on the internet but, for now… behold my rambly post about my journey to discovering Narnia, my first year in the fandom and why Narnia is so important to me. And sorry in advance to anyone who actually decides to read this because it definitely became a bit long :)
I’m not sure when my Narnia journey started exactly but I remember reading The Horse and His Boy when I was quite young, long before 2005 when I saw the first movie. I simply picked up that book because it was about a horse and back then, I read everything about horses. :) I don’t remember whether I enjoyed it but I imagine I might have been a bit confused at times since I literally knew nothing about the world of Narnia at the time. I do still have that copy of The Horse and His Boy though.
Sometime after that, 2005 came around and I ended up seeing The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe at the cinema with my sister. I absolutely LOVED it and quickly jumped into reading the original TLTWATW novel. I later saw Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as they each came out but I didn’t feel like they were as good as the first for different reasons (I thought PC was too much like TLTWATW in terms of the grand epic battle and TVOTDT was too different from the others with it being set on a ship the whole time). I had no idea about how closely PC and TVOTDT resembled the books they were based on because at that point, I had only read The Horse and His Boy and TLTWATW novels.
I had quite fond memories about the movie series as a whole though and had been wanting to rewatch for a while as I hadn't seen any of them since 2010 after TVOTDT came out. So, at the start of March 2023, I finally sat down to watch all three in the space of one weekend on Disney+.
The timing was important because this just happened to line up with the start of my gap-year (of sorts) from work. Both my husband and I had the great fortune of being able to take all of 2023 off work to focus on hobbies and just destress after our respective last few years. A mini trial retirement if you will. I had grand plans of catching up on various video editing projects through the year but after rewatching the Narnia movies, those plans quickly evaporated.
Not only do I love all three movies equally now (they are just so darn heartwarming), I felt super nostalgic while watching them and loved their messages of personal growth and learning to believe in one’s self (the latter of which, I still struggle with). I also found myself feeling so sad about the endings of Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader knowing the Pevensies would never return to Narnia (a feeling which will become significant later on in this post). Although, that sadness was nothing compared to the sadness I felt once I found out what happened to all the Pevensies (and Susan in particular) in The Last Battle. I was gutted when I found out about that, but I digress.
Anyway, I also found myself feeling super intrigued by the enemies-to-lovers potential for Caspian and Peter and after reading a few fanfics, I quickly became obsessed with Caspeter and the franchise as a whole. I promptly purchased all three movies on Blu-ray so I could try editing a video montage about Caspian and Peter and, as soon as the Blu-rays arrived, I watched all three movies again. Partly for ‘research’ for my video but mostly because I just wanted to live in that world again. I also managed to convince my husband to watch them with me and while he’s not nearly as big a fan as I am, I’m happy to say that at least some of my enthusiasm for the series has rubbed off on him over the last 12 months lol.
By the end of 2023, I had watched each of these movies no fewer than four times each and read all the novels too. While I currently consider the Walden Media movies to be my favourite adaption, I also really enjoyed watching the BBC TV show adaption which I found to be utterly charming. I’m also a fan of Doctor Who, including the classic serials of the 60’s through to the 80’s, so the episodic feel, style and lower budget of the BBC Narnia series just reminded me of the classic Doctor Who serials in all the best ways. I also adored the Focus on the Family radio plays and, while you might think I’d be happy to stop there with the various adaptions… nope, I have now lined up the old animated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie to watch this weekend and I also want to try and get my hands on the BBC’s Narnia audio plays too :)
Back to the Caspeter video montage I mentioned… well, one video was quickly followed by three more but upon finishing and uploading the fourth, a Caspeter reunion video edit, I secretly hoped it might inspire a fanfic writer to write something based on the video’s premise. It quickly became apparent however, that I already had the story in my head. I simply had to write it down.
Thus, my first Caspeter fanfic was born. This was the first time in 20 years that I tried writing fan fiction (although the first fic I wrote was for the Xena fandom which was a one-time thing for a school assignment so it’s barely worth counting). My first Caspeter one-shot was quickly followed by a second and that second one has since been expanded into a 62k word fic. Where that came from, I still have no idea. :) So, between the 6 videos and 3 fanfics (one of which is practically a novel), I think I can safely say I’ve never been more inspired by a fandom.
So, why do I love Narnia? I have been giving this some thought and, while this is not a definitive list, I think these are the main reasons why this series now means so much to me.
Well, to start, the Pevensie sibling I relate to the most is the movie version of Peter. I’m also the oldest sibling in my family and even though I try not to, I often take things personally when my opinions/suggestions are overruled, especially in a work setting. I really struggle not to become defensive in those situations and hate it when things in my life feel like they are outside of my control. But I’m also intensely loyal towards my family and friends and just want fairness and equality for everyone. Basically, I’m a delight. But only when you get to know me and I let my guard down around you :)
I love all the Pevensies though and I especially adore their sibling relationship. Though they may be dysfunctional at times and poke fun at each other, it’s clear they still care deeply for each other. Sadly, the differences in personality between my younger sister and I are too insurmountable at times and often gets in the way of us getting along.
The world of Narnia is absolutely fascinating. I’ve been obsessed with Greek Mythology for as long as I can remember thanks to growing up watching Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys on TV during the 90’s so I love that Narnia is filled with creatures from the ancient Greek myths. And who doesn’t want a talking horse as their best friend?!
As for Caspeter, I can’t help but see similarities in the personality dynamics between Caspian and Peter (well, my head canons of their relationship based on their personality traits in the movies) and my husband and I. My husband is definitely the calmer and more balanced one out of the two of us and while he doesn’t see it this way, I do think he has the patience of a saint for putting up with my emotional tendencies as well as my fandom obsessions (especially this fandom, given how much it has taken over my life lol).
And on a more general note, the stories of lovers being separated and either, finding each other again after a long period of time or being forever separated because of the cruelties of fate, have always resonated with me. So that, combined with my other love of stories featuring enemies-to-lovers relationships, I feel like the Caspeter pairing was made for me :)
I haven't mentioned religion so far, and that’s because I’m not religious, but I still very much appreciate the themes of belief/faith that run through the Narnia series as a whole. And while I don't personally believe in an afterlife, I've always loved the idea of there being a place after death where people can be reunited with their loved ones. Yeah, as you can probably tell from my writing, I fear being without my husband one day.
And lastly, the characters having to go back to their world and being unable to return to Narnia quickly became symbolic for the end of my year off (my personal version of Narnia) and the start of 2024 when I would have to go back to work. And that transition back to full-time work was about as difficult as I expected it to be, let me tell you.
It does feel like my obsession with Narnia came along at just the right time to take on real meaning in my life and I’d venture to say that Narnia/Caspeter has become one of my top five fandoms of all time. Because if I didn't watch those three movies when I did at the start of 2023, I wouldn't have had as much time to spend on making video montages and therefore probably wouldn't have gotten to the point of making that one particular video that inspired me to write fanfic for the first time. I certainly wouldn’t have had the time to focus on writing a fanfic that became as long as it did. And, I probably wouldn't have connected with the franchise so strongly either if I wasn’t experiencing my own personal version of Narnia in real life and if I didn’t have my husband in my life to help inspire my personal head canons of the Caspeter relationship.
So, now I'm back at work, what is next for me?
Well, I sadly won't have as much time to contribute to the fandom anymore and I highly doubt I’ll have the time or patience to write anything as long as ‘Our Hands Are Tied’ turned out to be, but you never know. Before a year ago, if anyone suggested I was about to write any fan fiction at all AND post it online for the first time, I would have thought they were crazy. So, anything is possible :)
That said, Narnia and Caspeter are still very much at the forefront of my mind despite now being back at work. I have two general Narnia videos (one about the Pevensies and one about Susan) that I started last year so I want to try and finish those soon. Plus, I have a few more Caspeter video ideas I’ve been thinking about maybe doing AND I have two new ideas for Caspeter fanfics that have popped into my brain over the last few weeks (one of which definitely warrants a longer word count if I write it). So, we shall see what comes of those :)
So yeah, happy one year Narnia anniversary to me! :) And stay tuned for what else might come out of my brain I guess :)
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md-guel · 4 months
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well! I finally got that free time I was waiting for so I managed to take a lot of photos of the g witch season 2 volume 2 blu-ray box featuring our very own el presidente guelito jeturk! 🦁🎉 I'll put them all under the read more where I break them down by sections, too!
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first section is the outer box, of course, and can I just say. if somebody sold even just the outer box on mercari (like somebody did for shaddiq's cover, I remember reading somewhere), I would be so tempted to buy it. handsome boy notwithstanding, this thing would actually make such a handsome and fun a5 document holder! the red is just so attractive to the eyes and check out that gold stamping! like the whole thing just really looks so executive.
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and I really love the choice of foil silhouette, too. this is guel's revival from the penultimate version of the season 2 opener. his choice of dialogue has...far too many...ellipses...for...my tastes...but we know how important it is to his arc so it belongs there. I just wish they got rid of even just one ellipsis cause it doesn't make sense without the drama of the source scene.
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here's the rest of the contents of the box! there's the actual disc box, a special booklet in guel's primary colors, then two sets of end cards, one for the anime and another for the audio drama
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aside from the handsome boy at the front, the other part that convinced me to buy this blu-ray volume is the stunning spread of the darilbalde by ippei gyoubu as the disc box jacket. now I can finally say that I own one of his artworks!
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the close-ups are just to show the gloss and the material used
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and here are the actual discs! and a sneak peek of my curtains oops. I haven't had the time to watch/listen to the cds yet but the red one contains episodes 16 to 18, the season 2 digest (I think this is the one narrated by noto mamiko-san?), the 2nd and 3rd versions of the season 2 opener and the jeturk house's audio commentary of episode 17. and by jeturk house, I mean everyone's voice actors, of course: azakami youhei for guel, takeo otsuka for lauda, takada yuuki for felsi, hirose yuuki for petra and yamashita taiki for kamil.
the silver one is for the two audio dramas: sophie and norea before the dawn (of fold) and izakaya prospera (which is a modern au setting where the jeturk's business is a flower shop which vim manages because his boys are too into basketball).
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the special booklet talks about the episodes, the characters, the world, and has some special interviews from miyahara youhei who is the technical director and kodera shouta, director of photography. if anyone's interested with these interviews, please let me know and I'll take clear photos!
(by the way, the line at the side of the episode 17 summary is guel's oshi line, "I'm grateful to you. You're important to me." as far as his mentions in the summaries are concerned, episode 17 just says that miorine chose him as suletta's final duel and he won against her, and episode 18 just says that miorine and guel have started working together for the presidential election)
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the characters section gives us more information about the, well, characters as of episodes 16 to 18. guel's captions read (edited from the machine translation):
the long text:
After the Plant Queta attack, he was taken prisoner by the Dawn of Fold, but returned from Earth in order to rebuild the Jetark Company, which connects him to his father. After returning to school, he finally wins his third duel with Suletta. He has become CEO in place of his younger brother Lauda, ​​who was serving as acting CEO of Jeturk Company, and is working with and supporting Miorine, who is running for president. He expressed his feelings and gratitude to Suletta, and now he is working for what is important to him.
under profile:
Affiliation: Jeturk Heavy Machinery
just above his full name:
Guel, with his trademark long hair cut short, showed his determination to rebuild the company as CEO.
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the world guide mostly talks about the state of politics in episodes 16 to 18. the edited machine translations from top to bottom:
Jeturk Company Following Vim's death, Lauda served as acting CEO in Guel's absence. After Guel returns from Earth and defeats Suletta in a duel, he becomes the new CEO. Currently, he is working hard to rebuild Jeturk Company, and is supporting Miorine, with whom he has teamed up, to become the company's next president.
During his lifetime, Vim Jeturk secretly worked with the Shin Sei Development Corporation, introducing the GUND format into his company's next-generation concept model "Schwarzette'' and proceeding with its development.
CEO: Guel Jeturk
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and lastly, here are the end cards! I thought about just taking a photo of the front but the artist credits (and icons in the case of the audio dramas) are at the back and I didn't want to leave them out. the first two photos are the audio drama end cards while the last three are the anime ones. they're fairly thin and they're not glossy! check out the reflection on the episode 17 end card.
if anyone is curious about other parts of the blu-ray volume that I excluded from this post, please let me know!
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brokehorrorfan · 1 year
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Coraline will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray in both Steelbook and standard packaging on December 13 via Shout Factory. César Moreno designed the Steelbook art for the 2009 stop-motion animated dark fantasy film.
Produced by Laika (ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls), Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) writes and directs, based on Neil Gaiman’s 2002 children’s novella. Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, and Ian McShane star.
Coraline has been newly restored in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR and new Dolby Atmos audio. Special features can be found below.
Special features (on Blu-ray disc):
Audio commentary by writer-director Henry Selick and composer Bruno Coulais
Inside Laika: Discovering the Characters of Coraline
Inside Laika: Revisiting the Puppets with the Animation Team
Character art, concept art, and behind-the-scenes galleries
Feature-length storyboards
The Making of Coraline featurette
Original featurettes
Deleted scenes
Coraline Jones is bored in her new home until she finds a secret door that leads into a world that’s just like her own… but better! But when this fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her “other” mother tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness and bravery to get home.
Pre-order Coraline.
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adamwatchesmovies · 2 years
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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
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Some films capture the imagination so elegant, so perfectly, it seems almost effortless. Like The Wizard of Oz or Mary Poppins, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is such a film. Filled with splendid and memorable songs, unforgettable characters, distinct visuals, and a performance by Gene Wilder so good that to imitate it would be pure folly, this is essential viewing; a film destined to be revisited by children and their parents again and again.
Poor, kind Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) lives in a small house with his mother (Diana Sowle) and his four grandparents. When legendary candy maker Willy Wonka (Wilder) announces he has hidden five golden tickets in his world-famous Wonka Bars, and that the children who find them will be allowed access to his mysterious factory, our hero dreams of finding one for himself.
This is a strange film. It’s whimsical, funny, tragic, and occasionally, a little frightening. The strange blends of emotion and bizarre imagery somehow fill you with comfort the same way as the bedtime fairytales you enjoyed as a child. The instant you see Charlie, you fall in love with him. You know how badly he wants to visit Wonka’s factory because he's you. As the tickets get snatched up one by one by vile children, your anticipation keeps growing. If the gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Michael Böllner) and insufferable Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole) are the only ones who meet the reclusive Willy Wonka, there's no way he'll ever emerge from his factory ever again. Even if you already know what’s going to happen to them, to Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen), or Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson), the child inside you is filled with such nervousness you forget.
When we finally go inside Wonka’s factory and learn the secrets of his chocolate, it’s pure bliss. You want to reach into the screen and stuff your pockets full of the impossible colors and textures you see. Then, there’s the music. Anyone who says they don’t remember the Oompa Loompas’ song, Pure Imagination or Candy Man, are lying; trying (for reasons no one but them could understand) to distance themselves from a children’s film that has a lot to offer adults. Like Grumpy in Snow White, the story frequently injects humor by undercutting what’s happening on-screen via Willy Wonka. He says exactly what you’re thinking a second before you’ve finished thinking about it. He’s full of sarcastic remarks and delights in seeing the spoiled brats who've entered his factory get what’s coming to them. If the visuals, the performances (Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe stands out as particularly magical), the music, and everything else didn’t already cement the film as timeless, Wilder certainly does.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is mandatory viewing. Your movie-viewing life isn’t complete without it. More than that, seeing it just the once isn’t enough. It’s the kind of picture you should see when you’re young - I vividly remember viewing the picture with my grade-four class – and again, at regular intervals during your lifetime to see how its appeal changes but never diminishes. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face. (On Blu-ray, September 1, 2017)
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Old Fanfiction Plug
It was the dawn of the Third Wave of anime fandom.  It was the age of rental anime at Blockbuster Video.  It was the time of USEnet discussion groups, particularly rec.arts.anime.
These were the days before dial-up internet, before streaming, before Blu-Ray and DVDs.  Those few licenses that made it to the US shores did so in the form of subbed or dubbed VHS tapes, perhaps the occasional Laserdisc.  There were those who also provided fan-subtitled anime for those series that hadn’t made it to the US.
Anime fanfiction was mostly Ranma 1/2.  There were others, mostly of the older titles such as Kimagure Orange Road, Bubblegum Crisis and some lost to memory.
After my first, godawful Ranma 1/2 story (which had the trifecta of modern sins--a blatant self-insert, terrible writing and being written in script format), I got better.  It’s easier to get better when you’ve started from the very bottom.
The idea of anime characters and regular people interacting wasn’t a new one.  There was a series where the characters were in a hospital and they hated “animes” as they called them.  Then there was “Who Framed Vampire Princess Miyu,” which took a different tactic of having anime characters be just actors.
The latter was my inspiration for Anime Detective.  The premise:  Our intrepid hero, the somewhat grumpy, not so hard-boiled detective is a policeman who has to maintain good relations between Animates (anime characters) and regular people.  Fortunately, he’s well-connected, if not always well-liked.  He also has access to a one-ton hammer in a dimensional pocket.
After the first story, he gains a partner:  The very capable, very lecherous Ryo Saeba, the City Hunter.  He also gets help from a cute redheaded hacker, Nene Romanova, from Bubblegum Crisis.
As you can imagine, these are not deep mystery stories.  They do contain some commentary and humor--most likely a shot at whatever was bugging me at the time.
I’ve written eight stories for Detective Andrew Mays.  Just don’t call him “Andy Mays.”  He hates that.
Anyway, the stories can be found here:
http://www.eyrie.net/ETC/AD/
Please ignore the e-mail address on the page.  It’s old and it never got changed.
I actually have three more rough drafts.  The final chapter was written for Nanowrimo this year.
So, if anyone is willing to engage in a little fanfiction archaeology and can wade through ‘90′s anime references, feel free to take a look.
--Doc
P.S., I have put some cameos of colleagues in my stories.  I’d be very surprised if you could pick them out, though.
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BOOMERANG – 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION (1992)
Starring Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, Robin Givens, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Geoffrey Holder, Eartha Kitt, Chris Rock, Tisha Campbell, Lela Rochon, John Witherspoon, John Canada Terrell, Leonard Jackson, Jonathan P. Hicks, Tom Mardirosian, Irv Dotten, Melvin Van Peebles, Rhonda Jensen, Alyce Webb, Louise Vyent, Frank Rivers, Angela Logan, Chuck Pfeifer, Raye Dowell, Reginald Hudlin and Warrington Hudlin.
Screenplay by Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield.
Directed by Reginald Hudlin.
Distributed by Paramount Pictures. 117 minutes. Rated R.
After starting his film career on a huge high – his first three films 48 Hrs., Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop were not just big hits, they were critically beloved – Eddie Murphy’s career as a comic actor came crashing to Earth soon enough. In the 40 years after his explosion out of the gate, Murphy has made an extraordinarily long line of bad films. Every once in a while, he’ll sneak in a fairly good one – like Coming to America, Bowfinger, Dreamgirls, Dolemite is My Name and animated roles in Shrek and Mulan. (Sorry, I know The Nutty Professor is also considered by many to be a high point for him, but I couldn’t stand that movie.)
Boomerang is another one of the fairly good ones. It is very much a product of its times – the entire company where the film takes place would be in for a weeks-long sexual harassment seminar if HR ever found out all the crap that was going on there.
However, it’s mostly funny, entertaining and has a strong, diverse cast. (Among the co-stars were the then fairly unknown Halle Berry, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell.)
And it had a spectacular soundtrack, spawning several big hit singles – “End of the Road” by Boyz II Men, “I’d Die Without You” by PM Dawn, “Love Should’ve Brought You Home” by Toni Braxton, “Give U My Heart” by Babyface & Toni Braxton, and more.
The pleasant surprise, 30 years down the line as the film gets its first Blu-ray release, is that the film has aged pretty well. (As a movie, as noted before it’s way off sociologically in the #MeToo era, but its casual view of sex – from both genders – is also sort of entertaining in a nostalgic way.)
Murphy plays Marcus Graham, a high-powered advertising exec at a major beauty conglomerate. He is also a complete hound with the ladies. (Literally, the film soundtracks his doubletakes checking out women with a “woof.”) He’s known as a player, and also known for dumping women flat the second he gets them to bed. He’s the type of guy who will pretend he’s lost an imaginary dog to get in with a gorgeous dog lover. He’s also the type of guy who will dump that same woman flat after sex because he decides she has ugly toes.
You know that he is due some comeuppance, and that comes in the form of his new boss, Jacqueline Broyer (played by Robin Givens). Jacqueline is the same type of predatory lover as he is, and quickly is using him for occasional booty calls, but mostly ignoring him. Marcus is not used to being on the other side, and soon he is as needy and insecure as any of his exes, which, not surprisingly, is merely pushing her away even more.
And then there’s her gorgeous assistant (played by Halle Berry), who is sweet, caring and becomes Marcus’ friend.
You see where this is going, don’t you?
Okay, it’s not the most original storyline, but surprisingly it works pretty well. Murphy is a bit more empathetic than he normally allows himself for be on screen, and he has great chemistry with his two best buddies (David Allan Grier and Martin Lawrence). And while there are a few kind of embarrassing supporting roles played by older stars (Grace Jones, Geoffrey Holder and Eartha Kitt), for the most part it still works surprisingly well.
Boomerang is not as good as Murphy’s original classics, but still it’s one of the few examples that he has still got “it” that has come in the past few decades. Like I said, it’s definitely a movie of its time, but it actually makes for some relatively enjoyable time traveling.
Dave Strohler
Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: June 28, 2022.
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mcbastardsmausoleum · 2 years
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SYNAPSE FILMS TREATS YOU TO THE CULT HORROR FAVORITE SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER THIS HALLOWEEN FOR THE
FIRST TIME ON BLU-RAY!
“A horror sleeper that contains as much wit as gore.”- Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
“Irreverent, subversive and deliciously caustic, Satan’s Little Helper is a unique and daring achievement, the type only independent films can deliver.” - Jon Condit, Dread Central
Summer may be right around the corner, but Synapse Films is already getting ready for Halloween 2022 with a little help from SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER, writer/director Jeff Lieberman's devilishly fun cult classic that’s become a seasonal favorite since its debut at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. Now, Synapse Films brings this All Hallows mix of horror and satire to Blu-ray for the first time on October 25, 2022!
Nine-year-old Douglas Whooly (Alexander Brickel, PALINDROMES) is obsessed with the handheld video game “Satan’s Little Helper,” and annoyed that the attention of his big sister Jenna (Katheryn Winnick, TV’s VIKINGS and BIG SKY) is being distracted by her new boyfriend Alex (Stephen Graham). These two concerns collide on Halloween, when Douglas witnesses a serial killer in a devil mask (Joshua Annex) posing his victims like outdoor All Hallow’s Eve displays. Not comprehending how real the carnage is, Douglas becomes this Satan’s little helper—and that’s very bad news for Alex, for Douglas and Jenna’s mom Merrill (Amanda Plummer, PULP FICTION, Netflix’s RATCHED), and ultimately for their entire town.
A different kind of Halloween horror film, SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER combines grisly killings with a mile-wide streak of savage humor. Written and directed by cult favorite Jeff Lieberman (SQUIRM, BLUE SUNSHINE, JUST BEFORE DAWN), it satirizes the way video games can seize hold of young minds, and is driven by the inability of Douglas (and others) to distinguish the Satan Man’s nasty crimes from All Hallow’s prankery. Featuring one of Plummer’s most eccentric performances, SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER has built a cult following on video and now makes its high-definition Blu-ray debut, carrying a bagful of supplementary treats!
SUPPLEMENTARY FEATURES INCLUDE:
- Audio Commentary from Director Jeff Lieberman
- Vintage Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- The Devil in the Details: Making SATAN'S LITTLE HELPER
- Mr. Satan's Neighborhood: A Tour of the Filming Locations with Director Jeff Lieberman
- Promotional Trailer
VIDEO: High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1) Presentation
AUDIO: DTS-HD MA English 2.0 Original Stereo
SUBTITLES: English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
ITEM# SFD0212
UPC CODE: 654930323595
SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE: $29.95
FILE UNDER: HORROR
MPA RATING: R
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horrorpatch · 3 years
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Weekly Genre Releases - January 12, 2021!
Weekly Genre Releases – January 12, 2021!
January 12: Buried Alive (1990) – Blu-ray From Frank Darabont, the acclaimed director of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Majestic and The Mist, comes this gripping thriller starring Tim Matheson (Impulse, Up the Creek), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Rush, Flesh+Blood), William Atherton (Die Hard, Oscar) and Hoyt Axton (Gremlins, Disorganized Crime). Clint Goodman (Matheson) enjoys the…
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mostlymovieswithmax · 3 years
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Movies I watched in May
Sadly, I kind of skipped writing a post for April. It was a mad month with so much going on: lots of emails sent and lots of stress. I started a new job so I’m getting to grips with that... and even then, I still watched a bunch of movies. But this is about what I watched in May and, yeah… still a bunch. So if you’re looking to get into some other movies - possibly some you’ve thought about watching but didn’t know what they were like, or maybe like the look of something you’ve never heard of - then this may help! So here’s every film I watched from the 1st to the 31st of May 2021 Tenet (2020) - 8/10 This was my third time watching Christopher Nolan’s most Christopher Nolan movie ever and it makes no sense but I still love it. The spectacle of it all is truly like nothing I’ve ever seen. I had also watched it four days prior to this watch also, only this time I had enabled audio description for the visually impaired, thinking it would make it funny… It didn’t.
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Nomadland (2020) - 6/10 Chloé Zhao’s new movie got a lot of awards attention. Everyone was hyped for this and when it got put out on Disney+ I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. Seeing these real nomads certainly gave the film an authenticity, along with McDormand’s ever-praisable acting. But generally I found it quite underwhelming and lacking a lot in its pacing. Nomadland surely has its moments of captivating cinematography and enticing commentary on the culture of these people, but it felt like it went on forever without any kind of forward direction or goal. The Prince of Egypt (1998) - 6/10 I reviewed this on my podcast, The Sunday Movie Marathon. For what it is, it’s pretty fun but nowhere near as good as some of the best DreamWorks movies.
Chinatown (1974) - 8/10 What a fantastic and wonderfully unpredictable mystery crime film! I regret to say I’ve not seen many Jack Nicholson performances but he steals the show. Despite Polanski’s infamy, it’d be a lie to claim this wasn’t truly masterful. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) - 8/10 Admittedly I was half asleep as I curled up on the sofa to watch this again on a whim. I watched this with someone who demanded the dubbed version over the subtitled version and while I objected heavily, I knew I’d seen the movie before so it didn’t matter too much. That person also fell asleep about 20 minutes in, so how pointless an argument it was. Howl’s Moving Castle boasts superb animation, the likes of which I’ve only come to expect of Miyazaki. The story is so unique and the colours are absolutely gorgeous. This may not be my favourite from the legendary director but there’s no denying its splendour.
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Bāhubali: The Beginning (2015) - 3/10 The next morning I watched some absolute trash. This crazy, over the top Indian movie is hilarious and I could perhaps recommend it if it weren’t so long. That being said, Bāhubali was not a dumpster fire; it has a lot of good-looking visual effects and it’s easy to see the ambition for this epic story, it just doesn’t come together. There’s fun to be had with how the main character is basically the strongest man in the world and yet still comes across as just a lucky dumbass, along with all the dancing that makes no sense but is still entertaining to watch. Seven Samurai (1954) - 10/10 If it wasn’t obvious already, Seven Samurai is a masterpiece. I reviewed this on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, so more thoughts can be found there. Red Road (2006) - 6/10 Another recommendation on episode 30 of the podcast. Red Road really captures the authentic British working class experience. Before Sunrise (1995) - 10/10 One of the best romances put to film. The first in Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy is undoubtedly my favourite, despite its counterparts being almost equally as good. It tells the story of a young couple travelling through Europe, who happen to meet on a train and spend the day together. It is gloriously shot on location in Vienna and features some of the most interesting dialogue I’ve ever seen put to film. Heartbreakingly beautiful.
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Tokyo Story (1953) - 9/10 This Japanese classic - along with being visually and sonically masterful - is a lot about appreciating the people in your life and taking the time to show them that you love them. It’s about knowing it’s never too late to rekindle old relationships if you truly want to, which is something I’ve been able to relate to in recent years. It broke my heart in two. Tokyo Story will make you want to call your mother. Before Sunset (2004) - 10/10 Almost a decade after Sunrise, Sunset carries a sombre yet relieving feeling. Again, the performances from Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke take me away, evoking nostalgic feelings as they stroll through the contemporary Parisian streets. There is no regret in me for buying the Criterion blu-ray boxset for this trilogy. Before Midnight (2013) - 10/10 Here, Linklater cements this trilogy as one of the best in film history. It’s certainly not the ending I expected, yet it’s an ending I appreciate endlessly. Because it doesn’t really end. Midnight shows the troubling times of a strained relationship; one that has endured so long and despite initially feeling almost dreamlike in how idealistically that first encounter was portrayed, the cracks appear as the film forces you to come to terms with the fact that fairy-tale romances just don’t exist. Relationships require effort and sacrifice and sometimes the ones that truly work are those that endure through all the rough patches to emerge stronger. The Holy Mountain (1973) - 10/10 Jodorowsky’s masterpiece is absolute insanity. I talked more about it on The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.
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The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - 10/10 Another watch for Grand Budapest because I bought the Criterion blu-ray. As unalterably perfect as ever. Blue Jay (2016) - 6/10 Rather good up to a point. My co-hosts and I did not agree on how good this movie was, which is a discussion you can listen to on my podcast. Shadow and Bone: The Afterparty (2021) - 3/10 For what it’s worth, I really enjoyed the first season of Shadow and Bone, which is why I wanted to see what ‘The Afterparty’ was about. This could have been a lot better and much less annoying if all those terrible comedians weren’t hosting and telling bad jokes. I don’t want to see Fortune Feimster attempt to tell a joke about oiling her body as the cast of the show sit awkwardly in their homes over Zoom. If it had simply been a half hour, 45 minute chat with the cast and crew about how they made the show and their thoughts on it, a lot of embarrassment and time-wasting could have been spared. Wadjda (2012) - 6/10 Another recommendation discussed at length on The Sunday Movie Marathon. Wadjda was pretty interesting from a cultural perspective but largely familiar in terms of story structure.
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Freddy Got Fingered (2001) - 2/10 A truly terrible movie with maybe one or two scenes that stop it from being a complete catastrophe. Tom Green tried to create something that almost holds a middle finger to everyone who watches it and to some that could be a fun experience, but to me it just came across as utterly irritating. It’s simply a bunch of scenes threaded together with an incredibly loose plot. He wears the skin of a dead deer, smacks a disabled woman over and over again on the legs to turn her on, and he swings a newborn baby around a hospital room by its umbilical cord (that part was actually pretty funny). I cannot believe I watched this again, although I think I repressed a lot of it since having seen it for the first time around five years ago. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - (2011) I have to say, these movies seem to get better with each instalment. They’re still not very good though. That being said, I’m amazed at how many times I’ve watched each of the Twilight movies at this point. This time around, I watched Breaking Dawn - Part 1 with a YMS commentary track on YouTube and that made the experience a lot more entertaining. Otherwise, this film is super dumb but pretty entertaining. I would recommend watching these movies with friends. Solaris (1972) - 8/10 Andrei Tarkovsky’s grand sci-fi epic about the emotional crises of a crew on the space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris is much as strange and creepy as you might expect from the master Russian auter. I had wanted to watch this for a while so I bought the Criterion blu-ray and it’s just stunning. It’s clear to see the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspiration but Solaris is quite a different beast entirely. Jaws (1975) - 4/10 I really tried to get into this classic movie, but Jaws exhibits basically everything I don’t like about Steven Spielberg’s directing. For sure, the effects are crazily good but the story itself is poorly handled and largely uninteresting. It was just a massive slog to get through.
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Darkman (1990) - 6/10 Sam Raimi’s superhero movie is so much fun, albeit massively stupid. Further discussion on Darkman can be found on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) - 1/10 Abysmal. I forgot the movie as I watched it. This was part of a marathon my friends and I did for episode 32 of our podcast. Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996) - 1/10 Perhaps this trilogy is not so great after all. Only marginally better than Darkman II but still pretty terrible. More thoughts on episode 32 of my podcast. F For Fake (1973) - 8/10 Rewatching this proved to be a worthwhile decision. Albeit slightly boring, there’s no denying how crazy the story of this documentary about art forgers is. The standout however, is the director himself. Orson Welles makes a lot of this film about himself and how hot his girlfriend is and it is hilarious.
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The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021) - 4/10 More style over substance, Sony’s new animated adventure wants so much to be in trend with the current internet culture but it simply doesn’t understand what it’s emulating. There’s a nyan cat reference, for crying out loud. For every joke that works, there are about ten more that do not and were it not for the wonderful animation, it simply wouldn’t be getting so much praise. Taxi Driver (1976) - 10/10 The first movie I’ve seen in a cinema since 2020 and damn it was good to be back! I’ve already reviewed Taxi Driver in my March wrap-up but seeing it in the cinema was a real treat. Irreversible (2002) - 8/10 One of the most viscerally horrendous experiences I’ve ever had while watching a movie. I cannot believe a friend of mine gave me the DVD to watch. More thoughts on episode 32 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast. Don’t watch it with the family. The Golden Compass (2007) - 1/10 I had no recollection of this being as bad as it is. The Golden Compass is the definition of a factory mandated movie. Nothing it does on its own is worth any kind of merit. I would say, if you wanted an experience like what this tries to communicate, a better option by far is the BBC series, His Dark Materials. More of my thoughts can be found in the review I wrote on Letterboxd.
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Antichrist (2009) - 8/10 Lars von Trier is nothing if not provocative and I can understand why someone would not like Antichrist, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. After watching it, I wrote a slightly disjointed summary of my interpretations of this highly metaphorical movie in the group chat, so fair warning for a bit of spoilers and graphic descriptions: It's like, the patriarchy, man! Oppression! Men are the rational thinkers with big brains and the women just cry and be emotional. So she's seen as crazy when she's smashing his cock and driving a drill through his leg to keep him weighted down. Like, how does he like it, ya know? So then she mutilates herself like she did with him and now they're both wounded, but the animals crowd around her (and the crow that he couldn't kill because it's Mother nature, not Father nature, duh). Then he kills her, even though she could've killed him loads of times but didn't. So it's like "haha big win for the man who was subjected to such horrific torture. Victory!" And then all the women with no faces come out of the woods because it's like a constant cycle. Manchester By The Sea (2016) - 6/10 Great performances in this super sad movie. I can’t say I got too much out of it though. Roar (1981) - 9/10 Watching Roar again was still as terrifying an experience as the first time. If you want to watch something that’s loose on plot with poor acting but with real big cats getting in the way of production and physically attacking people, look no further. This is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen because it’s all basically real. Cannot recommend it enough. Eyes Without A Face (1960) - 8/10 I’m glad I checked this old French movie out again. There’s a lot to marvel at in so many aspects, what with the premise itself - a mad surgeon taking the faces from unsuspecting women and transplanting them onto another - being incredibly unique for the time. Short, sweet and entertaining!
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Se7en (1995) - 10/10 The first in a David Fincher marathon we did for The Sunday Movie Marathon, episode 33. Zodiac (2007) - 10/10 Second in the marathon, as it was getting late, we decided to watch half that evening and the last half on the following evening. Zodiac is a brilliant movie and you can hear more of my thoughts on the podcast (though I apologise; my audio is not the best in this episode). Gone Girl (2014) - 10/10 My favourite Fincher movie. More insights into this masterpiece in episode 33 of the podcast. Friends: The Reunion (2021) - 6/10 It was heartwarming to see the old actors for this great show together again. I talked about the Friends reunion film at length in episode 33 of my podcast.
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Wolfwalkers (2020) - 10/10 I reviewed this in an earlier post but would like to reiterate just how wonderful Wolfwalkers is. If you get the chance, please see it in the cinema. I couldn’t stop crying from how beautiful it was. Raya and The Last Dragon (2021) - 6/10 After watching Wolfwalkers, I decided I didn’t want to go home. So I had lunch in town and booked a ticket for Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon. A child was coughing directly behind me the entire time. Again, I reviewed this in an earlier post but generally it was decent but I have so many problems with the execution. The Princess Bride (1987) - 9/10 Clearly I underrated this the last time I watched it. The Princess Bride is warm and hilarious with some delightfully memorable characters. A real classic!
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The Invisible Kid (1988) - 1/10 About as good as you’d expect a movie with that name to be, The Invisible Kid was a pick for The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast, the discussion for which you can listen to in episode 34. Babel (2006) - 9/10 The same night that I watched The Invisible Kid, I watched a masterful and dour drama from the director of Birdman and The Revenant. Babel calls back to an earlier movie of Iñárritu’s, called Amores Perros and as I was informed while we watched this for the podcast, it turns out Babel is part of a trilogy alongside the aforementioned film. More thoughts in episode 34 of the podcast. Snake Eyes (1998) - 1/10 After feeling thoroughly emotionally wiped out after Babel, we immediately watched another recommendation for the podcast: Snake Eyes, starring Nicolas Cage. This was a truly underwhelming experience and for more of a breakdown into what makes this movie so bad, you can listen to us talk about it on the podcast.
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trashmenace · 2 years
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Just Before Dawn
Blu-ray from Amazon
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edzephyr · 3 years
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hello sir! i just want to say that i love your gender (kirk-gender so true so true) and i would like to steal it. jokes aside, i love ur vibes and i hope u have a very nice day!!
Thank you. It took me many years to realize my gender identity and coming out/transition has been a gradual process. It began with discovery - a strange new dawning inside - is this my gender? I'm sure many can empathize with that moment of realization.
I think it's a little misleading to assume a person's interests indicate their gender (it's important also not to confuse gender with sexuality!), but I was extremely attracted to cars that looked like spaceships, and fascinated by Spocks in a way that suddenly made sense when I realized I was Kirk. It's strange because a lot of people have very wrong ideas about Kirk (really bad, inaccurate ideas), and it meant I thought I didn't identify this way for a long time, but when I realized the truth was nothing like how people sometimes think of Kirk, I knew this was what I was. Societal change is slow but younger folks often get it, and you'll be surprised by the older folks too! Indeed, fandom elders welcomed me with open arms and incredible encouragement; they gave me books and self-made resources from the old days that changed my life!
Experimenting with Starfleet style dress was a revelation. I felt truly comfortable in a way I hadn't before. Since then I have become more confident about wearing clothing expressive of my authentic self in public. My favorite is the green wrap. Of course, no-one should feel obliged to dress a certain way; appearance =/= gender, and although some would say I am conforming to an 'old fashioned' idea of my gender (from the '60s), it feels authentic to me. It's stereotypes again, but I love the 'traditionally Kirk' communicator mobile phone, and no-one will ever change my mind lol!!
Not everyone goes down this route, but I find tesTOSterone invaluable. And so much easier to access on streaming services and Blu-ray than the old days of re-runs and expensive VHS. Recommend, 1701%. As well as the chest surgery - I know it's again the stereotype to have a shapely pair but it felt right for me - I am relieved to say that the shirts always ripping and your nipples falling out is another myth!! I'll admit though when I do want to get them out it's pretty convenient that this is the expectation - I do however see a double standard and strongly advocate for equality in this regard.
But I must add, although there are ways to 'pass', none of this makes you more or less Kirk - it's how you feel in your Bones. Society is again slowly changing to recognize this. Don't let anyone ever tell you you're not Kirk enough!
I only hope now I can find a Spock! Sigh. Haha!
🙃
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Bookshelf Tours The Twi-Library
1. The books - obviously. I had the first three in paperback, and then waited anxiously for the last book to be released. I managed to snag a signed copy of Breaking Dawn, completely by chance. Seventeen year old me was thrilled.
2. The books. Again. This time in white! Why do I have the alternate covers, when I already had the books? Honestly, because I found them on clearance and have never had any impulse control.
3. The graphic novels. These ones took some tracking down, I can tell you! But, I bided my time, set up alerts, and eventually managed to get them nice and cheap on eBay. Unfortunately, New Moon Part 2 was never published.
4. Rosalie’s necklace. When we went to see the movie (on release day, of course) we stopped in at the bookstore afterwards, and they had a HUGE Twilight display, with all the character jewellery, the books, stationery, etc. I bought this necklace, and a bookmark, which is sadly lost to the ages. A few weeks later, I went to see the movie again, and this time, I hated it. That was the end of my Twilight phase. The necklace got dumped in a drawer, and forgotten about, never worn. When I started my twilight renaissance, I went to my dad’s house, and spent hours rummaging until I found it boxed up among my childhood things.
5. These redesigned covers for classic books were a marketing trick, designed to cash in on twi-mania. Books that Bella reads during the series, with covers made to fit in with the Twilight books - right down to the font. The front cover of Wuthering Heights proudly proclaims it to be “Edward and Bella’s favourite book!”
6. Various keyrings, bangles, and bag charms. Some of these are left over from my teenage obsession, some are newer acquisitions. My favourite is a cute “Team Jacob” bag charm, which is just stylish enough for people to compliment, before they notice what it says.
7. The movies. The singles discs were actually my mother's. She left them behind at dad’s house when she moved out, and I took possession of them during my renaissance. The box set is a US import, and it’s stylised to look like Edward and Bella’s wedding album.
8. The New Moon Steelbook. I’ll admit, this one is a bit odd, since I don’t actually have a Blu-ray player. But it’s so pretty!! And I got it on eBay for about £6, so I’d have been a fool not to.
9. Immortal: the Twilight fragrance. No, really. Apparently, this is supposed to be how Bella smells to Edward? Honestly it smells like a mixture of the bottom of an old sock basket, and fly spray. I never have to worry about running out, because it genuinely made people gag when I used it.
Not featured in this picture - two giant cinema posters for Twilight and New Moon; a stack of board games, including Twilight Scene-It, which is actually pretty fun; two throw pillows, currently on my bed; and a total of FIVE Twilight t-shirts, including one that says “Team Edward” in the Batman logo.
I'm also going to mention Move to Higher Ground at this point. The Quileute Tribe are currently based in a tsunami zone, and they're raising money to move to higher ground. You can read more about their mission, or donate directly to the fund, by visiting mthg.org
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greenslime69 · 2 years
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Pretty sure like <1% of people here follow me for my 80s horror obsession but I really wanna talk about the weird thing that happened to me on Halloween, so... I'm gonna.
If you've ever done a bit of research on the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors you'll know that there were 2 endings shot, the original ending and the ending that made it to the theatrical cut. If you don't know (spoiler warning) the original ending had Audrey and Seymour being eaten by Audrey II and plants taking over the world, but it didn't go down well with test audiences who had grown to love Audrey and Seymour so that ~23 minutes (and reportedly ~$5m) of ending was scrapped and another ending was shot where they get married, get out of Skid Row and live happily ever after (except for the very last shot of a baby Audrey II among the other flowers in their garden)
So the original ending was lost! That is, until 1998 when the movie was released on DVD and somehow an unfinished workprint of the apocalyptic ending made it onto the first pressings of the disc. These were recalled and producer David Geffen told fans that the footage did still exist in a higher quality and would eventually be released, however director Frank Oz claimed that the footage had been destroyed entirely!
But finally, archive reels were discovered and the sequence was reconstructed, remastered and released on the 2012 director's cut blu-ray.
Now that you definitely know the basics, I'll tell you what happened on October 31st 2021. Myself and a friend were hanging out at my house after visiting a Halloween market and we decide to pull up a p*rating site to watch Little Shop of Horrors since it's a pretty tame horror movie (and we both love musicals). About 1 hour and 20 minutes into the movie I think hold on. I don't remember this. Very slowly it dawns on me and I become hysterical, my friend has no idea what's going on since they've never seen the movie before so I explain to them what I just explained above and for the last 20 minutes of the movie I sit in shock as I completely by chance finish watching it as it was originally intended, and I think how many people, like my friend, will watch this movie for the first time with the "lost" scrapped ending because that's the version that just happens to be on this site.
TL;DR: I accidentally found the "lost" ending of Little Shop of Horrors on a p*rating site
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brokehorrorfan · 2 years
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Satan's Little Helper will be released on Blu-ray on October 25 via Synapse Films. Wes Benscoter designed the new cover art for the 2004 slasher film.
Jeff Lieberman (Just Before Dawn, Squirm) writes and directs. Katheryn Winnick, Alexander Brickel, Stephen Graham, Joshua Annex, and Amanda Plummer star.
Satan's Little Helper is presented uncut in high definition with DTS-HD MA English 2.0 Original Stereo sound. Special features are listed below.
Special features:
Audio commentary by writer-director Jeff Lieberman
The Devil in the Details: Making Satan's Little Helper
Behind-the-scenes featurette
Mr. Satan's Neighborhood - Filming location tour with director Jeff Liebermanr
Promotional trailer
Nine-year-old Douglas Whooly (Alexander Brickel) is obsessed with the handheld video game “Satan’s Little Helper,” and annoyed that the attention of his big sister Jenna (Katheryn Winnick) is being distracted by her new boyfriend Alex (Stephen Graham). These two concerns collide on Halloween, when Douglas witnesses a serial killer in a devil mask (Joshua Annex) posing his victims like outdoor All Hallow’s Eve displays. Not comprehending how real the carnage is, Douglas becomes this Satan’s little helper—and that’s very bad news for Alex, for Douglas and Jenna’s mom Merrill (Amanda Plummer), and ultimately for their entire town.
Pre-order Satan’s Little Helper.
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adamwatchesmovies · 1 year
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Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
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Blade Runner 2049 is one of the few times I've seen a film’s intelligence work against its own third act. This is a sci-fi pic with a brain, a great successor to the original Ridley Scott classic thanks to its themes and stunning visuals. So much thought has been placed into the workings of its world you can tell this film is too smart for it to go in the direction it’s pretending to go. Is that a legitimate flaw? Hard to say. One thing’s for sure, the picture is too long, even when watching it at home. Nonetheless, those who want a thinking man's story about robots and what it means to be human will not be disappointed.
In the future, artificial humans called replicants serve mankind as slaves. "K" (Ryan Gosling), is a blade runner, an advanced replicant charged with hunting down his rogue brothers. When the remains of a once-pregnant replicant are discovered, the thin line that defines humanity is threatened. K is charged by his superior (Robin Wright as Lt. Joshi) to track down and eliminate any trace of this anomaly. His only lead is a name: Deckard.
Before its theatrical release, Blade Runner 2049 was preceded by three short films that help enrich the world and clarify this view of the future. Included in the home release, they bridge the gap between the 30 (in-universe) years between the first film and this sequel but the quality varies. The first, Black Out 2022 is animated but the graphics are only ok. Otherwise, I’d say it’s the best of the three. 2036: Nexus Dawn shows the rise of Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), but it’s a bit over-the-top in just how evil he seems… though this may be appropriate considering the film is, ultimately, about a race of artificial humans who are enslaved. The third, 2048: Nowhere to Run focuses on Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista). It's fine but doesn't add much to the overall experience. Ultimately, these little stories are worth seeing. Altogether, they run about a half hour so I say watch them all three in a row, then take a break. Next up, the whopping 163-minute ride that is 2049.
Blade Runner 2049 is a dazzling presentation. Even at home, you’ll be impressed by the rich cityscapes, particularly the futuristic advertisements projected on the streets. The look of Blade Runner 2049 blows away the competition, particularly 2017’s Ghost in the Shell, which I gave a pass to but seeing this, regret doing for so many reasons. That’s only the surface. What's most exciting is what this film is saying about humans, artificial or not. When K goes home, he is greeted by an artificial woman, a hologram confined to his apartment who simulates small talk and a relationship. We’re talking about an artificial being interacting with another, completely different artificial being. What does it say about this facsimile of a man that he still longs for companionship? In the world of Blade Runner, the line between real and artificial humans is solely defined by whether or not one is born or grown in a factory. We’re shown that Replicants are as capable of emotion as people are, and it seems so unfair that they are considered property. If the artificial intelligences we keep developing continue the way they do now, how long until the only difference between a human being and a computer is that one has a body and the other doesn’t?
Blade Runner 2049 is what all sequels should be. It stands firmly on its own but you’ll have a greater appreciation for it if you’ve seen the original. The world and characters within it are complex, sometimes in unexpected ways. Sometimes it’s not so much what someone says or does, but what they don’t say or do that shows what they’re really about. Like its predecessor, this was not a box-office champion but it’s got the intelligence, the story and the dazzle necessary to endure. (On Blu-ray, June 29, 2018)
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