This is a video that I’d love to see expanded into a movie.
We still miss you, Avicii.
RIP.
Monthly Archives: September 2018
My Pet Dinosaur: Movie Preview, Review and Trailer
Cast:
Jordan Dulieu as Jake Emory
Annabelle Wolfe as Abbie Tansy
Beth Champion as Jennifer Emory
Rowland Holmes as Colonel Roderick
Directed by Emmy award winning Matt Drummond (Life After People)
Plot:
Recently after his father passes away, Jake is flung into a science project with the new girl in town, Abbie. After their science project goes wrong, with the help of a failed military experiment, a new being and chaos is launched on the town of Brightwood.
Preview:
A cross between E.T and Monster’s Inc, My Pet Dinosaur fixes on the unlikely friendship between a boy and a dinosaur.
Featuring state-of-the-art visual effects, a heart-warming tale of friendship and the beautiful Australian countryside, My Pet Dinosaur is the perfect family treat.
Review:
If I had to pick a late summer movie to curl up with my dinosaur (or any other pet) and watch, this is probably the one. It has everything in a family drama you would want. Yes, you parents will enjoy some of the snarkyness while your kids will enjoy the heart-felt moments. I fell in love with ‘Magnus’ from the moment I saw him. The movie is driven by a very young cast (Dulieu, Wolfe, Williams) who all give an amazing performance.
Would I recommend this movie?
This is a perfect Saturday evening family watch! Snuggle up with your kiddos, make some popcorn and have a great family evening!
When is it available?
On VOD October 2nd and on DVD November 6th
Trailer:
Credits:
My Pet Dinosaur is an Empress Road Pictures, in cooperation with Pinnacle Films Distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment
Weekly Reading Round-Up : 09/02/2018 – 09/08/2018, “Bald Knobber” Issues 5 And 6, And More Robert Sergel
Picking right back up where we left off last week, our foursome this time around includes the last two issues of Robert Sergel’s Bald Knobber, as well as two more recent comics by our man of the hour, Joe Bonaparte and September 12th And Other Stories.
The major revelation that came at the tail end of the previous issue gives rise to a secret and uneasy truce between Cole and the individual who burned down his mother’s home in Bald Knobber #5 (how’s that for assiduously avoiding anything that could be labeled a “spoiler”?), but the underlying tension between our troubled (and troubling) protagonist and the author of his sorrows (some of ’em, at any rate) ends up momentarily usurped from the foreground thanks to the return of a former nemesis out for his pound of flesh. I remarked in my previous Round-Up column that the…
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What Lisa Watched Last Night #193: House of Darkness: New Blood (dir by Patrick DeLuca)
Last night, I watched the latest Lifetime Movie Network premiere, House of Darkness: New Blood!
Why Was I Watching It?
The main reason I was watching it was because it was on Lifetime.
That said, I was also intrigued by the fact that Lifetime was premiering a horror film. In the past, horror has been one of the few genres that Lifetime has usually avoided. It’s only been rather recently that Lifetime started to show movies that could even be considered a part of the horror genre and, as a horror aficionado, I’m curious to see what this development will lead to.
Of course, another big reason why I was watching it was because it’s been raining nonstop since Thursday so, for once, I actually spent a Friday night at home. There’s nothing like watching a horror movie while surrounded by rain, thunder, and lightning!
What Was It About?
Judd (Liam McNeill) has asked Brooke (Kate Stone) to marry him! Yay!
There’s only a few problems. For one, Brooke’s creepy son, Dylan (Jake T. Getman), doesn’t seem to like Judd that much. Secondly, Brooke has yet to meet Judd’s mother, Elaine (Hilary Momberger-Powers). Elaine, it turns out, lives in a big house out in the country, a house that’s full of secrets and — you guessed it — darkness! When Judd takes Brooke and Dylan out to the house, Elaine doesn’t seem to be happy to see any of them. Judd says that it’s just a symptom of Elaine’s dementia but is that all there is to it?
Soon, Brooke is hearing weird noises, seeing dark shadows, and having terrible nightmares. Judd says that it’s probably just a side effect of the sleep aid that she’s taking but Brooke isn’t too sure. Is it all in Brooke’s head or has she truly discovered …. A HOUSE OF DARKNESS!?
What Worked?
There were a few effectively creepy moments. The house was big and spooky and full of ominous atmosphere and Hilary Momberger-Powers did a good job as Elaine. She kept you guessing and off-balance.
What Did Not Work?
House of Darkness ran into the same problem that’s haunted a lot of made-for-TV horror films. It’s difficult to maintain suspense when you the story has to come to a stop every 15-to-20 minutes for a commercial break. Every time that I found myself starting to get invested in the storyline, it was suddenly time for that Humira commercial where that guy meets his girlfriend’s parents for the first time.
The fact that it was on television also meant that the horror often had to be a bit low-key. There was one hanging scene that was effectively horrific but otherwise, the film often felt a bit too restrained to be fully effective.
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments
I know that it’s usually said that people are stupid for not just leaving an obviously haunted house but, to be honest, I’d probably stay even longer than Brooke did. I mean, it’s not every day you get to deal with the paranormal.
Lessons Learned
Always check the lights before moving into a new house.
Smashmouth Football: Burt Reynolds in THE LONGEST YARD (Paramount 1974)
Dedicated to the memory of Burt Reynolds (2/11/1936-9/6/2018)
If it was producer Albert Ruddy’s idea to team macho actor Burt Reynolds with macho director Robert Aldrich for THE LONGEST YARD, then the man’s a bloody genius (Ruddy was no stranger to machismo himself, having previously produced THE GODFATHER)! This testosterone-fueled tale of an ex-NFL star turned convict, forced to assemble a football team of hardened criminals to take on the sports-mad warden’s goon squad of guards, is one of Burt’s best vehicles, and a comeback of sorts for Aldrich, who hadn’t scored a hit since 1967’s THE DIRTY DOZEN . Both men hit the end zone with this sports-themed film, and led the way for an onslaught of football films to come.
Former star quarterback Paul Crewe (Reynolds), who was thrown out of the NFL in a points shaving scandal, finds himself under arrest after fighting with his girlfriend, stealing…
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Artwork of the Day: Twilight Girls (by Harry Schaare)
by Harry Schaare
Music Video of the Day: A Different Way by DJ Snake featuring Lauv (2017, dir by Colin Triley)
When this video started, I was a bit worried that the kid was going to end up getting dragged into the sewers by Pennywise but, instead, things worked out pretty well. That’s good. This is a fun video.
Enjoy!
Familiar Faces #8: In Search of Angelique Pettyjohn
I first became aware of the gorgeous Angelique Pettyjohn, like most fans, through her appearance as Shahna in the STAR TREK episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion”. The statuesque, green-haired beauty fascinated me as much as she did Captain Kirk, churning my then-adolescent hormones into a frenzy! Since then, I’ve been obsessed with the lovely Miss Pettyjohn, and have made it my mission to discover All Things Angelique!
Angelique Pettyjohn was not her given name, of course, nor was it her only screen name. She was born Dorothy Lee Perrins in the City of Angels on March 11, 1943, and studied dance as a young girl. According to IMDB, her first film appearance was the “Blonde in U.S. sex insert” in Argentine director Armando Bo’s PUT OUT OR SHUT UP in 1959, which would’ve made her 16 years old at the time. She’s also credited as a juror in 1961’s THE…
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Artwork of the Day: A World Divided (artist unknown)
Artist Unknown
Music Video of the Day: Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon (1985, directed by Sherry Revord and Kevin Dole)
Do you remember the battle of the REOs?
There was once a speed metal band out of Texas that played music that was loud, aggressive, fast, and definitely not radio friendly. The name of that band was REO Speedealer and they had a strong cult following among metal fans across the country. In 1998, after they had released their third CD under that name, REO Speedealer received a cease-and-desist letter from REO Speedwagon.
As REO Speedealer’s bassist, “Hot” Rod Skelton explained it to MTV, “”They’re worried about our name being close enough to their name that it would be a conflict in stores. I think it’s silly, but there have been a couple of people who supposedly thought they were buying their record and they bought ours. They e-mail us and say, ‘I think your band sucks shit.’ I think that’s hilarious. We consider that a compliment.”
‘In the same MTV story, REO Speedwagon’s manager, John Baruck argued, “We spent 30 years developing the name REO Speedwagon and promoting their career. To have another band come out and take three-quarters of the name didn’t seem right.”
In hindsight, I can see where REO Speedwagon was coming from but a cease-and-desist letter still doesn’t seem like a very “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” thing to do. Of course, just listening to any of REO Speedwagon’s songs will reveal that they were never about any of those things. REO Speedwagon’s music was the epitome of soft rock. While REO Speedealer was performing songs like Double Clutchin’ Finger Fuckin’, REO Speedwagon was best known for Keep on Loving You and Can’t Fight This Feeling.
In 1998, it was easy to cast REO Speedwagon as a bunch of bitter has-beens but, to their credit, their music epitomized an era. Can’t Fight This Feeling is one of the essential songs of the mid-1980s. It was also one of their biggest hits, spending three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. When REO Speedwagon appeared at Live Aid, Can’t Fight This Feeling was the song that they performed.
(Their Live Aid performance was introduced by someone else who epitomized an era, Chevy Chase.)
Two music videos were releases for Can’t Fight This Feeling. One was a simple video that featured the band performing. The second one, which is also the one at the top of this post, began with a baby and ended with an old man and was supposed to be about the life-cycle.
Can’t Fight This Feeling continues to be one of REO Speedwagon’s best known songs. It’s another song that I automatically associate with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It can be heard on Emotion 98.3. It was playing the night that I first drove my car into the ocean and discovered that Tommy Vercetti couldn’t swim.
REO Speedwagon is still together and, this summer, toured with Chicago. REO Speedealer is also still together, though they are now simply known as Speedealer. According to their Facebook page, they should be releasing their new album, Blue Days/Black Knights, in early 2019.
Through the Shattered Lens 