Another year, another Stephen King adaptation.
The Boogeyman is based on a short story that King wrote in 1973. Obviously, King is a big name in horror but how can any film called Boogeyman hope to top the work of Ulli Lommel?
Here’s the trailer:
Daily Archives: January 30, 2023
Here’s The Trailer For Murder Mystery 2!
The first Murder Mystery was an entertaining and even rather sweet mix of comedy and mystery so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that both Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston have returned for Murder Mystery 2. Apparently, in the years since the first film, Nick and Audrey have started their own detective agency and they’ve even taken that trip to Paris! However, an invitation to an island wedding put them right in the middle of another mystery!
If this film is successful, I imagine we’ll get several more Nick/Audrey films. And why not? Sandler and Aniston had a really fun chemistry in the first film. Let’s hope the same is true for the second one.
Here’s the trailer for Murder Mystery 2!
I Watched Gibsonburg (2013, dir. by Jonathon Kimble and Bob Mahaffey)
Based on a true story, Gibsonburg is my favorite type of sports story. It’s about a team that won even though everyone expected it to lose.
During the 2005 regular season, Gibsonburg High School’s baseball team compiles a desultory record of 6 wins and 17 losses. With a record like that, no one gives them much of a chance in the state’s championship tournament. But, against the odds, the Gibsonburg Golden Bears not only win the first game of the tournament but the second one and then the third one. Soon, it starts to look like Gibsonburg could actually come out of nowhere to win the state championship!
I liked Gibsonburg. There’s a lot of baseball scenes but, even more importantly, the movie is about what the underdog baseball team does for the spirit of its hometown. Gibsonburg has been hit hard by the recession and businesses are shutting down left and right. One of the team’s best players had just been told that the family’s bakery is going to be closed in a few weeks. The team’s victories gives the entire town something to believe in and it shows that you can succeed even when everyone is expecting you to fail. The team starts to win after the player comes across as valuable coin that might be lucky but, as the movie shows, the coin had nothing to do with it. Gibsonburg won because the team came together and refused to give up. The movie is a heart-warming celebration of community, friendship, and baseball.
Icebreaker (2000, directed by David Giancola)
Carl Grieg (Bruce Campbell) is a terminally ill terrorist who takes over a Vermont ski resort while his henchpeople search the nearby mountains for a lost shipment on plutonium. The only man who can stop Carl is a wiseass but determined ski patroller, Matt Foster (Sean Astin). Not only does Matt have to stop Carl from getting his hands on the plutonium but he also has to save his fiancée (Suzanne Turner) and her father (Stacy Keach), both of whom are being held hostage by Carl. Since his future father-in-law thinks that he’s nothing more than good for nothing ski bum, this is Matt’s chance to prove himself worthy of joining the family.
Icebreaker tries to be Die Hard in a Ski Lodge but it fails because Sean Astin is no one’s idea of an action star. With his laid back and goofy manner, Astin miscast as someone who can leap from from an exploding ski lift and land in the snow with barely a scratch on him. This was the last film that Sean Astin made before Peter Jackson offered him the role of Sam in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Needless to say, Astin was much better cast in that role than as a knock-off of Bruce Willis.
As for the rest of the cast, Bruce Campbell hams it up as Carl and, while it is always good to see Bruce, he also appears to be having so much fun that it makes him a less than convincing terrorist. With his shaved head, it’s easy to mistake Bruce for Billy Zane. Stacy Keach does a good job playing someone who is never not annoyed. Considering that his daughter wants to marry a ski bum and they’re being held hostage by a villain who wants to make his very own nuclear bomb, can you blame him?
There’s some skiing action but none of it is really memorable. There is also a scene featuring repeated shots of a counter on a bomb, announcing that Astin only had 30 seconds to do what he needs to do before everything explodes. I think the timer may have been broken because it took a lot long than 30 seconds for that countdown to reach zero. If you really want to see Die Hard In A Ski Resort, I suggest sticking with Cliffhanger. That one not only only has Sylvester Stallone and Michael Rooker cracking jokes but also John Lithgow speaking with a posh accent.
Retro Television Reviews: Hang Time 3.15 “Teen Mom” and 3.16 “Midnight Basketball”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
The saga of Indiana’s greatest basketball team continues. I’ll always remember me and my friends at Hang Time….
Episode 3.15 “Teen Mom”
(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on November 1st, 1997)
Danny’s latest girlfriend, Sarah, is a teen mom! Danny decides that, since he loves Sarah and he loves her son Max, he wants to marry her. Sarah turns him down and Danny says that if she ever needs a babysitter, she knows who to call. Then he leaves her house, alone.
Wow, what a depressing episode! Give some credit to Chad Gabriel, who gives a good performance and who proves that he deserved to headline more episodes of this series than he did but still, this was definitely not a cheery episode.
Fortunately, there is a comedic B-plot, in which Kristy gets addicted to playing a video game called Killer Klown. It causes her to miss a photo shoot but … oh well! KILLER KLOWN!
Episode 3.16 “Midnight Basketball”
(Directed by Patrick Maloney, originally aired on November 1st, 1997)
In a storyline that was used in not just one but three different episodes of Saved By The Bell, the school starts a teen line!
Coach Fuller takes charge of the teen line and, of course, the operators are the members of the basketball team. Despite the fact that they went out on a date just two episodes ago, Michael is not sure that Julie likes him and Julie isn’t sure that Michael likes her. They each call the teen line for advice. Mary Beth tells Julie to throw herself at Michael. Danny tells Michael to ignore Julie and “play hard to get.” It’s terrible advice and it leads to a lot of confusion. Eventually, Julie figures out why Michael has been ignoring her and they end up kissing while the audience goes wild. Doesn’t anyone remember how badly all of Julie’s relationships tend to end?
Meanwhile, Teddy befriends a caller named Eric. Eric keeps getting into fights because there’s nothing for him and his friends to do at night. Breaking the rules of Teen Line (much as Zach Morris once did), Teddy meets with Eric. Taking sympathy on Eric, Teddy arranges for a midnight basketball game at Deering High. Eric and his friends are defeated and thoroughly humiliated by the Tornadoes. Needless to say, Eric is not happy about that and he trashes the team’s locker room. To be honest, I don’t blame Eric. How are you going to invite people to your gym and then humiliate them in the middle of the night?
That said, after a heart-to-heart with Teddy, Eric returns to Deering to help clean up the locker room. Teddy promises to mentor Eric. We will probably never see Eric again.
I have to say that, even on a show like Hang Time, Anthony Anderson was already a good actor. There’s a lot of heart and sincerity in his performance here and it makes the episode work even when it shouldn’t.
Artist Profile: Warren King (1916 — 1978)
Born in Brooklyn and educated in New York City (he received a Bachelor of Sciences degree from Fordham University), Warren King began his career as a freelance artist in 1940. Though King was responsible for several paperback and pulp magazine covers, he was best-known for his work as the Chief Editorial Cartoonist for The New York Daily News. King began his work for the New York Daily News in 1955 and would stay with them for the next twenty years.
Here are a few examples of King’s work.
The AARP Honors Top Gun: Maverick!
To be honest, the AARP naming Top Gun: Maverick the best film of 2022 is perhaps the least surprising moment of the 2022 awards season. Don’t get me wrong. I love Top Gun: Maverick and it’s my pick for the best of 2022. But I don’t think there was ever any doubt that it was going to win with an organization made up of people who saw the first Top Gun when it was originally released in theaters.
Anyway, here are all the AARP winners! You can see all of the nominees by clicking here.
Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups
Top Gun: Maverick
Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Best Actor
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Best Supporting Actress
Judith Ivey (Women Talking)
Best Supporting Actor
Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)
Best Director
Baz Luhrmann (Elvis)
Best Screenwriter
Kazuo Ishiguro (Living)
Best Actress (TV)
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)
Best Actor (TV)
Jeff Bridges (The Old Man)
Best TV Series
The Old Man
Best TV Movie/Limited Series
Black Bird
Best Ensemble
She Said
Best Intergenerational Movie
Till
Best Time Capsule
Elvis
Best Grownup Love Story
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Best Documentary
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down
Best Foreign Film
The Quiet Girl (Ireland)
Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For End of a Gun and White Lightning!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 2016’s End of a Gun! Selected and hosted by Matthew Titus, it features Steven Seagal being Steven Seagal.
Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet. We will be watching 1973’s White Lightning, starring Burt Reynolds! This film can be found on Prime and Tubi!
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto twitter, start End of a Gun at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! Then, at 10 pm et, start White Lightning , and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Burt says “Come on in!”
Artwork of the Day: Silk Stocking Stories (by Peter Driben)
by Peter Driben
The cat does not look enthusiastic about making her cover debut.
Music Video of the Day: Lavender Haze by Taylor Swift (2023, dir by Taylor Swift)
With this video, Taylor not only sings and stars but she also directs! Is there nothing that Taylor Swift can’t do?
Because I’m a natural contrarian, I’ve looked for a lot of excuses to dislike Taylor Swift but I just can’t. She’s just too damn likable.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 