The short is an amazingly challenging artform. Often, writers will abuse the short by turning it into a pitch for a longer film or worse they have no resolution at all. Sometimes it’s just plain boring. Jezebel was boring. I was checking the runtime 3 minutes into it. I think it’s a nine-minute runtime. I was bored for…. nine of them. Leave it to a pretentious writer to make sex boring. I didn’t know that was a thing, but here we are.
Jezebel is about a Victorian era stilted talking depressive vampire who REALLY like to philosophize between “Johns”/Snacks. She eats her customers, even a clingy one who she seemed to love after knowing him for only 2 minutes. I understand that a short needs to be compact, but it shouldn’t be terrible. Jezebel appears to have won a number of awards, which I’m assuming were given out of gratitude that it ended.
If you want to re-create the verbiage of your thirteen year old goth friend, this short is for you!
Hey my readers!!!! It is time for another horror review. I probably should be studying Differential Equations or determining the velocity of CO2 molecules on Venus…Really, I did that today- They move at .649 m/s. If you’re ever on Venus and wonder, Man this CO2 is really a mindbender…I wonder how fast the molecules are movin’? SPOILER ALERT- It’s .649 m/s. If I had a dollar for everytime that I needed to know how fast the air on Venus is blowin’ around- I’d have…I’d have exactly one dollar.
The WNUF Halloween Special is the best home movie ever made. The entire budget was $1500.00. Yep, that was it. I’m not going to judge this film too harshly. Did it have flaws? Sure, but 1500 bucks?! It was clear to me that the people who put their hearts and souls into making this treated it like a million dollar budget.
WNUF Halloween Special has 1980s ads that are so on point; it’s all but impossible to tell them from the real thing. Honestly, I would bet dollars to donuts that the Duffer Brothers saw this film and were more than inspired by it.
The movie is presented as a live broadcast of a local news station on Halloween. The commercials were absolutely accurate. I remember being a little kid and seeing these ads and remember dressing up for Halloween and my Gen X babysitters with their big hair and crazy makeup.
The newscast focuses on a Haunted House and the B-story of a group of right-wing religious fanatics. The movie came out just a bit before the Conjuring. This nostalgia drips a bit every 20 years or so. The movie does a good job of delivering a couple of scares. More importantly, it has a heart of determination to put out a movie. This movie was loved. If you have a Shudder subscription, it’s a must watch!
Why do aliens always molest people in trailer parks/rural areas? Is it a slumming thing? I get that they’d wanna send the big guns to take over everything like a gigantic bomber, but the lure of the trailer park and its inhabitants aren’t really interesting to me and haven’t gotten into interstellar travel or even bent a wormhole. Also, if you’re an alien, why wait? I get it if you’re sending semi-autonomous drones like we do to Mars, but again our drones would be WAY more interested in a Martian city rather than fatty Martians drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon.
There’s the whole lost time thing. First, if you were to lose time because they’re going at the speed of light, you’d come back thousands of years later. Why would it be great for the aliens? By the time the Greys got back here, we humans would be 10000 years in the future and we’d all be dead or extremely advanced or maybe even beyond these particular aliens. In fact, their alien homeland might be extinct when they return home because of their fancy-pants super-luminal travel and nonchalant disregard of basic relativity. Go ahead and visit alien varmints, you’d come back and we’d have our own flyin’ saucers you little smug alien bitches! Teach you to probe us and bother people in the Berkshires!
This short on Dust answers the question: what happens when you get abducted and have your memory wiped. John, the quasi-protagonist, more like creepy hermit is building his very own personal trailer park. John always reachin for the stars with his feet on the ground! John has no one, but his trusty dog Jet who is much more interesting than John.
John sees a cloud in the sky that looks kinda weird and he takes a photo. Later that night, it’s aliens!!!! He does the floaty thing, but hits record on his phone. All could think was I really don’t wanna see this guy probed; my YouTube algorithms will never be the same.
He wakes up and his hands are burned and his phone shows a recording of 9 Minutes. It’s mostly him running around a lot. His dog, Jet, appears dead and they left John this……
Damn Weird Aliens! The dog comes back to life as a robo-dog?
The short had a couple of quick thrills and it’s fun to see the take on the alien abduction genre. Maybe, he’ll paint with acrylic? Please let it be so!!!!
What is family? “Lazarus” (Dir. Boris Majsovski- 1st Time directing) and written by Bryan Hill (Ash vs Evil Dead) attempts to answer this and it’s more fluid than we might be comfortable with. We all have our “Significant Others”: those whom we count on for identity and love. We lose them, we have nothing. “Lazarus” forces us to look at this truth as a shifting entity driven by pride, ambition, and revenge.
Jason Todd (Curran Walters) is the best anti-hero television has seen in a decade. This episode is the full origin story of a rebirth of Jason to Red Hood and the shift of family from Jason Todd as the adoptive son of Bruce Wayne to Red Hood whose father is Jonathan Crane.
We begin at the last episode, seeing that Jonathan Crane is manipulating Jason/Red Hood as part of his plan of revenge against Batman and Gotham herself. What brought Jason to be Red Hood and abandon all the family that he ever knew and valued? Jason lost the faith of the one man whom he needed: Bruce Wayne. As we found out later, Bruce was already in the process of replacing Jason because Jason had succumbed to fear. After Deathstroke defenestrated him, Jason was hesitant and afraid. This was most evident when Jason tried to intimidate one of Joker’s henchmen who’d been recruiting kids for his Joker gang and Jason got a thorough beat down.
Jason knew that Bruce had lost faith in him as Robin. Bruce benched Jason unless he could go to a therapist to help him deal with his fear. Well, it didn’t work the way Jason wanted it. Bruce declared to Jason that he thought of him as a son, but fired him from being Robin. In that instant, Jason gained family, but Robin lost it. For these heroes, their truest selves are when they wear the cape, losing Robin was Jason’s Total Loss.
Bruce’s firing, sends Jason to Dr Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow because he wanted a chemical cure for his fear. Jason trades all knowledge of Batman and the promise of freeing Crane from Arkham in exchange for a formula that would free him of all fear. Jason rents out a lab and Breaks Bad! The formula works….too well. It caused him to face the Joker alone and get killed.
Apparently, death can take holiday because Crane knows a mini-Lazarus pit and tosses Dead Jason into it, bringing him back to life fully the son of Jonathan Crane. Jonathan, unlike Bruce and Dick, who failed him spectacularly – delivers. He gives him the anti-fear super juice and sends him out to run amuck in Gotham. Like the photo below, Jason has a new father at his back. Some critics have assailed Lazarus as humanizing Jason; No, the fact that we can empathize with Jason’s grudge and his subsequent choices is OUR Rorschach test and reflects our own humanity and self-image.
This is what makes the show so great. It’s not just action or source material. They bring you into the dark world where heroes exist and like Watchmen, it’s not such a great place. The heroes are flawed and, in reality, the most honest cape was Red Hood; well, until he killed Hank. I still miss him and I think I know why. He’s the most like myself. Oh well, maybe I’m like Jason Todd and could use some couch time for 150/hour with a 15 buck co-pay?
“Blackfire” is a bridge episode for Titans. After every major plot point in the series, the writers take a breath and go off for a smaller story. Typically, these bridge stories are filled with comic relief and are a lot of fun. This episode was fun, but it’s really hard to stay focused; come on, I’m human and Anna Diop kicking ass in a hyper-short leather mini-skirt corset is DISTRACTING!
The previous episode was truly heart-wrenching. My favorite character and actor was killed off. Hank- we shall always miss you, Bro. However, the hunt for the Red Hood continues and Curran Walters really knows how to lean into the Joker 2.0 Supervillian. The fight scenes between Red Hood and Nightwing are awesome. There’s even lightning bolt sticks!
The theme of the episode is finding family, leather. Starfire is getting ESP images from her sister and is psychically led to find Blackfire in a underground government prison. Side note: I think we have seen the news recently that our government has to travel agency skills of a meth addict; so, keeping an alien with fire/leather prisoner is unlikely. Starfire breaks Blackfire out and Gar is along for the ride. That covers it.
Meanwhile….Dick has a plan to lure Red Hood to him. He kidnaps Dr Crane and takes him to a cabin Bruce trained Jason and Dick when they were at Robin boot camp. It’s also where Dick decapitated a wolf as a youth for Robin training. Lot of history in that cabin of weirdness.
Red Hood is lured to the cabin, BUT Red Hood gets away, Dick gets shot, Barbara is going to arrest Dick likely, and Hank is still Dead…WHY?! *Shakes Fist*
This was a pretty good episode, but it really needed some comic relief. Gar is usually good at bringing that, but I think the writers were reeling from killing off Hank.
Why am I writing a deeper analysis of Titans S3 Ep1-3? This season is so deliberately crafted and true to the source material that it deserves it. Also, it’s important to recognize Alan Ritchson’s brilliant performance in the series and how it came to a close.
This season is all in Gotham. It keeps the story fresh with a new home base and it allows for new characters to enter the mythology: The Joker, Scarecrow, and Babs. What is more emblematic of Gotham than Batman? Batman is a double-edged sword because, while he adds a lot to any story, he’s so iconic and imbued into our culture that he can eclipse the Titans and the primary protagonists.
How do you eliminate Batman and keep Gotham for the Titans? You have Bruce do the most anti-canon but logical thing: Bruce Kills the Damn Joker and retires! Titans is more akin to Watchmen than Arrow. What is the World like with Superheroes and Supervillians? In real life, cops or a person with any superpowers would’ve killed the Joker right off because of course they would. The Joker is a terrorist and even by the Geneva convention, terrorists can be shot and killed on sight. Really. I know this. Really.
So Batman kills the Joker and gives Gotham to Dick and says, “Be a better Batman”. This brings realism to the show and keeps Batman in the outer background away from the action perhaps permanently, allowing the story to remain a Titans’ story.
This show is so accurate in terms of how Soldiers (which is basically what they are) really act. When the jobs over, they play video games, joke around, bust each others balls, drink too much, and are always trying to get laid. The most accurate representation of this persona was done by Alan Ritchson, especially when talking with Dick.
Alan plays the Soldier in and out of recovery from alcoholism and drugs is 100% accurate. It makes it so much harder to say good bye to his character because he’s one of a handful of superior actors who can be so multi-dimensional, believable, and deliver in every performance. I’m not going to write who I’d rather have seen written off, but he would’ve been my LAST choice. The writers just went full-on Game of Thrones, killing off an A-1 talent. I hope that he’s cast immediately a variety of roles.
I want to be clear that performances of all the actors in show is the best I’ve seen in 20-years. They all deserve Emmy and Genies. However, there are standouts among the standouts. Brenton Thwaites and Curran Walters bring a dynamism to their roles that you just don’t see on television, every performance is a For Your Consideration. Nightwing (Brenton Thwaites) evolving into the Batman-like character with the antagonist Joker-like figure Red Hood (Curran Walters) and the history repeating itself in Gotham. Much like the opening song they used, Meet me in the Woods by Lord Huron- everything is darker and different and it foreshadowed the evolution of light versus darkness: Dick v Red Hood. I write Red Hood because Jason died and Red Hood is all that remains.
I knew that the opening scene would be Jason Todd getting murdered by the Joker, BUT I did not expect to see Batman murder the Joker. What I did expect and what got delivered was Brenton Thwaites and Curran Walters embody this epic battle so completely that it pulled me completely in. The writers use the source material cleverly and the dialogue is fantastic, but these Men breathe life into these characters. I was convinced this is what Gotham would be like with these Superheroes. It must be a lot of fun for Curran to get to play such a clever villain.
Sidenote: I do miss Esai Morales playing Deathstroke that was a masterclass in acting, but I guess that his story had to end. The writers are not afraid of killing off your favorites. I wish they would be more afraid of it.
Whether you are late to the party and have yet to see this show and you got spoiled today, missing this show is like never seeing Apocalypse Now or The Godfather. You will not see this level of storytelling again for twenty-years, if ever.
“Hank & Dove” – We open with the empty grave. The question: Bruce, what did you do with Jason? I’m guessing either the Lazarus pit or a Bruce Campbell Necronomicon crossover.
The Titans know that they have to stop Jason. Hank cuts through all the bullshit- He’s gotta be put down. The hope is that Donna Troy could come back too, but wait he’s all nuts now. Why do that to Donna?
Jason calls Hank and it’s intense. It looks like a setup, but Curran Walters plays it so well- I can’t tell. Hank goes to see Jason. I hope that Hank doesn’t die. Jason sends at a dirty pool. Hank all over town and gets him to strip. He gets captured – of course and he’s very naked.
When Hank gets back, he has a bomb on his chest from Jason. Jason demands that the Titans heist a truck and get him gold bars to keep Hank alive. I love the comment from Hank – “Did he have a white cat in his lap?” Hank throws so many one-liners; it’s great watching him laugh at the face of death. Hank and Dawn have a make out session. It’s sweet.
Dick is holding the hardline on no robbing an armored truck, BUT Dawn doesn’t care. She robs the Hell out of that truck. The ticking clock is great in this episode.
Dawn V Dick V Jason- FIGHT! Jason set up Dawn to kill Jason and save Hank. Shoot Jason, Hank lives. She shoots, but the gun was the detonator; so, Dawn ended up killing Hank. This is painful for me. Alan Ritchson was just brilliant in this show. I hope that Berlanti finds a way to give him a show.
“Red Hood” opens in Gotham City….Oh My…It’s just like the Comic!!!! It’s come to life!!!! Gangsters are called to a meeting, but no one knows who called them. One thug gets shot in the head. Another pulled by a Batcable. He demands they open a bag. Red Hood enters.
In one moment, he takes over all of Gotham’s crime because the bag’s contents are the heads of all rival mobsters lieutenants. He is Gotham’s crime boss. Chills. Damn, Curran Walters really brings it.
Hank has become a cop in DC on a bicycle with a mustache. Dawn is fighting crime/dating a ….realtor?! What?! Dawn, I get that you’re on the rebound, but you gotta aim higher. It must be a confidence thing, but really- we’ll do some trust falls or whatever, but aim higher. Really. Dick is still in Gotham and the news is that the Joker is killed by Batman. Alan Ritchson’s performance is everything you’d want. He’s clearly back on the wagon, but he knows that he destroyed is relationship with Dawn. He plays recovering good man for real.
Dick goes to the precinct and Babs is stunned that Dick is considering becoming Batman and following in his father’s footsteps. Rightfully, Dick calls Babs AKA Commissioner Gordon out on that bullshit. Their exchange is so natural that you forget that they are acting. This show is a masterpiece.
Dick calls in the Titans to Gotham. Immediately, the Red Hood begins terrorizing, forcing people to detonate IEDs. He gives people drugs that cause them….not gonna spoil this.
The cops are using Scarecrow as a profiler, setting up a great dramatic scene with Dick and Scarecrow. Starfire has another vision and is speaking…..Russian? Meanwhile in San Francisco, Starfire is contacting her Shrink/Boyfriend. I don’t approve. He’s crossed the line from lover to doctor. NOT OKAY! He’s the worst! I get it -Starfire is clock stopping gorgeous, but dude pull it together.
Dick V Scarecrow- BrainFIGHT! He’s demanding grass for anxiety aaaand gets it. Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser) really can play the snarky clever asshole well. It adds a New York element to the show is nice. Snarky clever sardonic folk just make my heart go pitter pat. The Red Hood has left Chess Clue?! This is next-level deep.
I’m enjoying the Hank/Dawn subplot. They’re trying to find the next victim. Bank robbery is happening and they’re all wearing Red Hoods. Gotham is just terrible. Red Hood has captured their children as the extortion to commit crimes. But this time, they weren’t the parents; So, the capes are fired.
After it all went to Hell, I love watching Dick and Hank talk it out. It’s so natural. They talk like Soldiers off duty. The real thing.
Cops are being lured into a trap, but the Titans are here. Doin their thing.
Seamlessly, Dick v Red Hood FIGHT!
Jason reveals himself and it’s AWESOME! He is the big Bad!
I do fanboy on this show a lot, BUT it is that good. Everyone delivers so well. It’s so natural. This is comics coming alive. The writers, directors, and actors excellent! It’s like a Supergroup from the 70s like Cream, Bad Company, or Derek & the Dominoes. We’re watching TV history get made.
It’s here! The new season of Titans!!!! “Barbara Gordon” opens with Jason Todd who has tracked down the Joker. Uh oh. He calls it in to Bruce, but Bruce tells him to stand down. This is painful. Oh No! He decides to go on his own.
Jason arrives at the Joker’s location. It’s an abandoned amusement park and guards have been killed by Smilex Gas. The Joker beats Jason to death with a crowbar.
The next scene feeds right into Nightwing kicking ass with electrified clubs. Awesome! Gar kicks ass and eats someone. Conner smash! Starfire is in full-force. The bad guy is easily dispatched.
We’re back at Gotham City and we’re focusing a lot on a delivery guy. Oh no, Door Dash is getting weaponized now?
We learn that Robin is Dead and Dick goes home to Bruce. We are comforted by Lord Huron – Meet me in the woods.
Dick goes into Jason’s room. We get a clue- Jason was studying chemistry. Earlier, Jason took an inhaler of super-juice.
We get to go inside the batcave again!! Awesome! Much better batcave than Season 1! Great job art department!
Bruce immediately moved on and buried him. Bruce is one cold-blooded bastard.
Back at Titans Tower, Starfire just craps on Jason and his foolhardiness. Does anyone have anything but a surgical steel heart in this show besides Dick? Now, Gar is talking to himself and thirsting over Raven.
Dick meets up with Barbara. She’s in a wheelchair and maybe moonlighting as Oracle? The episode is turning into a detective story. I love it. Dick convinces Babs to talk to Bruce.
Bruce, Dick, and Babs get together and talk war stories. Then, she lays into Bruce. Cruel. She says Bruce is as crazy the Fucking Joker. They just go back and forth so he can keep being Batman like an alcoholic to Vodka. She blames Bruce for her father’s death, Dick’s vigilantism, Jason’s death, Quickster, New Coke, canceling #manifest, and underwear that hasn’t gone tagless.
Dick continues his investigation on what Jason was up to before his death. Maybe we’ll find out the secret of the ooz…I mean inhaler.
Dick finds Jason’s abandoned lab and some of the super-juice. Dick beats the piss out of someone aaaaaand it’s awesome. Dick goes back to the cave and analyzes the super-juice. Dick learns that Bruce is already looking for a new Robin, including Kerry Kelly.
Dick digs into Bruce as well saying he’s as bad as the Joker and Bruce offers him his old job as Robin. Bruce admits that he can’t do it alone. Dick is stunned and turns it down. For the first time, Bruce is human.
Starfire just teleported and had a vision. WTF?! Bruce returns that he killed the Joker with the crowbar Joker used to kill Jason. He gives the city to Dick and turns over Batman to him. Bruce broke his rule and now Batman is dead, Bruce is all that remains, but the Bat could be reborn by Dick Grayson. This episode just grabs you. Everyone is in a different place by the end. Soon, we will see the birth of the Red Hood.
The performances by Iain Glen and Brenton Thwaites were just so visceral and real. This should be a For Your Consideration episode!
“Nightwing”- The final boss battle. Titans v Deathstroke! Fight!
The episode opens with a Cadmus infomercial. They have mind mushed Conner and now he is a mindless obedient super-soldier. Cadmus will begin phase II of their evil plan at a county fair. They’re food prices are already evil. Gar goes from eating a sno-cone at the fair to a hungry Tiger.
Dramatization:
LIKE THIS BUT WITH MORE EATING PEOPLE AND HE’S GREEN
Dawn, Raven, Wondergirl, and Starfire respond, but during their commute- Deathstroke -badasses and attacks. Just as he’s about to kill everyone-
Nightwing enters!
Nightwing!!!!
Nightwing Vs Deathstroke! Fight!
So sad, Rose joined up with the Titans. Kids today. Rose goes all Patricide and my favorite Villain goes down. Esai Morales is truly a national treasure. Such an amazing performance. You couldn’t help but see his POV. He was moral within his form of Bushido. His son was lied to and manipulated by the Titans. Deathstroke’s humor and snark was just great!
I wish that this final boss battle had gone on longer and maybe even had him escape. It’s so hard to see this character gone.
We return to the county fair. Gar is apparently never full. I always get tired after Fair Food. Conner easily dispatches to pesky kitty.
Now, it’s Conner V Titans! FIGHT!
Cadmus is doing an auction for the rights to own Conner. It’s identical how Sotheby’s runs. Bruce intercedes and cancels the bidding and blocking communication.
To defeat Conner, the Titans must work together. Rachel gets Dick inside Conner’s mind and chats/redecorates to save him. Not just for the return of Conner’s mental health, but it really opened up the room.
They end up at a virtual Kansas and Conner’s all normal again. Everything is all better, except for the powerlines……
Poor Wondergirl stops the power tower from falling on everyone and….she dies. UGHHH! Really?! She’s my favorite. Raven thinks she can bring her back to life. PLEASE DO!!!
The ending scene between Bruce and Dick put their past to rest. I liked it.
Hank and Dawn’s last scene; you can see the strength in Dawn and weakness in Hank. He wants to get back together and she shoots him down and that’s probably for the best, BUT she’s open to fighting as Hawk and Dove.
The episode ends with an awkward dinner and the beginning of a new mission – a crime has begun. The Titans are back.
The episode ends with Blackfire taking over a mom. Bummer. Those poor kids are all alone?!
Question: Dick and Conner are wanted fugitives. Dick’s in his hometown at his last known residence. Did the F.B.I. and US Marshals get really lazy. I’d find him in 15 minutes.
Through the Shattered Lens 