Let’s start November with Florence + The Machine, shall we?
Enjoy!
Tag Archives: review
October Positivity: The Song (dir by Richard Ramsey)
2014’s The Song tells the story of Jed King (Alan Powell).
Jed is a singer-songwriter. He is also the son of David King, a country-western superstar who drank too much, smoked too much, and had an extramarital affair with Jed’s mother. (He initially spotted her while she was bathing in a lake.) After her then-husband killed himself, Jed’s mother married David but their marriage was fraught with difficulty. Jed grew up in a conflicted household. After his father died, Jed found himself expected to carry on in David’s name. Try as he might, he found himself permanent overshadowed by the legacy of David King.
(If all this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a country-western version of the story of King David, Bathsheba, and Solomon.)
While performing at a wine festival, Jed meets and falls in love with Rose Jordan (Ali Faulkner). They marry and start a family. Jed writes a song about Rose and it becomes his first legitimate hit. Years later, Jed is a superstar, touring while his wife raises their son. It’s an arrangement that seems to work fine until Jed meets his new opening act, fiddler Shelby Bale (Caitlin Nichol-Thomas).
Soon, in the tradition of Johnny Cash, Jed King is drinking too much and popping pills and losing his way on the road. He comes home only briefly and Rose starts to feel as if the only reason he even bothers is so he can have sex. Jed’s life is soon falling apart….
The Song is based on Song of Songs and the story of King Solomon and, to give credit where credit is due, the film is actually pretty clever in the way it updates the story. If you know the story, it makes sense that David and Jed King would both be musicians. King David spying Bathsheba in her bath becomes David King spying Bathsheba in a lake. Naamah, the only one of Solomon’s wives to be named, becomes Rose Jordan. (Naamah was said to be from what is now Jordan.) The Queen of Sheba, who tempted Solomon into sin and paganism, becomes Shelby Bale. David and Solomon were rules. David King and his son Jed are celebrities and really, there’s not that much difference nowadays. The film’s dialogue and especially Jed’s thoughts (heard in voice over) are largely borrowed from Song of Songs and again, the film actually does a good job of modernizing them without getting away from the main theme. This is one of the rare faith-based films that’s not only willing to frankly discuss sex but which also acknowledges that sexual desire is a normal thing and nothing to be ashamed of. There’s a maturity to this film that you don’t often find in the faith-based genre.
As you can probably guess, I really like The Song. It’s well-acted, well-directed, and the film looks great. It might some like faint praise to say that The Song looked like a real movie but, again, that’s an accomplishment for this particular genre. Alan Powell and Ali Faulkner had wonderful romantic chemistry. That said, my favorite performance came from Caitlin Nichol-Thomas, who turned Shelby Bale into a true force of chaos. The Song remains a favorite of mine.
Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 1.15 “School Daze”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!
Earlier today, Robert Englund received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Let’s get this episode of Freddy’s Nightmares out of the way so that we can celebrate!
Episode 1.15 “School Daze”
(Dir by Michael Klein, originally aired on February 12th, 1989)
Stupid episode this week.
Two high school friends worry about their future. One of them hallucinates all of the adult authority figures in his life trying to brainwash him. The other keeps having visions of how much his life is going to suck if he doesn’t get a good score on his SATs. The premise really isn’t that bad but, as so often with Freddy’s Nightmares, it appears that the writers didn’t really dig into it. Instead, they just wrote a very shallow episode in which both stories relied on the same overused twist that seems to show up in every episode. Hey, it was all just a dream! The biggest compliment that I can give this episode is that the second story did manage to capture some of the anxiety that comes along with college testing. Some teachers really do overboard with that whole “This will determine the rest of your life” spiel. Seriously, blow off the tests, go to a party school, and make friends with someone has money. That’s really all you have to do.
Instead of fixating on a bad episode of Freddy’s Nightmares, let’s watch Robert Englund get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This happened earlier today and, by most accounts, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Robert Englund is living proof that you don’t have to a bad guy to play a monster. Congratulations, Mr. Englund!
A Blast From The Past: Vincent Price Reads The Raven
Halloween’s coming to an end. Actually, here in America, it’s come to an end everywhere except on the west coast. What better way to bring our annual Horrorthon to a close than spending a few minutes with Vincent Price and the Raven?
Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly when this was filmed. But no matter! It’s Vincent Price reading Edgar Allen Poe!
Enjoy!
Horror On TV: Highway to Heaven 2.5 “The Devil and Jonathan Smith” (dir by Michael Landon)
On this, the final day of our annual Horrorthon, we offer you a final Horror on TV entry.
In this episode of Highway to Heaven, angel Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) tries to defeat the devil for the soul of his friend Mark (Victor French). This episode, a true Halloween episode, originally aired on October 30th, 1985, and it features guest turns from Anthony Zerbe and the great Michael Berryman.
We hope you have had a happy Halloween!
Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 2.22 “Hello, Goodbye”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Hulu and, for purchase, on Prime!
This week, season two comes to an end.
Episode 2.22 “Hello, Goodbye”
(Dir by Linda Day, originally aired on May 16th, 1984)
Due to St. Eligius being structurally unsound, the first floor is temporarily closed. The ER, which was the busiest part of the hospital, is no longer operative and Shirley Daniels is assigned to redirect any and all ambulances to Boston General. As Joan explains it, either the first or the third floor had to be closed so that a team of engineers could strengthen the building. The third floor is surgery, where all the money is made. And so, it’s the ER that closes. Joan, meanwhile, is designated as the scapegoat for all of the recent problems at St. Eligius. She loses her job with the mayor’s office.
Fresh from interviewing a nervous Dr. Elliott Axelrod (Stephen Furst) for a position as a resident, Dr. Auschlander collapses. Dr. Westphall fears that his old friend is going to die but finally, Auschlander wakes up and says that he’s not done fighting yet. Neither is St. Eligius.
Luther finds a stuffed Cheshire cat for a young heart patient. Dr. Craig finally starts to forgive his drug addict son, Stephen (Scott Paulin). And Dr. Morrison takes his son on a walking tour of Boston and meets a college student named Clancy (a young Helen Hunt). Even though Clancy label Morrison a “boomer,” she still spends the night with him. Morrison finally takes off his wedding ring and appears ready to try to move on with his life.
The second season ends on a melancholy note. Apparently, the show’s producers weren’t sure whether or not St. Elsewhere was going to be renewed for a third season and this episode was designed to work as both a season and a series finale. Very few of the regular characters appear and the episode is dominated by Westphall and Morrison, both of whom tend to be rather somber. In other words, this is a depressing episode but it’s not an episode without hope. Auschlander does wake up. Morrison does pursue a tentative relationship with Clancy. Even with the hospital temporarily shut down, life goes on. Unlike Wendy Armstrong, nobody gives up. It’s sad but at least there’s a chance that things could get better.
Both this episode and the second season overall were a roller coaster, deftly mixing drama and comedy and giving the show’s ensemble cast a chance to shine. Next week, we start season three!
Bonus Horror Song of the Day: Main Theme From Halloween by John Carpenter
Was there ever any doubt?
Onstage On The Lens: The Rocky Horror Show (dir by Christopher Luscombe)
With Halloween approaching, the Shattered Lens presents to you a recording of the 2015 West End production of The Rocky Horror Show, featuring Richard O’Brien, Emma Bunton, Stephen Fry, Anthony Head, Ben Forster, Haley Flaherty, and David Bedella.
The film is so popular that I think some people tend to overlook Rocky Horror‘s theatrical origins. Personally, I prefer this energetic stage version to the film.
Music Film Review: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (dir by Jim Sharman)
It feels strange to actually watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show without an audience.
I say this because the film is actually far better known for its fans than anything else. First released in 1975 to middling reviews and, at first, anemic box office returns, The Rocky Horror Picture Show went on to become the first great cult film. It’s literally been playing in theaters for 25 years, which has to be some sort of record. When one sees Rocky Horror Picture Show in a theater, one does not merely sit back and watch in a state of suspended animation. Instead, most of the audience becomes a part of the show. They yell, they dance, and many of them return night-after-night. I have been to two midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and I have to admit that it was actually pretty intimidating both times. The people in the audience — the veterans who knew every line and knew exactly what to do — were, more or less, friendly. I’ve read some online horror stories about people who felt like they weren’t welcome the first time they attended a showing. I had the opposite experience. No one was rude, no one glared. It was definitely a cliquey group but I felt as if they had earned the right to be in their clique. No one seemed to be bothered by the fact that I was mostly there just to observe. (I should also mention that neither showing that I attended demanded that the first-time watchers stand up or go to the front of the theater or anything like that. Apparently, there’s quite a few people online who got upset over being singled-out as “virgins” and never got over it.) But it was intimidating in much the same way as meeting a friend of a friend is intimidating or exploring a new town is intimidating. I was surrounded by people who had a deep connection with each other, one that had been forged by sharing the same experience for years. It was a communal experience that was actually touching to see, even if I never stopped feeling like an outsider.
It’s interesting to compare the midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the midnight showings of The Room. I attended several midnight showings of The Room and I have to admit that I eventually soured on them as it became clear that many people were showing up to taunt the film as opposed to enjoying it for the odd, communal experience that it was. The last few The Room showings that I attended were filled with a hostility that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. Whereas The Room’s cult has often felt a bit mean-spirited (as if everyone had gathered together to laugh at Tommy Wiseau for thinking he could make a movie), The Rocky Horror Picture Show‘s cult is based on a genuine love for the film.
As for the film itself, I watched it last month without an audience and I judged it solely as a film. The pacing is a bit off and, without the group experience, it’s a lot easier to notice that the film’s storyline doesn’t make a bit of sense, though that was undoubtedly deliberate on the part of the filmmakers. That said, Tim Curry’s performance still gives the film a jolt of energy, recapturing your attention and holding it until the film comes to a close. (The genius of Curry’s performance as that, as flamboyant as it is, he still plays Dr. Frank-n-Furter as being an actual characters with feelings and emotions. He doesn’t just coast on attitude. One need only compare him to Laverne Cox in the 2016 TV production to see how strong Curry’s performance is.) Susan Sarandon brings some depth to her performance as Janet and, if Barry Bostwick is a little on the dull side of Brad …. well, the heroes who appeared in the film that Rocky Horror sends up were rarely that exciting. I enjoyed the snarky humor of Richard O’Brien’s performance and the energy that Meat Loaf brought to the production. Charles Gray, in the role of the Criminologist, really doesn’t get enough credit for holding the film’s disparate parts together.
In the end, when viewed as a film as opposed to a communal experience, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is undoubtedly flawed but it’s still energetic enough to work. The love for the old sic-fi films comes through and Tim Curry’s uninhibited performance works with or without an audience. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a film that brings people together and I hope it continues to do so.
Horror Film Review: In A Violent Nature (dir by Chris Nash)
Johnny was perfectly happy being dead until some obnoxious college friends decided to take a camping trip and came across a locket hanging off of a fire tower. The locket was what kept Johnny’s soul at rest. When one of the group decided to take the locket so that he could give it to his girlfriend, Johnny came back to life.
Already haunted by the tragic memories of his life and how a bunch of bullies murdered him by tricking him into falling off of the tower, Johnny is determined to retrieve the locket. Slowly and methodically, he walks through the wilderness, killing everyone that he encounters as he searches for the one thing that will….
Well, it’s a slasher movie! You know how these things go!
Released in 2024 and directed by Chris Nash, In A Violent Nature‘s plot may be typical slasher stuff but the way the story is told makes the film unique. Nash tells the story almost totally from the point of view of the undead Johnny. The camera follows Johnny as he makes his way through the woods and what we learn about him and his motivations largely comes from the snippets of conversations that we hear from people in the distance. Johnny’s victims largely appear in the distance, having typical slasher film conversations but we only hear them in passing, like fragments from a half-remembered dream or movie. We’re learning with Johnny.
As such, this is the rare slasher movie that requires that one actually pay attention to what is being said. It’s also a rare slasher movie that requires a good deal of patience on the part of the viewers. Johnny moves slowly and so does the movie. Though the kills are certainly bloody and there are plenty of genuinely frightening moments, the film is ultimately more about the sight of hulking, single-minded Johnny walking through the woods and through fields of brilliantly green grass than anything else. If Terence Malick made a slasher movie, it would look a lot like In A Violent Nature. Would Terence Malick have included the yoga kill? Perhaps. I think he would have included a voice-over though about nature, though. (Speaking of the yoga kill, it’s notable that this non-traditional slasher movie features one of the bloodiest killings of the genre, as if the director wanted to make sure that we understood he didn’t consider his film to be too good for the genre. I appreciated that.)
A film like this is great if you’re a fan of both Malick and horror, as I am. If you prefer your slasher films to be a bit less self-consciously esoteric in their approach, you might wonder what all of the hype was about. In A Violent Nature is one of those films that the viewer will either love or the viewer will give up on after several minutes of watching Johnny staring out at the lake. It’s an experimental film and, like all experimental films, it’s not for everyone. That said, if you have the patience for it, it’s an engrossing and off-beat slasher flick.
Through the Shattered Lens 