Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Dumbledore

Because the only reason I saw Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald in the theater was the promise of it having something to do with Dumbledore. I guess I’m a sucker since the movie was basically stuff, stuff, stuff – Dumbledore! Then stuff, stuff, stuff – oh hey, it’s Hogwarts! Followed by stuff, stuff, and more stuff – but there’s Dumbledore again! If you’ve read the books or seen all of the Harry Potter movies a billion times as I have you know that Dumbledore is famous for defeating Grindlewald (basically the Voldemort of his time). So why does the guy who wrote one of the Hogwarts textbooks get all the screen time? I didn’t hate this the way some people I know did, but I was certainly disappointed. It’s been out almost a month so I can’t imagine I’d be giving any spoilers by now, but considering that it’s the first of a two parter there isn’t much to spoil anyway.

Movie Review – 15 Thoughts About Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

SPOILER WARNING – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SONY PICTURES’ NEW FILM SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

When you’ve got an eleven-year-old son who is hugely into Spider-Man, it doesn’t really matter if the trailers for the new animated Spider-Man movie appeal to you or not. Unless you’re an asshole, you’re going to see it.

Fortunately for me, I was very excited by the trailers for Into the Spider-Verse.

I love the wave of comic book inspired films we’ve been getting for the past decade, but no matter how much you’re enjoying it, there’s no denying the fact that there’s a certain safe sameness about most of the movies. Even with the seemingly huge differences between Marvel and DC films, if we’re being honest they’re all playing the same game.

Sony’s newest Spider-Man film, on the other hand, looked to be trying something very different. It’s animated, but didn’t seem to be marketed towards children as specifically as, say, The LEGO Movies. Its focus is on a younger protagonist that fans have been clamoring for, but that might be unfamiliar to most audiences.

Before you argue that point with me, remember that there are still many people out there who think of every Batman movie from 1989 to now as being connected. These people have never heard of Miles Morales. The idea of there being more than one Spider-Man is foreign. At best they might know that Peter Parker has worn multiple suits or that there has been a Spider-Woman at some point.

Fans might complain about Sony’s past treatment of Spider-Man, but it seemed they were attempting something new and, quite frankly brave, with Into the Spider-Verse.

Did the seeming risks – unique animation style, new character, unconnected universe – pay off or should they have played it safe? Read on and find out!

Movie Review – 12 Thoughts About The Grinch

SPOILER WARNING – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE 2018 ANIMATED FEATURE THE GRINCH

I LOVE Christmas.

In a more general sense, I LOVE the holiday season, which is inclusive of anything folks celebrate during the last couple of months of the year. There’s an undeniable excitement about days off of work, fellowship, lights, gifts, the joyful hustle and bustle of stores, weather getting cooler, and the impending hopefulness of a fresh, new year.

Some of you read that paragraph and thought, “Yeah, it’s awesome!”

Some of you read it and thought, “What a tool. Everything is terrible and there’s no joy to be had in this world” and probably some variation on “darkest timeline”.

The Grinch could possibly satisfy both mindsets.

Halloween 2018 – A Different Take on Halloween

There are probably some spoilers coming up, but since the movie has been out for a week as of the time that this goes up it’s on you at this point. I mean Dave already wrote about it, so I don’t know how I could spoil it more. I’d also apologize for writing about something he’s already covered if I didn’t have such a different opinion. I hadn’t planned on writing about yet another horror movie this month, but I had so many problems with something that I was so excited about seeing that I feel like I need to talk about it. I was really looking forward to this movie, but I sadly didn’t find it as entertaining as Dave did. Apparently we’re going to disagree on movies involving Danny McBride since he hated Alien: Covenant while I liked it, and he loved the new Halloween and I was underwhelmed. I didn’t hate it, and I don’t feel like my qualms are nit-picky, but I had serious problems with the movie that others don’t seem to have.

Movie Review – 17 Thoughts About Halloween (2018)

SPOILER WARNING – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE NEW FILM HALLOWEEN

John Carpenter’s original Halloween is one of the most esteemed and sacred horror films of all time.

The resulting franchise, though it has had its ups and downs, is a cornerstone of what we think of as modern horror. Regardless of how individuals may perceive the 1981 sequel, the unrelated Season of the Witch, the so-called “Thorn Trilogy”, the later sequels, or the Rob Zombie versions…

Damn. That was so much different stuff I forgot what my point was.

Anyway, horror fans love different parts of the franchise for different reasons and some of us can even find reasons to love all of the films (except Resurrection).

It took some balls for Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and Jason Blum to think they could just step into this beloved horror franchise and change 37 years of history that quite frankly didn’t make a whole lot of sense, anyway. But it still took balls.

Balls, and Jamie Lee Curtis. And John Carpenter himself, who, along with his son Cody and Daniel Davies provided a powerful score.

As I’ve said many times, I don’t have any issues with the idea of sequels, reboots, remakes, or re-interpretations. I’m always a big fan of new ways of looking at things I love. Sure – sometimes it ends up badly, but I don’t think revisiting familiar concepts is inherently bad.

I’m not gonna lie – I had reservations about the progenitors of the modern day white buffoon taking the reins of this franchise. While I saw great promise in Green from Pineapple Express, it’s always a sketchy proposition to see comics moving into the genre. Just because Jordan Peele was successful doesn’t mean everyone will be.

Having said that, everything I saw about Halloween leading up to its release looked not only interesting, but tonally spot-on. When I walked into that theater with our pals Ryan Cadaver and Nicole Ghouled, it was with minimum reservations.

Did the film deliver? Read on.

Halloween 2018 – Day of the Dead: Bloodline

Have you ever wondered what happened to the guy who played the lead singer in That Thing You Do? Me either, but Day of the Dead: Bloodline is here to answer a lot of questions no one asked. I feel like there should be an Oneders (o-neders) joke in here somewhere, but I’m not going to force it. This is spoiler filled, but let’s be honest. You’re not going to watch it anyway. Well some of you might, but it’s on you. I’m going to give you plenty of reasons to skip it, but consider this your last warning.