Tag: Sci-Fi

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Luke Cage

Luke Cage is the latest output from Marvel. I just started watching the early epsiodes on Netflix. The show has it all: a tough, relatable hero, villains, a few attractive love interests, and a superpower that will be hard to beat throughout the show. It may be considered different in that Cage is black but I find the immersion in his small Harlem community entertaining and enlightening. How many seasons will it power out? Time will tell.

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Cast

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Cage is a hangdog dishwasher trying to make ends meet with two jobs. He lives alone in a small apartment and gets chased down by the little old landlady. I think they are trying to show us a good-hearted guy, humble, and trying not to use his superpowers. He hangs out at a barbershop and gets to know “Pops,” the owner quite well. In fact, he is like a father figure to Cage. There is another surrogate son in the picture, he’s the mafia leader running an organized crime ring in the city. I have a feeling there will be a lot of friction between these two. It could perhaps resemble a Lex Luthor/Clark Kent rivalry.

Cage’s superpower appears to simply be indestructibility. He gets stabbed and knives break, shot and bullets fly off. It doesn’t appear he has a weakness yet, I am only on e3. I find it a highly entertaining show. I recommend it for anyone who likes Marvel superheroes or thriller tv.

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Splinter

The best horror movies start with a creepy fear or thought like splinters in your fingers. From tat the director pushes it out far enough to scare people and get a response. Splinter is all that, a truly great horror flick in my opinion.

R | 1h 22min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | 3 April 2009 (Turkey)

Trapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that transforms its still-living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal terror.
Director: Toby Wilkins
Writers: Ian Shorr, Kai Barry
Stars: Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo

I’ve always been a fan of minimal sets and plot in horror films. This one fits right into that the way it takes place in a gas station. It’s the 7-11, Circle K, all American

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Your Name

I am not an anime fan in general but I am a love story fan. 


I was a little averse to the subtitles at first but once I started, it was easy to watch and really get into it. There are features in this film as deep as some of the most deep ones in American love stories and sci-fi. The concept draws you in immediately and if you pay attention, it starts to flow and flow and what a fun ride it is.

It uses some elements we have seen in a new way and the anime really helps to that end. I have to tell you that after about 5 minutes in, I forgot the characters were animation, they seemed real to me.

I found the two main characters charming. Again, I am not much of an anime fan. I have seen many of them but they aren’t my first choice. This would not only appeal to young lovers, like maybe those in love for the first time, but it will also rekindle those adolescent/young adult feelings in anyone who gives it a chance.

If you examine my history at IMDb or my own sites you’ll see I am not new at recommending films. Take it from me, this is an instant classic. The artwork is also way above the usually anime bar. Some of the special effects had to be done by paintbrush, or by hand however they did it. It was a feast for the eyes and the story did not suffer.

Having said all that, if you can’t give it your attention or you really have no interest to sit and watch subtitles, this probably isn’t for you.

Give this film your full attention as a love story with some sci fi elements and you will not regret it.

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The Brood

This horror film from 1979 is interesting only from the 1/2 way point on but when it gets there, it really takes you on a messed up ride.

The Brood (1979)
R | 1h 32min | Horror, Sci-Fi | 25 May 1979 (USA)
A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist’s therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Stars: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle

You get to see primal tripod camera panning and some of the worst latex jobs ever created. Still, it had my interest. I may not have loved this film but I found it very entertaining and I thought David Cronenberg did a great job of writing this. It was a little complicated at time, more than it needed to be. In the end, it was a fun horror film and I encourage people to watch it.

It’s a story about rage and a horror metaphor of what it can do to destroy us. Psych majors will really like it I think. As to the message of the writer/director? That would be gret to discuss in the comments. I think he’s saying something about women here. Their rage is a lethal force. I do allow spoilers in my comments section so if you’d like to get into further depth please leave a comment of your response to this film. Ebert hated this film, I am on the fence. I think it’s enjoyable and well made horror. Not the best but sertainly worth watching and being entertained by.

8/10

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The Purge (2013)

With 2 sequels to its name, The Purge has proven it’s a movie people want to go and see. The question is: what is it about this film that keeps viewers coming through the turnstiles? Let’s see.

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The Purge
Cast

Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder

Directed by

James DeMonaco

Written by

James DeMonaco

Other Info

Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rated R
1h 25min
Riley’s Rating:

There is something profound about ourselves in this film but it’s more recalcitrant horror with no message about mankind. I imagine one still. Because the movie stops at horror, I can only take away stars that make it less effective horror. If it were a rational drama, for example I’d rate it much lower. Still, the metaphors hang in my consciousness.

I’m writing this review more than 3 years after the original film came out. I must admit I had not seen it until this week. This seems amazing because it is a household name in horror and sci-fi in recent years, and I have been busy at work seeing horror movies. The director James DeMonaco is known for the Purge franchise as well as The Negotiator.

It appears scary when the cover contains a masked villain and it certainly is. The part I saw in this film that not everyone may see is the fact that the villain is really you and me, our inner killer.

Watching CNN or any news channel will show you that people are barking vehemently about the economy and most assuredly welfare. To hear some wealthy folks talk, it would seem they want the poor people killed or “purged” as it were. This would, in theory, lower the unemployment rate and clean up the streets. On the other hand, you have self-proclaimed champions of the poor, like Al Sharpton for example, coming to the defense of welfare recipients. He would likely blame the ghettos and shacks where the undesirable poor live on the rich. They don’t pay their fair share. If you’re within a generation of me (born 1969) you are likely to have heard these arguments.

This film poses an idea that we as people are bloodthirsty. In the Purge, for one night a year, the people are allowed to kill the poor. That’s the crux of the plot in this film. People love the movie. I am interested in what that says about us inside. I see the movie as a metaphor. When we practice hate, we purge (kill). I’d argue further that the poor are just as guilty of this. Some people try to appear diffident but hate is all around in this film. In the same breath, neither side is represented accurately of course, I might add. Still, there is something to this class hate that rings true in our world today.

Unfortunately, this horror movie doesn’t stretch out enough as sci fi and more tenderly examine the disparate classes. That’s where The Purge loses a couple stars with me because it could have. According to the director, we’re all pigs.

Horror has less rules to follow than drama, sci fi, and even suspense but there are some rules it must follow to make it scary.

The killers in the Purge are bigger than life and they don’t seem like normal citizens. This is where the masks come in handy. They add to the scares and give the people a “John Doe” look and demeanor. Perhaps that helps my reading of the film.

Ethan Hawke plays James Sandin, a 30 something alarm and security systems area manager. The neighborhood seems to love him due to the fact that he is keeping the rich shored up with his protective wares. We find out later how some of them really feel. There is so much resentment in this film you could cut it like a knife. The most astounding thing to me is the rapid process that causes normal citizens to kill. He has a high school aged daughter (Adelaide Kane) who is in the house with her boyfriend. They have sex (in keeping with the horror tradition). He has a young son (Max Burkholder) who has health issues and a wife (Lena Headey) who is very strong and definitely a foundation for the family success. I couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t be one of the rich with a slaes job. Still, it’s relatively believable.

I see The Purge as a highly violent Twilight Zone where a commentary on human nature is being displayed. I find this exciting. If only I could believe that movie goers at large saw this message. This is a good horror film that engaged me but that I am surprised was made into 2 other sequels. I am not sure I’ll be quick to see #3, though I will see it for sure. I have watched #2 already. If you go purely for horror you will enjoy it. If you want the Purge to show you a message about democracy and humanity, you’ll need to wait for a better made sci fi film. I recommend it to you as a well-made horror film and poorly crafted sci fi with potential.