Sinners, Ecosystems, and Orcas at Exposition Park!

 The museums at Exposition Park are a full day of looking at great artworks and wonders of science! The day started at the California African American Museum, highly recommended!, it is right off of S. Figueroa St. and Exposition Blvd.! This was the day after the opening of Sinners: Sounds That Summon which runs until March 14, 2027. Don’t wait until next year, just head down to the museum and see the other exhibits. In this case it was the last day of Willie Birch: Stories to Tell. It has moved on to New Orleans. The CAAM site is at: https://caamuseum.org/ 

Sinners: Sounds That Summon gallery, California African American Museum, author’s photo. 

Next to it is the California Science Center, good, interactive exhibits including Ecosystems and the Blackbird Exhibit and Garden. More info at: https://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits. Soon to open is the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center with its prominent silver building housing the Space Shuttle Endeavor. It opens on November 13th! It will feature a shuttle gallery, capsules and space modules in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery, and interactive exhibits about flying in the Korean Air Aviation Gallery. Lastly, there is the Orcas: Our Shared Future at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. There is also the Dinosaur Hall and the African and North American Diorama Halls. The museum infromation is at: https://nhm.org/ 

The rainy day started at the California African American Museum. Outside is a statue, Wishing On A Star (2009) by Charles Dickson made of recycled metal and found metal objects. Inside the museum are trapezoid-shaped walls of every color. To the left is the Sinners: Sounds That Summon gallery based on the “I Lied to You” scene in Sinners (2025). Earlier this year, I went to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour to see the Sinners exhibit at Sage 48: Script to Screen, this had closed on April 30th. Also, the Sinners house at Halloween Horror Nights for Universal Studios Hollywood. 

This exhibit, though, is free! There is a Curatorial Walkthrough on October 27th at 2-3 p.m. Also, CAAM Creatres with Design Hive on October 31st, 2-3:30 p.m. In Sinners, Sammie Moore (Miles Caton) plays his guitar at Club Juke. The opening of the movie had Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) explain, “the gift of music so true it can pierce the veil between life and death. Conjuring spirits from the past and the future.” Sammie sings his Blues song, “I Lied to You”, piercing the veil! The exhibit has in the front, the costumes of twins, Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan). 

“Sammie’s 1932 Dobro guitar. Courtesy Ludwig Goransson”!, photo by the author. 

In between them in a case is Sammie’s 1932 Dobro guitar. Along the wall to the left is props like the Club Juke sign and the plantation scrip that had no value outside of the plantation. Next is the costume of Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo)and next to him is Annie’s green dress. I think there is some faint writing in white across her mid-section. On the wall behind the costume is a display case of the rigged gri-gris bag that Annie gave to Smoke. Finally, the costume of Sammie. There is a touch screen that gives details on the costumes by Ruth E. Carter and each costume puts a light on the specific costume. 

Next to them is the costumes of the 80s D.J. with turntable and the Funk guitarist by the back wall. This is when the veil begins to break. It was great to see in the movie a costume that looks inspired by Bootsy Collins from the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The wall continues with the long white shirts of the two West Coast Dancers. Across the back wall is the costume of B-Boy inspired by LL Cool J’s tracksuit and then the right wall has the red dress of the Contemporary Modern Dancer and the skirt and jacket of the Gen Z Twerkers. Note: all of the actor names are listed with their costumes. 

A plaque behind them explained that twerking was recognized from the the bounce music from New Orleans in the 90’s. I learn something new every day. There are displays of traditional instruments including the xalam, a West African stringed instrument. There is a video with earphones with musicians playing the various instruments. Music pierced the veil in the Sinners movie, but the art of Willie Birch does the same. There were so many art pieces that caught my eye. One of them was Martin Luther King, McDonald’s, and Miami’s Burning (1989). 

Knowing Our History, Teaching Our Culture (1992), Willie Birch: Stories to Tell gallery, author’s photo. 

It had graphite and goache along with a paper-mache frame showing the uprising after the deaths of Clement Lloyd and Allan Blanchard in 1989. It has passers-by looking at a tv window showing Martin Luther King Jr. speech, news of the event, and McDonald’s, commercialism mixed with moments of history and tragedy. Another was painted paper-mache figures of school kids at a chalkboard, this is Knowing Our History, Teaching Our Culture (1992) from the Children’s Museum, Chicago. Powerful. Another was the sculpture of Spirit House (1993) that had painted papier-mache of a large, almost doll house with objects from artists, friends, and family. 

In 1994, Birch moved to New Orleans and the Seventh Ward is his series from that time. It had Sunset: View from the Back of Dooky Chase Restaurant (2012) made with acrylic and charcoal. The series uses art to depict large, wall-sized images that looked like giant photographs to me! For Hurrican Katrina, Birch captured the flooding that was in August 2005 that made crawfish mounds that appeared in his neighborhood! Birch captured the mounds in bronze with Crawfish Dwellings (2013). I hope the gallery returns and that Willie Birch crafts new artwork.  It was time to check out the Science Center, the rain was coming down, and it was great to see the SR-71 Blackbird out in the garden. 

Then, entering the museum to see the F-20 fighter jet hoving above the escalator. I was recommended the Ecosystems: Extreme Zone exhibit which had an aquarium. I headed over to the Kelp Forest section which was downstairs on the other side of the second level. There was tanks of sea anemone, sea stars, and moon jellies. The large tank has fronds of kelp, fish, and a leopard shark. This won the 2012 Exhibit Award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. I made my way around the construction fences around the Natural History Museum and the soaked-shoes inside. 

Orcas: Our Shared Future exhibit, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, photo by the author. 

I then went to the register to get my ticket, $12, to the new Orcas: Our Shared Future exhibit. This was downstairs to a floor with an indegenous wood carved orca at the entrance. There was a map of the global distrubution of orcas. Also orcas in history with one of the earliest descriptions by Pliny the Elder in 77 CE. Then, an engraving shown of a sea monster with a wide mouth. This evolved to a a blunt headed fish monster by Conrad Gessner. Finally, a familiar looking orca from a scientific drawing by Johann Schreber. I found it fascinating to see how the orca could go from sea monster to actual animal. 

A large room had full sized replicas of three Southern Resident orcas; Ruffles, Slick, and Scarlet. There were bluish screens with ocean sounds, but no whale sounds. The next room had a replica of an orca skeleton suspended from the ceiling. There were scientific facts about the orca's biology. More indegenous art followed including the story of the Chief of the Killer Whales taking a wife, Halda, to an underwater town. There was merch from sea parks like a souvenir tray MarineLand & Game Farm in Niagra Falls. I vaguely remember MarineLand of the Pacific which was in Rancho Palos Verdes. Orky and Corky were the orcas that performed there. It closed in 1987. 

The orcas of the movies had displays of movie posters from Namu the Killer Whale (1966). I haven't seen that film, but I did notice it was produced by Ivan Tors, who also produced the show, Flipper. It was about a marine biologist who saves an orca from fishermen and then helps release it. I do remember the movie, Orca (1977), the year for cinema seems so pivotal, this one I think I saw on video cassette. The orca mother takes vengeance on the town after the death of her calf, Bo Derek had a cast on her leg which is chomped off by the orca, and then finally Richard Harris screams, "What in hell are you?!" I did not know that Michael Anderson directed the movie the year after he directed Logan's Run (1976)! This was followed by Free Willy (1993) which led to the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation. 

Replicas of Ruffles, Slick, and Scarlet, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, author’s photo. 

The exhibit continued with the documentary, Blackfish (2013) that covered the orca Tilikum and the cpative whale industry. There was information on the orcas starting with Moby Doll, an orca accidentally caught in 1964 and displayed for one day at the Vancouver Aquarium. The following year, an orca was sold to the Seattle Aquarium to perform in the first killer whale show as Namu. Another orca was captured and sent to Seattle Aquarium, but the orca attacked Namu. SeaWorld in San Diego bought the orca, but could not use the Namu name, and instead called her Shamu (She-Namu). A very wet day from the rain, strange to come out of an aquarium, learn about orcas and then back in the rain. The Exposition Park museums are great places to see artwork, learn from aquariums, and exhibits! 

#ExpositionPark, #CaliforniaAfricanAmericanMuseum, #SinnersSoundsThatSummon, #WillieBirchStoriesToTell, #MartinLutherKingMcDonaldsAndMiamiBurning, #KnowingOurHistoryTeachingOurCulture, #SpiritHouse, #SeventhWard, #SunsetViewFromTheBackOfDookyChaseRestaurant, #CaliforniaScienceCenter, #EcosystemsExtremeZone, #BlackbirdExhibitAndGarden, #SamuelOschinAirAndSpaceCenter, #SpaceShuttleEndeavor, #NaturalHistoryMuseumOfLosAngelesCounty, #OrcasOurSharedFuture 

Street Fighter Review!

Street Fighter hits theaters like a “Shoryuken!”, the fighting is like the video games, and the cast is fun, but loses its way at the end! The movie is directed by Kitao Sakurai who also co-wrote and directed Bad Trip (2021). Also, the comedy show, The Eric Andre Show. The screenplay is by Sakurai and T.J. Fixman who wrote the action thriller, Carry-On (2024). The film’s story is by Dalan Musson, co-writer for Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and Gary Dauberman who also wrote It: Chapter Two (2019). 

The filmmakers are as eclectic as the cast. It all began with the first Street Fighter game in 1987. It was Ryu or Ken fighting against opponents like Joe against a train or a street. The breakout was Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) which allowed players to choose from eight characters with backgrounds around the world like a street now with animated figures. It had catch phrases that players tried to say from the audio and the series continued to Street Fighter 6 (2023). 

An early attempt at adapting the game was in 1994’s Street Fighter. The movie begins with an animated flashback in Thailand, 1987, the time of the first game. The hand drawn animation sequences that take up a large part of the movie is by Titmouse, Inc. who had worked on the animation for Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (2022) for Paramount+. 

Ryu (Andrew Koji) with white, sleeveless gi talks with his brother, Ken (Noah Centineo), blonde hair with red gi, who watches on the sidelines. Koji played the protagonist, Ah Sahm in the martial arts series, Warrior. Centineo played the Atom Smasher in the comic book film, Black Adam (2022). They were both raised and trained by Master Gouken (Don Lee). Gilgamesh was played by Lee in the Marvel movie, The Eternals (2021). 

Gouken first appeared in the manga, Street Fighter II: Ryu, by Masaomi Kanzaki. In games, he was introduced in Street Fighter IV (2008). He is a big, white bearded man wearing prayer beads. Gouken warns Ryu about not giving in to his darkness. Ryu faces Sagat, a tall, bald man with an eyepatch. The part is not cast in the film. The first Street Fighter game had Sagat as the final boss. 

Sagat bashes Ken with his fists. On the ground, Ryu’s eyes glow red, consumed with the darkness, the Satsu No Hado, he unleashes his “Shoryuken!" uppercut that takes down Sagat and gives him the jagged scar on his chest! Ryu’s victory has awakened Akuma (Joe `Roman Reigns’ Anoai)! Previously, Anoa’i appeared as Mateo in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Akuma is a fighter with dark gi and red hair introduced in Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994). 

Akuma is an interesting villain tied into the protagonist, but Akuma is not a constant threat even in something like Ryu’s dreams. After the tournament, we find that Ken did not enter it, and Gouken has Ken promise to protect Ryu. We get Ryu and Ken's training with the video game's "Round 1, fight!' audio. This moves to six years later, 1993, now live action, a news reporter recaps Ryu’s history as an orphan and Ken came from a wealthy family. The death of Gouken broke Ryu and Ken apart. 

At his hotel room, Dan Hibiki (Andrew Schulz) in his pink suit, tells Ken that he was contacted by Taco Bell. Schulz is a comedian, podcaster, who appeared in the comedy, Upgraded (2024). Hibikii appeared in pink gi making his debut in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams (1995). Here Hibiki is Ken’s manager and of course comic relief. Ken’s commerical work is on MTV, promoting Jolt cola, and smashes a car like the bonus stage in the Street Fighter II game. 

At a party, the women leave Ken on the dance floor, the scene really feels like what happened to Navin R. Johnson in The Jerk (1979). This shifts to MetroLao City, four men are drained of Psycho Power by M. Bison (David Dastmalchian). Mr. 3 in the manga action show, One Piece, was played by Dastmalchian. M. Bison rages about needing maximum Psycho Power and holds his scientist by the throat! He wants more, the power he sensed from Ryu when he saw him in the tournament, Bison arranges for another tournment to draw Ryu out. 

Then, he calls Cammy (Mel Jarnson) to bring him the newscaster. Jarnson was Nitara in Mortal Kombat (2021), crossover! Don Sauvage (Eric Andre) is behind bars. The comedian is of course the star of The Eric Andre Show that was directed by Sakurai. Sauvage is the comic relief for Bison’s side, his is the Las Vegas showman-type, but nothing stands out to me for Andre or Schulz. He had offended M. Bison critizing him on Combat News. Ken wakes up from his drunken stupor and hears Chun Li played by Callina Liang. This is a breakout role for Liang who previouly was in the drama, Bad Genius (2024). 

Dan wakes up behind Ken, a joke of two drunken guys, a hint of a relationship?, the movie doesn’t make either clear. She tells Ken, “i’m on a mission to find the greatest warriors on Earth.” We see earlier on a beach cliff, a medal showing acceptance to the tournment, given to Dhalsim (Vidyut Jammwal). The actor, Jammwal is well knwon for Bollywood films including the lead role in the sequel, Khuda Haffiz: Chapter 2 - Agni Pariksha (2022). His Dhalsim is a mentor of sorts and it is fascinating to see more of Jammwal’s work. 

Then, Zangief (Olivier Richters) tows a tractor with some men riding it. Richters known as “The Dutch Giant”, starred as Ursa Major in Black Widow (2021). In the game, Zangief’s arms and legs have red scars. Sitting by a window sill, Vega (Oliver Peck) puts on his mask, he usually wears steel claws in fights. Peck is a tatoo artist from the show, Ink Master. Lastly, we see Joe (Alex Volkanovski), the mixed martial artist is a two time UFC Featherweight Champion. Joe is an opponent from the first Street Fighter game. Balrog in a coat and gloves reads about himself in a Russian newspaper. 

Balrog is played by Curtis `50 Cent’ Jackson, the well known rapper, who starred in The Expend4bles (2023). The diversity of the cast from different backgrounds makes for a fun cast. Chun Li tells Ken that she was at his fight. She tells him, “You’re not a warrior, youi’re a sideshow.” It shifts to another anime flashback. This is interesting functioning like a cut scene in a video game. We see Ken and Ryu training with Master Gouken. Ken can't form the "Hadoken" fireball. Akuma shows up, Gouken’s brother who was in the spirit realm, and challenges Ryu. He defeats Ryu who doesn't give into his darkness. 

Akuma has Gouken by the neck. Ryu is about to form the "Hadoken" and Ken shouts, "Do it, Ryu!" Akuma kills their master. Taking revenge on a master's death is a martial arts staple. Ryu, now is a bearded, drunken soup vendor in Cleveland, Ohio. His customers don't like his ramen bowl made from his master's recipe. Ken wants to enter the tournament and prove he is a fighter. Chun Li accepts  and enters Ken into the World Warrior tournament. A kid throws a rock at an empty warehouse when Ryu drags his ramen cart there. Chun Li asks him to enter the tournament, but Ryu tells her, "I don't fight." She kicks him across the warehouse floor and tells him that Ken is in danger. 

It is night at MetroLao City and we get to Golden Bullion hotel where a soldier enters. This is Guile with his extremely high blond hair. He is played by Cody Rhodes, Intercontinental Champion in the WWE, on the superhero show, Arrow, Rhodes played Derek Sampson. Guile meets his old friend, Ken, and mocks Dan. He acts as an ally to Ken even though he says Dan is taking him away from becomes a true fighter. Ken in his white outfit returns to his room and finds Ryu is there in black. He attempts to fight Ryu who is faster than his kicks. Ryu can't save his brother without entering the tournament which has entries closed. 

Chun Li is at a fireplace practicing nunchucks. She rages throwing it at a photo of M. Bison and then Chun Li is contacted by Interpol Headquarters. Her contact, Myron, played by SNL's Kyle Mooney, is an office worker. He has a fan boy crush on her which is a good parody on Chun Li's otaku, obsessed fans. Ryu then cuts his hair and beard. Chun Li pulls off her bathrobe before getting into a misty shower. This mist moves to the bath house of E. Honda (Hiroki Goto). The New Japan Pro wrestler was also in Kamen Rider Zero-One: RealxTime (2020). Ryu is there to ask him a favor, "Your spot in the tournament." He warns E. Honda about Akuma, but the sumo wrestler doesn't believe him. E. Honda tells Ryu, "Fight and you can take my place."     

Four. “Hadoken!” Fireballs out of Five! 

#StreetFighter, #KitaoSakurai, #TJFixman, #DaianMusson, #GaryDauberman, #TitmouseInc, #NoahCentineo, #AndrewKoji, #CallinaLiang, #AndrewSchulz, #CodyRhodes, #VidyutJammwal, #DavidDastmalchian, #RaynaVallandingham, #OrvillePeck, #Curtis50CentJackson, #EricAndre, #JoeRomanReignsAnoai, #DonLee, #OlivierRichters,  #HirokiGoto, #KyleMooney, 

It’s the Birthday of Guillermo del Toro!

¡Feliz cumpleaños Guillermo del Toro! His first film was Cronos (1992, which he wrote and directed. It was a horror movie involving a device to keep owners immortal. Ron Perlman starred as Angel, the henchman of a businessman. This started a long time collaboration between the director and actor. Del Toro moved from there to The Devil’s Backbone (2001) which began his work with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro and composer Javier Navarette. Del Toro entered the studio system with the horror movie Mimic (1997) that was about a CDC doctor who uncovers a strange breed of insect underneath New York. Next, he directed Blade II (2002), a masterful entry in the vampire comic book franchise. 

Guillermo del Toro at Wodner Con, 2023, discussing Pacific Rim (2013), photo by the author. 

Guillermo del Toro then directed Hellboy (2004) based on the Mike Mignola comic book. It featured Ron Perlman as the demonic anti-hero. One of his best films is El laborinto del fauno or Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) as it is better known. A dark fantasy that blends Alice in Wonderland, fairy tales, and the harsh reality of the Spanish Civil War. Long time colloborator, Doug Jones, played many of the creatures including Fauno. It won the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Cinematography, and Make-up. It seems like a trilogy of films with Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, and then Pan’s Labyrinth. He followed it up with Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). In 2008 he formed the production company Cha Cha Films with fellow filmmakers, Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. 

Costumes of Crimson Peak (2015), Guillermo del Toro’s At Home with Monsters, author’s photo. 

Del Toro worked on a television series and later turned into a trilogy of books starting with The Strain (2009) with co-author Chuck Hogan. In 2013, he directed Pacific Rim (2013) merging his love of kaiju and mecha. Del Toro worked with composer Ramin Djawadi on that film. He directed the pilot, “Night Zero” (2014) of the series The Strain when the series arrived for FX. The Gothic horror movie Crimson Peak (2015) was his next film. His new co-writer was Matthew Robbins and the cinematographer was Dan Laustsen. Guillermo del Toro made Trollhunters into a book in 2015 with co-author Daniel Kraus. The animated series Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia with Dreamworks Animation was finally realized in 2016 for Netflix. In 2017, Del Toro opened his house, so to speak, with the touring exhibition Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters. 

A display at the Frankenstein: Crafting a Tale Eternal exhibit, January of this year, photo by the author. 

He finished the year with The Shape of Water which won him the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture. Del Toro directed the thriller, Nightmare Alley (2021) based on the 1946 William Lindsay Gresham novel. He accomplished another lifelong dream with Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature with co-director Mark Gustafson. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities was hosted by Del Toro in 2022. He made another personal dream, Frankenstein in 2025. The film won the Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Production Design. It marked an end to his filmmaking style and del Toro looks forward. Del Toro is on the board of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and attended the museum’s opening on September 22nd. For the 20th anniversary of Pan’s Labyrinth, a 3D conversion and 4K restoration was overseen by del Toro. Happy Birthday Guillermo del Toro! 

#GuillermoDelToro, #Cronos, #RonPerlman, #DevilsBackbone, #GuillermoNavarro, #JavierNavarette, #Mimic, #BladeII, #Hellboy, #PansLabyrinth, #DougJones, #HellboyIITheGoldenArmy, #ChaChaFilms, #AlfonsoCuaron, #AlejandroGonzalezInarritu, #TheStrain, #ChuckHogan, #PacificRim, #CrimsonPeak, #Trollhunters, #DanielKraus

#GuillermoDelToroAtHomeWithMonsters, #TheShapeOfWater, #NightmareAlley, #GuillermoDelTorosPinocchio, #MarkGustafson, #GuillermoDelTorosCabinetOfCuriosities, #Frankenstein, #LucasMuseumOfNarrativeArt, #PansLabyrinth20thAnniversary  

The Horror Show and Ke Huy Quan signing!

The Horror Show is a popular exhibit at the Academy Museum and walking through it was topped off with a Ke Huy Quan book signing! This was on Thursday, September 24th. The Horror Show fills up the entire fourth floor of the Academy Museum. It began on September 26th and runs to July 25th of next year! There are six galleries that cover horror films with classic movies to the most recent fright flicks. In the Psychological Gallery, there is a Belgian poster of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). 

Then a portrait of Sigmund Freud and a book with Josef Breuer, Studies on Hysteria (1895). Interesting to see an actual psychology book and not Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) written nine years earlier. The capper really is the “Mother” dummy used in Psycho (1960). It has a two way mirror so you can take a selfie of you on the other side and take a regular photo on the Psychological section! One of my favorite psychological horror film is Jacob’s Ladder (1990).

Ke Huy Quan at the Academy Museum signing for his book, Never Say Die, author’s photo. 

The Slasher section featured the teen level of horror flicks, but the movies have become clever and well written. It had Billy the puppet from Saw (2003), the costume of Art the Clown from Terrifer 3 (2024), and a bust of Pennywise from IT (2017). I prefer Tim Curry’s performance in the 1990 IT mini-series. He was more mocking, silly, clownish, rather than just all horror. Above Art is the television animatronic of Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). This is a favorite from the series, though Freddy in a tv set was silly. 

Next, the Ghostface costume from Scream VI (2023) that featured Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter, the Sherman Fields costume, arm and hook prostthetic from Candyman (2021) directed by Nia DaCosta. A case held the Chucky and Tiffany puppets from Seed of Chucky (2004) and next to them was the Michael Myers costume and mask made from the original mold who was in Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998). The sequel brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode.    

Finally, there is a wall of masks and weapons; There was the Sentinel Sphere prop from Phantasm (1979), a paper cutting blade from M3GAN (2023), The Grabber mask from The Black Phone (2021), and the most suprising item, the helmet worn by The Phantom in Phantom of the Paradise (1974)! The following room was Science which had some great movies. The largest display was the Xenomorph from Alien: Romulus (2021). 

The helmet of The Phantom seen in Phantom of the Paradise (1974), The Horror Show, photo by the author. 

It was great to see in a display the prop cereal box, blank cover with the words “Work 8 Hours, Sleep 8 Hours, Play 8 Hours.” Also the sunglasses, and skin-free, skull-like alien mask from They Live (1988). Next to them was the Facehugger prop from Alien (1979), aged, it looks organish like a sea creature. My all-time favorite was a Gill-man mask worn by Ricou Browning from Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)! The concept design was noted to be Milicent Patrick who didn’t get screen credit. There is prop amp and microphone and broken shuttle from A Quiet Place (2021). 

A wall had concept art of the xenomorph egg by H.R. Giger for Alien and James Camerons art of LV-426, later called Acheron, for Aliens (1986). Plus the concept drawing of The Shape of Water (2017) poster by James Jean. Also there was Mentor Huebener’s concept drawing of the mutated, tentacled creature from The Thing (1982) as well as storyboards. From The Substance (2024), there was a special effects bust of Monstro Elisasue, props of the stabilizer syringe, vials, and medical equipment. 

There was concept art of the makeup for Monster in Young Frankenstein (1974) by William Tuttle. A series of props took up the back wall including a reconstructed wig for The Bride, played by Elsa Lancaster, in the Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Next to it is the prop battery and bust of the re-animated corpse from Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025). Lastly, there was a prop ball and chain from Frankenstein (1931), and a first edition of Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley. Some of the best props from Frankenstein films and of course the book that inspired all of them!  

Annabelle doll and case props from Annabelle Comes Home (2019), author’s photo. 

The center of the gallery is the Annabelle doll and case from Annabelle Comes Home (2010), spooky. A display has the music box with tiny clown head that pops up from The Conjuring (2013), the Conjuring 2 had the “Crooked Man” zoetrope prop, and the spirit board props. In the corner is the concept drawing of the evil clown and the clown toy prop from Poltergeist! A prop stickman was in The Blair Witch Project (1999) and there was a desk with a computer showing the promotional website from the film. In a glass display was the sitting and shrieking corpse prop crafted by Rick Baker for The Ring (2002).

I had skipped two of the galleries headed to the Ke Huy Quan signing that was on the fifth floor. The panel was moderated by Amy Homma, Director and President of the Academy Museum. Quan joined her on stage to applause. He answered Homma's question about others he shared his life's story "helped them through a difficult time." This is of course in his book, Never Say Die. Quan didn't think he had the courage to tell all of this story that is in the book. He mentioned, "I'm a big fan of Drew Struzan." The artist painted him in posters for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and The Goonies (1985). 

The later film is where he made friends with the cast including Jeff Cohen who played Chunk. Cohen became an entertainment lawyer and is very supportive of Quan encouraged him to return to acting. He added at the end of the panel that he still hopes for a sequel to Goonies and Homma quoted, "Goonies never say die." He bonded with his Goonies cast members, but felt like an outsider. He didn't know what was Hot Wheels or the cartoons brought up. Homma asked about Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) red carpet. He said that he was headed closer and closer to the stage for the Academy Awards, he thought he was in row 20 or 30! Quan continued, "When we got to the front row, there was Jamie Lee Curtis, I was like `No way!' and then Jamie turns to me and says, `Ke, where are we?' 

He answered that they were at the Academy Awards. Quan continued with Curtis asked again, `No Ke, where are we sitting' I said `in the front row!", `Damn right, we are." He was emotional discussing holding the award. Quan urged his fans to see his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is displayed at the museum. Really to inspire everyone to fulfill their dreams.  The writing of the book was not easy for Quan and he said, "I ate so many bags of Doritos and I have the belly fat to prove it." The audience laughed at his comment. The signing was quick since there was a room full of fans, a signature, and then a photo with the audience. A memorable night with the impressive exhibit, The Horror Show, and a great conversation and signing with Ke Huy Quan! 

#AcademyMuseumOfMotionPictures, #TheHorrorShow, #Psychology, #DrJekyllAndMrHyde, #StudiesOnHysteria, #Psycho, #Slashers, #Ghostface, #ScreamVI, #MelissaBarrera, #ShermanFields, #Candyman, #NiaDaCosta, #SeedOfChucky, #MichaelMyers

#HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater, #JamieLeeCurtis, #Phantasm, #M3GAN, #TheBlackPhone 

#PhantomOfTheParadise, #Science, #AlienRomulus, #TheyLive, #Alien, #Gillman, #CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon, #MilicentPatrick, #AQuietPlace, #HRGiger, #Aliens

#JamesCameron, #TheShapeOfWater, #TheThing, #MentorHuebener, #TheSubstance #YoungFrankenstein, #TheBrideOfFrankenstein, #ElsaLancaster, #GuillermoDelTorosFrankenstein, #Frankenstein, #MaryShelley 

#Religion, #TheConjuringLastRites, #EvilDeadII, #TheOmen, #Hellraiser, #TheConjuring2, #Midsommer, #FlorencePugh, #Weapons, #AmyMadigan, #Sinners, #WunwiMosaku, #Ghost, #Poltergeist, #TheShining, #AnnabelleComesHome, #TheConjuring, #TheBlairWitchProject

#TheRing, #RickBaker, #KeHuyQuan, #NeverSayDie, #AmyHomma, #DrewStruzan, 

#IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom, #TheGoonies, #JeffCohen, #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce, #JamieLeeCurtis