Skull Island, “Maritime Pilot”, Review!

The Monsterverse has mutated to animation form with Skull Island developed by Brian Duffield. He previously wrote the sci fi horror film, Underwater (2020). Legendary previously produced the anime series, Pacific Rim: The Black. The animation is from Powerhouse Animation which also worked on Blood of Zeus for Netflix. The Original Kaiju starred in King Kong (1933). In 1966-1929, there was from Rankin and Bass, The King Kong Show, Toei Animation provided the visuals. Kong entered the Monsterverse in Kong: Skull Island (2017). The film’s setting was 1973. He faced the King of the Monsters in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). The ultimate fight had a setting of 2024. Skull Island currently streams on Netflix. We hear running and a struggle, it is a young girl (Mae Whitman), a stowaway. Whitman voiced Batigrl in DC Super Hero Girls: Legends of Atlantis (2018). 

She is escaping from several men on a ship at sea. The mysterious girl is handcuffed with a heavy coat. The research crew tries to calmly corner the stowaway against a railing, she leaps onto a boy covered with tires, one of the burly crew men leaps after her. He tries to climb up to catch her, but the girl kicks him off, and reaches the railing of the ship. One fires a tranquilizer dart at her, but still the stowaway evades them all. Yes, the girl is resourceful, but this a useless crew that can’t secure a handcuffed stowaway. She threatens them with a lighter and then tosses it over to a spilled fuel can! This causes a fire to break out that the girl uses for her escape, sliding down a rope, to a boat. She sends the boat forward across the unknown sea. Above is the stormy sky which brings down lightning strikes! There is another boat making its way on the same sea. 

Aboard is father, Cap (Benjamin Bratt), and his son, Charlie (Nicholas Cantu). Charlie is eager to go to college rather than with his father on his research monster hunting. Cap goes  with his briefcase to talk with his colleague, Hiro (Yuki Matsuzaki). Sam’s son, Mike (Darren Barnet) talks with Charlie. Mike is more comfortable on the boat. It seems like a Jonny Quest (1964) group. A bearded enginner, Boomer, sets charges and then fires them off the side of the boat. The explosion is monitored by the research fathers. Charlie on his own sees on the side the stranded girl. She starts to sink into the depths when Charlie ties a rope to leap for a rescue. He pulls her up and calls for help from Mike. Safe on deck, everyone sees the runaway girl and Mike takes her away. I’m amazed there is no medic on board. 

In the control room, she is startled awake, and Charlie can see she is handcuffed. This research crew is incredibly trusting to a stranded person with handcuffs. I think the show should have started with her rescue. She sees a flare and says, “the sky’s on fire”, the fathers go to check on it. Charlie and the father’s use a binocular to see the approach of the ship. They discover that the ship is no longer seen. A pontoon boat with the dark dressed mercs bumps into the ship’s bow. Charlie introduces himself and the girl finally says her name is Annie. He tries to explain that they are on an expedition to find cryptids; mysterious creatures like the Loch Ness Monster. She doesn’t understand expeditions or what is a deep sea charge. Once he explains it, Annie is shocked that the charges will “bring it back.” 

She says a monster had destroyed her lifeboat. Charlie goes to warn his father. Mercs have slipped onto the ship. The fathers go into the control room, Charlie and Mike rush in hearing noise, Annie has used a wrench. She has bashed the radio in trying to stop a merc. Cap wants to know Annie’s story, but the merc has revived and threatens them with a knife. Another merc is about to shoot Boomer, but is suddenly pulled away! Then, he is dragged away by a tentacle, a giant squid or kraken! The tentacles have a strange way of finding victims without any kind of eyes or sensory parts. Boomer is splattered against the window and then thrown to the sea. Annie tells Charlie that they should leave to her island. This is the island where Charlie and Mike find themselves on escaping the kraken. There is a gradual pacing to get to the expected Kaiju, logic gaps, but then we get to a lost group on Skull Island! 

Three Binoculars out of Five! 

#SkullIsland, #NicholasCantu, #DarrenBarnet, #MaeWhitman, #BenjaminBratt, #YukiMasuzaki, #IanJamesCorlett 

Happy Birthday Julie Newmar!

Happy Birthday Julie Newmar! She is iconic as Catwoman, but started out as The Gilded Girl in the film about Cleopatra, Serpent of the Nile (1953). Newmar won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in The Marriage-Go-Round (1958). She also appeared in the 1961 film musical that won her the Tony Award. Newmar began genre work with the Twilight Zone season 4 episode, "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" (1963) where she played Miss Devlin. Next, Newmar starred as the android, Rhoda Miller, in the sci-fi sitcom, My Living Doll (1964-1965). Then, there were 13 memorable episodes of Batman starting with season 1's "The Purr-fect Crime" (1966). From there, Newmar played Eleen in the Star Trek episode, "Friday's Child" (1967). 

Julie Newmar played Claudette in the "Black Magic" (1976) episode of the Bionic Woman. "The Flight of the War Witch" episode of Buck Rogers featured Newmar as Zarina. The comedy, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) featured a cameo appearance by Julie Newmar. She also played herself in the TV movie, Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003). She voiced Martha Wayne in the "Chill of the Night!" (2010) episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Next, Newmar wrote the book, The Conscious Catwoman Explains Life on Earth (2011). In 2012, Newmar wrote with Marc Shapiro and art by Emiliano Urdinola, the comic book series, Secret Lives of Julie Newmar. he returned to the Catwoman character voicing her in the animated film, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016). Then, voiced her again in Batman vs. Two Face (2017). Happy Birthday Julie Newmar!  

#JulieNewmar, #Catwoman, #SerpentOfTheNile, #TheMarriageGoRound, #TwilightZone, #MyLivingDoll, #Batman, #StarTrek, #BionicWoman, #BuckRogers, #ToWongFooThanksForEverythingJulieNewmar, #ReturnToTheBatcave, #BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold, #TheConsciousCatwomanExplainsLifeOnEarth, #SecretLivesOfJulieNewmar, #BatmanReturnOfTheCapedCrusaders, #BatmanVsTwoFace

Re:tro Re:view - Enter the Dragon 50th Anniversary!

Bruce Lee’s iconic and last film, Enter the Dragon, has been released for its 50th anniversary. It is a blast of  Bruce Lee’s charisma, fighting ability, a spy movie, and a great cast! I realized something watching the theatrical release, a must, it is playing again August 16th so don’t miss it. It also currently streams on Max. I found out that my memory of it was only seeing the end of the movie on television!  So it is great to see it on screen, the picture is crisp with the restoration, and unedited. It is directed by Robert Clouse who also directed Game of Death (1978). He was hired by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest, the film company based in Hong Kong. The story is by Bruce Lee and Michael Allin, who later wrote the sci fi campy movie, Flash Gordon (1980). The film opens with a shot of a Chinese house, a pan across flowers to groups of men dressed in yellow, red, blue, and black robes. 

In the center are two fighters, black shorts, boots, and boxing gloves, Lee (Bruce Lee) and his opponent, credited as Shaolin Fighter (Sammo Hung). Also a martial arts legend, Hung starred in his own films, Big Brother to Jackie Chan in the Hong Kong New Wave. He starred in the series, Martial Law, for CBS. A British agent, Braithwaite (Geoffrey Weeks) walks over to see the match. The Shaolin Abbott (Roy Chiao), bearded in orange robes, acknowledges the match. Chiao starred in Game of Death and played Lao Che in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). They bow and then the match begins with closeup of Lee in fighting stance. A quick movement of boots. Lee strikes, hits his opponent’s boot, and then flips him. I think the only part dated is the sound effects of hits and falls. There was no sound recording during the film, sound was added later in post. More quick strikes. 

The fighter flips backwards, but is defeated by Lee tapping out when he is twisted backwards! The match is over and Lee smiles towards the men in black robes who raise up their hands. Lee flips over their arms! A great introduction to Lee with martial arts and the character. The fight sequences are choreographed by Bruce Lee. Later, Lee is in his black gi, and meets Braithwaite for tea. The agent mentions a tournament that has given an invitation to Lee. He mentions that it is held by Mr. Han. Then, Lee goes to meet with a pupil, Lao (Wei Tung) whom he asks to kick him. Then, he asks his young charge to strike without anger. Lee approves of his next attempt, but asks the pupil what he thinks and wants him to feel. His lessons are interesting to see Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do philosophy here. Ability to fight is useless without understanding. His student then leaves. 

The funky score by Lalo Schifrin kicks in as we see Hong Kong. An airplane passes overhead and then we see exiting a plane, the well dressed Williams (Jim Kelly), putting on his sunglasses. A breakout role for Kelly, the next year, he starred in Black Belt Jones (1974) directed by Clouse. Williams walks through the streets and markets. Roper (John Saxon) sits on a ricksaw with his luggage taken on several other ricksaws. Saxon has an impressive filmography and also starred in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). At an office, Braithwaite is showing Lee in his suit, a black and white film of Han (Shih Kien), a former Shaolin monk. Kien is known as a villain in martial arts movies, but starred as a poice chief in the Jackie Chan film, The Young Master (1980). His voice here is dubbed by Keye Luke. A great Bond villain with a hand that can attach weapons with spikes!  

Then, his bodyguard, O’Hara (Bob Wall) is seen with a scar on his face. Wall also appeared in The Way of the Dragon (1972). Next, we see O’Hara’s prowess shattering fiery bricks. Lee is shown the island fortress of Han where he has his tournment held every three years. The body of a stewardess, Mary King, is dragged out of the harbor. Braithwaite explains that women are hooked on drugs by Han and then sent to “clientele around the world”! This part of Han’s villainy is too much, but the freeing of the women is not too much a priority in the movie. Braithwaite can’t prove Han’s crimes and wants Lee to be their agent. Lee brings up guns, but Braithwaite notes that Han prevents guns on the island, scared of assassination. A good story point why the action is all martial arts.

Braithwaite then brings up an operative that they placed on the island two months ago, Mei Ling (Betty Chung). To quote Leslie Knope from Park and Recreation, “The female parts are a little underwritten.” Lee is taken by a boat tin Abderdeen Harbor to a ship. Flashback, he is told by Old Man (Li-Jen Ho) about the last tournament, when Han’s men were in the city.  He was there with Lee’s sister, Su Lin (Angela Mao), running into O’Hara while the others leer at her. Mao starred in Lady Whirlwind (1972) and just one of the finest martial arts actresses. She slaps off his hand and then has to fight her way from a number of the thugs. Old Man slashes O’Hara’s face with his knife. Su Lin fights her way through the city, bruised, but finds herself trapped in a building. 

She takes a shard of glass in kills herself! Bruce Lee’s tearful face is powerful as is his solemnity at the graves of his sister and mothers. He says to his mother that he is going to do something that is against his mother’s teachings. Next, we get the boat of Roper filled with his suitcases, he thinks back to making a wager on his golfing game. Roper hits his ball into the woods, we see a closeup of a gloved hand, when he is confronted by several goons. He is told that he owes $175. Roper quickly kicks them unconscious and then arranges his flight to Hong Kong with his Secretary (Marlene Clark). Nice action in the James Bond style. Williams flashes back to his Kenpo Karate dojo so we get a sense of his karate background. He walks to an alley, but is stopped by two police officers. 

                                            Enter the Dragon script with notes and illustration by Bruce Lee, Academy Museum, 2022, author’s photo.

He is searched by them, but uses his karate skills and knocks them out! This is incredibly satsifying to see the turn around, plus Williams drives away in the police car that he smashes into garbage cans! Roper greets Williams who hasn’t seen each other in six years from their time in Vietnam. They see another tournament fighter, Parsons (Peter Archer) from New Zealand. They don’t recognize Lee and know much about Han. Williams points out the people at the harbor and notes, “ghettos are the same all over the world.” I like the social commentary that is in this scene and with the police. The ship heads out to sea. Two preying mantises are set to fight each other and Roper bets $50. Lee puts a $100 for the little one and wins! Parsons kicks a worker carrying a basket of oranges. He tries to threaten Lee who says his style is the “art of fighting without fighting.”  Parsons wants to fight Lee who points out that they can fight on the island’s beach using the boat, but let’s it float out! The boat starts to be swamped and the bully is out of the tournament. 

They approach the island which has the burly Bolo (Bolo Yeung) and Han’s assistant, Tania (Ahna Capri). Yeung, credited as Yang Sze, was later in the action movie, Bloodsport (1988). Capri was Tavia Sandor in the spy series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Tania has the interest of Roper. It struck me, a little Mr. Obvious here, that this movie’s plot is swiped by the video game adaptation, Mortal Kombat (1995) with a trio of fighters going to a tournament on a ship to an island with a tough bodyguard and a deadly villain. We see them walk to Han’s training grounds with an epic pullback and pan shot showing countless fighters practicing. Lee later infiltrates Han’s castle, disappointly his only secret gadget is a rope, wearing a black stealth suit. He doesn’t have a mask which reveals Bruce Lee’s face, but doesn’t make him anonymous as a ninja. This moves to the tournament with O’Hara and Bolo eventually ending with an iconic fight in Han’s room of mirrors. The spy part is very James Bond, six years after You Only Live Twice (1967), but turns into a great martial arts film! Enter the Dragon is a monumental Bruce Lee martial arts film that must be seen in theaters! 

Five+ Nunchuks out of Five! 

#EnterTheDragon, #BruceLee, #JohnSaxon, #JimKelly, #AhnaCapri, #SammoHung, #RoyChiao, #WeiTung, #GeoffreyWeeks, #PeterArcher, #BoloYeung, #  

Fire and Ice #1 Review!

There are a number of Frank Frazetta inspired comic books and Dynamite Entertainment has produced a comic book that has the style and expands on the Frazetta/Ralph Bakshi film with Fire and Ice #1! The 1981 film was an animated fantasy story with Bakshi realizing Frazetta’s paintings and designs. Ralph Bakshi is also the director of animated adaptation The Lord of the Rings (1978). The film is written by the duo, Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, comic book scribes who also wrote Conan the Destroyer (1984). The combination of artistic talents has produced a cult film that is a sword and sorcery classic. It was reviewed here: http://geektruth.blogspot.com/2023/05/retro-review-fire-and-ice.html.  

“Good in Life” is by Bill Willingham, the writer of the urban fairy tale, Fables, and Leonardo Manco, is the artist, who worked on Sláine, the Celtic barbarian, in 2000 AD. The variant cover features art by Frank Frazetta with Darkwolf holding an axe above Princess Teegra. She is startled at a Sub Human reaching for her. Below them are the barbarian, Larn, with his knife ready for more Sub Humans! It begins with long panels showing almost ancient etchings of a massive dragon and lion. Between them is a house of a mouse. The beasts start to rage yelling at each other, a kind of fairy tale, or almost cartoon rivalry. Their jaws become splattered with red and then their bodies as the tiger starts to pounce. The narrator says that the mouse is crushed in their conflict. 

The young hunter, Oyen, asks if they are the mouse. We see this question over a panel across two pages of a river running through a jungle, impressive design. The storyteller, Thon, in furs with a long spear says that all of the people between ice of the north and the fire in the south are the mouse. Oyen asks what is the point of hunting with the futility of this conflict. The conversations go down the lone of hunters, but one question remains, where is Larn? He is in the trees, Tarzan-like, and emerges with his spear saying that their talking has scared away the game. Thon tells Larn to find some food for the hunting party. The moon is seen in the trees as the group is huddled around a camp fire. Incredibly moody visuals and character work. 

Thon tells them that everything will die including empires. Jura is teased for falling for the chief’s daughter. Thon starts to talk, but is killed by a spear, a brutal scene! We get a splash page of the Sub Human ambush on the camp! Their leader, Kaledan, in armor and cape points out one, Larn, to spare for the witch. Kaledan is a new character. Darkwolf stands guard astride his horse in the north. At Ice Peak castle, Kaledan is heard reporting about the ambush to his mother, Queen Juliana.  She has conjured his image from a cauldron and has brought up the sacrifice to Roliel, the witch. The image looks like a Frazetta painting. Juliana worries about her oldest son while she looks down on her youngest son, similar to Faramir in Lord of the Rings. We see the lone Darkwolf ride away. 

Larn is tied and carried on a pole by Sub Humans in the Riverlands. They speak in some strange language that is understood by the black cloaked advisor. The Sub Humans are being watched from the trees by two women hunters with pale and dark hair, her daughter. The women discuss that the Sub Humans were once warrios called the D’kora Kai. Then, Queen Juliana corrupted them into their Sub Human forms. They race through the jungle past stone reliefs that look Meso-American. Alongside them are a pale named Forest Ghost and black panther, Shaitan, an interesting pairing with the warriors. Shaitan is the panther of Teegra in the film. The white-haired hunter sends them off to track the raiding party. Ice Peak castle, we see the guards on watch, while Kaledan welcomes his brother, Nekron! 

He is on his throne as his brother brings wine from the south. Kaledon wants to know why Nekron his helping their mother with the spell to transfer power to him! He is surprised and then collapses realizing that Nekron drugged his wine. The young huntress asks for rest since her mother is tireless in the jungle. She says she was part of the jungle people, Pantera Ka, until found by the Fire Keep’s king. So Teegra had a warrior mother that was training her, love this bit of back story! Outside of the hut of Roliel, the advisor has the Sub Humans report to the witch and leaves with the others. This is seen by Teegra and her mother who has Teegra stand guard. Larn is held tied to a stake examined by the seductive witch. She wants her Sub Human son, Otwa, watch her spell! Fire and Ice is an incredible prequel that has visuals like the Frazetta/Bakshi work and fills in more of its world building and characters!  

Five Spears out of Five! 

#FireAndIce, #FrankFrazetta, #RalphBakshi, #GoodInLife, #BillWillingham, #LeonardoManco, #Darkwolf, #Larn, #Teegra, #Thon, #Oyen, #Shaitan, #ForestGhost, #Kaledan, #Nekron, #QueenJuliana, #Roliel, #Otwa   

Strolling Through The (Theme) Park One Day: Snoopy’s Birthday!

This is a short stroll through Knott’s Berry Farm to catch Snoopy’s Birthday, but also some parts of the park I haven’t explored! First was to head to Camp Snoopy with the Snoopy in Birthday. It was on August 10th, Thursday, but this was his birthday weekend. Snoopy is 72 years old. He wore a colorful birthday cap and vest with half of the birthday colors and the left side was a bright blue. It was interesting to also see Charlie Brown in birthday hat and a red shirt with a birthday stripe. He was leaving by the time I got there. Next, I went to check Ghost Town Alive!  There is a new leg hanging out of a Goldie’s Hotel window. A little more lively now. 

Birthday Charlie Brown and Birthday Beagle Snoopy at Snoopy’s Birthday!, author’s photo. 

I also found from a vlogger’s video about the peek into the Boot Hill Undertaker window. There is a hanged man there who instantly dissolves into a skeleton and back! This is the same technology that I saw used to transform a skeleton into a neanderthal at the La Brea Tar Pits. I never noticed it so there are things to discover even after going to the same park many times! This is the same with the Bird Cage Theatre. After checking the horses at the  Livery Stable, I found out the show was about to begin at the theatre, I have never managed to get there on time. The original theatre was transported by Walter Knott from Tombstone, Arizona. Live shows had begun there in 1954. It is notable as an early acting job for Steve Martin currently in Only Murders in the Building. 

                                                                                   Miss Cameo Kate’s Western Burle-Q Revue!, photo by the author. 

The featured show is Miss Cameo Kate’s Western Burle-Q Revue. I highly recommend this show! One because live performances are special especially with theme park performances with built-in audiences. Two, this is ol’ fashioned enterainment in the Vaudeville tradition. Three, Miss Cameo Kate, the musicians, and the singer/dancers putting on shows for the day is something special. I recall the song, “[I Got Spurs That] Jingle, Jangle, Jingle”, a fun cowboy-like song perfect for Ghost Town. The Calico Town backdrop, the stage with hitching post props, and the costumes are all just entertainment that I want to see again and again. Clap along and holler, “Yee-haw!” I was about to leave Ghost Town when they was a big crowd all a gathered outside of the hoosegow. It was several prisoners and Kid Friday was there causin’ a ruckus. He was drawin’ the tail of a skunk at Deputy Davenport who was tryin’ to reach for it! It’s always fun to visit Knott’s Berry Farm in the last of the summer days! 

#KnottsBerryFarm, #SnoopysBirthday, #CharlieBrown, #GhostTownAlive, #BootHillUndertaker, #BirdCageTheatre, #MissCameoKatesWesternBurleQRevue, #KidFriday, #DeputyDavenport 

The Last Voyage of The Demeter Review!

The latest Dracula adaptation, The Last Voyage of The Demeter, expands upon a short chapter of Bram Stoker’s novel and perfectly captures the tone and horror of Stoker's classic! The film is masterfully directed by André Øvredal, his past films include writing and directing Trollhunter (2010) which used found footage from students who follow the trail of a kaiju-sized Troll! Øvredal also directed the horror anthology film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019). The story and screenplay is by Bragi F. Schut who also wrote Escape Room (2019). His co-screenwriter, Zak Olkewicz, also co-wrote the action movie, Bullet Train (2022). Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) contains the chapter, “The Captain’s Log”, which is only about five pages long! 

There has been an almost endless series of movies featuring Dracula from the 1931 classic featuring Bela Lugosi, then Christopher Lee starred in the Hammer film, Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This year, Nicholas Cage played Dracula in the horror comedy, Renfield. It begins in 1897, explained in title cards, with the Russian schooner, The Demeter. A rainy night has three people with flashlights knocking on the door of the constable. They report a shipwreck. This is set in August 4th in Whitby on the eastern coast of England. We hear the narrator, Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham), note that his journal is “record and a warning.” Davos Seaworth was played by Cunningham in Game of Thrones. 

The ship has a ripped sail like a shroud and it is bloody. There is a dragon symbol, I knew of the association with that symbol, on a wooden crate. The fate of the crew is mysterious. We go to four weeks earlier, the 6th of July, at Varna, a city in Bulgaria. There is a gambling den at the port with Clemens (Cory Hawkins) at a card table. Hawkins was in MonsterVerse film, Kong: Skull Island (2017). Also, at the docks is The Demeter seen on its nameboard, along with its figurehead of the Greek goddess of the harvest. A young boy, Toby (Woody Norman), goes to help his grandfather, Captain Eliot. Norman is also in this year’s horror movie, Cobweb. Looking to fill the crew is the captain and First Mate Wojcheck David Dastmalchian). Mentat Piter de Vries was played by Dastmalchian in Dune (2021). He loyal to the ship and Captain Eliot. 

Clemens hears about the voyage and forfeits his game to volunteer. He meets with Wojcheck and says that he graduated from the University of Cambridge and can work as the ship’s doctor. Clemens is not only the doctor, but the scientific voice. The first mate doubts he will be strong enough to join the crew. Instead, a one-eyed, tall man (Noureddine Farihi) is chosen. The wagons deliver crates to the Demeter. The lead driver insists that they leave before sunset and refuses to load the crates onto the ship. The sunlight is very sharp. The cinematography by Roman Osin and he worked on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Tom Stern. It made me think that it should muted in a filter to create more of a Gothic atmosphere. During the loading of the crates, the one-eyed man sees the dragon symbol and leaves the pulley rope. 

It sends the crate falling towards Toby until Clemens saves him! The one-eyed man leaves and warns them about dragons. The fallen crate tips with black earth spilling to the dock. Captain Eliot signals Wojcheck to cast off and the Demeter heads out to sea. The wagons in the hills above Varna are there to watch the ship. There is a beautiful effects shot of the Demeter sailing in the sunset. Toby takes Clemens and us on a tour of the ship, and introduces the dog, Huckleberry, Huck. He shows Clemens the signal, knocking on wood, in case there’s any trouble. This goes through most of the ship and is the sound that lingers like the clapping in The Conjuring (2013). Then, Clemens meets the ship’s cook, Joseph (Jon Jon Briones) who is very religious. Briones starred as Ariel Augustus in American Horror Story. 

He questions Clemens who knows that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors. A cast of characters is established with the innocent child, veteran leader, loyal second-in-command, religious person, and doctor. The rest of the crew; Stefan Kapicic (Olgaren), Nikolai Nikolaeff (Petrofsky), Martin Furulund (Larsen), Chris Walley (Abrams), are not too identifiable, but they are good sailors. The Stoker novel makes clear that the voyage is doomed and I expected everyone to fall prey to Dracula. The journal entry notes that they hope to reach London before August. Captain Eliot confides to Wojcheck that this is his final voyage and will retire to an Irish cottage. Wojcheck will be made captain when they reach London. The dragon crate lid lifts up and sends the rats scattering away. 

LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER -- COREY HAWKINS, AISLING FRANCIOSI -- Photo Credit: Rainer Bajo/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment © 2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

Later, the crew is eating and Clemens explains that his purpose is “to understand this world.” Huck starts barking, Toby goes to check the livestock, and the animal screams are heard! Clemens pulls sheets over the cages to calm them and sends Toby for the captain. He checks the cargo hold holding a lantern. Chains are heard rattling. The sounds and visuals make watching the film in theaters a required experience. Clemens finds the tipped crate and a mound of earth. He finds there, a pale, woman, Anna (Aisling Franciosi) gasping for air. Franciosi played Lyanna Stark in Game of Thrones. In a way, the character reminds me of another Anna in Predator (1987). She knows of the creature and lived in the same place as its hunting ground. Toby brings Clemens’ medical bag as the doctor prepares a blood transfusion. Clemens injects the needle on himself to help Anna. A clawed hand reaches for the mound. 

The doctor believes his patient suffers from a blood infection. Wojcheck wants to throw the stowaway overboard. Instead, the captain sets the carptenter’s shed for her quarters. A crewman is using a spyglass to see the Aegean rocks, he turns to see an inhuman face, we know him to be Dracula! Javier Botet plays the vampire, feral, more beast than suave count. He looks bald and pale like Nosferatu. Clemens takes the steering wheel, it is tied off, and knocks on the rail, it is answered along the ship. He is startled by Olgaren who says, “There is something out there.” Huck sees a shadow in the cargo hold, he barks, and the shadow starts to move! The threat of Dracula takes the crew one by one. There is a scene in the film that nauseated me, not of blood, but the black, clawed fingers holding a face. The tone and terror of this movie is the closest I’ve imagined in the classic novel. The Voyage of the Demeter is intense, one of the best horror films in some time, with a great cast and respect for the Bram Stoker book!  

Five+ Spyglasses out of Five! 

#TheLastVoyageOfTheDemeter, #AndreOvredal, #CoreyHawkins, #AislingFranciosi, #LiamCunningham, #WoodyNorman, #StfanKapicic, #NikolaiNikolaeff, #MartinFuruland, #ChrisWalley, #JonJonBriones, #JavierBotet 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem Review!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem hits the screens re-energizing the franchise with teen voices and crazy animation! It is directed by Jeff Rowe who also co-directed The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021) and co-directed by Kyler Spears who was storyboard artist for The Mitchells vs the Machines. The story is Rowe and producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, executive producers for the Invincible superhero animated series. Brendan O’Brien is also one of the story writers, he also wrote the comedy, Neighbors (2014). Rogen, Goldberg, and Rowe also worked on the screenplay along with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, both are co-writers for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019). The turtles were introduced with the first issue of the black and white comic book in 1984.  They were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. 

The appeal of the TMNT was not only that it parodied Marvel Comics Daredevil title written and illustrated by Frank Miller, but created its own world. The comics are still produced today now by IDW with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Last Ronin The Lost Years. It really was the animated series that started in 1987 and lasted until 1996. The lastest is Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with a total of five shows. The popularity hit new heights with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) live action film with the Turtles realized by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Two sequels followed and also the 2014 animated film. A total of seven films with this movie. The animation is by Mikros Animation  which is said to be school notebook sketches, but I think the designs look more like the original Eastman and Laird artwork. We see the NYC sewer grate before we the truck with helmeted soldiers of the TCRI (Techno Cosmic Research Institute). 

They report to executive, Cynthia Ultrom (Maya Rudolph), who is shadowy on a computer screen. Rudolph voices Connie LaCienega in the animated comedy show, Human Resources. Cynthia wants the solders to use their anti-mutant rifles and bring back Stockman’s mutant. Anti-mutant? This would mean the company has already has the radioactive ooze to make something that reverses it. In comics, the mutant inventor, Forge, had a neutralizer that removes mutant powers. I think this plot device should have been saved for a sequel or the animated show. We see the lab of Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) who is a lonely scientist and wants companion ship from the mutants. Esposito voices Lex Luthor in the Harley Quinn cartoon series. He uses various ingredients to make the glowing green ooze. Also in his lab are test tubes filled with water and tiny turtles plus various subjects like a warthog. The TCRI team breaks in and demand the lost specimen! 

The lost specimen races past overhead and then the mutant fly knocks out several soldiers. It attaches to the leader’s face. Baxter warns him about the gas tanks, but the leader shoots and there is an explosion! This kills Baxter, but this mostly implied. The violence, some humor, and dramatic content would not be suitable for a very young audience. The leader reports to Cynthia who wants the lab material taken to duplicate the experiment and the rest to be destroyed. We see though that a canister, unnoticed, falls into the sewer. This shifts to 15 Years Later where we get an introduction to the TMNT. Closeups of Leo putting on his mask and the others readying their weapons. There is Leo (Nicolas Cantu), the de facto leader, in a blue mask and he uses swords. Cantu voices Charlie in the Skull Island animated series. Donnie (Micah Abbey), purple mask, wielder of the bo staff, and the inventor like Data in The Goonies (1985). Abbey played Leaf in Nickelodeon comedy show, Cousins for Life. He wears glasses and has a squeaky voice that is very funny. 

Then, there is Mikey (Shamon Brown, Jr.), has braces, and wears an orange mask and has nunchaku as his weapon. He has a flat, roundish head. Brown, Jr. played Stanley `Papa’ Jackson in dramatic show, The Chi. Lastly, there is Raph (Brady Noon), hot tempered, gap toothed, with his sais and he has a red mask. The nicknames makes them fun plus hides the Renaissance painter names. The color coding of their masks and their love of pizza came from the 90’s cartoon. For the first time, teen actors are cast as the Turtles, they bring the energy and humor to the film. They race across the moonlit rooftops at night which looks right out of the Eastman and Laird comic. Then, a group shot of the Turtles against the moon as Leo explains they have a “very important mission” from Master Splinter; Go-Gurt! Funny. There is no emphasis of pizza. The team recites Master Splinter’s rules warning them about humans. Mikey says he likes Beyonce, Raph brings up Drake, and Leo admires Tom Brady. They work together and argue like brothers. 

The team infiltrates a bodega to use their ninja skills to pick up groceries for Splinter. A reporter on a billboard screen covers the recent criminal spree by Superfly. His name is a fun nod to the 1972 blaxploitation crime film. The TMNT are more intersted in an outdoor screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). Love the mix of live action on screens and animation. Plus, the John Hughes comedy is a classic which the Turtles think spending the day away from school is how school works, funny! Some of the human characters look like claymation. The Turtles hope that everyone will like them like Ferris Bueller! They return to the sewer sneaking along subway tracks. They go back home and find Splinter (Jackie Chan) who is worried that his sons are late. Chan stars in this year’s action comedy Ride On. Splinter wears glasses and has two tufts of white hair and a goatee. 

Leo blurts out that they saw a movie breaking their father’s rules. 

Splinter sees a framed photo of the family and starts to tell them about the origin. He started at as a rat feeding on garbage cans, chased away by dogs and people, Splinter has a fatalist outlook on life. Then, he finds the ooze that twists him into his current form, and also the Turtles. He starts to set a record on the record player and plays De La Soul’s “The Magic Number.” I would never believe that De La Soul would ever be played in a movie. Splinter takes care of the Turtle Tots. He goes to the outside world because his sons are interested in it. They are awed by it in Times Square. He carries the Turtle Tots in his arms and accidentally bumps into a woman. She screams, “Rat man!” which gets the rest of the crowd angry at him. The Turtle Tots roll away and Splinter is able to collect them and escape. This sets Splinter’s hatred of humans.

Splinter plays martial arts videos, live action, to help train and defend the TMNT. This is mostly Kung Fu videos and no ninja videos. He tells his sons that there are no other mutants and punishes them to not leave the sewer for one month! The Turtles go to their bunks to listen to music. In the day, a Frozen Treats truck carries the construction workers who are working for Superfly. The police chases after them and Superfly flies the truck away. They reach a stranded tanker an abandoned property of TCRI and Superfly takes out the humans. The TMNT are on a rooftop taking a cell phone video of Raph cutting through a watermelon with Leo’s katana. The next video, Mikey holds a watermelon above his head, a target for Raph’s shuriken, throwing star. It slices through the watermelon and then hurtles over the building into the street! 

Leo rushes over to see that the shuriken went into the helmet of April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri). Glory is played by Edebiri in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. April is not an adult news reporter like in previous versions, she is a teen like the Turtles. Her scotter is stolen and she tries to chase after the thief. Leo convinces the others that they are responsible so have to help her. A roll up door is opened by the thief. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles enter and find that it is a gang of thieves! Fighting that is shown is blurry, unclear action, which is not in the spirit of the martial arts movies they had watched, the animated series, or the comic books. They manage to defeat the gang and April walks in surprised. The others hide, but Leo walks into the light. April at first thinks they are costumes, but then grabs a turtle cheek and shouts. 

She is disturbed, but likes that they helped her out. The Turtles say they can explain over pizza. We see the neon sign of the pizzeria, Laird, which points to the co-creator of the TMNT. April has a notepad of questions and asks them, “Is there more of you?” They don’t know. She admits that she wants to be a journalist for the school news. The same field as the cartoon and comic book character. April is asked Mikey, “Do you think there are more people like you who will accept us?”  They get text from their parents, April leaves her number with them, and it is apparent that Leo has a crush on her.  They have to team up to stop Superfly, the mastermind who is voiced by Ice Cube, a literal fly person. Ice Cube was in the comedy, Fist Fight (2017). 

He leads a number of other mutants; Rogan voices another warthog with Bebop and John Cena plays Rocksteady, the punk rhino. Mondo Gecko is voiced by Paul Rudd, who is the mutant who likes hugs, and Post Malone voices Ray Fillet, the manta ray with scuba mask and snorkel. Rogan’s fellow actor, Rose Byrne voices the crocodile, Leatherhead. Natasha Demetriou, Nadja in What We Do in the Shadows plays the bat, Wingnut, and the axe wielding Genghis Frog is voiced by Hannibal Burress. There are so many mutants outnumbering, not matching the Turtle team, that they are needed earlier in the movie. At one hour, 39 minutes, it runs a bit long to the inevitable climatic battle. Mid-credit scenes sets up the sequel! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem  is a reboot with all of the nods to past Turtles especially with the designs and given fresh and funny voices with the teen and comdy actor cast! 

Five Pizza Slices out of Five! 

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