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It has been next-to-impossible for me to access the Internet while here in the Maldives, so apologies for the lack of posts. One of the amazing things about being “unplugged” is how much time seems to stretch and proceed at a much more luxurious pace (in spite of a lot of very un-luxurious rain). We haven’t turned on a TV once–a huge thing for us. So often while traveling, the TV is just a reach out for familiarity–and you end up watching re-runs of some show you didn’t care enough about to tune in for the first time.

One show that fans tend to watch over and over and over again, is The X-Files. Former cast members and creators of the David Duchovny/Gillian Anderson supernatural/sci-fi/freaky deaky show (sometimes as campy and absurd as anything on the air) are reunitinf for a November 14 event to raise money for their chosen charities.

Actress Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully), actor Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner), executive producer/writer Frank Spotnitz, and executive producer/director Rob Bowman (currently executive producer and director on ABC’s hit “Castle”) reunite to talk all things “X-Files” and answer questions from fans (like the rumors about an X-Files 3 movie and the 2012 mythology that could make a whole new series). This is a rare opportunity for fans and filmmakers to get together to explore and discuss the process of making this iconic television series, ask questions about the panelists’ new projects, and raise money for some very worthy causes.

Tickets for the Q&A event are now available at http://www.ibginc.org/tickets. Proceeds will be donated in support of the participants’ chosen charities, including The Santa Monica-UCLA Rape Treatment Center, Off the Street Kids (aiding yung, marginalized people of South Africa), Fezeka, and Children of the Night (rescuing American children from prostitution). Check out those links to find some truly important charities.

Wes Craven's Shocker (1989)

Shocker (aka Wes Craven’s Shocker) is a 1989 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. The relatively low-budget film has since become a cult classic. It starred Mitch Pileggi as the antagonist Horace Pinker. This role gained Mitch fame as Assistant Director Walter Skinner in The X-Files television series.

Tagline:  On October 2, at 6:45 AM mass murderer Horace Pinker was put to death. Now, he’s really mad.

Both Wes Craven and Universal had hoped for the film to launch a franchise (Craven had particularly wanted to create a new series since he felt he had not been given due profits from New Line Cinema resulting from the Nightmare on Elm Street series). However, due to the middling commercial performance of the film, no sequel was made.

A special edition DVD was released in 1999.

Buy This Title only $7.99

Trivia:

• Shocker was filmed in ten weeks and in a low budget. Craven said that all this savings are in a small team work with talent and low known actors.
• According to Wes Craven, the film was severely cut for an R-rating. It took around 13 submissions to the MPAA to receive an “R” instead of an “X”.
• In Jonathan’s second dream, he looks up at a street sign and sees the street names Maddalena and Wagner. Marianne Maddalena was a producer of the film, and the actor playing the executioner was Bruce Wagner.
• When Jonathan and his father enter the Tavern after the funeral of their family, a news program is playing on the TV in the background and discussing the murders. Someone immediately changes the channel and on comes (briefly) the 1986 concert footage of Alice Cooper’s The Nightmare Returns tour.
• One of the bodies that Horace took over (the male “Road Worker” with long black hair) is a former guitarist for Alice Cooper.
• One of the bodies that Horace took over (the “Jogger” in the park) is Jonathan Craven, son of director Wes Craven.

Music:

Original musical contributions were made by Alice Cooper (who would later play Freddy Krueger’s abusive foster father, Mr. Underwood, in Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare), Megadeth who covered Alice Cooper’s 1973 hit No More Mr. Nice Guy. The movie’s “title song” was recorded by The Dudes Of Wrath, which was composed of KISS’ Paul Stanley and producer Desmond Child both on vocals, Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude on guitars, Whitesnake’s Rudy Sarzo on bass guitar, and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee on drums. Also backing vocals by Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony & Kane Roberts.

Soundtrack listing:
“Sword & Stone” – Bonfire
“No More Mr. Nice Guy” – Megadeth
“Shocker” – The Dudes Of Wrath
“Timeless Love” – Saraya
“Demon Bell – The Ballad Of Horace Pinker” – Dangerous Toys
“Love Transfusion” – Iggy Pop
“Different Breed” – Dead On

“Na mach schon, du Arschloch. Wenn du mich rösten willst, dann tu’s doch du Sackgesicht!”

Wie das Leben so spielt: Die Jahre, die es her ist, dass ich Wes Cravens Shocker das letzte Mal gesehen habe, bewegen sich schon im zweistelligen Bereich. Damals hatte ich ihn aus Neugierde aufgenommen (damals gab es noch VHS). Nach der anschließenden Erstsichtung war ich erst mal baff: Was war das nur für ein Film? Auf jeden Fall einer, der Eindruck hinterlassen hat und seit dem wurde die Kassette gehütet wie ein Schatz. Ok, bis zum ersten Umzug. Selbst wenn ich wüsste, wo ich die Kassette damals hingepackt hatte, jetzt, nach dem dritten Umzug ist sie endgültig als vermisst erklärt worden. Was aber auch egal ist, denn als ich kürzlich im Baumarkt (!) war, dachte ich, ich seh nicht recht: Da lag Shocker als Budget-DVD in der 16er-Fassung im Regal. Was mir dann aber auch egal war, denn die Fernsehfassung war gewiss auch geschnitten und gefiel mir trotzdem. Die Frage war im Grunde nur, ob mir der Film auch jetzt noch, über ein Jahrzehnt später, gefallen würde…

Jonathan Parker ist der Sohn des örtlichen Sherriffs, der momentan viel zu tun hat: Seit Monaten schon wird die Stadt von einem unheimlichen Serienkiller heimgesucht, von dem noch immer jede Spur fehlt. Eines Nachts träumt Jonathan, wie der Killer seine Familie umbringt. Als er schweißgebadet aufwacht, bekommt er einen Anruf seines Vaters – es ist geschehen, was Jonathan geträumt hat. Nun kann er ihn, da er ihn als einziger gesehen hat, identifizieren. Horace Pinker wird geschnappt, verurteilt und landet auf dem elektrischen Stuhl. Doch damit beginnt der Horror für Jonathan erst…

Eines fällt einem, im Gegensatz zu damals, sofort ins Auge: Die Rolle des Horace Pinker wird von niemand geringeren gespielt als Mitch Pileggi alias Assistant Director Skinner (Akte X). Ihn einmal in einer anderen Rolle zu sehen tut gut und wirft ein völlig anderes Licht auf den Mann. Aber auch sonst hat der Film nach all der Zeit nichts von seiner Faszination eingebüßt und auch jetzt verstärken sich mit fortwährender Spielzeit des Film die WTF??-Momente, wenn Pinker richtig abgeht. Denn eines sollte man schon im Vorfeld sagen: Shocker bleibt nicht das, was er zu Beginn des Films verspricht.

In der ersten Hälfte des Films möchte man fast sagen, einen typischen Craven-Film zu sehen mit deutlichen Anleihen an Nightmare On Elm Street, wie Wes Craven ja auch selber zugibt. Er hätte sich zu der Zeit noch in einer Phase befunden, in der ihn die Traumwelt und die reale Welt sowie ihre Beziehung untereinander sehr beschäftigt haben. Es ist also düster und spannend, und es wäre ganz bestimmt kein Beinbruch gewesen, wenn es denn in dieser Art weiter gegangen wäre. Aber ab der Hinrichtung Pinkers wird es mehr und mehr surreal und abgedreht. Um bei der Nightmare-Reihe zu bleiben: Waren auch hier die ersten Teile noch relativ ernst und böse, wurden die nachfolgenden Teile der Reihe immer ironischer und es wurde deutlich “lustiger”. Shocker schafft diesen Wandel innerhalb eines Films. Was aber nicht unbedingt schlecht ist.

Während Freddy noch die Verkörperung des Bösen war, welches die ältere Generation im Grunde selber geschaffen haben, so stellt Pinker die Angst vor der Technik dar. Ohne Strom ist er nichts und auch das Fernsehen spielt eine zentrale Rolle. Jetzt hätte man das ganze mit Sicherheit durch und durch Böse und furchteinflößend darstellen können, somit wäre einem aber der doch recht lustige, aber irgendwie auch böse Showdown entgangen, der seinesgleichen sucht. Shocker ist nicht für jeden etwas. Aber für Horrorfans mit ein wenig krankem Humor ist er auf jeden Fall einen Blick wert!

Somit lässt sich nur noch eines feststellen: Ich mag den Film immer noch und werde mir dann noch bei Gelegenheit die ungekürzte Fassung zulegen. Was geschnitten wurde, wie sich ja im Netz nachlesen lässt, ist nicht wirklich handlungsentscheident sondern nur noch eine Spur brutaler, der Film wird durch die Schnitte aber nicht wirklich zerstört, auch wenn diese spürbar sind.

(Season 3, Episode 21-24)

Less on the aliens and more on the government cover-up side of things as the third season winds to a close. Weirdly, the finale didn’t leave me as much on the edge of my seat as I expected, though I’m glad that I only have to wait a week to find out what happens.

Can you believe it’s been three years already? It feels like we just started this project over the summer. Oh how far our little agents have come, as well as the technology they use. It’s still beepers and giant cell phones, but they’re getting there.

–>to continue reading, follow the link over to the full article on CliqueClack TV

Fox (“Don’t call me Fox”) Mulder (David Duchovny) is a believer in the paranormal. He has been assigned to the X-Files unit which investigates FBI cases for which standard investigatory techniques don’t seem to work. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), a medical doctor and FBI agent, is a skeptic and a non-believer. She is assigned to partner up with Mulder in helping him with solving the X-Files. Together, they investigate paranormal cases which takes them all the way to alien conspiracies within our government and even puts their lives and careers at risk.

Episode 01: Pilot
It is a good pilot episode. The characters were well introduced, the use of the X-Files as a mystery of the series plot is well explained, the setting is good, the case of the episode is good, the actors are great, the mystery is wonderful. There is one problem though which brought the episode a bit down for me: The story is told too slow. And I have a little problem with the score of Mark Snow: It is boring.
So: a good start to one of the probably best TV series ever, if you want to believe the fans. I am thrilled for the next nine seasons. 7/10

Episode 02: Deep Throat
Military UFOs – interesting topic for the second episode, but a bit boring executed. The first half of investigation was pretty calm and boring the whole time, but when it came to the UFOs and the military basis the episode got interesting. The ending was lame. So Mulder’s memories were erased and the mystery person was somehow uninteresting.
I just ask myself, how fast Mulder and Scully (or any other person) changed the window on their car, after it broke. 7/10

Episode 03: Squeeze
A good episode. Creepy murderer, not much sci-fi stuff but mutant crap and nobody from the FBI except Scully likes Mulder. The only things that nerved were the calm moments in the episode – too much of them, when Mulder and Scully looking into the suspect’s apartment, finding something, waiting for ten second to say something and discussing afterward. five minutes could be cut or spend with other things. Donal Logue’s character was a bit over the top. 7/10

Episode 04: Conduit
Another solid episode, this time a little bit lame, because the story sucked balls and was uninteresting. The most interesting fact was the history of Mulder and the abduction of his sister. Do we have a little ongoing story here? I didn’t care much about the case; it began great, but slowly went to sucking, because some plots weren’t even considered to conclude. 5,5/10

Episode 05: The Jersey Devil
Well, I don’t know about this episode. It is some kind of a “Nell” ripoff (or was Nell a ripoff from this X File?), and not an interesting one. Even Scully’s private moments (she had a date and she blew it for Mulder – what a shocker) were not really interesting. But everything was solid enough to keep me the whole time, it wasn’t just not good enough. Better than the last episode was it anyway. 6/10

Episode 06: Shadows
Another boring episode with another uninteresting story. It is part of the series, but somehow I don’t like how the authors and producers are telling the story. For minutes nothing happens and it is just plain investigation (and even this verges to boredom), in other minutes supernatural stuff happens, but it is still uninteresting and it doesn’t have any thrill. I hope that is a typical season one problem or otherwise I will be bored the rest of the series. 5,5/10

Episode 07: Ghost in the Machine
The episode was alright; artificial intelligence was okay for the mystery, but I thought every second, there would be a master guy behind the computer, who controls everything. But no, at the end it was just the machine. The ending was trash, though: The machine regenerating itself… How logical is that?
The episode didn’t knock my socks off, but it was better than the last ones. The first season seems really boring. 6,5/10

Episode 08: Ice
Hm, this episode is one of the highlights of the series? Well, I don’t really think so. The episode was atmospheric and had a good story, but it kind of didn’t have any thrill. The episode was too predictable and let me ask myself, why Dr. Hodge (Xander Berkeley) was fighting against Mulder, when Nancy (Felicity Huffman) was the one with the worm in the body? And why Mulder was so aggressive with his gun, when he wasn’t even infected? And why was Nancy not even aggressive, even though she actually had the worm in her? This episode built too much secrets and forgot the actual story. But the atmosphere saved the episode. 7/10

Episode 09: Space
It is nice to see a NASA program in a fictional TV show very realistic, but the story about the “face” or whatever it was, was just confusing and not concluded. After all just a big alien mystery about aliens (or whatever they were) trying to sabotage the project… but why? And what has it to do with the famous Mars face, which was shown at the beginning? Some flashbacks from Colonel Belt (Ed Lauter) showed a red planet, which let me think that they were on Mars – but this just couldn’t be the fact, so I was confused the whole episode.
And the rescue mission was dumb as well – the astronauts were rescued way too easy and simple. And kind of nothing happened here. Nevertheless the episode was good enough. 6/10

Episode 10: Fallen Angel
Finally an episode with government secrets. And why is is always Mulder, who sees people captured by the aliens?
The episode began very lame and uninteresting, but it got better after a while. The Colonel was a shitty character, as well as Max (Scott Bellis). And the last scene was somehow boring. I know this shows us, that the government is covering something up, but I got this already during the episode; I didn’t need another extra three minutes to explain, why this and that happened.
Nothing more to say. 6,5/10

Episode 11: Eve
What a creepy episode. And what a good one. First I thought about vampires, but this is not a supernatural series. Then Mulder thought about aliens, but this was pretty much gone, too. The cloning story was interesting, but much more interesting was the whole Eve thing. And then the big twists with the kids. OMG, that was really creepy and I had goosebumps all the time. And the creepiest moment was the ending: Eve 8 (Harriet Sansom Harris) joins the other Eves. “How did you know I’d come?” – “We just knew.” Baah, creepy. 9 year old kids killing for a prank, that is just sick. I just want to know, how the connection was built between all the Eves.
I loved that episode, just the sequence with Mulder and Scully and the two kids in the finale was kind of awkward. Finally a real highlight in this season, even though I think fans of this show won’t see it that way. 9/10

Episode 12: Fire
The episode was alright, even though the story was completely uninteresting. Did I miss something or was the motive completely missing? Did I miss something else or did I just not see the connection between the fire in the opening scene and the story in the episode? I was kind of confused all along the episode.
At least it gave us some good moments with Mulder; a bit fighting against the own demons, a bit love story (“She is fire”) and evidence for Scully really caring about Mulder – I miss this somehow in the premiere season.
The episode wasn’t really a burner (lol), I already forgot, what happened in most parts. 5,5/10

Episode 13: Beyond the Sea
Well, I did believe. Two stories merge into one, I liked it, but the story about Scully’s dead father was kind of not finished here. It began, and then it stopped with the undelivered message. The writers didn’t put this in, because the viewer must ask themselves, if they believed Luther (Brad Dourif) or not. The message would be the answer to this problem, but it wasn’t in the episode. Kind of a shame, because this episode seems unfinished, it ended suddenly without a proper conclusion.
But it was nice to see Scully in the center of the episode once, but why didn’t Mulder wore his bulletproof vest, when all the others did – looks just like a plot device to keep Mulder out of the story. 6/10

Episode 14: Genderbender
An interesting episode, but too lame to have thrill and atmosphere and at the end the story was really thin and didn’t have a proper conclusion to the case and an open mystery (again). Everything ended without an explanation, just the murder was captured. But how he transformed, why he had high pheromones, why he did it… No question was answered, which is kind of a shame. The writers put so much into the mystery, serve us 39 minute a mystery murder investigation and try for the last three, four minutes to solve every mystery. Only that the writers never did that.
After all this episode is completely useless and didn’t bring anything. Nothing for an eventual main story arc, nothing for our two heroes and nothing for anything. Pretty much the most boring episode so far, even though I was interested in the topic. 4,5/10

Episode 15: Lazarus
It was an average episode with a good mystery, but some unsolved mysteries again. First: What was with the tattoo? Why did it change the body and why did it vanish, after Willis (Christopher Allport) died. And what meaning did the tattoo have at all? This episode just had too much mystery and not one single question was answered. This pulled the episode down heavily, because it had a good story. But no conclusion – bummer.
Nut what I liked about the episode was a little bit more character from Scully. With her connection to Willis she almost had a reason to fully believe in the supernatural. But I already know she is always at square one after every episode. She already saw a lot and still doesn’t believe. 5/10

Episode 16: Young at Heart
A good episode. Just the story was uninteresting, but at least the writers didn’t make it a complete failure. Nice to see somebody from Mulder’s past, and everything was turning into a revenge story, but I can live with it. At least Scully got shot (even though she had a vest on), so the FBI is once again not perfect. And I kind of liked the cliffhanger of this episode; maybe the story is coming back at a later time (or this cliffhanger reminds me of the open ones of Buffy’s first seasons).
I kind of have nothing more to say. 6,5/10

Episode 17: E.B.E.
The episode was totally alright. Finally a real alien story, Scully starting to believe (with the exception of the fake photo she didn’t complain once, if I remember correctly), Mulder’s Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) with another appearances (now he kind of is in the main story, isn’t he?) and the first episode with the lone gunmen. Okay, they were really boring in this one (and I don’t know if I should watch the spin-off with these three guys, because they’re just boring), but the episode was still alright. Only the fact that Scully was so truthful and showed her FBI badge while they were undercover in the base was dumb – why did she do that? Just to give the writers the possibility to take Mulder out for a little run from the men with guns to see that the alien is gone? 6,5/10

Episode 18: Miracle Man
The episode was good, even though the story was uninteresting and predictable. The mystery story wasn’t really that good, because of the no-mystery conclusion. So this wasn’t an X file at all, like Scully mentioned at the beginning, and I am asking myself what this episode has to offer otherwise. Okay, it had Mulder thinking about the abduction of his sister while he was a child, but this could be mentioned at any episode. This makes the episode a filler in the middle of other filler episodes in a procedural mystery FBI show. Kind of boring.
The writers could have done more with the healing cult (or whatever), because the scene at the cemetery was good and had some good points and possibilities (but I was reminded on the Genderbender episode); for the rest, this episode was useless, but at least not boring. 7/10

Episode 19: Shapes
The episode was alright, but way too predictable for me. I was thinking about the werewolf topic, before the intro came and I basically was right. Only here in form of shape shifters, like Mulder said. Why didn’t the writers did this topic with werewolves? Why this lame conclusion?
I had some problems with the episode, because it was really predictable and therefore boring. But I like werewolves being handled in mystery shows, because it is always a bloody matter – but here only without blood.
The guest characters were a bit boring though and I didn’t care about the Indian topic. Maybe the writers tried to put too much mystery into that, but the mystery was gone from the beginning. Well, the mystery actually never came. 6,5/10

Episode 20: Darkness Falls
A barely interesting episode. Though it was nice that the writers dealt with nature and eco stuff for a change, but the story was completely boring and I almost fell asleep. With stories in the woods you can do much more than just this.
Barely interesting was the ending. Okay, very nice that Mulder and Scully weren’t able to rescue themselves and actually were in the cocoon, but the ending was so nice for a little on-going story. But I already know the writers won’t pick that up in the next episode. At least Mulder got some new material for his conspiracy, so this episode might be not completely unimportant. 4,5/10

Episode 21: Tooms
I am surprised. And I was right. The writers didn’t picked up the ending from last episode, instead they picked up the story from another episode. Eugene Tooms (Doug Hutchinson) is back and I quite liked that episode. Not only is Tooms one of the creepier serial killers, but it had the introduction of FBI director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and the guy who always smokes (what does he have to say, when he is always sitting in the back and preparing for getting lung cancer?). And where does the fact come from that the FBI will close all the X files and basically send Mulder and Scully to the streets (even though Skinner seems to believe that both agents are one of their best)? I saw that storyline too often in other TV shows. Though the success of investigation in a branch, the boss wants to close it – waah, I hate those stories.
Well, I have some points which were disappointing. It seems that everybody (except Mulder) wanted to believe that Tooms is a healthy man again. Come on, his guy was a suspect in serial killer cases, you let him out of a mental institution after not even one year and you believe he is not sick and not a psycho anymore? WTF? Well, the story wanted it that way anyway, so I shouldn’t get worked up with this. Still a good episode, but the finale was a bit lame. 7,5/10

Episode 22: Born Again
Well, the episode was alright. gain nothing special, nothing boring, but I couldn’t care less about the episode’s story. Especially after some mystery stories weren’t solved again. Take Michelle (Andrea Libman) for example. Is she now a reincarnation of the dead cop or was she “just” possessed by him? And why did the dead cop take so much time for his revenge (when the girl actually was his reincarnation)? It is like the writers wanted to deal with this story later, but it is not a good idea to conclude a first season’s story in one of the later seasons. This is getting on my nerves more and more.
Well, nothing more to say. 6,5/10

Episode 23: Roland
The episode was good. Interesting story, interesting character and at least some sort of an explanation for what’s happening. But it looks kind of bad, when the writers steal from themselves. This story is partly a repeat of last episode’s story, I saw some parallels.
Roland was an interesting character and Zelkjo Ivanek gave everything for a nice performance, but sometimes he was unintentionally funny and awkward and I don’t know if I should blame the writers. The thing with the jet engine wasn’t really interesting, but it was nice to see some answered questions here.
The kill with the liquid nitrogen was very nice, I almost had to laugh how the police marked how the dead body lied on the ground (another unintentionally funny thing). I just can’t live with the fact that Roland remembered how to stop the engine, even though it kind of was impossible for him to remember that. 7,5/10

Episode 24: The Erlenmeyer Flask
Well, at least some sort of a season finale, even though the episode was a bit boring and the story partly interesting.
Deep Throat is back – not really interesting, because he only was in here to let the audience know, it is an episode with the main story arc. He got killed at the end and maybe this will be a push for Mulder and Scully to investigate on their own about the things that happen.
The beginning was nice, a nice little car chase with flying cars (LOL, I really had to laugh during the first scene) and the story with the guy drowned, yet not drowned was interesting. The extraterrestrial DNA story is good enough for future storylines (finally the alien plot seems to beginning) and the scene with the men in the tanks was awesome. And it was good to see Mulder and Scully investigating on their own for a while. While Scully had her moments in the laboratories, Mulder surely had some different problems (well, the “kidnapping” thing was a bit of a failure, because it didn’t raise any suspense)
The episode just didn’t feel as a season finale to me, but it was a good episode. Finally a bit more of a main story. 7,5/10

Season average is 6,42. I heard that the next seasons have more on-going stories to offer, so I hope it gets better. Sometimes I just got frustrated with all the open mysteries. And when the 2009 fall season is finished some time in October I hope to finish some other seasons, because currently I find no time to finish TV shows. Beverly Hills, 90210 and Friday Night Lights are still waiting…

The X-Files: I Want To Believe

When a former priest begins having psychic visions of a missing FBI agent, Mulder and Scully are called back into action to assist in solving the crime.

Starring – David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Xzibit, Mitch Pileggi

It’s been a really long time since I have watched the X-Files TV show so I wasn’t that excited about checking out this flick. I had been a big fan of the mythology of X-Files, any story involving the arc of Mulder’s missing sister was prime viewing for me. However this film plays more like a one shot story. Maybe it should have been left as that.

It’s not that the movie is bad, it’s just not the type of X-Files I wanted to see. In fact, other than the apparently psychic priest, there’s no other supernatural occurrences going on. Towards the end there is a tinge of the abnormal but with a very scientific explanation, although the explanation is highly far fetched and would have been better off as something paranormal.

It was great to see Mulder and Scully together again and I really enjoy David Duchovony’s portrayal. He’s always got some smart-ass remark to throw in and the dialogue between Mulder and Scully is usually fun and entertaining. Billy Connolly does well as the former priest but beyond that the other actors were boring and one dimensional, especially Xzibit. Why is he even in this movie? Pretty much all his dialogue in the movie consists of him commenting on how he doesn’t like or doesn’t believe anything Mulder says.

All in all it was an enjoyable film, just not an enjoyable X-Files film. If they do continue the series I’d love to see them go the extra-terrestial route and get back to what made me enjoy the TV series in the first place.

Under the marquee – Will

(Season 2, Episode 3)

It looks like Ethan is going to be even more direct trouble than I expected. Arkin had played the role like he was going to orchestrate events in a subtle manner to achieve his goals.

This episode, by approaching Hale directly with his latest scheme to eliminate SAMCRO from Charming, he proved that his arrogance has him feeling completely above the law. I’m surprised Hale was so supportive of SAMCRO, but perhaps it’s “the devil you know.” He wants to get rid of them, but there are acceptable ways to achieve that.

–>to continue reading, follow the link over to the full article on CliqueClack TV

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone – least of all, hardened horror fans – the studios’ home video departments love to unceremoniously dump genre fare onto DVD right around Halloween. So, I thought I’d make a quick, easy guide to the highlights of this fall’s horror releases … which is to say I’ve opted to omit the softcore flicks and the direct-to-video garbage.  And, instead of a quick, easy guide, it’s coming through in installments.  What can I say?

So, here’s part one of our guide to Halloween DVD releases, replete with my shining commentary.  Got any questions?  Want to tell me how much of a chump I am?  Leave me a comment, fools!

September 8th, 2009
- MAD MONSTER PARTY: Special Edition - It’s a stop-motion animation mash-up of THE MONSTER SQUAD and Rankin/Bass’ previous holiday-themed specials, e.g. THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS, not to mention voicework by Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller and a script penned by MAD magazine creator Harvey Kurtzman.  Strangely, MAD MONSTER PARTY was initially promoted – and indeed, the opening title sequence bears the punctuation in question – with a question mark affixed; that is, MAD MONSTER PARTY?  I’ve never been quite clear on exactly what is being asked, but considering the premise of the film is that all of the monsters gather at Baron von Frankenstein’s isolated castle to celebrate his apparent advances in splitting the atom, I’d say it probably isn’t all that important.

September 15th, 2009
- Universal Horror: Classic Movie Archive (THE BLACK CAT/HORROR ISLAND/MAN MADE MONSTER/NIGHT MONSTER/CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN) – Now here’s an odd but welcome assemblage of classic horror.  Correction: per the comments on this post, THE BLACK CAT featured in this boxed set is not the Edgar G. Ulmer directed 1934 version, but a ‘41 thriller featuring Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone.  Major props to Filmcans for the correction!   Supposedly, Universal churned out HORROR ISLAND with little cost to the studio, and they presumably saved on creative labor given the plot: a group of disparate treasure-seekers congregate on a lonely island only to become the prey of a methodic killer.  MAN MADE MONSTER sees Lon Chaney Jr. as an electricity-immune man whose powers grow exponentially with the unwanted assistance of mad scientist Lionel Atwill, who is intent on creating an army of electrified zombie soldiers.  Despite top billing, Lionel Atwill and Bela Lugosi have small roles in NIGHT MONSTER, the story of a mystic killer stalking a small, swampy town.  CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN is a totally awesome, semi-exploitation film about a gorilla who, upon receiving a human gland transplant, transforms into a human woman … but with all the appetites and savagery of a gorilla.  The title character is played by Acquanetta, nicknamed “The Venezuelan Volcano” – if that doesn’t sell you on CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN, I don’t know what will. 

- The Wes Craven Collection (THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW/SHOCKER/THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS) – Building a collection of Wes Craven films is pretty much ignoring the elephant in the room that is the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series, to say nothing of the cult classic SWAMP THING.  These are three wildly different films; the first is a very loose adaptation of anthropologist Wade Davis’ journey to Haiti in search of what would eventually be known as tetradotoxin, the second a Mitch Pileggi vehicle about a serial killer endowed with fantastic abilities thanks to the electric chair and the involvement of Satan, and lastly, a twisted fairy tale of Reaganomics and incest featuring a young Ving Rhames.  For my money, Craven’s best film to date remains the original THE HILLS HAVE EYES, but at least this collection doesn’t including the middling VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN.

- The John Carpenter Collection (THEY LIVE/THE THING/PRINCE OF DARKNESS/THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED) – Now here’s a damn fine collection of horror films.  Sure, I’m not a fan of Carpenter’s THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED remake, but Carpenter’s work doesn’t get much better than THEY LIVE, THE THING, and PRINCE OF DARKNESS.  I know it’s something like heresy to say, but as good as THE THING is, I still think THEY LIVE is the better film simply for the absolutely ham-handed, on-the-nose delivery of Carpenter’s message of distrust and distaste for an increasingly corporatized, bottom line-driven hyper-Capitalist culture driven by a wealth-obsessed elite … even if Carpenter’s elite is a consortium of skinless aliens from a far-flung galaxy parading as humans.  You can’t beat the priceless “Rowdy” Roddy Piper bellowing “I came here to chew gum and kick ass … and I’m all out of gum.”  THE THING is one of the finest remakes ever undertaken, a film that absolutely endures on atmosphere and Rob Bottin’s gruesome special effects; the film had an unfortunate theatrical shelf life given the fact it was released against another alien film, E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL.  And PRINCE OF DARKNESS is just a weird, at times incomprehensible stew of quantum physics, religion, and Alice Cooper as a homeless puppet of Satan.  If they had only replaced THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED with Carpenter’s superbly dark love letter to H.P. Lovecraft, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, this collection would be the DVD equivalent of the Triforce.

- Monster Force, Volume One - Does no one else remember this short-lived cartoon of the mid-’90s?  Admittedly, it wasn’t around for all that long; “Monster Force” lasted thirteen episodes, seven of which are on this first volume, but nonetheless, it’s about a team of do-gooders in the year 2020 who use advanced weaponry and technology to protect the world from Count Dracula and his marauding henchmen.  Hell, this cartoon warranted an equally short-lived toy line, too.  Well, here’s hoping for the second volume sometime in the months to come, yeah?

- Dark Shadows: The Vampire Curse - ”Dark Shadows” may be a soap opera, but I give it something of a de facto pass considering it was a highly popular day time show that featured mincing, growling vampires, time travel, ghosts, werewolves, the living dead, and a parallel dimension.  Ostensibly, “Dark Shadows” will be returning to the limelight via a major motion picture remake with director Tim Burton at the helm and Johnny Depp taking up the mantle of Barnabus Collins, the grandiose vampire whose story lies at the center of this collection of episodes.

- Dark Shadows: The Haunting of Collinwood - Another collection of the “Dark Shadows” soap opera, this time an arc detailing a spirit haunting the comely estate of Collinwood.  Nowadays, “Dark Shadows” tends to play a bit like dinner theatre, somewhat boorish and too self-serious, but the sensibilities of the Hammer horror films actually combine a little too well with the melodrama of typical afternoon pablum like “All My Children.”  After all, I’d pay to see Susan Lucci to be attacked by a horde of the undying dead … wouldn’t you?

- GRACE - Yikes.  This Anchor Bay release focuses on a stillborn child that strangely “comes to life” with an appetite for blood.  Between this and the IT’S ALIVE Collection, if you don’t get your fill of nefarious newborns, you might consider therapy!

- The IT’S ALIVE Collection (IT’S ALIVE, IT LIVES AGAIN, IT’S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE) – Hey, if you love one movie about a bloodthirsty mutant baby run amok, you’re gonna love three.  Besides, you owe it to yourself to see Larry Cohen’s cult classic follow-up to HELL UP IN HARLEM, right?

- KING KONG ESCAPES - Toho introduced their King of the apes to the silver screen not from Universal’s classic film, but an animated series popular in both the States and Japan.  Kong battles his arch-nemsis, a mad scientist named Doctor Who (presumably of no relation to the TARDIS-inhabiting Brit), and grapples with his most fearsome foe, an enormous metal doppleganger called Mechani-Kong.  Folks, I’m prepared to say, here and now, that if I ever get a tattoo, it will definitely be of Mechani-K0ng.  He’s a towering robotic monkey able to shoot lasers from his eyes.  It’s a good thing I didn’t know about Mechani-Kong when I was six, because I probably would have just jumped off a building, content that I would never again know anything in this life as inconceivably awesome as Mechani-Kong.

- KING KONG VERSUS GODZILLA - Clash of the Titans!  And, of course, by “Titans,” I mean “Asian men in ill-fitting, smelly, hot rubber suits stumbling into one another on a soundstage.”  I kid, though; KING KONG VERSUS GODZILLA is to Japanese giant monster movies (or, if you’re Japanese, kaiju) what the Golden Corral is to the morbidly obese: an opportunity to glut yourself to near-sickness heights on all of your favorite things!  You’ve not only got the two title characters battling it out, but you get to see Kong punch a giant octopus, get drunk and pass out like a freshman Sigma Chi, Kong get shocked with electricity more often than an unsupervised toddler in a power station, and Kong suffer the abject disrespect of being forcibly intoxicated, bound, and transported via giant balloons.  The film’s end leaves the victor somewhat ambiguous, but an inarguable truth is that history has been kinder to Godzilla than his primate nemsis, and this film might very well have been the reason for that … Peter Jackson notwithstanding.

- Universal Legacy Series: THE WOLFMAN - This special edition of the 1941 horror classic – preceeded by special editions of Browning’s DRACULA and Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN as part of their 75th anniversary – arrives to herald the February theatrical release of the remake.  This special edition features a host of features including a Kenneth Branagh-narrated documentary, featurettes on Lon Chaney Jr. and make-up legend Jack Pierce, and more.  There seems to be some confusion as to when this DVD will be released; although scheduled for September, there’s scuttlebutt Universal will push back the release to February.  Until all of that confusion is ironed out, you can say your prayers at night and hope to get this chance to see Lon Chaney Jr. (an Oklahoma City native!) beaten to death with a cane by his father.  Uh, and I mean Claude Raines, not Lon Chaney Sr.  That would be weird.

Como saben y ansian, Grey’s Anatomy vuelve a la pantalla con un evento de 2 horas, el 24 de septiembre (noviembre para latinoamerica, no se sabe que dia aún). Abajo esta la sinopsis oficial de la sexta temporada lanzada por ABC.

Tecnicamente, el evento esta listado como dos episodios separados, ambos escritos por Krista Vernoff y presentando a Jessica Capshaw como un miembro oficial del elenco por primera vez.

El primer episodio, ha sido titulado “Good Mourning,” y saldra a la vista a las 9 p.m.

En este capitulo el personal del hospital comienza a lidiar con las repercusiones de la muerte de George. Esto afecta mucho al personal, el cual encontrara maneras unicas para superar esa gran perdida.

La madre de George regresa, enfrentandose con la dificil tarea de decidir que hacer con sus organos.

El segundo episodio, ha sido titulado “Goodbye,” y sigue al capitulo anterior a las 10 p.m.

Al comenzar este episodio, el tiempo habra pasado. Todos en el Seattle Grace estaran luchando luego de laperdida de uno de ellos y buscaran cualquier distraccion que puedan encontrar.

Meredith y Derek consumaran su matrimonio en cualquier lugar y todo el tiempo, mientras que Cristina y Owen siguen las instrucciones de la Dra. Wyatt de abtenerse del sexo.

Los invitados para “Good Mourning” son Shannon Lucio como Amanda (La mujer responsable de la muerte de George…o si prefieren, la mujer a la que George salvo de la muerte), Debra Monk como la madre de George, Martha Plimpton como Pam, Mitch Pileggi como Larry, Zoe Boyle como Clara y Zack Shada como Andy.

Entre los invitados para “Goodbye” está incluida Amy Madigan como la Dra. Wyatt, Adam Lazarre White como la residente de oncologia, Lucio, Plimpton, Pileggi, Boyle y Shada.

“Good Mourning” fue escrito por Krista Vernoff y dirigido por Ed Ornelas.

“Goodbye” tambien fue escrito por Vernoff pero dirigido por Bill D’Elia.

“Anatomía de Grey” también está de actualidad, y es que hace poco se han dado a conocer algunas noticias acerca de fichajes de la sexta temporada y spoilers que podrían ocurrir en la season premiere.

Pero vayamos por partes. Primero confirmar el regreso de Mitch Pileggi, actor que ya en temporadas pasadas (2007) apareció para interpretar a uno de los jefes del Seattle Grace, Larry Jennings. Ahora parece que tendrá bastante que ver con Izzie o George, aunque no se sabe la misión del mandamás en los primeros episodios de la nueva temporada. Al actor lo hemos podido ver como personaje ocasional en series como “Sobrenatural”, “Boston Legal”, “Mentes criminales”, “CSI”, “Reaper”, “Nip/ Tuck” o “Stargate Atlantis”.

El otro fichaje viene únicamente el nombre de la actriz, que es Martha Plimpton, aunque por ahora solo se conoce de la trama que encarnará a la madre de un joven paciente del hospital. Aunque se confirma que estará en un arco argumental de varios episodios.

En cuanto a los spoilers que van circulando por internet a día de hoy son algunos de estos:

-          Habrá un sacerdote en la season premiere aunque nadie se va a casar, imaginaros su función que tiene sabiendo que el actor que encarna a George no sigue en la serie esta temporada.

-          La sexta temporada no dará comienzo unos meses después del final de la quinta como se ha rumoreado, en la season premiere Izzie y George todavía se debaten entre la vida y la muerte porque lo que no habrá salto temporal.

Por ahora ninguna información más relevante de la serie, que sabemos que dará comienzo en septiembre y para lo cual todavía quedan muchos rumores e incógnitas que resolver ¿qué creéis que pasará?

Apesar da semana não ter sido muito boa de posts para  o blog, afinal de contas, reflexo de uma semana muito, mas muito cheia de tarefas, o cine em cena não poderia ficar fora. Esta semana a seleção de filmes ficou razoável. Foi de 5 a 1.

Lembrando, a escala é a seguinte: de 0 a 2, não assista – não vale nem R$1,99! 3 é por sua conta, assista e tire sua conclusão. 4 e 5 eu “agarantio”: pode assistir sossegado, vale R$1,99! 

Valente: Erica Bain é radialista em Nova Iorque e está noiva de um homem que ama. Toda sua felicidade lhe é subitamente tirada quando os dois sofrem um ataque brutal. Ela fica gravemente ferida e ele morre. Sem conseguir superar a tragédia, Erica começa uma caçada noturna pelas ruas, atrás dos responsáveis. Sua batalha por justiça chama a atenção pública e mobiliza a cidade. Com a polícia de Nova Iorque investigando a fundo o caso e um detetive vigiando seus passos, ela passa a se questionar se a vingança seria o caminho certo e se estaria ela se tornando aquilo que deseja combater.

Nota 5. Belo filme. O filme em alguns momentos é lento, pode até desagradar alguns por isso. Mas é de tamanha qualidade que mesmo assim consegue prender a atenção do telespectador. Destaque para show da atriz Jodie Foster, que consegue ser “duas pessoas em uma” e ter a mesma desenvoltura. Muito bom!

A lenda do tesouro perdido – O livro dos segredos: A história envolverá o segredos sobre Abraham Lincoln (Presidente dos EUA de 1861) e John Wilkes Booth (assassino de Lincoln) e 18 páginas perdidas de seu diário. Bruckheimer revelou que as peças de um quebra-cabeça serão montadas e a combinação para dissolvê-las durante a trama será as páginas perdidas do diário.

Nota 4. É interessante, bem ao estilo Indiana Jones, cheio de “segredos”, perseguição, tiros e um “grande” amor. Normal e previsível, mas consegue prender a atenção. Nota 4, mas sem louvor.

Arquivo X – Eu quero acreditar: Quando um grupo de mulheres é abduzido nas colinas rurais da Virgínia, as únicas pistas são grotescos restos humanos que começam a aparecer nas encostas nevadas ao longo de uma rodovia. Com policiais desesperados por qualquer dica, um padre em desgraça, motivado por visões, coloca a cidade numa caçada que culmina na descoberta de um bizarro experimento secreto que pode ou não estar ligado aos desaparecimentos. Seria um caso típico para os Arquivos X. Mas o FBI fechou o departamento que investigava tais casos paranormais anos atrás. Os melhores profissionais para o trabalho são os ex-agentes Fox Mulder e Dra. Dana Scully, que não têm qualquer desejo de revistar seus passados.

Nota 3. A série pode até ser espetacular, mas o filme… Nada de mais. Bem normalzinho para o oba-oba que fizeram. Isso sem contar com o final totalmente estranho e sem uma explicação óbvia a respeito de uma “sub-história” dentro da trama.

Quem não cola não sai da escola: Enquanto a maioria dos garotos se mata de estudar, Handsome Davis (Trevor Fehrman) não esquenta a cabeça, apenas encara a escola como um sistema que tenta controlar a sua mente. Isso porque ele e seus três melhores amigos, Sammy (Elden Henson), Victor (Matthew Lawrence) e o gênio Applebee (Martin Starr), sempre usaram táticas criativas e eficiêntes para trapacear nos exames – como conseguir antecipadamente o gabarito das provas. Tudo vai bem até o último ano de escola secundária. É quando finalmente encontram uma oponente à altura pela frente, na figura da durona e esperta diretora Mrs. Stark (Mary Tyler Moore). Surge o dilema: eles devem entrar na fila pela primeira vez, ou correr o risco e tentar burlar mais uma vez as regras da escola?

Nota 2. Sabe aquele filme que você pode assistir sem prestar a atenção que conseguirá entender perfeitamente?! Então, esse é o filme. Só não foi pior porque em alguns momentos relembrei o meu tempo de escola. Só por isso e nada mais.

A Universidade do prazer: Victoria English é a presidente da elitista irmandade feminina chamada Gamma Gamma, da Universidade de South Beach. Inteligente e gananciosa, Victoria está determinada a tirar vantagem de sua posição. Mas com a chegada de uma nova turma, ela passará a lidar com calouras que desejam, a todo custo, entrar para o seleto grupo formado por garotas bonitas, ricas e elegantes.

Nota 1. Creeedo! Além do título – que parece de filme pornográfico, o restante é do mesmo nível: fraquíssimo. O que mais posso falar?! Mais nada, o filme é como sua protagonista, Paris Hilton – sem o mínimo conteúdo e completamente sem sal.