Blogs Against Humanity - Adventures in Sympathetic Misanthropy

...the great BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER re-watch and review of 2020 is coming.  I've watched Buffy. A lot. I've probably watched the complete series from end-to-end about 3 times. I started my 4th re-watch back in 2016, so I could watch it through with my Girlfriend. However, it petered off in season 3 due to scheduling, and it was never completed.  I'll go into greater length about all of this when I start my reviews proper, but suffice it to say, BUFFY and ANGEL both mean a hell of a lot to me to this day. Even though I didn't grow up with it, since I was a grown man when it began, its still a part of the fabric of who I have become.  Sure, I've watched it, read books about it, read some books and a lot of comics set within its universe, listened to the music from the series, and even sat in on discussion-panels at conventions about it. But, even though I have at times analyzed its content and its themes, I've never truly sat down and watched it with an eye ...

I'm a sucker for a well-done homage, and that's absolutely what we have here. LAKE NOWHERE is a loving tribute to those halcyon days of the 1980's VHS era, and does a great job of invoking the memories of finding an unknown gem of a flick sitting on a shelf in the horror-section. And I have to say, its definitely worth the nostalgic ride that follows. In this modern world of digital releases, its as easy as proverbial pie to find something worth watching. From Netflix, to Amazon Prime, YouTube, Hulu, Shudder, Disney Plus, Tubi, Pluto TV, and more, you can browse, select, and start watching in less time than it took to wait in line at BLOCKBUSTER (I don't miss you, btw), or your favorite mom-and-pop video store (I do miss you). Now, as AWESOME as this convenience is, there's also something that has been lost in the process, a feeling that amounts to the thrill of the hunt, not to mention that sense of anticipation once you had it in your grubby, little hands. Back ...

So, there are gonna be some spoilers . Let me sum up the overall plot just a bit. At Superman's urging, the Justice League, fearing an all-out invasion by Darkseid, decide to strike first in an attempt to destroy Apokolips itself. The attack fails utterly, and Earth is devastated by Darkseid's forces. Two years later, with the planet facing complete annihilation, a now-powerless Superman, alongside Raven of the Teen Titans, has a plan to defeat Darkseid for good. To do that, they're going to need the aid of John Constantine, who seems determined to drink himself to death. Hoo boy. That was definitely a thing that happened. The Apokolips War is a relentlessly-grim action-vehicle that out-Snyder's Zack Snyder, and asks the all-important question, "How many recognizable characters can we kill with extreme brutality?" Add the odd bit of humor here-and-there, and some (largely stilted) touching moments, and there you go. The whole thing is driven by what the plot-...

Not-so-little observations , because sometimes I have a lot of words. Please forgive any changes from past to present tense, because sometimes I do that. Perhaps I was a time-traveler in a previous life? * After an adventure in 2005, its time to travel into the far, far future onto a hospitality satellite called Platform One. To be precise, the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six, 5 billion years into the future, to watch the Earth die. Gravity satellites have held back the long-delayed expansion of the sun into a red-giant, AND the host of this event, the so-called National Trust has even moved the continents back into their 20th/21st-century configuration, because that's supposedly the "classic Earth". Makes sense, because that's the configuration for the rise of Homo Sapiens and their various cultures. * Nice global-warming shout-out. Pity we've done so little about it in the 15 years since this episode aired. We suck. * No, the Platform attendant...

This movie is batshit insane . RABID GRANNIES is a film I've ducked for years. Why? Because the original, cheesy VHS cover-photo did nothing to endear me to the idea, nor did the ridiculous movie-title. And then there's the fact that TROMA released it here in the states, and I have something of a love-hate relationship with the studio, because I find them incredibly hit-and-miss. To be fair, they didn't make it, they just distributed it, and that's a fact that eluded me until recently. Now, ducking out on this 1988 Belgian horror-comedy may or may not have been a mistake. I lean towards being wise to do so, because for years now, most of the releases boast big cuts to the gore-quotient, which makes no goddamn sense for a Troma release. However, some kind soul decided to take various releases and use them to cobble-together what may be the most complete version of the film to date, and then opted to put that on YouTube for free. This person is a God among mortals, and th...

Okay folks, time to actually USE this thing on the regular, yeah? So, in addition to anything that just strikes my fancy to watch, I had the urge to re-watch something, and I finally settled on something long overdue for a re-watch. And here we go... Little observations: * After so many years in the wilderness, the first episode of "NuWho" goes so right where the 1996 Fox TV movie went so very wrong. It distills down the entire premise into something very simple and easily accessible. Russell T. Davies doesn't load us down with a truckload of nostalgia-driven continuity references, or a needless regeneration sequence. Nope, what we get is quick, simple, streamlined, and effective. The episode smartly focuses in on Rose Tyler herself, only introducing the Doctor himself a few minutes into the show when Rose is menaced by a classic-series enemy that we haven't seen in FOREVER: The Autons. Backing Rose into a corner and then bringing in the Doctor when, out of nowhere he...