Our first review for 2019’s October Countdown involves a film that’s not quite horror—though it does feature suspense, a few frights, and a title character whom many would consider a monster.
Certainly, Joker seems suited to its October release date.
The leaves brighten and brown and fall to the ground and the footsteps of costumed kids and masquerading party-goers crunch over them as they head for haunted happenings.
Time once again for our annual October Countdown, five seasonal shockers, one for each October weekend and one for Halloween Night. This year’s lunatic line-up includes midsommar horrors, a big-screen supervillain, a devilish documentary, and Japanese zombies, all from 2019.
For the final night, however, we dig into the past and review…. Well, that’s going to be up to you! Read on, my beastly Bureau-crats, and decide what past goody we’ll be picking or panning from the Halloween basket.
James Gray’s hard SF movie has been playing to generally strong reviews– and an uneven box office. It depicts a nearish-future astronaut on a quest to a lost station, out among the solar system’s gas giants.
Put the torches and pitchforks away, my friends. Spidey is staying with the MCU.
Whatever money issues between Sony and Disney that were an impasse have, apparently, been sorted out. So we can look forward to seeing Spider-Man in other MCU movies as well as MCU characters appearing in Spider-Man films.
Happy Friday everyone!
Set after the events of Fallen Kingdom, this short shows what the world has become after the fallout of that film.
Twenty-seven years have passed since the Losers’ Club stopped Pennywise’s killing streak. They’ve grown up and moved on, spreading out across the Greater Toronto Area United States. When the slaughter begins again, they return to Port Hope, Ontario Derry, Maine, hoping to permanently end the life of a certain murderous clown from beyond.
It Chapter Two has much to recommend it, but the fact that I spent a measurable amount of its two hours and 49 minutes trying to identify locations tells you something.
In addition to the previously-mentioned Vision/Scarlet Witch series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, and Loki shows for 2020 and 2021 (depending), Disney also plans shows for Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and the She-Hulk! In addition to these shows, which will connect with the MCU, expect new animated series, like What If…
Further information may be found here, or by Googling, “Marvel fanboys and fangirls lose their…”
Who should play the still-uncast roles? And what other Marvel character should get a series?
Just when it looked like Disney and Marvel Studios had all of their Marvel Toys back, Sony has rejected a new deal that would have seen the profits between the two studios split more equitably– that is, Disney would have received a bigger percentage. At present, it appears that Sony will be continuing on their own with Spider-man, leaving him out of the official MCU films.
Of course, with the kind of money that might be made, and Sony’s shaky track record with the Web-slinger, expect twists and updates to this story.
It wouldn’t be summer without some Weekend Reviews of older films, classic, curious, or forgotten, of interest to the Bureau. This 1970 creature feature follows up Hammer’s better-known One Million Years BC. It’s not as celebrated as that film, but it’s better than Hammer’s other quaintly ridiculous “Cave Man Pictures”—and it exists in both family-friendly and slightly more adult variants.
And these old features come, after all, the closest SF usually gets to a beach movie.
Alternate history is SF, right? In Quentin Tarantino’s lastest film, we have a meandering story about a fading actor, which then turns into alternative history and a movie about, I suppose, movies. It is also the first Tarantino film I’ve seen in the movie theatre (rather than at home) since Kill Bill, Volume 2. What I like about Tarantino’s work I rather like in this movie. What I don’t like about his work I really don’t like in this movie.
Back to Hollywood, then, fifty years ago….