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Hammer Films Retrospective (Part V) Quatermass and the Pitt
Doctor Bernard Quatrermass is frequently credited with being the father of Doctor Who. Which used to mean something good. Regardless, this makes the one-time BBC staff writer Nigel Kneale, the grandfather of Doctor Who, and honestly, it kind of fits. A preachy, judgmental, and hypocritical Leftie who is constantly exasperated by the human race’s refusal to “just grow up.” Nigel Kneale was the creator of the Quatermass serials. His voice was easily and unquestionably the most influential in the shaping of the...
The Wreck of the Halcyon
This weekend was the final running of the Disney World’s Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser. An attraction that is without question the greatest failure in the entire history of Disney Parks. River Country was possibly a more expensive failure but that waterpark was closed due to mechanical failures not a lack of interest. The cost-benefit analysis of repairing River Country versus building a new waterpark was math that came down hard against Disney’s first swimming hole. Superstar Limousine was a much worse concept...
What Happened to Star Wars in One Picture
This is Dave Filoni's wife. Discuss on Social Galactic
Arkhaven Spotlight: Halloween Special #3
Welcome to the Arktoons Spotlight, a regular feature at the Arkhaven Blog. The Spotlight is where I take a look at one title from the amazing world of Arkhaven’s webtoons. If you aren’t familiar with Arktoons, this is meant for you. I am the Dark Herald; I do the blogging here at Arkhaven.com. The blog is mostly pop culture news, reviews, and opinion, in short, the usual. And you aren’t here for the blog. You’re here for the webtoons. Arkhaven is different from other webtoon publishers. While...
Michael Gambon RIP
The second actor to portray Albus Dumbledore has passed. "We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon," a statement from his family said. "Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82. We ask that you respect our privacy at this painful time and thank you for your messages of support and love." The Irish actor's presence added gravity and dignity...
RE:View – Cast A Deadly Spell
The true gods of Earth existed long before our ancestors crawled mindless upon the shore: Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, Nyarlathotep... insatiate, tenebrous monsters, whose ultimate throne is Chaos.Greatest of all is he called Cthulhu. Only in ancient, blasphemous manuscripts can that name be found... and those who decipher it are left pale and numb, aware that in the very act of decipherment, they have become both pawn and prey of an ultra-worldly power that renders human existence both tenuous and trite.The Old...
Trailer Drop Thursday (28 Sept 23)
Strike's over. Which means Hollywood is back in business, (long tired sigh). ARGYLLE This is the weird Mathew Vaughn, Henry Cavill movie Argyle. Think Kingsmen meets Romancing the Stone. I'm not kidding about that. Not even a little bit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mgu9mNZ8Hk DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL There is now an official Doctor Who trailer for the David Tennent Specials. All this does is tell me, "Hey, remember that thing you used to love? We are going to dangle it in front of you and take it...
Hammer Films Retrospective (Part IV) The Mummy
The poster was ready before the picture was finished. When Peter Cushing saw it, he insisted on running his friend through with a spear so as to not cheat the audience. “Cursed be those who disturb the rest of a Pharaoh. They that shall break the seal of this tomb shall meet death by a disease that no doctor can diagnose.” - Translation of the Curse of Wadjet. That was the actual curse placed upon those who would dare disturb the tombs...
Hammer Films Retrospective (Part III) Dracula
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was first and foremost a gentleman. If not necessarily a gentle man. His father was a Colonel in the King’s 60th Rifles and his mother was an Italian Contessa. His parents separated at a young age and he and his sister lived with their mother when she moved to Switzerland. He took an early interest in acting at school when his mother remarried, he returned to Britain. He was Stepcousins with Ian Fleming and was introduced to Prince Yusupov and Grand Duke Pavlovich,...
Hammer Films Retrospective (Part II) Frankenstein Rises!
His nickname was “Props Pete” because of his preferred method of performance. Most actors only interact with props if a director gives them specific instructions to do so. But Props Pete was forever picking up this item or that one during a performance and used it casually with apparent long-accustomed familiarity. It added depth to the role he was playing. He was trying to sell the audience on his character being an expert in whatever field the part was meant to be brilliant...
Hammer Films Retrospective (part I) Gothic Beginnings
I’m honestly not the biggest horror movie guy out there. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate them. Exactly. I just hate what it has turned into. There is so little artistry to it these days. So little concern with trying to provoke the “delightful shiver.” These days it’s all built around scenes that spend as little time as possible building tension and then clobbering the audience with a jump scare, followed by gory body horror. Modern body horror only works if you don’t actually look at...
SAG-AFTRA Votes to Go On Strike Against Video Games
Now that the strike against Hollywood is wrapping up, SAG-AFTRA feeling it's oats has voted to go on strike against the video game industry. This is not going to work the way they think it will. From Deadline: “It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. “The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations, and that the time...
Bob Iger Says He Will Quiet the Culture War
Here he is saying it in the National Review, so you know it has to be true. Oops. Sorry! If you will note the date on that article was November 29 of last year right after he got Chapek fired. And right before he began his war with Ron DeSantis. And made statements about the moral need for gun control. And agreed to let Disney World host the world's largest LGBTQ action conference. And somehow convinced the totally impartial Reedy Creek Improvement District on it's...
Arkhaven Spotlight: Halloween Special #2
Welcome to the Arktoons Spotlight, a regular feature at the Arkhaven Blog. The Spotlight is where I take a look at one title from the amazing world of Arkhaven’s webtoons. If you aren’t familiar with Arktoons, this is meant for you. I am the Dark Herald; I do the blogging here at Arkhaven.com. The blog is mostly pop culture news, reviews, and opinion, in short, the usual. And you aren’t here for the blog. You’re here for the webtoons. Arkhaven is different from other webtoon publishers. While...
Vampire Rules V: Midnight’s War
REPOST: It’s Halloween season so a few things are getting bumped for the next few days. ******************** Countess Elizabeth Bathory; the infamous Blood Countess. Her story is that of a beautiful woman utterly obsessed with maintaining her beauty, no matter what crimes she committed in the process. Yes, she was even worse than Madonna. She tried just about every beauty aid available when her looks began to fade. Arsenic powders and tinctures laced liberally with gold and mercury were tried and of course, failed. One night, in...
Vampire Rules: Netflix Woke Dracula
(Bumped for Halloween 2023, hence the stuff about Jodie Whitaker) Doctor Who’s season finale was a nosedive in the ratings for that series. It didn’t even crack 4 million viewers in the UK and it only hauled in about 400,000 of the Whovian faithful in America. These are the lowest numbers yet. Jodie Whittaker’s turn as the Time Lord (Lady?) has been a ratings disaster. She is reliably rumored to be bailing. (Rumor confirmed, she did) It’s not her fault… Not entirely...
RE:View: Life Force
At the age of 31 Tobe Hooper delivered one of the greatest horror movies of all time for under $140K. Texas Chainsaw Massacre rewrote the rules of American horror as a genre. There was something intimate to the horror of Chainsaw. It spoke to Baby Boomers and told them the old rural world must be cast aside. That it was degenerate, corrupt, and their parents were right to abandon it. A lot of Chainsaw’s success derived from its anti-rural bigotry that...
Disney’s $60 Billion Scam
Yesterday Josh D'Ammaro, the CEO of Disney Parks and Experiences had an absolutely amazing announcement to make. Over the next decade, Disney is going to be investing $60 BILLION into the parks. The business press got stupidly excited about this one, and the entertainment press was peeing itself in awe and wonder at the daring of Iger the White. Why then did the Disney share price crash? Isn't this the good news investors were hoping to hear? Well,...
Unity Creates the Wrong Kind of Unity
Last week Unity Create announced a plan that may have killed the company. Starting next week developers will be charged $0.20 per downloaded game that uses the Unity Engine. This caused an eruption in the game developer community, the kind that might easily turn out to be an extinction-level event. Darklings: Why the big woof? It’s only $0.20. That amount is so small you can’t find a cent key on most planks these days. Good question and here’s the reason for the...
DC Comics IP Theft and the Nuclear Option
Fables is one of DC/Vertigo Comics longer running titles and is wholly owned by its creator Bill Willingham. Stick a pin in the 'wholly owned' part because we are circling back to it. Willingham is one of those artists whose work you are familiar with even if you never heard of him. He got his start as a staff artist for TSR doing work on Dungeons and Dragons in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His work was fairly well known...
Arkhaven Spotlight: Halloween Special #1
Welcome to the Arktoons Spotlight, a regular feature at the Arkhaven Blog. The Spotlight is where I take a look at one title from the amazing world of Arkhaven’s webtoons. If you aren’t familiar with Arktoons, this is meant for you. I am the Dark Herald; I do the blogging here at Arkhaven.com. The blog is mostly pop culture news, reviews, and opinion, in short, the usual. And you aren’t here for the blog. You’re here for the webtoons. Arkhaven is different from other webtoon publishers. While...
Vampire Rules (Part III): Kolchak – The Night Stalker
REPOST: It’s Halloween season so a few things are getting bumped for the next few days. ******************** A man in a cheap suit that would be the envy of every Millenial Hipster on the planet, walks into an office setting that they would envy even more. He is whistling a happy and carefree little tune while he pours himself a cup of coffee that no hipster would touch with a thousand-foot pole. The man throws his cheap straw, trilby at a hat rack, and...
Vampire Rules (Part II)
REPOST: It's Halloween season so a few things are getting bumped for the next few days. ******************** In 1931 Universal Film Studios was faced with a fairly serious problem. They had a decision to make and no matter what that decision was, they were going to lose money on it. They had to do it now, they couldn't put it off any longer. Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer (1927) had completely rewritten the rule book. It was a rulebook that was only about 15...
Vampire Rules (Part I)
REPOST: It's Halloween season so a few things are getting bumped for the next few days. ******************** “I am quite convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events here described really took place, however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight. And I am further convinced that they must always remain to some extent incomprehensible.” – Bram Stoker I debated calling this piece Vampire Rules Suck. Nominal good taste won out. Midnight’s War is the Arkhaven title that currently holds my...
Blogs and Ends: The Blake Overkill Edition
FIRST https://twitter.com/monsterhunter45/status/1696963693312188613 Is it really stolen honor if no one believes you for second? Look armchair Medal of Honor winners, the internet is a thing now. Just googling a little isn't going to remotely sell you as a super ninja Green Beret SEAL in 2023. "Trained sniper, military style..." Even a cook, regardless of service would never have phrased it like that. Also, the whole disassembling and reassembling blindfolded thing doesn't happen. It's bullshit. Any DI who tried to have his...
The Crone Princess
I got into an interesting discussion recently. “What kind of princess is the new Snow White supposed to be anyway?” It was the rehash of just how horrible of a person Rachel Zegler is, and the nasty things she had to say about her new character. Here’s the thing, while I have very little doubt that she’s spoiled, narcissistic, and generally speaking five feet of walking malignancy, she didn’t come up with those lines that she bombed herself with at D-23. Those were...
Iger Takes the L
Mickey the Great and Terrible has raised the white flag in the Great Cable War of 2023. Charter is victorious. Ten days past, Disney pulled all of their content on Charter Cable’s fifteen million viewers, to include ESPN at the start of football season. Pro and college football fans were incensed... at Disney. Cancer Rat was for his part shocked that people would blame him for something he did. Disney was demanding a price hike from Charter. Spectrum/Charter said, look asshole you’re double...
Arkhaven Spotlight: Flying Sparks Crowd Funder
BUMPED: Sept 11, 2023. Jon Del Arroz's Flying Sparks is coming to you in comic book format, provided you support it. There is only ONE DAY left in this campaign! Meta-Girl fights a KRAKEN!Meta-Man CRUSHES the COMMIES! Plus an incredible origin! All of this and more in Flying Sparks: The Companion! Back today! Flying Sparks chronicles the story of Meta-Girl who's dating supervillain Johnny Benvinuti under her secret identity, while the world is threatened by a crazy tyrant who unleashes interdimensional...
Disney Lost
One last thing before I'm off to BasedCon for the weekend. Disney has lost its federal lawsuit against DeSantis and Florida. Disney amended its federal lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to focus solely on its First Amendment claim that the governor politically retaliated against the company. Disney last week had asked to drop its other claims in the case because they are being actively pursued in a separate state-level lawsuit in Florida. One of Disney's lawyers must have had the "Look asshole, it's...
Disney’s Hulu Hoop
Disney, in a move that shocked everyone but honestly shouldn’t have, decided to begin the purchase process for Hulu earlier than was expected. They will begin the process of buying Hulu on September 30th of this year instead of waiting until January 1st of 2024 which was required by Comcast’s call option. The reason this should have been obvious is that Disney’s fiscal year always starts on October 1st of each year. There is nothing really weird about this, a lot...
Zombies: Slow or Fast?
Which kind of Zombies are the best kind, slow or fast? Any wordsmith who puts pen to paper on the matter of a tale of the Living Impaired now has to consciously decide which one he’s going to use.* The rise of the zombies** began just about the time Anne Rice ruined vampires for everyone. Since the days of Carmilla and Dracula, the vampire was the primary form of unlife you were meant to fear. The vamps had a good run for...
RE:View Starship Troopers
I always get the shakes before a drop. I’ve had the injections, of course, and hypnotic preparation, and it stands to reason that I can’t really be afraid. The ship’s psychiatrist has checked my brain waves and asked me silly questions while I was asleep and he tells me that it isn’t fear, it isn’t anything important — it’s just like the trembling of an eager race horse in the starting gate. I couldn’t say about that; I’ve never been...