Movie | Murder Party | LIKED It

Okay, so this first feature from the dynamic Saulnier-Blair duo wasn't quite the level of their next two films, but it was still darn enjoyable and hugely creative. And it was still better than 99% of the big budget drek out there.

Movie | Daughters of Satan | Didn't Like It

So bad and yet we watched the whole thing. This was one of Tom Selleck's first movie roles and he's in his late 20s in it. Which is not necessarily a good thing, so matter how you look at it. Selleck never meets Satan, by the way. Now you know.

TV | Mad Dogs (UK) | Liked It

So good. But since we've already seen the remake, there weren't many surprises.

TV | Humans (Series 2) | Liked It

Continues to be quite good, if a bit slow.

TV | Motherland (Pilot) | Liked It

We were surprised by how much we actually enjoyed this. I didn't have high hopes, but I did know this was from Graham Linehan (Ideal), Sharon Hogan (Catastrophe) and had Paul Ready (Utopia) in the cast. I hope they get a full series...this was just the one episode?!? Is this the new thing with English television; wing a pilot out there and see if it sticks? That kinda sucks.

Movie | Highway to Hell | Liked It

Hokey fun. All sorts of great little cameos, including the entire Stiller family.

Movie | Green Room | REALLY Liked It

Despite some Rule #1 breakage, this was flat out excellent. The monster cast includes Anton Yelchin in one of his last appearances, which is heartbreaking. After the incredible Blue Ruin and this movie, Jeremy Saluiner is now one of my favorite directors and Macon Blair one of my favorite actors. Blair is more subdued in this, mainly because he plays a supporting role. But his performance is so nuanced and charismatic that he's nearly unrecognizable from BR. I wouldn't have picked the four actors that play the punk band, but they work perfectly. And Poots is outstanding, despite her last name.

This is the kind of movie that a lot of people aren't going to get. It's complicated in its simplicity and there are many confusing moments purposefully written in and I had to watch the entire thing with the English subtitles on, even though everybody is speaking English. They mutter and it's hard to catch what they're saying. But those points just prove that this is the sort of film for truly complex and demanding film-goers.

Brutal. Nerve wracking. Scary. Surreal, yet frighteningly realistic. Fantastic. One of the best movies I've seen this year, no doubt.

TV | Sense8 (Xmas Special) | Really Liked It

Simply spectacular. Bring on the new season!

TV | Josh (Series 2) | Liked It

Some of the magic seems to be gone, but this was still enjoyable enough.

TV | Zapped | Liked It

This was fun, but only three episodes?!? C'mon!

TV | Black Mirror (Series 3) | Really Liked It

Netflix didn't muck it up, thankfully. Continues to be mind-blowing.

TV | Leah Remini: Scientology... | Really Liked It

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. A reality show with not only a purpose, but also social consciousness? Yep! Fascinating and well worth watching.

Movie | Uncanny | Really Liked It

This had Lucy Griffiths in it, from Preacher! Very reminiscent of Ex Machina.

TV | Chewing Gum | Didn't Like It

Though this show may not have been all that great, Michaela Coel is one to watch, for sure.

TV | Man Down | Didn't Like It

Too dopey, sadly. Greg Davies is still great.

TV | Damned | Didn't Like It

Sort of like The Office, just not good or funny.

TV | Yonderland (Series 3) | Really Liked It

Laughed and laughed!

Movie | Pulling Strings | Liked It

Predictable, a little too long and not very original. Still, it was cute and the cast was quite good. The goofy bad guy bodyguard who couldn't count was a great touch.

Movie | Live Forever | Liked It-ish

AKA Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Britpop. Could have been better, actually. Terrifically painful to see and hear these genius musicians in person. They are not what I'd call good or empathetic characters, they're so lost in the contemplation of their own greatness.

TV | Danger 5 | Liked It

Clever.

TV | The Grand Tour | Didn't Like It

Wow; awful. Unimaginative in the extreme. They should be embarrassed as they shovel Amazon's money into their offshore bank accounts. There is literally nothing new here and nothing of worth, not even from a purely entertainment angle, any longer. They need to stop this and do something else.

TV | Incorporated | Didn't Like It

Unoriginal and nearly entirely predictable. Syfy returns to its bad old ways, though the cast is good and the production level high.

Movie | Swiss Army Man | Really Liked It

A special movie that I liked a lot, but would never recommend to anybody. Dano and Radcliffe knocked it out of the park, but the movie is too odd for most viewers I think.

TV | Holy Hell | Liked It

Whereas the previous guru wasn't seemingly evil and manipulative for no other reason than his own psychosis, this dude is a freak and full on crazy. Fortunately, he didn't kill anybody.

TV | Enlighten Us | Liked It

The full title is Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray. Very interesting documentary focusing on a modern-day "self-help guru" that became embroiled in a scandal that involved the deaths of three of his followers.

TV | Crazyhead | Really Liked It

This, on the other hand, doesn't have a dull moment. Even the scenes where there's just two characters passing dialogue back and forth are interesting. Overman's brilliant vibe from Misfits returns and somehow he found yet another genius cast and the perfect soundtrack. Again! Fantastic.

Movie | The Family | Liked It

I hate to say it, but this may be Luc Besson's most boring movie. It wasn't bad, it just didn't move along very quickly. I still liked it.

TV | Bad Internet | Liked It

Clever.

Movie | Phantasm: Ravager | Liked It

The bald pony tail is back! But surprise, surprise, he's learned how to actually act in the meantime. It's Reggie's show this time around and he likeable, interesting, (relatively) nuanced and believable. It was a nice surprise.

But Coscarelli's directorial touch is noticeably missing this time around. Instead, they had a guy named David Hartman take the reins. Hartman's bio is mostly populated with children's cartoons and it was a mistake. The low-budget feel returns, but this time around it feels and looks a bit like another bad SyFy tv movie. The reliance on not particularly good CGI was disappointing, but it was also necessary for the vision of this particular, far more epic installment that often echoed The Terminator. If they'd had a larger budget and could have had better FX, I'm not so sure it would have made anything better. It just was what it was.

Still, I liked it and I hope they make more. There's nothing stopping them, except the passing of Angus Scrimm and that can certainly be worked around. Make sure you stick around after the credits start. I liked that this whole series wasn't particularly gory and there's very little to no tortureporn. This one broke Rule #1, tho. Oh and there's a tiny role for Daniel Roebuck in this installment...why was he in it so little? He's an impressive actor; he must be buddies with somebody and just wanted to help out.

The whole series is a keeper.

Movie | Andrew Jenks, Room 335 | Really Liked It

After waited to see this movie for years, I finally got a chance to see it and it completely lived up to expectations. Fabulous! Though there were some really painful scenes. This is an important movie and I wish more people could have the chance to watch it.

Movie | Phantasm IV | Liked It

Another good installment in this horror sci-fi franchise. The first was the setup, in the second Mike and Reg went after The Tall Man, the third was basically the same except Reg and a rag-tag bunch try to rescue a kidnapped Mike from The Tall Man and in this one the plot revolves around The Tall Man's origin and Mike's involvement, while Reg tails behind for safety. They did a great job integrating footage they'd shot from the first film into this film. Reg's hair (or lack there of) is still massively distracting, but I have high hopes things will be different in the last and supposedly final installment...coming up next!

"Booooooooy!"

Movie | The Lost Future | Didn't Like It

Lulled by SyFy channel's recent and unexpected success, I thought I'd give this tv movie a try. Oh, how wrong I was...

TV | Search Party | Really Liked It

The characters were intentionally annoying (and eerily accurate) to counterbalance the heroine and we would have jumped ship if that's all this was about. But when the focus was on the mysterious missing girl, things got interesting. The ending makes it all worth while; fantastic!

TV | Longmire (Season 5) | Liked It...ish

This continues to be fairly good, but it feels a little lost and tired at this point. Plus, they've made Longmire rather stupid and unlikable.

Movie | St. Vincent | Liked It

I don't know about hilarious, but it was pretty darn good. It's basically About A Boy, American style. And I still contend Murray isn't a leading man; just look at the cast they put around him. The kid was excellent and had more range than he did, though this was an great role for him.

Movie | Phantasm III | Liked It

The acting, production and everything else about the first two installments that weren't particularly very good haven't gotten any better. Thankfully, they brought A. Michael Baldwin back to play the role he brought to life. And I still can't get past what a bad hairdo a pony tail on a bald guy is. Call me shallow.

TV | Soundbreaking | Really Liked It

Another amazing music documentary.

TV | Shooter | Liked It

It's a bit little-boys-playing-army for me and I don't buy Phillipe as a sharpshooter, but there were enough thriller elements to keep me interested.

TV | Good Behavior | Liked It

Good series, reminds of a darker The Catch and minus the amazing talent of Mireille Enos.

Movie | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Really Liked It

This was...superb. Unfortunately, I had several conversations with other people about it that could have ruined it. Fortunately, I tuned them out and was a happier camper for it.

"It wasn't what I was expecting"
That's a good thing. You get that, right? Right?!?

"I didn't like the hand-held camera work."
What the hell were you watching? There's really none in this movie.

"This is a continuation of Cloverfield."
Well, it is, but that was barely the point here. Again, what the hell were you watching?

"I didn't get the ending."
You should stick to Two and a Half Men reruns. You'll be a lot happier.

"It was boring."
I give up. Really. I'm throwing in the towel. This movie was really, really good.

Movie | 400 Days | Liked It

I don't know why this has such a low rating on IMDB; I rather liked it. It's interesting, it kept my attention and I also liked the ambiguous ending. That's a bit of a spoiler. But nobody reads this blog, so what the hell. The cast did an excellent job, including Dane Cook and despite that I'm no fan of Brandon Routh. But Caity Lotz, who was great in Death Valley, looks like a promising up and coming actor and a nice cameo (though woefully underutilized) by Tom Cavanaugh. Ben Feldman's character is written rather irritatingly and this is nowhere as great a part as he had in As Above, So Below. Besides all of that, this was a really good low budget, minimal cast sci-fi thriller.

Movie | Big Eyes | Liked It

TV | Channel Zero | Really Liked It

Like Trick 'r Treat, this breaks rule number 2. And though it's different in many ways, it's also a similar genre with some of the same kinds of scares in it. But where that movie falls flat, this television show doesn't. In fact, it was really quite freaky and the experience of watching it was much more worthwhile and rewarding plot-wise. This also has Natalie Brown in it, who was excellent in The Strain, among other shows. While this first season is one story and season two another (I don't know how they're related, I didn't read the original stories), the show is destined to be, and is based on, an anthology. This is also further proof something good is happening at the Syfy channel. Somebody woke up and decided to actually program shows with quality, sophistication and maturity.

TV | Stan Against Evil | Liked It

A better Ash vs Evil Dead, mainly because John C. McGinley is far more fun to watch than the usually so enjoyable Bruce Campbell. But the shows are little too close for comfort.

Movie | Stake Land 2 | Liked It

Good sequel! If you liked the first one as much as I did, you're going to like this one. The pace and cinematography were notable in this movie. What's happening at SyFy? Are they finally producing decent shows and movies? Whodathunkit.

TV | Sexy Murder | Didn't Like It

Unoriginal, stupid and a huge disappointment. Another waste of Fulcher's talent.

TV | The Walking Dead (Season 7 - First Half) | REALLY Liked It

Incredibly, they really are just getting started!

TV | Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Really Liked It

Deep in the deepest, darkest shadows of the BBC...

"Blimey, we don't have any bloody content! And what we do have has no appeal to a younger demographic!"

"In addition, we have no budget. Whatever shall we do?"

"Let's dig up a property that nobody remembers and sexy it up. We'll make it appealing to the lame-duck hipsters and they can enjoy it while twirling their Ye Olde Mustaches and they're making their own shampoo."

"That's a jolly good idea! Let's have tea."

Sadly, that's exactly what they did. In the process, they threw every "sexy" thing they could think of, to the point that it's utterly ridiculous. Right off the bat, you've mild nudity, an outrageously blue Corvette, goofy and quirky characterizations, "hip" dialogue laced with humor so that the short attention span crowd doesn't wander off, silly pop music, young(er) actors, gore courtesy of The Walking Dead crew (really!)...most of which have absolutely nothing to do with the plot or character development. It's as if they work-shopped a list of things they think appeal to the 20-35 year old target audience and then randomly dropped the elements into the show.

It's that obvious and it's that painful.

Still, it was a fun show. There's no denying that. It reminded me of the far superior Utopia and Ideal, though far more forced and surface.

So sorry Howard Overman (Misfits!), Stephen Mangan and Darren Boyd; all your hard work (albeit six years ago) to bring these characters to life has been swept out with the rest of yesterday's trash. The kids these days don't even remember that far back, nor are they interested in seeking it out; too lethargic.

TV | Elementary (Season 5) | Liked It

The only problem we had with this is that some of the scripts were overly and overtly convoluted. They continue to dress Liu in the most ridiculous outfits imaginable, to the point that when she wears something relatively normal, it stands way out.

Movie | Trick 'r Treat | Liked It-ish

I used to read a lot of EC comics when I was a kid, so maybe that's why I didn't find this to be all that original or particularly entertaining. I suppose if a person hadn't read those comics they'd find this to be otherwise. Understandable. The only thing that I did enjoy was how the stories were tied together. Other than that, it really wasn't my serial killer/slasher bag of...candy.

Rule #2. Thanks for the loan, PW.