I love fall more than any other season; I love October more than any other month; and I love Halloween more than any other holiday. I promised I would be back with a "Thrills & Chills" television lineup, and here it is! I've organized it by release date. Take notes people. Kindred Spirits TLC Release Date: Sept 15th This will be the second season of Kindred Spirits, which follows ghost hunters Amy Bruni and Adam Berry as they help people overcome their fears and reclaim their homes. Essentially, it’s another ghostbusters series. The series is angling towards investigating some of the most notorious haunts in the US, and thus kicks off the premiere with Lizzie Borden’s house in Fall Rivers, M
Title: It (2017) Genre: Horror, Thriller Director: Andy Muschietti Stars (Primary Actors): Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis Bias: I have been a big Stephen King fan since I started sneaking books from my mom's bookshelf, but I find film adaptations of his work to be hit or miss. I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard there was a reboot of It in the works, but decided to see it after a ton of good buzz and an excellent trailer made it clear that this film was no Lawnmower Man (which is terrible, but I secretly love it). Grade: A In a Nutshell: Weird things happen in Derry, Maine. A group of bullied kids - the self-described "Losers Club" - band together when t
In honor of the release of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, we wanted to create a weekend watchlist that focuses on film adaptations of comics. And although Marvel has been killing it in the superhero adaptations game, indie comics adaptations in recent years have been fantastic, regardless of whether they feature masked heroes or just average people. This list counts down some of our favorite indie comics adaptations, outside of the superhero genre. Shelby Cadwell Ghost World (2001) - One of my absolute favorite films from my teenage years, Ghost World still holds up for me (and I'll admit that I actually enjoy the film more than the Daniel Clowes graphic novel from which it was adapted). Thora
In Part 1 of this article series, I argued that the filmic Millarverse (my term for all of the cinematic adaptations of Mark Millar's comics) is an interesting and useful arena in which to start a conversation about the intersection of gender and genre. Part 2 was a deeper dive into one specific film within this category, 2010's Kick-Ass. Throughout these articles, I have argued against the surface level critique of Millar's adaptations as being masculinist fantasy and nothing more. In fact, I've stated that the gleefully excessive 'masculinity' portrayed in these films is satirical, and undermines any notions of a 'true' and 'correct' way to be a man in the world. If this wasn't a specious
1. Singles – The 1990's were my formative decade for music. Prior to that I had no discernible “taste” beyond a hand-me-down love of classic rock (mostly the standards – Zeppelin, Floyd, Bowie) and an eclectic mix of stuff I stumbled upon and claimed as my own, ranging from Night Ranger to Duran Duran, Debbie Gibson to Richard Marx. It was a dark time. And then I made two discoveries (at around the same time the rest of the world did) – Nirvana and Pearl Jam. And as much as I loved (and love) those two bands, I might not have gone any further than that had it not been for Cameron Crowe’s 1992 film Singles, and a soundtrack that introduced me to Mudhoney, finally got me to appreciate Soundgar
Title: The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller Director: Colm McCarthy Stars (Primary Actors): Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close, Paddy Considine, Sennia Nanua Bias: This film's screenplay, and the novel it is based on, were both written by Mike Carey, who also wrote two of my all-time favorite comic book series for Vertigo Comics, The Unwritten and Lucifer. I went into the film expecting to enjoy it due to the Carey influence, even though I generally feel a bit exhausted with zombie flicks. Grade: A- In a Nutshell: A fungal disease has infected humankind, turning nearly everyone into violent, unthinking 'hungries'. The very few survivors left are holed up in military bas
Matt Linton Splash (1984) – Back in the 80's, Tom Hanks was a goofball. Long before he began the second act of his career, racking up 5 Academy Award nominations for Best Actor (and winning twice), he starred in ridiculously charming comedies like this one. Here, Hanks plays a genial nice guy who’s depressed after a break-up and falls in love with a mermaid (played by Daryll Hannah, post-Blade Runner and pre-Kill Bill). There’s a lot of plot that kinds of consists of E.T.: The Extraterrestrial meets, well, The Little Mermaid, but it’s Hanks (with assists from Eugene Levy and the late John Candy) and Hannah who carry the show. (It’s available by adding Showtime to your Hulu account, but you c
I can taste the pumpkin spice in the breeze; the beginning of fall is just steps around the corner, which means the beginning of a new television lineup. And, in the Peak-TV Era, there is no shortage of well-scripted shows to chase the chill out of the air and occupy our imagination. In fact, these days, there are so many new shows to keep track of that some inevitably end up falling through the cracks. I know you’ve all got your favorites, so do I, but here are some that you may want to consider adding to your weekly lineup. Full disclosure, while I desperately wanted to include all of the Halloween- and Horror-centric shows on my list, I felt like they deserved a list all to themselves. So
Title: After the Storm (2016) Genre: Drama Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Stars: Hiroshi Abe, Kirin Kiki, Yôko Maki Bias: I’ve always associated Hiroshi Abe with Godzilla 2000 (1999). Grade: B In a Nutshell: Ryôta Shinoda (Hiroshi Abe) is a washed-up author who wrote an award-winning novel over fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, Ryota’s life has turned out a lot differently than what he expected. Now he works as a sleazy detective, wastes his money on lottery tickets, and spies on his ex-wife Kyôko (Yôko Maki) and her new boyfriend. After his own deadbeat father dies, Ryôta decides to patch up things with his family. Everybody, however, has moved past him. His mother Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki) has thro
Matt Linton The VVitch (2015) – This film is not for the faint of heart. It’s a slow, creeping horror film about a Puritan family cast out of their village and forced to live on the outskirts of the woods. The film is the directorial debut of Robert Eggers (who also wrote the screenplay) and features period-authentic dialect and dialogue taken from historical records and documents of the period. I don’t want to say too much about the plot (although the title and the focus on Puritans should give you a hint) but if you want to be seriously skeeved-out for an hour-and-a-half, this is well-worth checking out. Bruiser (2000) – With the relatively recent passing of George A. Romero, I’ve been try
As I stated in last week's article, which introduced my argument about the cinematic adaptations of Mark Millar's comics work, this collection of films can be read together as building an argument about gender, genre, and the connections between those two concepts. Although Millar's comics, and the film adaptations that have sprung forth from them, have been fairly criticized for over-the-top violence and casual misogyny, I would offer a counterpoint, which is that these films can also be read as a campy and satirical take on "manhood," and in particular, on manhood as it is constructed via movies and television. To that end, this article will discuss Kick-Ass, adapted from the comic book of
Title: The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) Genre: Horror Director: Oz Perkins Stars (Primary Actors): Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton Bias: As a huge indie horror fan, I was looking forward to this from the beginning. I think Emma Roberts really hit her stride as the snarky queen bee in the dearly departed horror comedy TV series Screen Queens, so I was excited to see her in another genre piece. While her character in The Blackcoat’s Daughter is the polar opposite of Chanel, I still think she is at her best when playing darker roles. I am not really a fan of schoolgirl tropes or films centering around a possession. But, from what I heard, this film turns those tropes on their heads in
Matt Linton Message From the King (2017) – Chadwick Boseman (Captain America: Civil War) stars in this revenge-thriller from Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz (Colt 45) about a South African man who comes to the United States after receiving a frantic message from his sister. He arrives and discovers the worst, and proceeds to piece together her last days, and avenge his sister’s death. Boseman plays the role with a quiet intensity, hinting at the character’s violent past, and the film takes some seriously dark turns. It doesn’t entirely work (there’s a twist at the end that’s a bit too cute) but the film is stylish and engaging throughout. Nightcrawler (2014) – Jake Gyllenhall might be one
