Wildwood

 Wildwood is beautifully made, sometimes really dark for what it is.

The Odyssey

The Odyssey is big, beautifully done, sad about the people and the world, doesn't give Penelope enough to do but they never do, shows Christopher Nolan could do horror if he feels like it (the Circe sequence could have been designed to squick me) and could have been two regular sized movies that would both work fine.

Anne Rice's Immortal Universe RPG

Anne Rice's Immortal Universe RPG coming soon from Renegade Game Studios

Interesting. Especially coming from the main recent licensed publishers for World Of Darkness.

The Hunger by Annie Wu

Catherine Deneuve as Miriam Blaylock, by Annie Wu

Disclosure Day

Disclosure Day: Steven Spielberg comes back to aliens and UFO lore, the result is a fun ride, like if The X Files didn't have to worry about making more stories later but that's not a bad thing, and there's one of his fantastic big action bits.

Gig guide: The Vampire Lestat, Death Valley

Like a lot of people, I was really looking forward to The Vampire Lestat's first live appearance, and I have to say I was severely disappointed.

The crowd was a good one (and while star-spotting I think I saw the lead from Type O Negative there, as well as Paul McGann!) although with all the walking around I missed the support band completely. I don't know who they even were.

But anyway, it started great with the man (ahem, "vampire") himself flying down from the rafters (nice bit of wireflying) and launching into Slept So Long, but then after like forty seconds of the second song, a bunch of other "vampires" flew up to the stage and there was a big wire-fu stunt scene. Cleverly done, granted - unseen wires, probably some back projection, and having the band run off in a panic was a clever touch - but then some half-naked chick bursts out of the stage and pulls Lestat to her and they fly off.

And no matter how much we clapped, they wouldn't play an encore.

My advice: wait for the Unplugged video.

The Vampire Lestat Live

The Vampire Lestat Live

Better show than last time in Death Valley when he only got through two songs before he flew off to avoid a stage invasion.

(Reviving this gig review from Queen Of The Damned)

J: They were a good two songs though

Me: Yeah, but getting our parking validated after, yeesh

Reuel: You got your parking validated? #NotARealFan

Me: 8O

Josie And The Pussycats!

Happy 25th anniversary to the best movie ever

Ready Or Not (2) Here I Come

Ready Or Not (2) Here I Come is pretty fun, though it makes a big retcon its emotional core and can't match the "wait, what?" original. And one scene that really made me wince, intercut with a funny one. But it has Sarah Michelle Gellar as a surprisingly un-comedic villain along with some funny ones.

The Force Awakens at ten

And despite how that ended, it's still pretty fun.

Wake Up Dead Man

Wake Up Dead Man is nearly a serious movie that still has Benoit Blanc in it.

Frankenstein

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein is so Guillermo del Toro. Not at all scary, going more for the big sweeping grand version. Beautiful, sad, kind.

Fantastic 4

Fantastic 4 is delightful. Light and fun despite world-being-eaten stakes.

Finale Destination: Bloodlines

Final Destination: Bloodlines is the first good one in nineteen years. The scene used in the teaser is maybe its best, but the opening is great, and Tony Todd gets a touching farewell.

SINNERS

Sinners is rocking fun.

If you've seen a trailer you know where it's going but it took its time getting there and let us get to know and care about the characters getting into that predicament.

Yes I want this Hunter game.

Companion

Companion: Is the world better if terrible men can have robot girlfriends? Maybe for most people, but not for the robot girlfriends.

Heart Eyes

Heart Eyes is great fun, more for horror comedy people than romantic comedy people. If you're both, bonus!

Nosferatu (2024)

Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is Nosferatu as staged by Robert Eggers, with some additional points about not enough people listening to Ellen by making her more clairvoyant, and bonus suffering all round.

Sinners

Sinners trailer

Ryan Coogler. Michael B. Jordan. 1930s. VAMPIRES.

Ooh.

The Crow (2024)

The Crow (2024) was alright. Adequate.

Not as close to the comic as the original film, with a couple of its elements the original didn't use but not much. Takes a long time to get you invested in the central love. Solves the problem of an unstoppable hero by not getting there for over an hour. Nothingy villains. Mostly good but not new soundtrack. Would have been better not calling them Eric and Shelly.

On a purely superficial level, Brandon Lee was achingly beautiful and Bill Skarsgård isn't.

Then again there hasn't been a really good story in the comics since the original either.