It's Creepmas Time!!

Making Creepmas... Making Creepmas... la la la... Ok, gang, I will be busy the next few days gearing up for Creepmas 2018!! If you would like to join in on the Blog Hop fun head over to Creepmas.com and sign up. If not just remember to stop by the blogs of all the fine folks making Creepmas fun!

Christmas at 33 1/3 RPM

Jingle Bell Rocks!
2013 | PG | 1 Hr. 34 Min. | Documentary | Eye Steel Film


Director: Mitchell Kezin

Writer: Mitchell Kezin

Stars: 

Bill Adler

Clarence Carter

Andy Cirzan

Synopsis:

An exclusive backstage pass into a fascinating underground world of alternative Christmas music. Starring an eclectic cast of characters - The Flaming Lips, Run DMC, John Waters - plus two dozen amazing & original songs, JINGLE BELL ROCKS! is a cinematic sleight ride into the strange and sublime universe of alternative Christmas music.

Man, I was so excited that this popped up on my suggested for you list a documentary about collecting rare Christmas records and the hunt to find them was right up my alley.  What you get in return is a sloppy mess of a movie that jumps all over the place. We talk to a few artists that they could find to talk about a song they wrote more than the dig trying to find odd music.  If you like the wired guy from Flaming Lips than you should check this out. Otherwise, this was a bore-fest. In fact, I really don't know how to write about it sorry. 

2 Ninja Santa's out of 5

Cyber Monday Tunes

Enjoy some tunes while you shop in your jammies today.

Good luck on your shopping needs.

Santa's In Town Early This Year

The Christmas Chronicles
2018 | PG | 1 Hr. 44 Min. | Family | Netflix

Director: Clay Kaytis

Writer: David Guggenheim

Stars: 

Kurt Russell

Darby Camp

Judah Lewis

The story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about.

 As I write this it the end of crazy shopping on Black Friday that has turned to put our feet up eating leftover turkey as well as firing up Netflix kind of night. The Christmas Chronicles might be splitting audiences right down the middle this family affair was set in motion. We have been looking forward to Kurt Russell's spin on Santa ever since the trailer hit social media. 

The first few minutes of Chronicles is meeting the family through Home Videos of Christmas past leading up to current day. This does a good job of painting the perfect picture of a Happy Family when something goes wrong and has broken them. Mom played by the beautiful Kimberly Williams-Paisley is trying to hold the house together after her husband was taken from them way too soon leading to her working too much and the kids growing apart as they all seem to be going separate ways. Cue in Santa...

This time around Kurt Russell don's the Red suit and guides the sly, and Russell is the glue that holds it together. In fact, Russell makes for a very fine Santa Claus, but even he can’t elevate a fairly dull script that even the youngest viewers will see all the plot twists coming. Yet Russell instantly brings a level of energy and professionalism sorely lacking from the film. His comic timing, twinkly eyes, and impressively styled beard (yes it is glorious) are almost enough to inspire hope that the movie will turn itself around. 

Despite the silly storyline and strange looking elves, the movie still plays out well to a younger audience, in fact, my 9-year-old loved it as for my 13-year-old see stuck around and finished the movie with us still claiming, in the end, it was kind of boring. As for my wife well she checked out rather early and went back to scrolling Facebook on her phone. Director Clay Kaytis’ (Angry Birds) The Christmas Chronicles isn’t going to make audiences believe in the power of Christmas, let alone stoke the spirit of the holiday season, but boy does he exhaust himself trying.

In the end, we felt it was pretty cool how they crashed in our backyard of Chicago even tho at times it did not look the windy city at all it still was a cool backdrop. The film has a few interesting points to make as to the way on how Christmas has changed over the years, as Santa keeps every hand-written letter that children send him, but now accepts video messages, as well and Russell’s performance is a gift, rather than a lump of coal in your stocking.

Honestly, this is worth your time and effort to check out, it's not a Hallmark Movie nor is it something you will want to watch every year but it still brings a touch of magic to your living room and that should be enough. Please let me know in the comments if I'm right or wrong but never the less Russell needs a better script for the sequel. 

3 Samari Ninja Santa's out of 5

A man of evil... with a face that could stop a heart!

Mr. Sardonicus
1661 | PG | 1 Hr 29 Min | Horror | Castle Productions

Director: William Castle

Writers: 

Ray Russell (screenplay)

Ray Russell (novel)

Stars: 

Ronald Lewis

Audrey Dalton

Guy Rolfe

A search for a winning lottery ticket in his dead father's grave causes Sardonicus' face to freeze in a horrible grimace until he forces a doctor to treat his affliction--with even more grotesque results! The audience gets an opportunity to vote--via the "Punishment Poll"--for the penalty, Sardonicus must pay for his deeds...

Not my favorite of the William Castle collection but still a fun movie. During its initial theatrical release, attendees were given small white cards with luminous thumbs with which to vote thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Although the audience could vote on whether the main character could be pardoned or receive further punishment, technology to "choose" an ending did not exist at the time. William Castle filmed only one ending for the movie, and the "vote" was rigged by planting speakers in the theatre to vote for punishment. Watch 'Mr. Sardonicus' at 8PM | 7C, Saturday, November 24, on MeTV.

His Real Life Was the Biggest Fantasy of All

My Dinner with Hervé

2018 | R | 1 Hr. 50 Min | Drama Biography |  Daredevil Films

Director: Sacha Gervasi

Writers: 

Sacha Gervasi (story)

Sean Macaulay (story) |

Stars: 

Peter Dinklage

Jamie Dornan

Frida Munting

Synopsis: A look at the life of French actor Hervé Villechaize, co-star of the hit '70s TV series "Fantasy Island", who took his own life in 1993 at the age of 50.

From writer and director Sacha Gervasi (who gave us the amazing documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil and Hitchcock) tells us a personal story with My Dinner with Hervé filling us in on what happened when struggling journalist Danny Tate (Fifty Shades star Jamie Dornan ) unwillingly takes an assignment to interview actor Hervé Villechaize (Peter Dinklage Game of Thrones) that turned into so much more. After having the French dwarf pull a knife on him and being challenged to delve deeper into the man behind the public persona, an unlikely friendship formed over a wild night in Los Angeles that became a life-changing experience for both men and you the viewer.

Dinklage adopts Villechaize’s high pitched voice and his French accent well and at times is hard to understand but his performance transcends all of that. He brings all kinds of layers of conflict, arrogance, insecurity, and sorrow to a man who was viewed by most of the public as a pop star and a spoiled celebrity. Dinklage should easily be mentioned come award season with a solid shot at the Golden Globe you really felt Villechaize's pain and loneliness through his acting. Dornan, on the other hand, was a little missed placed if you ask me, almost a little to easy on the eyes and when they flash to the guy he is playing you just can not wrap your mind around this guys life that just played out in front of you. Never the less they play well off of each other and you really start to feel an instant bond. 

The movie takes place mainly with Hervé talking, in a restaurant and in his limousine, as the narrative flashes back to vignettes from his breakthrough role in the 1974 Bond movie “The Man With the Golden Gun” and his run as Tattoo on “Fantasy Island. As that story plays out we also see Danny begin to work out some of his own troubles as he pushes Hervé to be thoroughly honest, he feels more empowered to face his own darker truths. Coming off of 30 days sobriety after wrecking his marriage you can quickly see why these two needed each other. 

Even tho you know the outcome you never really want it to get there. It would have been nice to hear about Herve's earlier career before the Bond movie but we do get a lesson in his early artistic career. His relationship with his mother is left for you to decipher as well as his broken marriage that is only slightly touched upon. Overall this is a fun tale of a broken man that I never knew was broken,  like most, I saw him as "The Plane, The Plane" charter and not the pain that came with it. Dinner does open your eyes to his career but I feel it lacks in some of those aspects as well. Don't skip out on Dinner with Herve, in the end, is well worth your time and effort, especially if you grew up on 70's TV. 

4 out of 5 Stars

Time To Fly

Lady Bird
2017 | R | 1 Hr. 34 Min | Drama | A24

Director: Greta Gerwig

Writer: Greta Gerwig

Stars:

Saoirse Ronan

Laurie Metcalf

Tracy Letts

Synopsis:

Christine "Lady Bird" MacPherson is a high school senior from the "wrong side of the tracks." She longs for adventure, sophistication, and opportunity, but finds none of that in her Sacramento Catholic high school. LADY BIRD follows the title character's senior year in high school, including her first romance, her participation in the school play, and most importantly, her applying for college.

We all have had at least a couple of awkward yet interesting stories about their senior year of high school. It's one of those common bonds that get people talking and usually leads to even deeper dissection in the later years of a person's life. But at the moment, when those stories are being written, they feel like the deepest, most important experiences we'll ever face in our entire lives. Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird is authentic and affecting as any of those stories could ever be. Lady Bird is a story told throughout her senior year of high school,  trying to fly, and the mistakes made like a true teenage during each awkward attempt.

With its strong cast Lady Bird's star, Saoirse Ronan brings her charter to life as we quickly change season's and deal with teenage life along the way. And Gerwig's directorial debut is beautifully shot frame by frame but there is a bit of a problem with the narrative flow of the film. The sum-total of Lady Bird's senior year feels more like a series of loosely connected vignettes, rather than a fully connected story. Sadly a more focused narrative would have driven home the points it had to make about the adolescent experience.

Lady Bird is an enjoyable film, with an honest heart about it and while the narrative is less structured than a typical film's story, it's still a nostalgic look back on those days when being a kid wasn't an option, but being an adult was still a little bit in the distance. I can see my daughter watching this with my wife someday or maybe her best friend and having it connect with them as they see the growing pains through the eyes of somebody else.

Sadly though the scattered storyline really took me out of the movie and I found myself searching the web to see if that was in deeded Laura Marano from Disneys Astin and Aly fame in the backround. I really wanted to love this movie but in the end, I only liked it. If your living with a teen it's worth the look if not well maybe it will conjure up some good memories of High School.

3 out of 5 Stars

10 Years

10 Years of Finger Sticks
10 Years of Needles
10 Years of Insulin
10 Years of Doctor Visits
10 Years of Struggle
10 Years of Tears
10 Years of Sleepless Nights
10 Years of Bravery
10 Years of Asking God why?
10 Years of wondering what I did wrong to hurt my baby
10 Years of Low Blood Sugars
10 Years of "HI"

10 Years of Mood Swings
10 Years of Parents saying to us "Should she really eat that piece of Birthday cake"
10 Years of fighting with the Insurence Companies
10 Years of Over Protecting my Baby
10 Years of watching Ella get stronger every day!
10 Years of PTSD
10 Years of Anxiety in all of us
10 Years and you have grown from my baby to my little girl and now a teen!

Here is to...

A Lifetime of Smiles

A Lifetime of Laughter

A Lifetime of Sleepless nights

A Lifetime of Musicals

A Lifetime of up's and down's

A Lifetime that you have taken control of

A Lifetime of me not wanting to let you grow up 

Ten years ago our lives change forever, I still cry, I still get mad at God, I still pray for a cure. But I have watched you always strong always brave always kicking this disease out of the way not once letting it slow you down!

You will always be my baby no matter how much you grow up!

Love You, Ella,

Dad

Thanksgiving

Let's just go with a classic this week. And if I do not get time Thursday may you all have a safe and warm Thanksgiving. And if you go out shopping remember that poor soal working does not really want to be yelled at they are not getting paid more to be there and they on like the shopper would rather be home with family. 

Black Thanksgiving?

Oh so true anymore!

Been Ther Done That!

Love This one!

She had a face only a mummy could love!

The Gorgon
1664 | PG | 1 Hr 23 Min | Horror | Hammer

Director: Terence Fisher
Writers: 

John Gilling 

J. Llewellyn Devine (based on an original story by)

Stars: 

Christopher Lee

Peter Cushing

Richard Pasco

In early-twentieth-century middle-Europe, villagers are literally becoming petrified. Although the authorities try to hush the matter up, it is apparent that at the full moon, Megaera, a Gorgon, leaves her castle lair and anyone looking on her face is turned to stone. When this fate befalls a visitor, experts from the University of Leipzig arrive to try and get to the bottom of it all.

Watch 'The Gorgon’ at 8PM | 7C, Saturday, November 17, on MeTV.

Six million tons of icy terror!

Avalanche
1978 | 1 Hr 31 Min | PG | Action | New World Pictures

Director: Corey Allen

Writers: Corey Allen, Frances Doel

Stars:

Rock Hudson

Mia Farrow

Robert Forster

Synopsis:

The vacationers at a winter wonderland struggle to survive after an avalanche of snow crashes into their ski resort. Their holiday then turns into a game of survival.

If this is your first trip to the Cave welcome and thanks for joining me during the Rock Hudson Blogathon hosted by Love Letters to Old Hollywood and In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood. Pop some corn grab the sno caps and a cold Coke lets talk Roger Corman's big-budget flop Avalanche.

That's one fine good looking man.

With Corman getting a huge budget of 6.5 million dollars to do an action drama with a few big names you just can't miss right? Wrong, sadly Corey Allen who has well over 80 credit's to his name struggles to make a jump from the small screen to the big one. Avalanche comes hot off the heels of the disaster movies of the 70's but feels better suited for a Sunday Night movie on say CBS or ABC. But let's not talk about the small stuff and move on to its star.

Oh, those PG movies with there Nudity!

Even though this is a Corman production Rock Hudson came to work taking on the role of a hard ass and playing it to the end. His larger than life presence fills the screen all while he takes command. Hudson did not give a dam that this was a low budget snoozefest and quickly becomes the only reason to watch Avalanche.  Hudsons character Shelby is preoccupied with his grand opening festivities and is simultaneously trying to woo back his ex-wife played by Mia Farrow, who is attending as his guest. He's also busy trying to entertain his wise-cracking mother who is brought to life by Jeanette Nolan and does it well.

Stock Footage that is so scratched! 

Meanwhile, local environmental activist and nature photographer Nick Thorne (Robert Forster) becomes increasingly concerned about the massive buildup of snow on the mountain peaks that are directly in line with the resort. Intermingled with all of this are the expected subplots involving minor characters who are set up to be inevitable victims. The film follows the 1970's formula of the disaster film genre in that the victims-to-be are gathered for a major social occasion, unaware that nature is working overtime to thwart their fun.

Yep, its all gone Rock!

This film is way to easy to pick apart, with its scratched stock footage mixed in with poor special effects witch Corman admits where rather shoddy and recalls his outrage when he discovered the SFX company had added "red snow" there is little to hold this one together.  Robert Forster recalls that the "snow" was actually little pieces of plastic that were strewn all over the scenic landscape and it clearly shows. The Styrofoam used to augment the snow effects of the avalanche was discovered all over the Durango when the spring thaw hit, but by then, the company was long gone leaving a disaster of its own behind.

I was kind of hoping Mia would just fall.

If you can get past the fake looking snow poor script and Mia Farrow phoning it in "Avalanche" easily fits into the "guilty pleasure" category. It is not near the top of the heap of disaster movies but it certainly doesn't rank at the bottom of the pack, either. 

3 Stars out of 5