This is one of the first Full Moon movies I’ve ever seen that was scored by Blue Oyster Cult, so even if the movie sucked, there’s a good chance the movie rocks by default. Blue Oyster Cult manages to provide a raucous and rocking soundtrack for what is generally a cheesy and absolutely goofy piece of early nineties schlock, but it has genuine camp value in its corner, as well as the always attractive Martha Quinn as a heroine.
The Bad Seed (1956)
For the most part, “The Bad Seed” is a classic horror film that lives up to its reputation of being an infamous movie about a little monster who will stop at nothing for gratify herself and her own ego. She’s the product of over privilege and an abundance of deifying from the people around her. To get it out of the way, my one gripe with “The Bad Seed” is ultimately the ending. Since audiences couldn’t bear watching a film end on a downbeat with the villain winning, and the studios insistent on the bad guy losing in the end, no matter how contrived or tacked on it seemed, the climax to “The Bad Seed” keeps the film from being a perfect thriller.
J. Edgar (2012) [Blu-ray/DVD]
For a film directed by someone as beloved and accomplished as Clint Eastwood, it’s hard to fathom that such a film would come off so amateur and tedious to sit through. Leonardo DiCaprio goes whole hog for Oscar territory delivering one of the worst performances of 2011 mimicking the drawl of J. Edgar Hoover but often times sounding like a man overplaying his role in a local community theater production in New Hampshire or something. “J. Edgar” has no style to it, nor does it possess an iota of compelling tidbits about Hoover’s life and career. Mostly it places gaudy cinematography above all else and aims to merely gloss over much of what J. Edgar had accomplished or fumbled in to.
Spawn (1997)
I just never saw the hype behind Spawn when I was a kid in the nineties. While everyone sang the praises of Todd McFarlane, and everyone I knew ate up the Spawn comics with a shit eating grin, convinced Spawn was the second coming of comicdom, I just could never understand the big deal. Throughout the decade of the nineties I’d be like that guy in the museum who’d have to take four steps back to try to understand a painting and then just shrug in confusion and move on to something else. That was me with Spawn. Everyone I knew loved it, I’d take four steps back time and time again to re-evaluate if I was missing something key to it, shrug and move on to something else. Even with the meticulous collectible action figures being released for collectors, and the spin-offs of the comic being doled out for fans, I just could never quite grasp why this title in particular struck a chord.
Batman Forever (1995)
Burton out. Keaton out. Score out. And apparently, Bruce Wayne, out. “Batman Forever” is where the series started to eventually fall off the fails and Joel Schumacher’s approach toward these movies are completely different and absolutely radical from what Burton originally envisioned. Burton depicted Gotham as a sprawling endless canyon of darkness and shadows while Batman was mostly polarized and closed off outcast from the world. In Schumacher’s eyes, Gotham is now a bright and neon wonderland and Schumacher’s handling of Batman and many other key characters of the mythos make “Batman Forever” in to a veritable gay burlesque show.
Batman & Robin (1997)
It’s funny. Back in the day when I used to love any superhero movie that came in to theaters, I found myself getting excited by “Batman & Robin.” Why? Because he mentions Superman in the opening for a brief second. Nevertheless that was when fans and Warner were still considering a Batman and Superman movie, and that never came to fruition, thankfully. “Batman & Robin” is a glorious mess. It’s a movie so awful that it’s compelling at times.
100 Issues In: Our Top Ten Characters of "The Walking Dead"
2012 has been a big year for fans of “The Walking Dead,” as companies of all kinds are realizing the franchising potential for the hit award winning comic book series. “The Walking Dead” has emerged as hit novels, popular board games, prized collectibles, popular toys, hit video games, a record breaking television series now about to reach its third season, and most importantly, the original comic book series is about to reach 100 issues this July. After ninety nine issues of unmitigated drama and compelling writing with rich characters and gripping horror in the world of the walking dead, Robert Kirkman is delivering issue 100 in July promising surprises, and material that is sure to shock, sadden, and excite loyal readers like myself. In honor of issue 100, we’re counting down our top ten characters of the Walking Dead from issue 1-100.
We warn you, if you’ve yet to complete all ninety nine issues leading in to one hundred, we will spill spoilers about character deaths and plot points, so display caution, and don’t come complaining later on.