When it originally premiered at Fantasia I was very anxious to check out Johnny Kevorkian’s science fiction horror film, and I’m glad I was finally able to view it. “Await Further Instructions” is one of those horror tales in the vein of “They Live” or “V” where it’s a tale about humanity, civilization, and way we can be led like sheep in the face of chaos. While “Await Further Instructions” is a very sharply written and vicious look at a dysfunctional family stuck together in a house, it packs in so many more relevant overtones that ring true in a day where everything on the internet is taken as gospel.
Millennium After the Millennium (2018)
I was one of the many people that tuned in to see “Millennium” when it premiered on FOX television back in 1996. When I was thirteen any horror show would catch my eye, but I eventually tuned out after a few episodes. Years late “Millennium” is a widely celebrated cult classic television series that never caught on as much as its sibling predecessor “X-Files.” While the former embraced science fiction and horror, “Millennium” delved mostly in to the occult and horror, and never quite sought out to inspire hope within its viewers.
2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Animation
With the 91st Oscars airing on February 24th, I’ll be going over the trio of short film topics and their nominees leading up to the premiere. With short films often getting overlooked (Live Action Shorts was cut from this year’s broadcast and then re-inserted after big protests) I was interested in checking out the Oscar caliber shorts making the list. It should be noted that most of the animated shorts are directed by women this year, which is refreshing. Here is the list and the short I hope wins.
The Rod Serling Experience
Rod Serling was one of the most influential writers of the 1950s and 1960s, creating the memorable teleplays “Patterns” and “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” the screenplays for “Seven Days in May” and “Planet of the Apes” and a certain TV show that takes us traveling into another dimension. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” Nicholas Parisi, author of “Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination,” discusses Serling’s remarkable career.
The episode can be heard here.
Kim Possible (2019)
As a preamble I admit that I’ve never liked the “Kim Possible” animated series. I know as a Disney fan I’m supposed to love it, but I always found the series to be incredibly flat, bland, and boring. I didn’t really care for anything about it beyond Will Friedle who, at the time, was my favorite voice actor. That said, when “Kim Possible” was rebooted in to a TV movie series, I was surprised by how new and re-energized the reboot looked. Though “Kim Possible” is back, she’s returned for a whole new generation of fans that have embraced heroines fighting crime.
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
I was thoroughly surprised with 2017’s “Happy Death Day.” The more I’ve thought about it and re-watched it, I’ve come to like it more and more as a horror reworking of “Groundhog’s Day.” It’s a fun and creepy character piece about a despicable young woman who realizes that maybe the way to keep herself from dying and end the cycle of re-living the same day over and over, is to think about other people in her life. “Happy Death Day 2U” is that same concept, but a wholly different movie. It’s a sequel that brings us a new angle of the narrative, expands on the concept of the original film, while also continuing to explore the character of Tree Gelbman.
The Bootleg Files: The Jack Benny Birthday Special
BOOTLEG FILES 673: “The Jack Benny Birthday Special” (1969 TV special).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.
During the mid-1960s into the early 1970s, Jack Benny made a number of TV specials that aired on NBC. Most of these offerings were pleasant but entirely forgettable, and Benny often seemed to be dialing in his performances.
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