Syfy’s “Day of the Dead” Continues The Trampling of Romero’s Legacy

When the trailer for “Day of the Dead” arrived, it looked interesting but stumped me. The trailer for the Syfy series was a fast paced dark comedy with zombies, goofy one liners, and a bunch of action. It felt more like “Return of Z Nation” rather than a throwback to Romero. This could have been given any generic title like “Zombie Warz” or “Country Zombie Jammie Jam” and never really miss a beat. There’s no reason at all to call this “Day of the Dead” and pretend it’s honoring Romero’s original movie, and it’s sad Syfy has resorted to this.

It’s all brand recognition. It’s an easy sell, an easy pitch, and has a built in audience.

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Joe E. Brown: A Second Look

Most people remember Joe E. Brown from “Some Like It Hot,” but during the 1930s and 1940s he was one of America’s most popular funnymen. In this premiere episode of “The Online Movie Show” podcast’s sixth season, new attention is given to Joe E. Brown’s full career with guest James L. Neibaur, author of “The Joe E. Brown Films.”

The episode can be heard here.

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog (2021)

It’s pretty surprising that Scooby Doo and Courage the Cowardly Dog have never met in the animated medium before. Courage is something of a neo-Scooby Doo for the contemporary Hanna Barbera slate of animated series, and has its devotees. It’s a much more bizarre, spookier, and edgier series that’s even been embraced by the horror community. While it doesn’t make too much sense for them to meet, it also does make a ton of sense which adds to the oddity that’s “Straight Outta Nowhere.”

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The Five Worst (and Four Best) Scooby-Doo Knock Offs

I guess because it’s written in blood in a contract with some demonic force that every single year, Scooby Doo has to have a new movie released on or around the Halloween season. Truth be told, the movies sell well and Scooby Do around Halloween just makes sense. The long running series from Hanna Barbera has been one of the most influential franchises of all time, even bringing with is a wave of goofy, silly, god awful copy cats. They tried everything to duplicate the success of Scooby from talking mopeds, goofy ghosts, and even miniature detectives.

These are five of the worst Scooby Doo Knock Offs, and Four of the Best.

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Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) [Blu-Ray/DVD]

With Shout! Studios being given the rights to Laika Studios’ catalogue, they’ve been releasing almost all of their acclaimed award winning films with some new features. If you’ve been a fan of Laika over the years as I’ve been, it’s not surprising that they’ve risen in the ranks alongside PIXAR and Disney as one of the best of their ilk. Probably their best yet is “Kubo and the Two Strings,” a wonderful mixture of mythology, folklore, horror, action, and adventure along with their amazing animation.

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