Tuesday, October 24, 2017

My Top 10 Favorite Halloween Movies.

"When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake,
Spooks come out for a swinging wake."
That day is almost upon us. It's nearly time for Halloween, a time that I like many others look forward to every year. And not simply because it signals Christmas as coming closer anytime it's over, but for being that rare time of year when everyone is free to let their freak flag fly, and the macabre spooks and haunts come to go bump in the night, full of festivities for everyone from trick or treaters, to those desiring something a little more ghastly, being that one time of year we welcome the frightening.

And key in this plays into those old annual classics to grace the silver screen and our home theaters, that linger and fester in our mind as they play their horrifying tricks on us, or give us something a little more light to ease us out of the terror and tickle us. Subgenres like the Slasher films were practically born because of Halloween, from Texas Chainsaw to (the appropriately named) Halloween, whose iconic villains and terrorizing nightmare fodder continue to haunt us even today.

It seems every film buff has his or her personal perennial favorite to sit back and enjoy this creepy time of year, and I'm no different. So in celebration of All Hallow's Eve, I've decided to leave my personal favorites for this time of year. These are not meant to be my favorite numerically ranked films, nor are they my attempt to say these are the scariest films ever made. Rather, these films stand here not by preference, but by how perfect they are to watch based on the atmosphere of the season, even if they have little to nothing to do with Halloween. Whether they be scary for the supernatural, for their humanity, or they work as nice counterprogramming to the grim and dark, I think these films are among those perfect to revisit this time of year.


And before we get to the main top ten, some honorable mentions to:
An American Werewolf in London, Evil Dead 2, The Addams Family, The Others, and ParaNorman.

And so, here presented in chronological order of their release, my top ten favorite Halloween films.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Blade Runner 2049 movie review.

Coming into the 1980's, Sci-Fi traveled down a road less of fantastical adventure flicks, and as attitudes in the world changed, became much more grungy, and more chaotic than what we expected of the genre. Director Ridley Scott was one of those who pioneered its migration to that direction, having helmed the retro-fi blue collar Alien, and immediately following it up with Blade Runner, a then divisive film that soon was seen as a classic on reflection, casting usual charming rogue Harrison Ford against type as Rick Deckard, even as Scott spent years perfecting the film with edit after edit.

For years, the idea of a sequel had long gestated, but it seems any ideas simply didn't materialize. But now the idea finally becomes reality, tempting Harrison Ford back alongside Ryan Gosling, and now under the control of Denis Villeneuve. Although, pedigree is one thing, but can those ingrediants capture the same lightning in a bottle? The short answer is yes. Very, very well. Blade Runner 2049 not only stands as one of the year's finest films, but looks poised to be another classic in its own right.