Category: Movie Reviews

When Houston Had The Blues, Nobody Can Bring Me Down!

The who’s who of everyone who was influenced by the Houton music scene can be found in this excellent documentary by Alan Swyer.

When Houston Had The BluesComing to Digital on Sept 24

Every city that’s been considered the birthplace of the Blues has a distinct sound, and When Houston Had The Blues, what’s unique to this locale is the sax. As for why that is so, everything a student of this genre would want to know is excellently answered here. This documentary curated by Alan Swyer, who also serves as director, dives deep into looking at the legends who shaped the sound.

Not only does Lightning Sam (Hopkins) get the spotlight, but also we see why a lot of prominent female artists rose to fame here. Back in the early part of the 20th century, not everyone got treated fairly–the music was often restricted to juke joints, and it wasn’t until Elvis that helped introduce the music from African-Americans and later transform it to something known as rock and roll.

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Top Five Animated Films To Look Forward to this Fall/Winter

Just how many animated films getting released world-wide needs to be counted. While I’m still anxiously waiting for White Snake 3, I have this guide to the American made works that will be out soon and later this year.

As my review of Transformers One have shown, not every film is worth checking out. That’s because I’m a die-hard fan of the original and Prime series. When this work completely changes the lore around, it’s fallen out of my list.

Also, there’s two films which have yet to make a North American side debut. They deserve an honourable mention, and nobody should be surprised that White Snake 3 and The Royal Cat, both Chinese animated movies needs to get marketed here. And there’s also Mononoke: The Movie from Japan!

THE WILD ROBOT
Sept 27

The Wild Robot Movie Poster - Animated FilmsChris Sanders is back, working at DreamWorks and I couldn’t be any happier. He’s done wonders with fond properties like Lilo & Stitch as well as How to Train Your Dragon. Whether that’s as an illustrator or director, there’s something about his visual style which makes those works stand out. Now that he’s helming this adaptation of Peter Brown’s bestselling illustrated book of the same name, and how he’ll apply his trademark should be exciting.

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Transformers One Failure to Rewrite The Past

Only newcomers need apply to become Transformers One. It’s tough to accept a new origin story and retelling of Optimus and Megatron’s relationship when it’s been well established in other fronts.

Transformers One Movie PosterLong time fans of Transformers can forget about Michael Bay changing everything that’s beloved from the original cartoon series. Instead, it’s Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari who can take the blame on everything that is wrong in Transformers One, rather than director Josh Cooley. When he can write and win an award for Inside Out, he can craft imaginative worlds. But as for getting actors and talent pools to give their all, that part of the film is at least done right. Since he’s not responsible for the story, that’s when things go wrong.

It seems the writers room knows nothing about what makes past takes of this IP, namely Generation One and Prime, great. Bearing in mind this animated take is supposed to be a loose prequel to the live-action movies–and said to eventually morph the voices we hear now to the infamous duo of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker–I suppose some liberties can be allowed. This origin story takes place before the Autobots and Decepticons became a faction. Their war hasn’t even started.

Technically, that history was presented in an excellent trilogy by Alex Irvine and I’ll reiterate this fact time and time again! He improved upon what was established instead of changing a lot of things around. Sadly, this film retcons everything that I believe is sacred. Orion Pax is no longer a clerk/librarian. D-16 (Megatron) never fought in the gladiatorial pits. They are now miners (with Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as the ‘new’ voices) who get bored with their role, want to figure out where they came from, and understand who the Primes are. Their interest in the Matrix of Leadership sort of drives the story, as only one can possess it, and I feel that’s the reason for their rift.

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Is Neil a Man or Cyborg? A Documentary That Questions Humanity’s Relationship With Tech

The question posed in Cyborg: A Documentary concerns how far people are willing to alter their five senses for the sake of improving their condition.

Cyborg A Documentary Movie Poster
Playing at select cinemas in the UK Beginning Sept 20.

The augmentation of the human body is controversial. And the question whether one will lose their humanity is in question. In R. Talsorians’s Cyberpunk, the role playing game, this idea is perfectly translated into a statistic. The score tracks when a player character becomes more machine than man. However, there are also valid reasons to allow for some people to become enhanced to improve their quality of life. In Cyborg: A Documentary, first-time director Carey Born dives into the possibilities. Thankfully, there’s people who know when to stop rather than to keep on augmenting.

Although this filmmaker is quite focused on this individual, the discourse concerning who else can benefit really depends. For the most part, Neil Harbisson‘s life is front and centre. Although born without the ability to perceive colour, he’s become an artist who uses sound to help him paint. That’s because of the computer software he helped develop to let him hear how paint works. Although he’s not the world’s first person to receive an implant, to show how he functions as a spokesperson for this movement is rather fascinating. While the idea of inserting a chip into an organic body is nothing new because pets often get an RFID chip, to put that in a human is troublesome.

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Who Needs Deadites When “Beezel” is the New Nightmare?

Whether Beezel is the nickname for another often used in horror cinema isn’t in question here. Just whether they’re related might be in this fondly nightmarish New England town anthology!

Beezel Movie PosterSocial House Films

For over sixty years, one home’s evil past continues to be fed. The terror in Beezel suggests this spirit will always linger, and I believe this demon is worse than the demon who haunts the cellar from Evil Dead! When the title of the movie is about her ability to dominate the living, I’m afraid! The reason is because she enjoys feasting upon the fears from the hosts and victims sacrificed to her.

It seems Halloween has arrived earlier than expected as usually the best works are saved for last. Instead, I doubt any new movie can top what Beezel offers: ghoulish torture experiments, possession, and a lot more! As for how many stories exist, I counted three. But without title cards to distinguish between the tales, that’s the only confusion I had.

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The Zombie Wedding is Nothing to Moan Over When Crazy Feuding Familes Agree

The talents recruited to participate in The Zombie Wedding is nothing but spectacular. They come from all “walks” of the entertainment industry! And The Monkee magic certainly helps.

The Zombie Wedding Movie PosterFreestyle Digital Media
Now Streaming

Just how much of the undead virus exists in Zack (Donald Chang) depends on who you ask. I wouldn’t know he’s a zombie until it was stated, and when he wants to marry Ashley (Deepti Menon), nobody from their family is going to stop them from having The Zombie Wedding of the year! The media is even having a field day asking, how is it possible?

What I love about this comedy is that it really belongs in the same universe as A Little Bit Zombie. Although this work is over a decade old, I feel there are shared ideas. For this latest, director Micah Khan and writer Greg D’Alessandro crafted a fantastic satire on multiculturalism and how to get along.

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