House of Cards Season 4

Here's the truth about me watching House of Cards. I like it, but only in small very concentrated doses. I don't know if I'm watching the show tactically to savor some of the episodes before it's ultimate ending which I'm sure is happening sooner or later, but I can only watch the show for so long before I just stop. Perfect example of this, I watched this season a couple months ago and am just now getting to the review. Luckily I had notes but I may also add in some commentary on this season and whether or not it lingered in my mind as a season months later.

Little disclaimer: If you haven't seen Season 4 of House of Cards, there are going to be spoilers in this review.

Last year when the 4th season came out on Netflix, everyone was praising it and telling me that I had to watch it, especially since I am also a political junkie and would definitely see the crossovers from the election in the season. So if you recall from last year, I did a massive overhaul watch of all three

seasons prior to this one. The main goal was to get to the 4th season as quickly as I could and get
through the two seasons I had not watched yet. In the first season, I recounted how the show was pretty dry with some great performances. The main theme was that this was a very dark world you are entering and if you're looking for the good guy, you're gonna be looking for a while. While the first season laid the ground work for Frank's rise to power, the second season was finally seeing that plan in motion and the real blend of his schemes along with the actionable policies that no longer just affect other Congressmen, but instead affect the whole world. And in the second season, you see Frank reach his goal and how he actually utilizes that power. The third season also hit the reset button in a way because where the first season laid the groundwork for Frank's rise to power, culminating in him becoming President at the end of the 2nd season, after watching the 4th season, I realize that that season laid the groundwork for Frank's goal of maintaining that power, something that begins in Season 4.

Something to remember from Season 3 is that Frank is not a very popular President due to the fact that he was never formally elected. The latter part of that season was the primary election between Frank and other Democratic nominees working to unseat him. Now by the time that this season is up and rolling, that Democratic primary goes away pretty quickly in the midst of an assassination plot and a conspiracy that the administration shakes up.

And while we're on the topic of the assassination attempt, that blew my mind. I like Sebastian Arcelus, he's been in a lot of shows I've come to enjoy like Madam Secretary. I've also always liked the character of Lucas Goodwin. And Lucas is a perfect example of someone who has gone through the ringer that is Frank Underwood and lashes out when he's on his last straw, ending in the assassination attempt on Frank's life.

This attempt gives way to a lot of storylines and strengthening of a lot of characters, especially Claire. It sets the stage for a partnership that fuels the entire season. But I'll be honest, the first half of this season suffers a little bit because for a good portion the two are at odds and in the other portion Frank is hallucinating for at least two episodes straight.

Look how interesting this is...

I don't mean to say that the stuff with Claire is boring or that she is not a good character, but I just felt like she's not as strong when she's the only one being manipulative.

Claire is a complicated character and while she's just as ruthless, if not more than Frank at times, the show has been and seems like it will always be stronger with Frank in it. That's not to say the two of them together aren't a strong and compelling force, but I definitely enjoyed the show more when they were working together to when Claire was working alone.

But that really underlines the main draw of this season. It sets up the fact that while Frank has done a lot of work in the past three seasons, he can't win this battle without the help of Claire and their relationship becomes the main appeal of the entire season.

At the beginning of the season, these two are at odds. Frank is literally having dreams of killing Claire. But then the rest of the season is them repairing that relationship and coming back together to be this insanely powerful dynamic duo. In fact at the end of the season when Frank is doing his 4th wall thing, Claire actually breaks it with him meaning there will be a new co-mastermind with Frank through this twisted adventure. It was a powerful scene.

There are a lot of powerful scenes with these two and it all plays into the political intrigue of the series and the phenomenal acting from Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Once again, these two continue to just knock it straight out of the park and as always, it gets pretty dark.

But even though Robin Wright takes on a larger role in this season on top of the large role she already had, Kevin Spacey continues to be a huge tour de force in this show as more layers of Frank Underwood are pulled back and we get to know more and more about him.

In order to set up that partnership and the realization that Frank cannot do this without Claire's help, we are exposed to a lot of really genuine moment about him as a character. Frank Underwood is arguably the most corrupt and murderous character in the modern age of television but in this season we see him at his most vulnerable. Not only do we see him hallucinating about the people he has killed, we also see him facing a battle he doesn't totally know how to beat with adversaries that give him the most run for his money. But we also see more real world crises that he is willing to manipulate and put lives at risk in order to maintain his power. This man is a serial murderer and he does it with a suit and tie and Kevin Spacey does it masterfully.

Of course the season has all the regulars like Doug Stamper and Seth Grayson and they have their own drama that is good but I'm gonna be honest kind of blends together at a certain point. The other entertaining thing about this season is the strengthening of characters like Catherine Durant as some of the loyalties to Frank are challenged and create bigger problems for him.

While I can criticize the first half of this season for being a little bit boring, the second half makes up for a lot of it when the Conways are introduced.

Oh boy are these guys entertaining!

Joel Kinnamen plays Will Conway, the nominee for the Republican party that is going to be the main contender against Frank's run for the White House. They set him up masterfully because in many ways he is very similar to Frank but he also represents everything that Frank isn't. He's got a wife who seems to love him, he's got kids, he's a Republican. But more over his family is incredibly active on social media, trying to be as transparent and authentic with their lives almost to the point where it becomes just as fake as the Underwoods trying to hide as much as they can but providing a facade to cover it. While I wasn't totally sold from the beginning to see Rick Flag on this show because I haven't seen him really prove himself as an actor, he nailed this role. The main reason I want to watch the fifth season is because of the Conways. Like I said, Conway and his family bring a whole different edge to the season that it feels like the two halves are two different seasons. You'd think that Frank getting shot would be the most dramatic thing that happens in this season but that is just not the case.

There are a couple of new characters added to the show like Neve Campbell who brought some good stuff to the show, but something that I really liked about this season was all the callbacks it had. There are a lot of characters that had been gone for a season or so that were brought back for one reason or another. The former President that started this whole thing comes back for an episode, Raymond Tusk comes back for a little bit, as does Remy Danton. And who doesn't love Mahershala Ali in anything?

But the part I really liked was how some of the forgotten characters and feuds from as far as the first season come back to haunt Frank. Remember that guy who was looking to ruin Frank with the peach water tower in his hometown? Yeah he shows up and wreaks havoc for a little bit.

Remember Tom Hammerschmidt? No? He's the former boss of Zoe Barnes from the paper who she got fired? He foreseeably has a huge roll in the next season and man is it exciting.

Hammerschmidt is an example of how House of Cards remains relevant in our political world because he represents the press and a tremulous relationship they've developed with government in the past few years. I don't think House of Cards did this on purpose because it came out before Trump became President, but you can see the show foreshadowing certain elements of that relationship and the tactics each side uses to get the upper hand over the other. House of Cards has always been a show about struggles for power and that's exactly what is being set up with Hammerschmidt and his investigation into Frank Underwood.

And Hammerschmidt and his part in all of this highlights one of the problems with House of Cards. The truth is, the show is a lot more interesting when it seems like Frank is climbing the ladder, trying to win.

Season 3 of this show is arguably the worst season because it showed too much of Frank actually governing. As much of a political junkie I am, I even found some of that element of the show pretty boring and I get the feeling that's what other people thought.

It exemplifies people's outlook towards politics. We like our elections but governing is boring and frustrating. We like our power struggles but compromise and working together is not intriguing enough.

This is not necessarily a criticism of the show. The show is made for entertainment, not to show the everyday ongoings of government. But it does kind of forecast how the writers need to avoid a slump like the third season in the future.

And yes I know the fifth season has been out for a while but I'm very far behind and I can still do my predictions dammit. I'll get to the fifth season eventually.

The first essential item is to create a formidable class between Conway and Underwood, and not just one that lasts half a season. Not only do we have to see Conway as a legitimate threat to Frank, but we need to see him break down and get closer and closer to Frank's level. If we know anything from the last scene of the series where a man is being beheaded right in front of Frank, he is willing to go all out in this battle. I want to see that from Conway.

But the second part is probably the more interesting and kind of depressing element about this show and how it's eerily forecasted the Trump Presidency before he even came into office.

And again it all comes back to Hammerschmidt.

Regardless of whether or not he is a more powerful recurring character, Hammerschmidt represents the reason why people are still focusing on politics a full year after the last election. Usually people only tune in around election time and then lose interest. The only other time that people really get interested in politics is when it personally affects them or if there is scandal. And season 5 is looking to be the season with the most reporting of scandal yet.

Underwood's entire rise to power has been gorged in scandal but Hammerschmidt represents all the allegations coming to their tipping point. Season 5 seems to be the point where the House of Cards is most at risk of being toppled. And it's creepy how foreshadowing Frank's reaction to it is. I don't know if they added it to the fifth season, but he follows the same tactics as Trump and it gets a little too close to home.

I hate getting too political and if you are offended by any of this, I apologize, but the show does start to pull back the layers of politics today and it might be the reason I watch this show in spurts. If I watched it as consistently as some people do, I would have an even worse outlook on politics and our governing bodies than I already do and I just don't want that. I suppose it goes without saying this show does need to be taken with a grain of salt and recognize that it is being made for entertainment purposes, but it does give a really depressing look at our world. The truth is I see that enough in the real world, it's not always helpful to see it in a fictional one.

My overall thoughts on Season 4 of House of Cards is that it is very good. It is a drastic improvement over the 2nd and 3rd season. While those seasons were well written and have some good acting, Season 4 was close to being as memorable as the first season. Now I will say the first season is still the best because it was able to create great drama and character intrigue while keeping the stakes generally low and personal. Overall, the main complaints I have about the 4th season is the first half and the complete bleakness of the show. While it's good in small doses, personally I can't watch a show this dark in more than small doses. That might be a personal preference but I can truly say, House of Cards is a really great piece of art. While it is dry and sometimes puts me to sleep, it continues to be an example of great writing and entertaining television.

But those are my thoughts on House of Cards Season 4. What did you think? Without spoilers should I be rushing to watch Season 5? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. This video shows two things. The first thing is the continuous way that House of Cards remains relevant to the headlines of today, and how their marketing campaigns are just spectacular. Enjoy!

Alien (1979)

So in case you haven't noticed, I don't usually watch horror movies but I have been trying to branch into a couple of them recently in anticipation for Stranger Things Season 2 and the fact that it is October and Halloween season. Alien has been a film I've wanted to check out for quite a while but I haven't had the guts to do it because horror films usually aren't my thing. But now I see this as the perfect opportunity to check out Alien for the first time.

Alien follows the story of a group of space explorers on their way back from a commercial voyage on the ship, The Nostromos. They are half way on their way back to Earth when they are awoken from

cryo sleep and sent off to investigate a distress beacon on a mysterious planet. They land on the planet and find a mysterious ship abandoned. The only thing in the ship is a bunch of creepy looking black eggs. Through a series of unfortunate events they bring an organism aboard the Nostromos and the entire movie is basically this crews fight to survival to try and rid themselves of this strange alien that has come aboard and is leaving a trail of bodies in its wake.

Overall, Alien is a pretty self contained horror film. While there are some large sets and great visuals in the film, the major action takes place in the confined space of the Nostromos with a small group of people just trying to survive to go home. And boy is it a fun time.

It's fascinating watching these films in context with the time that they came out. This movie came out in 1979, two years after Star Wars and you can see the influences that George Lucas's film had on it. If someone went to this film without watching any of the phenomenal trailers, they would probably think this is another space opera due to the opening shots of the Nostromos going through space.

But quickly that feeling leaves when you start getting some really creepy atmospheric horror tensions. And this is exactly the kind of horror that I love.

If you've been following this journey through a few horror movies the past month or so, you'll know that I don't like jump scares. Not only am I a bit of a wuss, I think that they're cheap and only last for a really unpleasant second. The horror that I like is the atmospheric pressure that a movie, a book, or a video game can put on you, putting you on the edge of your seat.

There's just certain scenes, certain ways that this movie is shot, and certain elements of the alien itself (seen or unseen) that makes this movie incredibly terrifying.

While I knew what a face hugger was just from pop culture, seeing that thing on a person's face along with the cinematic tension and lack of soundtrack, you are only left in suspense on what exactly is happening. On top of that, since the performances in this film are very good, you can see the fear and confusion in the faces of the characters on board the Nostromos as they don't know what the face hugger is and thus are confused out of their mind when they see this thing. It really is masterfully done.

Something that I think was pertinent for some of these early blockbuster films like this and Jaws is that the film is able to create tension and an even scarier environment when the monster is not on screen. I don't know if Alien had the same budget restraints as Jaws where they couldn't show the monster as much as they wanted to, but having the focus on the people trying to survive actually does the movie immense credit because the practical effects just aren't as great as they are now and thus, when you see the alien its easier to spot a guy in a costume or a mechanical prop.

But even though it's easier to spot, they still are able to utilize those few times that you do see the alien to really create a lot of creepy imagery and keep you on edge the entire film. And the real props create a tangible experience that is really, really fun to watch. I still have to take stock of all the films that I watched this month but this has been a month of really great films. If I do a top ten films I watched this year, Alien might be on this list just because of how much fun I had with a movie that is legitimately scary due both to atmospheric suspense but also jump scares that felt earned not just there to startle the audience. They were the results of really good pay off and character development.

And that brings me to the cast. I won't say this is the world's greatest cast because in reality the three people that were really that great are the four people that still have notable careers today, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, and John Hurt. I'm not saying the other people were bad, they just weren't very memorable. But I did think the cast worked really well to not only create horror elements, but an interesting science fiction movie. There was real tension, real stakes, and real emotion between these characters as they try to survive.

Also, I'm pretty sure Tom Skerritt looks like he should have been in Star Wars in this film and it bums me out that was never a thing.

But of course the real star was Sigourney Weaver. I don't really know if Sigourney Weaver was supposed to end up being the heroine of this movie and later on the franchise to the level she ended up being but it makes a lot of sense with her performance and how awesome of a character Ripley is.

Not a lot is known about Ripley in the first movie but she does such a good job at showing who she is as a character as opposed to having us be told who she is. We don't need to know a lot of her backstory she just manages to show us how strong of a personality she has and her ability to take command and try to save as many people as she can and herself. I'm really looking forward to Aliens for the sole reason that I want to see this character more. I get the feeling she might have been overused in later films, but I finished Alien wanting more Ripley because the performance is so good. The horror environment, the practical effects, and then Ripley are the things that make this movie great.

Overall Alien was really, really good.

The only critiques I have are some of the effects perhaps haven't aged as well as they would like and some of the actors don't stick out as much as the people who ended up really successful. I think that this movie had a great blend of horror and science fiction and it really got me excited for the next film, even though these films came out almost 40 years ago.

I don't know what happened with this franchise as I continuously hear criticism of it's modern takes like Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. I don't know if Alien has gone down the road of a lot of movies from the late 70s and early 80s that they were believed to need reboots and modern retellings. I'm sure I will figure out where the franchise went wrong (if it did, who knows) and if it can be translated into a modern story.

I personally would hope that people would stop trying to remake what has already shown to be successful and create a new Alien-type movie, but I get that that's very easy for me to say behind a computer typing out reviews.

Ridley Scott and the writers of this movie started something really great with this movie and I totally understand why it goes down as one of the classic films of our time.

But those are my thoughts on Alien. What did you think? Have you watched this film recently? Do you think it holds up? Are their criticisms that I missed? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. I mentioned the trailer and man it still holds up. The last tag line of "In Space no one can hear you scream" still gets me. Regardless of where this franchise went, that trailer still blows my mind. Enjoy!

Goosebumps

I'll be honest, I'm not totally sure what my intention was in watching this movie. I knew it was rated PG and it looked like a nice family picture so it wouldn't fall into the category of movies I've been watching as of late. I also knew that because it had such a wide release, I knew that it wasn't going to be scary. I also never really read the Goosebumps books so I didn't have much of a connection to the story or really got any of the easter Eggs that I can only assume were in this movie. This really came out of nowhere. The only explanation is, it's almost Halloween and I wanted to feel like I was watching something in the spirit without watching something super intense or scary. I guess mission accomplished?

Goosebumps follows the story of a kid named Zach (played by Dylan Minnette) who moves to Madison, Delaware with his mother (played by Amy Ryan). Next door to their new house, an eccentric man (played by Jack Black and his daughter Hannah (played by Odeya Rush) live in isolation and he is over protective of her. The neighbor warns the main character that he will not disturb them and he won't go anywhere near his daughter. Of course, there is an attraction between Zach and Hannah and the two have what I guess can be called a cute romantic connection.

Well it is soon discovered that Zach's neighbor is the famous author R.L. Stine and in his house are a bunch of Goosebumps manuscripts that are magical and contain within the pages the real monsters that Stine writes about and they can be released by merely opening the books and releasing them to the world. When through a series of events Zach accidentally releases some of the monsters, he must team up with R.L. Stine, Hannah, and his weird friend Champ (played by Ryan Lee) to capture the monsters and return them back to their rightful place in the books on Stine's shelf.

This is a fine family picture. Ultimately everything feels very safe in this film. The main character is your white bread teenage boy who is embarassed by his mother, new to school so he's finding it difficult to make friends, and he has a crush on your typical white bread teenage girl. You've got your silly sidekick and they're off doing their romp of an adventure. Everything is pretty safe and profitable. But because of this, there aren't a lot of risks happening in this movie. I've heard that originally Tim Burton was the one who was supposed to direct this film and I can only imagine how intriguing that might have been... back in the 80s and 90s that is. It's safe and probably an easy movie to show to your kids if you want to start breaking them into PG movies. But safe can be pretty boring in this film.

And then there's Jack Black and man is this guy holding back in this film. I guess Jack Black is getting to the point where he's playing the father figure... it's kind of bumming me out because if Jack Black can get that old that means that I'm getting old...

Jack Black used to be this super hyper emoting actor. And yeah he's still eccentric and I won't say he's not talented, but he didn't really bring it for this film. He spends the entire movie doing a really weird non-distinguishable accent that I guess is supposed to be funny but it doesn't really do a lot for me. There are a couple moments where Jack Black is trying to act and it also makes me sad because he's not that horrible of an actor. But with a story like Goosebumps, it's going to be pretty streamlined and any interesting character development, especially between him and his daughter is pretty lacking.

Jack Black in this film is like the rest of the film. Very safe, not trying to offend anybody or do anything super unique, just create an easy fun family film.

Like I said, I didn't read Goosbumps so I'm going into this totally blind. I knew who R.L. Stine was and that Goosebumps were books, but I didn't know anything about the monsters in the books. However, based on what I've heard, it follows the monsters of as many books as it could and treated them with a great deal of respect in the source material.

The bad part about these monsters is because it's a PG film, they're very tame and don't even kill anybody. There's a scene where a kid gets snatched by a giant praying mantis and I thought, wow they killed that kid? But then he shows up later with a giant full body cast on. The monsters weren't threatening and I never felt like the main characters were in danger.

The main villain is a Ventriloquist Dummy named Slappy.

What was a little bit clever was the fact that Slappy was voiced by Jack Black too and it was kind of like a play on the fact that Stine creates him and he's kind of his child. But again, it kind of falls flat when Slappy doesn't really do anything. Yeah he disappears and reappears whenever he wants but I never felt like he could actually do anything.

But with all the monsters from all your worst nightmares and a small town being attacked by these monsters, I couldn't help but think this movie is actually the perfect love child of a cross between Gremlins and Cabin in the Woods. Both are films I don't love, but I do recognize the really creative ideas that they bring to the table. If you brought those two ideas together, you could have actually had a really funny black comedy with a lot of imaginative ideas and creepy things happen. I mean if you've seen Cabin in the Woods you know what I'm talking about. If you've seen Gremlins you know the havoc that can be had in a small town. By meshing those two things together I think you find yourself with a really funny and unique film that builds off of what has been built in the past.

But instead we opt for a pretty straight forward Halloween movie for kids and I think it suffers. The kids don't feel like real kids, the stakes aren't high. You don't even need to make it rated R, you can just have higher stakes. That's what kids want, they want stories to feel important and meaningful.

Oh and I forgot, Jillian Bell is in this movie...

She's not funny. She tries to be but she's not. She was good in 22 Jump Street but she's not good in this film... Amy Ryan is good though. But she's good in everything.

Overall, Goosebumps is a safe film. Not bad, not good, just safe. There's a lot of good ideas in the film and there was a lot more they could have done, but overall it's kind of bland and just not as good as I think it could have been. If you have kids, this might be a fun film for them. I'm obviously not the target audience of this film and if you're older than 12, you probably won't get much out of this film. It's not bad, it just not really anything very exciting.

But those are my thoughts on Goosebumps. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog as well as my live tweets that I do every once in a while for a film I'm watching.

I'll leave you with this. The thing I will give this movie credit for is it brought me back to Tenacious D. Here's the first song I heard from them. It's awesome. Enjoy!

Twin Peaks Season 1

So I started watching Twin Peaks quite a long time ago. I took interest in the show when I was looking for something to watch in the intermediary time between watching Stranger Things season 1 and 2 and an article suggested that if I liked Stranger Things I would like this show. It took me quite a long time to get through it so I’ll be honest and say I probably won’t remember every horrible and every good thing that happened in this first season. But I can give an overall perspective of Twin Peaks and let you know if it’s worth checking out or if I think I’m going to be continuing to watch season 2.

Twin Peaks starts off with the central event that sets everything into motion and that is the murder of the prom queen, Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee). She is found dead and wrapped in plastic. It is definitely one of the grisliest murders that have ever occurred in Twin Peaks and everyone seems to be affected by it. Soon after, Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan) of the FBI is summoned to Twin Peaks to assist the investigation already started by the Sheriff of the town, Harry Truman (played by Michael Ontkean). The entire season is the unraveling of the mystery behind Laura Palmer’s murder and the strange on goings of Twin Peaks and its residents.

Right off the bat, I should describe the style of this show because it took me a little bit to understand exactly what I was getting into and I didn’t read into anything because I didn’t want any secrets to be spoiled. The truth is, the style of Twin Peaks is pretty odd and if

you’re not prepared for it, you are in for a long… LONG series. In short, Twin Peaks takes on a bit of a soap opera format. While the center of the show is focused on the murder mystery of Laura Palmer, the majority of the show you will watch the drama and love stories between the people of the town. And it’s really cheesy, and really, REALLY slow. I honestly don’t remember much of the first two episodes because the focus is on some kind of love triangle between the characters in high school and man is it dull.  I kept on falling asleep while watching those episodes and when I finally got to the third or fourth episode where stuff sort of picks up a bit, I realized that the first two episodes really weren’t that important.

As I’ve already alluded to, Twin Peaks has a lot of characters and they all have their own secrets and their own motivations and connections to Laura Palmer and her untimely death. Of course there is Dale Cooper and the Sheriff’s office doing the investigation, but then there’s the high school students and their weird love triangle between Laura’s friend, Donna (played by Lara Flynn Boyle), a motorcycle driving loner named, James (played by James Marshall) and Laura’s boyfriend Bobby (played by Dana Ashbrook). Then you’ve got the

women who work at the diner, the saw mill owners, Laura’s hysterical parents, the business men trying to make a land deal with all of Scandinavia, and one of their daughters, Audrey (played by Sherilyn Fenn) who honestly I have no idea what her deal is the entire show.

All of it is pretty confusing overall and I didn’t even name off all the characters. The show is designed with its acting, story, and music like a soap opera like Days of our Lives. Now if it was satirical I would probably actually really enjoy this show but this is supposed to be taken seriously for at least a majority of the plot and I just can’t deal with it sometimes while I was watching it. I had to take a break because it’s just dripping in cheese. While it tries to be a soap opera, a crime mystery, and a little bit of a supernatural thriller, it’s really only good at the genre that I wasn’t really looking for, Soap Opera.

Now, what I will say is that Kyle MacLachlan was just having a ball with this role and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly entertained whenever he was onscreen. He really does become a really likeable character and he is really the only reason I kept on watching the show.

Also, if you are watching this show because somebody told you there was a little bit of a supernatural element to it, you are going to be really disappointed. I don’t know if the supernatural parts of the show pick up a little bit in the second season but I was looking for those supposed supernatural parts and beyond some freaky dreams and premonitions, there is a lot to be desired. Now to give credit where it’s due, those dreams and premonitions were probably the part of the show that kept me watching and they’re actually done better than the crime mystery which I thought was the main focus of the show. But even when all is said and done, I was still disappointed with the elements that tried to make this show different than all the other murder mysteries that I’ve seen on TV before.

This is another show that I may need some explaining on. This show apparently has garnered a huge fan base and it’s become a bit of a cult classic. I will need some explanation as to why. I don’t want to insult you at all if you like this show, but I don’t see the appeal. I definitely don’t understand how it got rebooted this year but hey, almost everything from the 80s and 90s is getting rebooted, I shouldn’t be surprised.

Now the question is, am I going to watch the second season? Without giving much away, I will say the last episode did manage to sneakily get me hooked and there are definitely a bunch of cliff hangers that I will admit I was wondering a little bit how they concluded. I might watch the first episode of the second season just to see the closure of those cliff hangers but unless that first episode is mind blowingly amazing or if someone is able to explain what I’m missing in this apparent masterpiece, I more than likely will not be watching season 2 and its even less likely that I will watch the new season that just came out or the movies that apparently are out there.

Overall, I can’t recommend Twin Peaks. There are so many other shows that are just better made, keep you interested, and give better performances. If you’re looking for a crime mystery series, I can recommend others that are better like Broadchurch or Criminal Minds. If you’re looking for science fiction or supernatural shows, I can recommend others that are better like Stranger Things or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m not much of a Soap Opera fan so I guess if you’re looking for one this might not be a bad idea, but I can guess that people would say that The Vampire Diaries will probably catch your fancy more than this show.

Seriously though, if you like this show, please send me a comment or a tweet because the way I see it is it furthers the conversation and this is my opinion, I want to hear yours.  

What are your thoughts? What did you think of Twin Peaks? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should check out in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews as well as live tweets and Stardust videos for an initial reaction I have on the movie or TV show I’m watching before the full review.

I’ll leave you with this. Something to note about this series is the soundtrack. Like I said you are going to hear this song over, and over, and over again if you watch this show. It's not a bad song whatsoever but it can get pretty tedious in context. It does kind of symbolize the weird in between this show is in when it came out in the beginning of the 90s but still had that 80s flair. Enjoy!

The Blob (1988)

So in retrospect, I definitely should have written my review for this film before I watched The Silence of The Lambs. I didn't know how much I was going to love that movie and it's kind of overshadowing this film which I also really... liked. I loved The Silence of The Lambs. I can marvel at the Hitchcockian cinematography, the phenomenal performances, and the creepy story. There is no way in hell I would ever say this movie is better than The Silence of the Lambs... but damn did I had an absolute ball watching The Blob.

A little disclaimer. I have been trying to watch more horror films recently. I am an absolute wuss when it comes to horror films. I get anxious, my hands get sweaty, I don't like being startled... I like being scared, not startled. AKA I don't like jump scares. This was a film I had heard of and knew it was from the 80s so I thought it was pretty tame and something I could handle. Another disclaimer... I wanted to watch The Thing. I know this is not The Thing. One day I intend to watch The Thing... I just thought you all should know.

The Blob is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name. It takes place in a small town in California where the high school football quarterback, Paul (played by Donovon Leitch) decides he's going to ask out the Prom Queen, Meg (played by Shawnee Smith). He figures he'll take her out, show her a good time and who knows, they're in high school, anything could happen.

Meanwhile a meteorite  hits Earth and in that meteorite is a silly puddy looking blob that starts devouring everything it sees. Paul, Meg, and a rebel by the name of Brian Flag (played by a very young Kevin Dillon, or Drama from Entourage if he was in a Bon Jovi phase) get sucked into the horrible massacre that occurs in their town as well as the conspiracy behind it.

First and foremost its worth saying that this movie is overall probably not the best film of all time. It's cheesy, the acting is only so-so, and the practical effects have in reality not held up. This movie also was not very well received when it came out so that is a bit understandable.

But I don't know what it was but this movie was just down right entertaining. While the practice effects don't look real at all, you can tell someone had a lot of fun creating the gore, blood, and body parts that appear, fall off, dissolve away, and other gross things in this movie. It just harkens back to a simpler time and it's actually a lot of fun to watch.

On top of that, this movie is like a time capsule into the 80s but at the same time seems timeless in its execution. The clothing, hair, and other elements just scream 80s but the movie doesn't draw attention to itself and the fact that its in the 80s. Now I know thats a thing that happens now due to nostalgia for the 80s, but it is fun going back to movies that were just like that because they were made in the 80s and you have that feeling to it naturally.

As I said, the acting is pretty so-so. Nobody hires Kevin Dillon for his acting and I don't really know what Shawnee Smith is doing with her life these days, but again, it comes down to pure entertainment. While these were not the deepest characters of all time, they were still likable and served the movie's purpose as the heroes of the story.

I think the thing I like about this film is that it combines the out of this world feeling of E.T. and the slasher blood and gore of a John Carpenter film and you get this very weird but surprisingly entertaining film. I'm sure there are other 80's movies that I should be checking out that are much better than this film but I would equate this film to Gremlins. It's not really supposed to be that great and feels more like a B movie, but because the movie is so fun and unique I understand the cult following it gathered.

I'll be honest, the main reason I've been getting into these classic horror films is in preparation for Stranger Things Season 2, but it is fun to see what good writers like The Duffer Brothers are able to extract from movies like this (probably not this one in particular) and spin to work in 2017.

The other surprise I got from this film was the messages behind it. There is definitely an underlying message about sexually transmitted diseases and government control at a time when the AIDs epidemic was happening and the country was still reeling from questionable government leadership.

Now the themes aren't exactly subtle so I wouldn't call them profound or anything but it is an interesting film for its time, especially for how stupid the main monster really is.

I mean the main monster is a giant pink blob, and yet at the same time it is able to make some pretty horrific imagery like this.

The Blob really won't go down as any kind of groundbreaking film. The very reason why I wanted to watch The Thing instead kind of makes the point that there are other great films out there and this will go down as a cult favorite but not really anything spectacular.

But that doesn't really negate the fact that this movie is still a boat load of fun and worth checking out if you have Hulu. I wouldn't pay money to watch this film, but if you have Hulu, a couple beers and some buddies to watch this film and get a laugh or two, I definitely recommend The Blob.

But what do you think? Have you seen The Blob? What did you think? What are the quintessential 80s horror movies I should be checking out? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Like I said this movie was a remake from the film of the same name back in 1958. I probably will not watch that version, but here's the trailer. Enjoy!

MouseHunt

So you may think that at least writing about MouseHunt after the scary experience of The Silence of The Lambs would put me at peace... Well No. I actually think I was more scared of this movie when I was kid than I would have been had I seen The Silence of The Lambs back then... this movie terrified me as a child.

Mousehunt follows the story of two brothers by the name of Ernie and Lars Smuntz (played by Nathan Lane and Lee Evans respectively). At the beginning of the film, we figure out that their father (played by William Hickey) the owner of a string factory, has passed away. The two brothers had a bit of a tremulous relationship with their father and both deal with it in a little bit of a different way than the other.

Ernie is a chef who soon after the reading of the will, loses his job. Lars is left in charge of the failing string factory and his wife leaves him out on the street on his own. The two find themselves in a large house that their father owned that is very old and falling apart.

Just as the two of them are at their lowest, they discover that the house was designed by a famous architect and is worth a lot of money. Blinded by the prospect of selling the house and making a lot of money, the two brothers start fixing up the house for an auction to be had within the week.

The only snag to their plan is a both very cute and yet very real looking mouse who lives in the house. At first they just set a trap and expect the mouse to be taken care of very quickly. But they discover the mouse is a lot craftier than they expect and the strategies to catch him get more extravagant and crazy as the movie goes on, providing more pain to the two brothers than the mouse itself, providing some Laurel and Hardy-like slap stick humor that is both very well choreographed but at the same time very painful looking.

And I say a very real looking mouse because it is obvious that CGI was used for this film, it was 1997, everyone was using CGI. But even today, the CGI is done very well and I think they used a real mouse for some of the scenes. So you get this very confused feeling because on one hand this mouse looks like it would actually be a cute pet to have and keep around, but at the same time it looks like the kind of mouse that has rabies and there are multiple scenes where it is in places you really wouldn't want to find a mouse. A box of cereal, in your clothes, in your food, the list goes on and on. So yeah, while they have a cute scene where the mouse is crawling through the walls and the effects are great and then the mouse makes its way to a small match box and snuggles to sleep and you're supposed to let out a huge "awwwww", there are still a lot of scenes where you want this mouse dead as much as these brothers do.

On top of that, there's a lot of humor in this film that is both inappropriate for kids and just gross. Yeah it was PG so my bad for being too young to handle this film, but it's definitely for older kids.

But let's talk about the slapstick for a second.

Slapstick is a form that requires a lot of practice. You don't just make slapstick happen. And it's not just the prat falls or the hitting in the head with a hammer, it's about timing.

All comedy is about pain, and Slapstick banks on the pain that is caused from accidentally getting hit in the head, or tripping and falling, and at some points in the movie, Lane and Evans actually do it right. There are a couple of moments that are actually pretty good slap stick. Now it feels like they're imitating slapstick classics like Laurel and Hardy, but at the same time you have to give them credit for doing a comedy with a form of comedy that isn't really used that often, and if it is it isn't used well. I'll give them credit for getting some of it right. But not all of it does. Due to the fact that they can use CGI and effects in this film, they can go a little bit further with their slapstick and in doing that, some of the realism and thus the humor is lost.

I'm not expert on Laurel and Hardy but based on what was available, they kept to practical effects and what could be done with movies at the time. And it's hilarious. That is not to say Mousehunt isn't funny at times, in fact they do the slapstick humor pretty well at times, but something about it keeps it from behind as timeless as the Laurel and Hardy films.

The other reason this movie doesn't exactly work is because the slapstick humor is paired with the fact that the two brothers aren't exactly nice people and we spend the entire movie not totally sure if we're supposed to be rooting for the brothers, or the mouse.

At times, Nathan Lane and Lee Evans remind me more of the Wet Bandits from Home Alone than they do Laurel and Hardy. And yeah, Home Alone is another example of a film with good slapstick in it, but you know that part in Home Alone where Harry is climbing the tar covered stairs, and he steps on a nail with his bare foot?

And do you remember when you watch that and you always cringe and that scene isn't funny at all? That feeling happens a lot in Mousetrap with just how unpleasantly unpleasant this movie is. People getting hit in the face can be funny, Christopher Walken being dragged around the entire house face first until he's out in the snow all bruised and bloody while a mouse basically tortures him and leaves an audio recording that sounds like The Joker from The Dark Knight, that is unpleasant.

Oh yeah... Christopher Walken is in this film as an eccentric exterminator that the brothers call.

But again, the movie breaches on a lot of adult humor when I think a lot of parents, including my own, thought this movie was for kids.

This movie was actually the first family movie that Dreamworks released. This is the same studio that released the Shrek movies so I imagine they had to refine their craft a little bit, but I really can't believe I saw some of the stuff that happens in this film when I was a kid.

I realize now that this movie is categorized as a black comedy and it's probably on my parents for not knowing that when they brought me to this film, but even still, watching this in 2017 this movie is still a bit unpleasant at times. The sets are dark, it's got a little bit of Tim Burton feel to it. The Alan Silvestri soundtrack is something I never really forget about this film and probably one of his best. But overall, the film is actually a little horrifying at times.

Mice are not pleasant if they are unwelcome in your house. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know I dealt with a mouse a week ago and its mainly the reason I came back to this film. It's a little bit disturbing and definitely not a film you should show to kids until they're older. There are some funny bits, and I do like how it is an homage to old Laurel and Hardy Slapstick films, you don't really see those these days. Overall, it's a pretty forgettable movie and probably not one you need to go out and see. I can't really recommend Mousehunt.

But what about you? Did you see this movie as a kid? Are there people who saw this as a classic? I know there's probably some of you out there. I understand if that's the case, I'm interested in hearing your opinions. Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. If you'll excuse me, I might spend the rest of the night watching Laurel and Hardy. These guys were great! Enjoy!