Entrancing "Poor Things"

 Wowowow, just caught the amazing movie "Poor Things" by eccentric director Yorgos Lanthimos, a movie about which much talk has been buzzing, but let me assure you, the film is WELL worth the PRAISE it is getting!

Starring Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe in a sort of gothic horror fairytale, I first described the movie to friends as a sort of "Tim Burton Meets Guillermo Del Toro", and while there IS a bit of that, you know what the film reminded me of (at least the early half)  was more along the lines of the QUAY BROTHERS with its shaky, macabre imagery and fanciful designs!

We meet brilliant surgeon Godwin Baxter (Dafoe under extreme makeup) conducting his business of medical advancements in the field, while raising a young woman with the seeming mind of a child named Bella. 

Though happy in her secluded life with Dr. Baxter, she is kept a secret from the people of the village and is forbidden from leaving the borders of the house. But Bella is curious about the wide world outside her window and as she grows, becomes more and more frustrated about her virtual confinement.

The overprotection and secrecy by the good doctor is well warranted, however, as we find that Bella is the result of an surgical EXPERIMENT with RE-ANIMATING a recently DECEASED pregnant woman's CORPSE...reactivated with the help of her unborn child's brain put into her head in place of her old damaged one!!

Since then Baxter has raised Bella as his own and, up until recently, she has been content to play in the house and yard. But the outside world is calling, and eventually the wide-eyed woman-child breaks free and is out to explore life as much as her voracious appetite can take!

Indeed, she travels everywhere near and far- from fancy towns and restaurants to sailing the seas to far-off places. We soak in the wondrous, magical places she visits as she does, and little by little, we see the once naive and innocent woman becoming a strong and self assured young lady!

The visuals, the characters, the acting, everything was SO GREAT, and I'm determined to see it again and will DEFINTELY be purchasing it on bluray when and IF it ever DOES!!!

BTW, when Poor Things had first come out, someone had uploaded crude handheld recordings of it online. And while not the way such a film should be viewed, these clips were the first images I saw of the movie and I have to say, the blurry, grainy and shaky camerawork actually ENHANCED the feel of the movie for me. I got a REAL "Nosferatu" vibe from these early clips as it looked like legitimate 1922 film footage! I mean, look at these grabs. Don't they look unsettlingly vintage?!

 I've loved Yorgos Lanthimos other works like "The favorite" and "The Lobster" (though still haven't seen A Killing a a Sacred Deer), but Poor Things is surely his best one YET!!!

Favorite Albums: Lesley Gore Sings Of Mixed-Up Hearts

Sometimes I'll pull out an album I haven't heard in awhile and just get blown away by the sheer AWESOMENESS of it, and so it was this weekend when I dug out my Lesley Gore album "Lesley Gore Sings Of Mixed-Up Hearts". 

Holy TOLEDO, I FORGOT how amazing this album was, really simply POP PERFECT!

Long a mainstay in my ever-shifting "FAVE 100 ALBUMS of ALL TIME, I was STILL blown away listening to it again. As some of you know well, I'm a big fan of Lesley's and adore her music, but this was like hearing it all over again for the first time! 

The perfect opening track (She's A Fool), Perfect Side Two Opening Track (You Don't Own Me) and album closers (I Struck a Match, If That's the Way You Want It,  Time To Go)....just a perfectly orchestrated masterpiece!!

And the songs themselves are some of the most catchy, beat-boppin' tunes, a terrific encapsulation of early 60's Rock 'n' Roll, penned by such greats as Goffin/King, Paul Anka, and Marvin Hamlisch...When you hear these tunes, ya just GOTTA get up and DANCE!

After that I had to listen to  a few more of my fave albums from her; "I'll Cry if I Want To",  "Boys Boys Boys", "Girl Talk", even the later "California Nights". Then going online to read up on her and being sadly reminded that Lesley was taken from us in 2015 due to Lung Cancer, a real "too Soon" tragedy...Thankfully we will always have her music to warm our hearts!

posted by zdorama

FINALLY Exploring the Mayhem That is "Rick and Morty"!

 After YEARS of seeing the ubiquitous clips of the ADULT SWIM animated series "Rick and Morty", I finally got around to sitting down and actually WATCHING to entire series starting from episode one, and holy HELL are they great!!!!

Using the template of the "Eccentric Genius Scientist" and "Wide-Eyed Naive Kid" as per the  "Back To The Future" parody short it originated from, this show skewered and paid homage to just about every sci-fi set-up, send-up and tried and tested trope, from time traveling, dimension hopping, multiple universes and evil clones, this show showcased 'em all!

Encapsulating the ideas/tropes into single episodes have made for some incredible shows, some of them off the top of my head include:

"Lawnmower Dog"

Taking on both the Stephen King story "The Lawnmower Man" and the movie "Inception", this second episode set the groundwork for the series, balancing goofy sci-fi shenanigans with sweet and touching moments as Morty's dog gains intelligence and creates an army of canines to take over the world. Only the love of a boy and his dog can stop it!

 "A Rickle in Time" 

After freezing time in the last episode of last season, it's time to set things going again. But a minor altercation between Morty and Summer creates a rift where there are two timelines. Attempting to fix the situation, the gang keeps creating new timelines over and over until the Time Police themselves have to step in!

One of the first clips I saw of R&M and one that never fails to entertain!

"Total Rickall"

Parasitic aliens multiply and take over households by infesting the hosts minds and creating false memories of them as loving members of the family. Rick is the only clear headed one but is slowly taken over as well, until they realize the parasites can only create happy memories and thus the dysfunctional family is able to identify the "real' people from the parasites- by their bad memories of tormenting each other! 

"Auto Erotic Assimilation"

First appearance  of "Unity", an assimilating hive mind that is revealed to be Rick's ex. An interesting character that is purportedly a featureless organism but mostly shown as a female woman resembling Tina Fey. Really dig this character and all the subsequent episodes with her(?).

"The Wedding Squanchers"

A wedding invitation to the union of Birdperson and Tammy leads to the entire family transported to an alien world for the festivities...only to find there is a conspiracy underfoot and the wedding becomes a bloodbath between Rick, his co-horts, and the Galactic federation!As olid storyline to wrap up season2 and a bonafide cliffhanger of an end!

"Pickle Rick"

The Smith family get counseling!

Already knew the images from this episode long before I ever watched the show, enough that I thought Rick turned into a pickle was a common occurrence! But it was the clips featuring family psychiatrist Dr. Wong online that really intrigued me and made me want to explore the show more! Like others, I really love the Dr. Wong character, as voiced by Susan Sarandon she exudes a real calm even when the story is going haywire!

“Morty’s Mind Blowers”

Hilarious take on the Inter-dimensional Cable episodes, this one featured Morty revisiting some of the times Rick has wiped him memory via a recall helmet. While reliving past moments, his frustrations at what he learns escalates til Both he and Rick have lost their own memories, leading to Summer's  classic “Oh Man, It’s a Scenario 4” quote!

“The Rickchurian Mortydate"

When snubbed by the President of the United States when asked for a selfie, Rick and Morty, (who are revealed to have been heretofore assisting the White House with all manner of extraterrestrial crises) turn their backs on the POTUS, and become enemies of America!

All this happening while Beth deals with the fact that she may be a clone created by her father while her true self roams the universe! 

Another awesome season closer.

“Star Mort: Rickturn Of The Jerri”

Explosive conclusion of several arcs including the Tammy/Birdperson Galactic Federation Manhunt and the Beth/Clone storyline. Like most of the best ones, this episode had its highly dramatic parts mixed in with the absolute silliness!

"Solaricks"

A re-setting on the Portal Gun sends all the characters not of the current timeline back to their source of origin, revisiting past story arcs and showing what happened since. One of the more serious Rick and Morty stories as we once again delve into the tragedy of past Rick and his beloved but ultimately doomed original family.

"Night Family"

In much the style of the excellent series "Severance", Rick creates a machine that activates the mind at night where your sleeping body does all the work that the person does not want to do while awake. Exercising to develop muscles, practicing to master musical instruments, these are all tasks where the family wants the benefits but not the work. And when they even make the sleeping selves do the chores like wash dishes, the night versions of themselves eventually rebel and try to take over.

“Analyze Piss”

Under orders from his therapist, Rick tries ignoring his enemies, giving to the rise of Jerry as Town Hero when he defeats "Piss-master" in duel. But as Jerry rises in stature, Rick discovers the underside to the villain’s failures. Also a commentary on the ups and downs of viral trending!

Another thought-provoking well-written episode!

"Air Force Wong"

The return of Unity and her Hive-mind and also Family Psychiatrist Dr. Wong make for an excellent episdoe, this time with Rcik fighting off Unity’s invasion of Virginia while at the same time dealing with the possible romance between Dr. Wong and the President!

The Smith family take a back seat for this one and the entire episode is given to the always intriguing ongoing dynamic between Rick and Unity!

"The Fear Hole"

R&M already poked fun at David Cronenberg in an earlier episode, but I think the Fear Hole counts as a true homage to the genre: existential crises and psychological trickery are all on the plate here as Morty and Rick jump into a door to their deepest fears only to find that their worries are deeply layered and multifold!

Fargo Season Five: The Best One Yet!

As the original Coen Brothers FARGO movie still ranks among my absolute FAVORITES of all time, I've tried to keep up with the mildly connected yet totally separate FX TV series that's still running today.

Though nowhere NEAR as compelling as the original movie, each season has had its' moments, first with Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman in Season One, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons in Two,  and then the fun dual-role of Ewan MacGregor as twin brothers in Season Three (along with the scene-stealing Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Chris Rock in Season Four.

But it wasn't until this season's show, starring Juno Temple as the charismatic main character Dot Lyon that I really felt the TV series REALLY felt like a counterpart to the lofty 1996 classic, in fact, MANY elements of this series seemed an almost "reimagining" of the characters from the original movie...

We had the meek and mild Car Salesman. We had the mousey and geeky housewife, the affluent in-laws, and a couple of would-be kidnappers taking on the job of abducting said wife.

But that's where the similarities end, because in THIS series, EVERYTHING you've been led to believe is set on its head! Without saying much (to avoid spoilers), this FX series is a perfect companion to the movie as it's counting on you knowing who the players are supposed to represent...and then going completely 180 degrees south!

This was one helluva ride!!!

Jodie Foster Still Sleuthin' After All These Years

Caught the compelling first episode of the new Jodie Foster-led True Detective series TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY, dealing with a mysterious disappearance of an entire crew at a remote research station in Alaska tinged with supernatural elements.

Afterwards, I went online to read up on it, and while there, came across a photo of Jodie, Julia Roberts and Winona Ryder from 1989 with the general reaction of "Oh my, look how YOUNG they all were"! True enough, but it was then I remembered that I had seen Jodie Foster a LOT earlier than that: in fact, some 46+ YEARS ago!

As a 70's kid I was constantly in the theaters checking out the latest family flicks, and among the slew of movies I saw in 1977 was a film about a group of treasure-hunting kids looking for a fortune in a huge manor called CANDLESHOE, led by none other than Jodie Foster herself!

This was the first movie I'd seen with Foster- true, she had made her mark the year before with "Freaky Friday", however I had missed that one (and didn't get to see it til it made its way to "The Wonderful World Of Disney" on TV years later), so to me, this is THE Jodie Foster I always thought of when hearing her name!

As time went on, I remember the scandal about her when Hinkley shot Reagan, the buzz when she was nominated for The Accused, but it wasn't until Silence of The Lambs, I guess, when she finally became the STAR we think of nowadays. 

From there she became such a respected Actress and Director that over time that childhood image of her disappeared! It was only today that that image of her as the intrepid Casey came back to my mind, taking me away to that magical time of childhood wonder once again!

•

HBO's  TRUE DETECTIVE : NIGHT COUNTRY airs Sundays and promises to be one SURREAL trip!

Saga, Vol.11

 Watching the HBO series GAME of THRONES, it seemed to me that they kept systematically killing off every cool character until by the end only second tier characters like Sam Tarley were running the show!( Small wonder I slowly but surely lost interest in the show as a whole!)

Sadly, it appears (at least to me) that they're doing the SAME thing with SAGA, using deaths to fuel shock and emotion t the end of each big story arc, but leaving us with weaker characters to follow in its wake.... VERY disappointed with how this volume ended.

Spending an Afternoon with Olivia

Spent my weekend digging out and ripping all my Olivia Newton-John albums. As a child of the 70's, I have a great sentimental attachment to her early singles, from her "Have You Never Been Mellow" era down thru to GREASE, XANADU and beyond!

Strangely, the only album I never quite got into was the "Physical" release, though my younger sister adored it and played it incessantly in our house!

My Collection:

If Not For You (Deluxe)

Have You Never Been Mellow

Making a Good Thing Better

Come On Over/ Clearly Love

Don't Stop Believin'/ Totally Hot

Xanadu Soundtrack (with Electric Light Orchestra)

Back To Basics 1971-1992

Gaia: One Woman's Journey

One Woman's Live Journey

A wonderful voice we sadly lost just the other year. She'll truly be missed!

PS: It JUST dawned on me that the ANRI song "Olivia Wo Kikinagara" (Listening to Olivia) is about Olivia Newton John! Not only does the song "Cooling Down" sound an AWFUL LOT like the Anri song, but Anri's tune even refrains the line "Makin' Good Things Better", obviously referencing the Olivia Album!

Guess we ALL love Olivia!

Willy Wonka Collectible Cards

One of the great things about wearing your fandoms on your sleeve is that your friends tend to remember your loves when they happen to come across them in their regular lives. I remember an old girlfriend’s mother browsing a cookie store (in Vegas of all places) and, seeing a tin with the Wizard of Oz on it, remembered my obsession with the Judy Garland classic and brought it home for me!

In that same way, a friend of mine was taking his young daughter to the Shopping Mall’s Fun Factory to play games and ride rides. There was a ticket crane-type game where you could snatch up these hard plastic cards of characters from the 1971 Gene Wilder movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

After grabbing a few and seeing how nice they were, remembered, “Hey, Z was a really big fan of that Willy Wonka movie…bet he would LOVE these!”He then managed to get ahold of all 10 of the collectible cards and handed the whole deck over to me this past weekend, all bundled up with a rubber band.

MAN, these are some really beautiful cards! Not mere paper, they’re hard like credit cards and glossy. From what he said, you’re supposed to redeem these cards for ticket prizes but many opted to keep ’n’ collect ‘em instead!

Whooohoo, I sure lucked out! I’m the man who suddenly got everything he ever wanted…and I lived happily ever after! LOLOL!

An Amazing Sci-Fi Series: BODIES

 Whoa, don't know HOW this amazing series flew under my radar, but the NETFLIX series BODIES grabbed my interest from the set-up alone, and kept me guessing and on my toes throughout its entire run!

Stephen Graham as the mysterious Mannix

A mysterious dead body appears in the same alleyway across FOUR different timelines, and it's up to four different detectives from each respective era to figure out who the person is ...and the greater underlying mystery beneath!

Amaka Okafor as DS Shahara Hasan (present day)

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as DS Karl 'Charles Whiteman' Weissman (1941)

Kyle Soller as DI Alfred Hillinghead (1890)

Shira Haas as DC Iris Maplewood (2053)

Everyone excels in their roles, but for me, the show's scene stealer has to be actress Shira Hass in the role of futuristic law enforcer...simply stunning from her first introduction and most compelling character-wise as well!

True, the fact that her "arc" is in the future gives the writers more to work with, it's the human side of her that's most interesting: the support of a "big brother" system to ensure peaceful existence, or the unruly nature of free will. 

Wish they dedicated even MORE time for her, though there IS some buzz about a second season happening, Not sure I want that as the story ends so satisfyingly, but I would love a deeper look into the characters themselves!